Babies For the Billionaire

Part Four

© Birdy Stewart, 2013

One week.

One week and I'll be a married man.

Honestly, the thought of no longer being the bedding bachelor didn't upset me as much as it did a few months ago.

I was so taken with Ari, she really was becoming my universe.

I smiled softly, studying the famed picture I held in my hand as I gently swiveled my office chair from one side to the other. I'd finally proposed to her, the night after we'd been discussing baby names. We had been getting along so well that day, she was so open, so heartfelt and comfortable with me.

"Ari," I'd said to her as we finished our dinner, not waiting for her to look up at me with her ocean blue eyes before continuing, "you know, I'd been thinking---about what you said a while back, about the wedding not being traditional or anything. . ." I'd chuckled and shook my head, keeping my eyes at my plate instead of meeting her gaze, "And I thought, how odd would it be for a woman to show up on her wedding day without even being proposed to? So. . .I, uh," I'd pulled the small box from my pocket, where I had been keeping it since I'd bought it, slowly opened it, and met her eyes for the first time. I couldn't help but smile at the look in her blue irises. "I was wondering if you'd agree to marry me---with a ring this time, of course," I chuckled and held out the sapphire-jeweled ring in front of her.

Ari's jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened, looking between both the ring and I, her eyes saying "please don't let this be a joke," before she smiled tearfully and raised her left hand, allowing me to slip the platinum band onto her slim finger. A perfect fit.

"I'll take that as a yes?" I asked, and she laughed. A real laugh, unlike other women. No, her's were always from deep in her throat or in her chest, full of humor and joy.

"Yes, I'll still marry you, Rafe," she continued laughing, nodding also, "with or without a ring."

We'd taken the picture I was holding now, Ari had insisted. "For scrapbooking or something. . .for the kids," she'd explained. I nodded. If she hadn't suggested the picture, I would have taken one of her myself, wearing my ring for the first time.

I stared at her beautiful face, the photo just barely doing the light in her eyes justice. Looking back on the previous months I realized how much of a boy that woman made me feel like; always stumbling on my words; looking up and smiling at her just because I loved the gleam in her eyes. There was suddenly a knock on my door. "Come on in," I called, putting the picture back on my desk after another beat. Owen entered my office stiffly, closing the door behind him.

"We have a problem." He stated.

"What? What is it? Please don't tell me it has something to do with Edward from shipping." Owen shook his head and flopped himself down on the chairs in front of my desk.

"No. Valentine is in the wedding." He huffed.

"Yes. This isn't news to me, Owen. Did you really not know?" I asked him seriously.

"No, I knew she was in the wedding. Just not in the wedding. We can barely be in the same room as each other, Rafe, much less in a five foot radius for a forty-minute ceremony."

"What do you want me to do about it, Owen? Valentine is Areila's best friend, I would never tell her she can't have what she wants. And for this wedding---she wants Valentine as her maid of honor." I stated with finality before standing up with a stack of paperwork in my hands. Owen came around with a sudden change of attitude and slapped me on the shoulder.