THE DREAM THAT YOU WISH WILL COME TRUE
Diana sat at the bar in her kitchen with a cup of tea as she called Linda Douglas. It had been over a week now since she had learned of Taylor's marriage to Winn. Fighting to get a grasp on the reality of the situation, the only person she could think to talk to was someone who had equally as much experience with the subject at hand: Winn's mother.
"Hello, is this Linda?" Diana asked when she answered the phone.
"Yes, this is Linda. Who's speaking?"
"Hi, Linda. This is Diana Hanson. I'm Taylor's mother."
There was silence on the other end of the phone as Linda obviously had paused to register the phone call. "Well, hello, Diana. I hope you're doing well."
"I am, thank you, I hope you are. Listen, I hope you don't mind my calling you. I got your phone number from Isaac, after much nagging, and I wanted to start off by saying that I don't want the two of us to feel like we have to have any animosity toward each other. It seems our children have decided to marry each other and neither one of us had any say or any warning on the subject. So, really, we have several things in common already. Am I right?"
On the other end, Linda let out a breath and her voice came back through the phone seemingly more relaxed than when she'd answered. "I agree, you're absolutely right. I take it you were as thrilled by the news as I was."
"If that means you were ready to jump through the phone and wring their necks, then, yes. That's exactly how thrilled I was."
The two women chuckled lightly and Diana was glad to ease the tension that had been in the air. "Oh, Linda," Diana continued with a sigh. "What are we doing to do with these kids? I'm at a loss. I feel like I'm the only one in my family that has any kind of problem with this."
"Well, you're doing better than me. At least you know Winn. Our daughter married a man we've never even met, save for a conversation or two over the phone when he arranged our trip to visit for Christmas. Imagine our surprise when we're looking forward to meeting him, only to find out that he'd suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth and we end up meeting your other son. And don't even get me started on her brother and her nephews. They knew even less than that. At least you're not sitting six hours away in the dark."
"I guess I can be grateful for that. And I adore your daughter, Linda, I do. That is the honest to goodness truth, but I just--for the life of me, I just wish I knew what they were thinking."
"Did you know they did it over the internet?"
Diana thought her eyes would pop out of her head. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, yeah. When Winn called to tell us, she told us all about it. They found a guy who would do it over the internet because they were snowed in-"
"They did it during the snowstorm?!"
"Well. Apparently I'm not as in the dark as I thought I was."
Diana felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest with anxiety. "Is that even legal?"
"My husband and I spent two days after that, talking to attorneys and judges and researching it till we were blue in the face and the fact of the matter is, our kids found a loophole in the system and they got married. Right there in your son's house, via the internet, on a computer operated by a generator. It's the damnest thing I ever heard and George is ready to tear your son's head off. He was just starting to get used to the pregnancy."
Diana narrowed her eyes in confusion as she thought about these words for a moment. For the first time since getting the news, she felt ready to defend her son and his new wife. "So...your husband is okay with my son getting her pregnant out of wedlock, but he's not okay with him doing the right thing and marrying her? I'm afraid I'm not following..."
"Well--well, that just sounds bad," Linda agreed. "Maybe I'm not wording it the right way. He just--every father wants to see his daughter in a white dress and walk her down the aisle. Right? Didn't you want to watch your son exchange his vows and dance with you at the reception? I think George is hurt more than anything, by the fact that not only did Winn not seem to care what we may have thought of the idea of her marriage, but also because Taylor didn't do what George feels is the right thing by asking the father's permission for her hand. George is very old fashioned in some senses. She's his only daughter. Surely you could understand where he and I are coming from."
Diana sighed, feeling guilty for her actions now. In some ways, she was lucky to be in the position she was in, having the opportunity to have her family around her all the time, most of the time, save for the two that had moved out of state. She supposed that if Avery or Mac had up and eloped hours away from her with no knowledge of any kind of relationship with the spouse, she would be as hurt and upset as Winn's parents were.
"I completely understand where you're coming from," Diana said. "I understand one hundred percent. I guess I never stopped and put myself in your shoes and thought about what your position on the situation might be. The truth is, I have had the opportunity to see Winn and Tay together--on several occasions--and I spoke to Isaac recently and--well, our kids love each other, Linda. I think Winn getting pregnant was absolutely unplanned, but deep down in my heart, I think that baby or no baby, this would have happened anyway. They really are a lovely couple. And I couldn't think of a better woman for my son than your daughter."
"I wish I could say the same for your son," Linda replied. "And while it was very sweet what he did for us and for Winn for Christmas, we still have yet to meet him. Isaac was pleasant. We enjoyed meeting him very much and George adores him. But now--Diana, I just don't know what to do. I'm at such a loss. I want--we want, George and I--we want to be happy for her. We want to be happy for both of them. But I think we're hurt more than anything--"
"Come meet him," Diana said suddenly. "Come meet him, meet our family. Walker and I would love to meet you and George. Why don't we just all get together and get this out in the open, once and for all? They're already married, they're already having this baby--there's really no turning back now, right? Taylor's a good man. I promise he is. Sometimes I think he's the only one of my kids who has his head screwed on tight. You'll love him as much as we love Winn--and we DO love Winn, we all do."
"As nice as that sounds, really--"
"They didn't have a wedding," Diana interrupted. "They didn't have a wedding, they didn't have a reception. Winn didn't get a bridal shower or anything. Why don't we put our heads together and do something for them? I think it's time that we extended the olive branch to our kids, don't you?"
"I--um--I really do want everything to be okay again..."
"Talk to your husband, see how he feels about it. You call me back and we'll work something out. We're gonna set things straight, okay?"
