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I had come to the conclusion, that even though I love seeing my family this time of year, I hated to going back up to Chicago this time of year. You see, there’s this thing called snow and after living here where we get a foot of snow during heavy years, I wonder why I shoveled hundreds of feet of snow for the first 22 years of my life.
Joe Don and I were sitting on the living room floor wrapping presents. Well, I was. Joe Don was just writing the gift tags and sticking them on the gift. I watched as he wrote one at lightning speed.
“Sweetie, can you do me a favor?” I said as I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah sure babe.” He replied looking at me.
“Try not to write like you’re signing an autograph…” I said turning back around.
“Bad habit, I guess.”
“Yeah well, break it…”
“Sorry. What’s with you?”
“Oh nothing. I just have to wrap 34 more presents, and that after already doing 27, then we still have to pack for the next week and a half. Oh and make sure everything is going to ship alright. And might I add that all this needs to be done by tomorrow morning before we leave…” I rattled off as I leaned against the couch.
With that Joe Don shut his mouth and went back to writing the gift tags.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
1 week later (Christmas Eve)
Fitting six people into to a tiny Italian kitchen where a five course meal was being cooked was not easy. And that was what I was experiencing at the moment.
“Hey babe, can you get—“Joe Don voice ringed.
“Get out! Get out! Get out! You’re taking up space that we don’t have!” I said pushing him out of the kitchen.
“Never mind then…” he replied walking away.
“Lex!” my mom yelled over all the noise, “Go bartend!”
I rolled my eyes and walked into the den where all the men had been shoed away to.
“Drinks?!” I asked yelling over all of them screaming at the TV. Bear vs. Packers game. Suddenly I was having 10 glasses handed to me and was incapable of understanding any of the orders. Finally when I got back over to the wet bar, I figured the only way of knowing what each person wanted was just to smell what kind of alcohol was in there. I know, sad that I could tell, but after working at a bar for a year and a half it kind of became second nature.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
An hour later and everyone was sitting at the dining room table waiting to be served. I leaned over to Joe Don and whispered him a little detail.
“Rules are eat everything you’re given even if you’re full, never ask for seconds, and even if you don’t like it pretend like you do and eat it anyways.” I said.
“Thanks, as if I’m not going to like anything.” He laughed quietly. Just then a big piled of salad was plopped on both of our plates plate.
“Thank you.” He said as my grandmother moved on to the next person.
“Grazie Nona!” I said, “Oh and we speak in Italian to her. Probably should’ve taught you some.”
“You tell me that now?”
“Sorry, I forgot.” I smiled, “All you really need to know is what I just said. And if everyone starts talking in Italian I’ll tell you what they’re saying”
“Thanks babe…”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day we were preparing dinner at other grandparents’ condo for the Irish side of the family. I walked out into the living room to see who we were missing because it seemed quiet. Then it hit me. The monster Taylor-Anne wasn’t here yet. Just then the buzzer for the intercom down to the lobby rang. I ran over to it and pushed it down.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Tay!” I heard Taylor yell. With that I pressed the button to buzz them into the building and took off down the hall to meet them at the elevator. Not even ten seconds after I got there the doors opened.
“Lexi!!!” Taylor yelled and jump into my arms.
“Hey munchkin!” I said picking her up, “How are you?”
“Good. Where’s Joe Don?” she asked making me laugh. I looked back at Kelly smiling.
“She’s been asking if she gets to see him ALL day.” She said.
“Well, Tay. I don’t know where Joe Don is. Maybe he’s not here.” I said as seriously as I could opening the door.
“JOE DON!!!” Taylor yelled kicking her legs so I would put her down. I set her down and she took off.
“Hey pumpkin!” Joe Don said squatting down and opening him arms to hug her. I laughed as she literally crashed into him and almost knocked him over.
“Well, I see I’m not the favorite anymore.” Kelly’s fiancé Kevin laughed.
“Isn’t that a good thing? She’s not tackling you now is she?” I said turning around giving him a hug.
“True. True.”
“Beer?” I asked him walking to the kitchen.
“Are you kidding? Spend a day opening presents with that monster and I need more than one.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joe Don’s POV
“Much more relaxing atmosphere than last night huh?” Alexa said snuggling into me on the couch.
“Yeah. I think it’s the fact that I wasn’t being shoed out the kitchen and yelled at in Italian.” I laughed.
“Well, you should know better than to bother Italian women when they’re in the kitchen…” she replied smiling up at me.
“Okay, Okay. At least I knew where you get your feistiness from…”
“Hey!” she laughed hitting me.
“Well it’s true babe!” I said defending my statement, “And besides, like that’s a bad thing?”
“You say it like it is…” she mumbled.
“Did I ever say it was?” I whispered. Alexa looked at me and rolled her eyes.
