Unfamiliar

[Taniya_K]

Thank you all for the nice comments! I love how you all have your own thoughts about it, but not that surprised about Nic letting it slip. I was gonna make it Annie, but just didn't fit it.

Hope you like this chappie. I've been trying to tweak it into perfection, however, it's not getting there. But I'm fairly happy with it now, although I hope Belle doesn't come across as needy...

Chapater 21:

His ringing phone woke Aden up that night. Bleary eyed and still half asleep, he managed a smirk as he read the caller ID.

“Belle.” He simply answered groggily.

”Are you at home?” Belle replied quickly. Even in his state, Aden was able to hear the noises in the background along with the emotions thick in her voice.

“Yeah, of course. Belle, it’s like,” Looking at the alarm clock on his right, he quickly read the time. “2 in the morning. Where are you?”

”About a minute away from yours.”

“What? Belle, what are you doing out so late?” He almost snapped, throwing back the covers before sliding out of his bed.

”I just need to see you.” She said in a small voice that made him sigh, feeling slightly guilty for being angry at her.

“You should’ve called. I would’ve come over.” Aden informed her in a soft yet forceful voice as he pulled on his jeans from the previous day, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder. “Look, just don’t hang up on me, ok?”

”I‘m almost at the driveway now. Can you open the door? I don‘t want to wake the others…” He was already halfway down the stairs, staggering a little, when she made her request in a voice that now sounded tired.

“Yeah, I’m downstairs.” He told her, switching on the living room light so that he could find the locks on the door as he tried to undo them, taking a bit of time to rub at his eyes to see properly.

Finally getting them done as quietly as possible, Aden opened the door and was able to see her half way up the driveway as he took a step out, standing in the doorway. There was a steady breeze that was normal during the spring nights, but as he stood in just his jeans, Aden found it impossibly cold.

Belle froze momentarily as soon as she saw him, bringing down her mobile a second later and making her legs move once again. As she did so, she could finally feel the coolness of the night, hear the sounds of nocturnal animals and see just how dark it really was outside. When she reached the front porch, she stopped once again, worried that Aden was going to be mad at her for being out on her own this late. Instead, when he held out a hand for her, she let out a breath of relief before walking straight up to him and burying her face into the crook of his neck, arms finding their way loosely around his waist.

Wrapping his arms automatically around her shoulders, they stood like that before he felt the tears leak from her eyes and onto his skin. Stroking her hair with one hand, Aden pulled back a bit so to make her look at him. When she refused to do so, he told her in a low whisper that they had to get out of the cold. He wasn’t sure that she had heard until she backed off and let him pull her inside the house with just enough space to close the front door. Almost as soon as he had, Aden turned to face Belle, who looked more like a lost girl than the strong woman that she was. Pulling her back into his arms, he sighed while resting his chin on her head as the tears fell onto him once again.

As she tucked her face into his chest, holding onto him tightly like her life depended on it, he wondered what it was that had happened to her. He had left her about 7 hours ago and she had been perfectly happy, teasing him about his moaning at the all the shops she had dragged him too. Sighing again, Aden simply ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it down from where the wind has ruffled it a bit, and swayed her so gently that it was hardly noticeable. When he heard her gasp for breath, he looked down at her carefully. She wasn’t in hysterics or sobbing, but it was clear that she was greatly upset.

“Belle?” Aden murmured, rubbing soothing circles over her back to calm her down as he pulled away a little bit. “What happened?” When she didn’t reply, he tried again, this time a bit more demanding. “Tell me what happened.” Once again, she didn’t reply, focusing on her breathing instead. He could tell that she was trying to regulate it as she turned her head outwards.

Deciding to leave it be for the moment, Aden just held her as her tears stopped making tracks down her face. It was only when he saw her eyes shut for a second longer than a normal blink that he raised a hand and tenderly stroked her cheek. His touch must have broken her out of whatever it was that she had been thinking of as she unwound her arms from around him and used her own hands to brush away the dried tears and the droplets that clung to her eyelashes.

“Belle?” Aden whispered. Even though she had let go of him, he hadn’t been willing to drop pull his arms away. They now skimmed over her shoulders delicately, keeping her attention on him. “What’s wrong?” He watched as she swallowed and raise a hand to rub at her eyes, a move that he had learnt was to hide any forthcoming tears from spilling over. Agitation building up inside of him, Aden took another path to find his answers. Thinking back over the day, he wondered what it could have been that would have made her this upset. All the time they spent together had been fun, so it wasn’t that. “Belle, was it Drew? Did he do something to you? Did he say something?”

Even as she struggled to keep her own emotions in check, Belle could tell that Aden was having just as a hard time to stay calm for her sake and find out what it was. Not daring to speaking in fear of the tears falling, she nodded slowly, holding onto the waist of his jeans, fingers linking into the belt loops to pull him closer to her as his hands slid into her hair when he reached close enough to sink into his embrace.

“Ok, it’s ok.” His voice was distractingly soothing and she could hear the many levels of anger that passed through him. It was clear that he was torn between comforting her and finding out more, and going over to Leah’s and finding out more that way. “Did he hurt you?”

Belle shook her head immediately, knowing that even a moment’s hesitation to answer that question would make Aden jump to all the wrong conclusions. Taking a deep breath, she finally found the strength to speak without the tears threatening to fall.

“He knows.” Her words were barely audible, speaking into his clavicle, as the lump in her throat rose once again, but Aden managed to catch them.

“Knows what, babe?”

“Me being pregnant.” Belle pushed away from him slightly to gauge his reaction, seeing only a blank expression at first before a understanding and confusion passed it.

“What did he say, exactly?” Aden’s voice was now hard and the words clipped as she just shook her head and wrapped her own arms around her waist, protecting her baby against the memories of what Drew had said passing through her mind. “Belle, tell me what he said.”

“Nothing good.” She told him slowly. “Just-” Belle took in a breath, trying to steady herself. “Just what- what I knew he would say.” Once again, the tears that her body were still somehow producing cascaded down her cheeks. “He was so angry, Aden.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault, ok?” He quickly said, knowing exactly what she must have been thinking.

“I should have told him from the beginning.” She carried on, ignoring him. “I knew I was being selfish not telling him. Everyone said so, and now-”

“Belle,” Aden sighed before pulling her back into his arms, hers still around her abdomen. “This isn’t your fault. He was going to find out one day. He shouldn’t have reacted so badly.”

This time, she didn’t bother replying or correcting him. He had no idea how long they had been down there, or how long they stood there, but Aden’s head snapped up when he sensed another person nearby. Hearing the stairs creek, he looked up to see Roman lean lazily against the wall with a concerned look. Nodding his head at him minutely to let him know that everything was ok, Aden continued to comfort the broken girl in his arms, shushing her lovingly while trying every way that he knew to make her stop crying. Vaguely, he heard the retreating footsteps go back up the stairs, and he was sure that Belle was none the wiser.

When her tears finally subsided, he pulled away once again, looking at her as she kept her head down. One of her arms remained loosely around her waist while the other hand rose up to get rid of the tear tracks on her face. While she did so, Aden finally got to take in her attire. She had on her jacket, but underneath he guessed that she was just wearing the T-shirt that he could see and her jeans. It wasn’t anything anywhere near being appropriate for walks outside during the night.

“Let’s go upstairs, yeah?” Aden said quietly. Belle nodded but didn’t move until he placed a hand on her lower back and urged her forwards and up the stairs. “How did you get out the house?”

“What?” She asked him, perplexed. Her voice was rough and husky from the cry and he couldn’t help but to find it a tad bit sexy.

“Home; how did you manage leave home this late?” He expanded on his question as they got to his room. The door was still open and the only light that shone through was the moonlight from in between the blinds.

“I snuck out.” Belle replied after a moment’s pause, staying rooted in her place by the bed as Aden switched on the light. She knew what was coming now.

“You what? How?” He exclaimed, making his way to stand in front of her even as she gazed downwards in shame.

“The window.” She murmured.

“So no-one knows you’re here?” At her shake of the head, Aden inhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair before letting out the breath. “Do you know how stupid that was? What if Irene or someone had decided to check up on you, only to find out that you were gone? And if they rang here, no-one would have known where you were either!”

“It was only a 15 minute walk.” Belle tried to justify with a small shrug, seeing Aden his head as she glanced upwards, the harsh light stinging her eyes a bit.

“Yeah, and it only takes a second for something to happen, Belle.” He informed her harshly, not wanting to shout but still wanting to get the message through to her. “Walking around alone at night is bad enough, but sneaking out without telling anyone is just plain crazy. What if something had happened? Not just to you, but to the ba-”

“Ok, Aden, I get it!” Belle suddenly snapped, pressing her hands to her eyes to will the tears away. “I get it! I’m sorry. I just- I wasn’t thinking-” She faltered for the right words, hoping to somehow get her thoughts about it across, but in the end, she couldn’t even think of what it was that had driven her to get changed, put on her jacket and push the window in her room up. “I wanted to see you.”

“You should have called me.” Aden sighed, rubbing his hand up and down her arms, pulling her hands away from her face before taking it gently in between his hands. “I would have came over. You know that I would have been there in a second if you had asked me to be.”

“I know…” She whispered, eyes flitting downwards in embarrassment. They stood in the silence for a while, his thumbs skimming over her cheekbones carefully as a couple of tears fell down them.

“Alright, just promise me you’ll never do it again.” He finally insisted, tilting her head upwards to look at him. “No matter what, you won’t try anything as dangerous as that.”

“I wouldn’t call it dangerous.” Belle countered, bringing his hands down by using her own and holding them tightly.

“Climbing out of a window and walking all the way here in the dark by yourself while 2 months pregnant…” Aden replied in a fake, thoughtful tone. “Oh, yeah, nothing dangerous about that whatsoever.”

Belle nodded after letting his words sink in. When he said it like that, there was no way she could argue with just how bad it sounded. Feeling him squeeze her hands, she looked up to seeing him give her a worried look. She tried to smile, to reassure him that it was ok, but even as she did, she knew that it must have came out watery, or worse, considering that the concern written all over his face, and the anger still built up in his eyes, shone back at her. The anger brought back everything that had happened that she had been able to somehow forget for a minute, and she swallowed to stop herself from getting back into it.

“You want to talk about it?” Aden prodded. She remained silent, looking over his shoulder at the bed behind him, seeing the covers thrown to one side and just how warm and inviting it looked to her.

“Can we go to bed first?” She asked in a small voice, slipping her hands out of his slowly as he nodded, letting her step away and head towards the dresser where a mix of both their clothes were stored.

Deciding to give her a bit of space, Aden turned around and tiredly slipped off his jeans. Knowing that Belle would just frown at him if he chucked it on the floor like he normally did, only for her to pick it up, he threw it over the back of the chair, figuring it was close enough to neat that he was going to be. He perched on the edge of his bed when he was done, leaning forwards on his elbows, watching her as she stretched and pulled on her tank top that she usually wore to bed. More than anything else, Aden couldn’t tear his eyes away from her now covered stomach. Even at 8 weeks, it remained as flat and toned as ever and he found himself wishing that she would start showing soon. Although he had proof that their child was growing there, an ultrasound picture didn’t satisfy him as much as having something that he could physically touch and feel would.

“Aden?” Belle’s soft voice broke him out of his thoughts, looking up as she approached him slowly. Wordlessly, he reached out for her, bringing her to stop in front of him as he sat up straighter. He skimmed the tips of his fingers over her abdomen, playing with the hem of her top before pressing his lips to where his hands had just passed. Aden felt her inhale a bit at his actions before her hands ran through his hair and down the back of his neck when he pulled away.

Aden dropped his hands from her waist, holding onto a hand of hers and guiding her to the bed, hinting heavily to get in with only his actions. Belle understood immediately and climbed in first, waiting until Aden switched the lights off before getting in next to her. She felt him tug at the duvet, wrapping it around her comfortably as she snuggled up to him, surrounding herself in him in whatever way was possible.

“Belle?” He prompted her, both knowing what he was prompting her to say. Resting her head on his chest, she grabbed a hold of the hand that rested lightly on her stomach while her other hand trailed along his bare torso, half below the covers. “How did Drew find out?”

“Nicole told him.” She mumbled, not removing her eyes from the patterns she made around his skin. Aden realised that that must have been the reason why she had gotten in earlier than normal, considering that she had been out with Geoff again, and went straight to her room. He had thought that it was because he was working, but now he figured that it was because she had the guilts. A feeling of betrayal ran through him, not only because she had told Drew, but because she had also neglected to inform him that she had let it slip.

“Why?” Belle sighed at his question before realising that the only way that she was going to be able to explain to him was to tell him the whole story.

---

*Flashback*

Switching off the hairdryer, Belle listened carefully. She was sure that she had heard someone in the main part of the house, and seeing as the other three were all out that night, the person out there was probably a guest. Pulling on her pair of jeans, she listened out once again, wondering if it could have been Aden. But then, she realised, that he wouldn’t wait out there without making a sound. He would most probably burst into her room, regardless to the fact that she had been standing there in just her underwear and his hoodie.

Belle opened the door to her room once she had buttoned up the jeans, pushing up the arms of the jumper as she stepped out. Even though she had expected there to be someone there, she still jumped at the sight of them as they leaned against the kitchen counter.

“God, Drew, you scared me!“ She exclaimed. “I thought I said 30 minutes.”

“Sorry.” He replied in a cold tone that made her raise an eyebrow as he watched her walking over to the couch and sit on the arm rest carefully.

“Is there something wrong?”

“I just had an interesting conversation with Nicole.” Drew replied, avoiding her question, or so she thought.

“You weren’t teasing her again, were you?” Belle laughed, but it died soon enough when he just shook his head.

“I got this for you.” He tapped the cake box that laid behind him on the lid and she frowned, wondering where this was leading.

“And…?”

“She told me to make sure that Irene knows it’s from me, not her.” Drew explained, and Belle looked down, pretty sure where this was now heading. “And that I should get in trouble for feeding your cravings too.”

“Drew-”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He cut her off, his voice now filled with hurt and Belle now wished that he remained unemotional. She couldn’t find any words to get her thoughts out, not that they were making sense anyway. “It’s true, isn’t it? You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah.” Belle whispered, nodding to emphasise it in case he hadn’t heard.

“How far along?”

“2 months.” Her voice was the same, but her lifted her eyes to meet his. She saw his jaw twitch and she knew that he was holding back a lot of the rage along with the betrayal that he felt. Instinctively, she slipped a hand into the front pocket of the hoodie, resting it against her stomach discretely as her other arm laid on top of it to make it look more casual.

“And you’ve known for…?”

“6 weeks.” Belle finished off for him.

“Right, 6 weeks. So that’s, what? 2 chances that you’ve had to tell me? Well, 3 if you hadn’t avoided me last week.”

“I wasn’t avoiding-”

“Yes, you were!” Drew interrupted. “Is this why? Because you thought that I would find out?”

“No.” Belle shook her head, fighting the urge to either yell back or cry. She knew that neither of them would help the matter. She was the one in the wrong here; she couldn’t play the victim. “It was because I hated keeping it from you.”

“Who else knows?” He now asked her. She got the feeling that Drew was jumping from one thought to another, verbalising them as soon as they came to him, and with the guilt that she felt, she couldn’t not answer them.

“Mum, Irene and Roman.” Belle began, averting her eyes. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she knew how much worse it was going to be by telling him the full list of people who they had told.

“Nicole. Does your boyfriend know?” He carried on for her before his voice turned cynical.

“Of course he does!” She yelled, the anger finally getting to her. “We just didn’t want many people to know.”

“So you can tell her but you can’t tell me?” Drew asked her with an exaggerated air of interest.

“She’s Aden’s sister and best friend. They live together. It wasn’t going to be easy to hide from her.” Belle tried to explained, knowing that it didn’t work when he shook his head.

“Does that mean that your best friend and who you live with know too?” Although his words were probably sarcastic, Belle couldn’t lie to him anymore and her eyes flickered to the floor slowly. “Oh, so they do know! Wow, so much for not wanting many people to know.”

“Drew, it’s not like that.” Belle told him in a strained voice. “I had to tell them. Mattie’s helping with the wedding and being pregnant has it’s side effects.”

“You don’t think that I had a right to know?”

“I was going to tell you! When the time was right, I was going to tell you!” She corrected herself. “I knew you would take it the worst so I wanted to wait until I got everything else sorted before telling you.”

“Why would I take it the worst?” Drew questioned her defensively while she gave him a look that told him to be serious.

“Well, you’re not taking it well now, are you?” Belle retorted as he scowled at her.

“You know what I think?” He asked her rhetorically. “I think you didn’t tell me because you knew that I would say everything that everybody else was thinking but wasn’t saying.”

“What do you mean?” Her tone was careful as she swallowed, wary of his blank expression.

“C’mon, Belle. You’re far too young to have a kid. You’ve always been that fierce, independent girl who went out and got what she wanted, like her job.” Drew said pointedly.

“What makes you think this isn’t what I want?” Belle countered, standing up from where she stood when she realised that he had the advantage over her while she sat, not that standing did much of a different.

“You’re telling me that you always wanted a kid at 20? Not to mention getting married in a matter of weeks-” Drew abruptly stopped as a small smirk came upon his face. “Huh, so that’s why you’re getting married so soon.”

“It’s not like that.” Belle informed him quickly. “We’re not getting married just because of the baby.”

“Right, of course not.” He replied smugly. “Why would I ever think that for? Isn’t that why you don’t want others to find out?” She opened her mouth to say something, but shut it when she couldn’t form the words to tell him that it wasn’t their business. “Exactly. I know you well enough.”

“No, you don‘t.” Belle managed to choke out. “Look, why can’t you just be happy for me? Everyone else is. I am. We are.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll pretend to ignore the obvious fact that you are so not prepared to have a kid right now and act happy for you. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to change your life or anything.” Drew claimed deadpanned as she shook her head and removing her arms from around her waist to rub her temple. Belle knew that this automatic attack on her was mainly due to the fact that he was upset and he was doing his ‘male-pride’ thing and not letting it on, but it was taking all her effort to not snap at him and tell him to grow up and get over it.

“We can’t change things now.” She said with a sigh. “Not that I want to, anyway.”

“Sure.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Belle asked snappily. For some reason, it was his less detailed replies that angered her more than his explanations.

“Belle, just think about this for a second. You’re 20-”

“You’re not going to tell me anything that I haven’t already heard or not thought of, Drew!” She cut him off, but he chose to ignore her and carry on.

“-and right now, life might seem perfect, but I’m pretty sure in about 5 years or so, it won’t be. What if it doesn’t work out between the two of you?”

“Glad to see you’re still so sure about my relationship.” She said dryly with a roll of the eyes.

“I’m just saying; one day it’ll come out that this kid was a mistake and how do you think it’ll feel-”

“Whoa, a ‘mistake’?” Belle stopped him, her voice rising with fury above his to shut him up. “My child is not a mistake. Unplanned, maybe, but never for a second unwanted.”

“That’s putting it lightly.” He chuckled wryly at her words as she scowled at him.

“Drew, I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, but you were right. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you weren’t going to be nice about it, and that is more than I can handle right now.” She confessed, still seething from his earlier words although she tried her best to keep calm, reminding herself how bad it was for the baby to get stressed out. “Being pregnant, planning a wedding and moving into a new place is hard enough without you weighing down on me.”

“I’m just being honest, Belle.” Drew shrugged coolly, which only irritated her more.

“I don’t care. I know what I want and where I’m going with my life right now, so nothing you say can deter me from it.” She replied through gritted teeth.

“If you didn’t care, then why does it bother you do much?” He pointed out. “I’m not trying to make it harder for you. From my point of view, if my girlfriend told me she was pregnant, I can’t see myself sticking to it for the long run.”

“See, that’s the difference between you and Aden. He has a sense of responsibility.” Belle said in a matter-of-fact manner. “And this has nothing to do with Aden. If want to be mad, be mad at me. I really am sorry for not telling you at first; even Aden told me it was a bad idea. But do you not see why I didn’t tell you?”

“Yeah, because you knew I would tell you everything that would start to make you reconsider.” Drew replied calmly, aggravating her more.

“No!” She shouted. “Right, fine. I’m not doing this.”

“Belle-”

“No. I’m trying to apologize and show you just how bad I feel for not telling you, and for you finding out second hand, but you’re not making it easy. Like always. You always have to have the last word, plant that seed of doubt, which is just ridiculous because there is nothing for me to doubt!” The anger inside of her bubbled out and now that she had started to explain everything, she couldn’t stop, ever as her eyes burnt from blinking at irregular intervals to stop the tears from flowing.

“Obviously, there is, if it works.” Drew pointed out in a murmur that she managed to pick up on.

“There isn’t anything to doubt anymore.” She told him with confidence. “Nothing except whether or not you’ll accept that or not. And if you won’t, then you know where the door is.”

*End Flashback*

---

Aden pressed another kiss to the top of her head as she finished telling him the events of the day. He feel the tears slide out from the corner of her eyes even as she laid with her eyes shut now. Although he was fairly certain that Drew walking away wasn’t his way of saying that he wanted nothing to do with Belle, Aden was sure that she felt like that. Guilt passed through him when he thought about how all this was mainly due to the fact that the two of them despised each other.

Sighing, Aden waited until Belle’s breathing evened out and the tears dried before closing his eyes. It was close to 3:30am now, and he was glad that it was a Sunday the next day, especially as it meant that Drew would still be in the Bay.

---

I feel like I need to defend Drew and Belle here [esp Drew]. I would like to explain some more, but that would ruin the next chapter or so... so you'll have to wait!

I hope you enjoyed it.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

I've mentioned this once before in one of my reviews(can't remember where)but I only start feeling this strongly about the characters in a fic when I completely invested in the story. And you managed to do this with your stories.

Seriously Taniya one day I am going to stop boring you with my way too long posts.

Thank you and trust me when I say that your posts are not boring at all! I love hearing what everyone thinks about what I'm writing, especially if it's different to what I'm thinking, because that way I know that I'm doing something rights

Ok, so this is up early because I couldn't stop writing it and finished it really quickly.

Hope you like!

Chapter 22:

Opening the front door as quietly as he could, Aden slipped into the house and closed it just as silently, hoping that he wouldn’t get noticed. It was 9 in the morning and he had seen Roman heading to work as he returned back home and he had informed the younger guy that Belle had been up and about since 8.

He waited for a moment, dumping his bag behind the couch, to see if he could hear any movements in the house, hoping to be able to work out where Belle was, and where Nicole was too. He hadn’t seen her that morning, and seeing as it was a Sunday, he doubted she would be up until later. Aden just hoped that Belle hadn’t suffocated her in her sleep while both him and Roman were gone.

Following his stomach, Aden entered the kitchen, surprised to see the kettle steaming and the back doors open. As he wandered over to the patio, he could make out the figure that lazily strolled back up the lawn to the house as that of his girlfriend’s. Squinting in the morning light, Aden waiting until she approached him, holding a mug of hot chocolate in her hands and looking lost in thought until she finally noticed him. He could tell when it was that she had seen him; her lips pursed before frowning.

“Where did you go?”

“Nowhere. Just the gym.” Aden shrugged casually while tucking his hands into his jeans pockets.

“At 7 in the morning?” Belle asked him incredulously as he shrugged once again.

“I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to wake you, so I thought I’d go and do something productive.” He replied smoothly. “Roman said you’ve been up since 8. What’ve you been doing?”

“Throwing up.” She told him dryly, taking a sip of her drink as he cringed a bit.

