***
“Dude, how can a wedding be a surprise?” Dean turned to look at Tristan. “You’ve obviously taken too many shots of tequila.”
“Oh but it’s possible,” Matt said. “Jen was telling me a story about a girl who had no clue her wedding was being planned. I think it was one of those reality shows.
“So let’s do it,” Chris said.
“But to pull it off, you need the ladies to help,” Shane said. “And Tanesha’s mother.”
“You’re right Shane,” Ty said. If I can get Dora on board, Kayla, Jen and Briana can help her work on Tan.”
“I don’t think Briana must be involved.” Cole chuckled. “That girl can’t act to save her life.”
“Oh she can be coached,” Tristan said. “She handled Kayla very well that other time, remember? Well, you should. After all, the final explosion occurred in your kitchen.” The guys burst into laughter as Dean threw a pillow at Tristan.
“This whole thing sounds crazy but I’m loving it.” Cole laughed. “You said you’re waiting to be rescued. How long exactly do you think that’s going to take?”
“Hmm… there’s a lot of work to be done here,” Ty said. “I’m thinking we’ll probably leave here in the next three days, go directly to base to be debriefed…which from the sensitive nature of this mission may take days. I’ll probably be cleared to go home in say…six days from today.”
“Guys, we have a wedding to plan,” Damon announced. “The wedding will take place a week from today Ty. Don’t worry your head over it. Everything will be sorted by the time you get back. All you have to do is show up in church, dressed in all your glory.”
“Yeah. And ready to sell your freedom.” Matt muttered, drawing laughter from the guys.
“Where do you plan on going for your honeymoon Ty?” Shane asked.
“Jamaica.” Ty laughed. “It’s about time I see where my wife-to-be comes from, don’t you think?”
“Perfect.” Shane laughed. “Honeymoon is on me. I’ll work on that.”
“Thanks, Shane.” Ty sounded both surprised and excited. Shane, Chris’ husband was a multi-billionaire business mogul. Sponsoring his honeymoon was really nothing at all to someone like Shane. What surprised Ty was the man’s eagerness to do that for him.
“Don’t worry about it, man.” Shane chuckled. “It’s the least I could do to say thanks for looking out for our country.”
“Aww…that’s so sweet.” Chris purred, earning himself a light blow from his husband.
“Fuck off Chris,” Shane growled, drawing laughter from the guys. “When would you want to leave? Right after the wedding?” He asked.
“Nope. I want to sleep in my own bed for one night.” Ty drawled. “We can leave the day after. But if I finish whatever I’m doing and get to sleep in my own bed before the wedding, I wouldn’t mind going on the same day…if we finish the ceremony early enough.”
“I don’t think that’s possible Ty. We’ll probably party till daybreak.” Chris said dryly. “You’ll have to leave the day after.”
“Alright then. Sunday it is.” Ty sighed. “Wait… Maybe Tanesha can’t leave because of school…”
“School is breaking for two weeks, starting Wednesday.” Aaron chipped in.
“Great. It’s settled then.” Chris said. “Now go work on Dora Ashton.”
“Yeah. I’m going to call her right after I talk to my dad.” Ty said.
“But you have to tell them not to tell Tanesha anything,” Kyle warned.
“I’ll do that. God, I’m doing it again.” Ty groaned.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Aaron said. “She’s going to kill you.”
“She’ll be too overwhelmed and too happy to even think of killing him, baby,” Kyle murmured, pressing a soft kiss against Aaron’s mouth. “It’s going to be great.”
And as Ty listened to his friends talk about how they were going to pull out all the stops to pull off the surprise wedding, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Surely Tanesha couldn’t murder him if the surprise was as good as the guys were saying it was going to be, right?
***
“Now all we have to do is wait,” Dora said, taking off her apron and making a beeline for the bathroom.
Five different types of cakes were baking in one oven, whilst the second oven had cupcakes, baking. Annabel was working on buttercream which they were going to pipe onto the cupcakes.
“Mum, your phone is ringing,” Tanesha called, taking Dora’s cell phone out of her bag.
“I’ll call the person back. I need to pee.” Dora retorted as she went.
“You can’t call the person back mum,” Tanesha said, looking at the caller id. “It says private number. Probably an international call.” She ran to give the phone to Dora. “Just take it with you. It might be important.” She said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… Hello.” Dora answered the phone unenthusiastically as she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
“Hello, Dora. This is Ty. Please don’t let Tanesha know you’re talking to me if you’re near her.”
“What?” Dora gasped as the urge to pee suddenly disappeared. She was so shocked she sat down heavily on the toilet seat, clothes still intact. “Oh my God Ty… Are you…have you…where are you?” Dora stuttered.
Ty chuckled. “I’ll be home soon. Dora…”
“Why…what are…why don’t you want me to tell her?” For the first time in her life, Dora Ashton was so shocked and confused she couldn’t even string a sentence together.
“Because I want to throw a surprise wedding for your daughter. And as the name suggests, she can’t know about it. But I would need your help to pull it off, Dora.”
“Oh my God, you’re crazy Ty.” Dora wiped the tear that had slipped out onto the cheek. “Are you okay?”
“I’m very well, Dora. And how’s Tanesha doing?”
“How do you think?” She snorted. “Oh my God, I can’t wait to see you. You have no idea just how hard I’ve prayed these past few months. Thank goodness you’re okay.” Dora sniffled. “Now what’s this about a surprise wedding?”