“Max, how long are we going to wait? I know I was the one who said we had to wait a while, but everything’s good now. Every single doctor visit — ”
“I know, I’ve been there for all of them.”
I reached out and put my hand on his chest. “I know you have. I’m just saying that there’s no reason to wait anymore. My parents aren’t happy about us getting married, and I know for damn sure they’re going to freak about the baby. And what are you going to do? Keep it from your mom? Forever?” I shook my head. “Max, we just have to let them know. Getting married is one thing, but the baby…that changes it all.”
“Does it?”
I cocked my head to the side, not understanding why he didn’t get it. “Yes, it does. It really does.”
His eyes had been locked on mine as we spoke, but after my last comment he looked away. First to his right, then to his left, then finally settling on the ocean and the sunset just over my shoulder.
I didn’t want to say anything. I’d already said enough. I wanted to hear what he said after processing it, something I knew he was doing intensely because he moved his hand up toward his face, putting his thumb on his chin and rubbed it. It wasn’t what I’d call a nervous tic, but more like one of those involuntary things people do when they’re in deep thought and don’t even realize what they’re doing.
Long seconds passed, but I kept my gaze trained on his face. Watching him think. Observing him working it out for himself.
He finally spoke: “I want to marry you tomorrow.”
Max looked at me, waiting for me to respond, but I didn’t have a coherent thought beyond the word: “What?”
He sat forward, getting closer to me. He put his hand on the side of my face and brushed my hair off my cheek, tucking it behind my ear.
There was something in his eyes — not lust, like I was used to seeing in moments like this, but a deeply longing look. It was something I’d heard people say, and knew what it meant, but never really knew what it looked like until that moment.
“I love you, Liv. Nothing, and nobody, is going to stand in the way of us. I don’t care who they are. I know you want and deserve a huge wedding — ”
I shook my head rapidly. “No, I don’t want that. I never did.”
“You can have whatever you want,” he said. “I’ll give it to you. I’ll make your dream wedding come true. But think about hopping on a plane with me tomorrow, or tonight…yes, tonight…and it’ll be just the two of us. No worries about anything or anyone else.”
“This is crazy,” I said.
“It is.”
I shook my head slowly and saw the expression on his face change. He probably thought I was going to say no. But I reached my arms out and lunged for him, holding him tight.
“Okay,” I said, choking back tears of happiness. “Yes.”
. . . . .
Max made a few phone calls and by 10 pm we were on his plane, heading for Napa. We had gone back and forth, tossing around ideas about where to get married, and finally decided on Napa because Max loved it so much that’s where he had taken me on our first trip together.
We stayed in the same bungalow as the first time. The next morning we got our marriage certificate and by noon we were standing in the middle of an orchard with two other people — the officiant and our witness, an old friend of Max’s from his studio days who owned the bungalow we rented.
It was an understated event, just as we wanted, except for the fact that I did end up wearing a white gown — the same one I had worn to the Oscars. Max wore a new suit.
We decided to have the officiant say very little, other than the required questions asking us to declare that we took each other as husband and wife.
The majority of the ceremony was our vows, which were written on the fly. I didn’t know how mine would come across, but I managed to stop fretting over the words. I kept writing and rewriting, but the same things kept coming to mind, so I decided to stick with my original version and hope that it was enough, and that my face might say more than the words with Max looking at me.
When it came time for the vows, I went first: “Max, my love…You inspire me every day. When I came to California, I had big dreams but I had no idea that you would be my dream come true. Just last year I would have never known I would meet you, and now I can’t imagine my life without you. I love you more than I’ll ever be able to show, but I look forward to many decades trying.”
Max’s vow to me was: “I’m standing here today because of a spontaneous decision we made just last night, but marrying you was just a matter of time. Since I first saw you last year, I had no doubt you were going to be not just my wife, but my life. Until I take my last breath on this planet, I promise with everything I’m worth as a man that you will be my number one priority for the rest of time. I will drop anything and everything for you.” He kept his eyes trained on mine, but he reached down and touched my belly. “And for our children. I love my life again because of you. I love our life. I love you. This is the one and only truth that matters…You. Me. Forever, Liv.”
I could no longer make out his face through the blur of the tears that pooled in my eyes. I knew he loved me — he told me all the time, and showed me in so many ways — but having him make that beautiful pledge to me was everything I could have wanted to hear because I knew Max was the type of man that would live up to his words.
SEVENTEEN
I worked mostly from home for the last couple of months of my pregnancy, when I was really starting to show. It wasn’t that I was trying to hide it from anyone, but rather, Max didn’t want the baby around all the hustle and bustle of a movie set because, as he put it, “It can be stressful.”
“So you don’t want the baby stressed.”
“Right.”
“What about me?” I said, feigning being upset, but Max saw right through me and knew I was being playful.
“You,” he said, “make enough money to handle the stress. Plus, you need to rest up because when we’re finished shooting and after the baby comes, I’m taking you on the most amazing honeymoon you could imagine.” And with those words he kissed me and left for work for the day.
I thought he was being a bit dramatic about the whole thing, but I can’t deny there were days when I looked forward to staying home and having the whole place to myself. It was kind of nice, too, when I’d see Max after a long day of being away from him.