“You do, baby. I love you with all the rest of me.”
A warm satisfied smile spread across Michelle’s face. She was blissfully happy, fully alive, wrapped in the silken cocoon of Erik’s arms and his love. This time forever.
***
One week later…
Clothed in her wedding gown, Michelle stood on the master suite balcony of her new home that overlooked Crystal Lake and the White Mountains in the distance. Her heart flooded with happiness as her ears were bathed in the soft music and lively chatter of the wedding guests waiting downstairs.
She’d had the choice of getting married in a church, but she’d chosen to exchange her vows in her new home—the place where her children would laugh and play and bring her joy beyond comprehension, the place where she would grow old with Erik by her side.
“You are an absolutely beautiful bride.”
Michelle turned at the sound of her brother’s voice. He looked dashing in his black and white tux, but she… “I’m big and fat,” she said, resting her hand on her stomach.
“Looking at you from the back, nobody can tell you’re pregnant.”
“So should I walk backward down the aisle?”
Robert chuckled as he stepped out onto the balcony beside her. “Backward, forward, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I walk you down the aisle. Pastor Dixon is here. Erik is getting anxious, and so are the members of your bridal party. They want to know if a wedding is really happening today.”#p#分页标题#e#
Michelle smiled. It was a family wedding with Robert giving her away, Philippe serving as Erik’s best man, Precious as her flower girl, Yasmine as her maid of honor, and Felicia insisting on being her bridesmaid. Their guest list was small, but it included the Rogers family who lived next door, and of course Erik’s childhood friends—the three remaining members of the Granite Falls Billionaire Bachelors Club—Bryce Fontaine, Massimo Andretti, and Adam Andreas. They had all readily accepted her as the newest member of their small circle.
“Let’s get the wedding started,” Michelle said, slipping her hand inside the crook of her brother’s arm. “I don’t want to be Michelle Carter any longer.”
“Then let’s go make you Michelle LaCrosse,” Robert said, planting a soft kiss on her forehead.
Just the sound of that name made Michelle tingle inside and out. She was once Erik’s secret bride. Today, she was his very public, happy, pregnant bride.
As she passed the huge bed where she and Erik would consummate their marriage later tonight, Michelle felt the familiar powerful throbbing in her body. They hadn’t made love since the night they’d found their way back to each other. They both wanted to wait until they were remarried.
In just a few minutes, they’d have full blessings to enjoy each other again as man and wife. For some reason it seemed to her that when a man and a woman committed their lives to each other, their lovemaking became so much more satisfying.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Michelle bolted up in bed as a sharp pain ripped through her lower abdomen. She took deep steadying breaths like they’d taught her in the childbirth classes.
Erik sat up next to her. “What is it, baby?” He switched on the bedside lamp then searched her face in a flash of worry.
“I just had a contraction, I think.”
“Is this your first one?” He caressed her back and shoulders with his big warm hands.
“I had a couple earlier, shortly after we made love.”
He smiled. “Lovemaking does hasten labor. Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Well, they weren’t that bad, but this one cut deep and hard.”
“How long ago did you have the last one?” He helped her lie back against the pillows.
She wrinkled her forehead. “About eight minutes.”
“Eight minutes? We have to leave for the hospital right away, Michelle. They’re too close for comfort.”
“Okay, you’re the expert here.” Michelle allowed him to help her out of the bed and over to her dressing room where he helped her pick out a skirt and a shirt.
“You’d better wake Yasmine,” she said. That should make her happy, she thought of her best friend and Lamaze coach who’d accompanied her to Granite Falls for the big day. She’d brought Peter along to keep Precious company, only to find out that Jason Rogers, the little boy who lived nearby was fierce competition for her attention.
“And leave a note for Mrs. Hayes to make the kids banana pancakes, and to set up the tent in the backyard,” she told Erik.
“You expect Mrs. Hayes to put up a tent?” Erik asked on a chuckle as he walked into his dressing room.