Panic. Disappointment. Yelling. Crying. I could hear my mom’s voice in my head, not to mention my dad’s. Family was everything to them. Not to say that it wasn’t to me because my life was my family, and now, my life was Amelia. They would have to understand. Would they understand? My dad, maybe because he knew. He got it. The connection. The love. The need to be with the one you were meant to be with. My mom, on the other hand, not so understanding.
Shit. I looked over at Amelia as she lay asleep. She looked so beautiful and she was my wife. My parents would have to understand. They’d get over it, eventually. This was my life, not theirs. Maybe I didn’t have to tell them we were married. We could come back from Vegas and tell them we were engaged, and they’d never have to know. Except we’d spend the rest of our lives celebrating two anniversaries. One in private and one with the family.
“Good morning.” Amelia smiled as she ran her finger along my chest.
I kissed the top of her head. “Good morning, baby. Did you sleep well?”
“Of course I did. Someone wore me out last night.”
I smiled as I flipped her on her back and hovered over her. “Is that so?” My lips brushed against hers in a passionate kiss. “I do believe that my wife took control and wore herself out.”
She shrugged. “That’s what my sexy husband does to me.”
My phone rang and I sighed. I climbed off of Amelia and took it from the nightstand. It was my dad. My stomach twisted in knots.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Good morning, son. What time will you be coming back today? Your mom wants the family together for dinner tonight.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. I rubbed my forehead. “Tell Mom not tonight. The plane isn’t even picking us up until noon and by time we get back to New York, with the time difference, it’ll be close to eight o’clock. We’ll be jet lagged and I have to be at the office in the morning and Amelia has an early class before her clinical’s start.”
“I understand, son, and I’ll let your mom know.” I heard him sigh. “She won’t be happy, but she’ll have to understand.”
“Thanks, Dad. Ask her if we can do it tomorrow night.”
“I will. Have a safe flight home and I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.”
I hung up and set the phone down on the nightstand. I climbed on top of Amelia and softly kissed her lips. “Now, where were we?” I smiled.
We walked into the apartment and set our bags down. It felt good to be home.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Black.”
“Thank you, Mr. Black.” She kissed me.
There was a knock at the door and Amelia and I looked at each other. I shrugged and opened it.
“Welcome home.” Julia smiled as she walked in with Brayden.
“Ah, Julia. What are you doing here?” I asked as I looked at Amelia. We both hid our hands behind our backs.
Julia glared at me. Suspicion was running through her head, I could tell. “I just left Mom and Dad’s and when I stepped off the elevator, I saw you two walk in. I thought I’d say hi. What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on. Why?”
“You’re acting weird. What did you do?”
I snorted. It was something I did when I was nervous.
“You snorted!” She pointed her finger at me. “Talk to me, Collin. Amelia?” she said as she looked at her.
Amelia caved and held out her hand with her ring on it.
“OH MY GOD! You got engaged!” she exclaimed as she looked at her ring closely. She must have noticed the wedding band. “Wait a minute.” She looked at me and grabbed my hand with my wedding band on it. Her eyes widened and she looked at me. “YOU GOT MARRIED?” she yelled rather loudly.
“Shh.”
Brayden started to cry.
“Here, let me take him,” Amelia said as Julia willingly handed him over to her.
“Oh my God, Collin. Why? I mean, I’m happy for you. But, oh my God, Mom! Dad!”
I walked away, shaking my head. “I know. I know. But this isn’t anyone’s business. I love Amelia and we were in Vegas and I wanted to marry her, and she wanted to marry me.”
“Isn’t anyone’s business? Are you kidding me?”
“Okay. I shouldn’t have said that.” I sighed. “I’m scared, Julia. Mom and Dad are going to flip out.”
“Damn right they are. You took a wedding away from them. You know what a control freak Mom is. You’re