?ALL THE WRONG REASONS?
?LAST EPISODE?
Adrienne’s heart pounded loudly. She could almost not
contain the happiness inside her, but somehow a pa-rt of her
felt terrified about facing their parents, her mother, most
especially. Their parents couldn’t be happier about this, but
she also knew that they must have been planning their
wedding long before she and Justin had met. And somehow,
a pa-rt of her felt guilty about taking that dream away from
them.
She felt Justin tilt her chin up. “Are you okay, honey?”
he asked gently.
She smiled and nodded. “Nervous, though.”
He smiled at her rewi-nkuringly. “They’re gonna be fine.
They probably got the shock of their lives, but I’m sure they
are happy nonetheless.”
“They must be disappointed that they weren’t pa-rt of
the whole wedding preparations.”
Justin ti-ghtened his arms around her and gave her a
ki$$ on the forehead. “Come to think of it, so were you. And
only your opinion really matters to me.”
“You know, in most weddings, the brides plan
everything. All the groom nee-ds to do is to show up.”
“We’re not like most couples. And you must know
now, I’m not like most guys.”
Adrienne couldn’t help reaching inside Justin’s coat to
give him a pinch on the side of abdomen. “Conceited,” she
whispered lovingly. But she knew it was true. Justin was one
of a kind. When she thought he was a typical rich, pretty
boy who didn’t believe in fairy tales, Justin was actually
Prince Charming in real life.
She stole a glance at their parents’ table. They were
talking to each other and looking at their direction,
doubtlessly, talking about them.
Just then, Justin slowly pulled away from her. Her
father stood next to him, cutting in for the traditional father
and daughter dance.
The minute she stepped into her fathers’ arms, tears
welled up in her eyes. And she knew, no matter what
happened between them, he remained her father. And she
un-derstood that maybe he did what he did for the wrong
reasons, but it didn’t take away the fact that he also did it
because he loved her a lot and couldn’t bear the thought of
losing her. And that was more than enough for her to forgive
him.
“How are you Dad?” she asked.
He took a de-ep breath before he responded. “Finally,
after more than twenty-years, I am fixing my life,” he
replied. He stared at her for a long moment. “I filed for a
divorce.”
Adrienne shook her head. “Dad…it’s okay. I forgive
you. Mo…” She stopped short when she realized she didn’t
know what to call her mother…her stepmom. She grew up
calling her Mom, but now, it didn’t seem right knowing that
she wasn’t really her mother… and she didn’t deserve to be
called the same name she would call the woman who gave
birth to her… the woman who searched for her and loved
her all these years.
“Marina,” her father stated, se-nsing her hesitation.
“You should call her Marina, now that you know who your
real mother is.”
Adrienne nodded. “Dad, you don’t have to divorce her
for me. She can’t hurt me anymore. I will not let you feel
guilty about being happy with her.”
Her father shook her head. “It’s not about guilt. It’s
about doing what’s right. And finally, I am doing what I
should have done a long time ago. I should have divorced her years ago, and not just because she treated you badly.
But somehow, I couldn’t bear to take her away from you,
knowing what I did to keep your real mother from finding
you. But it’s all over now. There is no point in staying
together.”
“Kim…” Adrienne whispered. She knew that Kim might
be devastated. He was the only father she knew.
“Kim is old enough to live her own life. I will still be
there for her if she nee-ds me. But this won’t affect her as
much as it would have if I divorced her mother fifteen years
ago. And she had always known, anyway.”
“I…I will support your decision, Dad. And I’ll always be
there for you. I promise you will never lose me.”
Tears welled up in her father’s eyes. “Thank you,
Adrienne.” He gave her a ki$$ on the forehead again and
then he hu-gged her. “Be happy for the rest of your life,” he
whispered. “That would make me happiest.”
The song ended and Adrienne was back in Justin’s
arms again. He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb
and smiled at her. He didn’t say anything, but Adrienne
knew that he knew what was in her heart at that moment.