"I don't want to meddle--"
"Oh, we're our kids' in-laws now, it's our jobs to meddle. I just want us all to feel good about everything, that's all. Anyway, get back to me in the next couple of days and we'll see what we can come up with. Does that sound okay?"
"Sure, I'm okay with that. I'll definitely be giving you a call back. I'm really glad you called me. I've felt so lost this entire time--it's nice to talk to someone who understands."
Diana smiled into the phone. "I have a feeling you and I are going to get along just fine. I'll talk to you in a couple of days, okay?"
As the phone conversation ended, Diana sighed and stared into the distance across the room at nothing in particular. For the first time in over a week, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She liked the idea of meeting Winn's parents and planning something special for their kids. She liked feeling excited about her son's marriage and her unborn grandchild. It was nice to look forward to these things.
Standing up from the bar, she walked to the doorway, calling for her husband as she made her way out of the kitchen. "Walker! We need to talk about something!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winn loved tacos. Especially the hard shell kind. She felt sorry for Taylor because it was the only thing she wanted for dinner every night that week. The first night he'd made them turned into a bit of a disaster. When he refused to put more hot sauce in the meat, she had to take the skillet from him and half the taco meat since his poor, sensitive taste buds could no longer hang with hers. While she stunk up the kitchen by dousing hers with copious amounts of Tobasco, Taylor had looked on in horror. "What?" She'd said to him innocently. "You're not eating this." From then on, for the rest of the week, she'd spent her evenings hard at work in the kitchen, preparing two different dinners for them. While her nostrils abhorred the activity, her taste buds and her stomach thanked her for the savory mixture of spicy taco meat and cold sour cream that danced on her tongue and slid seductively down her throat.
Winn never knew one could ever develop true, emotional feelings for a food. Except that she did, and any time they appeared to be running low on a necessary ingredient, she nearly had a panic attack.
Seven weeks pregnant now, all Winn did was sleep, eat, and throw up. Not necessarily in that order. On this particular day, she had just woken up from a nap, feeling refreshed with a rumbly tummy and, unable to wait for dinner, prepared herself a couple of tacos for lunch. Taylor had come home early that day, crawled in bed with her, and snuggled with her until her stomach woke her from a dead sleep and she'd turned over in his arms and said, "Baby, I gotta get up, I need a taco."
"No," he'd groaned impatiently as he'd tugged her close to him. "I just went to sleep."
She quickly grew frustrated. "Let me up, I'm hungry."
Now she felt bad for that exchange, but the taco that now crunched between her teeth was worth every second of it.
Lost in her own world, she chewed slowly and she licked off the messy sauce and sour cream that had seeped out of the over-filled taco and onto her fingers with no shame and without a care in the world.
Taylor came into the kitchen and crossed his arms and shook his head. "I don't see how you aren't sick of those things already. I'm sick of them and I'm not even eating them."
"You're missing out," she said, her mouth full. "Besides, it's what the baby wants."
"Right. Until the baby decides to throw it out of the highchair in a couple of hours."
She stopped chewing and she eyed him for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "Normally, I'd find that extremely lame, but I actually liked that one." She raised her palm at him. "High five."
He laughed as he met her high five with his own palm and then his face changed to match hers with confusion as the doorbell rang. "Are you expecting company?" He asked her.
"No," she shook her head. "Tell them we don't want any. Unless it's kids selling chocolate or something, and then buy it all up."
Completely uninterested in their uninvited guests as she sunk her teeth into the last half of her second taco, she watched Taylor leave the kitchen as she lost herself in her food again.
Minutes later, as she heard multiple voices in the foyer, Taylor came back into the kitchen, his face reading a mixture of shock and confusion. "Uh, sweetheart? Um, our parents are here..."
"OUR parents...?" She clarified slowly, panic beginning to rise in her chest.
"OUR parents," he repeated. "All four of them..."
Her eyes widened in shock. "All four as in...yours and mine?"
"Yeah..."
"Why? Did you call them? Why would you do something like this and not tell me?" She accused him anxiously.
"I didn't!" He hissed defensively. "I haven't spoken to ANY of them, I'm as surprised as you are!"
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" She hissed back at him.
"I don't--I don't know, talk to them, I guess?"
"I'm not really in the mood to sit here and take an ambush like that."
"Join the club. But they're here and they're not leaving."
"Shit..."
There was no time to exchange theories any longer, as they couldn't allow their guests to stand aimlessly in the living room. So Winn threw the last half of her taco away, having now lost her appetite, tried to put a positive face on at the insistent coaching of her husband, and walked meekly into the living room, bracing herself for the stoning that she expected to follow upon sight.
Coming eye-to-eye with the four pairs of eyes that stared back at them made Winn extremely uncomfortable. Diana, the obvious leader of this little endeavor, spoke first. "I'm sorry to intrude like this. We were afraid that if we called ahead, the two of you might refuse to see us."
"With all due respect," Taylor said carefully. "As much as I feel that this, uh, this visit is necessary, I'm really not interested in upsetting Winn any more than she already has been. It's been a busy, emotional, and stressful month for her, especially this last couple of weeks, and my only real concern is that she is comfortable and happy. I apologize if that's selfish of me, but that's where I stand right now."
Much to Winn's surprise, her father stepped across the room and extended his hand to Taylor. "I respect that we're standing under your roof right now and I respect your place here as opposed to mine. But before you go disrespecting your wife's father like that, I feel like we should be properly introduced. I'm George Douglas, your new father-in-law, and arguably your worst nightmare."
The blood drained from both Winn's and her mother's faces as her mother hissed across the room, "George! You stop that right now!"
However, Taylor's face remained stoic as he accepted her father's hand and shook it deliberately. "I'm Taylor Hanson, your daughter's husband and your grandchild's father. It's good to finally meet you, sir."
"I like your brother," George said curtly.
