Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 235 -

Весса.

"Mama! Mama! Mama!" Dahlia said, crawling over to me and sitting on her bum. She had a little dog plush in her hand and was waving it at me. I smiled at her and took the plush, hugging it close. Then, I leaned down and left a soft kiss on her forehead.

At the moment, I was visiting the kids. The night before the wedding had been pretty exciting. I wasn't sure what was up with James, though, and felt a little bit worried. He was so stressed; I wished I could ease some of that from him. Weddings could be a lot, though. I made the plush dance in front of my daughter, smiling at her and giggling right along with her keeling laughter. She tumbled about and kept playing, eventually joined by Alessandro. My family was so beautiful, I felt tears in my eyes.

Tears that slowly crawled down my cheeks from sheer happiness. James and I were going to be married tomorrow, I realized for the fifth time in the last few minutes. My heart was bursting with hope for the future, something I hadn't felt for a long while when we were in the deep end of issues.

Madeline looked on, chatting away about the wedding. "Oh, it will be so beautiful, Becca! It's wonderful how you're including the kids. I don't mind watching them one bit. They are little angels," she said, causing my smile to widen.

"I am so happy about that," I said, snatching Dahlia up and hugging her close. She let out several more giggles, causing me to chuckle. Alessandro made his way over to us and joined in on the hug, also laughing up a storm. I added, "They really do adore you. I am so happy to have found a nanny who they can get along with so well." After a final squeeze to Dahlia, I let go, standing up and stretching. After talking to James, I had come to play with the kids for a few hours.

Madeline said, "Oh, it really is an honor, darling. You look tired, though. Going to go get some sleep so you're wide awake during your big day?" I nodded in response to her question, giving a soft smile.

Before leaving the nursery, I leaned down and gave the kids kisses on the forehead. Then, I made my way to James' and my room in the compound. I entered the bathroom and took a look at myself, smiling at the relaxed expression. "It's so wonderful to be myself and just relax again," I muttered aloud, grabbing a brush and running it through my hair. Then, I started up the shower, planning on taking a nice long one before turning it in early.

As Madeline said, I needed to be well-rested for the big day! I lathered the shampoo through my hair, the floral scent of it relaxing me further. I looked forward to snuggling up with James tonight. My stomach lurched somewhat, though, reminding me of the new baby on the way.

Now that I knew the reason for the sickness, I wasn't worried. My hand flew toward my tummy and rubbed it. Slowly, it was starting to grow. Our family was growing, and I felt more tears flow down my face in happiness at that fact. Eventually, I got out of the shower and dried my hair, putting on my night clothes and making my way into my room. James wasn't in yet. He was probably taking care of last-minute preparation stuff. Hopefully not stressing too much! When I looked over at my desk, I saw my phone light up. I blinked, walking over to check the texts I could have gotten. Curious. It was from Antionette. I frowned somewhat, knowing we were in good standings, but still feeling a flash of

nervousness.

'Hey Becca,' I read. 'Congratulations on the wedding. I hope it goes well for you. You deserve to be very happy,' she said. I furrowed my brow, assuming this meant she wasn't going to be able to come. I'd never heard back from her after I'd invited her.

'Hello,' I texted back. 'Thank you. Wedding prep has gone very well. We're a little stressed, but that's to be expected. More happy than anything. How are you?' I took a seat at my desk, intending on carrying on this conversation before bed. 'I'm alright. The wives are a bit brutal, but I am holding up against them well. However, there's some very weird gossip around the neighborhood pertaining to them. They seem very excited about your wedding, according to my sources.' I frowned deeply at this news, feeling my stomach clench. That didn't make any sense. The Stepford wives hated me deeply. They were the ones who chased me out of New York. Any chance of me staying there was crushed when they ambushed me.

Shuddering as I remembered that night, I clenched my jaw and put a hand on my forehead, feeling a bit dizzy. The rush of happiness I was having lately slowly began to fade away as those memories bombarded me. What could they possibly want?

'They're excited? That's really unusual, yeah, given they really hate me. Do you have any idea why?' I sent, biting my lip. I stood up and began to pace, hoping Antionette would be able to keep on texting me some answers before I went to bed tonight.

Leaving me hanging on this subject would be emotional torture, after all. Not that I imagined it would be intentional on her part. My wedding was tomorrow, for god's sake, and this had to come up now? I took several deep breaths, telling myself to calm down.