“Sorry.” Belle brushed aside his words and just stared at him over the rim of her cup as she tried to figure him out. “What?”

“You don’t look particularly happy.”

“About you throwing up? Why should I be?” Aden asked in confusion as she rolled her eyes, which he could now see were slightly tinged red from the previous night.

“I meant about this morning.” When his eyebrows furrowed, Belle sighed. “I’m not stupid, Aden. I know you went to see Drew. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“Fine, yeah, I did.” He admitted, looking over her and into the distance of the back garden.

“And…?”

“He wasn’t there.”

“What?” Belle questioned in shock. That early in the morning, there wasn’t many places that Drew would have been that Aden wouldn’t have ran into him. “Where was he then?”

“Gone back to the city. Leah said he got a call first thing in the morning. Something about work.” He informed her, gauging her reaction, wondering whether she would believe that was the real reason for him leaving or not.

“I see.” She simply replied. “I guess it didn’t help that I practically told him to get lost last night.”

“Hey, c’mon, that wasn’t what you meant. I know that and I’m sure he does too. He shouldn’t have over-reacted.” Aden told her, placing a hand on her face to make her look at her while caressing her cheek with his thumb. “And he certainly shouldn’t have said that stuff.”

“No, I can’t blame him.” Belle sighed, moving closer to him slowly. “The first thing that Mum said when I told her not to tell Drew was that I was undermining him. God, I was so focused on how to make this easier for me, I didn’t even think about how it would hurt him!”

Instead of replying with words, Aden pulled her closer with an arm, wrapping it around her waist and rubbed her back comfortingly as she rested her head against his shoulder. He was glad that she was in better control of her emotions that morning, keeping her tears at bay. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to handle it; he hated seeing her cry especially when he knew there was nothing that he could do to change it.

“Have you had breakfast?” Aden asked her when she backed off after a few minutes.

“No, I wasn’t sure I could keep it down.” Belle said with a small smile that he reciprocated.

“What about now? Feeling better? Think you could handle something?”

“Yeah, maybe. If you’ll make it…” Her voice was sweet as she sipped her drink again, looking at him with clear, innocent eyes that always got to him.

“You were just waiting for me to come back and make you something, weren’t you?” Aden laughed. “You really are getting spoilt.”

“Am not.” Belle laughed a bit before shaking her head. “No, seriously, I wasn’t. I wasn’t even sure what state you’d come back in.”

“Like I would do anything that stupid.“ He scoffed, understanding what she meant. “Anyway, I could take Drew on anytime.“

“Let’s not test that out, please.“ She rolled her eyes at his claim as she perched on the edge of the bench.

“Alright, so what you up for eating?” Aden changed the subject back again. “You want me to make you some pancakes?”

“Uh…” The mention of that one word made her nauseous suddenly, and she frowned, wondering what it was that was turning her off pancakes all of a sudden. She had been eating them up to a couple of days ago. “No, just some toast would do. Still feeling a bit off.”

“Ok, I’ll go get you some. Stay here; the fresh air will do you good.” He advised her, stroking her hair gently while she nodded, before leaving her there and going back into the kitchen to get started on it.

As soon as Aden stepped into the kitchen, he knew that he wouldn’t be alone down there for long. The patter of footsteps upstairs stole his attention as he prepared Belle’s breakfast on autopilot. They were so light that he wondered if Nicole was planning on running straight out of the door before they saw her.

Sighing, he tried to focus on the job at hand. He knew that Nicole was probably feeling bad about what she did, but that wasn’t what got to him the most. It was mainly the fact that she hadn’t bothered to tell him that hurt him. They were supposed to be best friends and this was something important. If she could tell him about her relationship problems that he had no advise for, then surely she could have told him this. But, from the way Roman acted that morning, it was clear she hadn’t even told him.

Aden put the four slices of bread into the toaster before turning to replace the items that he wouldn’t need back into the fridge. When he shut the door, he saw Nicole standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking over at him as she debated what to do. He stared at her for a moment with a raised eyebrow as she sighed and walked over while he went back to the counter.

“I’m guessing that you know.” Nicole said in a rarely heard soft and shy voice. At his lack of response she carried on. “I’m sorry, Aden. It was a slip of the tongue. I thought he knew. He’s her family, so I thought he knew.”

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday when you came home?” He asked her in a cold tone that she hadn’t heard being directed to her in far too long.

“I don‘t know.” She looked at the floor as he faced her. “I thought that you would either had been mad at me, or that there was the off chance that Drew wouldn’t say anything.”

“So you would rather save your own skin than let me know that you did something wrong? Something that you know that I would want to know?” Aden’s voice was low, but the anger in it wasn’t hidden in the least.

“I’m sorry, Aden.” Tears brimmed her eyes as she realised that her tactics were extremely wrong. “I didn’t know he would react badly either.” At his perplexed look, she sighed and began to blush when she realised that she might have just let on something that he needn’t know. “I heard you two talking last night.”

“You were spying?”

“No! I was wondering who it was. I swear, I let as soon as I saw that it was Belle.” Nicole reassured him. She watched him carefully as he just shook his head and got the toast out of the toaster as they popped up. “I’m really sorry, Aden.”

“Yeah, I know. But you still should have told me.” He sighed.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked him in a sad voice when he just looked at her.

“I dunno.” Aden ran a hand through his hair. He honestly didn’t know. The last time he had been angry at her was when she had attacked Belle and gotten jealous about the two of them spending time together, and that was over 2 years ago. “Look, I’m more worried about Belle now, so I’ll deal with you- with this later, ok?”

“Yeah, ok.” Nicole replied quickly, her tone a bit more happier and confident than before. “I’m heading over to-” She broke off when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eyes, seeing Belle lean against the patio doorframe. She looked over at Aden, who had finally seen what it was that had caused her to stop abruptly, before looking back at the other girl.

“Unlike Aden, I’ll deal with you now.” Belle told her, making her way over into the kitchen as Nicole remained near to the other exit.

“Belle, I am really sorry-” She began in a truly apologetic voice.

“Where do you get off telling people my business?” Belle practically snapped at her while Nicole bit her lip in shame.

“I thought Drew already knew. He’s your stepbrother. I didn’t know that you hadn’t told him.” Nicole tried to reason.

“Well, you thought wrong. Aden told you exactly who knew. But no, out of all the people you had to go shooting your mouth off to, it had to be the one person who was left that I wanted to tell myself!”

“I’m sorry-” Nicole tried to apologize again, but was interrupted by Belle once again.

“’Sorry’ doesn’t fix things, Nicole! Maybe you should learn how to keep your mouth shut and think before you let things spill instead of having to apologize all the time!” She retorted while taking a dangerous step closer to the blonde, who in turn took one away. Although she had said that she wasn’t scared of Belle, Nicole was sure that she hadn’t seen her this pissed off before, especially not at her, and that did scare her.

“I made a mistake, Belle.” She tried again. “An honest to God, innocent mistake.”

“Like you know the meaning of ‘innocent’!” Belle remarked harshly. She knew that the words were mean and she saw them have an effect on the teenager as her face showed her guilt and her eyes avoided hers at all costs, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“Belle…” Aden murmured warningly, stepping up behind her and resting a hand on her back.

“No, it’s true. What were you even thinking talking about it in the Diner? What if someone else had heard?” She continued when Nicole made no action to even defend herself or reply other than to keep staring downwards.

“Ok, calm down.” Aden whispered into her hair while rubbing her back slowly, knowing that stress wasn’t good for her or the baby. “Nic, maybe you should go.”

Nicole looked up at them, seeing Belle turned away from her slightly and gave Aden a grateful look for letting her get out of there. She didn’t need to be told twice, rushing out of the room and out of the front door without even stopping for anything.

“Belle, you need to try and stop getting so worked up. It’s not good for either of you.” He told her softly as she shook off his hand and walked over to the table, leaning against one of the chairs.

“She told him, Aden. She told him and didn’t even bother to give us a heads up. And she thinks that apologizing will make it better?” She ignored what he said, crossing her arms in a defensive manner as he continued with making breakfast.

“No, Nicole doesn’t think that. She honestly feels bad.” Aden said calmly even as he felt Belle shoot daggers to the back of his head. “And yelling at her, or even killing her in the end, won’t make anything better either.”

“It’ll sure as Hell make me feel better.”

“Belle,” He began as he brought over a plate with the toast over to the table as they both sat down. “Is there a chance that you’re just conveying all of your anger over at Nicole rather than at yourself?”

“No, I’m angry at that de facto sister of yours because she doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut, or what it means to keep a secret. Not to mention thinking about other people’s feelings.” She countered, taking an aggressive bite out of her toast. “And don’t use your stupid psychology theories on me.”

“I’m not.” Aden insisted, holding back a smile while reaching over for her free hand and pulling it up to press a kiss against the back of her hand. “But it’s all done now. You can’t change anything, and I think that Nic’s learnt her lesson. I don’t think she’ll be mentioning the baby for a long time now, regardless who she’s with.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that Drew’s mad at me.” Belle sighed, dropping her food onto her plate.

“I know, babe, but he’ll come around in time.” Aden told her. “And he should be feeling bad too. He shouldn’t have said most of that stuff.”

“It wasn’t aimed at the baby, it was just a way to make me understand how betrayed he felt.” She explained before leaning forwards in her chair. “But what can I do now?”

“Whatever you want, Belle.” He answered her rhetorical question. “I’ve finished off my assignment last night, which means I’m all yours for the day. Fancy going shopping again?”

---

“Are you sure, Belle? I mean, don’t you think some space right now is a good idea?” Aden commented as he drove them to the city. They were almost there and Belle had made her request to go to Amanda’s and see Drew. “And isn’t he working?”

“No, he’ll be done by now.” She replied knowingly. “I don’t want to leave it for too long. We’re in the city now, and who knows when the next time will be. At least this way, we don’t dwell on it. I just want to clear it all up.”

“He should be the one apologizing and coming to see you, not the other way around.” He stated aggressively as Belle place a hand on top of the one that rested on her leg.

“Aden, please? Just drop me off there and you can go into the city. You don’t have to come.” She tried to reason.

“If you’re going, then I want to be there too. I’m not going to let him talk to you like that again.”

“No, Aden, if you’re going to be like that, then I don’t want to be there.” He turned to look at her quickly, scepticism written all over his face. “You being there will just make it more tense. This is between Drew and me. I don’t want you to get involved. It won’t help any matters.”

“Seeing as it’s about our baby, I’d say I’m already involved.” Aden said snappily and she felt his hand become rigid under hers.

“Mum will most probably be there, anyway, so nothing’s going to happen. I really just want to talk to him and sort this out. I can’t stand the thought of him thinking that I meant to hurt him, or that I don’t want him a part of my life anymore, because I do. I really do-” Belle’s voice cracked as tears threatened to spring to her eyes. Glancing over at her, Aden sighed in defeat.

“Alright, ok.” He gave in as she rubbed her eyes, a telltale sign for him to stop arguing with her if he didn’t want her to cry. Squeezing her leg gently, he nodded. “Do you want me to drop you off? Or do you want to take the car?”

“Either.” Belle shrugged as she tried to relax herself, pulling down the sun blocker to look at her reflection in the mirror that was up there.

“I’ll drop you off.” Aden suggested. “Give me a call when you’re done and I’ll pick you up.”

“I can walk it, Aden.” She said exasperatedly.

“I know you can, but I’d rather you didn’t.” He told her. “Look, I’m giving you this, so the least you can do is give me that.”

“Fine. But it‘ll be a while, so go do something!” Belle joked lightly as he chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t you worry about me. I’ve got stuff to take care of. And no,” He quickly added before she could get a word out. “I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

---

“Hey.” She called out quietly as she leant against the kitchen doorjamb. Amanda had opened the front door even before she had gotten out of the car and they had had a brief chat, where Belle had told her that she would fill her in on everything later. Her mother had then made herself scarce, going into the other room downstairs so that she was still nearby just in case.

Drew looked at her over his shoulder as he made himself lunch, not that surprised to see her, considering that Amanda had literally yelled out her name when she had spotted her.

“More wedding planning?” He asked tonelessly as he got back to his job.

“No. Not today.” She replied as she went over to the table.

“Then what?”

“I wanted to talk.” Belle answered slowly. “To you. About yesterday.”

“I thought you wanted me to get lost?” Drew said, his voice still bare of all emotions.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“You gave me two options-”

“And you chose the one that I didn’t want.” She pointed out before taking a breath. “I’m not here to argue. I wish you hadn’t left this morning without telling me.”

“What? So now I have to check in with you?” He snapped at her as he turned to face her. “Call when I come to the Bay, or when I have to leave, even when you‘re avoiding me?”

“No, Drew, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Nothing you ever do or say is ever what you meant, is it?” He replied harshly. “You didn’t mean to tell me to leave last night, you didn’t mean to keep your pregnancy from me, you didn’t mean for me to find out from someone else. The list could go on and on.”

“Drew, I’m really, really sorry for not telling you when I told everyone else.” Belle tried to brush his words aside, reminding herself that he had every right to be mad. “I don’t blame you for being angry or hurt by it, but I don’t want to leave it like that. I don’t want you to think that I wanted to leave you out of the loop.”

“But you obviously did.” He said in a more casual tone as he took a seat at the table. Belle copied his actions and sat opposite him, hoping that this stance would make it easier for the two of them to talk. “Why, Belle? Why is it that out of everyone, you kept me in the dark?”

“It’s not like that.” She assured him. “I was going to tell you before we told everyone else, before it became obvious.”

“But…?” Drew prompted her, leaning back in his seat and leaving the sandwich that he had made in front of him, his attention now all on her. He watched as she fought for the right words. Her hands fiddled on the table, twisting her engagement ring around and around her finger in a nervous habit. She chewed on her bottom lip while thinking it all through and her eyes were focused on the chair to his right, or to her left. Drew sat silently, waiting for her to speak.

As he did so, he took in her appearance, trying to note any differences that he could have noticed. He had never understood what they had meant when they said that pregnant women had a ‘maternal glow’ about them, and when he looked at Belle, he still didn’t get it. Sure, it could have been because she was looking away from him, or because her expression was one of intense thought, but she looked no different to ever before. Except for the fact that her smile had disappeared along with that bright glint she usually had in her eyes, both of which were to do with their current predicament. He had noticed that she wore her usual style of clothes, a black and white top under her denim jacket and her jeans, with white pumps on her feet. Obviously her figure hadn’t changed much yet, the reason why she hadn’t told him yet. Or at least, a reason that gave her time to tell him.

“But,” Belle finally spoke. There had only been less than a minute’s hesitation, however it had felt longer to the two of them. “I was scared.”

“Scared of what?” Drew asked her curiously.

“Of telling you. Of how you would react.” She clarified as he stared at her in disbelief along with the confusion that still remained. “Telling Mum, Roman and Irene was easy because I knew that they would accept it. We were happy with it, so they were too. Geoff and Annie were the same, and they’ve never had something like this to look forward to, so they’re excited. Nicole and Mattie were the easiest to tell because they’re our best friends and would support us no matter what. But with you,” Belle swallowed, choosing her words carefully so not to sound accusing. “With you, I was scared because you never hold back on what you’re thinking. And when I told Mum, I’ll admit that I was still getting my head around it. You were right yesterday; I’ve always gone after my job. And then there was this and I had some worries, and I knew that if I told you then, you would be the first and the only one to actually voice what I was thinking, and I couldn‘t handle that.”

Drew sat silently, eyeing her and taking into account every word and movement she made. He didn’t miss the fact that she was thinking each word through before she said them or how her hand had slipped down under the table, presumably onto her abdomen, when she confessed about being in two minds about the baby. Her eyes hadn’t met his once, bouncing from the chair to the table to the plate in front of them. They got close to his eyes but a second later they were gone again.

“I was scared that if I heard someone tell me everything that I had been thinking, then I wouldn’t be able to fight those feelings anymore. You’re the only one who can tell what I’m thinking at times.” Belle finally looked up at him with glistening eyes. “Well, apart from Aden. But I knew that you weren’t one to sugar-coat anything or to reassure me that everything would work out for the best this way.”

“Does this mean that you actually thought about… not having the baby?” Drew finally spoke up, shock clearly colouring his words. That was soon gone as Belle shook her head.

“No. It might have flitted through my head once, but never again.”

“I would never have said-” He started to tell her in a voice full of honesty and disgust as he leant forwards in his chair again.

“I know. I didn’t mean- I wasn’t saying that you would have told me to get rid of it.” Belle corrected herself. “But you would probably be the only one who would have brought it up. Impartial advise.” She laughed lightly as he chuckled a bit. “Aden was there when I found out that I was pregnant, so I never had that dilemma of having to find the perfect time to tell him, or wondering whether this was what he wanted or if he’d be happy or not. So I guess that fell to you. I mean, over the past couple of years, we’ve become close. Closer than ever before, I think. You’re more than just a friend; you really are like a brother to me, and I really was terrified with how you were going to react. I know it sounds so clichéd; the little sister telling her big brother that she’s pregnant…”

“So you admit that I’m the elder one then?” Drew joked. Even though he was older than her, she always argued that it didn’t count if she acted older than him.

“Yes, you can have that.” She giggled, sniffling a bit, glad that her tears were starting to receded. “Drew, I was thinking about myself more than I was thinking about how much it would hurt you.” Belle carried on, still being careful with her words. “I wanted it to be easy, and unfortunately, right then that meant not telling you. It wasn’t your fault, it was mine. I should have either told you straight out or not told anyone else. And I really didn‘t want you to find out from Nicole, of all people.”

Nodding, he took in her words. There was no way that he could remain mad at her; it was pretty understanding why she hadn’t told him. Even he himself knew what a jerk he could be when it came to things between her and Aden, although most of the time it was to wind her up.

“I’m sorry for saying that your baby was a mistake.” Drew apologized, remembering the one thing that he had regretted saying as soon as he had left the house. “I know that you wouldn’t treat a child like that. And being unplanned isn’t such a bad thing either. I mean, you turned out ok.”

“You’re one to speak.” Belle scoffed. “At least my mother didn’t use the money from my dad to send me to a boarding school so she wouldn’t have to deal with me.”

“No, your grandmother just sold you off to another family instead.” Drew quipped back. Although the whole subject was a sensitive matter, it was only when they chided each other playfully that it was brought up.

“Wow, we were some unloved kids.” She said in a tone of realisation as he just smiled ruefully. “I guess it’s a good thing that this kid will have a lot of people out there for it…” She left the end of the sentence open hoping that he would take the hint.

“Yeah, although if it’s a boy, I’m going to have to teach it how to do proper guy stuff, like fix up cars and stuff. Not the stuff that that boyfriend of yours would probably try to teach it.” Drew rolled his eyes mockingly. “Mind you, he would probably just buy the kid the car rather than let him fix one up.”

“Don’t be mean.” Belle reprimanded with a subtle smile, glad he was coming around. “Aden will be a good father.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Let’s see about that, shall we?” He dismissed easily. “You as a mother though… whoa. I dunno whether to laugh right now or wait for a couple of years down the line and call child services.”

“Oi!” She yelled, giving him a swift slap to the side of his head, reaching over with ease.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Clearly, you would be a great mother.” Drew said, earnestly.

“Thank you.” Belle replied smugly. “Seriously, though, are we ok? Because I am sorry, and I wish I could take it back. I should have thought about it properly and considered-”

“Belle, it’s ok.” He interrupted her gently. “Just promise me that next time, you’ll tell me first.”

“’Next time’?” She asked in disbelief with both the fact that he was considering that her and Aden might just last and that she was planning on having another baby. “Let me have this one first, alright?”

“Alight.” Drew chuckled. “So, in a month you’ll be married and in 7 you’ll be a mother. Times are changing.”

“Yes, they are.” Belle agreed, a smile on her face as she sat back in her seat, the heavy feeling that had been weighing on her now finally gone. Things were certainly changing and they were all for the better.

---

Yay, they made up

Right, so now that the drama's out of the way, there's only one thing left...

Hope you enjoyed it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Are we going to find out what Aden had to do?

Oooohhh I wonder what Aden was doing in the city??

Yup, you will. But not for a little while...

I just realised that I said that you wouldn't find out for a while, but there is a major clue in this chapter. It's not that big of a deal, lol, so I thought I would just let you know.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It is mainly a filler and some fluff stuff. And it's dedicated to LAURZY!. She knows why...

Chapter 23:

Geoff groaned as he slumped down onto the couch at the opposite end to where Belle sat. She looked over at him from the book that rested on her lap, wondering if she should make a comment or not. Smirking a bit, she decided that it was too good to not ask.

“How did it go?” She asked sweetly. With only three weeks until the wedding remaining now, Belle had been instructed to send the boys to get their suits sorted out for it. She had placed all her trust in Aden, knowing that his sense of appropriate clothing was quite good, and with Roman there too, she was sure nothing could go that wrong.

“Fine.” He mumbled, slouching down in the sofa even more.

“Then why do you look like you’re at death’s door?” Geoff looked over at her with a dark look before pushing himself up in his seat and twisting a bit to face her.

“I mean this in a loving way, Belle, ok?” He started as she raised an eyebrow. “But what were you taking when you thought that I would enjoy spending a day out with Aden?”

“Geoff!” She laughed at his words. “It wasn’t my decision. Mum and Mattie said that it would be best for you all to go together. Besides, it can’t have been that bad.”

“Did you tell him about Nic and I getting back together?” He questioned her slowly. He had told her in strict confidence about it only a couple of days ago.

“Nope, but she did.” Belle replied with a dry tone.

“You do know that she’s been avoiding this place for a reason, right?” Geoff pointed out as Belle went back to the name book open in her lap. It had been a week since Nicole had told Drew about the baby and Belle hadn’t spoken to her since, and had hardly seen her. She wasn’t that mad at her anymore, but making her sweat about it was fun.

“Yeah, so?”

“Don’t you think it’s about time to, you know… forgive her or something?” He tried in a polite voice.

“I’ll think about it.” Belle simply said, dropping the subject of Nicole. “So what did Aden do to make you question my mental stability?”

“Nothing really. He was just being a jerk and making quips about Nic and I.” Geoff sighed as she laughed. “Glad you find it so funny.”

“Sorry, but you must’ve been expecting it! You know what Aden’s like at times.” She told him with amusement lining her words. “Don’t worry about it. Whatever he said, he was just teasing. I’ll have a word with him if you want.”

“No, that’s ok. I get it.” Geoff slumped down in his seat once again, before leaning forward and plucking the book out of her lap. “Baby names? Already?”

“Yeah, why not?” Belle shrugged. “Never be too prepared.”

“Shouldn’t you be preparing for the wedding first though?” He asked her innocently while flicking through the book.

“Had enough of wedding stuff this week. I think most of it’s done anyway.” She informed him. Her and Aden had picked out their wedding rings on the Sunday when she had spoken to Drew. It hadn’t taken long seeing as Aden had already had a couple in mind for her, and she had loved the first one straight away. It was a white gold band with clear diamonds lining it most of the way around. There was a small gap at the front where the spiral of her engagement ring would rest so that the two rings fitted together perfectly. For him, they chose a ring that only matched hers by the fact that it was also white gold. Other than that, the simple design on it and the gold lining of either side made it look at like wedding ring rather than a casual one.

“Really? Already?” Geoff’s tone was full of shock.