"I expect that you do, he's a good guy."
"He's better than you."
"Given the circumstances that you met him under, I'd say I deserve that."
"You conceived a child with my daughter and then you turned tail and ran. You got yourself arrested and then you got her fired from her job and rendered her virtually homeless. Then you turned around and you disrespected me, you disrespected her mother, you disrespected HER, and you disrespected your own family by eloping on a goddamn website. You didn't ask me, you didn't ask her mother--"
"But I asked HER," Taylor interrupted. "And she said yes. I didn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do. I love your daughter and I respect your daughter and my number one goal in life is to make sure that both she and our child are happy and taken care of. I understand what your issues are with me and I respect them all because I am guilty of them. But that's in the past and I can't go back and change any of it. However, I have learned from them and the only thing we can do now is to move forward with our lives, happy, healthy, and together. And if you're finished tearing me down and if you've said everything you needed to say, I'd like for us to get past this and get to know each other, if anything, for Winn's sake. Because we both love her and we both want what's best for her."
Winn wanted to be sick. Seriously, she wished she had to throw up in that moment just so she would have an excuse to leave the room. But for once, the baby decided to cooperate and now she was stuck amidst the tension that filled the air.
Suddenly, her father pulled Taylor in for a hug and patted his back with a smile. "Welcome to the family, son. You grew a pair, I'm proud of you."
"Uh, thank you..." Taylor replied with uncertainty.
"Daddy!" Winn hissed, humiliated.
George left Taylor and headed for his daughter, a smile on his face and his arms wide open. "How's my girl? And how's my grandbaby?"
As her father took her in his arms, Winn burst into tears that seemingly came out of nowhere. "I love you, Daddy!" She sobbed into his shoulder.
"I love you, too, sweetie," he said as he kissed the top of her head. "No need to cry, we didn't come here to scold you or express our disdain for--"
"You just scolded Tay, Daddy."
"I had a few things I needed to get off my chest, but it's over now and everything's okay. We just want to talk to you and I think your mom and Diana want to run a couple of things by you. Okay?"
Winn nodded and pulled away from him as she wiped her eyes. As the newlyweds finally greeted their parents and in-laws with hugs and a few more tears, Winn insisted on serving drinks as they sat in the living room and their parents began to speak.
Over the next couple of hours, the men discussed buying boats and repairing the lake house, while Diana and Linda planned a wedding reception with Winn. "We're not trying to say that your wedding wasn't special or that you didn't, you know, celebrate or whatever it is you did, but we were hoping maybe you two would want to celebrate with family, too..."
"Oh, absolutely," Winn agreed. "We never intentionally wanted to leave anyone out, we just...we just really wanted to get married. It felt right, so we did it." She felt herself swooning as she smiled into the air. "My engagement ring was a bread tie because he popped the question on the spur of the moment. Our wedding rings were bread ties, too. We used the generator to operate the kitchen and Tay baked our wedding cake and we danced our first dance in the kitchen under the stars from the portable planetarium to the first song we ever danced to together. It was so romantic and so perfect. If we could go back and do it again, I'd want it to be exactly like that, bread ties and all."
Both of her mothers were smiling and her mother reached out and took her by the hand. "Sweetie, I'm sorry I was so hard on you when you called to tell me. I should have supported you. But I'm so happy that you're happy and I'm happy that your wedding day was perfect for you. Because that is ultimately what your wedding day is about--it's about you and your groom, nobody else."
"Thank you," Winn smiled. "But I do feel bad. And I really DO like the idea of celebrating our marriage as a family. But--but the guys leave to go overseas next month and I'm going along and--and Tay's about to be extremely busy--"
"Not to worry," Diana said. "You stick with us. We'll having something small and low-key, nothing terribly involved. Just a little something for us all to get together and congratulate the two of you on your marriage. Maybe a cake, maybe a little lunch...nothing fancy. And that way the boys will only maybe have to take an afternoon or an evening off. We'll make it on a Sunday or something."
Winn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think that would work out just fine." Then she turned and took Taylor by the hand and said to him quietly, "Honey, what do you think about that?"
He turned his head and looked at her blankly. "About what?"
Winn blinked at her husband in disbelief for a moment before she turned and looked at her mother and Diana. Both women broke into a fit of giggles and Winn flared her nostrils in annoyance.
Married life was about to get real.
****************
This was how Winn found herself and Taylor sitting at their own table at the head of the Campbell Hotel Event Center along Tulsa's piece of Route 66. To see the outside of the building, one might not want to set foot inside. But once inside the 1927 building and being surrounded by its vintage, trendy décor, you soared backward into a completely different and charming time period.
The space they had rented out appeared as if it used to be an old gymnasium with its brown, barrel ceilings and it's black, metal rafters where trendy light fixtures hung amidst a mix of brick and drywall walls and a smooth, waxed, wooden floor. The brown and white atmosphere was low-key and it was trendy and definitely not too over-the-top for Winn's taste.
As promised, the reception was kept as casual as Diana and Linda could possibly stand while still keeping the class. Not quite in maternity clothes yet, Winn covered her small, ten-week baby belly in a champagne-colored, knee-length fitted dress with a loose, shimmery lace overlay with a square neck neckline and sheer, lace short sleeves that tapered just over her shoulders. She let her long, red hair flow in soft curls down her back and finished it off with a pair of nude stilettos. The only jewelry she wore were her wedding rings and, at the moment, she was fighting hard to keep her tears from ruining her mascara.
Next to her, her husband cut his eyes at her suspiciously as he sat in a pair of black slacks and a tie-less, gray button-down shirt with the cuffs rolled up off his wrists. He cut his eyes at her because he saw on the dance floor, the vision that had caused Winn to dab a napkin along her eyes: Isaac and Kelsey Kennedy, swaying nose-to-nose in each other's arms, starry-eyed and smiling, lost in their own worlds. "Do we need to talk?" He asked her quietly.