And she felt thankful that he gave her father a chance to be
a pa-rt of their wedding…that he gave her a chance to
realize the full contents of her heart no matter how difficult
things had been because of what her father did to her.
Soon Abi announced that it was time for dinner. Justin
led Adrienne away from the crowd and into the entrance of
a sitting room inside the manor.
“What are we doing here?” she asked him.
“I know you’re starving.” He chuckled.
“Well, I should be eating for two now.”
He laughed. “I know, honey. But our most important
guests will not be able to enjoy their dinner until they get
something off of their che-sts, so I figured let’s not prolong
the agony any longer. And we have to do it in private.”
Before Adrienne could say anything more, the door
opened again and she watched her parents and Justin’s
parents step inside, followed by Adrienne’s father.
Her mother immediately went to her and gave her a
hu-g. “My baby! How…how could this happen? You said you
wanted to call off the arrangement. That you hated Justin.
How could you have eloped with him?”
“Okay, I think you better sit down, hon,” Justin said,
leading her to one of the sofas in the middle of the room.
Adrienne sat down and took a couple of de-ep breaths
before turning to her mother. “Mom, remember when I told
you that I had a boyfriend…who was arranged to be married
to some heiress?” Her mother nodded. “Well, it turned out, I
was that heiress. And Justin was also the boyfriend I told you
about.”
“Oh, God,” her mother breathed. Then she smiled
wi-dely. “Thank God! I thought you would never forgive me
for this arrangement.”
“And I thought Justin will forever curse us for making
him miserable for the rest of his life,” Christine Adams said.
“How…surreal!”
“Wow. The chances of that happening were as good
as…zero,” Pierre said.
Justin’s father went to him and squee-zed his shoulder.
“Well, nevertheless, when you disappeared, we all realized
that we were wrong to meddle in your lives. I know…this
became just a lucky break that you two were already in love
with each other. Otherwise, we were just forcing you to turn
your backs away from your true loves because of some pact
your grandfathers made to each other.”
“So, before you found out who Adrienne really was,
you meant what you said about accepting her into the
family?” Justin asked.
His father nodded. “Every word. Your happiness does
come first, we realized, and it is more important to us than
any promise your grandfather may have made.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Adrienne’s mother asked. “At
the ball when you found out we had betrothed you to each
other, why didn’t you come to tell us? Why did you elope?”
Justin sighed. “Because I had already planned this
wedding weeks before that night. It’s not about what you
wanted. I wanted Adrienne to feel that I’d still marry her
because it’s what I want more than anything in this life. And
nothing has changed just because I found out she was your
daughter.”
Adrienne bit her l-ip, trying her best not to cry when
she heard what Justin said. Even though she’d known Justin
loved her more than anything, she still couldn’t help the
tears in her eyes when she heard him say those words
again…here in front of their parents who wanted nothing
less than what’s best for them, even if it meant meddling
with their marital choices.
Just then, they heard Adrienne’s father say, “You…you
arranged my daughter’s marriage?”
Everyb©dyin the room turned to him. After a few
seconds, her mother had recovered from the shock of
hearing his voice in the room. Adrienne realized that she
was not aware that he just stood in the back listening to
them.
“You!” her mother said in a sharp voice. “You have the
ba-lls to show up here after all the misery you have caused
me and my daughter?” She started walking towards him.
“You should be lucky the police is not yet on their way here
to chain you and lock you up for the rest of your sorry life!”
Then she swung her arm and slapped her father on the face.
Adrienne g@sped. Nob©dysaw it coming. Maybe only
her father did, but he did nothing to prevent that slap from
hitting his cheek.
“Mrs. Starck!” Justin exclaimed at the same time that
Pierre yelled, “Jesus Christ, sweetheart!”
Pierre rushed to her mother’s side in an instant,
restraining her.
“If it weren’t for you, Adrienne would have had a
better life than what you gave her! Your wife would not have
la-id a fin-geron her!” her mother cried angrily, trying her
best to get away from Pierre’s restraining arms.
