Tennessee Whiskey

Chapter 11-Mary

Chapter 11

Mary

It’s Saturday morning and I wake up before Evan. Slipping out of bed, I slip out of the bedroom and walk to Mia’s bedroom door. I stop and listen. I hear her moving around in her room and I open the door and just stand there, watching her. She looks up from her little table and smiles. “Morning mommy.” She says before running over and hugging me. “Morning baby.” I say before kneeling down to her level. “Why didn’t you let me know you were up?” I ask. She moves back to her table and starts to color again. “My other mommy told me to wait for her to come get me, so we didn’t make my other daddy mad.” She tells me. I walk over to her nightstand and ask, “Do you see this?” and she nods as I point to the monitor. “When you speak, me and daddy can hear you in our room. So, when you get up, we will hear you.” I tell her. “I wake you up.” She says. “You were quiet. I woke up and heard you. You’re a good girl.” I tell her, making sure she hears me.

After getting her ready for the morning, we head down to the kitchen and see Jane making breakfast. “Morning girls.” She says. “Morning Jane.” I say. Mia runs up to her and hugs her leg and says, “Morning Grandma.” And Jane smiles wide. “Evan up yet?” she asks and before I could answer, he says “I am now.” Before walking over and kissing my cheek. Mia leaves Jane and runs to Evan. “Morning Daddy.” She says and he picks her up, kissing her cheek and says “Morning Princess. Are you ready for today?” he asks. “I wear my princess dress?” she asks. “You do but I want to talk to you about something.” He tells her and I look at him confused and so does Jane. He moves her to the island and sits her on top, he says “When me and mommy get married today, we have to sign a paper.” She looks at him confused. “Why?” she asks. “We are adopting you. That means we will be your mommy and daddy and you will have our last name.” he explains. “My daddy for real?” she asks. “For real.” He tells her. She reaches for him, and he picks her up and she says “Love you daddy.” Before kissing his cheek and he hugs her tighter.

After breakfast, there’s a knock on the door. Evan opens it and we see Izzy and Lori walk in, followed by Ashton and Logan. They join us in the kitchen and Izzy says, “I have someone coming to set up for us in the garden.” I nod and she asks, “You ready to head upstairs?” I nod but look at Evan. “Who’s your best man?” I ask. “Logan.” Evan says. I look at Ashton and ask, “I want Lori to be my matron of honor so will you and Izzy give me away?” Ashton walks over to me and hugs me before saying “I would be honored.”

We head upstairs with Mia in tow. “I have a friend coming over to do our hair and makeup.” Before she starts pouring champaign for us and orange juice for Mia. “Mia, can you go get grandma for me?” Lori asks and Mia takes off running out of the room. She comes back a couple of minutes later with Jane and Izzy hands her a glass of champaign. “Come here Mia. When I say so, click your glass with ours.” Mia nods before Izzy continues. We hold up our glasses and she says “A toast to our little sister on her wedding day. May your marriage be filled with love, loyalty, and happiness.” Before we start clinking glasses and Mia clinks hers with ours. “I wear my dress now?” Mia asks. “Not yet. We have to do your hair.” I tell her and there’s a knock on my bedroom door.

Izzy opens it and there’s a woman standing there. “This is Sandra. She’s my hair stylist.” Izzy says and we welcome her in. We spend the next little bit getting our hair and makeup done and when she does Mia’s, Mia asks “Mommy, I get makeup?” she asks. “Just a little.” I tell her and Sandra does blush and lip gloss on her and she’s smiling wide, feeling like a big girl.

We head downstairs and Jane meets us. “I have your bouquet, and everything is ready for the reception after.” She tells us. “Thank you, Jane. Can you take Mia to sit?” I ask and she nods her head before kissing my cheek and then taking Mia’s hand. She leads Mia to the garden and Lori goes to stand at the makeshift altar with Logan. Ashton moves to my left and Izzy to my right and we link arms. “Ready?” he asks. “Let’s do this.” I say and we head out to the garden.

