before,” she said. “But I could tell you were nervous. Your armpits still look
moist.”
“I wasn’t nervous about marrying you,” William said. “I love you and I want to be
married to you. I just kept thinking something was going to go wrong. Like your dad
stopping it, or even my grandma having a heart attack before we could say ‘I do.’”
“Well, my dad couldn’t have stopped it. And I’m pretty sure Patty is going to
outlive us all.”
“You’re right. Sorry I was nervous.”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, honey. And if anyone was going to die of a
heart attack today, it would've been Eric. Luckily, I saved him with my quick
thinking and MacGyver-like resources.”
“He was so afraid to move!” William added.
“Oh!” Casey grabbed her stomach. “This baby really wants that slushie, Will.”
“We’re almost there,” William said.
“Ouch,” Casey winced. “She’s kicking pretty hard.”
William pulled into the gas station where he worked. “I’ll be quick. What size?”
“Just get the biggest one,” she said. “In Styrofoam!”
William went inside and headed for the slushie machine. “Hey, Darryl,” he said to
his coworker, who didn’t look up.
He grabbed a 44-ounce Styrofoam cup, filled it with cherry slushie, snapped on a
lid, and added a straw. At the counter, Darryl scratched lottery tickets. Silver
flakes covered the surface.
“Don’t worry about it, William,” Darryl said, eyes not looking up from the ticket.
William set the two bills down anyway. “Use this for your next one.”
“Sure,” Darryl muttered.