“If it weren’t for me, you would have arranged
Adrienne’s wedding a long time ago.” Surprisingly, her
father sounded calm. “It was just a sheer stro-ke of luck that
she already fell in love with Justin when she found out about
you.”
“Oh, please don’t you dare change the subject! This
has nothing to do with the arranged marriage. I’m talking
about the hell you put my daughter throu-ghwhen you
kidnapped her! I would never have agreed for her to marry
Justin if I didn’t know his family, if I didn’t know what kind of
a man he is. But you…you made my daughter live with
those bi-tches! You erased me from her life! You punished
her for our mistakes! She suffered at your hands!” There
was no stopping Ariana’s wrath. Adrienne knew that her
father deserved it. But she couldn’t take it. This was not how
she wanted her wedding to be.
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she suddenly felt
weak. She leaned on Justin, who caught her firmly in his
arms.
“Please!” Justin said in a calm, albeit, loud and
authoritative voice. Everyb©dystopped and turned to him.
“With all due respect… this is ha-rdly the time and place for
you to discuss your past or what you intend to do with each
other in the future. This is our wedding. And I don’t want my
wife to remember the most important day of our lives like
this. We wanted to share this moment with you because you
are all equally important to us.”
Nob©dyspoke after that. Pierre nodded apologetically
at Justin. Adrienne’s mother gave her father one last
murderous look before looking at Adrienne.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,”
Adrienne’s mother said. “And you are right, Justin. This is not how you or Adrienne should remember your wedding day.”
She turned to Justin’s parents and said, “I’m sorry you had
to witness that.”
Christine Adams waved her hand slightly. “You don’t
have to apologize. We’re one big happy family now. We’re
bound to know each other’s secrets and fight occasionally
with each other.” She was positively beaming, like there was
nothing in the world could ruin this day for her.
“Okay so now that we are all in agreement, we have
one more announcement to make,” Justin began. Everybo-dy
fell silent once again. They were staring at Justin and
Adrienne, eager to know what they had to say. Justin took a
de-ep breath and said, “You’re all going to be grandparents
soon.”
The silence that followed was thick. It was like they all
stopped breathing as they absorbe-d what Justin just said.
Then finally, Adrienne’s mother walked towards her and
gave her a hu-g. “Oh my God, my baby!”
Soon, their parents were on their sides, congratulating
them. Their mothers couldn’t stop crying, tears of happiness
rolled down their cheeks. They were ecstatic about the
news. Even Adrienne’s father looked excited. They
surrounded the newlyweds, putting all their issues aside,
like nothing happened at all.
Justin’s parents began arguing if they preferred a boy
or a girl. Adrienne’s mother already considered moving
temporarily to the States so she could be with Adrienne
throu-ghout the pregnancy. Pierre considered how to juggle
his work load between him and Jin so both of them could
visit Adrienne and Justin frequently. Even Adrienne’s father
suggested the best hospitals in Chicago that they should
consider.
Adrienne looked up at her husband and smiled
happily. It seemed like their families may have missed
planning their wedding, but they sure would not miss out on
her pregnancy or her delivery. They finally found their common ground, enough to give them peace throu-ghout the
reception.
It lasted for four more hours. Finally, Justin
approached Adrienne and told her that it was time to leave.
“Time to go where?” she asked.
He grinned and then he leaned forward and whispered
in her ear. “To our honeymoon. You’ve kept me waiting far
too long,”
She laughed. “And our guests?”
“Abi will give them their room wi-nkignments later.
They’re welcome to stay here for a couple more days, if
they wish. But in any case, that is not your problem. Let’s
leave them be. And they should leave us be.” When
Adrienne stared up at him, he grinned mischievously at her.
“Your chariot awaits, my queen.”
True enough, a Cinderella chariot awaited them at the
foot of the stairs of the main entrance. Their guests lined up
to bid them goodbye. Their mothers gave each of them a
hu-g, awash in tears while doing so. Adrienne’s father and
stepfather shook Justin’s hand and told him to take good
care of her. Their friends and family cheered and threw rose
petal confetti in the air.