“That’s what happens when you get Amanda and Mattie to do everything for you.” She giggled. Over the past week, they had practically done everything. From inviting people to flowers to sorting out the stuff for the reception, all that Belle had to do was help choose and approve and the other two did the rest. Somehow, choosing to have the wedding so soon made it that much less stressful for her. All she had to worry about was whether everything would work out in the end, and that there would be no delays or any mistakes. “I’m learning to manage my duties. If there’s something that someone else can do for me, then they can do it.”

“What about the house stuff?”

“Done most of it.” Belle said with a sigh of relief. Most of the shopping had ended up being done online. She had given in to Aden’s moaning and told him that he could be in charge of the ‘fun stuff’, as he put it. In other words, anything that didn’t involve furniture, but rather technology, such as a TV and a sounds system and the whole load. That had kept him happy and stopped her from wanting to throttle him. “Now it’s the setting it up part. But we can’t do that for at least a week.”

“Wow, sounds like everything’s working out good.” Geoff commented as he found a folded up piece of paper at the front of the book. “What’s this?”

“Just a list of names that we kind of like at the moment.” She replied, running a hand through her hair as she rested her head against the back of the couch. She had her legs pulled up and curled under her, taking advantage of a quiet house on the Saturday evening.

Geoff nodded at her words before unfolding the paper. On one side there was the word ‘Girls’ written at the top in big handwriting and on the other there was the word ‘Boys’. He could guess by the scrawling that it was probably Aden who had done it as he knew Belle’s handwriting and it wasn’t messy at all. He turned the paper from one side to another slowly before looking at Belle sceptically.

“Why are there more girls names than boys?” He questioned, showing her the sides as he spoke.

“Because Aden’s convinced that it’s a girl. And there are actually more girls names that fit the criteria than boys.” Belle informed him matter-of-factly, leaning over to the coffee table to get the packet of cookies she had been eating. They had been pre-approved by Irene for her to eat when she had sarcastically asked if it was ok for her to eat it, considering it had chocolate in it.

“What are the criteria’s, exactly?” Geoff asked her, skimming down the list, not sure what to make of them.

“Something not so common or that’s a word too.” She told him. “Oh, and nothing named after us.”

“Isn’t ‘Arabella’ kind of like your name?” He read off one of the names on the list, stuck in between ‘Marissa’ and ‘Sierra’.

“That’s just to keep Aden happy. I swear, that boy can argue something till no end.” Belle remarked with a roll of the eyes. “But with 7 more months, and a whole lot of other names, I’m sure he’ll forget about it soon.”

Geoff merely nodded again and continued to read the additional names. As he did so, he began to see the pattern of the names. Names such as ‘Carmel‘ and ‘Rylee‘ weren‘t common at all, as were the other names such as ‘Michaela’ and ‘Kayci’, all of which also were not words. Then there were names that he had never heard of before, such as ‘Tahnae’. He began to wonder whether some of these names were just on the list because of Aden or Belle’s stubbornness, knowing what the two of them were like when they wouldn’t back down from an idea, no matter how ridiculous it was.

“’Taylor’?” Geoff said in shock. Not only was that a word, but it was also naming it after Belle.

“Another one of Aden’s bright ideas.” She mumbled as she stretched her legs out a bit while shuffling down the sofa, trying to avoid kicking Geoff by making slow movements as she placed her feet on the edge of his seat. “Somehow, I don’t see it happening.”

“Are you changing your name? I mean, are you taking Aden‘s last name?” The thought had just came to him. Although it was probably a really minor that wouldn’t really affect him much, he couldn’t see Belle as anything other than ‘Belle Taylor’.

“Adding it on.” Belle said plainly while fishing out another cookie and taking a bite of it as he looked at her in confusion, not sure what she meant. “As in ‘Taylor’ becoming my middle name.”

“Oh, right.” He saw her roll her eyes at him while finishing off her cookie, but decided not to say anything about it. Instead, he looked back down at the list of girls’ names in his hands. There were many more on that list that Geoff couldn’t be bothered to take in as he turned the paper over to look at the 3 boys names on there. “’Nate’, ‘Malachi’ and ‘Tyler’?”

“Urgh, cross that last one off.” Belle grumbled, finding him a pen and handing it over to him, shortening the list to two. “It’s too popular.”

“It’s not really.” Geoff countered before hearing her scoff, doing as she asked anyway. “Never mind. You know, ‘Malachi‘ is a biblical name.”

“I know; it says so in the book.” She pointed out with a smile. “Guess who suggested it.”

“Annie?”

“Hmm…” Belle confirmed, digging out another cookie. “It was one of her good suggestions.”

“As opposed to…?” He trailed off, a hint of amusement in his voice as if he already had an inkling.

“Basically anything that was remotely close to ‘Annie’. Oh, and ‘Annabelle’ because it’s a mix of two names!” She said in a fake enthusiasm and shook her head gently. “Then I made her move onto male names, seeing as I’m the only one at the moment who seems to remember that the baby could be either.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t mention ‘Laura’.” Geoff murmured distractedly as he folded the paper back up and replaced it at the front of the book before turning to the back of the book and going through it backwards. “It’s her favourite name.”

“Yeah?”

“Yup. I don’t know where she got it from, but she went through this phase years back where she called all her dolls ‘Laura’. Even went as far as having an imaginary friend called ‘Laura’, and I’m pretty sure she went a week where she would only respond to us calling her that.” He laughed, looking over at his foster sister. “It’s pretty funny if you think about it.”

“Yeah, it is.” Belle giggled, trying to imagine a younger Annie. “I just can’t see Annie having an imaginary friend.”

“I think that surprised us all.” Geoff recalled, laughing and shaking his head again. “Right, so I’m guessing ‘Laura’ is out of the question for you?”

“As much as I love that name, I don’t think I could do that to Annie.” She tried to sound earnest, but the smile on her face ruined it.

“I’m sure she’d get over it.” He argued, a smirk on his face. “Anyway, I think you need some more boy names.”

“I know!” Belle moaned, dropping a hand onto her abdomen. “I’ll bet you anything it’ll be a boy and we won’t have chosen a good name for it.”

“Well, you know, I have no objections to naming the baby ‘Geoffrey’ or anything along those lines.” Geoff told her seriously as she just snorted in laughter.

“You keep on dreaming. I’m not naming this kid after anyone, least of all you.”

“Hey! I deserve some credit!” He yelled with a look of hurt on his face.

“For what, exactly?” Belle asked, laughing gently.

“For starters, not complaining about your mood swings. And then there’s the whole coffee issue.” Geoff reminded her as she bit her bottom lip in guilt.

“Tough.” She simply replied. “You’ll miss me when I’m gone.”

“Miss getting my head bitten off first thing every morning? Or having to walk half-dead to the Diner just for a coffee?” He scoffed. “Sure. I’m going to miss you heaps.”

“Well, if that’s how it is, then you just shove off.” Belle replied through gritted teeth, pushing him away with her feet as he yelped in pain. “Serves you right!”

“Aw, Belle, I was kidding.” Geoff told her quickly, hoping that she wasn’t really mad at him. He knew that Belle was sarcastic a lot of the time, but with her recent yo-yoing of moods, it didn’t help him with trying to figure her out. “Of course I’m going to miss you. Although it’s not like you’re moving that far.”

“So that means you can’t miss me?”

“No, that’s not what I meant-” He said hastily, a look of worry cross his face as she cut him off with another push to his legs.

“Just say you’re going to miss me, and-”

“I’m going to miss you.” Geoff didn’t wait for the rest of her sentence, saying what she had told him to say without any hesitation, although his truly meant what he said.

“Good.” Belle smiled sweetly as she reached over and took the book off of him and leant back again. “Because I’m not going to miss you one bit.”

---

The tinkling of her wind chimes brought a small smile to Belle’s face as she turned over on her bed, waiting for Aden to climb through her window. She wasn’t disappointed, only having to wait a couple of seconds before seeing him throw a gift bag through first before climbing through with ease.

“Hey, did I wake you?” He asked her quietly, even as she shook her head and pushed herself up.

“No, I was just thinking.” Belle smiled. Looking at the time, she realised that she must have been lost in thought for about an hour or so. She was still dressed in her day’s clothes and laying on top of her covers.

“About?” Aden slipped off his shoes and sat on the edge of her bed, leaning over her carefully as she got herself comfortable against the pillows.

“This and that.” She replied cheekily. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Alright… if you say so.”

“How did it all go today? And what’s in the bag?” Belle pointed over at the bag that still laid on the room, although he had pulled it closer to the bed. “I thought we agreed on no more unnecessary presents.”

“You can’t say it’s unnecessary when you haven’t even looked at it.” Aden laughed, pulling the bag onto his lap. “But yeah, today went good.”

“All sorted?”

“Yup. All done. Unlike you girls with your dresses, we get our stuff done in a day.” He teased as she hit him gently with a pillow before bringing it to rest besides her.

“We’re almost done, too.” She informed him. “So what’s it like? Nothing horrible, I hope.”

“Ah, you’ll just have to wait and see. If I have to wait to find out about your dress, then you’ll have to wait to find out about my suit.” Aden told her seriously as she pouted, not liking his reasoning.

“It’s bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding. There’s nothing about the other way around, though.” Belle tried even as he just raised an eyebrow and shook his head in amusement.

“Do you really want to risk it?”

“Fine, I’ll wait.” She sighed, reaching out for the bag on his lap instead. “Is this for me, then?”

“Yup. Well, kind of.” Aden corrected himself, pushing the bag towards her as she peeked inside and took out the contents. No matter how many times she argued with him about spoiling her and buying her stuff, she could never resist them.

“Another book?” Belle asked in disbelief as she got a vague look at it. It was only when Aden urged her to look at it properly that she saw what it really was. “A scrap book?”

“I thought that we should have something to keep a proper record of everything to do with the baby.” He explained, skimming a hand over her stomach delicately. “It’s better than a shoe box, right?”

“Yeah, that it is.” She said in slight awe while opening the book. It was a decent size in a square cut. The cover was cream coloured, and Belle was glad that Aden had decided to go for a gender neutral colour, rather than pink, in case he was wrong. Inside, there were many pages, each separated by tissue paper. The gold design around the edges made it look much more elegant, yet gave it that touch that said that it was meant to be a scrapbook for a baby and the younger years. “It’s gorgeous. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Aden replied with his smile, glad that she was so happy with it. “I was hoping that you wouldn’t have already made one or something.”

“If I had, I would have told you.” Belle insisted. “Besides, I never thought of anything like this.”

“It’s no biggie.” He shrugged modestly, running his hands over her legs to make it out like it was nothing much.

“But it’s the little things that count. And that I keep forgetting.” She giggled while closing the scrap book and pushed herself away from the headrest to get up off the bed.

“Hey, where’re you going?”

“I want to get started on this.” Belle claimed, tapping the book by her side.

“I’m sure that can wait until tomorrow, don’t you?” Aden asked suggestively as she leant back again while he changed his position on her bed so that he could press his lips against hers in one smooth action. She giggled slightly at his forthright motions before pulling him closer, the laughter dying in her throat as their kisses deepened while his hands found their way under her top. The broke apart, gasping for breath, when Belle lifted his shirt over his head.

“Was the book a ploy to get me into bed?” Her voice was husky and accusing, although it didn’t sound disappointed at all.

“Of course not.” Aden replied with a smirk, trailing kisses over her collar. “Like I need a book to get you into bed with me.”

“That just sounded so wrong.” Belle laughed as he got rid of her top, looking down at her with narrowed eyes and a small smile.

“Shut up.”

---

“There’s something I’ve been meaning on telling you, actually.” Aden spoke up as they laid in her bed.

“What’s that?” Belle questioned in a quiet whisper, watching her fingers play around with his chain as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Um… there’s this thing happening in a couple of weeks up the coast that I kind of have to go to as part of my course.” He began carefully, wanting to tell her the stuff that she wouldn’t stress about first.

“Oh, ok.” She murmured, a crease coming across her forehead as she thought it through. “For just the day or…?”

“No, two days.”

“Right. Well, I guess if it’s for your course, then you should go.” Belle told him, looking up at him slowly. “When is it exactly?

“The week before we get the two weeks off.” Aden replied quickly, keeping his eyes on her and waiting for her reaction.

“You mean the week before the wedding?” She asked in shock, pushing herself up a bit. “What days?”

“Wednesday until Friday.” He closed his eyes finally as she sat straight up, knowing exactly what was coming.

“The day before the wedding?” Belle exclaimed as he nodded slowly, opening his eyes to see her angry expression. “Are you kidding me?”

“Look, I’ll go on the Wednesday morning and I’ll be back by Friday afternoon at the latest.” He tried to reassure her, pulling her a bit closer to him, glad when she didn’t fight him. “It’s not like I’m going to miss my own wedding.”

“Aden, don’t you think you’re cutting it pretty close? What if-?”

“No ‘what if’s.” He hushed her. “Everything should be sorted by then, right?”

“I guess so…” Belle trailed off, still thinking it all over.

“Belle, if you don’t want me to go, then I won’t, ok? All you have to do is say the word, and I’ll stay right here.” Aden held a hand to her face, making sure that she understood that what he was saying was in absolute sincerity.

“So it’s not compulsory?” She asked him in confusion.

“No, just really recommended.” He informed her, stroking her cheek tenderly as she closed her eye briefly and leaned into his touch.

“You promise that you’ll be back in time?” Belle made sure.

“I promise.”

“I’m not going to stop you from going, Aden. I mean, I wish it was most probably any other week than that, but if you say that you’ll be back-”

“I’ll be back with time to spare. I’m not going to miss my own wedding.” Aden repeated, smiling as she did so, finally relaxing into him.

“Alright.” She sighed deeply. “So, was the book a bribe to get me to give in?”

“No.” Aden chuckled, sweeping back her hair slowly. “The book was something that I bought on the whim today. Getting you into bed, however, was a way to keep you happy and give in.”

“Thanks, Aden. You sure know how to make a girl feel special.” Belle quipped dryly, wrapping her arms around his waist as her eyes began to feel heavy.

“Ah, you love it.” He remarked, glancing down at her when she made no witty remark only to see her eyes shut yet with a ghost of a smile on her lips. Tightening his arms around her, Aden pressed a kiss to the top of her head. In 3 weeks they would be married and probably jetting off for their honeymoon. Well, most probably not, seeing as he had gotten it all sorted out now and their flights weren’t for the morning after. He knew that she would give him a bit of grief with his destination choice, having promised her not to take her out of the country for another few years, but he knew that it was all going to be worth it if he could call her his wife.

---

Um... not much to say except I really do hope you liked it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you all for you're lovely, lovely comments.

Aden missing the wedding? Would I do that to you guys?! Or to Belle, even... or Aden for that matter!

Anyway, these upcoming chapters are gonna be light and fluffy, building up to the wedding. I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 23:

Mattie and Belle scowled as they re-entered the front room of the latter’s new house. They had been sorting out the kitchen, arranging the stuff that had been already bought while making a list of things that was missing. The place had been cleared off all the dust by a cleaner and the back lawn had been done by a gardener. It had been a surprise for Belle when Aden had told her that he had gotten it sorted out earlier that week. With two weeks until the wedding left, they had been glad that everything was starting to fall into place now.

“You’re supposed to be helping!” Belle snapped as they spotted Ric and Aden lounging on the couches that had also been delivered, flicking through the TV channels.

“We are!” Ric defended them, stopping when he found a sports channel. “We’re making sure that the TV works.”

“Oh, wow.” Mattie said sarcastically. “Well, it looks like it does, so get up.”

“I think it needs some fine tuning.” Aden replied seriously as Belle sat on the armrest next to him. “What do you think?”

“That I’m regretting letting you choose the TV.” She sighed, eyeing the 47 inch widescreen hanging on the wall.

“Tough.” He laughed at her cringing as Ric turned the volume up to see how the sounds system worked. “You’ve got to admit; it’s really neat.”

“It’s alright.”

“It’s too big.” Mattie agreed, standing next to Belle as the two of them shared a smile.

“When you’ve got the space, you use it.” Ric informed them, before adding under his breath as they rolled their eyes simultaneously. “Girls.”

“What was that?” Belle asked him testily, giving him a dangerous look as the other two laughed.

“Nothing.” He replied hurriedly even as she continued to give him a dark look, only to be saved by Mattie out of pity.

“Belle, we should get going, otherwise we’re going to be late. We need to go pick Annie up too, and you know how Amanda gets when we’re late.”

“Not just Amanda.” Belle muttered so that only Aden was able to hear it. He patted her leg sympathetically although he didn’t wish to be in her place at all. She may enjoy spending time with her mother and best friend, but Aden sure didn’t, especially not when it was to do with more wedding stuff. He had had to suffer with it for less than 2 hours on the previous Wednesday when Mattie had came over to the beach house to talk to Belle about something regarding the actual ceremony. He had faded out within two minutes, not allowed to leave as per request of the two of them. “Alright, we’re leaving. Can I trust the two of you to get something done?”

“What are you talking about? We’ve gotten loads done!” Aden exclaimed.

“Such as…?”

“Uh… the TV?” He held out a hand to point to it as Belle stood up.

“You didn’t do anything; the techs fixed it up.” Belle retorted as Aden smiled sheepishly.

“We supervised.“ He tried before sighing. “Alright, alright, we’ll try and get something done.”

“Thank you.”

“Belle, c’mon!” Mattie called agitatedly from where she stood with the front door open, one leg out and one leg in.

“Give me a second.” She picked up her bag from where it laid on the floor to the side before pressing a kiss to Aden’s lips and telling the two of them to behave as she rushed out of the house, not keen on having to deal with a pissed off Mattie on the drive up.

“How long until they get back, do you think?” Ric asked Aden causally.

“I’d give it at least 4 hours.” He replied with an air of carelessness as he slumped back into the couch. “They can’t expect us to work for that long.”

“Watch the match first?” Ric suggested.

“Read my mind, mate.”

---

“I think they’re fine.” Belle commented from where she sat next to her mother, watching as her two bridesmaids twirled around in the mirrors to see their dresses.

“Just ‘fine‘?” Annie questioned with a small frown, facing Belle.

“Annie, they’re gorgeous.” She corrected herself with a soft smile. “By ‘fine’, I meant that it doesn’t look like it’ll need any tweaking or anything.”

“Yeah, they feel good.” Mattie agreed, doing another twirl with a small giggle that let the other three know that she was having too much fun with the dress.

“What do you think, Mum?” Belle tilted her head to look at her. She had curled up on the leather sofa, having only been there for 30 minutes so far.

“I think they’re perfect.” Amanda smiled just as the shop assistant, Chloe, came back. Seeing all four girls with smiles on their faces made her reciprocate the action.

“I’m guessing everything’s ok?” She asked attentively.

“Yeah, I think so…” Belle nodded at Amanda’s words before looking at the two girls in the dresses.

“That’s great then.” Chloe said happily. She was a bubbly, thirty-something, blonde who seemed to be the best in getting their dresses done as soon as she could. “Onto the bride’s dress then?”

“Oooh, yeah.” Mattie clapped her hands in childish excitement, moving her attention onto her best mate. “I hope it fits.”

“Oi! It’s only been a week. I haven’t changed in that little time.” Belle insisted, smoothing a hand unconsciously over her abdomen, assuring herself that she really hadn’t changed since her last fitting.

“I’ll go get the dress, then.” Chloe left the four of them there as they all got back to doing what they had been doing before she had arrived.

“Don’t you think you two should take the dresses off?” Belle asked them in a sweet voice. “Wouldn’t want to ruin them.”

“Just a little longer.” Annie told her. “Just to make sure they’re really ok.” Belle rolled her eyes at her words and turned to face Amanda once again, who turned to her when she felt her daughter’s eyes on her.

“Have you got your dress sorted?”

“Of course, darling. I am the mother of the bride; it’s all done.” She informed her in her typical obvious tone.

“What’s it like? Not black is it? Or white? Or blue, for that matter?” Belle listed, thinking of new colours that she hoped her mother wouldn’t wear. “Please don’t say pink, either.”

“Belle, what kind of person do you think I am?” Amanda laughed, shaking her head. “It’s none of those. It’s a dark green.”

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.” She replied easily to her hopeful tone. “On the day.”

“Funny.” Belle said dryly, her face falling. “It’s not too dark, is it? Like, it doesn’t clash with those two?” She nodded towards where the other two were still standing in their dresses.

“No, it’s nothing like that. Trust me a little, Belle. I think I have a bit more knowledge in fashion than you.” Amanda teased her in amusement, smiling as Belle simply smiled wryly and nodded.

“Hey, don’t you two think that you should take the dresses off now?” Belle heavily suggested to the two girls as they both looked at her in mild despair. “It’s not like you can wear it all day or anything.”

“Fine.” Mattie huffed, going into the adjoining room where there were several changing areas with Annie. “But only because I really want to see your dress. And I don’t want to ruin this one.”

“Belle, did you hear back from Cassie?” Amanda spoke up as they fell into a small bout of silence. Belle’s head snapped around to her, a confused look on her face before realisation sunk in.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. Although they didn’t stay in touch constantly, Belle still made an effort to email Cassie as least once a month, as she did the same. There was the odd phone calls, mainly made when there was something big; like getting married and wanting one of her bridesmaids to actually turn up to the wedding. “She can’t get enough time off of work. Short notice and all, you know?”

“Right, of course.” Amanda nodded slowly. “Not to mention that it’s a long way too.”

“Yup.” Belle agreed. “But I said I’d send her pics and all, so it should be ok. I mean, it‘s not the same, but it‘s not like I can do anything about it, right?”

“Do anything about what?” Mattie had caught her last words as she exited the other room, holding up her dress on a hanger. “Are we taking these home or keeping them here?”

“Here.” Amanda responded immediately. “We’ll get them all together. No point in risking something happening to them.”

Mattie nodded and looked over at Belle, who did the same just as both Annie and Chloe came back to where they sat. Both of the latter carried dresses; Annie’s on a hanger while Chloe’s was on a hanger but inside a zipped up dress bag.

“Would you like to see it out here first, or try it on?”

“See-”

“Try it on.” Belle stood up as she spoke over both Annie and Mattie. “I wanna see it first.”

“Ok, then. Through here.” Chloe led the way as Belle threw a cheeky look over shoulder at the other three, although it was mainly aimed at the younger two.

Entering the next room, Belle watched as Chloe hung up the dress on a hook and unzipped the bag. Even though she had seen the dress only a week before, it looked so much more different now. It was more fitted, she realised, and it looked more like her dress rather than a dress. Eyes skimming over the whole thing, taking in both the dress and the lace top, she had to fight the excitement that threatened to spill out of her in a squeal.

“The back of it is pretty tricky. You might want to get someone to help you.” The blonde assistant advised her as Belle was brought back to reality.

“Yeah, thanks.” She replied quietly. Although there were three of them out there, she knew which one she wanted to see her in the dress first. “Could you get my mum, please?”

“Sure.” Belle remained there for a moment before running her fingers over the silky material of her dress. Laughing silently, she took the dress into one of the changing cubicles and decided to get it on as well as she could before she needed the help.

“Belle?” Her mother’s voice rang out a few minutes later.

“Hold on a sec.” She practically sang as she admired the dress in the mirror. She was basically holding it onto her body seeing at it was still unzipped, but Belle was able to get the gist of it and see what it would look like. Slowly, she pulled back the curtain a bit, an invitation for Amanda to enter. “Zip it up?”

Amanda did as she was told without any hesitation, pulled up the zip carefully and precisely. Once she did, she glanced over Belle’s shoulder and into the mirror to see how it looked from the front, even as she continued to adjust it a bit and pull on the top of it.

