Express Lane Ch. 07

"Ooh, your loving is so good... so good... Closer..."

***

Two Years Later

Nervously pacing back and forth, Larissa could barely stare at herself in the mirror. She looked absolutely beautiful; her makeup was flawless and her hair had taken hours before it reached the perfection that it currently was, her dark brown spiral curls were shoulder length and her veil was carefully placed on top so as to not mess up Joanna's hard work. The nausea in her stomach wouldn't go away no matter what she tried. She'd already gone through half a bottle of Tums and a can of ginger ale. No luck.

Joanna walked in and looked every bit of beautiful as she did. Her hair was now short and feathered, something that Larissa would never wear in a million years but it looked good on Jo. Her light pink dress had a white sash around the waist and a matching white and pink flower was pinned to her hair. Her pink pumps clicked with each walk and as she approached Larissa, her big brown eyes were filled with worry and just a hint of annoyance.

"What are you doing? There's a good 250 people out there waiting for you."

"No, I know," Larissa said. "I'm coming. I'm trying to get rid of the nausea."

"Larissa... you might have a graduate degree but I'm swear you're dense sometimes. You're pregnant. You'resupposedto feel nausea, you'resupposedto puke, you'resupposedto have swollen feet!"

"I'm only four months and I look like I'm about six or seven!" She turned back to the mirror, her back slightly arched to accommodate her protruding belly. As she looked at herself, she managed to temporarily forget about her nausea and she smiled. After the night of her reunion with Noah, they'd found a small but beautiful house to rent for an affordable price and for the first year were pretty much playing house. Larissa decided to further her education and obtained a Master's, along with a teaching certification. She was having trouble finding a position that offered the big bucks but landed a job as a Science teacher at the local junior high school. Noah did the same and got a Master's in Computer and Information Science. He, however, did not have trouble finding a good position and soon made enough to comfortably support Larissa, Rory and himself.

It was some time after that he also realized that they could afford to support another addition to the household.

She smiled to herself, Joanna still looking on with a puzzled look. He was subtle about telling her he wanted to start a family with her; one night when they were about to make love, he took Larissa's birth control pills and tossed them in the trash. She panicked for a while but could hear his reassuring voice in her head, telling her that any child they had would be taken care of thoroughly and would be loved by him and Rory unconditionally. When they approached the now six year old Rory for his blessing, he simply smiled and said it would be cool to be an uncle. They both laughed.

She felt butterflies in her stomach and it ended her daydream. Joanna pulled her arm and barked at her as she opened the door leading to the chapel. "Girl, you gon' bring your big pregnant behind out here, I'm not waiting another minute having people asking me where you are..."

Larissa pulled away from her slowly. "Alright, already!" Joanna gave the cue to the pianist and instead of playing the much too traditional wedding march, he played the instrumental version of Corinne Bailey Rae's "Closer." At first Larissa didn't think it would be appropriate for a wedding, but since Noah assured her the rather risqué lyrics would be omitted from the ceremony, she agreed. As she begin her walk down the aisle, accompanied by her father, she ignored the endless sea of friends, colleagues, extended family members and acquaintances to look at her mother, who was beaming with pride; her brother Kevin, who apparently had spent half of the day talking to Noah about the bachelor party he threw for the room and was still whispering in his ear; Rory, who was actually behind Larissa as she walked down the aisle, holding the ring on a small satin pillow; and then she saw her husband-to-be.

Noah smiled as he stood waiting for her. His suit was tailored and a dark gray color. They contrasted with his eyes, which were the lightest she had ever seen them. He was happy. He had not only kept the long hair but decided to grow it a few inches longer. His face was clean shaven and even though he was now two years older than the 24 year old Larissa, he still had the baby face she remembered. His body had lost some muscle after neglecting the gym for some months but she actually preferred him to be between the wiry frame he had when she first met him and the buff state he came back in. She stumbled a little, trying to get to him as fast as she could but her father gripped her hand and whispered in her ear. "He's gonna be there when you get up there," he reminded her. "No sense in falling all over yourself and hurting my grandbaby to rush."

She agreed silently and nodded. Finally, they reached the alter and as her father kissed her on the cheek, he hugged Noah and walked to the pew to sit next to his wife.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in holy matrimony...."

***

The house was empty when Larissa and Noah got back home. Both of them practically stripped out of their suit and dress and she slipped on one of her comfortably maternity dresses. Noah opted to go shirtless and slipped on sweatpants. There were no sounds except for their soft breathing; Rory, who had grown close to Larissa's family and had even started to favor her mother and father as the grandparents he never had, decided to spend the night to let the newlywed couple enjoy their first night as husband and wife together. Too bad it wasn't going to end in the stereotypical way of consummating the marriage; they'd done that much too early and Larissa's feet were too swollen to do anything but lie down. They stared at each other for a long while without saying anything, until Noah pulled her aching feet into his lap to massage them.

"You okay, baby?" His fingers hit all the right pressure points against the soles of her feet and she smiled in relief.

"Are you kidding? I'm great. Well, except for the aching feet, sore back and unsightly gas."

His hoarse laugh echoed in the room. "Well, I am happy to have you as my wife, Mrs. Larissa Gallagher. Even if you have gas."

"I'm happy to have you as my husband. But why do I have to change my name and you don't have to change yours? Shoot, you belong to me. You should be Mr. Noah Gallagher - Jones." Again, he laughed, this time moving her close to him to cradle her. He rested a hand against her stomach, trying to feel his unborn child. "Has he kicked yet?"

"It's only been four months."

"I know, it's just... I can't wait. It's like Rory will have a little brother.. even though technically it will be his nephew. Somehow that just seems wrong."

It was her turn to laugh. "It's great, are you kidding? Another boy joining a house full of boys already. He'll be right at home."

Noah leaned forward to kiss her on the lips softly before moving back. "I hope so. I know this isn't the biggest house in the world, but I really love it. You think we should buy it, add on a couple of rooms in case we want to make the family a little bigger sometime down the road?"

Larissa nodded. "Of course. We can add everything you want, white picket fence and all."

As he reached forward to grab the remote, she smiled as her first name was sprawled across his back. "I still can't believe you did that. You're not going to have any space for James' name on your body!"

As he turned on the TV, he looked at her like she had just spoke a foreign language. "James? I know you're not suggesting that I name my son after that cheap Rico Suave looking dude you used to know. That's like me suggesting we name our daughter Crystal."

Larissa rolled her eyes. "Fair enough. How about Casey?"

"You're just itching to make him bully bait, aren't you? I like Josh."

"Too plain. How about... Kieran?"

"Kieran Gallagher. Well, he will be half Irish. I like it." And for the rest of the night, they sat talking about everything that came to mind, including their baby and their new lives as parents to be.