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He slid his eyes away from the traffic and over to look at her. Her hands were clenched in her lap as she stared out the window, a distant look in her eyes. He wondered if she was as nervous as he was. He wondered if she was starting to have second thoughts. And then he remembered that she’d had second thoughts about this from the beginning.

Well, he was catching up to her.

In the fifteen hours since they’d decided to just close their eyes and jump headfirst into the whole thing, he was finally beginning to have his doubts about the logic of doing this. Unfortunately, the situation they were in, they’d have to do it sooner or later. For the first time in his life, he realized he’d rather do it sooner.

Lily babbled in the backseat and clapped her hands, and he had to smile. Weird as it was, he was going to be a stepdad to the cutest little girl ever. And he meant that with no bias intended whatsoever. She was fun to play with and had the most expressive eyes of any child he’d seen.

At the moment, she looked absolutely adorable in a sundress the color of a summer sky. Of course, she wore a thick winter coat over it and a fuzzy hat with one of those tassel thingies because it was friggin’ negative thirty degrees in Chicago at this time of the year. It was Lily’s first time seeing snow, and, once they’d done what they needed to do, he was going to take her out and build a snowman in a park.

When he saw the sign he’d been looking for, he flicked on the indicator and waited for his right to turn. Five minutes later, they sat in a nearly empty parking lot and stared at the building that loomed ahead of them.

“Don’t we need some sort of license for this?” Autumn finally asked.

Nick shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never done this before. Whenever I’ve heard of people doing it this way, it always sounded so easy and free of paperwork. Maybe they’ll have it ready for us.”

“Maybe.”

Autumn stared up at the building and tried taking deep breaths to calm her speeding heart. She wasn’t at all sure she was ready for this, but she couldn’t see any other way around it. When her daughter giggled in the back, she turned to see Nick tickling Lily. The smile automatically filled her face at the sight. It was weird to see big, bad Nick Carter so foolishly enchanted by a tiny child, but, well, there he was.

When he noticed her watching, he offered her a smile. “Ready?”

She gulped. “As I’ll ever be.”

Inside, they stood awkwardly in the lobby and waited for someone to show up and tell them what to do. Nick carried Lily in his arms while Autumn fidgeted next to him. One moment, she was twirling a lock of hair around her finger, the next she was tugging on the woolen, violet dress she wore, and, the third, she was biting the lipstick off her lips.

“Jeez, Autumn. You’re not about to be sent to the executioner.” Nick laid a hand on her shoulder. She was freaking him out, too, and he was already freaked out enough for two of him. “It can’t seem as though we don’t want to do this, you know.”

She knew. “Right. Yeah, of course.” She nearly screamed when a middle-aged woman walked into the room, smiled at them, and took her place behind the front desk.

“Hello and welcome to Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Chapel of Love,” she greeted them cheerfully. “Will we be helping you on your road to holy matrimony?”

That’s right, Nick thought. They’d chosen one of those ridiculous places where Elvis could marry you off. “Uh, yeah. We’re really excited about this. Is it true that we can pick which Elvis we want to marry us?”

“Absolutely!” The receptionist rummaged around in a drawer and pulled out forms. “Take a few minutes to fill these out and decide which Elvis you’d like to preside over your ceremony. We’ll get things ready for you in the meantime.” She paused. “Do you have any witnesses?”

Autumn hoped she hadn’t really lost all color in her face. “Uh, we, uh, didn’t realize we needed witnesses. How many is it?”

“Two. But, don’t worry. If you don’t have your own, some of our employees can always dress up and help you out.” She studied the threesome for a moment. “Will you also want to change into retro costumes or are you okay with what you’re currently wearing?”

Nick glanced from Autumn and Lily’s dresses to his own khaki slacks and polo shirt. “I think we’re good like this. Thanks. If we could just have a couple of your employees help us out, that would be great.” He flashed her a smile. “And, if they could just keep our wedding quiet, we’d be forever grateful.”

“Oh! Of course, Mr. Carter. Miss Evans.” She nodded to Autumn. “Why don’t you go on and fill out the forms, and I’ll be right back.”

When she was gone, Autumn turned to Nick. “How could you tell she knew who we were?”

“Years of experience, my dear Watson,” Nick replied absently as he frowned, filling out the paperwork. “Why don’t you take this one,” he shoved one of the pages towards her, “and we’ll get through this faster.”

Taking a pen from the basket on the desk, she began to write in the necessary information. “Why aren’t you nervous?”

“What?”

“Nick. I’m so scared of this whole thing that I feel ready to jump out of my skin.” She shook her head. “And look at you. You look like you’re just filling out a couple of bills or something. Why aren’t you sweating bullets or needing to pace or something?”

“Because you’re nervous enough for the both of us. Hey, do you have a middle name?”

“Diana.”

He looked up from the forms and looked over at her. “Diana? Autumn Diana Evans?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

Nick shook his head. “Nope. I thought it would be more like Elizabeth or something. You know plain and boring because Autumn isn’t. Sort of like a balance.”

“Well, Nickolas Gene, I thought yours would be more boring, too. Oh, wait. Gene is pretty lame, too.” She rolled her eyes. “Just keep writing.”

He shrugged. “I’m going to write our new house’s address down as place of residence for both of us. Is that okay?”

