Oral Care

Chapter 39: For Now. Forever.

*** Evelyn's POV ***

"Everything okay, beautiful?" Rafael asks, walking out onto the balcony where I am savoring my morning cup of coffee in peace.

"It is now." I smile and welcome him to join me. He wraps his strong arms around my waist and nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

I want those words to be true, but the truth is that I am struggling with my feelings about today. I am both happy and sad, but mostly I feel lost and I can't figure out why.

"Nice try. I know you, Evelyn. I can feel the tension in your body." Rafael prods.

"I...I don't know, Rafael. Please don't press me." I snap.

"Okay. Okay. What do you need me to do today to help you ladies out?" He asks gently.

I instantly feel guilty. "Uh, I think Christian is taking care of rings. And make sure he has vows worked out. And attire. God, this is madness."

Rafael rubs the back of my neck out to my shoulders. He uses just the right amount of pressure. He concludes by kissing the nape of my neck. "It'll work out."

I sigh, turning to give him a tight smile. He pinches my chin between his fingers and presses his lips to mine, keeping his tender gaze on mine. I let my eyelids close and feel the sting of tears. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Evelyn, look at me." Rafael tries to coax me.

"I gotta get moving. There's so much to do." I evade. I hear him sigh. I hate that I am pulling away from him, but I can't put words to how I am feeling that make sense.

I leave Meagan to shower. When I come back into the room, she is dancing around in her robe. "Ooo. Coffee!"

"You look like you're doing fine without it." I tease her. Oddly, my mood seems lighter just by seeing her excitement bubbling to the surface.

"You'll understand one of these days when you're only hours away from joining your life forever with Rafael." She informs me.

"Maybe we'll never get married." I say quietly.

"You don't believe that, do you?" She furrows her brow at me.

I shrug. "It's not a big deal. We can still be together and happy without the marriage part."

"True, but I thought we were going to be sister-in-laws." She argues, making me laugh.

I change the subject. "So what are you wearing?"

Meagan fills me in that they are dressing down some. She has a champagne-colored semi-formal dress that she rocks and he'll wear slacks and a button-down. "Did you bring anything other than what you wrote last night?"

"Nope. My save-the-date for this event must have gotten lost in the mail or something." I chide.

"We have to run some errands. We'll pick you up something. How about Rafael?" She asks.

"Men are way more adaptable." I grumble.

"Aren't they!" Meagan agrees.

"Hey, when are you telling family? I don't want to be responsible for keeping this from anyone back home." I ponder how the rest of the Baumann clan is going to respond. They all seem to like Meagan so at least that won't be an issue.