Winn blinked her eyes and looked at Taylor with confusion. "About what?"
He nodded toward Isaac and Kelsey. "About that. You're obviously upset about it. Is there something I need to know?"
"No," she said, shaking her head, her freshly-cut bangs shifting along her brows in the process. "No, it's not--look at them. Look how happy they are. I'm--I'm happy."
His face softened and he smiled, reaching up and sweeping a strand of her bangs back into place. "You're happy they're happy."
"Yes," she whispered.
"I love you so much," he whispered.
She smiled and she leaned over and kissed her husband's lips. "I love you more."
"Okay!" Zac's voice bellowed, interrupting the music that was abruptly cut off amidst the clanging of silverware against glass. "Since it seems we're all pretty much finished with lunch and making room for cake, I guess I'm taking it upon myself to make the obligatory best man speech that never happened. I was never technically asked to be a best man, but since I was asked to witness the marriage license, I've taken it upon myself to bestow the honor upon...uh, myself." He paused as the now-quiet room chuckled before he continued. "I didn't meet the elusive Winifred Douglas until later in the game, I admit. I remember the first time Tay ever texted me for advice after he met her. He was at some dinner party or something and apparently he'd had a few and made her mad and she'd left him sitting at the table to talk to another guy. Even then I was urging him to make the move. 'Make the move, Tay,' I said to him constantly. 'When are you gonna make the move?' Well, he never did make the move. I wish I had a more romantic love story than that, but the truth is, for the entire time my brother knew Winn, I sat there and watched him fall madly in love with her and never do anything about it. Fast forward and suddenly they're pregnant and getting married over the internet. It was quick, it was a blur, but after the first time I ever saw them together at our parents' house at Thanksgiving, I knew it was meant to be. And somehow, a quickie, spur-of-the-moment internet wedding was right for them. Taylor and Winn...this couple shares a bond that they keep to themselves and I find it extremely charming. When you watch them interact, you just know that they're, like, speaking in code telepathically or something. It's freaky and it's creepy, but I wouldn't expect any different from them. As long as they don't start reading MY mind, we're cool! Anyway, sorry this speech couldn't be more eloquent or classy or whatever. So I raise my glass and toast my brother and my new sister-in-law AND my future niece or nephew and I congratulate them on their marriage, their new lives, and their family. I love you guys."
Between the Hansons and the Douglases, the small event space felt full, but warm and inviting. As the hotel staff cleared lunch away and set the tables in preparation for dessert and cake, Winn allowed Taylor to lead her to the dance floor. Since the newlyweds had had their own private reception, including their first dance, on their wedding night, a big deal wasn't made of the first dance on this day. Now, they danced amongst their families as Winn gazed lovingly into her husband's sparkling blue eyes. "You know what?" She asked him after a moment. "I just had a thought."
"Uh-oh," he teased.
She grinned and then she glared at him. "Don't be rude. Anyway, do you realize that you and I have only known each other for four months?"
"You're counting?" He asked, amused.
"You haven't?"
"Nope. That doesn't matter to me." He stepped out to spin her around gently before he brought her back to him. "It feels like it's been forever and I love it."
"You don't ever worry? That one of these days we'll just get sick of each other and wonder why we didn't wait longer?"
"No," he smiled. "Why wait? Anyway, I'm not sure now is exactly the right time to be having this conversation. There's no turning back now, my dear. I have you now, I'm not letting you go."
She smiled, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. "I don't want you to."
"I used to watch you leave your office every day, did you know that?" He said quietly. "Before we met? I stood across the street in the front of the studio and I watched out the window as you came and went from your office. I made it a point to spend your lunch hour there every day, just to watch you come and go. I was addicted to you at first sight. It took me three weeks to finally get up the guts to cross the street and come into your office. I'll never, in my life, forget the way it felt that day. I walked in and looked into your eyes and I surrendered. Winn, I was yours forever in that moment. I'm sorry I never let you know that, but if I had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing because then we wouldn't be right here, right now. And--and those are the things I've wanted to say to you all this time. There's so much I've wanted to say--"
She smiled and she pressed her forefinger gently against his lips. "And you have all the time in the world to say them. But right now, please just kiss me. I'm addicted to your lips and watching you talk is driving me crazy."
As he pressed his lips gently to hers, the fireworks went off in her heart exactly the same way they did the first time they ever kissed--and the same way they did every time since then. She wished she could say she knew she would marry him the morning they'd spilled coffee on each other on the street corner during Hanson Day weekend, but the reality was, there was no way to know then. Fate had dealt her quite a hand these past few months, relocating her to Tulsa and then across the street from 3CG Records. She was a strong believer in everything happening for a reason and if this moment, in her husband's arms, during their wedding reception in the middle of the dance floor didn't illustrate that, she didn't know what did.
As her stomach rumbled and reminded her that it was time for cake, she was also reminded of the next milestone she had to look forward to--the birth of their first child. She smiled into their kiss as she thought to herself about how, as a fan, she liked to joke with her friends about "Hanson Time" and how they'd be late for their own funerals. But, boy, when it came to their personal lives, "Hanson Time" sure didn't exist.
"You know what I like about this little family gathering we're having?" Taylor whispered after he broke their kiss. "It's a second wedding reception. And you know what happens after the second wedding reception, don't you?"
Winn smiled, her eyes blinking dreamily as she gazed into his. "Enlighten me."
"The second wedding night," he grinned deviously.
She giggled as he spun her out again and then brought her back in. There was never a dull moment with Taylor. Not ever. And there never would be. He was her best friend. Her husband. Her love. And she knew that they would live happily ever after.
