Part 32 - Chapter 6 - Secrets Brewing

"Lawrence, wait," Eileen called after her husband. He had been more quiet than usual through dinner and excused himself as quickly as he could afterwards with only a brief goodbye to her as he'd left. "Please, don't leave this way."

"What way? Alone? I'd much rather leave here with my wife," he snapped. "Why did you let them think we weren't married?"

"You saw how they excited they were. I couldn't tell them that there wouldn't be a wedding because we were already married. I just couldn't."

"Last night you said you didn't care about that. You said you didn't care about a wedding, because you'd already planned one before and didn't want to do things the same way this time. We agreed on that. You were the one who suggested eloping because you thought it would be special."

"It still is."

"Is this how it's going to be? Are you going to let your family make your decisions for you or are you just not sure about what you want? Was last night just done on an impulsive whim? That wasn't what it was to me."

"No, not at all. I was so excited to tell them when you first dropped me off this morning, but then they seemed so excited about a wedding and seeing us get married. My dad would be hurt if he found out he wasn't there when I got married. I'm his only child and it's a once in a lifetime thing," Eileen explained. When Lawrence seemed unsure, she kept talking. "We'll keep it really simple, so we can do it as soon as possible, I promise. Besides I think it's kind of special for us to have a wedding anniversary that only we know about. It won't be too much longer, I promise."

With a shrug and a sigh, Lawrence realized he couldn't say no to her. Even though he wasn't happy about the change in plans he felt he had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

"Alma, I thought we told you to take it easy," Vanessa said as Alma walked into the kitchen.

"I can't rest when I know someone else is taking over my kitchen," she replied. "Let me do something."

"Absolutely not. You can sit at the table and supervise if you must, but that's it. We're taking care of it."

"Listen to your sisters, dear," Edward chimed in. "You don't need to do anything but take care of yourself and our baby right now. That's a full time job."

Amanda glanced over at Alma, who was reluctantly following orders. She didn't know how good she had it with everyone doting on her because she was the new mother. It made Amanda feel heartsick to think that she might never be in Alma's shoes. Her new plan was going to give her a baby, but she was starting to realize that wasn't the only thing she wanted. She wanted to the attention. She wanted people to be excited about her, like they were about any other mother-to-be. She wanted to be the one that was waited on hand and foot. She wanted people to touch her belly to try to feel the baby kicking. She wanted them to look at her baby and say he or she looked like her or her husband. If she went through with her idea, none of that would ever happen for her.

There had to be a way to get everything she wanted. There had to be some way to avoid missing out on so much.

"Hello," Andrew said as he walked into the kitchen. "Something smells good in here."

"You're just in time. Dinner's almost ready," Vanessa said.

Andrew walked over to Amanda and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "How did your doctor's appointment go? Did she give you good news?"

Amanda hesitated, all eyes were on her, anxiously waiting for her response. Suddenly a new idea popped into her head. Maybe there was a way to have everything she wanted, but to do it, it was now or never.

"Yes, she did . . . I'm pregnant."