“It fits.” Belle told her with a soft smile, catching her eye in the reflection. “I’m surprised it does, actually. I swear I’ve began showing.”

“You certainly don’t look it, darling.” Amanda commented as she stepped out into the bigger area while Belle made sure that it was all proper.

“Is the back ok?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect.” She said easily. “The trail’s shortened enough.”

“I noticed.” Belle claimed. The dress pooled around her feet a bit and she was frightened of moving in case she stepped on it and ripped it. Her shoes were going to have a bit of a heel; they were already chosen. And the trail was much shorter than it had been before. She had never been a person of trails and veils, so she was glad when they said that the trail could be changed to look like another layer for the dress. “Mum?”

“Yes?” Amanda replied, moving closer to her.

“I really cannot move.” She giggled as the elder lady rolled her eyes.

“Pull up the skirt a bit.” She instructed her as Belle shook her head.

“It’ll get creased.”

“Not if you do it gently. I’m not telling you to scrunch it up in your hands.” Amanda said sarcastically. “Just pull it up.”

“If something happens to it, I’m blaming you, alright?”

“Alright.” She rolled her eyes at her daughter’s overreaction before Belle sighed and did what she had said.

---

“He’s not going to know what hit him.” Mattie said seriously as everyone else laughed. Belle tried her best to stay still as Chloe made a few final adjustments to the back of the dress, making sure that it was all precise.

“Stop making me laugh, Mattie.”

“Poor Aden.” Annie’s tone was solemn as they all nodded, agreeing as a faint blush rose to Belle’s cheeks. She promptly turned her head downwards, pretending to be much more into the design on her hip rather than the thoughts running through her head. She really did hope that Aden would love the dress as much as the four of them did, and react the same way as both Mattie and Annie had; wide-eyed and shocked into silence. Although she would prefer if Aden got over his silence quickly, seeing as the ability to speak would be ideal during the ceremony. The dress was beautiful, Belle knew that, but it meant nothing if he didn’t think so.

“…Belle?”

“Hmm?” She snapped out of her thoughts at Chloe’s voice. She could feel three pairs of eyes on her back.

“Does everything look and feel ok?”

“Yeah.” Belle smiled softly, looking into the mirror on her right. “Yeah, it does.”

---

“Where did Mum and Annie go?” Belle asked as she stepped back into the main part of the boutique, dressed in her normal clothes, already missing the softness of her dress.

“They had some stuff to take care of.” Mattie informed her as she picked up her bag and heading to the exit of the shop. Everything else had be arranged; her final fitting would be the following week and then the dresses would be taken home.

“What kind of ‘stuff’?”

“I think your mum was saying something about jewellery and accessories.” She nodded as she spoke, holding the door open for the other girl.

“Not for me, is it? Because I’ve already told you, I know what I want to wear with my dress.” Belle reminded her quickly, following Mattie down the sidewalk.

“No, no. It’s for us. As in Annie and I.”

“Then why haven’t you gone too?”

“Because I’ve already seen it, so Annie just has to make sure that it’s what she wants too.” Mattie explained in a light tone, looping an arms through her best mate’s.

“Alright.” Belle replied warily, not sure how Annie would handle spending a bit of time with Amanda alone. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere special.” She said in a mystical voice that made Belle raise an eyebrow at her.

“What?”

“You’ll see.” Mattie grinned, wriggling her eyebrows at her. “Trust me, you’ll thank me for it.”

---

“You cannot be serious!”

“Why not?” Mattie asked in a hurt voice as they stood in the middle of the store that she had brought her to.

“A lingerie store?” Belle said in disbelief.

“Yeah, so?” Her tone was airy once again. “You’re getting married. You’ll need some.”

“But-”

“Which reminds me,” Mattie didn’t even take notice of Belle’s attempts to speak as she took a hold of her hand and manoeuvred the two of them to a specific section that she soon saw was the bridal section. “You need a garter.”

“Mattie, do you really think this is necessary?” She questioned her slowly, watching her face as her eyes took in everything in front of her.

“Of course. What do you think you’ll be doing on your honeymoon? Going on strolls and lazing around on the beaches all day?” Mattie said sarcastically, ignoring the look of acknowledgment that went pass Belle’s face.

“What happened to no more talking about my sex life?”

“I’m not saying anything about that. You make the connections.” She pointed out while plucking a white garter from the rails. “Yes or no?”

“Yeah, sure.” Belle gave in, knowing that fighting Mattie on this won’t help her in any way. “But don’t go overboard. I’m not spending a whole load of my money on stuff I’ll never wear.”

“Funny you should say that.” Mattie turned to face her while bring her bag down and rooting through it for her purse. “It’s not your money we’re spending. See?.” She held up the credit card that she had been looking for her to see. When Belle went to take it from her, she pulled it away. “Ah, ah, ah. Look, but don’t touch.”

“Where did you get that from?”

“Uh… Aden.” Mattie rolled her eyes. “Along with the words ‘get her whatever she wants’.”

“Oh, God. Mattie, please don’t tell me that this was his idea.” Belle said, horrified to even think about that conversation between the two of them.

“No, of course not!” She sighed exasperatedly as if she was being a pain to her. “I think he’d prefer no clothes for the honeymoon. This was my idea.”

“Then how did you get that?”

“He was trying to get me to let up about your dress and I told him that there was no way I was going to tell him. Then he asked when you would get to take the dress home, so I explained how we’re-”

“Get to the point, Matilda.” Belle interrupted her, irritation showing through with the use of her full name.

“Basically, I was asking about where he’s taking you, he wouldn’t tell me but said that I should take you shopping for some new clothes because, you know, you’re getting married and all.” She informed her. “I asked what kind of stuff, and he just shrugged and claimed that the usual stuff would be ok. I think he might have caught on to what I was thinking about what kind of clothes you would need, but if he did, he didn’t say anything.”

“So why aren’t we shopping for the ‘usual stuff’?” Belle crossed her arms as Mattie sighed once again and began to walk away.

“Because we can do that later. Right now, we have full rein of your future husband’s credit card. Don’t you think it’s expected of us to totally take advantage of it?” Mattie tried to reason as Belle thought it through. She hated the idea of spending Aden’s money, no matter how many times he had told over the recent weeks that soon enough it was going to be their money.

“I don’t know…” Belle moaned as the other girl pulled her with her by the hand.

“C’mon. We won’t go that crazy.” She assured her. “Anyway, this card holds like, what? 30 grand? Do you really think he’s going to miss a couple of hundred bucks? I think he’d find it money well spent.”

“Mattie!” Belle laughed even as she could hear him saying the same thing. It didn’t matter to her how much money Aden had. Putting together the two accounts that he had, there had been more than enough money to buy them a house, she knew that. He had never touched the savings account with the $200,000 in it, which she figure must have had a lot of interest added onto it by now. And now that having a lot of money was no longer a novelty to him, Aden hardly ever spent his money excessively. The last time he had, she figured, was on his car and that was over a year ago.

“Belle, make your mind up quick.” Mattie told her in a strict voice, tapping her feet as she faced her. “What’s it going to be?”

“Fine.” Belle sighed while closing her eyes. “But let’s not go overboard. Everything within reason, ok?”

“Sure, sure.” Mattie squealed. “Oh, you’re not going to regret this.” Belle couldn’t help but laugh at her happiness and had to admit that the feeling was contagious. “Right, let’s start shopping!”

---

Some enjoyable [i hope] lightheartedness.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

hahha i looove this fic =] i only started reading it last night but i could not stop till i read it all =] ur an amazing writter!

Thanks! I always love the fact that there are still new people reading my fics and liking them!

do you know if you are gonig to update tonight????

(i really apoligise for the pestering)

That's ok! As you can see, yes, I am updating . I don't mind the pestering. I like it. Shows that people acutally want to read me fic

Right, so here's another light and fluffy chapter. Getting more and more closer to the wedding...

Chapter 24:

Groaning as she did the button to her jeans, Belle sighed and undid it almost immediately after. Staring at her reflection in the mirror while smoothing a hand over her bare stomach, she could see no difference to what it had looked like the previous day. Or even the previous month for that matter. It was as flat as ever with no signs that it was going to change anytime soon. However, as Belle buttoned her jeans once again, she couldn’t help but growl in frustration at the uncomfortable tightness that it caused.

A thought ran through her head that maybe, just maybe, it was her jeans that had changed rather than her body. Keeping that in mind, Belle dug out another pair of jeans and got changed as quickly and carefully as she could. Her alarm clock on her bedside table caught her eyes, telling her that she should really be leaving anytime soon if she didn’t want to be late for work again. Although they had been extremely understanding when Belle turned up late a couple of times due to her morning sickness, insisting that there were some things that was out of all their control, she still hated being late.

“Dammit.” She hissed quietly when she felt the waist of her jeans sit irritatingly on her hips as soon as she did the button. Contemplating whether it was worth trying on another pair of pants, she sighed and undid the button, checking her reflection once more to make sure that she wasn’t going crazy. There was no physical difference in her figure, yet it still felt like she was showing. “One week, baby. One week and then you can grow all that you want.”

The wedding wasn’t even a week away; it was in 5 days. 5 days before she would become a married woman. And, it seemed, 5 days before she couldn’t fit into her dress. She had had her final fitting the day before. All had gone well and Amanda had told her that she would pick up the dresses from the store on the Friday just to make sure nothing goes wrong. The dress had been styled in mind that there was a chance of Belle suddenly showing on the morning of the wedding. It wasn’t too tight to her body, but it wasn’t too flimsy either. She just hoped that it wouldn’t constrict her on the day. Amanda and Chloe had assured her that even if the baby did decide to start to grow rapidly in the next week, her dress would still fit her perfectly, putting her mind at ease for a bit.

“Right,” Belle finally said, keeping her voice low, as she moved over to her wardrobe. “Let’s hope one of Daddy’s belts fits us.” A small giggle escaped her when she replayed her words in her head, loving the sound of ‘Daddy’ when referring to Aden.

After looping one of his belts around her waist, Belle adjusted her top so that it was not possible to notice the added accessory. It was long enough to cover the rim of her jeans and it didn’t cling to her waist, meaning that you couldn’t make out the outline of the belt. Finally glad with her outfit, she grabbed her bag, phone and keys just as Irene approached her bedroom door, ready to yell at her to get a move on.

“I’m going.” Belle smiled, seeing Irene by the step next to her room as she had predicted. She had gotten to the back door when she was called back by the elder lady. “Yeah?”

“When are you going to start packing, girly?” As pointed a thumb over her shoulder and into Belle’s room, which was in the same state as ever.

“I’ll do it tonight.” She assured her.

“You’ve been saying that for a week, now.”

“I will, I promise. I’ll get started on it after work.” Belle wasn’t sure why, but every time that she started to try and pack up some stuff, there would be something that would capture her attention and take her away from the packing. Their new place was practically all set up, with the odd things still missing, but it was still liveable. The only thing that was missing were their personal stuff. She knew that Aden hadn’t done much packing either, but she put that down to the fact that it was Aden and he wouldn’t do anything that involved folding and making things neat without her there to make him.

“If you say so…” Irene rolled her eyes as Belle grinned, knowing that the subject was now dropped.

“Anyone would think you’re trying to get rid of me.” Belle called out as she left, hearing Irene’s chuckle behind her.

---

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Cleaning.” Belle murmured from where she stood on a chair, reaching up to the top shelf of her wardrobe. “And packing.”

“On a chair?” She could feel his hand place itself protectively on her back and she knew that he was probably a bit mad at her, even without looking at him.

“Yes, Aden, seeing as that’s the only way I can possibly reach up here.” She replied with a hint of annoyance. “God, you overreact sometimes.”

“What are you doing up there, anyway?” Aden ignored her last sentence, knowing that arguing his point would not go down well with her when she was in that mood.

“I told you, I’m-”

“I meant,” He corrected himself. “What’s up there that needs to be cleaned and packed? I’ve never seen you use or put anything up there.”

“Which is why I’m checking it out.” Belle half-lied. She really hadn’t used anything up there for a long while, but she had just hidden some stuff there the previous week after her and Mattie’s shopping spree.

After arriving home that day, she had had to find somewhere that Aden wouldn’t even dream of looking, knowing that patience was not something he had. That had been proven when the first question out of his mouth that night was whether she had a fun day out, a suggestive smirk on his face portraying his exact thoughts. When she had admitted that she had and really appreciated his idea of having a girls day out with Mattie, his response had been to show him how much exactly. Belle had laughed it off, telling him that there was a reason why she needed the new stuff and to wait for just that little longer, unless he was prepared to tell her where he was planning to take her for their honeymoon. Aden had simply scoffed at her offer and thus began their individual plights to try and find out themselves. Neither one had succeeded so far.

“Find anything then?” Aden asked, rounding her to stand being her so that he could peer into the cupboard.

“Nope.” Belle said lightly before pushing herself up onto her tiptoes so that she could see right into the back. Almost instantly, she felt Aden’s other hand come to rest on her stomach, making sure that he had a hold on her. “I’m not going to fall, Aden.”

“I’d rather not risk it.” He informed her in a matter-of-fact tone that just made her roll her eyes.

“There’s nothing up here, anyway.” She sighed, leaning back again before turning to face him and shut the wardrobe doors as well as she could with the chair in the way.

“Why haven’t you started with the other stuff? Like things that you will need?”

“Because,” She began while placing her hands on his shoulders casually as his rested on her hips now. “I was getting to that now.”

“You’ve had ages; why have you left it until the last minute?” Aden questioned as she stepped over to her bed, balancing cautiously as it bounced a bit.

“You’re one to speak.” Belle shot back. “How much have you done?”

“I’ve got less stuff than you. I could get mine done in about 2 hours.” He told her as he eyed her, still standing on the bed, arms crossed. “Will you sit down? You’re scaring me.”

“’Scaring you’?” She repeated in a funny tone. “You can’t tell me you’ve never stood on a bed before.”

“Yeah, I have. And I ended up breaking my arm.”

“But you were how old?” Belle countered as he just stared at her. “Exactly. I think I have a better sense of balance now.”

“Belle, you’re a magnet for disaster at times.” He said through gritted teeth. “Seriously, if you start jumping, I swear-”

“Relax, Aden. I’m just messing with you.” She giggled, sitting down gently onto the bed, using his forearms to help keep herself steady.

“Not funny.”

“Aw, c’mon, don’t be like that.” Belle smiled sweetly at him, feeling a tad bit guilty for teasing him. “You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt the baby. And with you here, I knew that you wouldn’t let anything happen, either.”

“Yeah, I know.“ With a deep sigh, Aden sat down on the edge of her bed, shaking her head gently with a small smile to show that she was forgiven. “Aren’t you going to carry on with the packing?”

“Nah, I’ve had enough for today.” She told him, fluffing up a couple of pillows at the top of her bed before relaxing back against them lazily.

“You haven’t done a thing!” Aden pointed out, looking around the whole room.

“Yeah, I have!” Belle defended herself. “I know exactly where everything is and what to pack first. I’ll just do it later.”

“When, exactly? We have less than a week.”

“Well, you’re going on Wednesday. I’ll have that time then. And I’ve got Friday off from work too.” Although she had wanted the two weeks off, her mother’s insistence of taking the day before the wedding off too had won when Belle realised that there may be emergencies that might be needed to be taken care off the day before. “I have plenty of time. You, on the other hand, do not.”

“I’ll do it tomorrow.” He simply shrugged while kicking off his shoes and climbing onto the bed to lay next to her. “I’ve got the afternoon off.”

“Alright.” She said warily. “But if you don’t get it done, don’t expect me to do it while you’re gone.”

“Damn, there’s my plan gone.” Aden whispered in fake despair while pulling her into a kiss. The laugh that had been about to erupt from her was immediately stifled, giving herself up to him. She could feel one of his hands thread through her hair as the other travelled downwards to her waist. Just as Belle tried to deepen their kiss, Aden pulled away with a look of confusion.

“What-?” She cut herself off, figuring out what it was when she saw him look down as he lifted up her top slightly.

“Why are you wearing a- my belt?”

“Because I wanted to.” Belle replied slyly, trying to turn his attention back to her but with no avail. Instead, he single-handedly undid the belt and ran his hand over her bare skin.

“Don’t tell me you’ve lost weight.” Aden said incredulously, finally giving her his attention by looking up at her as she gave him a look of scepticism.

“Aden, I’m 3 months pregnant. I highly doubt it’s likely for me to lose weight.” She informed him with a small huff. “It was the other way around.”

“You don’t look any different.” Aden skimmed his fingers over her abdomen once again, trying to see if there was anything that he was missing. “I thought most women start showing during the 2nd trimester?”

“They do. But I’m just at the start of it, aren’t I? Plus, Mum said that she didn’t show until late, so the chances are…” Belle trailed off, knowing that he would catch her drift. Her mood lightened at the slight frown on his face. She knew exactly how much he wanted her to start showing, mainly because that meant they could tell people, something that he had been dying to do since the beginning now. “Anyway, right now, I’m glad that it’s just a morning thing. Seeing as the wedding’s later on in the day, I might just be able to fit into my dress.”

“You’d look beautiful no matter what.” He told her earnestly, wrapping the arm around her waist now as he pulled her to him.

“You don’t know what the dress looks like. It won’t look good if I was fat.” She pointed out as Aden began to brushing kisses along her neck, stopping at the one place that he knew would drive her crazy. Everything that she had been thinking about vanish from her mind as he gently teased her skin, a small, sharp tingling sensation showing his passionate side. The nibbling brought her back to her senses, pushing her hands through his hair and pulling him up to meet her lips before he left a mark. That was something that she certainly didn’t want to show on her wedding day.

“You wouldn’t be fat.” Aden informed her when the parted minutes later as she pulled of his shirt. In all honesty, she couldn’t even remember what they had been talking about, and even his words only got her to jog her memory, still more focused on the fact that he hovered above her half-naked. “You’d be pregnant, which would only make you more gorgeous.”

“You’re such a smooth talker, you know that?” She giggled as he smirked triumphantly.

“Just being honest, babe.”

“Hmm… Sure.” Belle faked seriousness as he pressed his lips against hers briefly, her strict composure breaking as she smiled.

“You wouldn’t want me any other way.” Aden insisted, delicately pushing her hair out of her eyes and away from her face, his tender touch reminding her why she fell for him in the first place.

“No, I wouldn’t.”

---

“Told you I’d get it done, didn’t I?” Aden gloated as Belle crossed her arms, not impressed as she looked around his room. He had kept to his word and started to pack up his room as soon as he had gotten home from university. Nicole had came and helped out for about an hour, purely to get back into his good books, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

“You haven’t done it all, though.” Belle argued as he rolled his eyes.

“That’s because I still need a few things.” He pointed out. “I can do that some other time.”

“You can’t have done everything.”

“Oh, but I have.” Aden laughed, walking up to her and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. “You’re just upset that you don’t get to yell at me now.”

“Why would I be upset?” Belle scoffed, unfolding her arms to lay them on top of his. “I’m happy. Happy that it’s one thing out of the way.”

“You don’t look happy.” He murmured into her ear.

“I am!” She snapped as he laughed, his point proven.

“Alright, alright. No need to tell me twice.”

“Shut up.” Belle growled, pulling away from him and crossing her arms once more. “You ready to go tomorrow?”

“Yup.” Aden nodded, perched on his bed while she wandered around his room. “You still ok with me going?”

“I said I was, didn’t I?”

“Belle-”

“Do you want me to make you stay?” She cut him off. His eyebrows scrunched together as he thought her words over, wondering whether they meant what she said, or if it was a roundabout way for her to say that she wanted him to stay.

“Huh?” He said instead, not wanting to even try and figure it out in the end.

“Well, you keep asking me that everyday. Do you want to go?” Belle explained, turning to face him. By the look on her face, Aden could see that she was genuinely asking him that question with no other meaning underlying the words.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go, I‘d just rather be here with you.” He told her honestly in a soft voice that made her smile.

“Think about it this way.” She said as she sauntered over to him, coming to standing in between his legs to lean over him. “After you come back, we’ll get a whole week to ourselves away from here and then a week at our new place.”

“Yeah, that does sound pretty good.” Aden agreed with a grin. “So you’re ok with it all?”

“Yes, I am.” Belle said forcefully, resting her forearms on his shoulders as his hands kneaded at her waist. “Everything’s sorted with the wedding, and it’s not like you had much to do with the organising, anyway.”

“Gee, thanks, Belle.” He said dryly as she giggled and gave him a brief kiss to show she was just teasing.

“Look, it’ll only be a couple of days, and I’m going to be at work and then sorting my stuff out, so I’m not going to have time to miss you. I mean, spend with you!” She corrected herself with a smirk that made him shake his head in amusement.

“Good to know.” He replied. Belle smiled a bit as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck, stroking it lovingly.

“Aden, you know that I’m ok with this. It’s to do with your education and your future, and I don’t want you to miss out just because I say so.” She informed him as his eyes averted away from hers slowly. “I know I don’t say it often, but I’m so proud of you. I really, truly am. After everything that you’ve had to deal with, to be here, never giving up… How you do it, it’s more than I can ever understand. I don’t know how to tell you just how much I love you and how lucky I feel that, out of everyone, it‘s me that‘s standing here, being able to tell you this. So don’t feel bad or guilty for going tomorrow, ok?” Belle tugged on his hair softly, making him look at her. “Just come back to me, yeah?”

“Always.”

---

Hope you liked! I really liked writing this chapter, for some reason. I guess it's cos I haven't had fluffy Adelle for a bit.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

So will Aden get back for the wedding in time, and is Belle getting second thoughts about getting married? You guys speculate too much. I love it, though, especially when you get it wrong! But when you get it right, it's even harder for me to not just say anything...

Alright, here we are. The beginning of the whole wedding saga I wanted the actual ceremony to be in this chapter, but I doubt it will be for another chapter or 2. Enjoy!

Chapter 25:

A knock on her door registered to Belle, but she didn’t respond. There was too much to deal with right then, too much playing on her mind, for her to even think about adding something else into the equation. Especially something as minute as answering someone knocking on her door. Another knock sounded to her before the handle turned and the person behind it popped their head through. She heard their gasp of shock as they fully opened the door and entered.

“Belle-”

“I know.” She muttered. It was obvious what she was going to say.

“But tomorrow‘s-!”

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing this now?!” Mattie’s outraged voice broke her out of her hurried movements, stopping and turning to face her while running her hands through her hair.

“I don’t know!” Belle groaned, leaning heavily against her cheat of drawers. “I’ve just left it all until the last possible minute, saying I’d do it the next day, and then this morning, I woke up and I realised that, in about 36 hours, I’d be getting married and I’ve got nothing done! I haven’t touched a thing, yet alone packed for the new place. And let’s not get started for the honeymoon-”

“Belle, take a deep breath.” Mattie advised her, placing both hands onto her best friend’s shoulders to make her stop rambling on and pay attention to her. “Just calm down. You don’t need to stress out about this now.“

“How can I not stress out?“ She snapped at her. “I’ve now got just over 24 hours, and I don’t think I’m even halfway done.”

“Think of the baby. Stressing out is not good for the bub.” Mattie saw her words getting through to her as Belle closed her eyes momentarily, her hands coming to rest onto her stomach and taking a calming breath. “Ok, I can help. What are we doing first?”

“Anything. Anything and everything.”

“Right, well that’s why this place is a tip.” She informed her, eyeing the half-closed wardrobe doors and drawers with stuff strewn everywhere. “You need order. First thing’s first; what are you wearing tonight?”

