My Baby, My Darling.

One month later.

I sat in Peggy's Diner, reading Catcher in the Rye for the third time and sipping on what seemed to be my fifth cup of coffee. I gulped the last drops of my mug and placed it back on the table of my booth, reaching for the pitcher sitting next to me. Stella knew how much coffee I drank, and she usually gave me a pitcher if i told her I was going to be here a while. As I reached for the pitcher absentmindedly, my hand was quickly swatted away. I looked up at Dexter, seated on the other side of the booth, smirking as he looked down, focusing on the stacks of papers in front of him.

"What was that for?" I raised my eyebrow at him accusingly.

"That was your tenth cup today. I have to cut you off, Darling." he smirked, glancing up at me quickly and dropping his eyes to his papers in an instant.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, come on! I've only had like six cups this morning. It's barely even 11 o'clock!"

"No. You've had about ten cups. And it's already 12:30. Isn't it a tad late for coffee?" he placed down a packet of papers, flipping it back to the front page and setting it on the stack. Finally his eyes looked up to meet mine. My heart melted a little, but I forced myself to relent, keeping my stubborn gaze.

"You have no right to cut me off, nor to tell me what to do. This is America, and as I recall, there's this thing called Women's-"

"Suffrage, yes I know." Dexter interrupted, licking his lips and grinning. "But it's still largely unhealthy for you to drink this much coffee. I'm trying to save your precious, beautiful, women's suffrage- obsessed life. Help me out here." He sent me a concerned look and turned back to his stack, picking up a new packet of papers, starting yet another ten pages of reading, supplied to him by his adviser.

I pouted at him for a few minutes from across the table as he continued to read. I knew he could see me, he would glance up at me every few minutes and a small smirk would play on his lips, knowing that I was suffering. He was one cruel man. I picked up my book from the table and flipped back to the page I had marked. After finishing two pages, I already wished i had another cup of coffee to sip. I looked up from the words of Salinger and pouted longingly at the pitcher sitting at the end of the table. I sent Dexter another pout and fidgeted in my seat, trying to focus on Holden Caulfield. After a few minutes, I noticed out of the corner of my eye as Dexter grabbed my mug and poured some coffee into it, placing it back in front of me silently and continuing with his papers. I set my book down and looked back up at him, a grin spreading across my face. I looked down at my cup of half-filled coffee and back up at a concentrated Dexter as he tried to decipher the words in front of him. I smiled lightly and leaned over the table, placing a small kiss on his cheek. 

Surprised, he looked up into my eyes as I paused, smiling and still leaning across the table. He smirked, giving me a quick peck on the lips before I sat back down on my side of the booth. I grinned as grabbed hold of my cup of coffee as if it were the most precious thing in the planet before sipping it slowly, trying to savor the taste.

Dexter and I had been spending a large sum of our time together for the past month. We had no label, no definite state of our relationship. And I was entirely content with what we had. It was simple, easy to understand. To add labels to our relationship would only confuse and complicate things. Right now, there was no pressure to act a certain way towards each other. We were in a comfortable state. If either one of us had free time, we'd go to Peggy's or I'd meet him at the hospital and we'd drive around the city, exploring. We never went through that awkward stage where we were still testing out each other's boundaries, because with a Dexter and I , there were none. It was so easy just to be around him, I never felt like I had to hold back on my sarcasm, or hide things from him like I did with Brian. It was all so easy. But, sometimes I would look at him and wonder if we were in the same page because we never really talked about it.

A muffled ringing sounded from Dexter's end of the booth. He snapped his head up and glanced back down at his pants, fumbling through his pockets in search of his phone. I raised my eyebrow at him curiously and continued to sip my coffee, attempting to focus on the sentence I had now read ten times. After two more rings, Dexter finally pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and answered the call.

"Hello?" he cleared his voice, furrowing his eyebrows as he listened to the voice on the other end, "Ben?"

The voice continued to speak loudly on the other end, Dexter's eyes widened in both shock and surprise, "No, Ben. I didn't forget," he scoffed, obviously lying, "I was just, uh,  on my way to pick up my tux." he started hastily gathering his papers into one pile, finished packets on top and unfinished on the bottom. His eyes met my confused expression as he gestures for me to get out of the booth. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but complied with him and proceeded to pack my book into my bag and swallow the last few gulps of my coffee. As I got out of the table, Dexter continued talking on the phone to Ben as he tossed money onto the table and waited for me to proceed out of the diner, a huge stack of papers threatening to fall out of his hands. As we approached Dexter's Jeep, I gestured for him to hand me the stack as he continued to listen to he man on the other end who seemed to now be on an endless rant. He mumbled a thank you as he placed the papers into my hands before climbing into the drivers side. After I hopped into the passenger's seat, he plugged his phone into the auxiliary cord before speeding out of the parking lot.