“Okay…you win.” She finally said.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My POV
“Kelly, you’ve got be kidding!” I said in disbelief. We were sitting in the seats at the Curb Event Center while a crew was setting up two full gyms for the gymnastics meet I was in charge of that weekend. Oh the perks of being the Team Coordinator for the largest gymnastics facility in Tennessee. It was the end of January and me and Joe Don were talking to my cousin over speaker phone. But, the news was bad news. Taylor’s dad was going to fight for partial custody of her when he gets out of jail in August for ‘good behavior’.
“Like, I don’t know what to do about it.” She said frustrated.
“Does he really think he’s going to be able to get any custody of her? I mean, he is going to be living with his parents who want nothing to do with Tay and they’re going to look at his record.” I said.
“I say you do nothing. He won’t get any custody, just visitation. Maybe.” Joe Don piped in, “Then they’ll slap him with child support that he won’t pay because he won’t be able to get a job.”
“I don’t understand why he wants to do this now.” Kelly said. “It’s just ruining the whole plan me and Kevin were trying to follow.”
“And what would that plan be?” I asked.
“Well, when we got married Kevin was going to adopt Taylor since Brandon wasn’t supposed to get out of jail for another 3 years and he has no custody of her. So in reality, it wouldn’t have been that hard. And know we all know he won’t sign over full custody or lose his visitation rights just so Kevin can adopt her…”
“Well, you never know. Its not like Brandon’s parents even care. They told you to your face that they don’t think Taylor is his…”
“Don’t remind me of that…”
Just then a loud crash came from one side of the arena. I look over and saw a brand new beam completely flat on the floor with the support legs broken.
“Great…there goes another $4000 dollars…” I said getting up and walking over to see what had happened.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joe Don’s POV
Three weeks had gone by and I was missing my girl. While myself, Gary, and Jay were out touring for the next two months, Alexa was either up in Chicago making sure wedding and honeymoon plans were going smoothly, or she was at the gym coaching. She was usually at the gym from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. then back there from about 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. She was filling in for another coach who had just had a baby so when I was home, she wasn’t. Today, we had the rare chance of meeting up for lunch at Panera (Alexa’s absolute favorite).
“So how Chicago?” I asked between bites of my sandwich.
“Good. Apparently we have the biggest wedding at Holy Name in the past three years.” She said, “I mean, it’s like what 300 people and the church holds 450.”
“300 is a lot when you add in the amount of food we have to pay for…” I laughed knowing very well what was coming. I had been hearing it for the past 4 months.
”It’s not like we can’t pay for it.”
“True, but still, it is a lot.”
“We can’t help it that we know a lot of people…”
“We didn’t have to invite them all.”
“Whatever, we did. Oh and me and my mom picked out the table settings and the floral arrangements.”
“Fantastic. Glad I wasn’t there to help.” I said.
“Well you’ll be glad to hear that the flowers are going to cost as much as we originally thought.”
“What is it now? $20,000?” I replied partially serious, somewhat sarcastic.
“No. About a quarter of that. Because of the time of year and everything, it would cost way too much to import as many flowers as we need so we decided to go the good old synthetic route. I’m not paying $50,000 dollars to have real flowers when the fake ones look just as nice and they don’t die.”
“$50,000?!” I said almost choking on my drink.
“Yeah, you should be glad that I didn’t just say ‘Owell, we can afford it…’ like I have for pretty much everything else.” She laughed.
“Oh believe me I am. You’re putting too much pressure on me to do a good job during shows.”
“Please…you act like you hate doing shows.” She replied in her smart-ass way that I loved. The thing was I had no response to that so I just changed the subject, kind of.
“Are you heading up to Chicago this weekend again?” I asked.
“No, but I have work. And normally I’d say that I’d try to get out of it but Andy is in Texas at training camp with the half the elites, so I have to stay and coach the rest. Why?”
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come out this weekend but never mind…” I said knowing it would be yet another long weekend without my girl.
“Umm…I think I could go out next weekend. Where are you guys headed then?” she replied.
“Florida.”
“Okay. Definitely going. But after that I’m crammed. Because I have another weekend up in Chicago then horse races that other free weekend. Then we have Easter then a week later we head to Chicago for the wedding.” She said smiling.
“That’s fine. As long as I get to spend one weekend with you I’m fine.” I said giving her a kiss.
“Even it means spending that whole time on a tour bus with Gary and Jay?” she asked.
“We can get our own. And we’re actually spending one night in a hotel.” I informed her.
“Implying much?” she asked sarcastically.
“Baby, you know I am.” I laughed kissing her again.
“Thought so…”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My POV
“Ahhh…I love Florida.” I said stepping off the bus in Tampa. We had just spent five hours driving from Miami and I was glad that we would actually get to sleep in something not mobile tonight.