The carriage took the path that led to a smaller castle
structure. It seemed secluded, more private. Once they set
foot by the door, the carriage left, leaving them to
themselves.
“Welcome to your honeymoon, Mrs. Adams,” Justin
said. He bent and swept her off her feet. Adrienne shrieked
and laughed, afraid that Justin may not be able to hold her
with her big Cinderella gown.
“Easy, tiger,” she said, giggling. “Remember, you’re
carrying two now.”
Justin smiled. “I will never forget that, honey. The two
most precious people in my life are right here in my arms. I
will never drop you, honey. Always remember that.”
They entered the castle. The outer façade looked old
and medieval, but from the inside, it appeared quite
modern. There were glwi-nk walls on one side, giving a perfect
view of the lake. Adrienne saw crystal chandeliers hanging
from the ceiling. The furniture inside included various woods
and fine white textiles with gold trimmings.
Justin climbe-d up the white staircase that led to the
second floor. No door existed. The top step immediately
revealed the hu-ge majestic be-droom. The walls were all
white. Off-white sheets covered the king-sized be-d along
with white, twi-nkel-edged pillows.
Justin settled Adrienne at the foot of the be-d. “This is
going to be your home for the rest of the week, Mrs. Adams.
We will have complete privacy. Everything we nee-d already
sits in the fridge and the cabinets downstairs. People still
will bring food over whenever we wish. There is a private
pool, too, should you wish to go for a swim. There’s also the
lake. And yes, we can swim na-kedif we want, since no one
else will see us.”
Adrienne walked over to the glwi-nk windows to take a
look at the veranda overlooking the lake. The moon looked
big and full and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. It
was a magical night indeed. Justin couldn’t have picked a
better night to get married.
She felt his arms around her as he nuzzled her ne-ck.
She felt a tingle in her spine and the hairs on her bo-dy
seemed to rise up. Electricity seemed to flow from his l-ips to
her skin. Her husband has always had this effect on her.
“Justin,” she mo-aned.
She felt a tug on the strings of the corset closure of
her gown. She turned around and her l-ips met his in long,
pwi-nkionate ki$$es. Her dress slowly sl-ipped off her bo-dy. It
fell heavily into a pile on her feet. She stood before him in a
white chemise and glwi-nk-like sl-ippers. Justin bent and swept
her into his arms and carried her to be-d. Then he gently
untied the laces on her bodice. He leaned forward and planted soft ki$$es on her knee, moving upward to her
thi-ghs.
Her heart pounded inside her che-st. Slowly, she felt
herself sl-ipping, getting lost into the abyss. He pushed her
gently up towards the head of the be-d as he slowly took off
his jacket, loose-ned his tie and unbu-ttoned his shirt. She
held her breath as he revealed his magnificent b©dybefore
her eyes.
When he took his shirt off and revealed his six-pack
abs and muscled che-st, she almost forgot to breathe,
although she’d seen his b©dya hundred times before. He
grinned at her, knowing so well the effect he had on her. He
leaned forward, gently putting his weight on her, he claimed
her l-ips once again.
“Justin…” she breathed as he nuzzled her ne-ck. She
felt overpowered by de-sire, more than she thought she
could handle.
“My wife…” he whispered to her. “I love you.” And he
ki$$ed her l-ips once again.
She smiled against his l-ips. “I love you, too…my
husband.” She felt good saying those words. To know that
finally, there was nothing standing between them. He was
hers now and nob©dycould take them away from each
other.
She felt the snap of her br@ as he took it off her. And
then he felt his w£t ki$$es on the peak of her bre-ast s. “Oh
my God…” She couldn’t help breathing heavily. It had been
too long since they were together. She remembered just
how much she missed his l-ips on her.
He pulled away from her to unbuckle his belt and
remove his pa-nts. When he landed on top of her again, she
felt the solid evidence of his de-sire for her. When she
tou-ched his most inti-mate pa-rt, he almost screamed. He felt
her fin-gers on her. She couldn’t hide the w£t evidence of her
own arousal. When he tea-sed her se-nsitive bu-tton, she
almost fell over the edge. Almost…but not quite. Because Justin Adams was the one man who knew her b©dymore
than she did. He knew how to undo her, se-nd her to the
brink of pwi-nkion, push her to the edge of oblivion.
