The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 156

Athena

I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee and bacon, and for a moment I just lay there with my eyes closed, listening to the sounds of the house coming alive, Lily's high-pitched laughter from downstairs, Liam's babbling, the low murmur of adult voices.

Tristan's arm was still around me, his hand resting on my stomach like it always did now, and I felt this overwhelming sense of contentment wash over me.

We were getting married in four months.

The thought made me smile even before I opened my eyes, made warmth spread through my chest until I felt like I might burst with it.

"I can feel you smiling," Tristan's voice said, rough with sleep..

I opened my eyes to find him already awake, watching me with that soft expression that made my heart do flips.

"I'm happy," I said simply.

"Good," he said, leaning down to kiss me. "You should be happy, you're getting everything you ever wanted."

"We're getting everything we ever wanted," I corrected.

"True," he agreed, his hand moving in slow circles on my stomach. "How are you feeling? Any nausea?"

I did a quick internal check, waiting to see if my stomach would rebel at the mention of food, but surprisingly I felt fine.

"Actually no," I said. "I feel good, really good."

"The second trimester is supposed to be easier," Tristan said. "Maybe you're getting there early."

"I'm only four weeks," I pointed out. "That's nowhere near the second trimester."

"Maybe you're just special," he said with a grin.

"Or maybe the babies are giving me a break before the real fun starts," I said.

We lay there for a few more minutes, just enjoying the quiet before we had to face the day, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my skin while I played with his hair.

"We should probably get up," I said eventually. "I can hear Sarah making breakfast."

"Five more minutes," Tristan said, pulling me closer.

"You said that twenty minutes ago," I pointed out.

"Did I?" he asked innocently. "Must have lost track of time."

"Tristan," I said, laughing now. "Come on, I'm hungry and I want to start planning the wedding."

That got him moving, he sat up and stretched, his shirt riding up to show a strip of toned stomach that made my mouth go dry.

"Stop looking at me like that," he said, catching my expression.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like you want to eat me for breakfast," he said.

"Maybe I do," I said, reaching for him.

He caught my hand and brought it to his lips. "Later," he promised. "Right now we have wedding planning to do."

I groaned but let him pull me out of bed, we got dressed quickly and headed downstairs where Sarah was indeed making breakfast, Orion was at the table with both kids, Lily was coloring and Liam was playing with his food.

"Morning," Sarah called when she saw us. "Perfect timing, breakfast is almost ready."

"It smells amazing," I said, settling into a chair next to Lily. "What are you drawing?"

"A wedding," Lily announced proudly, showing me her picture which was mostly scribbles but I could make out what might be a bride and groom. "This is you and Uncle Tristan getting married."

"It's beautiful," I said sincerely. "Can I keep it?"

"Yes," Lily said, already starting on a new picture. "I'm going to draw lots of wedding pictures for you."

"I'd love that," I said.

Sarah brought over plates loaded with eggs, bacon, and toast, setting them in front of everyone before joining us at the table.

"So I made some calls this morning," she said, pulling out her phone. "I got us an appointment at Riverside Estate for tomorrow afternoon, and I also scheduled appointments at three different bridal shops for later this week."

"You did all that already?" I asked, impressed. "It's barely eight in the morning."

"I woke up early," Sarah said with a shrug. "I was too excited to sleep."

"Join the club," Orion muttered. "She was up at five making lists."

"I wanted to make sure we could get appointments quickly," Sarah said. "These places book up fast, especially the good bridal shops."

"Thank you," I said, meaning it. "This is already taking so much pressure off."

"That's what I'm here for," Sarah said with a smile. "Oh, and I called Kiara this morning too."

I looked up at her with interest. "You did?"

"Yeah, I told her you want her to be your maid of honor," Sarah said. "She was so excited, Athena, like genuinely thrilled, she said she'd be honored and grateful and she couldn't wait to help with everything."

I felt warmth spread through my chest at that. "I'm glad she said yes."

"Are you kidding?" Sarah said. "She practically screamed when I told her, I think I might have damaged my eardrum."

I knew Sarah was being extra, because Kiara isn't that type of person. She prioritize silence over words.

But I don't act like I know Sarah was been extra, there was no need.

"That's really sweet," I said, smiling at the thought of Kiara being that excited.

"She also said she's available whenever we need her for planning or shopping or anything," Sarah continued. "She wants to be as involved as possible."

"Perfect," I said. "The more help the better."

"I also texted Leah," Sarah added. "She's excited about being a bridesmaid too, she wants to know when we're going dress shopping so she can come."

"We should all go together," I said. "Make a day of it."

"I love that idea," Sarah agreed. "We can make it fun, maybe get lunch, make it a girls' day."

"Sounds perfect," I said.

Tristan was watching this exchange with an amused expression, and I caught him trying not to smile.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Just thinking about how Derek is going to react when I ask him to be my best man."

"You haven't asked him yet?" I said.

