Best Mistake

I rolled over in the sheets, groaning noisily. It was Saturday, and normally I would be getting up to go into work. It was kind of relieving that I was able to stay in bed for a little while longer.

I looked next to me where I expected to find Alex, but he wasn't there. In his place was a long stemmed red rose, a note tied to it by a ribbon.

Good morning, beautiful
I had to run some early errands. I'll be home soon. Be ready when I get back though. I'm taking you somewhere nice today ;)
Please wear what I've picked out for you. It's hanging on the closet door.
xxoo Alex

I read over Alex's scribbled handwriting, twirling the rose between my fingers. Curiously, I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

On the door hung the multicolored maxi dress my mom bought me back in Georgia. The purples and greens and blues seemed vibrant. Since I had no idea when Alex left or wrote the note, I decided to quickly get ready.

After curling my hair and applying more makeup than I was used to, I slipped into the dress. It was strapless, which I was a little nervous about. Pregnancy did a number on my chest.

I slipped on some black dressy sandles and adjusted the bottom of the skirt so it covered them. I could barely bend over to paint my toenails and they desperately needed some maintenance, so I trusted the dress to hide them.

I grabbed my diamond earrings from where they still sat on my nightstand and put them on. After putting all of my essentials in a little black clutch, I turned the lights off and headed for the kitchen.

As I was passing through the corridor, Alex walked through the front door and he froze when he looked at me.

"Wow," he breathed.

"'Wow' yourself," I smiled, looking him up and down. He had on a white and black polka dotted short sleeve button, a black tie hanging from his neck. His legs were covered in a nice pair of black skinny jeans and his feet adorned a grey pair of Steve Maddens. "Dapper Dan over here..."

He smiled and shut the door behind him. "Wow," he said again.

He walked slowly towards me, pulling me into his arms. He kissed me sweetly for a second before pulling away and again saying, "Wow."

"I get it," I laughed, my arms hanging loosely around his neck.

He shook his head, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Do you have any idea how breathtaking you are?" he whispered.

I blushed and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, shaking my head. Alex rested his forehead against mine and slowly slid his hand down my back, stopping when he reached my butt.

"You are stunning," he said in a low voice, giving my cheek a firm squeeze.

I quickly pushed his hand away. "No more sex until Will gets here, right?" I asked with a smile. It was the first time either one of us referenced him with a name.

He laughed a little. "Right. We don't have time anyway, we need to get going."

"Where are we going?" I asked as he led me out to the car.

"You'll see."

I tried during the trip to get hints and clues from Alex, but he refused to budge. He kept telling me to stop asking or else I'd ruin surprise, but I was being stubborn. He looked almost relieved as we pulled up in front of the Marriot Waterfront.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as he helped me out of the car, handing the keys to the valet worker.

He he rolled his eyes without answering me and took my hand, pulling me behind him to the reception desk.

"Hello, sir and ma'am. Welcome to the Marriot Waterfront. How may I assist you today?" a young redhead with freckles asked as we approached her.

"We're here for the party on the terrace," Alex smiled.

"What's the name, sir?" she asked.

"Gaskarth."

She ran her finger down a list, then smiled and looked back to us. "Ok, Mr. and Mrs. Gaskarth. You can go right through these door. Have a great day!"

I blushed at being called Alex's wife and he smiled. We headed towards the terrace and through the open double doors I could see a crowd of people surrounded by blue and green and grey balloons. They were all just kind of standing there, like they were waiting on something.

"What's this?" I asked Alex.

He smiled down at me. "Your surprise baby shower."

My mouth fell open and I jumped when everyone yelled "Surprise!" as we walked outside. I felt my face burning.

"How did you..." I tried, but my voice failed me.

Alex wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side and kissing my temple. I soon saw Megan sprinting towards me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as she hugged me.

"What am I doing here?" she asked. "Please. Who do you think the brains of this operation was?"

Alex cleared his throat from beside me, and Megan glared at him a little.

"Ok, so it was Alex's idea," she confessed. "But I'm the one who put it together."

I smiled and pulled her into another hug. "Thanks, Meg."

I watched as she and Alex fist bumped each other before he was leading me to a group of people I didn't know. He introduced me to Danny, Matt, and Jeff, members of All Time Low's crew. They congratulated me and joked around with Alex while I scanned the room for familiar faces. Shockingly I saw a few people from work. Even Frank, Stevie, and Jill were there. I excused myself from Alex and his friends.