“Justin…” she murmured while he tea-sed her, holding
off the one thing she craved the most at that moment.
The smile that he gave her was as charming as it was
wicked. And she knew, he punished her, too, for making up
the no-s-x-before-marriage rule, making him suffer for days.
He held true to his promise. He would make her beg for him,
too.
He nuzzled her ne-ck as he put pressure on her bo-dy
with his, touching her se-nsitive cleft with his rock-ha-rd
man-hood. He moved a little, adding more se-nsation to her
already burning core.
“Oh my God, Justin…” she breathed. “How are you
enduring this?”
He smiled at her mischievously, “I lasted weeks
begging for this. I can wait a few seconds more,” he traced
her l-ips with his tongue. “Until you give me what I want.”
She ki$$ed him back, refusing to give in, prolonging
both their agonies, trying to stay in the game she started
since they came to Italy.
She felt him at her entrance. She took a de-ep breath,
preparing herself for the intense se-nsation that would
follow, anticipating their union after weeks of agony and
celibacy. But instead of fully going in, he sl-ipped past her
entrance, ru-b-bing his un-derside against her slit as he thrus-t
upward.
“Oh God, Justin!” she said in a hoarse voice.
“Fuuuck!” he cursed silently and she could tell that he
ba-rely held on, too.
One of them would have to give in to the call of their
pwi-nkion. One of them would have to lose…give up their
pride and beg to consummate their marriage.
He pulled away again and once more, he was at her
entrance. He wouldn’t give in. She ba-rely held on. He ru-bbe-d his tip against her folds, teasing her to no end,
hitting her in all the right sp-ots. When he pushed upward
and hit her se-nsitive bud, she lost hold of all control.
She screamed, “Justin, please!!!”
At the same time, he cursed, “fu-ck it! I’m done
waiting!”
And within a split second, they were one. She was
screaming his name in ecstasy, as he rode her throu-ghout
her cli-max.
It lasted a couple of seconds, but to Adrienne, it felt
like an eternity before she came down from the height of
her pwi-nkion. Justin looked at her intensely, as if he was in a
trance.
“Justin…” she whispered.
He smiled slowly at her. “You… are absolutely
beautiful,” he whispered. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful
sight than you right now.”
In response, she pulled him towards her, ki$$ing him
pwi-nkionately. He began moving in her again. Each thrus-t he
took drilled her down, tou-ched her in all the right places and
pushed her back again to the cliff of no return.
“Oh my God, Justin. Please! fas-ter!” she begged. She
was meeting his trusts with the same intensity. “ha-rder!”
He buried his face against the mwi-nk of her hair and
breathed in the scent of her. “Honey…God, I can’t! I can’t be
rou-gh!”
She knew he was lost in his own ecstasy, but he tried
to hold it back. He feared he could harm the baby growing
inside her tummy. “We’re stronger than you give us credit
for, hon. You can let it go.”
With an wi-nkuring look on her face, he unleashed the
beast within him. He speared throu-ghher, hitting her most
se-nsitive sp-ots inside and out. His eyes turned a darker
shade of blue as he allowed his de-sire to fully take over him,
the beast to control him. He took Adrienne to a new height of euphoria. A few more de-ep thrus-ts and she screamed his
name again, allowing herself to get lost in paradise.
When she let go of herself the second time around, so
did he. He carried her to the highest peak of plea-sure and
then he jumped off the cliff with her, screaming her name as
he entered Nirvana with her.
“I love you, Adrienne Adams!”
When it was over, he looked down at her. He gazed
gently at her face while his eyes were dancing. He had
sweat beads on his forehead and a triumphant grin on his
face, like he had just conquered the world.
“I think if you weren’t already pregnant, you would be
by the end of this honeymoon,” he said.
