Accepting Owen (Emilia's Perspective)

Chapter Twelve

I was sore when the ringing of my phone woke me up. I saw my brother's contact photo on the screen as I answered. "What's up, EJ?"

"Dad and I are gonna bring some of your stuff over. Is there anything important you need?"

I sighed. "What time is it?" Owen was still sound asleep next to me.

"It's after ten. Must've been a long night," he teased.

"Hush! Don't bring a bunch of stuff, please. Just grab my clothes and my shower stuff."

"Alright. I'll get it. Dad said you told him something that upset him."

I rolled out of the bed so he wouldn't hear me talking. I didn't want to upset him again, so I paced around the living room. "Yeah, just about what happened sophomore year. He took it kinda hard."

"I think that's probably the right reaction to have when you hear something like that. Did it mess with you to talk about it?" Elijah asked.

"No. I've been talking to strange doctors about it ever since. I promised myself I would tell my husband the truth, and I did. It doesn't bother me to talk about it anymore."

"Talk about what?" Owen's voice called from behind me just before he wrapped his arms around my belly.

My heart jumped in my chest at the feel of his skin on mine, as we were only in our underwear. I blew out a slow breath to try to calm my reaction. "It just doesn't bother me anymore. I spent all that time with those doctor's working through it, and I worked through it. I'm okay now. I'll never be who is as before, but I'm not angry anymore. I'm not hurt by it anymore. I'm okay. Both of you, please listen to me. I'm okay now."

I could barely think about my phone call anymore. Owen's breath was tickling my ear and I felt all my attention drifting to the tingling between my legs.

"Good. I'm glad. Okay, so, you said just your clothes and shampoo and stuff. Is there anything else?"

"I don't think I need anything else right now." My head rolled to the other side so my neck was exposed to Owen.

"Tell Sammy we'll be over soon and Dad has something for him- a gift."

"I thought I was the gift," I joked. "And why the fuck are you calling him Sammy?"

"I just think it's funny to call him that," Elijah said.

"You are a gift," Owen whispered against my neck.

"What time are you planning on coming?" I mumbled into the phone.

"We'll be there around noon. Text me if you decide you need something else."

"Will do. Thanks, Bub." I disconnected the call and sucked air through my teeth. "You are driving me crazy!"

"It's in my job description. Didn't you read the fine print of the papers we signed yesterday?" Owen teased.

I giggled. "I must have skimmed right past that part. My dad and my brother are coming to bring me my clothes, and apparently some gift they have for you."

"When will they be here?" His hands rubbed up and down my arms.

"Around noon."

"Lets go make some space in the closet, then. I have a feeling you probably have a lot of clothes."

I turned around to face him. "I definitely have more clothes than you can imagine."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Are you okay?"

"I'm great," he said, smiling. "I just wanted to make sure you're not hurt or freaking out or anything."

"I'm a little bit sore, but I'll be just fine. As far as freaking out, I don't think I will for a little bit. Right now it's kind of surreal."

"It is! I'm so glad you said that. I thought it was just me," he said.

"No, it definitely feels like we're just... dating. It doesn't feel like we got married. I think it will probably start to feel real in a couple days or something."

~

We heard a knock on the door and Owen went to answer it. Suddenly I felt nervous about having my brother and my dad inside the house. Compared to the house I'd grown up in, Owen's house was very small. It hadn't crossed my mind until they were about to walk through the door.

Elijah walked in carrying 2 large garbages bags stuffed full of my clothes. Dad followed closely behind with another bag.

I tried to stifle a giggle of embarrassment, realizing how crazy I probably looked to have so many clothes.

"Mom said we need to pick your dress up so she can send it off to be preserved," Elijah said, as he and dad propped their bags up against the back of the couch.

"Preserved?" Dad asked in a disgusted tone. "For what? Is it going to a museum?"

I chuckled. "No, they put some chemicals on it so it won't turn yellow and put it in a box to keep it forever, I guess."

"What's the purpose of all that?" Dad's face showed confusion.

"I'm not sure, actually. Mom said it's important. She has her wedding dress in the house somewhere."

"I haven't seen it or heard about it since the day we got married."

I shrugged. "Thanks for bringing my stuff, guys."

Owen's arm went around my back as he stood next to me, so I smiled up at him. Just is touch was comforting, especially after I had gone without it for awhile.

"We actually brought a little gift for both of you," Dad said. "We thought it would be nice since you two are already doing so well, to help you get some time to yourselves."

I squinted at him as he pulled an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to Owen. When Owen opened the envelope, he pulled out two cruise passes. I gaped at the tickets, then back up to my dad. "How did you know?"

Owen let out a soft breath. "Elijah sent me a message late last night asking if we had talked about where we wanted to go for our honeymoon. When I told him, he said that was awesome. I thought he was just trying to make conversation."

"Your luggage is in the car. Your boarding passes for the flight tonight are in the front pocket," Dad said.

"We're leaving tonight?" I asked, my mouth still hanging open in shock.

"If I had thought about it, I would've sent you off yesterday."

I squeezed my dad tightly in a hug. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, baby. I want you to be happy. You don't have much time to waste. Your flight leaves in four hours."