Diana sat at the bar in her kitchen with a cup of tea as she called Linda Douglas. It had been over a week now since she had learned of Taylor's marriage to Winn. Fighting to get a grasp on the reality of the situation, the only person she could think to talk to was someone who had equally as much experience with the subject at hand: Winn's mother.
"Hello, is this Linda?" Diana asked when she answered the phone.
"Yes, this is Linda. Who's speaking?"
"Hi, Linda. This is Diana Hanson. I'm Taylor's mother."
There was silence on the other end of the phone as Linda obviously had paused to register the phone call. "Well, hello, Diana. I hope you're doing well."
"I am, thank you, I hope you are. Listen, I hope you don't mind my calling you. I got your phone number from Isaac, after much nagging, and I wanted to start off by saying that I don't want the two of us to feel like we have to have any animosity toward each other. It seems our children have decided to marry each other and neither one of us had any say or any warning on the subject. So, really, we have several things in common already. Am I right?"
On the other end, Linda let out a breath and her voice came back through the phone seemingly more relaxed than when she'd answered. "I agree, you're absolutely right. I take it you were as thrilled by the news as I was."
"If that means you were ready to jump through the phone and wring their necks, then, yes. That's exactly how thrilled I was."
The two women chuckled lightly and Diana was glad to ease the tension that had been in the air. "Oh, Linda," Diana continued with a sigh. "What are we doing to do with these kids? I'm at a loss. I feel like I'm the only one in my family that has any kind of problem with this."
"Well, you're doing better than me. At least you know Winn. Our daughter married a man we've never even met, save for a conversation or two over the phone when he arranged our trip to visit for Christmas. Imagine our surprise when we're looking forward to meeting him, only to find out that he'd suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth and we end up meeting your other son. And don't even get me started on her brother and her nephews. They knew even less than that. At least you're not sitting six hours away in the dark."
"I guess I can be grateful for that. And I adore your daughter, Linda, I do. That is the honest to goodness truth, but I just--for the life of me, I just wish I knew what they were thinking."
"Did you know they did it over the internet?"
Diana thought her eyes would pop out of her head. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, yeah. When Winn called to tell us, she told us all about it. They found a guy who would do it over the internet because they were snowed in-"
"They did it during the snowstorm?!"
"Well. Apparently I'm not as in the dark as I thought I was."
Diana felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest with anxiety. "Is that even legal?"
"My husband and I spent two days after that, talking to attorneys and judges and researching it till we were blue in the face and the fact of the matter is, our kids found a loophole in the system and they got married. Right there in your son's house, via the internet, on a computer operated by a generator. It's the damnest thing I ever heard and George is ready to tear your son's head off. He was just starting to get used to the pregnancy."
Diana narrowed her eyes in confusion as she thought about these words for a moment. For the first time since getting the news, she felt ready to defend her son and his new wife. "So...your husband is okay with my son getting her pregnant out of wedlock, but he's not okay with him doing the right thing and marrying her? I'm afraid I'm not following..."
"Well--well, that just sounds bad," Linda agreed. "Maybe I'm not wording it the right way. He just--every father wants to see his daughter in a white dress and walk her down the aisle. Right? Didn't you want to watch your son exchange his vows and dance with you at the reception? I think George is hurt more than anything, by the fact that not only did Winn not seem to care what we may have thought of the idea of her marriage, but also because Taylor didn't do what George feels is the right thing by asking the father's permission for her hand. George is very old fashioned in some senses. She's his only daughter. Surely you could understand where he and I are coming from."
Diana sighed, feeling guilty for her actions now. In some ways, she was lucky to be in the position she was in, having the opportunity to have her family around her all the time, most of the time, save for the two that had moved out of state. She supposed that if Avery or Mac had up and eloped hours away from her with no knowledge of any kind of relationship with the spouse, she would be as hurt and upset as Winn's parents were.
"I completely understand where you're coming from," Diana said. "I understand one hundred percent. I guess I never stopped and put myself in your shoes and thought about what your position on the situation might be. The truth is, I have had the opportunity to see Winn and Tay together--on several occasions--and I spoke to Isaac recently and--well, our kids love each other, Linda. I think Winn getting pregnant was absolutely unplanned, but deep down in my heart, I think that baby or no baby, this would have happened anyway. They really are a lovely couple. And I couldn't think of a better woman for my son than your daughter."
"I wish I could say the same for your son," Linda replied. "And while it was very sweet what he did for us and for Winn for Christmas, we still have yet to meet him. Isaac was pleasant. We enjoyed meeting him very much and George adores him. But now--Diana, I just don't know what to do. I'm at such a loss. I want--we want, George and I--we want to be happy for her. We want to be happy for both of them. But I think we're hurt more than anything--"
"Come meet him," Diana said suddenly. "Come meet him, meet our family. Walker and I would love to meet you and George. Why don't we just all get together and get this out in the open, once and for all? They're already married, they're already having this baby--there's really no turning back now, right? Taylor's a good man. I promise he is. Sometimes I think he's the only one of my kids who has his head screwed on tight. You'll love him as much as we love Winn--and we DO love Winn, we all do."
"As nice as that sounds, really--"
"They didn't have a wedding," Diana interrupted. "They didn't have a wedding, they didn't have a reception. Winn didn't get a bridal shower or anything. Why don't we put our heads together and do something for them? I think it's time that we extended the olive branch to our kids, don't you?"
"I--um--I really do want everything to be okay again..."
"Talk to your husband, see how he feels about it. You call me back and we'll work something out. We're gonna set things straight, okay?"
"I don't want to meddle--"
"Oh, we're our kids' in-laws now, it's our jobs to meddle. I just want us all to feel good about everything, that's all. Anyway, get back to me in the next couple of days and we'll see what we can come up with. Does that sound okay?"