Walking down the makeshift aisle, we get to the Justice, and he asks. “Who gives this woman away to be wed?” Ashton says, “We do.” Before him and Izzy both kiss my cheek and then take their seats. Evan takes my hand and pulls me forward before the Justice speaks. “We are gathered here today to join Evan and Mary in holy matrimony. I’ve known Evan for a long time, and I can honestly say I have never seen him smile as much as he has since Mary came into his life. Mary, although I don’t know you, I do know that you have to be absolutely amazing for Evan to devote himself like he has to you. That being said, Evan, do you take Mary to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do you part?” Evan looks at me and smiles. “I do.” The Justice looks at me and says Mary, do you take Evan to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do you part?” I look at Evan and smile before saying “I do.” Then come the rings and Evan goes first. “Mary, this ring is my promise to be the husband you need, father our children need, to be your provider, protector, friend, and confidant. I promise to love you until my last breath.” He says and I feel tears filling my eyes. “Evan, this ring is my promise to the wife you deserve, mother our children need, to be your friend, confidant, to be your biggest supporter and the comfort you need. I promise to love you and respect you until my last breath.” I say. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.” The Justice says before Evan pulls me close and kisses me deeply. We hear our family cheering and clapping and the kids giggling.

We turn towards our family and the Justice says, “I am honored to get to introduce, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Evan Black.” Our family crowds around us, hugging us and congratulating us. Once everyone hugs us, we walk into the kitchen with Mia with us and we sign our marriage license and while our witnesses are signing it, we are signing the adoption papers for Mia. “We can get these filed first thing Monday morning.” The Justice tells us, and we move on to cutting the cake and tossing the bouquet, which Jane catches and the garter, which the Justice catches.

After spending time with everyone, we kiss Mia goodnight while she moves to one end of the house with Jane and Evan and I go to our bedroom. As soon as we’re in our room, he helps me out of my dress before kissing me deeply. When we separate, he whispers “I love you Mrs. Black.” I smile softly and say, “I love you too Mr. Black.” Before he kisses me again and he picks me up and moves me to the bed.

Laying me down in just my bra and panties, he hovers over me. Kissing me deeply before pulling back and putting his forehead to mine. “We’re married.” I whisper. “We are.” He whispers back. “And we have a little girl.” I say softly. “We do.” He says. I grab his face and pull him to look at me. “We have a family.” I say and there are tears in my eyes. “We do baby. And we’re going to have more babies and be happy.” He tells me. “I am happy.” I tell him. “I am too.” He whispers before kissing me again.

His lips move across my cheek, down my neck and across my collarbone. He reaches behind me to unfasten the clasp on my bra before pulling it off and tossing it to the floor. He kisses down to my breastbone and over to one n****e, slipping it into his mouth and gently sucking as his hand moves to the other n****e and rolls it between his fingers, causing me to arch into him, my back coming off the bed and a moan leaves my lips. He continues to kiss down my body to the top of my lace panties. Pulling them down my hips, I raise them enough for him to pull them down and he pulls them down my legs and off. Spreading my legs, he starts placing kisses from my knee, down my inner thigh, until he reaches the apex of my thigh. Looking up at me, he smirks before running the flat of his tongue from entrance to c**t and I can’t help the gasp that leaves my mouth. He latches on to my c**t with his lips and flicks my bundle of nerves with his tongue while he slowly inserts one finger and thrusting in and out of my entrance and it feels amazing. “Evan, oh God.” I moan and he adds another finger. Until Evan I didn’t know s*x could feel this amazing. Before I can form another thought, I find my release on his fingers and tongue.

Evan kisses his way up my body and finds his way to my lips. Kissing me softly, I can taste myself on his lips. He breaks the kiss and reaches down to place his shaft at my entrance and watches as he enters me. Once he’s buried to the hilt, he looks at me and waits for me to give the okay for him to move. I nod and he starts thrusting in and out at a slow and steady pace. “I love you Evan.” I whisper and he kisses me deeply as he continues to thrust in and out, chasing both of our releases. It isn’t long before I find my release and he finds his right behind me, inside me.

Laying down next to me, he pulls me to lay on his chest and my left hand is on his chest. I hold my hand up and look at my wedding rings and he grabs my hand and kisses my rings. I let out a content sigh and feel him kiss the top of my head before I snuggle closer and drift off to sleep.

The next morning, I wake up and am still laying in my husband’s arms. Husband. I have a husband. “You’re thinking too loud wife.” Evan says and I can’t help but smile. I turn in his arms and snuggle into his chest and say, “Sorry husband.” Before looking up at him and he kisses me softly. “What were you thinking about?” he asks. “You. I have a husband.” I say. “And I have a wife and we both have a little girl that’s probably waiting on us to get up.” He tells me. We get out of bed and get dressed before heading downstairs.

