Page 52 of Meet Me at the Altar

FIVE DAYS LATER

“You are a lovely couple. Honeymoon?” the elderly woman asked as she smiled at us.

“Yes, ma’am,” Andrès replied, holding my hand.

“Congratulations. May you have long life, abundant health, and many babies.”

Andrès and I looked at each other and laughed. We had gotten our share of baby making sessions in on this honeymoon. It started on our wedding night and only increased the moment that we stepped foot in Turks and Caicos. We had barely closed and locked the door behind us before he had me bent over the couch and was giving me back shots.

“Thank you,” I replied.

“We’re definitely looking forward to a big family,” Andrès declared.

We headed out of the restaurant where we had enjoyed the Thursday night fish fry and live music, still holding hands.

“Uhm, Drè?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Big family. Like how big are we talking?”

“I was thinking five to seven kids.”

“Have you lost your ever loving mind?” I asked, halting a few feet away from the doors of the restaurant.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I’m not about to be walking around barefoot and pregnant all the time.”

“I mean, not all the time. I figure we can space them out two years apart.”

“You figure?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t I have a say-so in this? It’s my body.”

He moved from beside me to stand in front of me and grabbed my hands. “Baby, of course, you have a say-so. I love you, and I’m not trying to make decisions without you. It was lonely growing up for me, and I remember what that was like. Then I got to see what it was like to have siblings when I moved to California with my dad. It was a whole different world, and you and your siblings always seemed happy.”

“First, I didn’t say we had to have only one kid. We can have more, but five to seven is a bit much. Second, you didn’t live in our house, but you saw the fights and the arguing between my brother and sisters and me.”

“I saw that, but what I saw even more was a big family who loved each other and didn’t always get along. Despite that, it never stopped y’all from loving one another and having fun.”

I thought about what he said, and he was right. I never considered how lonely it was for him when he grew up with his mother and Leon.

“You’re right about that,” I conceded.

“It was rough when it was just my mama and daddy and later my mama and Leon. There were a lot of times when it was just couple time, and I felt left out and alone. So many times, theywould retreat to their room or go out on date nights or running errands with just the two of them. It wasn’t cool, and they never saw my loneliness.”

“As much of you as I saw, Drè, I never saw your loneliness either. You always were upbeat and happy, except for those few years that you were struggling. Even then, though, you always had a smile to offer me.”

“You. Not the world, just you, because you were my beacon of light. I felt your love for me, even back then, before it turned intimate.”

“Baby, my love for you was always intimate. It’s the only way I’ve known how to love you since you stepped up and protected me. I didn’t disclose my feelings, because I was just a kid, and you were a teen. Back then, those two years meant the world of difference. I didn’t want to lose your friendship, and you were the cool neighbor. I never wanted to make it awkward between us.”

“All that matters is that I have you now. If you only want four kids, then I’m cool with that. I can fill you up with quadruplets when we get back to our room,” he stated, placing his hand over my belly.

“How about triplets, sir?”