Emilie's Baby

Seven

Emilie

Daddy was off his rocker. No, in fact, they all were!

Married to Rowan? A nearly complete stranger? Not gonna happen! I knew my parents were completely against me living with a man and not being married to him, but to just jump into a marriage was a horrible idea! Marriage is forever in my family. Divorce is not an option, ever. Someone cheats? Work it out. Not in love anymore? Spice things up, try to start over. Unless someone gets abusive there is no way out, and in the Johnston household, the only way out after you lay your hands on one of us is in a pine box. Daddy owned a backhoe and wasn't fearful of prison.

We were given two options. One, get married and raise the child together. Or, two, Rowan signs over all of his rights to our child and I move in with my parents again to raise the baby. There was no adoption for us and there was no middle ground between the two choices. Mama would not have her name disgraced by one night of 'Teenage foolishness'. This was one of those few times that I wished Mama didn't care so much about what some of the other Ladies of Christ thought, but of course, she did. While I was wholly against being forced to do something to keep Mama's good name from being smeared, I wasn't going to be the one to do it.

So, anyway, I was wrong in my assumption that us getting married wasn't going to happen. Really wrong. Because less than three days later, after my father managed to drag us both to city hall for a license and Rowan was able to call his mother and sister, we were  standing under a make shift gazebo in my parents' back yard. I was wearing my mother's wedding dress, something I had always dreamed of and Rowan, was in a pair of dress slacks and a stark white button up shirt. While this was still less than ideal, I was slightly please with the idea that I was wearing Mama's gown.

        ".... the state of Texas and the authority of God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Rowan, you may kiss your bride."

At this point, I hadn't been paying attention, but I swear that Father Dane just said for Rowan to kiss me? Like, kiss? Oh, holy Jesus. My eyes were probably as big as my face and I licked my lips nervously. He was leaning toward me, slowly, his gorgeous green eyes sparkling. I was suddenly very grateful to Nick for reminding me to brush my teeth before coming out here.

Please, God, let me be a decent kisser.

Rowan

This is the moment I had been dreading and anticipating all at once for the last three days. I could see how nervous she was all over her face and a part of me wanted to pull away. A larger part of me really wanted to kiss her and wasn't about to stop, plus, we'd just gotten married. Tradition matters, right?

        "Just do it, Rowan." She whispered when I was close enough. Her minty breath danced on my lips and only nodded before pressing my lips softly against hers. The kiss was nothing like I'd expected.

My lips tingled from the contact of hers and I pushed my mouth a little more fully against hers, cupping the back of her neck with my hand. A tug at my shirt caught my attention, but I paid no heed to it when I realized that she was gripping the white fabric in her small hands. I could hear faint whistles from two or three of the maybe twenty people around us, but ignored it. Her scent surrounded us and I couldn't help but kiss a little more forcefully, causing a small sigh to slip from her mouth.

        "That's enough, you two." Her father's booming voice broke us apart and while I had the urge to duck down shyly and shuffle from foot to foot like some green thirteen year old that had just been caught watching porn, I just smiled and wrapped an arm around a blushing Emilie.