"And Rachel is getting on my case about how the centerpieces are supposed to be sunflowers, but the decorators used daisies. Honestly, i couldn't tell the difference between the shit. I'm dying here, Dex." The man, who I'm assuming is Ben, ranted fanatically into the phone, an annoyed tone. His voice echoed throughout the car.

"Man, I already told you. Everything will be fine. Rachel probably already has everything under control. You just need to show up at the alter and everything's smooth sailing from there," Dexter assured him as he carefully switched lanes on the highway.

"Yeah, I hope you're right, bro. I'll see you at five. Please tell me you know which church it's at."

Dexter nodded, a concentrated look on his face. "Yeah, Ben. Don't worry. I know all the details. I'll see you at the church."

"Alright. Thanks again for doing this, Dex. It means a lot to me, man. See you there." Ben's voice dropped from frantic to calm and sincere. Dexter pressed the end call button on his phone before pulling into the driveway of my house. He put the car in park and let out a heavy breath of air, smiling lightly.

"So, that was Ben." he smirked, explaining the conversation to me.

I nodded, mumbling sarcastically, "Oh yes, Ben. What a mellow young lad."

"He's my older brother," he laughed lightly, "and he's getting married today."

My eyes widened in shock, "You mean, you aren't the oldest? Why did you never tell me you had a brother?"

He shrugged, blinking his tired eyes, "It never really came up. He lives across town, and he's about four years older than me. But, that's not why I'm telling you all of this."

I nodded, taking in his words, "Why are you telling me this, then?"

"I need you to come to the wedding with me," he breathed, examining my face.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion, "What?"

"I need you to come-"

"No. I understood that. But why do you need me to go with you to your brother's wedding?" I questioned, staring at his broad features.

He blinked, "I need you to come with me because my family isn't exactly the most stable and comfortable thing in my life. They can get a little crazy, especially around me. I need you to be the buffer. No one will come after me if you're there." he pleaded.

I raised my eyebrows, silently weighing my options. "Alright." I nodded slowly, "but under one condition."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "What is it?"

"I get to drive." I smirked, watching how his face transformed from one of confusion to one of complete fright.
---

"How is it even possible that the DMV licensed you to drive?" Dexter muttered lightly as we walked side by side through the threshold of the church. 

"Shut up. I passed my driver's test fair and square, for your information." I hissed, adjusting my gold, a-line dress that stopped just above the knee.

"I would love to see the files that say that." he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"It's called my driver's license, asshole. And I'm not showing that to you again. My self-esteem is still recovering from the last fit of laughter you gave me."

He smiled lightly and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, placing a small kiss atop my head, "You're just so much more beautiful in person, sweetheart. Plus, your nose isn't doing that weird twitchy thing right now," he teased.

I shoved him away and narrowed my eyes at him as he laughed lightly. He adjusted the black bow tie around his neck as he scanned the aisles of the church for Annie, who was supposed to meet us here. Supposedly, she had gotten a date for Ben's wedding so he was driving her to the church. I scanned the church, but saw that she was no where in sight at the same time as Dexter.

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed from the foyer of the church, causing an echo that erupted all he way to the altar.

"Dexter McHale! You just get more and more handsome everytime I see you. Come here and give Aunt Wilma some sugar." A woman who seemed to be in her early 60s approached us, squinting her eyes at Dexter and I.

Dexter turned to her and smiled lightly, letting her pull him into a hug. "Hello, Aunt Wilma. How are you?" his voice was smooth, soothing.

The woman coughed, "Oh, just surviving." she swatted him away, continuing into a fit of coughs. When she finished, her eyes landed on me. "Well, who is this lovely lady?"

Dexter wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him, "Aunt Wilma, this is Chelsea. Chelsea, Aunt Wilma." his hands gestured to the both of us throughout his introduction. 

Aunt Wilma squinted her eyes and pursed her lips as if coming to a conclusion, her eyes drifting between Dexter and I. Dexter merely smiled back at her widely, his arm still wrapped around my waist. After a few moments, the woman gave a bid of approval. "Well, your lady is surely ever most lovely Dexter. You two should probably find your seats now, though. I hear the wedding is starting soon. Have you two seen my old hag of a husband anywhere?"

Dexter smiled lightly and gestured out the church doors, "I think I saw Uncle Rick outside, talking to Cousin Cecile." And with that information, Aunt Wilma sped off and out the door in search of her husband.

