Wanted For Pleasure: vol 3

|16| This uncomfortable encounter

𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣
⊱ ─────────── ⊰

"What about your dress? The venue? The guest list?" Mary hits me with a ton of questions that I'm not ready for.

My head spins and she laughs at me, disoriented.

Linking our arms again to resume the walk down the strip, I let out a breathy sigh.

"You haven't thought about any of this?" She asks me, sounding hopeless.

"I thought about it," I shrug. "but it's a lot. That's why I need you!" I squeeze Mary and bring a grin to her rosy face.

"I'm happy you invited us, something tells me my son wouldn't have..." Her voice trails off with the sudden oncoming emotion.

I roll my eyes at her, my heels clicking along the pavement. "Don't worry about him, he's adjusting."

"To what, this lifestyle? You mean to tell me there's no room in it for his parents?"

"He swapped a lot of things out for those golf clubs." I try to joke but apparently this isn't funny.

Mary puts on a frown. "I just don't get it, we used to be so close?" She pauses for a beat and then asks, "Has he said anything to you, did me and Carter do something wrong?"

I quickly try to put Mary at ease so she can get any of those thoughts out of her head. It's a situation where it truly isn't them, it's him.

"No," I say sharply, squaring her shoulders. "and you guys didn't do anything. If it weren't for us trying to have a baby, Chris wouldn't pay attention to me either, trust me." I kick a rock, strolling along.

"A lot's changed since Penshaw, huh?" Mary picks up the pace.

I shake the wind-blown hair out of my face and agree with a head nod. "You have no idea."

"I don't want this wedding planning to overwhelm you, Morgan." Mary says, reading my face.

I push her hand away from my forehead. "It's fine, really. I want to do this."

"Is Chris helping?" She asks.

I peek into the window of a boutique briefly but don't see anything intriguing right away.

"He thinks this stuff is more for the women to take care of." I admit in a low tone.

Mary stops on the sidewalk and basically gasps. "That's not how I raised him!"

I stop her from getting worked up. "I know it's not, but it's not your fault, he's busy."

"That's always the excuse!" She throws a fit and storms into the other direction.

"Mary..." I bellow, chasing after her. "Slow down, these boots are not made for walking!"

She hesitates at my humor but cracks a laugh eventually and stops in her tracks near an outdoor eatery.
The smell of chicken and garlic catches my attention, the mouthwatering scent is just teasing me, dancing under my nose.

"Your son isn't a baby anymore, Mar', perhaps he just wants to try this life thing without you for a bit."

She smacks her lips. "But I'm his mother-"

I nod my head, trying to still side with her while expressing how my fiancé may feel, too.
"And you always will be, but maybe it's time to let the bird officially leave the nest, you know? He can't be the fully realized person you raised him to be if you still have the training wheels on."

Mary starts to smile and blinks the tears out of her eyes. "I can understand that. I have always been a little overbearing."

I tilt my head at her.