Ewan rolled over onto his back and watched Aisha as she got dressed. "Who's flying in today?" He groaned as she leaned forward to place her breasts into her front closure bra.
Aisha smiled at Ewan in the mirror as she watched him begin stroking himself under the quilt on the bed. Shaking her head at him, she rattled off the names of friends and family who were attending their wedding in Las Vegas, "Your Aunt Siobhan, Lyndsey, Karen, Darren, Lourdes, David, Amir, Galen, Raija and Regina. The last two should be arriving in the next thirty minutes or so and I'm going to meet them downstairs for a drink before the rehersal."
Ewan watched as she sat on the side of the bed and started rubbing shea butter into the velvety skin on her thighs and arms.
"So Aish, what do you say we get started making a baby." Aisha started laughing and turned around to look at Ewan. At the expression on his face her laughter died.
"Are you serious? We're getting married the day after tomorrow. We just moved to Seattle and you're starting a new job. We don't have the time or energy for a baby now."
Aisha's words didn't have the desired effect on Ewan; in fact they made him want to watch her belly grow fat with their child even more. He rose to his knees and moved behind her. Leaning forward he placed a light kiss on either side of her neck before digging his hands into her hair. She loved having her head massaged and he loved doing it for her. She leaned back into his chest and smiled.
"We've got 35 minutes before I have to be downstairs honey. Let's make a baby." She shivered at the sensation of Ewan's tongue trailing over the left side of her neck.
Raija swiveled around on her bar stool and stared at the door leading to the hotel lobby. "I can't believe Aisha has the nerve to stand us up." When she didn't get a response she turned back to her cousin. Regina stood next to her tapping her foot, a sure sign that she was getting annoyed.
Regina was in the process of looking at her watch for the third time when Aisha stepped through the doorway. The three cousins grinned at each other and hugged before breaking apart to give each other a long and thorough perusal.
Galen was checking in at the front desk when he heard the peals of laughter. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw three black women standing together. He smiled, recognizing Aisha from his brief trip to visit her and Ewan in Phoenix the past winter. He'd flown in from Austin to witness his cousin Ewan's marriage to Aisha.
"Girl, don't look now but you've got another white man giving you the once over." Raija grinned at Aisha and nodded her head towards the man standing at the registration counter.
Aisha glanced over her shoulder and raised a hand and waved shyly. He returned her greeting and she turned back to her cousins. "That's Galen, one of Ewan's cousins."
At that moment Ewan joined Galen in the lobby and the two men hugged before heading for the elevators.
The women sat and made small talk, drinking cocktails and catching up on family gossip. Several family members were noticeably absent from the celebration. They didn't agree with Aisha's decision to marry someone white and couldn't see beyond their own prejudices to help celebrate her happiness.
At dinner that night, sixteen friends and family members sat at a long table, headed by Aisha and Ewan, and toasted the happy couple. Galen gazed at the happy couple, excited for them, while suppressing his own longing. Obligations at home prevented him from possibly ever finding that happiness for himself.
Galen looked from Aisha to the other women he'd seen her with earlier and noticed a similarity in their features. They were certainly related. The group went around the table introducing themselves and Galen found out that they were Aisha's cousins. Regina was the petite one with closely cropped hair and vivid green eyes. Her eyes were startling and Galen wondered if she wore contact lenses. Raija was the tallest of the three cousins and had full womanly curves. Not fat, but not thin either. Her skin was the color of milk chocolate, with a tinge of red just beneath the surface. Her eyes were brown and quite possibly the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen, topped by incredibly long lashes.
Galen had never consciously been attracted to black women. He loved looking at all women, but there was never a distinct attraction there, but he sat staring at Raija most of the night, looking away whenever she cast her luminous eyes in his direction.
After dinner, the group headed for a karaoke bar. Only a few brave souls dared get up to sing and the three cousins were among the few. In fact, they seemed to dare one another to sing. Galen moved to the bar to place another order for the table and turned to lean his back against the bar to watch Aisha as she made her way to the microphone. Ewan joined him at the bar and stood with a look of wonderment on his face as his bride-to-be began singing Etta James' "At Last".
"At last, my love has come along My lonely days are over And life is like a song Yeah, yeah At last The skies above are blue My heart was wrapped up in clover the night I looked at you I found a dream, that I could speak to A dream that I can call my own I found a thrill to press my cheek to A thrill that I have never known Ohh yeah yeah You smile, you smile Oh and then the spell was cast And here we are in heaven For you are mine at last At last... at last".
Aisha finished her song and sashayed over to Ewan. She elbowed him in the ribs and turned to wink at Galen. Ewan bent down and whispered something in her ear that made her blush.
"So Galen, how are things back in Austin?"
Galen sighed deeply without answering, his hand automatically going to fidget with the wedding ring on his hand. Things were the same as they had been for the past 6 years. Kate and Ryan were still a large part of his life.
Aisha noticed the nervous fidgeting and stepped closer to him, "Galen, why in the name of all that is good in this world, do you allow her to keep using you like this? What about your happiness, when do you plan on standing up for yourself?" She would have continued if not for Ewan grabbing her by the arm and pulling her against him.
"Honey, Galen can take care of himself." He looked at his cousin and noticed the tiredness and loneliness in his eyes. While he worried about him as well, he didn't think Galen would be able to handle Aisha's brand of tough love at the moment.
"I'm marrying into this family and I will not sit by and watch him destroy himself, to keep a promise to someone who doesn't love him. I wouldn't keep quiet for any cousins related to me by blood and I won't keep quiet for one related to me by marriage." With that, Aisha elbowed Ewan in the ribs and he released her. She immediately stalked over to her seat at the table.
Galen turned to Ewan and raised an eyebrow. Ewan just shrugged at Galen. Maybe being pregnant would temper some of her fire.
Galen turned to watch Raija as she fended off the advances of a persistent drunk. The moment the guy leaned in to try to kiss Raija, Galen took off across the room to stand behind Raija's chair.
The drunk looked up and then looked back at Raija and stalked off, but not before casting her a nasty look and calling her a sell-out.
Galen stared down at the top of her head, bemused by the tiny coils that sprung up from her scalp in every direction. She wore a brown t-shirt with the silhouette of a woman's head with an afro puff and the words "Pretty little black girl" on it, a brown blazer, a denim skirt that fell below her knees and knee-high brown leather boots.
"I could have handled that on my own but thank you." Raija turned around and glanced up at Galen. He was dressed in the jeans that she imagined all cowboys living in Texas owned at least six pairs of. Of course, she was just guessing that he was a cowboy since they hadn't really talked to each other. His dark hair was surprisingly curly and reached the collar of his tucked in white dress shirt. She couldn't read the emblem on his belt buckle, not without getting dangerously close to his groin and his feet were shod in well cared for boots.
