Waking up alone in our bed on our wedding day seems like a form of unnecessary punishment. I’d love to blame my little sister for this, but alas, it was my bride’s idea. She insisted we follow tradition. Traditions are stupid. I’m also horny as hell. Piper also said a night apart would make our wedding night more electric. I don’t need a night apart for our sex to be electric. Hell, just thinking about her and I’m hard as a fucking rock. But I promised to not rub one out today. She had me making vows long before the ceremony. Sneaky girl.
“Yo, are you coming down to get this day started or what, asshole?”
I ignore Owen as he shouts up the stairs. I’ve been awake, I’m just lying on our bed thinking. Actually, I’m trying to write my vows. Yep, the vows I have to exchange with the love of my life before our closest friends and family in a few hours. Everyone assumed I would have these done months ago. Shit, they probably expected me to have them done when I proposed last fall. They’d be disappointed.
It’s not that I don’t know what I want to say. It’s mostly that I sound like a pussy-whipped baby. It’s not too far from reality. I’m completely enamored and in love with Piper. She is everything I didn’t know I wanted and was sure didn’t exist. Her kindness, passion, sense of humor, and undeniable commitment to everyone she loves is only part of what makes her amazing. I’ve watched her at work, giving her undivided attention to each of her kindergarten students, making each one feel as if they are the most important person in the room.
Piper gives more than one hundred percent to her friends, sacrificing and supporting each of them unconditionally. It was that level of love to Ashton that almost cost us our relationship. Piper and Ashton are closer than most best friends, sisters from the heart is what they’ve called each other. When we were sneaking around, the stress and fear of losing Ashton as her best friend was too much for her. It wasn’t a relationship she was willing to sacrifice for a romance that had only a possibility of love and forever. Thank goodness I had enough faith for both of us and believed that, eventually, Ashton’s love of both myself and Piper would override any anger she had.
A true testament to Piper’s unfaltering love is her unfailing support of her mother. Tessa Lawrence has never been a stereotypical mother. A single mom from almost day one, she spent more time looking for a new husband than nurturing and encouraging Piper. When we were growing up, her focus always seemed to be on appearances and molding herself into a version of the woman she thought the man she was with wanted. A chameleon of sorts. I didn’t know her well but it’s evident that her behavior effected not only Piper; it impacted everyone in Piper’s life. Piper’s insecurities, feeling of unworthiness, and horrible choice in boyfriends, before me of course, were a direct result of her mother’s parenting.
As adults we see things differently. I see how young Tessa was when she had Piper. How lost and confused she was, facing parenthood alone. Does that excuse her choices or the simplistic and unworthy characteristics she made Piper believe a good man should have? No. It has, however, helped heal their relationship. Tessa has spent the last year trying to make up for her mistakes, and I think she’s done a good job of that. Plus, she and I have had a few private conversations. We came to an understanding of how I expect Piper to be treated and loved. She cried, I fought tears, and she thanked me. Thanked me for loving Piper and being a good man. She also apologized. She was under the mistaken impression that being a Sullivan made me a better person than Piper. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Piper is the epitome of goodness, and for that, she’ll always be the better person.
I made sure Tessa understood that, to me, Piper is the ultimate package, and she created that. She may have stumbled along the way, but in the end, she has an amazing daughter who everyone loves, and she should be proud of that. She was grateful for the compliment, and I’m grateful for her stumbles along the way, because without them, Piper wouldn’t be the woman she is today.
All this thinking has me wishing she was the one making all the noise downstairs. Then I could swoop down the stairs and scoop her up in my arms and kiss the hell out of her. I hesitate for a minute, knowing what I’m about to do is going to piss my sister off, and my mom will likely lecture me the moment she steps foot on my property.
Oh well, you only live once I think, smiling to myself as I tap the contacts icon on my phone.
“Your sister is going to kill you.” Piper is laughing as she answers.
“I don’t care, I miss you.”
I hear her sigh on the other end of the line before she responds. “I know. We’re pathetic. You know that, right? Like completely co-dependent. This is unhealthy. We should call the whole day off.”
“No, we should have eloped so we’d be lying on a sandy beach right now.”
“Then you’d have our mothers on us. Hush your mouth.”
We laugh and talk for a few minutes and suddenly my vows come to me in a flash. Every memory of the past year with Piper, snippets of our childhood with her toothless grin and relentless questioning. The way she would blush and giggle when I’d say hi in the halls at school. And mostly how she looked the day I told her how much I loved her in front my parents and our friends.
“Babe, I . . .” I pause. I can’t tell her I need to write my vows, she’ll kill me. “I have to go. The guys are being dicks and shouting up the stairs to me.
“Oh, don’t lie. I know you haven’t written your vows.”
“I . . . I . . . okay, fine. Sorry?” Piper giggles and then I hear a rustling before another voice comes across the line.
“Bentley James, this is your mother. You are supposed to let this woman be today. You will see her soon enough. Go do something useful and leave her to us for the day.”
“Yes, Mother. May I please tell my bride goodbye?”
“Fine, but that’s it. The stylist arrived, and Minnesota has poured mimosas!” My mom starts laughing, no giggling, and I assume she’s already tapped into the mimosas. She shouts goodbye, and Piper returns to the phone.
“I guess we’ve been put in our place. It’s really disconcerting how well everyone knows us,” Piper says. I hear the faucet run for a minute and then the telltale signs of her brushing her teeth fill the line.
“I know, but she’s right. Also, that mimosa is going to taste awful if you just brushed your teeth.”
“Ben, I have been vomiting for weeks. I’m going to pass on the mimosas and pray my breakfast lasts another few hours. If that happens, I’ll make sure to save my first sip of champagne so it’s with you. How’s that?”
“Sounds fair. I’m glad you’re feeling better. I was worried.” My concern has been more than I’m letting on. She had until tomorrow to stop being sick before I was forcing her to the doctor. Piper insisted the stress of the wedding and Ashton’s awful sushi were the culprits. I’ve allowed her that excuse but I don’t buy it. “Pipe?” I ask before saying goodbye.
“Yeah, babe?” The tenderness in her voice makes me smile.
“I really am sorry I didn’t have my vows done. I feel like such a chick sometimes and wanted to be poetic but not crazy sappy. This is a lot harder than I thought. I can’t believe you finished yours months ago.”
“What? Oh, I didn’t write mine,” Piper teases.
“Excuse me? You said you were covered.”
“I am. I’m speaking from the heart in the moment. Ben, you are my world and everyone knows that. I’ve been waiting for this day most of my life. There isn’t anything I will say today that you don’t already know. And there isn’t anything you will say that I don’t already know. You love me, Bentley James Sullivan. I know that as well as I know your sister is downstairs quoting Dolly Parton songs.”
“Damn, you really are perfect.”
“Duh, way to get on board. Now I have to go because I want to look amazing for you today, and I can’t do that on my own. I love you to the moon, and I’ll meet you at the altar; I’ll be the one in the white dress!”
Before I’m able to respond, the lines goes dead, and I’m left sitting on my bed, staring at the wall. Damn. My dad always said I’d find a woman who challenges me, and I sure did that. She not only knows me better than I know myself, she’s a hell of a lot smarter than me.
Eyeing the suit hanging on the back of my closet door, I rise from the bed and adjust the jacket on the hanger. Speak from the heart. I can do that. But before I do that, I need to go downstairs and make sure Laurel has everything she needs and the guys aren’t already taking shots. We planned on taking the early part of today to fish and drink a few beers before getting ready. I suppose that’s the upside of having a wedding coordinator, even if she is your ex-girlfriend.