I turned to face Dexter with widened eyes, "Well, she's something!"

Dexter nodded sternly, rolling his eyes as he walked me down the aisle of the church, looking for seats. Still guiding me by the waist, he led me over to the second row from the front, where a tall man was already seated, examining a wedding invitation in his hands. I moved on into the pew and sat down next to him, seeing that the man looked largely like Dexter, with more aged features. This must have been his father. I looked to face Dexter, who was now moving into his seat beside me. Once he was settled he looked past me, towards his father. "Dad." his lips formed into a tight line, solemn.

The man turned his head, looking straight at me, then past my face at Dexter. Dexter's father nodded, "Son." I raised my eyebrow at the exchange and looked between the two stoic men on either side of me. This was a father and son? 

Dexter furrowed his eyebrows, turning to face me. His expression lightened slightly before placing a hand atop  mine, which was resting on the side of me in the pew. He smiled lightly before returning his stoic expression towards his father, "I want you to meet Chelsea Weiston."

I looked towards his father, who now held a light smile, examining my features. He held out a hand, "William McHale."

I grinned and removed my hand from Dexter's momentarily to shake his hand, an official, firm handshake like my father had taught me. His eyes widened in surprise, "A firm handshake, very impressive. You aren't involved in stocks by any chance?" he raised his eyebrows in a familiar fashion and smiled lightly as I placed my hand back at my side, where Dexter now interlocked our fingers. William McHale really did look like Dexter. It surprised me for a moment and I sat there, staring at his face until Dexter gave my hand a light squeeze, snapping me back to reality.

I shook my head, grinning lightly, "Oh. No, my father's a business man. I was taught at a young age that a good handshake makes for a good first impression."

He nodded, "Your father was right. Dexter, where did you find this one? I like her already." he looked past me at Dexter as our conversation was suddenly  interrupted by the first few notes of an organ in the back of the church, signifying that it was time.

As we stood, Dexter turned to face me, a light smirk on his face as he whispered into my ear, "So do I."
---

The wedding ceremony ended up going off without a hitch. However, Ben did drop the ring as he was about to place it on his wife's finger. But, I'd hardly call that a hitch. It added character to the wedding Perfect weddings aren't fun. However, we still hadn't seen Annie and her date.

We were just pulling up to the reception hall. Dexter insisted on driving to the hall because I didn't know where it was. However, I didn't really mind. I needed to focus on everything Dexter was feeding me about his family. He stressed how important it was that I know which family members to stay away from and which members were in the clear. I listened intently as he spoke, keeping his brows furrowed as he concentrated on the road ahead.

By the time we walked into the reception hall, the party seemed to be in full swing. People were already dancing and eating. Some of the guests were even drunk already from the open bar. The hall was beautifully decorated. The building itself sat atop a hill and the reception was surrounded by full length windows which exposed an aerial view of the nightlife down below. The hall itself was purely white, but with dimmed lighting and accents of orange. The centerpieces were sunflowers, as Ben had explained and the dance floor was placed in the middle of the room, right in front of the wedding court's long table. It was, indeed, very well decorated.

I spotted Annie waving her hand at a table on the other end of the room. I pointed her out to Dexter and he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me in tightly as he led me through the crowd to our table. When we approached the table, Annie enveloped me into a hug as if we hadn't seen each other in ages. In fact, we had just seen each other at Dexter's apartment before we left for the wedding.

"Hey! Where's the hunky date?" I spoke loudly over the music. Dexter opened the chair next to Annie, gesturing for me to sit down. I sent him a smile before sitting and turning my attention back to Annie.

She gestured toward the empty seat on the other side of her, "Bathroom."

I nodded, a signal that I had understood her over the music. I then turned my attention towards the other patrons sitting at the table. I was currently seated at a circular table between Annie and Dexter. Next to Dexter was his father, who was currently discussing business with a serious Dexter. Next to his father sat a couple who seemed to be in their late 70's, early 80's. I guessed that those were Dexter's grandparents, William's parents. They were observing the people on the dance floor and smiling lightly. And next to them was an empty seat, meant for Annie's date.

I leaned towards Annie, "Hey! How long has your date been in the bathroom?"

Annie shrugged, looking around in search of her date. I watched as her eyes lit up, finally spotting him. She poked my shoulder and pointed past me, yelling over the music, "That's my hunky date. His name's Brian."

I spun around to get a look at her date, who was now approaching our table with two drinks in hand. My eyes widened as I saw who her date was. Standing only two yards away from me, drinks in hand, was the man I had left in the dust at Peggy's diner two months ago. Now standing in front of me, was my dick head of an ex-boyfriend.