"Sure, I'm okay with that. I'll definitely be giving you a call back. I'm really glad you called me. I've felt so lost this entire time--it's nice to talk to someone who understands."
Diana smiled into the phone. "I have a feeling you and I are going to get along just fine. I'll talk to you in a couple of days, okay?"
As the phone conversation ended, Diana sighed and stared into the distance across the room at nothing in particular. For the first time in over a week, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She liked the idea of meeting Winn's parents and planning something special for their kids. She liked feeling excited about her son's marriage and her unborn grandchild. It was nice to look forward to these things.
Standing up from the bar, she walked to the doorway, calling for her husband as she made her way out of the kitchen. "Walker! We need to talk about something!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winn loved tacos. Especially the hard shell kind. She felt sorry for Taylor because it was the only thing she wanted for dinner every night that week. The first night he'd made them turned into a bit of a disaster. When he refused to put more hot sauce in the meat, she had to take the skillet from him and half the taco meat since his poor, sensitive taste buds could no longer hang with hers. While she stunk up the kitchen by dousing hers with copious amounts of Tobasco, Taylor had looked on in horror. "What?" She'd said to him innocently. "You're not eating this." From then on, for the rest of the week, she'd spent her evenings hard at work in the kitchen, preparing two different dinners for them. While her nostrils abhorred the activity, her taste buds and her stomach thanked her for the savory mixture of spicy taco meat and cold sour cream that danced on her tongue and slid seductively down her throat.
Winn never knew one could ever develop true, emotional feelings for a food. Except that she did, and any time they appeared to be running low on a necessary ingredient, she nearly had a panic attack.
Seven weeks pregnant now, all Winn did was sleep, eat, and throw up. Not necessarily in that order. On this particular day, she had just woken up from a nap, feeling refreshed with a rumbly tummy and, unable to wait for dinner, prepared herself a couple of tacos for lunch. Taylor had come home early that day, crawled in bed with her, and snuggled with her until her stomach woke her from a dead sleep and she'd turned over in his arms and said, "Baby, I gotta get up, I need a taco."
"No," he'd groaned impatiently as he'd tugged her close to him. "I just went to sleep."
She quickly grew frustrated. "Let me up, I'm hungry."
Now she felt bad for that exchange, but the taco that now crunched between her teeth was worth every second of it.
Lost in her own world, she chewed slowly and she licked off the messy sauce and sour cream that had seeped out of the over-filled taco and onto her fingers with no shame and without a care in the world.
Taylor came into the kitchen and crossed his arms and shook his head. "I don't see how you aren't sick of those things already. I'm sick of them and I'm not even eating them."
"You're missing out," she said, her mouth full. "Besides, it's what the baby wants."
"Right. Until the baby decides to throw it out of the highchair in a couple of hours."
She stopped chewing and she eyed him for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "Normally, I'd find that extremely lame, but I actually liked that one." She raised her palm at him. "High five."
He laughed as he met her high five with his own palm and then his face changed to match hers with confusion as the doorbell rang. "Are you expecting company?" He asked her.
"No," she shook her head. "Tell them we don't want any. Unless it's kids selling chocolate or something, and then buy it all up."
Completely uninterested in their uninvited guests as she sunk her teeth into the last half of her second taco, she watched Taylor leave the kitchen as she lost herself in her food again.
Minutes later, as she heard multiple voices in the foyer, Taylor came back into the kitchen, his face reading a mixture of shock and confusion. "Uh, sweetheart? Um, our parents are here..."
"OUR parents...?" She clarified slowly, panic beginning to rise in her chest.
"OUR parents," he repeated. "All four of them..."
Her eyes widened in shock. "All four as in...yours and mine?"
"Yeah..."
"Why? Did you call them? Why would you do something like this and not tell me?" She accused him anxiously.
"I didn't!" He hissed defensively. "I haven't spoken to ANY of them, I'm as surprised as you are!"
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" She hissed back at him.
"I don't--I don't know, talk to them, I guess?"
"I'm not really in the mood to sit here and take an ambush like that."
"Join the club. But they're here and they're not leaving."
"Shit..."
There was no time to exchange theories any longer, as they couldn't allow their guests to stand aimlessly in the living room. So Winn threw the last half of her taco away, having now lost her appetite, tried to put a positive face on at the insistent coaching of her husband, and walked meekly into the living room, bracing herself for the stoning that she expected to follow upon sight.
Coming eye-to-eye with the four pairs of eyes that stared back at them made Winn extremely uncomfortable. Diana, the obvious leader of this little endeavor, spoke first. "I'm sorry to intrude like this. We were afraid that if we called ahead, the two of you might refuse to see us."
"With all due respect," Taylor said carefully. "As much as I feel that this, uh, this visit is necessary, I'm really not interested in upsetting Winn any more than she already has been. It's been a busy, emotional, and stressful month for her, especially this last couple of weeks, and my only real concern is that she is comfortable and happy. I apologize if that's selfish of me, but that's where I stand right now."
Much to Winn's surprise, her father stepped across the room and extended his hand to Taylor. "I respect that we're standing under your roof right now and I respect your place here as opposed to mine. But before you go disrespecting your wife's father like that, I feel like we should be properly introduced. I'm George Douglas, your new father-in-law, and arguably your worst nightmare."
The blood drained from both Winn's and her mother's faces as her mother hissed across the room, "George! You stop that right now!"
However, Taylor's face remained stoic as he accepted her father's hand and shook it deliberately. "I'm Taylor Hanson, your daughter's husband and your grandchild's father. It's good to finally meet you, sir."
"I like your brother," George said curtly.
"I expect that you do, he's a good guy."
