Just Business
Copyright© 2025 by Don Lockwood
Chapter 9
Romance Sex Story: Chapter 9 - Arranged marriages. Aren't they fun? Especially when the bride and groom hate one another. Will Brad and Ingrid ever be actually married?
Caution: This Romance Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Consensual Fiction Oral Sex Safe Sex
EPILOGUE
INGRID
We renewed our vows a couple of days after our tenth anniversary.
Those ten years had passed in a blur of absolute bliss, deep love, a company making money hand-over-fist, and a lot of diapers and sippy cups. I had said I wanted about three? We were almost there. Number three was in my belly, 4 months from emerging. We had had two. That first throw-out-the-pills moment led to Michael, who was 8 at the time of our anniversary. Kelly was four. We’d be done after this one—Brad, in fact, had already gotten the vasectomy. Four was perfect, we agreed. Yes, four. Three after we married, but don’t forget about Leah.
By the way, forgetting about Leah was impossible if you lived with her. She made sure of that. She was 13-going-on-30, brash and opinionated. Brad would tell you, quite happily, that she ran the house. He wasn’t really making that up. She ran herd over her siblings like a boss. And they worshiped her, especially Kelly.
I’d often sit on the couch with Brad, cuddled together, watching the chaos around us. Three kids, soon to be four, and a big, stupid Golden Retriever named Princess. Yes, Brad bought Leah a puppy. Watching my family, something I never thought I’d have.
Leah’s adoption by Brad took almost no time at all. They found the sperm donor, and he was very happy to sign away his parental rights. His loss. Leah and Brad’s gain.
Dad was, as usual, barely present. He’d show up at family dinners or charity galas, and very deliberately limit his interaction with us. I was perfectly fine with this, but, make no mistake, Leah noticed. And her notice increased the older she got. We welcomed my mother any time she came over, but she stayed married to Dad. There are things I can’t change, I know that.
But, after 10 years, we wanted to celebrate, especially since our actual wedding had been a rather muted non-celebration, for the most part.
So, we gathered at the same ol’ country club. We wrote our own renewal vows. I had to get a new dress, because the old one would never fit my pregnant belly, but that was OK. Brad liked the new one. I promised that he could take this one off.
A lot of the same guests were around. Lorraine came again, now married to Jack Morrison. Hannah and Steve were there, of course, still together, with two kids of their own. My parents were there, Dad scowling, Mom beaming. Brad’s father was there with his wife, Grace, whom he’d married five years ago. Brad and I loved Grace. There were also some people who weren’t at the first one.
One of those people was Laura.
About a year after we’d gotten married, we were surprised by a wedding invitation from Laura. We flew to Portland, Oregon for their wedding and had a great time. When she saw us at the reception, she ran over to Brad and gave him a very weepy bear hug. It was great, and I could see it was very cathartic for both of them. Since then, Laura and her husband Matt have been a part of our lives. We don’t see them much—they do live 2000 miles away—but there was lots of texting and emails and video calls. They have one kid themselves. So, it was natural that we’d invite them for the vow renewal. There were so many kids at that wedding, we hired a babysitter!
As I said, Steve and Hannah were there. Steve, as the best man, thought he’d be doing the toast. We asked him if he minded not. He was a little upset—until we told him who would be doing it instead. He wholeheartedly agreed.
After the ceremony, after we walked into the reception happy and laughing, after we got to the head table, the DJ called for the toast to the bride and groom and walked over to the head table with a microphone.
Leah took it.
She put her notes on the table in front of her and began. “Good afternoon, everyone,” she started. “My name is Leah Olson-Berenger. It used to be just Leah Olson. That’s what my name was for the first four years of my life. But, when I was three, someone new walked into my life.”
“That man became my Daddy. And I was so happy. I’d always wanted a Daddy. And I really liked my new Daddy. But I was worried.”