“Urgh…” Belle had almost forgotten about the dinner that they were all having at some posh restaurant in Yabbie Creek that evening. Being pregnant and all, she had begged her mother to not throw her a party like her own, to which Amanda had complied as long as they could have a nice meal together. Just her family and close friends. “The black dress.”

“This one?” Mattie picked up the one that hung inside one of her cupboards. When she nodded, Mattie took it and placed it to one side. “Shoes and accessories can be sorted in a bit. What are you wearing tomorrow?”

“My wedding dress?” Belle said sarcastically as Mattie rolled her eyes.

“So you’re going to get up in the morning and slip straight into that?”

“Ok, ok, no need to get snarky.” She grumbled, sitting down on her bed, cautious of all the stuff she had thrown onto it. “I dunno. Anything, I guess.”

“I think jeans and a T-shirt should suffice.” Mattie eyed what Belle was currently wearing. “Those jeans wearable for tomorrow?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Alright, pick a top and put it…” She tried to find a space that was cleared of a mess. Not finding anything, Mattie removed everything from the chair and dumped it onto the bed. “Put it here. This is everything that we’re going to need soon.”

“We don’t need to pack everything, Mattie. I need stuff for next week, and then preferably some stuff for the week after.” Belle sighed, glad that the other girl had taken over. She had been working at this for the past 4 hours, getting almost next to nothing done. “I can come back afterwards and get the rest then. It’s not like Irene’s going to use this room straight away. Or at least, I hope not.”

“True. That makes everything so much more easier then.” She watched Belle dig out a simple white top from a pile on the bed and throw it onto the chair. “You might want to chose something else that won’t get easily stained.”

“What?”

“For tomorrow. You won’t want to wear anything light.” Mattie hinted, not wanting to give away what the day held for her before the actual wedding.

“What have you guys done? I told you-” She began to rant, anger passing through her face immediately.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. In fact, you’ll love it. It’ll help you chill out a bit while everyone else gets everything else sorted.” Mattie was quick to reassure her and Belle merely nodded, not wanting to push the matter any further considering how many other things she was worrying about.

“How about this?” Belle held up a black T-shirt with a white print on it and Mattie happily agreed, swapping the two tops around.

“Good. Now that’s done, we do the honeymoon packing. Where’s all the stuff we bought that day in the city?” Mattie asked, stepping over the small piles of stuff on the floor. She knew that Belle liked thing to be neat, only messing things up if it was in dire need.

“Over there.” Belle pointed to the bags that laid next to her bedside table. She had never taken anything out of it, figuring that if Aden had wanted her to go shopping for new clothes to wear after they got married, she should stick to that. “Do you want me to clear a space to take everything out?”

“No, let’s just pack it straight into the suitcase.” She insisted and Belle just shrugged and followed what she said.

They spent the better part of the afternoon getting everything done for the following week, with Belle having little tantrums when a certain something went missing only for it to turn up soon afterwards. Once that was done and sorted, the two of them slumped against the wall, not even bothering to move to the bed or into the front room to have something much more comfier than a hard floor to sit on.

“That’s one thing down.” Mattie commented with optimism. “How good does that feel, huh?”

“Absolutely great.” Belle sighed. “Thank you so much, Mattie.”

“No problem.” She dismissed easily.

“Seriously, Mattie. Thank you, for everything. The packing, helping with the wedding planning-”

“I don’t think I helped as much as I demanded to plan it.” Mattie interrupted making them both laugh. Belle rested her head against her shoulder casually as she sighed when their laughter died down.

“Do you remember one of the first things I ever said to you when I got here?”

“Yeah, how can I forget?” Mattie scoffed. “’Do you ever wonder what life could have been like if you had had enough oxygen at birth?’ Or something like that.”

“I’m pretty sure that was it.” Belle confirmed. “We were such bitches to each other.”

“Only because you stole Cassie’s boyfriend.”

“I didn’t steal him!” She sat up straight and look at over at her. “Ric helped me out. It was all on his own accord.”

“Whatever. Doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve got him now.” Mattie smiled as Belle simply rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it’s been about 5 years?”

“Who would have thought way back then that you would end up being my maid of honour? And a pretty fantastic one, too.”

“Who would have thought way back then that someone could make a decent human being out of Aden Jefferies?” Mattie countered as they both laughed. “Or that it would be you?”

“I guess things really have changed, haven’t they? Cassie’s on the other side of the world with a daughter, Lucas is backpacking through some wilderness, Drew’s… well, he’s in the city and actually got himself a job.” Mattie giggled at Belle’s false tone of amazement. “Ric’s got a business and you’re studying to become a lawyer, maybe even moving to Perth soon?”

“Still haven’t decided.” She sighed heavily and Belle decided to leave it for the time begin. “You’ve got your dream job. Heading for better things too.”

“And in a matter of-” Belle reached over and turned her clock to face them. “25 hours, I’ll be getting married.”

“And in 6 months or so, you’ll have a kid of your own that will be spoilt rotten by every single one of us.” Mattie gave her a gentle push as she bit her bottom lip.

“Do you ever wish you could go back to about 5 years ago when things were slightly more simpler and we were all together?” Belle questioned her in a low voice.

“Sometimes.” Mattie admitted, looking over at the framed collage of photos of the 6 of them that she had made Belle for her 19th birthday. “Especially when I see some of the teenagers hanging out on the beach or in the Diner or something, laughing carelessly. I miss all those stupid things we did.”

“Yeah, me too.” Belle sighed before chuckling a bit. “Strip poker.”

“Oh, yeah, how could I forget that day? Do you remember the look on Mr. Stewart’s face when he walked in on the two of them with their boxers around their ankles?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

“Do you miss it?” Mattie turned the question on her.

“Sometimes.” Belle repeated. “But then I look at what I have now, and what I’m going to have, and I’m just glad that we made those memories back then. I know we caused so much grief to each other at one point or another, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”

“Tell me about it.” She smiled wryly. “Who knew that all those things would bring us to this moment right now?”

“I’m glad it did, though.” Belle told her without missing a beat. “I know that I’m getting married and all, but that doesn’t change anything. You’re my best friend, Mattie. That’s what the past 5 years have built and I couldn’t imagine being here without you. You were the first person I told about Aden and I, back then when anyone else would have just told me to promptly break it off.” She felt tears welling in her eyes and when she glanced over at Mattie, she could see the same. “I’m so glad that, even with Cassie in a whole different continent, you’re here. I wouldn’t be able to go onto this new chapter of my life without you there.”

“Well, you better get use to it, because I’m going to be here for a while.” Mattie wiped away at the tears that spilled down her cheeks, watching as Belle did the same, silently laughing at each others’ actions.

“Don’t laugh at me; I’m pregnant. My emotions are all out of whack. What’s your excuse?”

“Well, maybe I’m pregnant too.” Mattie joked, not expecting for Belle to take her seriously as she stared at her in shock. “I’m kidding! It was a joke!”

“Don’t do that to me!” Belle gave her a slap to the arm before falling to fits of laughter. “Seriously, though. If you were pregnant, you would tell me, right?”

“Yeah, of course!” Mattie exclaimed. “But I think that’ll be in a long time.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

“Hey, just because you and Aden aren’t responsible enough, doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t.” She said with a snobbish voice. “Not all of us spend more time in bed than out of it.”

“Thanks, Mattie.” Belle replied, dryly. “Always good to hear what you think of me.”

“Aw, you know I love you really, Belle.” Mattie told her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her into an embrace as well as she could in their positions.

“You better.” Belle remarked as she pulled away, holding onto her arm. “I love you too, Mattie. You really are the best, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know.” She accepted her compliments easily. “I’m the bestest best mate in the whole world, and the bestest maid of honour too.”

“Hmm…”

“And continuing with my maid of honour duties, we should carry on packing before we have to go. You’ll need about an hour to get ready, so we have 2 hours left to pack as much as we can for the new place.”

“Urgh… I don’t want to move.” Belle moaned as Mattie stood up and pulled on her hands, finally managing to get her up.

“Tough. Now let’s try this again.”

---

“Ok, give me that.” Mattie said to Belle as they drove back to the Bay after their dinner.

“What?” Looking up from the text that she was typing out, she threw her best mate a confused look.

“This.” Mattie took the phone right out of her hands.

“Hey! Give it back. I was in the middle of texting someone!” Belle exclaimed from her passenger’s seat, trying to get the phone back but avoiding jerking Mattie, seeing as she was driving.

“Yeah, I know. You’ve been texting all night.” She informed her as Belle smiled in embarrassment of getting caught. “I’ve seen you, when you think no-one’s paying attention.”

“What if I have?”

“Well, as per tradition, the bride and the groom aren’t allowed to have contact up until the wedding starting from the night before.” Mattie told her. “And guess what? It’s the night before.”

“What if I wasn’t texting Aden?” Belle tried.

“Annie, tell me who this text is for?” Mattie held the phone over her shoulder to the younger girl sitting right behind her, who took it before Belle got the chance to swipe it from her hands.

“Aden.”

“Surprise, surprise.” Mattie muttered as Belle blushed, thankful that it was 9pm and the darkness hid her redness. “Ok, Annie, type this out.”

“What? No! Mattie, you’re going overboard.”

“No, I’m being the bestest maid of honour and keeping to tradition.” She countered as Belle glowered at her. “Right, ready Annie?”

“Yup.”

“’You are now no longer allowed to have any kind of direct contact with Belle until the wedding tomorrow.” Mattie paused as she heard the teen type it out as quickly as she could. “’If you even try it, we will hurt you.”

“Mattie!” Belle moaned, finding it a bit amusing too.

“’You are warned. Mattie and Annie.’” She finished.

“Ok, got it. And… send.” Annie pressed the ‘send’ button and seconds later there was a confirmation of the message being sent. “It’s done.”

“Good. Now let’s see how much he really wants to turn up the wedding tomorrow.”

---

“Everything ok, Belle?” Geoff asked her as the three girls returned to the beach house about 20 minutes later. It had seemed as if everyone else had made it back quicker than them lot.

“Yeah…” She mumbled, not convincing anyone.

“She’s just upset because I’ve confiscated her mobile from her.” Mattie supplied as everyone looked at her for an explanation. “She wouldn’t stop texting Aden.”

“Ah, so he got back ok then?” Amanda asked politely from where she sat at the stool by the counter.

“Yeah, a couple of hours ago.” Belle informed her, tiredly. It wasn’t just the fact that Mattie had taken her mobile off of her that was getting her down; it was the whole day and the rushing around catching up to her. Not to mention the bad feeling that she had had when Aden had called to say that he would be a few hours late home due to traffic. She had almost given him an ear full, only to be reassured by him that he would be back by the evening, and if worse came to worse, he would walk it if he had to. That had brought a smile onto her face, reluctantly allowing him to hang up to get back to focusing on the driving.

“See? Told you there would be nothing to worry about.” Amanda smiled brightly at her. “I got the dresses today, too, by the way.”

“If they’re going to start talking about dresses, can we go?” Drew moaned, looking over at his dad although his words were aimed at everyone. They all laughed even as Ric moaned and agreed with him.

“Why don’t you boys make yourself useful and go help out in the kitchen?” Peter suggested, nodding towards where Annie, Geoff and Irene were making some hot drinks for them all. The two boys looked at each other, wondering why they had bothered to complain before getting up and doing as they were told.

“I see the coffee’s back.” Mattie commented as she took a seat on the couch next to Belle. “No more urges to throw it out?”

“Funny.” She replied dryly. “And no, I’m getting over it.”

Conversation flowed easily over the next 30 minutes as they sipped their drinks and joked around a bit, mainly consisting of the younger ones teasing each other over simple things like dresses and hair and taking time to get ready.

“We’ll just see tomorrow, yeah?” Mattie taunted Drew as he made some comment about her taking longer than anyone else to get ready.

“Uh, Mattie, do you think that’s a wise idea?” Annie asked in a worried tone that got them all laughing although Mattie scowled too.

“Annie’s right.” Belle added, getting up and picking up the empty mugs from the coffee table. Almost immediately, the others went to help her, stopping only at her cold look. “Guys, seriously. I don’t think a couple of cups will kill me!” At her words, they all laughed sheepishly while she rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen, avoiding the looks of amusement the adults were giving her from where they sat at the table.

“You ok, darl?” Irene asked her as she approached the sink with three cups where Belle stood, looking out of the window listlessly. Her head turned instantly, giving her a small, yet genuine, smile.

“Yeah, just a bit tired.” She replied, smoothing a hand over her stomach. The dress she wore was a bit clingy but it had showed her that there was still no change to her figure. As glad as she was that she would be fitting into her dress the following day, she was getting impatient without a small hint of being pregnant.

Sighing, Belle saw that Irene was still there, puttering around in the kitchen, trying to cover the fact that she was keeping an eye on her. Biting back a smile at it, she realised that this was probably going to be the last time that she would experience that, when Irene would pretend to be busy with something while she kept thinking about whatever it was before just blabbing it out to her with no prompting needed.

“I’ll be right back.” Belle murmured slowly, not wanting to make herself emotional right then. She heard Irene say something along the lines of ‘ok’ as she entered the bathroom, locking the door behind her and resting against it for a moment. Twisting to look at the mirror to her right, she grimaced when she saw her eyes, clouded with fatigue. Why hadn’t anyone told her she looked so bad? Belle answered her own question easily; they didn’t want to get on her bad side.

Splashing her face with some warm water, she tried her best to avoid getting any on her dress. She used some make-up remover after she realised that she was wearing mascara, which had now streaked down her face due to the water. Letting out a silent laugh at her mistake, she got herself cleaned up, feeling a bit more fresher now.

As Belle stepped out of the bathroom, she was surprised to see everyone standing around. It was clear that they were planning to leave. Remaining on the step by her room, Belle frowned when she heard the background noise of her wind chimes jingling. She placed a hand on her door handle, wondering whether she had forgotten to close the window properly when she was called back by her mother.

“We’re off now.” Amanda said as Belle walked over. “Is there anything that you need or can think off?”

“Not at the moment.” She shook her head. “Don’t you think it’s ridiculous going all the way back to the city only to come back tomorrow?”

“I’ve got your dress in the city, darling. Not to mention other things too, so either way, we’re going to have to make the journey.”

“You could have brought them down today.” Belle sighed. She knew exactly how much was getting brought down and over from the city, and she also knew that there was the chance that everything could go horribly wrong.

“Belle-”

“I know.” She rolled her eyes as Amanda gave her a brief hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

After that, everyone said their goodbyes and nights, making sure that everything was ok and that the plan for the following day was sorted. When only Mattie and Ric remained with them, Belle turned to her, asking for clues as to what was happening before the wedding.

“You’ll find out tomorrow.” She merely told her. “And Annie has your phone. Just in case.”

“In case, what!?” Belle said roughly. “This is crazy. What if I need to call someone in an emergency or something?”

“We’re here.” Annie piped up.

“Don’t even think about using the house phone either.” Mattie advised in a strict voice. “Everyone’s been warned; you won’t get to talk to him.” At Belle’s unimpressed look, Mattie smiled brightly and pulled her into a small embrace. “See you in the morning.”

“Night.” She called after Ric got to get his goodbye in between their petty arguing.

“Right, I think it’s time to call it a night then, eh love?” Irene claimed from where she stood by the table. Everyone nodded at her words, even as none of them moved.

“Right, I’m going.” Belle laughed, the first to move. “Oh, Annie, when do I get my phone back, exactly?”

“I think we agreed on after the wedding.” She smiled at her.

“Great.”

---

Belle laid in her bed, listening to the sounds of Irene doing her final checks on the house before going to bed. The light was still on in her room as she simply laid there. She could hear the elder ladies footsteps come closer to her room, and she guessed that she had spotted the light from beneath her door as she knocked gently on her door and opened it when Belle answered.

“Thought you would have fallen asleep as soon as you hit the pillow.”

“Me, too.” Belle replied, rolling onto her back as Irene perched on the edge of her bed. “I can’t believe they took my phone!”

“They’re just having some fun.” Irene assured her, patting her leg as they both laughed softly. “How you feeling?”

“I’m ok.”

“No cold feet or second thoughts?” She prodded as Belle smiled at her.

“Nope. None at all. Although, I am getting anxious about what it is that I’m supposedly doing tomorrow morning.” Belle grimaced at the thought of it.

“I’m sure it won’t be anything bad. I think out of everyone, Matilda would be the last to ruin your day for you.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Thanks.” She nodded, finally feeling a bit better over what it may be. “So, Irene, I haven’t seen what you’re wearing tomorrow!”

“And you won’t until then either.” Irene told her immediately as Belle pouted. “Don’t even think about it, girly. I’ve seen that face many times over the past few years; it doesn’t work anymore.” Although her words were said with confidence, Belle got the impression that he kept going, Irene would finally cave in. They fell into silence before Irene tapped her legs gently and began to get up. “You should get some shuteye. Tomorrow’s going to be eventful.”

“All good, I hope.” Belle replied with a small groan. “Hey, Irene?”

“Yes, love?”

“I just-” Pushing herself up in her bed, Belle swallowed, thinking of how to say it. “I just wanted to say thank you. For everything. I mean, I know I’ve been a handful over the years, but you gave me home anyway.”

“Hey-” Irene tried to make her stop, not wanting to hear what she already knew and what would most probably make her cry.

“I really mean it. You even took me back in after I went and stayed with Amanda, although you had warned me at the beginning that it would end badly. It meant a lot to me that you still wanted me after what I did.”

“Alright, you can stop now, ok?” Irene hushed her with a light smile. “Don’t go making both of us cry.”

“Sorry.” Belle grinned slightly, feeling her own eyes burn.

“Belle, even though you might be moving out, you’ll still be part of this family, and always like a daughter to me, ok? You, Aden and your baby will always be welcome here, no matter what, alright?” She was only able to nod at Irene’s words in fear of breaking down completely. “Good. Now, I think it would be wise for you to go to sleep.”

“If I can.” She whispered, as Irene smiled ruefully before pressing a loving kiss to her forehead and wishing her a goodnight.

“I’m sure you’ll be out before you know it.”

---

You guys underestimate me! Like I would let Aden miss the wedding!

I hope you liked it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Right, so the wedding day begins here...

Not much more to say except, enjoy!

Chapter 26:

Blinking, Belle’s eyes searched for the time on her bedside table. She let out the breath she had been holding, upset to see that it was only 1am. It had been 2 hours since Irene had left her in her room and sleep was coming in short bouts for her. Even the exhaustion of the day, or the excitement of what’s coming, couldn’t wear her out. Or it could have been the excitement of the day that kept her awake. Or the fact that she was alone in her bed, that now seemed to big for just her, for the 3rd night in a row.

She pulled her duvet up closer to her before kicking it down over her feet so that her entire body was covered. Within minutes, Belle began to feel too warm and rolled over, shuffling to the other side of the bed where no-one had slept on for a while, meaning it was cooler. Trying to make herself comfortable, she fluffed up her pillows once again, swapping the bottom one with the top one. As she did so, a rustling sound that didn’t sound like fabric as all, made it’s way to her ears. Belle frowned as she stuck her hand under her pillows once again, moving it around to see if she could find the origin of the noise. After a few seconds, she came across a texture different to her bed sheets. Pulling it out, confusion covered her face as she simply stared at the piece of paper in her hand.

Belle fiddled with it, turning it over in her hands before she realised, foolishly, that it was folded in half and that’s why she was so captivated by it. Opening it up, she could make out the fact that there was writing on it, but it was too dark to be able to read it. She sighed and reached over to switch on her lamp, guessing that it was probably something from Amanda’s shoebox collection that had been dropped, but curiosity made her want to make sure.

The sudden light blinded her, funny black dots swarming her sight as she strained to see past them at the paper in her hands. It was only when she saw her name at the top of it in a handwriting that she would recognise even half-asleep that she sat up suddenly, wondering how long this had been there.

Belle, I know we’re not supposed to have any ‘direct contact’ with each other, but I think this would be classed as ‘passive contact’, so I’m not breaking any rules. Just don’t tell anyone.

Belle stopped reading, finally remembering the sound of her wind chimes tinkling earlier on that day when everyone was leaving. She was able to put two and two together and figured that that was when Aden had climbed in through her window and left it for her. Giggling at his actions, she continued reading with a racing pulse.

I know we agreed that we wouldn’t do any of that cheesy wedding vows thing, but I just really wanted to tell you that I cannot wait for it to be tomorrow already, to see you walking down that aisle and to make you my wife. You said that you couldn’t understand how I keep going after everything that’s happened, but you should know by now that it’s because of you. You’ve been by my side when I was a complete mess, when I hurt you so badly that I didn’t know whether you would ever want to see me again and when I was at my lowest. Things have changed greatly over the past few years, but you’ve been that one constant thing that was always there. It’s because of you that I am who I am today, and I cannot thank you enough for that.

You still are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and you always will be. Well, maybe not in 6 months, but you’ll be 2nd best only to our child. But even then, none of it would be possible without you. I love you so much and I promise that’ll never change. I’ll continue to do everything that I can to keep you happy and make you proud. I guess the next time I’ll see you will be on the beach and the next we speak face to face, you’ll be saying those two words that will make me the luckiest man in the world.

A couple of drops of water fell onto the paper, smearing some words, breaking Belle out of her own world as she paused in the reading to wipe away the tears from her eyes. She placed the letter onto the pillow next to her while simultaneously brushing away her tears and dabbing the paper with a tissue to get rid of the smudges. Finally getting a hold of herself, she picked up the letter once again, holding it a bit further this time, and read on.

I should really stop writing, seeing as I’m getting to the end of the page. Plus, I’ve got to sneak out of here and get back before Roman gets home from work and Nic returns from the Surf Club. I can’t believe that I’m going to climb through your window for the last time. Seems almost surreal how that one thing that only we have will no longer be. I don’t know what it was that night, but even when I was drunk, I knew that I would be safe there with you. And I’m glad that every time after that, you never kicked me out when I came in through the window, even before we got together. It was that friendship and trust that has brought me to this moment right now, and I’ll never forget it. Aden x

She saw that Aden had rambled on right to the bottom of the page, his name just fitting in onto the page. Sniffling, Belle tried to stem her tears once again as they came slowly. They were only a few, trickling down her cheeks that she could feel tickling her before she used the tissue to dry them for once and for all. She took deep breaths, calming herself down. Her heart was beating loud in her ears, and as she trailed her fingers over Aden’s writing, she saw that her hands were trembling slightly. Adrenalin was flowing through her, mixing with the excitement and pure elation. She knew that it was either going to keep her up all night now, or knock her straight out.

Reading Aden’s letter once more, Belle folded it up and replaced it under her pillow. Even if it was just a piece of paper with ink on it, it had been written by him and the words, she knew, were straight from the heart, and she wanted to keep that near. If she couldn’t have him with her right then, then she wanted any piece of him that was possible.

Snuggling back down into her bed, she switched off her lamp and got herself comfortable once again. Butterflies started to awake in her stomach as she saw the date on the clock once again. Belle rubbed her abdomen soothingly as a smile graced her lips while closing her eyes. The after-effects of the adrenalin rush were making her sleepy and she was happy to go with it. Morning couldn’t come soon enough for her.

---

“Wakey, wakey!” A shrill voice woke Aden up on the day of his wedding. Moaning, he could hear the blinds going up as he tried to ignore the blonde who was now tugging at the pillow that he had buried his head under. “C’mon, Aden! You don’t want to look like crap today, do you?”

“I don’t care. It’s too early.” His muffled voice came through to her and Aden could imagine her standing there, hands on her hips, wondering what else there was to do to make him get up.

