Page 20 of Her Inconvenient Wedding Date (Unexpected Dates #2)

Hunter

“We're all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.” ~Robert Fulghum

It’s a rainy Friday evening and the perfect time for a Lord of the Rings marathon, but I’m checking my reflection in the phone screen instead.

It’s my and Lily’s first live video together and my first live video ever.

This mug of mine has never been seen in action on social media before.

I’m not going to lie—the thought of viewers watching my every move has me more nervous than the time I got my contact lenses stuck to my eyeballs.

The only saving grace is that I know I’m not alone on this adventure.

My beautiful, wonderful wife is sitting right beside me…

looking as unbothered as cream cheese on a bagel.

Man, all these nerves are making me hungry.

“You look great, Hun,” Lily pipes up as she looks my way. “Just be yourself. Everyone’s going to love you.”

I gulp, then blow out a long breath. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a natural on camera. I’ll probably forget my own name.”

“What should I call you then? How about Trapper or Chaser?”

The mischief lighting up her brown eyes makes me chuckle.

Over the past five months that we’ve been married, I’ve seen some new sides to Lily.

Other than her soft, vulnerable side, her playful, jokey side has to be my favorite.

I scoot closer to her on the loveseat and wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“I should have never given you a thesaurus for Christmas. It was supposed to be a fun stocking stuffer, not a torture device.”

“It is fun! For me,” she adds with a grin. “Next time just get me some synonym rolls.”

I groan loudly. “I think you’re more punny than me now.”

“I learn from the best.” She leans in and kisses my cheek, then rubs it with her thumb. “Oops, I left some lipstick on you. I guess this one’s not as transfer-proof as I thought. Let me touch it up before we start.”

“Before you do that…”

“Huh?”

I cup her chin and tilt her face up toward me. Taking my chance, I plant a quick one on her, then let her go. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you, but I didn’t want to mess up your makeup. But since you need to fix your lipstick anyway?—”

Lily cuts off the rest of my words with a finger to my lips. “ This is what I love about your brain. You have the best ideas.”

I can’t argue with her once her mouth finds its way home to mine, and I wouldn’t want to.

Lily is right, I do come up with good ideas.

Kissing my wife ranks high on that list, along with the proposal I’d surprised her with the week after our civil ceremony.

It was important to me that I ask Lily to marry me since we’d done things a bit unconventionally.

Once the engagement ring was on her finger, our union became more official than a contract marriage.

Soon after the new year, we had a church ceremony with our families and friends present, as well as a ten-course Chinese banquet.

Both events were shared with Jasmine and Bruce, much to Mama Lam’s dismay since that cut down on the number of festivities.

She quickly got on board, however, when Lily and Jasmine reminded her that there will be man yue dinners (aka one-month baby celebrations) to look forward to once the grandkids come along.

In case anyone’s wondering, Lily and I have gotten very familiar with each other since we decided to stay married.

So familiar that I know exactly how she likes to be kissed.

Slowly and thoroughly along the curve of her neck as I lay her back onto the couch cushions.

I can also anticipate the sounds of her happy sighs and the way she likes to run her fingers through my hair until our lips meet again.

Our connection deepens, giving me a sweet taste of her.

I have every urge to move our kissing to the bedroom, but I know now’s not the time.

Reluctantly, I break off the kiss and help Lily up.

“Business first, Mrs. Payne. Your fans are waiting.”

“The live! I almost forgot about that. Let me go fix my lipstick!”

A couple of minutes later, we’re good to start. As soon as we go live, a handful of viewers tune in. Lily’ s warm and caring personality shines through as she calls each person out by name.

“Hey, Heidi. Gina, hi! Patty, long time no see. I’m so glad you guys made it!”

I watch in awe as she reads and replies to their comments without missing a beat. What can’t she do?! My wife is amazing. Every time I see Lily in her element, I fall a little more in love with her.

