The Bridal Agreement

Chapter 1

❀ Noelle's POV

I wake with dreams of Chicago lingering in my mind, memories of a carefree childhood spent swinging in the park a few blocks from the big house I grew up in. I hadn't appreciated, then, my father's wealth, or the luxury it afforded.

I sigh and roll over. Keith is already awake, as usual, regarding me with eyes made luminous by the morning sun, slanting through the window.

“Good morning” he says. “God, you're so beautiful”.

I smile.

“You say that every morning” I tell him.

“It's true every morning” he chuckles, pulling me close, to bury his face in my neck. “How did I get so lucky?”.

“You say that every morning, too” I say again with a chuckle this time.

“Not every morning. Only on mornings I desperately want to make you late for work, so your boss fires you and then I can have you all to myself, for another three hours”.

I laugh and pull away, climbing out of bed.

“I'm my own boss, Mr. Mardell and you get only thirty minutes with me because we have children who need my attention more than you do. And one of them is turning eight today and you forgot that's why you're still lying there”.

He looks at the calendar the kids made and sits up.

“Shit!” he cusses and stands up. “You know what this means? I'll have to take a shower with you because we're late” he dramatically sighs and grabs me by the waist before pushing me into the bathroom.

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“Happy birthday Nix!” I sing when I walk up to his door.

I gently tap on the door before turning the door knob.

“Honey?” I call out, letting myself in. “It's mom”.

“And dad” Keith adds, looking around.

I pout.

“He's not in here” say. “He made the bed, Keith, look” I point.

Keith chuckles.

“We've raised a good kid” he says, walking out.

I tap on the bathroom door and look inside. He's not there either. I chuckle at his bed and although it's okay, I still make it anyways. I reposition his teddy bear and smile before walking out.

“Have you seen him?” I ask Keith as he's walking out of the play room.

“Nope”.

I sigh. Then we hear a scream coming from the one door we somehow forgot to check. Keith and I exchange looks.

“Kennedy!” we say in unision.

Keith hurries to the door and barges in. Their little eyes look up from the broken vase on the carpet. My eyes search their faces for an explanation when I see my son grimace and look at his now bleeding hand. My daughter's eyes fall on the cut and her lips begin to quiver.

“Kenny don't...”.

She lets out a wail and Keith hurries to lift her up.

“Hey, hey, it's okay princess” he coos, pushing her head into his chest. “I've got this” he whispers to me and walks away with her.

“I was just trying to get the vase away from her so she wouldn't hurt herself”.

I turn to Phoenix who flashes me the tiniest smile.