"He's better than you."
"Given the circumstances that you met him under, I'd say I deserve that."
"You conceived a child with my daughter and then you turned tail and ran. You got yourself arrested and then you got her fired from her job and rendered her virtually homeless. Then you turned around and you disrespected me, you disrespected her mother, you disrespected HER, and you disrespected your own family by eloping on a goddamn website. You didn't ask me, you didn't ask her mother--"
"But I asked HER," Taylor interrupted. "And she said yes. I didn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do. I love your daughter and I respect your daughter and my number one goal in life is to make sure that both she and our child are happy and taken care of. I understand what your issues are with me and I respect them all because I am guilty of them. But that's in the past and I can't go back and change any of it. However, I have learned from them and the only thing we can do now is to move forward with our lives, happy, healthy, and together. And if you're finished tearing me down and if you've said everything you needed to say, I'd like for us to get past this and get to know each other, if anything, for Winn's sake. Because we both love her and we both want what's best for her."
Winn wanted to be sick. Seriously, she wished she had to throw up in that moment just so she would have an excuse to leave the room. But for once, the baby decided to cooperate and now she was stuck amidst the tension that filled the air.
Suddenly, her father pulled Taylor in for a hug and patted his back with a smile. "Welcome to the family, son. You grew a pair, I'm proud of you."
"Uh, thank you..." Taylor replied with uncertainty.
"Daddy!" Winn hissed, humiliated.
George left Taylor and headed for his daughter, a smile on his face and his arms wide open. "How's my girl? And how's my grandbaby?"
As her father took her in his arms, Winn burst into tears that seemingly came out of nowhere. "I love you, Daddy!" She sobbed into his shoulder.
"I love you, too, sweetie," he said as he kissed the top of her head. "No need to cry, we didn't come here to scold you or express our disdain for--"
"You just scolded Tay, Daddy."
"I had a few things I needed to get off my chest, but it's over now and everything's okay. We just want to talk to you and I think your mom and Diana want to run a couple of things by you. Okay?"
Winn nodded and pulled away from him as she wiped her eyes. As the newlyweds finally greeted their parents and in-laws with hugs and a few more tears, Winn insisted on serving drinks as they sat in the living room and their parents began to speak.
Over the next couple of hours, the men discussed buying boats and repairing the lake house, while Diana and Linda planned a wedding reception with Winn. "We're not trying to say that your wedding wasn't special or that you didn't, you know, celebrate or whatever it is you did, but we were hoping maybe you two would want to celebrate with family, too..."
"Oh, absolutely," Winn agreed. "We never intentionally wanted to leave anyone out, we just...we just really wanted to get married. It felt right, so we did it." She felt herself swooning as she smiled into the air. "My engagement ring was a bread tie because he popped the question on the spur of the moment. Our wedding rings were bread ties, too. We used the generator to operate the kitchen and Tay baked our wedding cake and we danced our first dance in the kitchen under the stars from the portable planetarium to the first song we ever danced to together. It was so romantic and so perfect. If we could go back and do it again, I'd want it to be exactly like that, bread ties and all."
Both of her mothers were smiling and her mother reached out and took her by the hand. "Sweetie, I'm sorry I was so hard on you when you called to tell me. I should have supported you. But I'm so happy that you're happy and I'm happy that your wedding day was perfect for you. Because that is ultimately what your wedding day is about--it's about you and your groom, nobody else."
"Thank you," Winn smiled. "But I do feel bad. And I really DO like the idea of celebrating our marriage as a family. But--but the guys leave to go overseas next month and I'm going along and--and Tay's about to be extremely busy--"
"Not to worry," Diana said. "You stick with us. We'll having something small and low-key, nothing terribly involved. Just a little something for us all to get together and congratulate the two of you on your marriage. Maybe a cake, maybe a little lunch...nothing fancy. And that way the boys will only maybe have to take an afternoon or an evening off. We'll make it on a Sunday or something."
Winn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think that would work out just fine." Then she turned and took Taylor by the hand and said to him quietly, "Honey, what do you think about that?"
He turned his head and looked at her blankly. "About what?"
Winn blinked at her husband in disbelief for a moment before she turned and looked at her mother and Diana. Both women broke into a fit of giggles and Winn flared her nostrils in annoyance.
Married life was about to get real.
****************
This was how Winn found herself and Taylor sitting at their own table at the head of the Campbell Hotel Event Center along Tulsa's piece of Route 66. To see the outside of the building, one might not want to set foot inside. But once inside the 1927 building and being surrounded by its vintage, trendy décor, you soared backward into a completely different and charming time period.
The space they had rented out appeared as if it used to be an old gymnasium with its brown, barrel ceilings and it's black, metal rafters where trendy light fixtures hung amidst a mix of brick and drywall walls and a smooth, waxed, wooden floor. The brown and white atmosphere was low-key and it was trendy and definitely not too over-the-top for Winn's taste.
As promised, the reception was kept as casual as Diana and Linda could possibly stand while still keeping the class. Not quite in maternity clothes yet, Winn covered her small, ten-week baby belly in a champagne-colored, knee-length fitted dress with a loose, shimmery lace overlay with a square neck neckline and sheer, lace short sleeves that tapered just over her shoulders. She let her long, red hair flow in soft curls down her back and finished it off with a pair of nude stilettos. The only jewelry she wore were her wedding rings and, at the moment, she was fighting hard to keep her tears from ruining her mascara.
Next to her, her husband cut his eyes at her suspiciously as he sat in a pair of black slacks and a tie-less, gray button-down shirt with the cuffs rolled up off his wrists. He cut his eyes at her because he saw on the dance floor, the vision that had caused Winn to dab a napkin along her eyes: Isaac and Kelsey Kennedy, swaying nose-to-nose in each other's arms, starry-eyed and smiling, lost in their own worlds. "Do we need to talk?" He asked her quietly.