Adrienne laughed. “Was that pa-rt of your plan, too,
when you asked Mason and Abi to prepare this wedding?”
“I think we both know I planned the pregnancy long
before that,” he said, giving her a Na-ughty grin. Adrienne
pinched him on the side. “Owww!” he whimpered.
He slowly pulled out of her. Then he lay on his back
and gathered her in his arms.
“Are you okay? Are you sure I didn’t hurt the baby?”
he asked, concern all over his voice.
Adrienne looked up and ki$$ed his jaw, wi-nkuring him.
“We’re fine. The baby’s strong.”
They lay in silence for a while and then he asked, “Are
you okay with everything? Moving to Chicago with me? I
mean, you just found your real family in Paris.”
“You heard my Mom. She’s thinking of temporarily
moving to Chicago, too.”
“I’m sure my mother is thri-lled about that,” Justin said.
“You know they’ve been planning this all our lives?”
“I know. They must be over the moon right now.”
“They are. Except for your brother, of course.”
“Jin? Why?”
“He wanted to be here. He wanted to be the one to
walk you down the aisle, actually. We had our arguments over the phone. I told him that privilege still belonged to
your birth father. I think he won’t be pleased when he finds
out that your father’s flight got delayed and Yuan gave you
away. I changed my mind at the last minute and invited
both our parents. Your stepfather asked him to stay behind,
to look after important matters. I think he’s pissed that he
couldn’t tell them they were actually coming to our wedding
and that he deserved to be here as well.”
“Oh my God,” Adrienne said sadly. “He will not be
pleased. Jin is so much different from Kimberly. He actually
wants to be pa-rt of my life.”
“We’ll renew our vows after five years. He can come
to that one. He can walk you down the aisle, if he wants.”
“Good luck telling him that. Jin Starck doesn’t like to
be bossed around, either, you know.”
“He doesn’t have a choice. Since I married you, I have
officially become his big brother.” Justin laughed.
“Good luck convincing him of that, too.” Adrienne also
laughed. Although inside, she couldn’t be happier. She knew
that Justin and Jin would get along just fine. They both loved
her very much.
“Have you thought about what you’re gonna do with
your apa-rtment in New York?”
“Actually, not yet,” she replied. “I haven’t paid the
mortgage in full yet. And I’m out of a job. Now, I’m a wife
and soon I’ll be a mom. A lot has happened recently.
Thinking about the apa-rtment wasn’t on my priority list.”
“You know you don’t have to worry about the
mortgage anymore,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”
She shook her head. “Justin, that’s my obligation.”
She propped up on her elbow so she could look him in the
eye.
“You married me. Your obligations have become mine,
too,” he said.
Her eyes wi-dened. She didn’t like that idea. “Justin,
no! I won’t allow that. I have money saved up. Or I can sell it to someb©dywho will be willing to continue the mortgage.
But I won’t let you take over the payments! I won’t!”
Justin wrapped his arms around her. “Ssshhh…okay,
okay,” he whispered. “Don’t get stressed out over such a
small thing. Hear me out first.”
“Justin, you own a similar apa-rtment. You know how
much that costs. It’s not a small thing.”
“Compared to you, it’s nothing. Look, I know what that
apa-rtment meant to you. It was not just a home or a
mortgage. It was your declaration of independence. You
bought that to show your parents that you had done just
fine on your own. And I feel like I’m taking you away from
that place. Forcing you to marry me so soon, and asking you
to leave your life behind in New York and live with me in
Chicago.” He ki$$ed the top of her head.
Adrienne sighed. Her husband knew her very well. He
listened to her. He heard even the things she didn’t say out
loud. And yes, she didn’t want to give up the apa-rtment that
was the embodiment of all she worked ha-rd for…the
apa-rtment that was the reason why she met her husband in
the first place.
“I’ll think about it. But you’re right. I don’t want to
give it up,” she admitted.
He hu-gged her ti-ghtly. “I knew that’s what you were
going to say.” He reached for the drawer in the be-dside
table and pulled out an envelope and gave it to her. “Please
don’t get mad. Consider it a wedding gift.”