'I don't, I'm sorry. I would be careful though, if you can. Let your security know to be extra vigilant, and all. I wish I didn't think they would pull anything malicious from all the way over here, but they are of an evil stock. I'm sorry I won't be able to come, but something has come up,' Antionette texted me.

I sent back, 'I understand. I got out of their lives, I wish they would leave me alone.' I shook my head, narrowing my eyes. It felt like nothing satisfied those harpies. I did everything they wanted, got away from New York, and they were in full bully mode. It was too bad she couldn't come, but it was a long way to travel for a wedding for someone she didn't know all that well.

'If it helps, I don't think it's them causing anything. They may have heard something was up and are trying to sniff out some dramatic story. Maybe someone started a rumor about you and James not getting along,' she sent. 'Well, we are getting along beautifully,' I sent back, just having to let out a chuckle there. Perhaps shortly after we left New York, that rumor would have some merit. Now, though? Definitely not. We were in love and very happy, with another child on the way.

I ended the conversation with, 'We'll be careful, though. I'll let James, and our security, know. Thank you for talking to me about this, Antionette.'

Maybe, someday, we could be better friends and even visit each other again. For now, it would take me a little while to have the time. I trusted she'd changed, though. She no longer came across as siding with them at all. Thankfully, she didn't bring it up.

Rather, she texted, 'You are very welcome, Becca. Have a nice wedding. Say hi to Alessandro for me. Let me know if he learns any more cuss words.' At that, I had to chuckle, relaxing just a little bit. I told her I would, then put my phone aside. Running my hand through my hair, I shook my head, trying not to let tears start to flow. Nothing crazy would happen at the wedding, right? I let out a long sigh and entered my bed, pulling the blankets up and staring at the ceiling. Eventually, I heard the door open and smiled. James would hopefully know what was going on. I sat up and beamed at him. After we'd situated the final reception plans, he'd gone off to work on business matters while I played with the kids. "How did everything go?" I asked him, hoping for the best for his success. He was really wanting to get somewhere with his business here, and while I had a fortune, he liked stability just in case something were to happen. "It went well," he said cheerfully, removing his clothing and grabbing some night clothes. "I got plenty done, though my thoughts were more on the wedding. It is going to be wonderful tomorrow, Becca," he said, his voice dripping with happiness.

I grinned, beyond happy at his enthusiasm. Though the stress from my conversation with Antionette still lingered, and I let out a worried sigh as James excused himself to the bathroom. He took a shower before bed while I was left in my thoughts.

The Stepford wives being excited about something I was going through that was positive really put a sharp bite of worry in my mood. They fed on misery, at this point, so I couldn't help wondering what they knew about my wedding, or if something might happen.

When James finished up his shower and returned to lay in the bed with me, he leaned down and gave me a deep kiss. I closed my eyes, enjoying how he deepened it, and reached up to wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. Eventually, the kiss had to end, and I was once more left with my thoughts. I lay there facing James, gently running my thumb over his cheek as he smiled at me. He caught onto something, though, and slowly began to frown. "What's the matter, love?" James asked, causing me to bite my lip and let out a sigh. Was I worrying over nothing? Would mentioning this stress him out more, too? I decided to not hide what I discovered from him. "I was texting Antionette," I said, which caused him to raise a brow. "Well, she texted me first, rather. She's not going to be able to come to the wedding, but she did tell me something particularly worrisome." He nodded, the frown forming on his lips deepening as he thought over my words. "What was it?" he asked in a whisper. He kept his tone neutral, probably not to cause me any more distress since I was probably being obvious. "The Stepford wives are excited about our wedding for some reason. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. They hate us, so it can't be a good reason," I said, closing my eyes. I felt James run his hand through my hair and smiled a bit. He said, "Well, whatever it is, I'll make sure nothing goes wrong. I promise, Becca. I love you so much. This will be a perfect day for us. For our family." I opened my eyes again and noticed the spark of determination in his gaze. Then, I smiled, leaning over to give him a deep kiss. "Thank you. I love you too, James." I trusted him with everything; whatever hurdle we dealt with, he seemed to have the answer. I could rely on him, and I believed him right then. I let myself fade into a peaceful sleep, my worries evaporating at James's reassurance.