“It is. Who the fuck sends black roses? I’m firing her. I can’t take it anymore. I had to give her back some documents today because they were riddled with errors.”
“Again?”
“Yes. There’s no way she graduated high school. The black roses were the last straw.” I walked to the living room and over to the bar for a glass of scotch.
“I hear our grandson cooing through the baby monitor. Why don’t you go upstairs and get him? He’ll calm you down.”
I sighed as I set down my drink and went up to see Brayden.
Collin
When I came home, Amelia was in the bedroom changing out of her scrubs. I loosened my tie as I walked over and gave her a kiss.
“Hey, baby. How were clinical’s?”
“They were good. How was your day?”
“Not bad.” I stripped out of my suit and pulled a pair of khakis from the closet. I stared at my beautiful wife as she stood there, thumbing through her clothes in nothing but her bra and panties. I leaned over and brushed my lips against her soft neck.
“You smell so good. I’m getting hard.”
She giggled as my tongue slid up to the edge of her ear. “Down, boy. We have exactly fifteen minutes to be upstairs at your parents’ house.”
“Well, there goes that hard-on.” I sighed.
Amelia laughed as she turned around and placed her hand on my chest. “Are you scared?”
“Yes. To be honest, I am.”
“What happened to all that talk last night about them having to get over it?” she said as she pulled on a pair of black pants.
“That was last night. Now it’s today and this is happening in fifteen minutes.”
“Ten minutes now. You better hurry up.” She pulled a short sleeve white cotton shirt over her head.
I grabbed a shirt from the hanger. “Let’s make it five. If we’re early, my mom will be happy. Let’s keep her happy at least for a few minutes.”
“Okay. Sounds like a good plan.”
We put on our shoes and took the elevator up to the penthouse. As the doors opened, my dad walked into the foyer holding Brayden.
“Well, look at you two. You’re early.” He smiled.
“Hey, Dad.”
He walked over to Amelia and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Good to see you, sweetheart.”
“Is that my sweet boy?” My mom came from the kitchen. She hugged me and kissed my cheek and then turned and did the same to Amelia.
“How was Vegas? Did you two have fun?” she asked with excitement.
“Vegas was great. We had an amazing time.”
The elevator doors opened, and Julia stepped into the foyer.
“Hi, Amelia.” She smiled and gave her a light hug. “Hey, little brother. There’s my baby boy. Mommy missed you today.” Julia walked over and tried to take him from my dad. “Daddy, give me my baby.”
“Princess, we’re having a little bonding time. You get him all night. Let me hold him a while longer.”
Julia frowned and I let out a chuckle.
“Everyone in the dining room. Dinner is ready,” my mom chimed.
I grabbed Amelia’s hand and we went into the dining room and took our seats. Julia kept smirking at me from across the table. I decided to wait until after dinner to tell my parents about our marriage. I didn’t want all the food my mom spent all day making to go to waste. Once we finished eating, Julia, Amelia, and my mom cleaned up while my dad and I took Brayden into the living room.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about, son. Scotch?” he asked.
“Sure, Dad. What’s wrong?”
“I need you to fire Cara tomorrow.”
I set Brayden down in his playpen as my dad handed me a drink.
“What? Why?”
“How do I put this nicely? She’s an idiot. She makes nothing but errors. She’s on her phone all day, scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, and she sent your mother black roses.”
I couldn’t help it. I busted out into laughter. “What?! Are you serious?”
“Yes. I asked her to call the florist and send a dozen roses to the house and she sent black roses.”
“Did you specify a color?” I asked with a cocky attitude.
“Anyone with a brain knows not to send black roses and I don’t find it funny.”
“I do. But why do I have to fire her? She’s your secretary.”
“Because you’re the one who conned me into hiring her. So now you can fire her, and I want it done first thing in the morning. I don’t want her touching another thing in that office.”
Shit. I couldn’t believe he was making me fire his secretary. He was in a mood because of her. Of all damn days. The women walked in the room and Julia took Brayden from his playpen.
“So tell me what you two did in Vegas besides gamble,” my mom spoke as she sat down on the couch. “Did you see any shows, do any shopping?”
My heart was beating at a rapid pace and I started to sweat. I could feel the beads of wetness forming on my forehead. I swallowed hard and took Amelia’s hand.
“Actually, we did do something really amazing.” I tried to smile casually, but in reality, it was a nervous smile.
I looked over at Julia, who was holding Brayden extra tight. She gave me a small nod.
“Amelia and I got married!”
“Very funny, Collin.” My mom smiled.
“That’s not even funny, son.” My dad pointed at me.
I looked down. “I’m serious. We got married.”
“WHAT!” my mom screamed as she got up from the couch and Brayden started to cry.
“You better be kidding, Collin,” my dad said with seriousness.
“I’m not kidding. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
My mom put her hand over her mouth as she looked at my dad. She stood there and stared at me with a look I had never seen come from her before. It was a look of hurt, deceit, and betrayal.
“How the fuck could you do something like that without your family!” she yelled.
“Mom, calm down,” Julia said.
“Did you know about this?” She turned to her and snapped.
Julia’s eyes widened as she looked at me. I softly shook my head at her.
“No, Mom. I didn’t know. I’m just as shocked but getting upset isn’t going to change things.”
“Collin, I have never been more disappointed in you as I am right now.” My dad turned away from me. “I can’t believe you would go and do something so stupid.” He slammed his drink down on the bar.
As much as I loved my parents, there was no way in hell I was going to stand there and let them talk to me like that.
“Stupid? You think me marrying the woman that I love more than life is stupid?”
“That’s not what I meant,” my dad yelled.
“How could you do this to us?” A tear fell from my mother’s eye.
“Do what to you, Mom? Take away your dreams of planning the perfect wedding for us? I didn’t want to wait to marry Amelia. I love her and I wanted her to be my wife. I’m sorry, but you and Dad of all people should know that. You know how it feels to be so in love with someone that you can’t bear to be without them even for a split second.”