Once we make it to the bottom of the stairs, we hear Mia’s giggles coming from the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen, hand in hand, Mia sees us. “Daddy!” she exclaims as she runs to him, and he scoops her up and she snuggles into his shoulder. “Hey Princess.” He says. “Hi mommy.” She says. “Morning baby.” I say before kissing her cheek. “What are you doing?” he asks. “I help Grandma.” She says. “Are you now. Well, I won’t stop you.” He tells her before putting her the stool she was on before we walked in.

“Thanks for watching her for us last night.” I say to Jane. “Anytime. We had a lot of fun. Didn’t we Peanut?” she asks. “I had so much fun. Mommy, Grandma helped me paint a picture and then we watched a movie.” She tells us. “Wow. Sounds like you had a fun night.” I tell her. “How was your night?” Jane asks. “It was perfect. Everything was perfect. Thank you for helping.” I tell her. “It was my pleasure, Mary. We’re family and that’s what we do.” She tells me. “I’m still getting use to this whole family thing.” I tell her. “It will get easier.” She tells me and I nod because I know she’s right.

Later that day, we are all sitting in the library. I am sitting on one end of the couch with my laptop, making lists of everything we need for the art classes and Evan is sitting on the other end of the couch with his laptop, working. Mia is sitting at her little table that we bought for the library, coloring. I look up at Mia and then to Evan and smile. “What’s that smile for?” Evan asks. “Just, this. It seems so normal.” I tell him. “Like we’ve always been doing it.” He says. “Yeah.” I say. Mia jumps up and runs over to Evan and says “Look Daddy. I made this for you.” He takes the picture from her and says “That’s beautiful Princess. Thank you.” He tells her and I smile. “She’s already a daddy’s girl.” I say. “Yes, she is.” He says and you see the pride in his eyes.

That night, we’re putting Mia to bed. Evan is on one side and I’m on the other and Evan is reading her a story, using different voices for the different characters and she’s loving it. Once the story is done, we kiss the top of her head and she lays on her stomach, me rubbing her back as she drifts off to sleep.

Slipping out of her room, I move back to the library to relax. Evan pours me a glass of wine and he grabs a beer before joining me on the couch. “She’s such an amazing kid.” I whisper. “She is. Smart too. You know what she asked me?” he asks. “What?” I ask. “If now that I’m her daddy does that mean her other daddy isn’t anymore.” He says. I sit up and look at him shocked. “I told her that’s exactly what it meant, and she says that was good because he was mean.” He tells me. “She has another appointment with her therapist tomorrow. I might call Kathy and see if she can help us with getting her through this.” I say. “That’s a good idea.” He tells me.

It's Monday morning and Evan and I are dropping Mia off at school. “Mommy will be here to get you after school.” I tell her. “Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy.” She says as her teacher leads her away. Evan leads me back to the car and opens the car door. I look back at the front doors of the school and Evan says, “We will be back in a few hours to get her.” I nod and let him help me back into the car and we head on our way.

Evan drops me off at the mission and I head to my office that Lori and Izzy had set up for me since I’m heading the art program at the mission. I get my things together and head to the conference room for the meeting with Lori and Izzy. When I get there, both ladies are already inside. “Morning Mrs. Black.” Izzy says and I can’t help but laugh. “Morning Iz.” I say before hugging her and then hugging Lori. “How was your weekend?” Lori asks. “It was amazing. Perfect wedding night and then spent the rest of the weekend with Evan and Mia.” I tell them as we take our seats. We talk for a few more minutes about our kids and then we get to business.

“So have you made your list of what you’ll need to start the art program?” Lori asks. “I have and I made a list of the different arts I can teach.” I tell her and hand her and Izzy both copies of my lists. “This looks great.” Lori says. “Thanks. I’ve been looking into suppliers and there’s one here locally that’s got everything we need, and their prices are good. I spoke to the owner on the phone the other day and explained what we needed the supplies for, and he said he would give it to me at wholesale because of what we’re doing.” I tell them. “Wow. You’ve done your homework. How soon are you wanting to do the classes?” Izzy asks. “I’d like to start them in the next couple of weeks. I have to go to the supplier today to take my list of what we need and get it set up to be delivered.” I tell them and we adjourn the meeting.

An hour later, our driver, Christopher, pulls up to the art supply store and he follows me inside. Once I get this done, it will be almost time to pick Mia up from school. We walk in the front door and a young woman walks up. “Welcome to The Color Coated Life. What can I help you with today?” she greets us, and I smile. “I’m looking for Albert Stone.” I tell her, confidently. “Sure, why don’t you look around for a minute and I’ll get him. Can I ask who’s calling?” she asks. “Mary Black. He’s expecting me.” I tell her and she gives me a friendly smile before nodding and heading to the back to get Albert.