“Dad’s making breakfast. A big meal for the 3 of us. Final breakie together…” She sulked with a heavy sigh and Aden peaked at her from under the pillow, squinting at the bright light before looking at the time.

“It’s 8am, Nic!” Aden replaced his head on top of the pillow, closing his eyes again. “Give me another hour.”

“No can do.” Nicole chirped. “There’s so much to do! Only 9 hours left.”

“9 hours, too many.” He grumbled, feeling the bed dip as his best mate sat down.

“Why are you so tired? You’ve been in bed since 10 last night!” She asked him, prodding his bare shoulder until he pulled up the covers. “Did you sneak out?”

“No. I drove for about 5 hours yesterday. Not to mention that I just got home last night and am in desperate need of sleep.” Aden moaned elongating the last word to give it more effect.

“You’re spending the next week away at some exotic destination. You can sleep then.” Nicole pointed out. He hadn’t even told her where the honeymoon was taking place. The only person the knew, as far as she was told, was Roman. “But then again, knowing you and Belle, sleep wouldn’t really be on the agenda, now-?”

“Will you stop talking?” He growled through gritted teeth.

“Nope.” Her voice was still bubbly as ever. “Unless you want me to start singing. Do you want me to start singing? Because I will. And you know how loud my singing.”

“Oh, God.” Aden finally turned onto his back and pushed himself up onto his elbows. “You start singing, and I will strangle you with my bare hands.”

“Jealous.” She stuck her tongue out at him, jumping up from the bed before he even tried to do anything to her.

“Please. The only people I’m jealous of right now are those who are deaf.” He quipped throwing back his duvet and sitting at the edge of his bed. “And that’s a compliment to your singing abilities. I think even bats can hear you.”

“Someone’s moody.”

“Because you woke me up at 8 on a Saturday morning!” Aden claimed, climbing out of bed slowly and running his hand through his hair by habit.

“Get over it. It’s your wedding day.” Nicole scoffed as he headed out of his room and towards the bathroom.

“It’s still 8 in the morning!”

---

Belle stretched out in her bed before she even opened her eyes. The sounds of the house were the typical ones she woke up to everyday, and in that moment when she was still caught in between the bliss of dreaming and reality, it didn’t hit her that today wasn’t just another day.

Reaching out for her phone like she also did first thing in the morning, she frowned when her hand hit the wooden table. Finally opening her eyes, everything came back to her, and as she read the time and date on the alarm clock, a grin formed on her lips. 8.30am meant that it wasn’t too early too get up and the date meant that it was probably the last time she was going to spend a night in that bed, although that was pushed to the back of her mind. She was getting married today.

The drumming of fingernails on her door caught her attention as she mumbled a ‘yeah’ and watched the door open.

“You’re awake.” Annie said excitedly, a huge smile on her face as Belle pushed herself up slightly. “Ok, well, we’re heading out quickly, so just making sure everything’s alright.”

“Where’re you going?”

“Just helping out Irene briefly with the catering stuff.” Annie informed her. “Mattie and I will be around at 10. Be ready by then.”

“Can I ask where we’re going now?” Belle questioned her with a tone that showed both amusement and sarcasm.

“Nope.” She shook her head. “It’s only over an hour, anyway. And we’ll be back by 1, the latest. Nothing’s going to go wrong.”

“Alright…” Belle sighed before Annie moved into the room a bit more.

“Seeing as we’re all going, Mattie said that I could give you your phone back. Can we trust you with it?”

“Of course!” She pretended to sound offended as she hid her smile when Annie threw her phone onto the bed next to her.

“Annie, we’re going!” Belle heard Geoff yell from, most probably, the kitchen.

“Good morning to you too, Geoff!” Belle called back and in a matter of seconds, he was standing at her door.

“Morning.” He replied sheepishly before tugging on his little sister’s shoulder. “Irene’s going to skin us alive if we don’t get moving.”

“Yeah, you guys should go.” She told them, groaning as she sat up straight in her bed.

“Remember, 10 o’clock.” Annie said strictly, making both Belle and Geoff smirk. “And no direct contact with Aden.”

“I know the rules, Annie.” She sighed. “Now, go!”

Geoff was able to drag Annie out this time, shouting their goodbyes over their shoulders while rushing to catch up with Irene. Staying still for a moment, Belle leant over the edge of her bed to make sure that everyone had gone before grabbing her phone and immediately pressing ‘2’. She may know the rules, but she also knew that they were meant to be broken.

It rang a couple of times, but with each additional ring, Belle got more and more anxious, wondering if Mattie had somehow taken his phone too. She seriously doubted it, but then again, she wouldn’t put anything past Mattie when she was in the maid of honour mood. When then ringing stopped, Belle held her breath, hoping that she would hear the voice that she wanted.

---

Aden had just stepped out of the shower and back into his room when he heard his mobile ring. Pulling on the jeans that he had already slipped one leg on, he smiled when he saw the caller ID.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

”Hey. What took you so long?” Belle’s voice came back to him as he held the phone between his shoulder and ear while doing up his belt and finding a shirt to put on.

“Just got out of the shower.” He replied. “What about you? What you up to?”

”Just woke up.”

“I see.” Aden laughed as he pulled on his red T-shirt and got a hold of the phone in his hand. “What happened to ‘no direct contact’?”

”Well, I‘m home alone right now, and you know…”

“Couldn’t resist, huh?” He teased, throwing his towel over the back of his chair. “Even over the phone.”

”Funny.” Belle laughed even though she spoke with sarcasm. ”I just got my phone back, so I thought I‘d make the most of it.”

“Yeah, I got a warning text saying that Annie was keeping your phone over the night so I shouldn’t try anything.” Aden chuckled at the memory. He had been surprised to have read the first text and the second one had put him in fits of laughter.

”I never knew about that text.” Belle huffed.

“I think it’s pretty sweet.” He claimed, finally leaving his room, making his way downstairs slowly. “Even if you do call me anyway and break the rule.”

”Hey, you left me that letter last night. You broke it first!”

“Ah, so you found it.”

”Yup, at 1 in the morning. ” Belle said with false enthusiasm. ”Great reading material, it made!”

“Glad you liked it.” He had paused at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall. “And, like I said, it wasn’t direct contact.”

”Hmm, I‘d keep that in mind for when Mattie and Annie come hunting for you.” She giggled.

“That’s if they find out about it.”

”I could always show them. I would love to see how they‘ll hurt you exactly.”

“You’re one mean person, Belle.” Aden informed her before laughing. “Besides, you tell them that and I’ll tell them about this call. And you know they‘d be more mad at you.”

”Well, it‘s a good thing that they won‘t find out then, will they?” Belle’s words had a heavy suggestion with them that he got straight away.

“That’s up to you, babe.” He told her while descending down the stairs. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

”Deal.”

“So what are you up to today, then?” Aden asked her casually, seeing the front door open and the warmth of the sun shine through the window and into the house. It just made the day that bit better for him.

”What, you mean apart from getting married?” Belle replied, humour lining her words.

“I meant, before that.” He rolled his eyes even though it was clear that no-one could see it, let alone the girl he was talking to. “Didn’t you say that you’re doing something or another?”

”Yeah, but I don‘t know what that is. They won‘t tell me. Just that I‘ve got to be ready by 10 to go and we‘ll be back by 1.” She sighed heavily. ”I just hope nothing will go disastrously wrong.”

“It won’t. Have a bit of faith, would you?” Aden gently reprimanded her as she giggled. “Listen-” Before he could even get the next word out, or even react, his phone was plucked out of his hand in one smooth motion. “Nicole!”

“I’m sorry, Belle, but you know the rules.” She ignored Aden’s cry of outrage or his tries to get the phone back, instead stepping outside and shutting the door behind her.

”What rules?” Belle asked innocently.

“Don’t try and act cute. Mattie told me this morning that you weren’t to be trusted with having your phone back.” Nicole told her. Belle’s silence, and then the murmur of ’Damn’ under her breath, spoke volumes for her. “Didn’t think she would try that, did you?”

”No, I didn‘t.” She mumbled truthfully.

“Right, well, now you know.” Nicole said in her usual perky voice. “We’ll see you at the wedding. Bye, now.”

Hanging up, she grinned at herself. Even though that was quite possibly the longest conversation she had had with Belle in about a month now, it felt good to be her bitchy self for a bit. Not to mention, to feel part of the whole wedding thing. She was the one who had opted out of the planning, but now on the day, she was glad that Mattie had rang her in the morning and given her something to do.

Turning around, she pushed on the door with one hand, only for it to not budge. Trying again, Nicole used the door handle before realising what Aden had done.

“Ha, ha. Very funny, Aden.” She yelled through the door. “You can let me in now.” When she got no response, she knocked on the door. “Aden?” No reply once again. “Dad?” Nicole stood there for a moment before realising that either both of them were going to be standing there laughing at her or in the back, eating breakfast. Going over to the window, she peered inside to see the front room empty, leaving only the other option. “C’mon! This isn’t funny!” This time, she heard sounds of amusement coming from the kitchen although she couldn’t see or hear either one of them. “Oi! Let me in!”

---

“Told you it would help chill you out, didn’t I?” Mattie gloated as the three young girls walked into the beach house at a few minutes to 1.

“Yeah, I guess you were right.” Belle sighed dramatically. They had spent the past 3 hours at a spa in Yabbie Creak, getting everything from facials to manicures and pedicures, and everything in between. “But you didn’t have to do that!”

“Forget about it.” Mattie dismissed easily. “Call it our wedding present to you.”

“A thank you gift.” Annie added with a nod as they sat on the couches. Even the de-stressing activities they had just undergone had made them tired, or rather lazy.

“For what?”

“Making us bridesmaids.”

“Annie, if there’s anyone who should be thankful here, it’s me.” Belle told her. “For agreeing to be my bridesmaids and putting up with all my not-so-helpful comments and frequently complaining.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you hadn’t.” Mattie supplied, holding up her arms when Belle threw a pillow at her. “Hey, hey, hey! Don’t ruin my new nails! Or yours, for that matter.”

“My nails aren’t fake, like you two.” Belle had opted out of getting acrylic nail stuck onto her fingers. She wasn’t a girly girl and there was no way she would have been able to handle them for a couple of weeks or so. Knowing her, she would most probably lose a couple by the end of the night. Instead, she had gotten them painted in a French manicure style to make them look decent.

Both Annie and Mattie were about to retaliate when there was a knock at the front doors. With their mouths still half open, Belle couldn’t help but laugh at their faces while getting up to answer the door.

“Mum! You’re early!” Belle exclaimed when her mother walked straight through, carrying several items in her hands, all of which looked like dresses. Her shock turned to excitement almost immediately, but she didn’t let on.

“Not that early, Belle. I got everything sorted out quicker than I thought it would take.” Amanda replied, placing the dresses onto the couch delicately before wrapping an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “How did everything go? You feeling ok?”

“Yeah, it was fun. A nice change.” She nodded as the other two girls smiled brightly. “And I’m feeling fine. Time seems to be going slowly today, though.”

“That’s a good sign. You know what it’s like when you’re looking forward to something.” Amanda told her and Belle couldn’t help but agree. She really was looking forward to it. “Where is everyone else then?”

“Uh…”

“Irene and Geoff are still helping out and setting up for the reception.” Annie supplied. “Irene said she’ll be back by 3. I think I saw Ric down there too.”

“Where’re Peter, Ryan and Drew?” Belle turned the question onto her mother.

“Pete and Ryan decided to come down a bit later. Probably with Drew.” Amanda informed her causally while walking over into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.

“Wait, where’s Drew then?” She asked her, confused as to why she would class Drew separately to the other two.

“At work.” Amanda gave her a look over her shoulder. “Didn’t he tell you he was working today?”

“Do I look like I knew?!” Belle snapped, fury flooding her.

“I’m sorry, Belle. If I thought you hadn’t known, then I would have said something yesterday.” She said slowly. “But don’t worry; he’ll be off work in an hour or so.”

“He just better not be late. Drew and punctuality do not go together.” She growled, leaning against the kitchen counter with folded arms.

“Belle, if he’s late, I will personally-”

“-hurt him?” Belle cut Mattie off from her sentence. “Yes, you seem to be making that threat quite a lot.”

“I mean it, though.” Mattie countered, a dangerous glint passing her eyes making Belle grin.

“Alright. Seeing as Peter and Ryan are coming with him, I guess he can’t be that late.” She sighed before eyeing the 4 dresses on the sofa. “Can I see your dress now, Mum?”

“You can see it when I get changed into it.” Amanda told her strictly. “Which won’t be for a couple of hours still.”

“Yeah, I’m hungry.” Annie piped up from where she sat. “Can we have lunch first?”

“Lunch! That’s a great idea!” Mattie jumped up from her seat. “And it’s a good thing that…” She headed over to the table and pulled out the chair on the other side, revealing a hamper that she then placed onto the table. “I got this for us!”

Annie and Belle both walked over to the table, curious at to what it was that Mattie had packed inside it, or had gotten someone to pack. They watched as she slowly took out the items, everything from small sandwiches and apples to luxuriously chocolate covered strawberries and glazed mini cakes. Finally, Mattie pulled out two bottles; sparkling grape juice for Belle and Annie and champagne for everyone else. The celebrations had certainly began.

---

Hehehe, aw. Light and fluffy, right?

I was surprised that only enjoy the ride picked up on the bit about Belle hearing the windchimes tinkling Glad no-one figured out my plan though!

I hope you liked it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you all for the lovely comments, guys! I'm glad that you're liking the drama-free fluff. I thought that you might end up thinking that sometimes it can get boring.

Like I said before, this chapter doesn't have the wedding, basically because building up to it was more than I thought it would be.

Hope you like, anyway.

Chapter 27:

There was a buzzing everywhere in the house. From her room, Belle could hear footsteps upstairs and outside. Amanda and Irene were getting ready in the two bedrooms that were upstairs, while the three girls were in Belle’s room. With less than 2 hours until the ceremony, they had finally started on glamorising themselves up. Although she was excited, Belle had waited until the last possible moment to get ready. There was something about it that made everything so final, and even as she was looking forwards to it, the anxiousness in her stomach began to bubble up.

At the moment, both bridesmaids had gotten themselves ready, adding the final touches to their hair and make-up. Belle knew that none of it would last for long, and 20 minutes before they would have to leave, she could predict both girls, most probably Mattie, rushing into her bedroom or the bathroom to reapply everything and re-do their hair. It was for that exact reason why Belle had just sat on her bed while watching the two of them, tossing her phone around in her hands, not daring to risk calling or texting Aden.

“Why do you not have another mirror?” Mattie growled as she sat on the chair in front of Belle’s desk, peering as well as she could into the small mirror.

“Mum asked if you wanted the one from hers.”

“I wish I had said yes…”

“Too late now.” Belle laughed, watching as Annie used her other mirror, a slightly bigger one, that was on the inside of one of her cupboard doors. Amanda had said that if they needed another, full length mirror, she would be able to get Peter to bring it down with them. However, at their insistence that they wouldn’t need it, she hadn’t made the call, and now Peter and Ryan were in the Bay, helping out with the organising away from the house full of girls.

“It’s 3.30.” Annie pointed out to her as she sat on the edge of the bed, minding the box that had everything that the bride would need. Her dress hung from the hook on the back of her door, still covered in the plastic bag. “You should start getting ready.”

“Yeah, I will…” Belle murmured, missing the worried looks that the other two exchanged.

“Belle,” Mattie spoke slowly, turning around in her chair. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

“No, of course not!” She replied hastily. “I just-” Belle sighed heavily before slumping back against the headboard of her bed, pulling a pillow onto her lap to fiddle with. “It feels so… unreal. Like, this is the final thing I’m ever going to do here, in this room, and I’m excited and all, but it’s kinda depressing too.”

“It could be worse.” Mattie told her, sympathetically, crawling onto the bed opposite her. “At least you’ve got something great to look forward to.”

“True.” Belle nodded slowly and tilted her head upwards to rest against the back, a small smile playing on her face when she realised that her wind chimes and the lights that bumped her head still remained. She’d have to come back and get those with every thing else. “But it’s going to be weird. This place has been home for years.”

“It can still be home.“

“A home away from home.“ Annie suggested as they chuckled.

“But you’ve got that massive place to yourselves, which, undoubtedly, will probably be your home for years to come.” Mattie carried on. “That can’t be a bad thing, right?”

“I didn’t say it was. I’m just going to miss this place.” Belle defended herself, not wanting to seem ungrateful or upset about getting married and moving out.

“We’ll miss you too, Belle.” Annie said softly. “But it’s not like we’re never going to see you again, or that your moving to another country. Trust me, with the baby and all, you’re going to wish you had moved.”

“Yup, I agree.” Mattie hurriedly spoke up before Belle could open her mouth, nodding. “You’re not going to be able to get rid of us even if you wanted to. Not that you would, of course.”

“Course not.” Belle rolled her eyes and laughed. “You know, I’m so focused on the things that are going to change, that I’ve kind of forgotten about everything that won’t.”

“Just focus on that, then.”

“Although, the things that are changing aren’t exactly bad, now are they?” Annie added as Belle smiled at the two of them.

“No, they’re not.”

“Exactly.” Her simple reply put the three of them into silence as Belle thought it all through in her head, realising just how backwards her thinking was. Instead of moving out of one place and into another, she was gaining another home. And instead of losing a family of sorts, she was creating another. Each thought helped get rid of her anxiousness, replacing it with anticipation and eagerness to have it all.

“Right,” Mattie broke their silences as always, standing up. “I think it’s time for us to get you ready!”

---

A knocking on Aden’s bedroom door snapped him out of his thoughts. Shaking his head to clear it, he finished buttoning up his shirt, something that he had started on about 5 minutes previously. Somehow, in between slipping the smooth, black clothing and leaning against his chair, his mind had wondered to thinking about the plan for after the wedding and the following week. He prayed that everything went to plan and that the two of them could enjoy the week with no worries other than the reality they would hate to face when they got back. But that was life, and it was better to just look forward to the following week rather than anything else. Although, even the whole ‘reality’ that they would have to come back to appealed to Aden, mainly due to the fact that it was Belle who he was going to face reality with, which was nowhere near a bed thing in his mind.

Walking over to his door, Aden unlocked it and opened it easily, not caring who it was on the other side. He knew that Nicole would have tried to barge in first; the reason why he had locked it in the first place. Teasing her was too much fun to not do, especially on that day when nothing was able to bring him down right then.

“Hey, mate.” Roman greeted him, stepping into the room. Like the groom, he had a black shirt on under his suit with a white-silver tie already on. Aden had opted out of going for the typical white shirt, black tie outfit basically because it was too formal for him. Not to mention that white shirts reminded him of being at high school, something he had no intention of reliving. “You better hurry up. We’ve got to get going in about 15 if you want to make it there before the girls.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He laughed at Roman’s teasing. Aden had only his trousers and, now, his shirt on. He stood barefoot for a while before deciding that maybe putting on his shoes would be a good idea. “Is everything sorted? Don’t tell me that there’s something wrong…”

“Nah, don’t worry, Aden. It’s all working out at the moment.” Roman assured the younger guy with a small chuckle. “Just making sure that everything is going good in here.”

“Yup. Everything’s good.”

“Sure?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Aden asked him sceptically, tying up one of his shoes slowly.

“No reason.” Roman said calmly, shrugging. “Any second thoughts or cold feet?”

“Nope.” He replied easily, not even looking up at him. “Even if I did, I think it would be too late to back out. I’d probably be hunted for by at least 10 different people.”

Knowing that he was joking, Roman laughed freely, before pushing himself off the wall that he had relaxed against and dug into his pocket to bring out a small box that he had came to see Aden about.

“Here.” He threw the box onto the bed next to Aden as he finished up with his shoes and looked at what Roman had just thrown with a funny face.

“Aw, you shouldn’t have.” Aden said in a sweet, sarcastic voice, smirking at Roman’s look of amusement and the roll of his eyes. “What is it?”

“Cufflinks. Thought you could do with some.” As soon as his words were out of his mouth, Aden twisted his wrists around, seeing exactly what Roman meant.

“Oh.” He simply replied, opening the box to see two square cut diamonds in a silver setting. “Wow. Roman, seriously, you didn’t-”

“Take it as a gift.” Roman told him, not wanting to hear what else he was going to say. “I wasn’t too sure what to get you, but I figured that cufflinks are the traditional gifts from the best man?” The questioning tone proved that Roman still wasn’t sure whether he was right or not.

“I wouldn’t know; never been a best man before. Or married, for that matter.” Aden joked, taking out the small objects and hooking them through the holes in his shirt. “Thanks. You really didn’t have to get me anything; you’ve done enough for me over the years to last a lifetime.”

“Just one last thing, then.”

“Sure, I’ll believe that.” Aden said dryly as he chuckled, knowing that no matter what Roman said, he would probably continue to help him out without a second thought. “Right, so I better finish getting ready.”

“Yeah, you should.” Roman nodded, as Aden stood up and walked over to where his watch laid. “Alright, I’ll you downstairs in a few, ok?”

“Yup. I’ll be down in 5.”

Aden saw Roman walk out of the room from the corner of his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips as he fiddle with his watch slowly. The realisation that that was most probably the last conversation that he would have with Roman in that room, or as a single guy, gave him a slight sense of fear. But that was overcame with elation soon enough when he thought about what kind of guy he would be the next time.

“Knock, knock.” Once again, a rapping of knuckles on his door broke him out of his thoughts, although this time the door was open and accompanied with a voice. “Hey, there, handsome. You scrub up well.”

“Well, you know. Thought I should put some effort into it today of all days.” He quipped as Nicole walked over and sat on the bed.

“True, true. Wouldn’t want Belle you realise what a mistake she’s making before the wedding. At least after, she’ll get that holiday out of you.” She said in a serious voice.

“Nice, Nic. Real nice.”

“Aw, c’mon. You know I’m just teasing.” She giggled. “She’d at least have to wait about 6 months. Pregnancy is no fun by yourself.” Nicole laughed harder as Aden bit back his smile.

“And how would you know that, exactly?” He questioned her, quirking an eyebrow while grabbing his tie hanging over the back of the door handle.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? I’m expecting.” Nicole nodded trying to look earnest, placing both of her hands onto her stomach as he just glared at her via the mirror he was looking into. “Nah, it’s just stuff you hear, isn’t it?”

“Hmm, sure, sure.” Aden mumbled before his smirk died down as he struggled to do his tie. He couldn’t remember the last time he had worn one; apparently the years of practice while at school had worn out. Undoing it for the third time, this time because it was too loose, he growled in frustration.

“God, you’re so impatient.” Nicole huffed, getting up from her seat and taking the tie out of his hands with a brutal force. “You’re 21 and you can’t even do a tie.”

“I can!”

“Yeah, right.” She scoffed as his sulky tone as she finished with the knot. “There.”

“Are you trying to choke me?” Aden hissed exaggeratedly, pulling at the tie and undoing it. “That’s it; no tie.”

“Aden! You can’t not wear a tie!” Nicole claimed, crossing her arms.

“Of course I can. It’s my wedding.” He reasoned, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt before walking around his surrogate sister to grab his suit jacket. “Nice dress, by the way.”

“Oh, so you finally notice?” She asked in fake shock, spinning around to face him to see him smirking. “What do you think?”

“Uh…” Aden pretend to think about it, pausing in putting on his jacket while taking in the dress in one glance before shrugging. “Yeah, it’s alright.”

