You & I ✓

Chapter 50

Three hours and a few thousand dollars poorer later, well not me but Ethan, I plopped on the Starbucks table. Me and Ella were out today shopping for the wedding and even though I had refused to accpet his money Ethan insisted to use his credit card. I had already shopped a few pretty dresses and some fancy shoes. My back was killing me now and I could seriously use some hours of rest.

"Come on, we have a lot to do and we only have two weeks. I seriously hate Ethan now, how can he just decide that the wedding will take place in two weeks? Like two weeks? When will we shop? There's so much to do? I mean spa, hair, and your wedding gown and whatnot?" Ella complained.

"Its okay, I think we'll do it. When did you say again is the appointment with the designer?" I asked sipping my cold coffee.

"Tomorrow, its tomorrow morning. Ethan has booked the best designer in town. You know how excited I am?" Ella spoke dreamily.

"Oh silly me, you are the bride, so no one can be more excited than you." We both laughed at her reaction. It was true though. After we announced to Ethan's parents and my Dad that we wanted to get married they couldn't contain their joy. Juliette, when she found out that we were having twins, she practically cried out tears of joy. Even Dad congratulated both of us and wished us both luck for our future together.

Ella was so excited that she hugged me and literally squeezed the life out of me. Mr. Monroe - Ethan's dad didn't say anything. It seemed like he was having an internal battle with himself. But I could feel it, that he was wanting to congratulate his son on his engagement or on the news of our babies but was holding himself back. I had a strong faith that soon he would be happy with us. And I really hoped that it would be true because it would make Ethan happy and that was all I cared about.

My thoughts were disturbed with the ringing of my phone. I fetched it out of my pocket only to find a call from my darling fiance. Ha fiance!

"Am I talking to soon-to-be Mrs. Monroe?" Ethan asked. He was playful today so I decided to play along.

"Actually she is very busy at the moment. You can leave any message if you like."

"Aha, I see. My darling bride is very busy. See to it that she doesn't exert herself too much. I need her to be energetic for tonight." Ethan said in a low whisper. My face heated up at his words.

"Ethan." I warned. Ella looked at me from her phone. I gave her a sheepish look and concentrated on my call. A deep chuckle was heard from the other side of the phone. I couldn't stop the smile that was forming on my face.

"Okay, okay, sorry. Where are you right now?" He asked once his laughter died down.

"I am out with Ella, shopping. More like she is trying to make you poor." I said and looked over to the piles of dresses she had bought for me.

"Buy as much as you want. Don't look at the price, okay?" I was about to protest when...

"... No, I want to give you whatever you want. Isn't that the reason I work hard so much? I want to be able to give my family as comfortable lifestyle as possible."

"I don't want your money Ethan. And I am living a comfortable life.... A contented life. All I need is you in my life and I'll be happy. Money doesn't please me." I expressed my true feelings. I missed him terribly and being just engaged to him made me always want him to be my side. Of course, I could've asked him to accompany me to shopping, but that would make me feel like a nagging fiancée. I didn't want to suffocate him. Ethan would have as much space as he wanted.

"Right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Ethan said after me.

"You don't have to apologize. You know you do that a lot. Though I wouldn't mind having such a sweet fiancé." I heard shuffling sounds in the background, probably he was busy with someone else.

"Baby, I'll call you later. Have fun. Don't exert yourself. Love you." He finished.

"Love you too." I ended the call and looked over to Ella only to find her head shoved inside her phone. She was smiling at the screen. I think I had an idea why.

"Is he handsome? " I asked.

"Very." She said and almost immediately her eyes widened.

"Oh no.. I mean.... Umm..." Poor Ella looked genuinely troubled. I reassuringly placed my hand over hers to calm her down.

"Relax. Don't hide from me. Judging by the way you face was lit up and the way you were blushing at the texts, it wouldn't require a genius to figure out whom you were talking to. What's his name, if you don't mind me asking?" I said to her. Ella ducked her head down shyly and said,

"Mark, we have been dating for about six months now and I love him, he loves me too. He makes me very happy." I could see how proudly she spoke of her boyfriend. Her face had the same dreamy look that you have when you are deeply amd passionately in love. I had been through that stage. It was the most blissful period of my life. It was heaven.

"Please don't tell anyone. I want to to tell everyone myself but it's just that Mark is a little scared to meet my family. I don't balme him, the whole two big brothers package is a little scary for the poor guy." Ella laughed.

"I understand, but I hope he soon gathers courage to be open with your family. I know how difficult it must be for you to hide it from your family, but trust me, if he genuinely loves you then he'll understand and talk to your family." I really wnated the best for Ella. She was like a little sister to me so naturally I was concerned for her happiness.

"If you ever feel like sharing your feelings with someone, you can always count on me." Ella smiled.

******

We finished shopping for today or rather I called it quits because my body and mind was exhausted and I just wanted to sleep. Honestly shopping can be a hectic job when you don't have days to finish up. Sometimes I wonder, why did I agree to such a quick wedding. But then I see Ethan's face and I get my answers. I had come to such a stage in my life where life seemed meaningless without him. So here I was in our home waiting for him to get back from work. Ethan said that he wanted to take a few days off for wedding so he had to finish up his work in advance. I agreed but the other part of me wanted him here with me.

I jumped in surprise when soft lips kissed my cheek. Turning around I saw Ethan with a bright smile on his face.

"Hey." He came in front of me. I was about to speak when we heard Juliette's voice from the door way.

"Ethan, I didn't expect you to do this." She said.

"What did I do Mom?" he asked confused. Even I was confused.

"You are getting married in two weeks and you both still live together? This is not good. The bride and the groom cannot see each other before the wedding. Its not a good thing." Juliette said.

"Mom, I don't believe in these things. We both are happy living together. There's no such thing as bad as us not being together."
"I know my boy that you want to be close to your fiancée. But I don't want any bad things happening in you marriage later. I am just telling you because I care for you both." I thought for a second and as much as I wanted to protest for not being close to Ethan, I agreed with Juliette. Even if I didn't believe these things earlier but still I didn't want to risk anything. We were together after so much trouble that I was scared of losing him.

"I think your mom is right. We won't meet until the wedding. "

"Baby, what are you saying."

"Please Ethan. Its for our own good. It may not be true but if we look at the other way, I don't want us to be staying together a day before the wedding and after the wedding again to come back to the same place. I want it to be like a traditional wedding where I'll leave my home and come to my husband. Please, will you give me that?" He made a sad face and looked over to his mother who also seemed to be agreeing with me.

"Okay, if it makes you happy, we'll do it."

I knew Ethan wasn't happy about it but it was all going to be okay once we were married. Just two more weeks and we'd be together forever.

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