“And I love the golf courses in Florida…” Joe Don said stepping out behind me.
“I know. That’s all you did yesterday even though you said you wanted to spend the weekend with me.”
“Oh com’on babe. Give me a break.” He said grabbing my hand as we walked toward the venue, “I gotta play at least once while I’m here.”
I rolled my eyes and Joe Don flashed his killer smile.
“You don’t need to smile like that. You know I love you…” I said hugging him as we continued to walk.
“I love you too.” He replied kissing the top of my head.
We all decided that we wanted to go out to breakfast, and by all I mean myself, Joe Don, Jay, Allison (who was there doing an assignment for CMT), Gary, Tara, that the girls Britt and Brooke (Gary and Tara were going to spend extra time in Orlando so they could take the girls to Disneyworld). So we all piled onto Jay and Aly’s bus since it was the cleanest, and went on a search for an IHOP. It took us about 25 minutes to find one and figure out where to park but we got there, eventually.
After breakfast, the guys went to sound check where Aly had to do a segment and interview them all while acting like she’s not affiliated with them at all. Which is a difficult task when your husband is Jay and he enjoys antagonizing you. Tara, myself, and the girls decided to head down to the beach for a couple of hours before the show.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that night, the guys had just finished the show and all of us adults were getting to do our celebratory shot like we did after every show. After our mini party came to an end everyone headed back out to the buses so we could get to the hotel and sleep in an actual bed.
Once me and Joe Don got to out room, he immediately headed for the shower. I sat down on the bed and tried to find something to watch. After about 15 minutes I gave up and clicked off the TV. Just then Joe Don stepped out of the bathroom in only a towel.
“Shower’s open…” he said walking over to his suitcase. I hopped up off the bed and went over a grabbed my robe that I had already pulled out. As I walked past Joe Don I jokingly tugged on his towel.
“I Melt…” I whispered making him laugh. I took a quick shower, hopped out, put on my robe, and ran a brush through my hair. I walked out and grabbed my toothbrush. I walked back to the bathroom but left the door open so I could spy on Joe Don in the mirror. I heard him get up after a few minutes and a couple seconds later he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I love you…” he whispered in my ear. I smiled and closed my eyes fully expected him to kiss my neck but instead I felt him begin to untie my robe. I instantly grabbed his hands making him stop but I turned around and put my arms around his neck giving him a sly smile.
“What?” Joe Don asked innocently.
“You remember what you implied?” I asked laughing.
“Oh yeah…do you?”
I didn’t even answer and just leaned in and kissed him. Slowly our kiss grew more passionate and Joe Don’s hands ventured back to the front of my robe. He slowly finished untying it, and slowly brushed it off my shoulders. That night was probably the steamiest we had in a while.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Two Weeks Later (Easter Sunday)
I had sent Joe Don to go set the dining room table while I cooked. We were waiting for out parents to get to our house. It was Joe Don’s idea to have the small get-together so our parents could really get to know each other. After all, they hadn’t really talked since the night me and Joe Don got engaged. And now we were only two weeks away from the wedding. I know I was starting to stress out but Joe Don was his usual calm and cool self. I did know that if Joe Don did start to stress out I would know immediately because he would be out playing golf every day. It was his way of “depressurizing” to put it in his words.
Over the next half hour both of our parents arrived. I could’ve swore that it was like the last time they saw each other was yesterday because they did not stop talking until I announced that dinner was ready.
After dinner we all were sitting at the dining room table talking.
“So are you two getting excited about the wedding yet?” my mom asked as I took a sip of my wine and letting Joe Don answer.
“I don’t know about Alexa, but I’m more excited about the honeymoon.” Joe Don said without thinking making everyone but me and my dad laugh. I gave him a look of disbelief as if to say ‘I can’t believe you just said that…’ but he didn’t catch on. I buried my face in my hands and shook my head.
“Sorry daddy…” I said looking across the table at him.
“Wait! I didn’t mean it like that.” Joe Don said quickly, “I meant I’m looking forward to the weather and stuff…”
“Mhmm…” my dad mumbled.
“Joe Don, just stop talking…” I said.
After that, the conversation was a little tense, and boy was Joe Don going to hear it in the morning when our parents left. While I was in the kitchen washing dishes, my mom came in to help me.
“What’s up…” she asked immediately.
“I just can’t believe he would say that…” I whispered, “Was he even thinking?”
“He’s a man who’s about to get married. You know damn well what he’s thinking about.” She replied.
“Yeah, but he really is looking forward to Jamaica because he’s never been there. So it’s not like he’s only looking forward to the you-know-what?”
“You don’t know that…”
“I would like to think of it that way.”
“What else is wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing…” I said hoping she would buy it.
“No, something’s wrong. Tell me.”