“Guess what, everyone?” Lily continues. “I have a special guest I want you all to meet. This is my hubby, Hunter!”

The feedback starts appearing on the screen.

Oh, he’s cute!

I can’t believe you’re married!

Are his ears okay? They’re so red!

“He is cute, isn’t he? Especially his ears!” Lily grins and gives my knee a comforting pat. “We’ll get to everyone’s questions in a bit, but let me give him a chance to say hi first.”

“Hello, everyone,” I greet the screen. “Thanks for tuning in and supporting my lovely wife. Lily’s the best, isn’t she?”

She waves off my compliment, but she does mouth thanks to me before turning back to the phone. “I compiled a list of questions that you guys wanted us to answer in our live today. We’ll start with the first one—who fell in love first?”

“That’s easy,” I answer. “I did. It was pretty much love at first sight. From the moment I met Lily at work, I was a goner.”

“I’ll admit it, I friend-zoned Hunter pretty badly for a year. But once I did fall for him, I fell pretty hard and fast.”

A bunch of heart emojis float across the screen.

“Next question,” Lily continues, “what is your favorite thing about each other?”

“Oh boy, how much time do we have?” I ask. “We’re going to be here all night. ”

Lily rolls her eyes.

“You think I’m kidding?” I look into the camera and shake my head adamantly. “I’m a hundred percent serious, guys. There are so many things I love about my wife. I’ll name three of them, so I don’t embarrass her too much. Her brilliant mind, her tender heart, and her sexy body?—”

“Hunter!” she exclaims as she covers her mouth. “I forgot to tell you my parents are watching.”

“They are?” I’m sure my ears are as red as Lily’s cheeks. Wearing a sheepish smile, I wave at the screen. “Hi, Ma and Ba. Thanks for supporting us.”

I have no idea what my in-laws think of me now if they are watching, but the viewers seem to like my answer.

He’s so sweet!

Swoon!

Where do I find a guy like Hunter?

“Moving on,” Lily says with a sheepish smile, “my favorite thing about Hunter is his unwavering faith in God and in me. He’s steady and consistent and someone I trust with my whole heart.”

“Thank you, Lil.” My chest swells with a sense of contentment.

Hearing her words gives me such a confidence boost. We’ve come so far in such a short amount of time, from strangers to semi-rivals, to semi-friends, then spouses.

I can’t wait to see where God takes us next.

I lean over and place a kiss on her forehead. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” Lily gives me a sweet smile as she announces, “Last question—what’s a secret you’ve been keeping from each other?”

“Come again? Did you say secret?”

“Yes.”

“A secret?” I’m not sure what to make of this question. “I don’t have any secrets. Do you?”

“I do. Just one, and I’ve only been keeping it since yesterday.”

“Interesting.” My brows shoot up. The sparkle in Lily’s eyes seems innocent enough, but I have no idea what to expect, which I suppose fits the definition of a secret.

I decide to do some troubleshooting. “How big of a secret are we talking about? On a scale of one to ten, ten being you got me a new GPU, to one being you changed the type of toilet paper we use, where does this secret fall?”

“For those of you who are interested, GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit,” she explains to her viewers, “which is a specialized computer chip. I’d say this surprise ranks as a fifteen.”

“Fifteen, huh?”

More comments pop up on the screen, with the last one echoing my sentiment the most.

I think I know what it is!

I have a guess!

I have no clue, but I’m excited!

“Whatever it is, Lil, I’m game. Go ahead and tell me.”

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

I do as I’m told. Pretty soon, something lands on my palms. Based on the material, I can tell it’s a basket.

While small, there’s a good weight to it.

What’s even more intriguing is its fragrance.

There are hints of garlic and various spices, along with sugar and cinnamon.

It’s an odd combination but a mouth-watering one.

“Are these bagels? My nose tells me they’re bagels. ”

“Go ahead and open your eyes.”