Adrienne propped up on her elbow again and took the
envelope from him. Inside, she saw two property titles. She
read the plot numbers and recognized one as her own
apa-rtment. The other one was on the same building, on the
same floor, opposite hers. That was Justin’s apa-rtment. Both
properties were named to her.
“Justin, what is this?”
He took a de-ep breath. “I settled your mortgage
directly with the real estate. They transferred the property to you completely.” He looked nervous, like he was waiting
for her to shout at him.
“You can’t do that? Can you?”
“Well, I have the best lawyers in the country dealing
with this, plus I know who owns the building.”
“And your apa-rtment?”
He shrugged, “We both know how se-ntimental those
properties have become to us, right? We would never give
them up.”
“Why did you transfer your apa-rtment to my name?”
“Because I don’t see the point of keeping two
separate apa-rtments. We’re not separating…ever, so we
don’t nee-d to make provisions for such an occasion. I’m
superstitious that way.” He smiled lovingly at his wife. “So,
I’m having a plan drawn up to rebuild both apa-rtments, to
make it into one. It would have been easier if we lived
beside each other rather than opposite each other. But I
hired brilliant architects to work on the design. I’m sure
they’ll come up with something amazing.”
“And the real estate broker and building owner
agree?”
“Well, did the real estate company that manages the
building agree? Of course not. But since my friend, River,
owns the building, they couldn’t refuse my requests.”
“River owns the whole building?”
“Yep,” he replied. “Now, he’s scratching his head how
he’ll explain to the other tenants the major renovations that
will be done on our floor.”
“And he’s okay with that?”
Justin shrugged. “Consider that a pa-rt of his wedding
gift to us.”
“Really, Justin Adams. You have a way of bossing your
friends around.”
He laughed. “I’m not bossy. I’m just persuasive…and
charming. I charmed you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you were pretty ha-rd to resist,” Adrienne said,
laughing.
She meant that. She tried to resist this…to resist him.
To fight his charms, and not to let them affect her. She tried
to think of all the reasons why they could possibly not be
together. Little did she know, they were fated to be
together, they were made for each other…perhaps even
before they were born.
She could reason that they were so far apa-rt in
financial and social stature they could not possibly be
destined for each other. Whatever reason she could have
thought of, that wouldn’t stop them from being together in
the end. This had nothing to do with their parents. Yes, we
do make our own choices and that will make all the
difference in the world. But some things are meant to be
happen one way or another. You just have to believe that in
the end, all is fair in love and war, and things will work out
the way they were supposed to. Like destiny, like fate.
“Thank you, honey,” she whispered to him.
“For what?”
“For you. For everything that you are. For everything
that you do.”
He smiled down at her. “I’m sorry that some of our
family couldn’t make it to our wedding.”
She leaned up and ki$$ed him gently on the l-ips.
“They might have missed this. But I will be delivering our
baby in less than nine months. Let’s get a big hospital room.
They can all be there then.”
“And then two years later when you deliver our
second baby. Then three years later for the third. And
four…”
“Justin!” Adrienne laughed. “I can’t give birth every
year. How many kids do you want?”
He shrugged. “Four.”
“Four?” she looked at him, wi-de-eyed.
“At least.”
“Are you serious?”
He nodded. “I told you. I was an only kid. It got a bit
lonely for me.”
“You had your cousins, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. But you only have one brother and I’m an only
child. And as it is, your brother doesn’t look like he’ll settle
down anytime soon and have kids of his own. So, we’re the
only chance this baby has of ever having a big, happy and
loud house.”
Adrienne sighed happily. “I would like that. A big, loud
and happy house.”
She felt Justin move and he was on top of her once
again. He looked at her lovingly and then he whispered, “I
love you so much.”
“I love you, too. Promise you won’t get tired of me?”
He grinned at her. “How could I ever get tired of you?
You’re a fox!” Then he leaned forward to ki$$ her dee-ply,
taking her to an endless rollercoaster ride full of pwi-nkion all
over again.
The end