The Wedding Date

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It's been a couple of weeks since I moved in with Opie and the kids and I meet my mother for lunch. We are sitting at a little cafe and she asks "So, how are things with you and your friend Opie?" she asks. "Well, he's more than my friend mom." I tell her and she looks at me confused. "What do you mean?" she asks. "I moved in with him and his kids." I tell her. "Kids?" she asks. "Yeah. He has two kids. Ellie is eleven and Kenny is nine." I tell her. "Where is their mother?" she asks. "She was killed a couple of years ago." I tell her. "That explains it." she tells me. "Explains what?" I ask. "Sweetheart, I like Opie. He seems really nice but he has two kids. He only wants someone to take care of his kids for him. I know guys like him." she tells me. "That's not true." I tell her. "And how can you be so sure?" she asks and I can hear the condescension in her voice. I look down at my hands in my lap and say "Because he asked me to marry him." She looks at me shocked and says "Absolutely not." I look at her shocked and she says "You will not marry him. Men like him are nice to help you get things out of your system but they are not the men you marry. You need to marry someone that can give you a life." she tells me. "He can give me the life I want." I tell her. "It's not about what you want..." she starts and I stop her and stand before saying "It's about not embarrassing you. I can't do this anymore mom. I love Opie and our kids and they love me and I will marry him with or without your approval." I tell her as I walk away and leave her sitting there.

I walk into the house and Opie is in the living room with the kids and as soon as I walk in, Kenny comes running to me and hugs me. I hug him tight and fight off the tears. He looks up at me and sees me upset and just hugs me again, not letting go. Opie walks up and pats Kenny's back and says "Why don't you and your sister give us a minute." Ellie walks over and gets Kenny and they go out to the backyard to the swingset. "What's wrong?" he asks. "My fucking mother." I tell him. He pulls me to the couch to sit down and ask "What happened?" I squeeze his hand in mine and say "She asked how things were with us and I told her about me moving in with you guys and about us getting married and she tried to tell me that you only wanted me here to take care of the kids. She told me that I wasn't marrying you and that you can't give me a life." I tell him. "Harper..." he starts. "I told her that you and the kids love me and that I love your three and that you could give me the life I want. I want a life with you and our kids. I don't even care if she's there when we get married or not. I've never been good enough for her but you guys...you guys always show me that I'm more than good enough." I tell him. He kisses me and I ask "Would you be okay with us going to the courthouse, just me, you, the kids and Jax and Tara?" I ask. "That what you want?" he asks. "That's all I need." I tell him and he kisses me again. "Let's tell the kids. We'll go tomorrow." he tells me and we head out to where the kids are.

We walk out to the back yard and Kenny is sitting on the swing, looking down at his feet and he looks sad. I look at Opie and say "Give us a minute." He nods and Ellie walks over to him. I walk over and kneel in front of him. "Hey." I say. He doesn't look at me. "Kenny? Baby boy? Look at me please." I say and he looks up at me and I see tears in his eyes. "Are you leaving us?" he asks softly. "Absolutely not." I tell him. "Then why were you upset? I don't like seeing you upset." he whispers. I smile softly and say "I had a fight with my mom." I tell him. "About us?" he asks and I say "Let me tell you something." I tell him as I sit down and I pull him down into my lap. "Nothing I do has ever been enough to make my mom happy and she doesn't understand how much I love you, your sister and your dad." I tell him. "You're not supposed to fight with your mom." he tells me. "I know buddy but I've never been close to my mom. She doesn't like the life that I live but I'm happy here. I love you guys and you three are my family and the four of us are meeting Uncle Jax and Aunt Tara tomorrow to get married so baby I'm not going anywhere." I tell him. He looks at me and I ask "Tomorrow when we get married, do you want to give me away? You just tell the Justice that it's okay for me to marry daddy." I say and he smiles softly. "Then you'll be our mommy?" he asks. "Yeah baby. I will always be your mommy for as long as you want me to be." I tell him and he snuggles into me and I know right then that I made the right choice...not that it was ever a question.