“I was right!” As my nose predicted, I’m the recipient of a basket of bagel holes with both savory and sweet flavors. “Thanks, Lil. This is a great surprise. ”

“I thought you’d like it, but there’s more. You might want to take a closer look at the card.”

I’m so enamored by the delicious smells, I don’t realize there’s a card in the basket, too.

I pick it up and examine the cartoon drawing.

There are two bagels with stick arms and legs, holding a bagel hole between them.

All three have smiling faces. Beneath the bagel figures are the words Get ready for a hole lotta cute.

I freeze as the gears in my brain start turning. A hole lotta cute… bagel hole… oh my! Realization sets in as I turn to Lily, my eyes as round as the bagel holes. “Are we going to be bagel parents? I mean human parents?”

“Yes!” Lily throws her arms around my neck, nearly squashing the basket. “Surprise!”

Disbelief hits me, but it’s soon followed by an adrenaline rush that gets my blood pumping all the way to the tips of my ears. I pull back to look Lily in the eyes. “This is the best surprise ever! Wait till my parents and sisters hear the news.”

“They just did. Look!” She points at the phone screen where dozens of congratulatory words are coming in. “I invited everyone, including our coworkers. This username must belong to Al.”

@YourPalAl: Congrats! I see you guys finally got your own room.

“I think you’re right.” I laugh. “Hey, Mom and Dad, and Ma and Ba. Our baby bagel’s going to have the best grandparents.”

Three new comments suddenly appear:

Ahem! What about the best aunties?

Yeah, man!

You can’t forget about us!

Lily gives me a pitying look. “You’re in big trouble with our sisters.”

“I’ll make it up to you guys! How about we let you babysit whenever you want?”

“Good one,” Lily remarks with a grin. “Thank you, guys, for all your warm wishes! Oh, I see the girls online, too. Hey, everyone, meet my book club girlfriends—Hope, Hadley, Janie, and Amelia! Maybe I’ll have them on sometime and we can talk about romance books.”

What about the grandparents? Can we meet them?

I want to meet Al! He sounds like a fun guy!

Lily and I exchange raised brows at these suggestions.

One more comment comes in from @GrammyLam: I’m ready to meet my fans! Let’s do it!

“Hi, Ma! That’s my dear mother, everyone,” Lily states with wide eyes. “These are some amazing ideas, guys! I’ll be sure to keep them in mind.”

“Thanks for joining us today!” I chime in, ready to save the day. My dear sweet wife, the love of my life, is likely regretting her decision to invite everyone to our live video today. But I’m ready to show her my gratitude and appreciation. “Have a great evening! Bye!”

“Bye!” Lily waves at the camera before she ends the video. She faces me, then cringes. “Oh boy, what have I done? Do you think my mother will want to join me for every video in the future?”

“Maybe the key is to teach her how to start her own account. She’d probably enjoy having the spotlight to herself even more.”

“That is a brilliant idea! Your brain is becoming more and more attractive the longer I know you.”

“That’s a good thing because, God willing, I’d like to wow you with my brain for a very, very long time.” I wrap my arm around Lily and pull her close. “Thank you for my surprise. I’m excited to be starting our own little bagel shop. ”

She snuggles into my side with a contented sigh. “I’m so excited, too. And to think I might have missed all of this if we hadn’t gotten married. Thank you for being my marriage of convenience wedding date.”

“You mean marriage of inconvenience wedding date.”

“Actually, I see it as more of a convenient inconvenience. We may have done things a little out of order, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. You were always meant to be my happily ever after, Hunter, conveniently or inconveniently.”

“And you, mine.” I kiss the top of her head. “Now, how are we going to explain our love story to our kids in the future? Do we mention the part about Mr. PowerPoint?”

Lily groans. “Nooo. Dates and presentations are two words that should never be in the same sentence. But we will definitely talk about the proper way to hang toilet paper. Deal?”

The sparkle in her eyes is something I’ll never get tired of seeing. I draw her close to me and murmur a single word as our lips meet: “Deal.”