ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Cross Pov

“Bro, get your ass up and go take your bath, it’s your wedding day,”

Dean said shaking me out of sleep.

“Fuck off dude, let me sleep,”

“Get your ass off the bed, you are going to be late,”

“What time is it?”

“Hmm, five am,”

“What the fuck Dean? the wedding is by ten am and that’s five hours away, so let me sleep,”

I said, covering my head with my pillow but he took the pillow away and poured a glass of cold water on me.

“What the fuck dude?”

I asked getting off the bed and giving him deadly stares, I knew I shouldn’t have let him come but he was the only close friend I had, so he had to come, Max who would have filled in as a best man is off attending some weird ass show in South Asian, he wasn’t even going to be around for my supposed wedding.

“Now we are awake, time to get ready, early to rise, early to**”

“Get the fuck out, I hate you dude, Katherine might not even be awake yet, and she has more preparation to do, leave me alone,”

I said cutting him off, he smiled which made me even angrier

“Really? You haven’t even rehearsed your vows, I don’t wanna see you stammering on stage,”

“Dude, let me be or I will punch you, I said walking off and laying on the dry side of the bed, but the dude was bent on making me angry because he poured water on me again.

“What is wrong with you? It’s not like it a real wedding, I am not even a real groom, it’s just for show, you are the reason I am so fucking tired, you and Max pushed me into having a bachelors night, Kathrine didn’t even have a bridal shower and now I am hangover, let me sleep it off,”

“That was two nights ago, I didn’t know hangovers last for days? And also that’s because Max won’t be around for the actual wedding so he celebrated in advance,”

He said.

“Whatever still doesn’t change the fact that you guys pushed me to have a bachelor night when Katherine didn’t even do a bridal shower.”

I said. it made me look like I am excited about the wedding but I wasn’t, those two had talked me into doing it and I still regret listening to them

“That’s because she doesn’t have friends and she is still angry with her family, I saw her at the engagement, and dude, she is pretty but you can see the sadness in her eyes,”

He said, and I guess he was right, she looked lonely and sad that I had almost felt bad for until she told me to fuck off, that bitch would never change.

“Well that’s her business, she messed up and got what she deserves, she should be happy she got a second chance,”

I said moving over to the sofa.

“You try and be nice to her, I know you are not gonna treat her like a real wife but at least be nice to her, you are obviously the only person closest to her now, like it or not, she might act sassy with you but I am sure she is grateful to you for giving her a second chance because if you have not her family might have thrown her out for real,”

He said.

“Whatever, just let me sleep in peace and don’t disturb me,”

I warned, just as I lay on the sofa my mom entered my room,

“Wakie wakie, groom boy,”

She said in a sing-song voice and I resisted the urge to curse in her presence.

“Not you too mum, please, let me sleep, all I have to do is take a bath and get dressed, it won’t take hours,”

“You are getting married in a few hours stop acting like a child, now get up and get moving,”

My mom said hitting me with the cloth in her hands.

“Mom, leave me alone,”

“You can sleep all you want when the honeymoon starts, now get your lazy ass off and go take a bath so that we can prepare, we don’t want to be late, the priest isn’t a very patient man,”

“We are not going on any honeymoon, after the wedding, we are just going to New York, I ain’t going anywhere else,”

“What? No way, the both of you are spending a month-long in Dubai to get to know each other and maybe make some grandbabies for me,”

She said excitedly.

“Mom, dream on, Anna is pregnant, she will give you a grandchild soon, I am not ready to be a dad yet,”

I said in all seriousness, Anna was officially adopted as a member of our family after Mom and Dad tried to talk her parents into taking her back and they refused, saying they didn’t want her shame to taint their name, I felt like punching her father when he said that, I couldn’t even believe what I heard from them, but at the end of the day it is their loss because Anna became a part of our family and she is happy now, everyone including the staffs liked her and she wasn’t even problematic.

“Of course she will but I want one from my first child too,”

My mom said.

“Sorry, mom Anna’s child is all you get for now,”

Anna and my mom hit it off, they were like besties and all, and they both have the same effect on me, I can never say no to them, which was bad for me.

“Crosse, when are you getting up?”

Speaking of the devil, I thought as she walked in, she has started to show and she had that pregnancy glow with her, she was one of my proudest decisions this year, she calls me Crosse and it was annoying but I like it.

“Not you too Anna, I thought you will be on my side,”

“Not when I am the chief bridesmaid,”

She answered, she was picked as a chief bridesmaid because Kathrine said she didn’t have anyone else to do it, when my mom had suggested Anna I had said no but Katherine had accepted.

“You guys are pest and I hate all of you,”

I said getting off the sofa.

“We love you too,”

They chorused

“All of you get out of my room,”

I screamed as I walked into the bathroom leaving them in my room, they all burst out laughing and before long the room was silent, I peeped through and saw that they had all left, on my own I started rethinking my decision, so far, there was nothing I was gaining from this, yeah, I told Katherine I would tell her what I wanted in return but nothing have come up, I have everything I wanted so I didn’t know what to ask for, again, this felt like I was tying myself down, getting married wasn’t so easy, even if we are not a real couple, there are too much expectations from our family, my mom already started talking about grandkids yet I wasn’t even planning on sleeping with Katherine, racking my fingers through my hair, I thought maybe I should just pull a Katherine and leave too, that would be the perfect pay back for what she did to me, but I didn’t have the mind to do it to her, I quickly took a shower and came back to my room, I wore a singlet and short since it wasn’t yet time to leave the house, I was about to leave the room when my phone rang, I didn’t know who owes the number but I picked up anyway.

“Hello, who is this?”

“Cross, it’s me, you weren’t picking my calls so I had to use a different number,”

“Dolly? I thought I told you not to call me again?”

“Cross, please don’t do this to me, please, I know you don’t love her, I know you are marrying her because of your family but don’t do it, please, don’t leave me for her, I promise I am a better choice than her,”

“I am hanging up Dolly,”

I said and made to end the call.

“I am pregnant,”

She said loudly and I burst laughing, she must think I am stupid to believe her lies.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Dolly, come on, I know you can’t have babies so don’t lie to me that so low, you don’t love me, you are just obsessed with how well I give it to you, and the fact that you can show off to your friends about me, but hey, I am getting married and I am not interested, I know you don’t like kids and you do everything to prevent you from having one, and I also know you harvested all your eggs so don’t lie,”

I said mockingly. She became silent.

“What,? Did I make you speechless?”

I asked.

“I promise you that you will regret this Cross, you will regret not**,”

I ended the call, cutting off whatever she was going to say, and blocked the number immediately.

“Okay, now that’s a reason to get married,”

I said to myself as I walked downstairs to ask for an early breakfast, it might not be easy to get married but it feels like Katherine is the safe choice because there is no chance that she will get attached and fall in love with me because she hated me, and also she just got heartbroken and robbed so I know she will not want to have anything to do with love, a safe option, and I am going to take it…