“Well, it will be our place of residence, so yeah.” She moved to the next question on her document. “Jeez, this form asks you everything under the sun. How do people get drunk and get married if it’s this complicated?”

“I guess you could ask Britney about that one.” He paused. “Oh, wait. You’re probably better off not asking her.”

Autumn couldn’t quite suppress the giggle. “I shouldn’t laugh,” she told him. “But, you’re right. I don’t think she’s the best person to get that advice from these days.”

“Or any day.”

“Mama?” Lily toddled over from the armchair where Nick had set her down. “Nick?”

Autumn set aside the form and knelt to her daughter’s level. “Hey, there. Let’s take this hat off, huh?” She plucked the woolly cap off and ruffled Lily’s curls. “Look how pretty she is. Aren’t you pretty, Lily?”

“The prettiest,” Nick agreed with a smile. “I still can’t believe I’ll be her stepdad. It’s like an unexpected present or something.”

“Or something,” Autumn echoed. “So Lilykins, what’s up?”

Lily patted her belly. “Unch?”

“It’s almost one,” Nick told Autumn. “She just had cereal this morning at eight. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.” She searched through her bag and frowned. “That’s so odd. I always keep one of those snack bars in here for her. Just in case. I can’t find it, though.” She looked over at Nick. “Do you have anything edible that I could give her to gnaw on for now?”

Nick patted his pockets and frowned when he felt something. “I didn’t think I did, but I guess I do.” He pulled out a bag of pretzels. “Hey, they’re from the airplane!” Breaking open the bag, he held it out to Lily. “Here you go, munchkin. Chow down.”

“Nicky!” Lily squealed happily and took the package.

Autumn grinned. “Man, you’ve got every girl screaming for you, don’t you, Nick?”

“You’ve never screamed for me,” he pointed out and signed the bottom of a form before passing it over to her. “Sign there.”

She took the pen he held and added her signature next to his. “Yeah, but I’ve screamed at you. I think that counts.”

“Close enough,” he agreed and took the pretzel that Lily offered him. “Thanks, munchkin.”

“Pizzle,” Lily replied, and he grinned.

“She’s really good at learning new words.” Nick scooped Lily into his arms. “What else can you say, Lily?” He rubbed his nose against hers, making her giggle.

Autumn smiled as she watched the interaction between the tiny baby and the tall man. In such a short time, they had an adorable bond. “Lily’s been trying out words since just before her first birthday. She mastered the word ‘no’ first. It was pretty bad when that was all she would say.”

“I bet. I’m suddenly afraid of letting my siblings meet her now.” Nick kissed the tip of Lily’s nose. “After five minutes with them, she’d know every dirty word out there. You’d kill me.”

“Well, we can’t avoid them forever, either.” Though she wouldn’t have had a problem with not meeting the Carter kids. After watching House of Carters once, she was definitely apprehensive about them. “They’ll want to meet your wife and stepchild. They’re your family, and they deserve to know us.”

“Yeah.” Leaning against the counter, Nick held Lily close and wondered, for the millionth time, if all of this would be worth it in the end. He glanced at Autumn as she worried the ring on her left hand. “Hey, Autumn?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad we get along. For the most part,” he added. “I’m glad we’re both nervous about this and that we’re not emotionally stuck on each other. I think that’s going to make this easier.”

She sighed a little. “Yeah, you’re right. Thank you for everything, Nick.” She looked up at him, her eyes serious. “You’re sacrificing your freedom to help me out. Even though I might be angry with you a lot, I’m still grateful for all the work you’ve put into making this work.”

“You know, your anger, I can deal with. At least you’re not insane like some other women I’ve dated.” He nudged her shoulder playfully. “And you’re okay having Elvis marry us. You’re perfect!”

“Speaking of Elvis,” she looked down the hall where the receptionist had disappeared to, “where is he? Or the woman who was just here?”

He shrugged. “Maybe Elvis had to get costumed up?”

“Maybe.” And she leaned against the counter with him and waited.

A minute or so later, the receptionist appeared again and smiled at them. “Well, I have some bad news.”

“Bad news?” Nick straightened away from the counter and frowned. “What kind of bad news?”

“Well, I’m afraid we don’t have a choice of Elvises for you today,” she told him apologetically. “Our youngest Elvis and Heartthrob Elvis must have gotten the stomach flu or something because they’re both very ill in the back. If you don’t mind, we still have middle-aged Elvis available.”

Autumn found it kind of amusing that this establishment was so worried about which Elvis was to marry people. At a moment like this, did it really matter? “Uh, middle-aged Elvis is fine, too. Right, Nick?”

“Sure, baby.” He shifted Lily before running his hand down her arm and linked their fingers. “Whatever you want.”

“Great!” Autumn beamed at the receptionist. “I hope you still have those two witnesses for us.”

“Of course. If you’ll follow me, we have one of our chapels prepared for you.” She gathered up their paperwork and moved off down the hallway.

Nick and Autumn exchanged apprehensive glances before they followed her. At the door to the chapel that the receptionist had entered, Autumn stopped.

“Autumn?” He turned, his hand on the doorknob, to find her staring at the door and taking deep breaths. “You okay?”

She blinked and managed a smile for him. “I just needed a second. Ready?”

He took a deep breath now, too, before turning the doorknob and pushing it open. “As I’ll ever be.”

And, reaching back, he took her hand, and the three of them entered the chapel together.