"Not officially," Tristan admitted. "I mean, I assume he knows he's going to be, but I should probably actually ask."

"You should call him," I suggested, trying to keep my voice casual even though I was dying to see Derek's reaction to finding out Kiara was my maid of honor.

"Now?" Tristan asked.

"Why not?" I said. "The sooner the better, that way he can start planning too."

Orion was trying very hard not to laugh now, clearly understanding what I was doing.

"Alright," Tristan said, pulling out his phone. "Let me call him."

He put the phone on speaker and we all waited while it rang, Derek answered on the third ring.

"It's eight in the morning," Derek's voice came through, rough with sleep. "This better be important."

"It is," Tristan said. "I need to ask you something."

"Can't it wait until a reasonable hour?" Derek grumbled.

"No," Tristan said, grinning now. "Will you be my best man?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

"For your wedding?" Derek finally asked.

"No, for my bar mitzvah," Tristan said sarcastically. "Yes, for my wedding."

"When is it again?" Derek asked.

"Four months," Tristan said. "We're doing both ceremonies, mating and human wedding."

"Both ceremonies, that's ambitious," Derek said, and I could hear him moving around, probably getting out of bed.

"Yeah, of course I'll be your best man, did you really think I'd say no?"

"I didn't think you would but I figured I should ask officially," Tristan said.

"Consider me officially on board," Derek said. "What do I need to do?"

"Show up, wear a suit, don't lose the rings," Tristan said. "The usual best man stuff."

"I can handle that," Derek said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, actually," Tristan said, and I saw him glance at me with a knowing look. "Athena's maid of honor is Kiara."

There was a long pause on the other end, long enough that I thought maybe the call had dropped.

"Derek?" Tristan said. "You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Derek said, his voice different now, tighter. "Kiara is the maid of honor?"

"Yeah," Tristan confirmed. "Athena asked her and she said yes."

"Of course she did," Derek muttered, so quietly I almost didn't hear it.

"Is that going to be a problem?" Tristan asked, though I could tell he was trying not to smile.

"No," Derek said quickly. "No, it's fine, it's your wedding, you can have whoever you want in it."

"Great," Tristan said. "So you'll be able to work with Kiara on the planning and coordination stuff?"

"Work with her," Derek repeated flatly.

"Yeah, the best man and maid of honor usually coordinate on things," Tristan explained, clearly enjoying this.

"You know, making sure everyone knows what they're supposed to do, organizing the bachelor and bachelorette parties, that kind of thing."

"Right," Derek said. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Perfect," Tristan said. "I'll send you her number so you two can start coordinating."

"You do that," Derek said, and I could practically hear him gritting his teeth.

"Thanks man," Tristan said. "I really appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem," he responded.

"Congratulations again, I'm happy for you both."

"Thanks," Tristan said. "I'll talk to you later."

He hung up and immediately everyone at the table burst out laughing.

"That was mean," Orion said, but he was grinning.

"That was perfect," Serah corrected. "Did you hear how his voice changed when you told him about Kiara?"

"I heard it," Tristan said, looking at me. "You're evil, you know that?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said innocently. "I just asked Kiara to be my maid of honor because she's my friend."

"Uh huh," Tristan said. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that she and Derek clearly have unresolved issues that you're trying to force them to address?"

"Well," I said, unable to keep the smile off my face. "If that happens to be a side benefit, who am I to complain?"

"You're terrible," Tristan said, but he was laughing. "Poor Derek has no idea what he's in for."

"Neither does Kiara," Sarah added. "This is going to be so interesting to watch."

"As long as they don't kill each other before the wedding," Orion said.

"They won't," I said confidently. "They'll be too busy planning and coordinating to fight."

"Or they'll fight more because they're forced to spend time together," Orion pointed out.

"Either way," I said with a shrug. "At least they'll be dealing with whatever is between them instead of avoiding it."

"You're playing a dangerous game," Tristan said, but I could see the approval in his eyes. "What if it backfires?"

"It won't," I said. "I have a good feeling about this."

"Famous last words," Sarah said with a laugh..

We finished breakfast and Sarah started making more detailed lists, pulling out her notebook and going through everything we needed to do in the next few weeks.

"Okay so tomorrow we're looking at Riverside Estate," she said. "Wednesday we have the first bridal shop appointment, Friday we have two more."

"That's a lot of dress shopping," I said.

"We need to find two perfect dresses," Sarah said. "That takes time, plus you need to account for alterations, we should start looking as soon as possible."

"She's right," Orion said. "When Sarah was dress shopping for our wedding it took her months to find the right one."

"It did not take months," Sarah protested. "It took six weeks."

"That's basically two months," Orion said.

"It's six weeks," Sarah repeated..

"Same thing," Orion replied, grinning when Sarah swatted at him.

I watched them bicker affectionately and felt that same warmth in my chest, this was what I wanted with Tristan, this easy comfortable love that could withstand teasing and disagreements and still come out stronger.