“’Alright’?!” She screeched, smoothing her hands down the front of her reddish-purple halter neck dress, that fell right to her ankles, where she wore a two inch high sandals. Aden had no idea how she was going to walk in them on the beach, but he didn’t comment on that. “Please, I look better than ’alright’.”

“Fine, you look great.” He corrected himself with a heavy sigh, as she crossed her arms and looked away in a snobbish manner.

“Whatever.”

“Aw, don’t be like, Princess.” Aden laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, tightening it when she tried to get rid of it. “You look beautiful, alright? And I’m sure that Geoff won’t be able to keep his eyes off of you. Or his tongue in his mouth.”

“Now that’s the answer I was looking for.” She smiled, moving away and turning to face him. “Although, I think there’s only one person you’re supposed to be telling that they look beautiful today.”

“She’s going to look more than beautiful.”

“Oh, God, you can be so sickeningly sweet sometimes.” Nicole groaned light-heartedly.

“You love it.” He replied in his normal manner as she rolled her eyes before shaking her head slowly.

“Ok, time for a bit of seriousness.” She said in a strict voice that made him look up from where he was tucking in the sleeve of his shirt under the jacket. “Right, well, I’ve never been one for words-”

“I’ll believe that.” Aden mumbled before seeing her angry face. “Sorry, you were saying?”

“What I was going to say that was that I’m going to miss having you around the house and always being there for me, but after that, I don’t think I will.”

“Nicole,” He walked back over to her, all tones of joking around gone. “Just because I’m moving out doesn’t mean I won’t be here for you. It doesn’t matter where I am or where you are, you’ll still be that annoying, bitchy, irritating little sister that I have no idea how I got.”

“Thanks.” Although she tried to sound blasé, her watering eyes and slightly rough voice let her down. “Great, now you’re going to ruin my make up!”

Laughing at the typical Nicole response, Aden pulled her into an embrace. This time, she went willingly, hugging him back and smiling when she felt him brush a brotherly kiss to her temple when she pulled away.

“Are you ready to go?” She asked him, while heading over to the mirror to make sure that her makeup really hadn’t been ruined. “Dad said 15 minutes, and that was 20 minutes ago.”

“Yeah, I think I am.” Aden couldn’t stop the smile from cracking out onto his face as Nicole nodded and let him usher her out of his room for the last time. Closing the door behind him slowly, he followed her down the hallway and then down the stairs where only Roman stood. Everyone else was either at the venue already, or were only going to be at the reception later on.

“Ready to go?” Roman almost repeated his daughter’s exact words. “Where’s your tie?”

“No ties.” Aden stated bluntly and Roman merely shrugged and took his own off, throwing it over the back of the couch and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt as a sudden thought came to him.

“Hey, Aden?”

“Yeah?”

“You got the rings for me, mate?” Aden’s eyes widened slightly before he cursed under his breath and headed back up the stairs. He was back down again in less than a minute so it was easy to assume that he had planned on giving him the rings, but had just forgotten.

“Anything else?” Aden asked, a bit unsure and unnerved seeing as he had just forgotten the one thing he was in charge of bringing to the wedding.

“Nope, that’s it.” Roman assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

---

Finally alone for the first time since that morning, Belle stood in front of the long mirror in her cupboard. It wasn’t anywhere near as close as the ones in the bridal boutique, or the one her mother had, but it was long enough to see herself in her wedding dress. It fitted perfectly, just as it had been designed to. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, with the front bits pinned back to keep only her fringe out. She hadn’t wanted her hair getting in her face during the ceremony in case it got windy. Luckily, it seemed, the weather was holding out for them, with the sun still shining bright. Sunset was in 25 minutes, and she was going to be there when it happened.

Belle played with the sleeves of her tops, loving the lacy feel of it. She had been slightly worried that the charms from her bracelet would get caught and tear it, but now she saw that they hung freely. Her jewellery was simple; her engagement ring on her left hand, her charm bracelet on her right and Aden’s mother’s chain with the star pendent turned charm hooked onto it around her neck. It seemed almost natural to be wearing those things; things that connected her to Aden even without the wedding ring that would be slipped onto her finger in less than an hour.

“Oh, Belle…” She spun around when she heard Irene’s voice from her door, looking at her in awe. “You look absolutely gorgeous.”

“You think so?” Belle asked, glancing downwards quickly.

“Of course.” Irene took a hold of her hands to get a proper look. “Aden’s going to be speechless.” She laughed, making Belle do so too, remembering her thoughts from the shop a couple of weeks back.

“Thanks.”

“Not long now, eh? Still feeling good?” Irene teased slightly.

“Oh, yeah. Just another day, you know?” Belle joked, although her giggles this time were slightly nervous. “Wow, I can’t believe today’s finally here.”

“You better believe it, because the next time I see you now, you’ll be walking down that makeshift aisle.”

“Are you guys leaving now?” Belle asked, shocked at how quickly the time had gone all of a sudden. The plan had been for everyone but the bride and her bridesmaids to head down to the beach and they would follow soon after in the limo that had been hired.

“Yup. We won’t get there in time otherwise.” She informed her. “You got everything you need? Have you seen Amanda?”

“Yeah, she was here earlier and I’m all good.” Belle nodded confidently, still getting her head around the fact that it was getting so close to the actual ceremony now.

“Alright, then, darl. I’ll see you there.” Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, Irene left the room with a small smile. Belle saw her pause slightly when she got out of the room followed by her telling someone ‘good luck’ as she disappeared from view. Frowning, Belle moved forwards until the person who Irene had been talking to appeared in her doorway.

“Sorry, I’m late?” Drew spoke carefully, keeping himself a fair distance from her and near to the door to make a quick getaway in case he needed it.

“You were working.” Belle said slowly, her tone dangerously calm while her face was emotionless. “On my wedding day.”

“I couldn’t get out of it. You gave such a short notice.” He reasoned as she just glared. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“You are so lucky that not only is there nothing in my reach to hurt you with, but I’m not going to risk any of this,” She waved a hand around herself indicating to her dress, hair and make up, “getting messed up because of you.”

“Thanks.” Drew visibly relaxed as he walked into her room, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “You look…” He trailed off, not knowing what the right word would be.

“That good, or that bad?” Belle’s tone was full of humour as he looked her straight in the eye.

“That good.” He confirmed. “But I guess that’s expected, considering today is your day and all.”

“Thanks.”

“So, how you feeling? Nervous? Scared? Cos you know, it’s ok to back out if you still want to.” Drew assured her in a serious tone although a glint of mischief shone in his eyes as he sat down on her bed.

“I’m not going to back out.” Belle sighed, sitting down on her chair. “I’m a bit nervous, but I think that’s just the excitement of it all getting to me. But look,” She held up her hands to show that they were completely still. “That can only be good, right?”

“Right.”

“Drew.” Belle practically whined. “Do you think that you could put your hatred towards Aden aside for just today and be happy for us?”

“I am!” He quickly defended himself. “I am happy for you.” At her disbelieving look, he took in a breath and tilted his head to the side a bit before looking back at her. “Ok, I know that I’ve never really ever said anything nice about the two of you before, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not happy for you. I don’t have a hatred for him, per se, I’m just wary of him. You deserve the best, Belle, and as far as I’m concerned, Aden’s not that at all.” Regardless of the fact that he was talking bad about her almost-husband, the sudden smile on Belle’s face confused him. “What?”

“You called him ‘Aden’.” She pointed out. “You’ve never called him that.”

“Oops, my mistake.” Drew chuckled as she rolled her eyes before turning serious again. “Belle, all I want is for you to be happy, and as much as I hate to admit it, I know that he makes you happy. I know that he treats you good and that he would do anything for you, just like you said you would for him. I know that he respects you, takes care of you, protects you and will be always be there for you, and the baby. I know he does all that, but I’m not going to start playing happy families with him.” Belle laughed at his last words, fighting back the tears that rimmed her eyes. “I’ll always be waiting for him to slip up somewhere along the way, although, for your sake, I hope he doesn’t.”

“Drew,” She began, reaching behind her for a tissue and dabbing at her eyes. “You only said that so that I would cry and ruin my makeup, didn’t you?”

“I wish.” He laughed, watching as she managed to finally get a hold of herself, none of the tears escaping further than just past her eyes. “I mean it, ok? You’ll probably never hear me say it ever again, and I’ll deny it if you ever bring it up, but I do mean it.”

“You do?” Belle asked hopefully.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” He insisted. “I didn’t say it to make you cry. Although, I did say it because I haven’t got you a wedding present.”

“Drew!” She gave him a light shove to his shoulder, both of them laughing freely. “You had to go and say that, didn’t you?”

“What? It was getting too serious for me!”

“Belle?” Annie’s head popped through the door a bit shyly. “We need to get going now.”

“Ok. Give me a second.” She replied slowly while standing up as Drew copied her action.

“Ready?” He asked her as she checked her reflection once more, disposing of the tissue when she found no need for it. Turning back to him, she nodded. “You know, if you don’t want to back out now, you could always divorce him in a few years and take half his money. More than half when you have the kid.”

“Stop it!” Belle reprimanded him with a soft smile.

“Alright, alright.” Drew laughed before looking at his watch. “Damn, I should get going if I want any chance of getting there before you guys do.”

“Why don’t you come with us?” Belle suggested, a thought occurring to her. “That way you won’t be late, or disrupt anything.”

“What, in the limo with the bridal party?” He asked incredulously. “Isn’t there some kind of rule against that?”

“Yeah, maybe, unless…” Inhaling deeply, Belle decided to go for it. “Drew, you’re my brother. Ok, not by blood, but we couldn’t be closer even if we were. You’ve known me for years, and we’ve been everything to each other, but this is the best relationship I’ve had with you. You’re one of my best friends, and I know that there’s nothing left destroy our friendship anymore-”

“Belle, where’re you going with this?” Drew cut her off, knowing that the time was running for her to get to her own wedding.

“Come with us in the limo and walk me down the aisle?”

“Are you-? Do-” He stuttered in shock slightly at first. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” Belle told him confidently. “You’re the closest male relative of mine, and after everything you said today, I wouldn’t want anyone else to do it. I mean, I wasn’t going to have anyone else do it, but you should be a part of my wedding. You’ve been part of my life for so long. Will you?”

“Sure.” Drew grinned as she smiled in relief. “Anything for you, sis.”

“Belle!” Mattie’s voice from the front room came to them, hinting very heavily that they should get going.

“Alright, you ready? Like, entirely, no more last minute decisions, ready?” Drew questioned her teasingly while she nodded.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

---

Sorry for the length of it - I hope it didn't drag on. I just wanted to get all this into this chapter so that the next could be focused on one thing, and one thing only... the actual wedding!

I hope you all enjoyed it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Nearly, but not yet!

Right, so I think this is the chapter you've all been waiting for. I've been writing it for ages, but everytime I read it through, I just don't get that feeling. Like, it's not going to portray exactly what I'm seeing/imagining, if you get me? Anyway, I hope you like it, and that you can imagine this Adelle wedding, which I hope we will get soon enough on the show.

Chapter 28:

When the limousine came to a stop at their destination, the sun had just began to set. They had found out the time that dusk was supposed to be that day, and it seemed as if the information that they had used had been correct. Dusk was definitely coming around soon.

Last chance, sis. The three girls giggled at his words; Annies humorous, Matties accompanied with a slap to his leg and Belles somewhat forced and nervous.

The bride stared out of the tinted window next to her, able to make out the figures of everyone there and the lights that gleamed in the sand. They were on the side to where the place where the ceremony was going to take place was, but it was clear that some of them had either seen the limo or had been anticipating the arrival of it for a while. They were 5 minutes late, although that was more to do with tradition rather than anything else.

Belle? Should we? Annie left the sentence unfinished, her elder foster sister understanding immediately.

Lets go. Belle whispered and seconds later, the driver had opened the door. Annie and Mattie stepped out first. The door that had been used was the one away from the beach, meaning that no-one could see them as they exited.

Feeling Drews eyes on her, she gave him a brief smile and squeezed his hand gently, a sign telling him that it was time. Nodding, he exited the vehicle too before bending down and offering a hand for Belle to take. She did so, gratefully.

The light outside was getting dimmer by the second and the temperature was dropping, but nothing was going wrong. It was the main thing that ate at her. Nothing had gone wrong. Belle wasnt sure whether to take that a good sign or as an omen that there was something waiting for her around the corner.

Here. Mattie handed her the bouquet of 12 long stemmed, and thorn free, roses. They were a mix of red, white and pink and their fragrance was intoxicatingly sweet. The bridesmaids flowers were much simpler and had some blue flowers in them too, which Belle had no idea what they were called, to match their dresses. Right, so for the final time?

Im ready. Belle smiled, taking a couple of steady breaths. Im ready.

Once were gone, were gone

I know. She laughed, biting her bottom lip. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she could pinpoint exactly where she would be standing in a matter of minutes. Cmon. I want to go get married!

Sharing a final hug with both girls, Belle watched as they smiled at each other gleefully and walked around the car, heading straight along the beach to where the makeshift aisle was laid. She had no idea what the aisle was made from; all she had seen from the window was lights, and she refused to turn around and look right now.

Hey, you ok? Drew asked her, standing in front of her and taking her free hand in his. It was a comforting touch, but Belle couldnt help but compare it to Adens soft and warm one. His hand that always seemed to fit perfectly into hers, like they were made to be together.

Uh-huh.

You sure?

How far have they gotten to? Belle questioned instead. Drew peered over her shoulder, waiting a moment before speaking.

Theyve just gotten to the bottom and greeted your groom with a kiss to the cheek. He chuckled, knowing that taunting her on her wedding day and just seconds before she would be saying her vows was mean. We can go anytime now

Then lets go. She replied instantly, with a grin and a happy tone to match. Her heart was beating faster than she had ever known it to as Drew complied and held out an arm for her. Taking it, she made her feet move, putting more thought into it than was needed. She knew that if she continued paying too much attention to the one action, she would either forget everything else, or topple over.

Reaching the edge of the beach, where the sand met the concrete, they paused. Drew gave her the very final chance to change her mind, but she squeezed his arm instead and nodded.

The first few steps in the sand were awkward; her sandals were pressing into the sand with more force than she liked. She had never been one for heels, no matter now small. Taking another step, she could feel many eyes upon her, even as she stared downwards. Sighing, she stopped.

One second. Belle slipped her shoes off easily, placing each feet onto the cooling sand delicately, finally feeling right. Mums going to have a fit.

Ill hold her back for a bit. He said seriously as she let out a bubble of giggles. Continue? Once again, Belle squeezed his arm and he took it as his cue to guide her once again.

Belle looked up, at last, as they approached the aisle. Taking it in, the outline of a smile formed on her lips when she saw what it was that her mother and best mate had arranged for the short passageway down toward where she was going. The lights that she had seen were little tea light candles. Cleverly, they had used fake, battery powered ones, making it look like flames but without the fear of burning anything. In between the two lighted lines, there were various flower petals strewn with couple sets of footprints dislodging them from randomness. Everyone stood around, not too close, yet not too far. It was just how she had imagined it to be.

Lifting her eyes from the ground when she felt the first waxy petal under her toes, Belle caught Adens eyes. They were almost transfixed on her, a soft smile gracing his features, growing slowly as she smiled back, albeit shyly. There were about 15 other people there, all with their eyes on her, yet she could only see the one person who was waiting for her.

This is it, Belle thought to herself, eyes flickering for the quickest moment over to take in everyone else. This is it.

---

Aden had been standing around, in almost the same spot, for about 15 minutes before Nicole had tapped him rapidly on the arm. Breaking off from his conversation with Roman, Irene and Geoff, he looked over at where she had her eyes glued. It took a moment for Aden to see, but soon enough, mostly everyone glanced over to that one place were the limo, containing his bride and her bridesmaids, had pulled up.

Thats it, Aden. No more chances of running now. Nicole whispered from beside him. Although her voice had been low, it had been clear that Roman had heard it, giving his daughter a small, stern look. Just saying.

Aden had grinned at her words, knowing that her teasing was just her way to break the tension and the silence that they both very much hated. Nevertheless, he was unable to tear his eyes away from the car, hoping to get a glimpse of her for the first time in a few days. Not to mention, to see her in her dress.

He watched as the driver rounded the car, opening the door further from them. A second later, he was able to recognise Mattie and Annie getting out. There was a small remark from Nicole about their dresses, that was barely visible due to the limo, that brought a smile to Adens face, finally looking away and at her.

Jealous, much?

Please. She hissed back, aware of the fact that even though there was still small talk going on around them, her words wouldnt be appreciated, to say the least, by Amanda. I turned them down, remember?

Hmm Aden replied, not bothering to give a verbal response. Turning back to where he had been looking before, confusion flooded him when he saw a familiar, black haired guy standing with the 2 girls.

Whats he doing there? The blondes words were as perplexed as he felt. Aden had noticed that Drew hadnt been there when everyone had arrived. After getting a brief telling off from Amanda for not wearing a tie, to which he joked that it was only a wedding, he had questioned Peter as to where the latters son had got to. Peter had told him how he had been working and had been at the beach house when the others left, so Aden had assumed that he was either going to be late, or not turn up at all. Both scenarios, he knew, would have greatly upset Belle.

No idea. He murmured with a shrug. Everything that he had been thinking about soon vanished from his mind when he saw the fourth and last person step out of the vehicle. Still obscured by the limo, all that Aden could see was the back of Belles body; mainly just her shoulders and head. He could see her hair; the front bits twisted to the back and pinned, and some lacy shawl type of clothing covering her shoulders, where her hair fell past in gracious waves.

Feeling his pulse start to race as she turned slightly to the side, only to turn back again, exchanging a few words and them embraces with Mattie and Annie, Aden was glad that he had decided to not wear the tie in the end. Even if he had, he guessed that he would be, very embarrassingly, loosening it at that moment. With his heart beating as fast as it was now, there was no way that he would have been able to breathe with something like that enclosed around his neck.

You might want to take notice of the bridesmaids Roman said to him in a low voice, humour clearly lining his words. It was enough to snap Aden out of his own world, twisting slightly to see that the two girls were about 3 feet away from him. Flickering his eyes quickly to look at where Belle stood, just in case she was watching, he put on a smile as Mattie and Annie reached him.

Shes not running. Mattie teased him, making him roll his eyes in response, accepting the brief peck on the cheek that she gave him, followed by Annie, who simply smiled, before they both walked over to the opposite side.

For several seconds, Aden simply watched the two girls go to the other side, hoping to hear what ever it was that they were explaining to Amanda, Peter and Irene. He assumed that it was most probably something to do with Drew, but anything he heard was during the intervals when his heart wasnt pumping in his ears. It didnt take a genius for him to work out what Drew was doing up there, but he wanted to know why and when Belle had decided to ask him.

Typically, when he had taken his eyes off of Belle to think and strain his hearing, it was at that time that she had began to walk over. It was only when Nicole informed him, mockingly, that Belle wouldnt be impressed to see him checking out her best mate right then, that he had turned to face the blonde before looking immediately over to where she took small, steady footsteps.

With her head tilted down, all that Aden could focus on was her dress. It really was absolutely beautiful. His eyes travelled up and down her body a couple of times, watching as her feet moved, noticing that her figure was still slim and seeing her hair sway in a slightly seductive way. Trying to take it all in, he licked his lips as his mouth went dry. He didnt know if it was out of total desire, awe or nervousness, but he knew that the last thing he wanted to was to blank and stutter like an idiot at his own wedding.

Eyes still stuck on her every move, Adens heart skipped a beat when he saw her stop. Although Mattie had reassured him that she wasnt running, and Belle hadnt seemed to be in two minds about the wedding, even sounding jolly that morning, he couldnt help but to think the worst. It was only when he thought about the fact that she wasnt moving in either direction that his eyes wandered down to where hers were. Relief flooded his body, and if anyone else had noticed his agitation, they never said a word. Keeping an eye on her bare feet, treading lightly and confidently on the sand, Aden let himself relax. Seeing her laugh a little at Drews quiet reply told him that she was just as excited as he was. Anything that he might have been worrying about, even before her pausing, had vanished.

Arriving at the end of the candle and petal aisle, he finally saw her look up. Their eyes met instantly, a smile forming his lips just as quickly, growing as he saw her shy one. Now, Aden was able to take in the whole her. Thinking that she looked absolutely beautiful before didnt do any justice to her. Her whole form was radiant from what he assumed to either be her maternal glow or just the elation from the day and what was left to come.

Soon enough, Belle and Drew were only a matter of a couple of meters away from him. Aden could almost feel her, being so close. His smiled transformed to a soft one, hoping that she would understand everything that he was feeling with that one look, as they came to a stop.

Her hand slipped out from Drews arm as he gave her a kiss to the cheek, whispering something to her than made her bite her lip in a cute way. Then, shocking Aden, he gave him a short nod with a ghost of a smile that he guessed was only there because of his stepsister. There was a look in Drews eyes that was usually always there when he confronted or spoke to Aden, but this time it was less prominent. Aden nodded in reply before Drew walked off to join the rest of his family, standing off on the side with them.

Almost as soon as Drew had started to walk off, Annie came to Belles side, taking her flowers out of her hands. Finally empty, Aden took her hand in his without a second thought, leaning in a pressed a kiss to her cheek, although it was more closer to her ear.

You look Keeping his voice low and his lips as still as possible, he struggled for the right word. Beautiful didnt cover it, and neither did gorgeous. It was so much more than that. She looked like an angel to him, so elegant and mesmerising, but even those words didnt say it all. Giving up, Aden stuck to the first thing that he had thought of. Wow.

Belles smile, now no longer shy, and the small tint that rose to her cheeks, told him that he had made the right choice. Still holding her hand in his, Aden carefully stroked her knuckles. Now that she was there, everything could carry on.

This is it, he thought, suppressing the excitement that threatened to spill out of him at that very moment. He couldnt hear the words that were being spoken by the man who stood mere feet from him, minutes away from marrying the two of them. Eyes fixated on her, Aden sighed slowly and contently. This is it.

---

I do. His words were purposely low, almost a whisper, so that only she and the one other person who needed to hear heard. Everyone else were scattered around them, giving them space and privacy, even as they watched intently. Belle assumed that they all knew that neither her nor Aden were particularly caring right then who was there or not; today, it was about the two of them.

She knew she should have been paying more attention; it was her wedding after all, but she couldnt. Not with all the feelings that rushed through her that it made it so hard for her to stand in one place. Ever since he had taken her hand in his, she had been unable to make her brain communicate with her mouth. She had wanted to tell him that he looked great, that she was glad he had gone for the black shirt, that he looked really handsome, but none of it was happening.

Adens reaction to her was more than she had expected. Making him speechless was what she had wanted, and she was glad that it had worked. Up until that moment when he had whispered the typical Aden response into her ear, Belle had worried that there would be something about her dress that wouldnt appeal to him. She hadnt known where that thought had came from, but it had been planted into the back of her mind. The word wow accompanied with that smile of his got rid of all that.

Belle wasnt sure how long she had been standing there, but she guessed that it must have been longer than she had thought it had been before she heard her name, the question that she had been listening out for finally being said. The words had came slowly, taking in each separate sound, all the while, seeing Aden do and feel the same as her. The small beat of silence between the question and his reply made her hold her breath, knowing that for the last time, Aden still had the chance to pull out. Her eyes drifted down to his mouth, watching as he spoke the two syllables that completely exhilarated her.

And do you, Belle, take Aden to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in marriage. Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, so long as you both shall live? Her response, the two simple words that would bind her to this man that she loved forever, had formed on her tongue long before she was allowed to finally verbalise them. She gave a moments silence, so not to seem too eager, before speaking.

