Shot Gun

Jonah and I laid on the bed in his childhood bedroom as we stared up at the ceiling.

It was Sunday morning, and after a long weekend of wedding events for Casey, we were exhausted. We still had one last family brunch to attend before it was all officially over, but just the thought of it was making us weak.

“I love Casey, but is it really necessary for me to be at this brunch?” Jonah groaned as his hands smothered his face.

I yawned.

“I can't, I can't do another one of Aunt Marsha's stories.” His voice mumbled through his fingers as he shook his head. “We're gonna have to do this all over again when we get married.”

I furrowed my brows and turned my head towards Jonah. “What do you mean when we get married?”

Jonah's eyes peeked out from between his fingers as he looked over at me. He finally uncovered his face with an uneasy laugh. “You're kidding, right?”

I pursed my lips and looked at my empty hand. “I don't see a ring on my finger.” Of course, I only gave him back the engagement ring in the heat of an argument, but I couldn't help and tease him about a do-over.

“And why is that?” Jonah leaned over on his elbow. “Because I remember giving it to you.”

I sat up and mimicked his tone, “Well, I gave it back, now you need to give it to me again.”

“Oh God” He sighed as he dropped his hand back onto his pillow and once again covered his face. “Eight more months of this...”

“What was that?” I pulled his hands away from his face and he smiled with a tight lip refusing to respond.

I took my pillow and tossed it at him before I left to get ready for brunch.

Once we got to the restaurant, I spotted Casey from a distance and went over to say hello. She wore a simple dress, with minimal makeup, but it didn't even matter because the glow radiating on her face was so pure it was hard to notice anything else.

We leaned in for a hug and kiss on the cheek when she stopped me from pulling away. “I heard the news, congratulations!” She whispered in my ear.

I felt my cheeks burn as I blushed. “Oh” I stuttered. Even though I knew it was hard for Anna, Mandy and Casey to keep secrets between each other I was still taken back when I realized one of them had slipped. “Thank you!” I smiled. “I didn't want to spoil your weekend.”

Casey pulled away and looked at me as if I were crazy. “Are you kidding?” She laughed. “Even if you told me before I said, 'I do,' I would've still been excited that my baby brother is having a baby!”

I froze as Casey's jaw dropped. We were both in shock when she said the words out loud...for everyone to hear.

“What?” Jonah's Aunt's voice carried from across the table. “Jonah's having a baby?”

Everyone became quiet as they stared at me and Casey. Our hands were still on each others shoulders. Casey's eyes were wide and without moving her lips she whispered, “I'm so sorry!”

Jonah walked towards the table unaware of what had just happened. “Hey, Lynn, you'll never believe what the valet guy-” He stopped talking when he noticed Casey and I standing like statues in front of a table filled with stone faces.

“What's going...” His voice grew quieter, “Should I even ask?”

Mandy jumped to her feet and raised up her glass of water. “Here's to my beautiful sister and her sweet new husband on their marriage and to Lynn and my annoying brother, who I adore, on the news of their little love bug!”

Everyone became distracted as they clinked their glasses and celebrated the news.

Jonah smiled at everyone and leaned into my ear. “They know?”

Casey shook her head. “Jonah I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say it out loud!”

“It's okay!” I reassured her as I hugged her again. “You seriously just saved me from some major nerves.”

“They know!” Jonah embraced me into a tight hug as we celebrated along with everyone. “We can finally be open about it!”

Casey reached over and punched Jonah's arm. “I can't believe you didn't tell me first! I thought I was your favorite?”

“Ow!” Jonah rubbed his arm. “You are!”

“Hey!” Mandy shouted from across the table.

After everyone settled down we were finally able to start our meal. Casey shared some funny stories of things that had gone wrong before the wedding, while Mandy told us all about how crazy Casey was going, and everyone else talked about how beautiful the event was.

For the most part everyone was excited about the baby news. Jonah's aunts and uncles came up to us separately to give us some tips and tricks for when we welcomed the “Cohen baby”(as everyone nicknamed it) They even started taking bets on whether it would be a boy or girl. I couldn't believe I was freaking out this whole time and yet everyone had taken the news with light hearts.

Jonah had work the next morning after a week long vacation, so that night we headed back to the city from Long Island. Only as we were driving the scenery looked a little different. We always took the same route to and fro and this time nothing was really looking familiar.

“Are you sure we're going the right way?” I asked as I stared out the window.

“Hm?” Jonah mumbled. “Yeah”

I grew more concerned. “Jonah, where are we going?”

“It's a surprise” He smiled as he stayed focus on the road.

As he turned the corner we were parked in front of an amusement park. I was confused as to what was going on, but I slowly started piecing the puzzle together. “Is this the park you took me to on our first date?”

Jonah's smile grew as I finally caught on. “This is it.”

“What are we doing here?” I asked as he parked the car in an empty parking lot.

“I don't know” He shrugged. “I thought we could take a little walk.”

“It's ten o'clock at night, Jonah, you have to be up early tomorrow.”

“So?” He smiled as he stepped out of the car. Jonah walked over to my side and opened my door. He took my hand and we walked down to the beach.

I laughed as we sat in the sand.

“What's so funny?” Jonah asked.

“Just a couple of years ago we were two strangers sitting on this same beach around the same time of day.” I laughed again.

“And now we're in love with a baby on the way.” Jonah finished my thought.

We sat quietly and listened to the waves crash against the shore. Maybe we were just tired, or maybe it was because of how hectic our lives had become, but the sound of the water was so peacefully soothing.

I was drifting into my thoughts when suddenly Jonah's voice brought me back.

“The reason I brought you here on our first date was because I wanted to make you a part of my life.” Jonah's hand slipped around my shoulders as he pulled me in closer to his body. “No matter how much distance was put between us, no matter how many disagreements we got into, I've only grown to love you more everyday since then.”

I crinkled my nose as I smiled.

“You mean the world to me, and if I have to re-propose every time to prove it, then I'm up for the challenge.” Jonah laughed as he spoke. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring.

Even though I was laughing along with Jonah I felt a tear roll down my cheek. “God, I love you so much.”

“You know what would be great?” He asked. “If we could just get married without all the hassle.”

“That would be nice.” I smiled as I stared at the ring on my finger. I missed it being on my hand. “We should just go and do it right now.” I joked.

Jonah laughed along. “Right now?”

Our smiles slowly faded as we gave the thought consideration.

I nodded my head.“....Right now.”