310 Wedding preparations (4)
“Alright.” She pulled her hand from his. “I’ll get ready for bed.”
He immediately knew she was angry with him but he couldn’t quite figure out why. Why did documents matter?
Knowing it was merely going to morph into an argument if he poked this particular hornet’s nest, he didn’t ask. He was not ready to fight with her, now or ever.
However, she spent the next hour in the shower and ignored him when she returned. She crawled into bed and kept her distance. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“I just don’t get it. So what if you’re not her legal mother?” He asked.
She ignored him and pretended to be asleep, and he had to poke her for an answer. He got one, but not one he had expected.
“If I’m going to play the role, I deserve the title as well.”
He felt the subtle threat in her statement even though she didn’t say it out loud. If she wasn’t getting the title, she wasn’t playing the role of Rosaly’s mother. In other words, she would never be involved with Rosaly’s matters. Either that, or she was insinuating something he was less willing to think about.
He reached to touch her, only for his hand to be swatted away.
.....
“Where did this come from? Haven’t you been okay with only being her stepmother?”
That was until she realized Rosaly was being bullied with facts about her family. However, it was just a hunch. She didn’t want to raise unnecessary suspicion until she was certain of it.
“I love Rosaly.” She said. It was true but not all of it.
Desmond ran a hand through his hair. “I know that, Zaria. I’ve witnessed it every day since you moved in with us. But I don’t want to lose my daughter either.”
She frowned. “Are you insinuating that I would trick you into letting me adopt her and then leave you and ask for her custody? Do you think just because the judge thought I would take good care of Rosaly, I would use it against you?”
“I didn’t say that.” He frowned.
“You implied it.” She stopped swatting his hand away and let him hold her. “Des, it’s just a document.”
“One that means a lot.” He hovered over her, peeling the duvet off her to snuggle with her. “How about this, after the real wedding, we begin the adoption procedures.”
She rolled her eyes at his ridiculousness. Did he think she would bolt away if she had Rosaly as her daughter? Someone should tell him how much he meant to her.
“I love you, Desmond. Don’t you ever doubt that.” She reminded him, in case he had forgotten.
“I will never forget it.” He kissed her lips. “And I love you too.”
She took his hand. It didn’t matter much but she slid his hand onto her belly anyway. “Besides, if I ever try to leave you, you have leverage over me. Not that you will ever need it.”
“I hope I never have to use it but just so you know, I would tear the world down looking for you if you ever try to pull a fast one on me.”
Now that they had an agreement, he pushed her thighs apart with his knee. “I believe I still have a lot of convincing to do.”
________
The following day, she met up with Natalie and Ximena to finalize the details of the fake wedding.
After thinking about it the previous day, she had decided to set two dates for every preparation she made. It would save her a lot of time when it was time to plan the actual wedding.
Ximena and Natalie were waiting in the private booth of the coffee shop when she finally got there. They were each sipping their coffee and strangely, they had not murdered each other yet.
“Our beautiful bride is here.” Natalie was the first to hug her, earning a glare from Ximena.
When Ximena finally got the chance to hug her, she did so for a long time, making Zaria chuckle.
“You two realize you both mean a lot to me, right? You don’t have to fight over me like toddlers fighting over a doll.”
“About that.” Ximena pulled her over to sit beside her. “Have you decided on the bridesmaids’ dresses? I have a few suggestions. I also suggest for every bridesmaid to choose the dress design of her choice as long she sticks to the selected material and color.”
“I say bridesmaids should wear the same dress, with the maid of honor’s a shade lighter.”
The mention of the maid of honor gave her a chill. As expected, the topic morphed into just that.
“Let the maid of honor and bride decide what works best.” Ximena retorted.
Natalie asked, “Who are you choosing as the maid of honor, anyway?”
Ximena glanced over at her like she was asking the obvious. “Is that even a question? Of course, that would be me.”
“Of course.” Natalie rolled her eyes. “However, can you get a week off work to do maid of honor duties for a fake wedding and then do the same for the real deal?”
“Why not? Zaria and I promised to be each other’s maid of honor or matron of honor, depending on who got married first. Our dolls were always each other’s maid of honor when we played wedding dress up.” Ximena insisted. Her main point wasn’t the fact that she would make time for anything as long as Zaria needed it, but that they had known each other for longer.
“And? I have more time on my hands now that my company is yet to launch. I’m sure Zaria won’t need to do a thing.” Natalie retorted.
“Girls,” Zaria sighed. “It would be great if the two of you got along. How about this, one of you will be my maid of honor for the fake wedding and one for the real wedding.”
She thought they would agree, but they both looked at her to decide who got the fake role and who got the real one. She had just made it worse.
When they went for the cake tasting, they couldn’t decide on one flavor, and she was certain it had nothing to do with the taste. They just didn’t want to agree. The same thing happened when it was time to select flower arrangements.
“Excuse me? You should be a grooms woman.” Ximena remarked on something Natalie said.
In response, Natalie crossed her arms. “Unless the bride is my cousin and I’m the closest thing she has to a sister.”
Zaria facepalmed. Even after assuring them that they had no reason to compete with each other, they still wanted to act like jealous little girls. In the end, she ditched them at the florist and let them battle it out.
Apparently, having two best friends who knew each other was not a good idea. When she thought about Desmond’s situation, however, she giggled. If his friends were anything like hers, he had a bigger problem with Liam, Evan, and Leo all trying to be the best man. She actually wanted to watch that.
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