I do. Like Aden, Belle kept her voice low too, only audible to them. It made it that much more meaningful and passionate, something that portrayed just how much they meant their vows to each other.

---

Aden could feel his lips curl into a smile without even thinking about it when he saw Belle look at him with eyes filled with pure love when he had spoken. It was taking all that he had to stop himself from touching her face, stroking her hair, kissing her on her lips like he wanted to. Knowing that he couldnt, even though he would be allowed to as many times as he wanted in about 10 minutes, just made it harder for him to resist.

When it was her turn to speak, Aden waited for that last word of the vows, watching as a her lips parted slightly before saying those two words that seemed to change everything. Although they were just two words, and that there was nothing else to them than that, the fact that they were coming from Belle, promising him everything that he had just promised her, froze everything. It were those two words that he had told her in the letter that would make him feel like the luckiest man in the world, and right then, he felt it.

Soon enough, a movement behind his bride broke him out of his own world. Aden realised that he hadnt been listening to what it was that was being said. Thankfully, it hadnt been anything that he had to do or say.

Dropping Belles hand, Aden turned to accept the ring from Roman, never letting his eyes avert to anyone else in fear of ruining the intimate moments that the two of them were sharing. When he faced Belle once again, he saw her taking the ring from her maid of honour, and Aden had to wonder when it was that Mattie had gotten the ring.

The spoken words from next to him went over his head, only the odd few sinking in. Aden listened out for his name, and wasnt disappointed when he heard it seconds later. Taking her left hand in his, as instructed, he touched the rim of the diamond studded ring to the tip of her finger while repeating the words that he was told to.

With this ring, a symbol of my eternal love for you, I thee wed. Aden gently pushed the ring along her finger, letting it glide smoothly until it reached where her engagement ring laid. Twisting the ring slightly, he managed to get it to fit together like it had been made to do. He felt her eyes on him all the while, and her hand clenched at his when he spoke, her fingers irregularly warm. The smile that graced his face this time was more of a cheeky one, especially as Belle took his left hand, holding the ring to his finger with the other hand, shaking a bit from what he thought, and hoped, to be excitement.

With this ring, a symbol of my eternal love for you, I thee wed. She repeated as she pushed the ring with a gentle force. It went easily coming to a rest nearer the bottom of his finger before caressing his fingers with hers as she took a hold of his hand once again. Not once since Aden had put the ring onto her finger had he torn his eyes away from her face, seeing the concentration on it as she focused on the ring in her hand and watching her lips form the words ever so delicately and sweetly.

Finally, Belles eyes came up to meet his, the soft smile that had been on her lips for all this time turning into a small smirk in a teasing manner as they both heard the words that they had been waiting for that marked the end of the ceremony, that pronounced them as married, that allowed them to give in after so long and kiss.

Taking a single step towards her, Aden pulled on her hand gently as she willingly came towards him. Giving her his smile, his other hand found its way to play with the tendrils of hair that was part of her fringe and framed her face while taking her lips with his. Aden did his best to keep it short and sweet, considering that there were in a public place, even if it was just in front of family.

Breaking away with the smile still on his face, he heard Belle giggle lightly as she held onto his arms. He rested his forehead against hers, relishing this brief moment to themselves that would, undoubtedly, be their only moment alone like this for the rest of the day. Opening his eyes to see hers looking back at him with tears of joy filling them to the rim, Aden couldnt stop the feeling of pure bliss taking over him.

I love you. He murmured to her under his breath.

I love you, too Belle replied with another laugh, keeping back her tears as her nails dug into his covered arms, trying her best to not do anything suddenly, like squealing from the overload of happiness that she felt.

Aden laughed along with her before tucking piece of hair that he had been fiddling with behind her ear and gliding that hand over her jaw to come to a rest at the side of her neck, his thumb automatically caressing her cheek. The knowledge of everyone still being there and watching them went out of his mind when he pulled her into another kiss. He was sure that he could hear their guests making some kind of noise, perhaps applauding or talking, he wasnt sure what it was exactly, but none of it mattered right then. Neither one cared who was watching, what they were thinking or what they might say as they shared their first proper kiss as husband and wife.

---

I really do hope that you enjoyed it and it lived up to any of your expectations.

Let me know what you thought.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

I'm so glad that you all enjoyed the wedding. This chappie's the reception, so it's a bit light-hearted and a bit of fluff. Enjoy

Chapter 29:

“So, what happened to not needing anyone to walk you down the aisle?” His tone was humorous and inquisitive at the same time. “I mean, I thought that, seeing as it was something different and nothing really religious, you didn’t want that whole… thing.”

“There’s nothing religious about having someone walk you down the aisle.” Belle defended herself, not able to keep the smile off her face to seem like she was annoyed with his assumptions. “It was a spur of the moment thing.”

“Hmm, I thought as much.” Aden replied, swaying them gently on the spot where they stood. They had now been married for about 2 hours and nothing was stopping from reminding them that. After the ceremony, they had been driven away in the limo to the reception, where everyone else that they knew had already gathered. It was in a reasonable sized hall that was decorated quite glamorously, letting Aden know that Belle had pretty much handed over all of the responsibility for it to the planning team of her mother and best friend.

So far, they had heard ’congratulations’ in many variations and from practically everyone in the town of Summer Bay. They had had their first dance, quickly followed by the traditional second dance. They had cut the cake, eaten a bit of it, had jokes with a lot of the others and most likely hadn’t stopped smiling the entire night. They had also been apart for the most of it, either talking or getting dragged to dance. It was only after a couple of hours, when everyone had begun to get a bit tired after the day’s events, that Aden had managed to get his new wife to himself and take her onto the half-filled dance floor.

“I’m glad I changed my mind though.” Belle stated, resting her head against his shoulder as she felt him place his chin on top of her head momentarily before she backed off again, realising that if she stayed like that, there was a chance of her either falling asleep standing up or not ever wanting to move. “It would have been weird if Drew hadn’t been a part of it.”

“You know what was really weird?” Aden questioned her as her hands glided up his arms and along his shoulders, making him shiver slightly at her touch. “I think he might have actually smiled at me.”

“You want to know something that’s even weirder?” She laughed at his words, looking at him slyly while she spoke in a loud whisper to pretend that what it was that she was about to tell him was a secret.

“What?”

“I think he might have actually given us his blessing.” Belle smiled widely as she spoke, even as Aden cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Since when do we need his blessing for anything?” He questioned, albeit confused.

“We don’t.” She told him simply. “But it was nice to hear that he accepts you. I mean, he’s not going to be best friends with you anytime soon-”

“Thank God for that.” Aden murmured, cutting her off. She gave him a mock-annoyed look before rolling her eyes.

“-but he admitted that you’re one of the good guys, in his own way. And that you’re going to be a terrific husband and father.” Belle continued, lacing her hands at the back of neck in a carefree manner, knowing that her words had made an impact on him.

“He said that?” Aden’s tone was filled with disbelief, even as his eyes shone when she called him a ‘husband’ and a ‘father’.

“Yup.” She confirmed with a nod. “Well, not in those words as such, but that’s what he meant.”

“You sure we’re talking about the same Drew here?” He glanced over to where the guy in question was being forced to dance by a still over-excited, and perhaps a tad bit tipsy, Mattie.

“I’m sure. I was just as shocked as you, Aden.” Belle smiled softly being sighing. “It’s good though. Made today perfect.”

“What? Getting married to me wasn’t enough to make today perfect?” Aden enquired in shock, giving her a sceptical look as she giggled with a roll of the eyes.

“Of course it was.” Belle insisted. “Without that, today wouldn’t have even been special, let alone perfect.”

“Smooth talker.” He laughed, using her typical response for him whenever he charmed his way out of something.

“What can I say?” She shrugged while pushing herself up onto her tiptoes and speaking directly into his ear. “I’m a Jefferies now.”

At her words, Aden grinned, loving the sound of it. As of today, she was no longer Belle Taylor, but rather Belle Taylor Jefferies. Just reciting the name in his head gave him some sense of pride and joy. Slowly, as Belle stood flat on her feet once again, he leant in, claiming her lips with his. It was a light kiss to start off with that became deeper as they got carried away, breaking apart only when reality came back to them, and they could hear a couple of people wolf-whistling at them.

Laughing sheepishly, they both looked over at where Mattie was hushing Ric and Drew by the bar area that had been made over by the wall. Nicole and Geoff were heading off the dance floor to join them, amusement clear on their faces.

“Great friends we have, huh?”

“Could be worse.” Aden countered, letting her lead him over to where they were by the hand.

“How, exactly?” Belle asked over her shoulder as they approached the 5 others. His response was a simply chuckle before as they came to stop by them.

“Forgot you were in public, did you?” Ric questioned patronisingly.

“You mean like how you and Mattie did about an hour ago?” Everyone laughed at her typical response, a smirk forming on her lips as Aden’s arm came around her shoulders.

“They weren’t moments away from jumping each other, though.” Nicole supplied, wriggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner as Aden gave her a light shove with his free hand even as he laughed at her words.

“Shut up.” Belle practically growled, although the smile on her face ruined the effect.

“So,” Mattie began, hoping to change the subject before it turned into an argument between the 7 of them. “How are you liking everything?”

“It’s perfect, Mattie.” Belle pulled her best mate into a hug to show just how grateful she was. “Seriously, it’s more than I ever imagined.”

“Yeah, Mattie. Thanks. It really is great.” Aden added with a gracious smile as Mattie grinned back, glad that her job had been done.

“No problem. Glad you like it.” Mattie replied with a small flush to her cheeks, indicating that all their compliments were making her a bit self-conscious and shy.

“Gotta admit, I really do like the bar idea.” Drew told her seriously, only to have her give him a dirty look.

“Oh, me too.” Ric said with a nod and holding up his beer bottle to show how much he meant it.

“Yeah, that was a really good idea.” This time it was Nicole who had spoken, only for Geoff next to her to shake his head slightly, knowing it was best to keep quiet at times like these.

“Gee, thanks, you guys. Nice to know that out of everything, you’re most interested in the alcohol.” Mattie’s tone was dry as she huffed and crossed her arms.

“Free alcohol.” Ric corrected her, receiving a swift slap to the arm for his comment that made the rest of them all laugh.

“Well, I for one am happy about everything else.” Belle assured her. “We both are.”

“But we all know that she would be agreeing with us if she was allowed to drink.” Nicole pointed out as Belle glared at her, promptly shutting her up.

“You all make me sound like some kind of alcoholic.” She groaned as Drew and Ric both opened their mouths to say something.

“Don’t say it.” Aden warned with a smirk. “If you value your lives, don’t say it.”

“Aden!” Belle reprimanded as the others laughed. “You’re all being really mean today.”

“Aw, we’re just teasing, sis.”

“Whatever.” She huffed, feeling Aden press a kiss to her head. Shuffling to wind an arm around his back, she let out a painful moan.

“What’s wrong?” Aden immediately asking, his voice low so only she could hear as the others had either fallen into another conversation or had headed off somewhere else.

“Nothing. My feet are just aching.”

“C’mon. Let’s go sit.” He told her, lifting his arm off of her and guiding her over to an empty table that was pretty close to them. Almost as soon as she sat down, she slipped off her shoes.

“I still dunno why I chose this heels.” Belle groaned, loving the freedom her feet now had. “Except not to ruin the dress.”

“Which would have really sucked.” Aden added. “You look stunning, you know that?”

“Yes, considering that you’ve been telling me that all night.”

“Well, I mean it.” He informed her, taking her hand in his and brushing his lips over the back of it. It still made her stomach flip, no matter how many times he had done it over the past 2 and a half years.

“Thank you.” Belle said almost shyly. “I’ve got to admit, I’m still glad that you chose a black shirt. Although I’m surprised that you didn’t get a tie, too.”

“Uh…” Aden laughed, averting his eyes to the side where Roman was stood casually talking to Charlie. “I did.”

“But…?” She prompted.

“I kind of got frustrated with it, so I decided to leave it.”

“Ah, I see.” Belle laughed freely. “I’m happy you did; the black shirt and suit looks way more sexier.”

“Good.” He winked at her before stealing a sweet kiss from her. “I’m glad you think so.”

The two of them sat at the table by themselves for about a further 10 minutes, making small talk that came to them naturally. Although throughout the whole night, they had been ambushed by people anytime they were alone, while they were finally tighter for the time being, Belle assumed that everyone was giving them some space. That, and the fact that fatigue was starting to settle in after the events of the day, and the alcohol consumption along with cake and food.

“Here.” A voice to their right broke them out of the silence that they had fallen into as they watched everyone else interact.

“What’s this?” Belle asked, humour lining her words when she saw the two flutes of champagne that Martha had placed in front of them.

“Martha thought that the two of you looked too serious.” Jack explained from where they stood, both smiling at them as they laughed.

“And everyone knows how much liveliness a sip of bubbly can bring.” Martha said with a nod to get her point across.

“You would know, right?” Belle teased as the guys both laughed while Martha rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what she was referring to. “I’m kidding. Thanks, but I think we’re alright.”

“Oh, c’mon. What’s tonight if you can’t drink as much as you want without having to have an excuse?”

“True, true.” She giggled, biting her bottom lip as she looked over at Aden, who was now in a conversation with Jack. “But as much as I would love to, I really can’t.”

“Oh.” The look of slight confusion passed Martha’s face until she saw Belle’s hand pass over her stomach subconsciously. Realisation sunk into her immediately as her eyes widened. “Oh! Really? You‘re…”

“Yup.” Belle nodded, letting her hand rest on her abdomen now.

“Wow! Congratulations!” Martha sat down in the chair next to her so that she could pull the younger girl into a hug. “That’s great, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” She replied, glancing over at Aden. The two men had turned their attention to them when they had heard Martha’s exclamation, and it was clear to them both now why. Soon enough, Belle found out, Martha’s reaction wasn’t only heard by them. She had apologized profusely for causing a scene when it became obvious that the people on the table nearest to them, which had Morag, Leah, Irene and Colleen sitting around, had heard, and inadvertently, found out what she had just found out. However, Belle had reassured her, surprising even herself with her easiness of having that secret out, that it was going to have to become public knowledge at some time.

The newlyweds were then greeted with a whole new round of ‘congratulations’, although it was only from the few people who had over heard or had found out. The others, they presumed, had decided to let them be for the time being.

“What happened to waiting for a while?” Aden questioned her with mock irritation from where they still sat.

“It’s been 3 months…” Belle reasoned. “Anyway, I thought you’d be happy. You’ve been wanting to tell everyone since forever.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t.” He defended himself. “I was just pointing something out.”

“Ok, then.” She smiled bashfully. “I mean, it’s going to be pretty obvious anytime soon, right?”

“Belle, you don’t have to explain yourself. I’m happy with it.” Aden told her, making sure his voice was soft yet confident so that she knew he meant it all. “Another great thing to add to today.”

“That it is.”

“So, how has today been for you?”

“Perfect.” Belle replied instantly. “Everything’s been so perfect. It’s unbelievable.”

“Well, you better believe it, babe. It only gets better.”

“Really?” She questioned with raised eyebrows and a smirk.

“Really.”

---

An hour later, Aden and Belle had been around, talking to their respective parents, both biological and surrogate, followed by their family and friends. They were basically showing their gratefulness for being there that day, and saying their final goodbyes before they left in a few moments. They hadn’t wanted to make a huge fuss of it all; plain and simple like the whole day had been. Or so, how they had wanted it to be.

“Hold on.” Amanda stopped them from moving from where they were standing with their friends, all gathered in an informal conversation. “Before you go, you’ve got to toss the bouquet.”

“Oh, Mum.” Belle groaned, burying her face into Aden’s shoulder momentarily before facing her again. “I don’t have a bouquet, anyway.”

“Use one of ours.” Annie supplied as Mattie retrieved one of the bridesmaid’s flower arrangements.

“Here, this one’s mine.” Her maid of honour informed her as Belle reluctantly took it, giving Aden a sideways glace.

“Aw, c’mon, Belle. It’s only traditional.” He told her, grinning at her exasperated look. Belle finally laughed and nodded slowly.

“Alright. Where from?” By now, everyone had gathered around, and by the time Amanda had pulled her daughter into the right spot, all the unmarried girls had lined up. Unable to hold back a smile, Belle turned around and giggled when see saw most of the guys exchanging bets on who would catch it. “Ready?” There was a shout of encouragement in response to her question that made her laugh a bit more before finally throwing it over her shoulder.

She could hear the scuffling and the squeals, and Belle had gotten a pretty clear idea as to who had managed to snatch it before she even turned around, not only from their joy but from the reactions that she could see by the guys in front of her.

“Well, well, Ric.” Belle said seriously as she approached them, wrapping her arms around Aden’s waist automatically. “Guess we know who’s next on the list to get hitched.”

“Yes, thank you so much for that, Belle.” He replied dryly.

“I’m surprised that Nic didn’t turn it into a bitch fight. She seemed pretty eager.” Aden claimed, looking over where the blonde had a little sulky look on her face.

“That would have been a great way to end the night.” Belle’s tone was sarcastic, but the stifled laughter that she heard coming from the two of them and Drew indicated that they would most probably have enjoyed that. Any response that she was going to give them was stopped by Mattie sidling up to them.

“Your turn, boys.”

“Our turn for what?” Ric questioned, still a bit nervous about the fact his girlfriend had caught the bouquet.

“You know,” She said slyly, sharing a look with Belle who obviously knew where she was going with it. “When the groom takes the garter off the bride.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” This time is was Aden’s turn to groan.

“Aw, c’mon, Aden. It’s traditional.” Belle mocked, repeating the words he had said to her earlier. Sighing, Aden gave her an unimpressed look before glancing up to see everyone watching them expectantly. His eyes then averted to where Roman had already pulled out a chair for them, grinning at him as he shook his head and allowed Belle to pull him over towards him.

“Thanks, Roman.” He said plainly.

“Just doing my duties, mate.” Roman assured him, patting him on the shoulder while waking back over to where the rest of guys were.

Aden turned back to Belle, who was smiling almost seductively at him. He didn’t know what had gotten into her, seeing as only a matter of minutes ago, she was desperate to get out of the bouquet throwing, yet now, when he was going to have to remove her garter from her right leg, she was all up for it.

“You’re not… scared, are you?” Belle asked him tauntingly, murmuring the words into his ear before sitting down on the chair slowly. She knew that those words would sound like a dare to him, and wanting to prove her wrong, he would do what it was he was supposedly scared of. It was a sneaky tactic, but it worked.

Aden crouched down in front of the chair with a small smirk as Belle slowly pushed her dress aside a bit, only revealing the side of her leg. She was particularly glad that the slit was on this side and that it went to just above where the garter was half way up her slim thigh. He glimpsed at her through his eyelashes, watching as she tried to keep her grin from breaking out and look a bit serious, as he took her ankle in one hand and skimmed the fingers of his other up the side of her leg, grasping the flimsy piece of material in between his thumb and his forefinger, ready to tug it down.

“Using your teeth, Aden!”

“Say what, now?” Aden asked in shock, looking over his shoulder to where his best man had shouted out the instructions. He could see almost everyone else either laughing or holding it back.

“And try keeping it PG-13.” Nicole added in her usual tone as Aden turned back to Belle, who was smiling all out. It become obvious to him that she knew what the tradition was, but hadn’t felt the need to fill him in.

“You’re evil.” He hissed into her ear as he stood up for a second.

“And you love it.” Belle quoted one of his typical responses, making him laugh as he kneeled down in front of her once again. He didn’t say a word when he gently pushed on her legs, making her twist on her seat slightly, before holding onto her calf delicately as he worked up the nerve to lean forward and do as he was told to.

Belle held onto the chair, trying her best not to squirm when she felt Aden’s teeth lightly graze her skin. However, she couldn’t keep the laughter from exploding from inside of her, giggling mercilessly as he swiftly dragged the white garter down to her knee, from where he used his fingers to pull it down the rest of her leg. She watched as Aden stretched the elastic of it with both hands so that he could take it off without touching her foot. He smirked up at her in a ‘told you’ kind of way, and she knew that he was replying to her taunting.

Aden flicked the garter over his shoulder without a warning, chuckling as he watched the piece of material make it’s way to where most of the guys stood. He pushed himself onto his feet, legs aching a bit from crouching so long, before holding out a hand for Belle to take. He kept his eyes on her as she took it, using it to help herself up.

“Were you aiming for Geoff, or was that just luck?” She asked him as he grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist while looking over at where the teenager was flushing bright red.

“Luck. Really good luck, though, don’t you think?” Aden whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple as he spoke.

“Oh, yeah.” Belle agree as they moved over to where Nicole was trying to explain something while Geoff shook his head furiously. “What’s going on?”

“Belle, surely you must know that it’s tradition for the guy who catches the garter to have to slip it onto the girl who caught the bouquet.” Nicole asked her in a forceful tone as everyone laughed.

“Um…” Belle looked around, seeing many heads nod. She guessed that they didn’t really know whether it was tradition or not, but would love to see Geoff do such as thing. “I guess. You should ask Mum; she‘d know.”

There were a couple minutes filled with protesting from Geoff while everyone else started to disperse a bit, although always keeping one eye and ear onto the younger ones’ conversation. In the end, it was only Roman telling Aden and Belle that the limo outside was waiting for them that put an end to the argument; Geoff getting out of what his girlfriend had planned for him.

“Ready to go?” Aden asked Belle, who hesitated before nodding. “Alright, let’s go.”

---

Although they had already managed to say their goodbyes and the like before, they had done it all again, only this time with just family. It hadn’t taken as long as last time, and it was a bit more serious as they all stood outside with only the sounds of the sea and nightlife in the background, rather than the music that was on inside the hall. It had been a good way to leave their family and friends, they both realised, as they now sat in the vehicle.

“Where are we going then?” Belle questioned Aden, leaning into him as his arm came around her shoulders, holding her close as possible.

“Like I would tell you.” He laughed while she playfully slapped his leg. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“How soon?” She looked up at him. Even though it had been a long and eventful day, she felt more awake than ever right then.

“Tomorrow.”

“So where are we going now?” When Aden didn’t reply, she backed off a bit, seeing an arrogant smirk fixed upon his face as he looked out of the window to his other side. “Aden! C’mon, at least tell me that!”

“Promise that you won’t ask anymore about where else we’re going?” He turned to look at her, his heart skipping a beat when the moon shone directly on her making her look even more beautiful to him, if that were possible.

“Promise.” Belle sighed, clearly not happy with the compromise.

“Right now, we’re headed to the city.” Aden told her with a small suggestive smile that gave her clue as to why.

“And what, exactly, are we going to be doing in the city tonight, Aden?” Her voice was low, making the words sound more sensual than he could stand right then. Chuckling, he brought her back to cuddle up to him, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

“We’re going to have the best wedding night that we could have.” Aden informed her in a husky voice that made her grin.

“Is that so?” Belle asked rhetorically, pulling away only so that she could take his lips with hers, nipping tenderly at his bottom lip, breaking it off when he tried to deepen it. She knew that if they didn‘t stop then, the wedding night, so to speak, would start sooner rather than later in a fairly unconventional manner. Instead, she snuggled back up to him, taking in everything that was him, from his scent to the sound of his heartbeat. “I can’t wait.”

---

I'm sure you can guess what the next chapter's gonna be like

I'll try to get it up tomorrow, if not then on Weds for sure!

I hope you liked!

xoxo