Winn blinked her eyes and looked at Taylor with confusion. "About what?"
He nodded toward Isaac and Kelsey. "About that. You're obviously upset about it. Is there something I need to know?"
"No," she said, shaking her head, her freshly-cut bangs shifting along her brows in the process. "No, it's not--look at them. Look how happy they are. I'm--I'm happy."
His face softened and he smiled, reaching up and sweeping a strand of her bangs back into place. "You're happy they're happy."
"Yes," she whispered.
"I love you so much," he whispered.
She smiled and she leaned over and kissed her husband's lips. "I love you more."
"Okay!" Zac's voice bellowed, interrupting the music that was abruptly cut off amidst the clanging of silverware against glass. "Since it seems we're all pretty much finished with lunch and making room for cake, I guess I'm taking it upon myself to make the obligatory best man speech that never happened. I was never technically asked to be a best man, but since I was asked to witness the marriage license, I've taken it upon myself to bestow the honor upon...uh, myself." He paused as the now-quiet room chuckled before he continued. "I didn't meet the elusive Winifred Douglas until later in the game, I admit. I remember the first time Tay ever texted me for advice after he met her. He was at some dinner party or something and apparently he'd had a few and made her mad and she'd left him sitting at the table to talk to another guy. Even then I was urging him to make the move. 'Make the move, Tay,' I said to him constantly. 'When are you gonna make the move?' Well, he never did make the move. I wish I had a more romantic love story than that, but the truth is, for the entire time my brother knew Winn, I sat there and watched him fall madly in love with her and never do anything about it. Fast forward and suddenly they're pregnant and getting married over the internet. It was quick, it was a blur, but after the first time I ever saw them together at our parents' house at Thanksgiving, I knew it was meant to be. And somehow, a quickie, spur-of-the-moment internet wedding was right for them. Taylor and Winn...this couple shares a bond that they keep to themselves and I find it extremely charming. When you watch them interact, you just know that they're, like, speaking in code telepathically or something. It's freaky and it's creepy, but I wouldn't expect any different from them. As long as they don't start reading MY mind, we're cool! Anyway, sorry this speech couldn't be more eloquent or classy or whatever. So I raise my glass and toast my brother and my new sister-in-law AND my future niece or nephew and I congratulate them on their marriage, their new lives, and their family. I love you guys."
Between the Hansons and the Douglases, the small event space felt full, but warm and inviting. As the hotel staff cleared lunch away and set the tables in preparation for dessert and cake, Winn allowed Taylor to lead her to the dance floor. Since the newlyweds had had their own private reception, including their first dance, on their wedding night, a big deal wasn't made of the first dance on this day. Now, they danced amongst their families as Winn gazed lovingly into her husband's sparkling blue eyes. "You know what?" She asked him after a moment. "I just had a thought."
"Uh-oh," he teased.
She grinned and then she glared at him. "Don't be rude. Anyway, do you realize that you and I have only known each other for four months?"
"You're counting?" He asked, amused.
"You haven't?"
"Nope. That doesn't matter to me." He stepped out to spin her around gently before he brought her back to him. "It feels like it's been forever and I love it."
"You don't ever worry? That one of these days we'll just get sick of each other and wonder why we didn't wait longer?"
"No," he smiled. "Why wait? Anyway, I'm not sure now is exactly the right time to be having this conversation. There's no turning back now, my dear. I have you now, I'm not letting you go."
She smiled, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. "I don't want you to."
"I used to watch you leave your office every day, did you know that?" He said quietly. "Before we met? I stood across the street in the front of the studio and I watched out the window as you came and went from your office. I made it a point to spend your lunch hour there every day, just to watch you come and go. I was addicted to you at first sight. It took me three weeks to finally get up the guts to cross the street and come into your office. I'll never, in my life, forget the way it felt that day. I walked in and looked into your eyes and I surrendered. Winn, I was yours forever in that moment. I'm sorry I never let you know that, but if I had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing because then we wouldn't be right here, right now. And--and those are the things I've wanted to say to you all this time. There's so much I've wanted to say--"
She smiled and she pressed her forefinger gently against his lips. "And you have all the time in the world to say them. But right now, please just kiss me. I'm addicted to your lips and watching you talk is driving me crazy."
As he pressed his lips gently to hers, the fireworks went off in her heart exactly the same way they did the first time they ever kissed--and the same way they did every time since then. She wished she could say she knew she would marry him the morning they'd spilled coffee on each other on the street corner during Hanson Day weekend, but the reality was, there was no way to know then. Fate had dealt her quite a hand these past few months, relocating her to Tulsa and then across the street from 3CG Records. She was a strong believer in everything happening for a reason and if this moment, in her husband's arms, during their wedding reception in the middle of the dance floor didn't illustrate that, she didn't know what did.
As her stomach rumbled and reminded her that it was time for cake, she was also reminded of the next milestone she had to look forward to--the birth of their first child. She smiled into their kiss as she thought to herself about how, as a fan, she liked to joke with her friends about "Hanson Time" and how they'd be late for their own funerals. But, boy, when it came to their personal lives, "Hanson Time" sure didn't exist.
"You know what I like about this little family gathering we're having?" Taylor whispered after he broke their kiss. "It's a second wedding reception. And you know what happens after the second wedding reception, don't you?"
Winn smiled, her eyes blinking dreamily as she gazed into his. "Enlighten me."
"The second wedding night," he grinned deviously.
She giggled as he spun her out again and then brought her back in. There was never a dull moment with Taylor. Not ever. And there never would be. He was her best friend. Her husband. Her love. And she knew that they would live happily ever after.