The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 136

When they left the hospital, Mina hugged the huge envelope to her chest. It was the sonogram image from the session that had just ended and she couldn’t put it down for a second. She had been feeling the slight bump that was her belly every day but nothing could compare to this. It was precious, and Gabriel’s smiles proved he thought so too.

The man had been on his phone for a while after the ultrasound and she had suggested he go back to work first, thinking Avery needed him at the office. He had insisted on staying, and was acting mysterious yet again.

She cast him a glare. "Is your girlfriend giving you too much trouble for not spending time with her? You shouldn’t be keeping a woman waiting, you know. You should go to her before she replaces you."

He smiled even though he was being scolded. "Are you jealous? I assure you, there is no reason to be. Come with me, there is something I would like to show you."

She had no idea what he was getting at but she entered the car nonetheless. He didn’t drive towards Vaillant Telecommunications but instead, to the outskirts of the city. She had a million questions but knew he wouldn’t answer any of them so she waited.

But when he drove into a garden, she was confused. What were they doing here?

"A thousand roses." He cleared his throat. "And lilies."

She couldn’t make sense of what he was saying until she remembered mentioning it once. It was during a movie they watched, with a grand wedding at the end of it. She had exaggeratedly said she would want to get married in a much smaller wedding but with a thousand roses and lilies decorating the place, preferably a garden, with a stream making the entire scene more calming.

"This is..." She was baffled.

"Ever since you told me we were going to be parents, I have been planning this. I grew roses—there has to be more than a thousand here—and lilies. This cottage would be ours for the night." He pointed at the cottage she had just noticed nearby, and cleared his throat. "I didn’t know what the right moment was to propose but now, I realize there is no such thing as the right moment. We all have different ideas of the right moment anyway, so I might as well roll with it."

He went down on one knee, under her shocked gaze.

"What are you doing?"

"Proposing." He cleared his throat. He was nervous but he smiled so it wouldn’t show. "Mina, I had no idea what I wanted before I met you. I still don’t know what the hell it is but deep down I know whatever it is has you in it. Maybe it is my happily ever after, or my heaven after treading through hell all my life. Wait. That’s the same thing." He chuckled and dug into his pocket and panicked when he couldn’t feel it, then let out a breath when he found the little velvet box.

"I was carrying this around, waiting for the right moment. I know I sound crazy but nothing has ever felt better in my life. So Mina, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" She pulled him to his feet and let him slide the ring onto his finger. He hugged her, relief washing over him, and kissed her lips.

She held his hand and he thought she was going to want to announce the good news but she had something else in mind. "We are already on the scene and we have the ring. Why don’t we just get married?"

"Right now?" He laughed.

"Yes."

He thought she was joking until she looked down at herself, scolding herself for her choice of dress today. Did anyone ever get married in a blue pencil skirt and cream blouse?

____

What had started off as a joke of sorts turned out to be quite serious. When Mina suggested it, he realized he couldn’t wait either. It didn’t matter when they got married and the point of proposing was to let her know he was ready to settle down with her, so why did they need to wait?

He contacted a priest at the same time as she called a women’s boutique and ordered a white sundress and a pair of diamond heels. He also called Avery, apologizing for the short notice but asking her over. After having to be alone for most of his life, he found there was comfort in loneliness, but he still wanted his sister to be there for the most important day of his life.

She was at work but managed to rush over despite the short notice—but not without yelling at him.

"What the hell? You go quiet for a week then suddenly call me over and tell me you are getting married? What happened to not keeping secrets from each other?"

"Can’t you be happy for me, at least? It is my wedding day." He used it against her and while it got her to shut up and stop scolding him, he knew she was one second away from booking him into a psychiatrist ward.

He couldn’t blame her. Maybe he really was crazy—not that he was complaining. If going crazy gave him the chance to be with her for the rest of their lives, then he was willing to be out of his mind forever.

He smiled impishly as she handed him the box he had asked for.

"Where’s Damon?" He asked.

"Maybe he couldn’t hop out of his meeting fast enough. Besides, it’s his turn to pick Angel up from school in..." she checked the time on her watch. "Half an hour."

"Excellent! I’ll have a best man and a ring bearer. Do you think Angel can bring his little friend as a flower girl?"

She felt his forehead. Was he serious?

She didn’t need to ask. He was damn serious. Damon probably knew it, because when he arrived, he and Angel were dressed in matching tuxes they had probably bought on the way. She figured the priest would be the most stunned party at the wedding but oddly, he was expressionless. The poor man had probably seen crazier people than Gabriel and Mina.

It was quite last-minute but she managed to tell Julie about the wedding and as expected, Aubrey was happy to be part of the wedding. She laughed when she remembered Julie’s gasp of shock. She probably thought her family was crazy.

In the cottage, she braided Aubrey’s hair and held the two little braids together with a butterfly hair clip. The little girl smiled in the mirror.

"I look like a princess." She blushed.

"You are a princess." Avery had the urge to hug her, so she did. She was almost jealous of Julie. She must be happy, styling her daughter’s hair every day.

When she was done with the little girl, she walked over to Mina’s dresser.

"Hey, stranger." Mina forced a smile. "I always imagined what my wedding would be like and while it was not a marathon of this sort, you would be right here, doing my makeup—not because I can’t do it myself or have a professional do it, but because there’s something about one’s best friend doing their makeup for such a huge day."

"Mina," Avery paused in her steps.

"Then you would be my maid of honor. But now you are my sister-in-law and in the groom’s party. What a turn of events, huh?"

"I’m still your friend." She interrupted.

Mina had always wanted that, but she shot Avery a look through the mirror. "I don’t want your pity, Avery."

"Don’t be silly. You think I haven’t missed you?"

"You have?" Mina was puzzled. She stood and turned around to take a good look at Avery, but the latter surprised her when she pulled her into her arms.

"I need my assistant back. Not just the one who does her job perfectly, but the one who grills me when she is in a bad mood too. The one who is not afraid to tell me what she thinks—and my best friend. I’m sorry I acted the way I did."

"Hey, don’t. We are going to be an emotional wreck and I’ll have to redo my makeup." Mina warned.

"Good. Because that was my task anyway." Avery chuckled. Mina was not done with her makeup so Avery helped her to her seat and did it, then styled her hair in the simplest style she could. Mina’s dress was a simple, floor-length white gown that would look perfect with her hair down so Avery did just that. She then pulled out her brooch and slotted it on Mina’s dress. "Something borrowed."

Mina hugged her tightly. "Wish me luck."

"You don’t need it. You are one lucky bride." Avery kissed her on the cheek. She received a notification on her phone and her face lit up. "I think it’s time."

Mina took deep breaths and got out of the cottage, marveling at the last minute decorations that had been put up. All of it paled in comparison to her husband-to-be, who looked like he wanted to rush to her and kiss the breath out of her. Damon held him back and she smiled, walking down the make-shift aisle she had not imagined herself on.

"We are here to witness and celebrate the wedding of Gabriel Vaillant and Wilhelmina Romano." The priest began. "If any of you has any reason why these two should not be joined together in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Gabriel lowered his voice. "Your name is Wilhelmina? That’s quite a mouthful."