While we’re waiting, another worker comes up and introduces himself. “Hi there. I’m Gabriel. Has someone helped you?” he asks. “They have. Thank you.” I say because he’s not even looked at my face, only my chest and I walk to the next aisle…and he follows. “We have an amazing selection of clays and paints. We can also special order if there’s something else you like. Are you an artist or a model?” he asks. I move closer to Christopher and say “Artist.” He nods. “Well, I’d love to give you a tour of our gallery if you’re free.” He says. “I’m sorry. Are you under the impression that I’m single?” I ask. “Well, I don’t see anyone else with you but your bodyguard there.” He says. “And he’s my bodyguard because my husband wanted me to feel safe when he’s not with me.” I say. “Well, if he were any kind of husband, he wouldn’t have let you be out alone. I know I wouldn’t if you were my woman.” He says. “Well, I’m not your woman and he takes very good care of me, so, I think we’ll wait over here for Albert.” I tell him and we walk away with Christopher staying close.

We are only standing there a couple of more minutes before Albert comes out. “Mary. How are you?” he asks. “I’m well, Albert. Thank you for meeting with me.” I say. “It’s my pleasure. Let’s head back to my office so I can get that order in for you.” He says and Christopher and I follow him back. As we step inside, Albert takes his seat behind the desk, I take the seat across from him and Christopher takes his place beside the door.

“So, when we spoke on the phone, you were telling me that the supplies were to do an art program at the mission?” he asks, to clarify. “Yes. I am actually a former tenant of the mission. I’ve become close friends with the ladies that run it, Lori Edwards, and Izzy Montgomery?” I ask to see if he knows them. “Lori and Izzy have done some amazing things with the mission. So many people have been helped through them. Do you have a list of what you’ll need?” he asks, and I hand him my list. “Okay, so some of this, I have here in stock but some I will have to order.” He tells me. “I am hoping to be up and running in two weeks. Would it be possible to have everything in and set up at the mission by then?” I ask. “Of course. I’ll charge the mission wholesale, like I said over the phone but if there’s anything you need special ordered or rush ordered, let me know. I want to help anyway I can.” He tells me. “You giving us the discount is helping tremendously.” I tell him. “Great. So, what I’m going to do is set it up as a credit account. Just place the orders when you need things and then I will send an invoice at the end of the month to be paid. Does that work?” he asks. “That would be perfect.” I say. I hand him my business card and say “My email is on there. The art program is my project.” I tell him and he nods his understanding. “As soon as the materials come in, I will have some of my guys bring them over. I’ll make sure to contact you first so that you can make sure that everyone knows it’s being delivered.” He tells me. “That would be amazing, but can I ask one more thing?” I ask. “Of course.” He says. “Can you please make sure that Gabriel isn’t one of the guys?” I ask. “Of course. But can I ask why?” he asks. “While we were waiting for you, he approached me and was flirting, asking if I was an artist or a model and offering to take me on a tour of the gallery. I explained I was married and not interested, and he said if I were his woman he wouldn’t let me go anywhere without him there.” I tell him. “I will definitely make sure that never happens again and that he will not be one of the ones delivering things to the mission.” He tells me.

I stand up and hold out my hand to shake and Albert stands and shakes my hand. “Thank you again Albert for everything you’re doing.” I say. “Thank you for letting me be a part of it. I lost my sister to domestic abuse. It’s good to know that others have options now. You’re doing an amazing thing.” He tells me and I nod my appreciation. “I’m sorry about your sister. It took a long time to get myself out of my situation, but it was the best thing I ever did but I couldn’t have done it without the mission.” I tell him before Christopher and I see our way out. Pulling out of the parking lot, I see Gabriel standing outside, watching us leave.

We pull up to the school as they are letting out for the day. Christopher comes and opens my door. I step out and walk to the sidewalk to get Mia. “Mommy!” She screams as she runs for me, and I can’t help but laugh. I wave at the teacher to let her know I have her and kneel down to pick her up. “How was school?” I ask as we walk back to the car. “It was fun. I telled my teacher I got a new mommy and daddy.” She tells me. “Did you now?” I ask as I buckle her into her car seat. “I did. I telled her I wear my Princess dress.” She tells me and then she tells me about the rest of her day on the way home.