“I just don’t feel like myself…”
“Cold feet?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, I would know if it was cold feet.” I said, “I just feel like I’m getting sick, you know. Kinda like a flu sort of thing…”
“You don’t think you’re…” she said trailing off. I knew exactly what she was implying.
“No Mom. I would know if I was.” I said denying the possibility, “And besides I’m on a higher dosage than I was before.”
“But still, do you feel the same way you felt last time?”
“Honestly, I don’t even remember how I felt. I was too stressed out at that point.”
“Well, when is your time of the months” she said with little quotation mark gestures. Suddenly, that it was supposed to come today.
“Later this week…” I said hoping she would catch the lie.
“You’re lying…”
“No I’m not.”
“Okay then…don’t take my word for it then.” She said handing me another dish to put in the dishwasher.
“Mom. I’m not. Like I said, I would know if I was…” I said trying to not only reassure her but also myself.
Truth be told, I had a feeling that the reason I was feeling this way was because of what my mom thought it was. But I wasn’t about to tell her that. And honestly, I didn’t want to find out if that was the reason until after the wedding. I just planned on trying to convince myself that all the stress from the wedding was getting to me and making me feel this way, but I didn’t know if that would work.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joe Don could sense that something wasn’t right too. He had asked me if I had been feeling okay the past couple days. Once again, all I told him that I felt like I was getting the flu and it was probably from all the stress of the wedding. But he didn’t seem satisfied with that, which lead me to think that he had the same feeling about it as my mom and me. But I made the decision that if I did find out why I was feeling like this before the wedding I wasn’t going to tell Joe Don until after the wedding.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joe Don’s POV
I was woken up by Alexa running to the bathroom at 4 a.m. I quickly got up and followed her and held her hair back. This had been the morning routine for the past 3 days and believe me, I knew why. She kept saying that it was just the flu, but I knew that wasn’t the case and so did she. She hadn’t been feeling well for about a week and a half and no flu lasts that long. But I wasn’t going to ask her about it until she decided to tell me.
“Thanks hun…” Alexa said standing up and grabbing her toothbrush.
“No problem…hopefully this won’t last the full 9 months…” I mumbled walking back to the bed.
”Huh?” she asked pretending to be confused.
“Nothing…” I said laying back down.
A few minutes later Alexa came back in a lied down next to me. We sat in silence for a bit before a question popped into my head.
“What time does our flight leave today?” I asked as we were supposed to leave for Chicago. It was crazy to think that in six days I would be married.
“9:30…so we have to be at the airport at 7:30…” she replied.
“So we have to leave at like seven huh…”
“Yeah…you all packed.” She asked half laughing because she knew the answer.
“Very funny. What about you?”
“Baby, I was packed three days ago. I don’t like being late…”
“I think you would’ve been just fine packing yesterday.”
“Yeah well, now you have to get up.” She said dragging me out of bed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My POV
Somehow, we got to the airport early. Only 15 minutes but usually Joe Don liked to be 15 minutes late. Joe Don dropped me off at the terminal with all our bags (all six of them…two suitcases each and a carry-on each…thank god my dress was already in Chicago). Once Joe Don got back from parking the car we waited for the rest of the wedding party that was flying out of Nashville that day, which consisted of only us two, Kati, Alicia, and my brother. Everyone else, including Gary and Jay, was making the trip up north later that week.
After we checked in for our flight and made sure our bags were in the baggage check area (half of them we had to pay extra for because we all packed way too much…) we proceeded through security and went to go find some expensive airport food.
We were waiting in line at Cinnabon (so bad for you =D) when Alicia started talking since my brother and Joe Don were talking about god knows what.
“So, are you nervous yet?” she asked me.
“Ummm, to get married, no. But the wedding in general yes.” I replied.
“Are you just worried about something going wrong…like the wrong table coverings?” Kati chimed in laughing.
“Actually, yes. Or like it raining when over half of the pictures are supposed to be outside in Grant Park.”
^^^(B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L park right on the lake…I LOVE Buckingham Fountain there…so pretty =D)+=
“Yeah that would be bad…or bad traffic getting to the church or something…” Alicia added.
“Hmmm…not really because it’s only a block away so how much traffic could we run into?”
“True…”
”What are you girls gossiping about now?” Joe Don voice boomed
“You.” I said turning around smiling causing Joe Don just to roll his eyes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
An hour and a half later we had board the plane and we were in taxi towards the runway. Joe Don and I had to resort to playing Rock-Paper-Scissors (Kati’s idea) in order to see who got the window seat. I won. We were in the first row of coach because there was no way that we wanted to pay $1600 for each of five first class tickets. Besides where we were sitting we had more leg room than we would have in first class.
Soon after take off, I snuggled into Joe Don’s shoulder so I could try and get some sleep.
“I love you.” He said kissing the top of my head.
“I love you too…” I whispered closing my eyes.
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