"Hey!" I smiled happily once I'd reached the group. "Thank you all so much for coming."

"Of course," Frank smiled. He looked around the room and whistled. "Looks like somebody found herself in the life of luxury."

I groaned, looking around as well at the extravagant scenery. "Tell me about it."

"Yeah," Stevie nodded to Frank. "She's not coming back to work."

I frowned and soon Alex's hand was snaking around my waist. I quickly introduce him to my bosses.

"You gentlemen mind if I borrow her for a moment?" Alex asked them.

They shook their heads, waving as Alex lead me away.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "There are some people here I think it's time you met."

I looked ahead of us and felt my face flush as I spotted Jack standing next to Zack Merrick, Rian Dawson, and Cassadee Pope.

"Oh my god," I whispered.

We walked up to them and I smiled shyly.

"Whitney, you remember Jack," Alex said, gesturing to the lanky brunette.

"Of course," I smiled. "It's great to see you again, Jack."

"Likewise," he said, pulling me into a brief hug.

"And this is Zack and Rian," Alex continued, pointing to each unnecessarily. I wondered if he was doing it on purpose to tease me.

Rian smiled, shaking my hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Whitney. This is my girlfriend Cassadee," he said, nodding his head in her direction.

I shook her hand nervously. In high school, I'd gotten my hair cut and colored just like hers was in her Hey Monday days. She was never to know that though.

"Hi," she smiled sweetly, her pearly whites gleaming. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," I nodded.

"So Zack, where's your date? I thought you were bringing that Taylor chick," Alex said.

Zack shrugged. "She bailed. Apparently something came up and she couldn't leave LA."

"I'm his date now," Jack grinned, jokingly rubbing a hand up and down Zack's chest.

"You poor, poor bastard," Rian sighed, patting Zack on the back.

We mingled a lot. I met quite a few of Alex's friends. Most of the people that were there were there because of him. I had Megan and my few people from work, but that was it.

I looked around the room while Alex talked with Matt Flyzik. My eyes landed on the back of Megan's head as she flirted shamelessly with Zack. She was practically throwing herself at him. I excused myself and hurried to her side.

"Hey, Meg? Could you help me over there for a second?" I asked.

She mildly glared at me and apologized to Zack, telling him to stay out as she'd be back.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I laughed once I'd drug her to the railing overlooking the harbor.

She smiled. "You know he's my favorite."

"And what about Luke?" I asked, my hand perched on my hip.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," she winked, and I shoved her shoulder. "It's harmless, I promise," she added.

I shook my head, looking back into the party.

"How did you pull this off?" I asked.

She shrugged. "When we helped you move in, Alex asked me if I could plan you one."

"No," I shook my head. "How did you pull this off?" I asked again, rubbing my thumb along my fingertips, the international hand signal for "money".

She nodded slowly, looking around us before she put her lips to my ear. "He gave me his credit card."

My eyes widened. "Dear god. Please tell me you didn't max it out."

"I left him a few pennies on there," she smiled, winking. "Come on, it's time for presents!"

Alex and I sat at a table overflowing with gifts. I begged him to open all of them, but he refused, insisting I needed to do the honors. I frowned. I hated too much attention.

We got a lot of neat stuff for Will, a lot of which I wasn't even aware we needed. I'd never seen so many bottles and pacifiers and bibs and diapers and wipes and clothes in my life.

Among all of the cool things, my favorite gift was from Jack. He'd gotten a onesie made that was a replica of the jerseys the Orioles made for the band, complete with "GASKARTH" printed along the top of the back. Also, he got a solid grey onesie with the All Time Low logo printed on the front with the signature skull printed on the butt. He even threw in a pair of baby black and white Converses.

The shower started to die down a little. People began to leave and Alex and I thanked them before they departed. After thanking Stevie and Frank for coming, I walked over to the railing, looking out at the water contently.

"Hey," Alex said, joining me.

I smiled at him. "Thank you so much for this. I've had a great time."

Alex nodded. "You need to thank Megan, too. She did most of the work."

"I can't believe you gave her your credit card," I said, scoffing.

He shrugged. "I knew if anyone could make this how you wanted it, it was her."

"She knows how to deliver," I laughed, leaning against his arm. I looked back at the table where our gifts were still sitting. "How are we going to get all of this home?"

"Jack's going to help. We're going to put it all in the guest bedroom for now, and in a week or so he's going to come back to help me paint the room and set everything up."

I smiled. "What a good friend."

"He's the best," he grinned.

Notes