Chapter 25
Ivy
One Year Later
“How’s the bride feeling?”
Emilia sang her way into the room as Grace helped her into her dress.
“Nervous,” I said. “Very, very nervous.”
“Don’t worry, that’s normal. I was scared I’d trip in my heels,” Emilia said.
“Which is why you have flats,” Grace said.
“What were you worried about, Grace?” I asked.
“Hayden not showing up,” she said with a grin.
“But don’t worry. I just checked on the guys. They’re ready whenever we are,” Emilia said.
“Perfect. Now all I need is a barf bag,” I said.
“Aren’t small weddings supposed to be less nerve-wracking?” Grace asked.
“Mine wasn’t,” Emilia said. “I felt like I had to pee the entire time.”
“Don’t say things like that. Because then I’ll have to pee,” I said.
“And if you have to, I’ll help you out of your dress so you can. Emilia?”
“Yeah Grace?”
“Shut up.”
Grace slid my dress up my body and I turned around to look in the mirror. Suddenly, I was transported back to the day I found it. Four months ago, in a shop window of all places. It called to me from the sidewalk and I’d gotten Grace on the phone to come over immediately. She had to bring the new baby, but it was worth it in the end. The second I came out in it, her eyes filled with tears.
The tight bodice had these silken angled pieces of fabric that fell off my shoulders. The dress had light, see-through, lace sleeves that ran all the way down my arms and cuffed off at my wrists. It accented the dip in my waist before angling yet again, allowing the rest of the lacy fabric to pour down my legs. The sharp angles of the dress were stunning against my flowing curves, and the cleavage it gave me caused even Emilia to stare. But it wasn’t how the dress looked or the material it was made of.
It reminded me of Sleeping Beauty.
The woman who didn’t wake up until the love of her life breathed his life into hers.
I felt like that. I knew that Dean was the reason I pulled out of what had happened to me. I knew his voice was what kept me rooted into the present while my body rested from the accident. Sleeping Beauty might have only pricked her finger, but that one mistake sent her spiraling into a depth she could’ve never pulled herself out of. My accident did the same for me.
And Dean was there to help me pull out of it.
Emilia pinned my veil to my hair and flipped it over my face. It fell just beyond my jawline, not quite gracing my shoulders. I didn’t want a long train. My dress flowed behind me enough as it was. What I wanted was something that could be easily removed. Easily taken off just before Dean kissed me and sealed the fate of our futures forever.
I didn’t want anything standing in between me and the kiss that would change my life.
A kiss that changed Sleeping Beauty’s life.
“I found my prince,” I said with a whisper.
“Oh, you just wait until you see his tuxedo. He looks phenomenal,” Emilia said with a smile.
“Are you ready?” Grace asked.
I drew in a deep breath before I nodded.
Emilia took her place beside Tristan and they slowly walked down the aisle. Processing as the maid-of-honor and the best man. I stood there, watching as Hayden talked with Dean at the end of the aisle. Hayden had gotten a certificate offline to be able to legally perform our ceremony and Grace had agreed to give me away.
All of us, together in the beginning.
All of us, together at the end.
Dean turned his eyes towards me as the soft music struck up over the speaker system in the backyard. Hayden and Grace had been gracious enough let us hold the wedding at his mother’s house, surrounded by the beautiful garden his father and himself had cultivated. All of the kids were being looked after by the nannies while the ceremony was being performed, and the flowers and decadence that surrounded us was breathtaking. I watched Dean’s jaw drop as Grace and I began to talk towards him, and I saw that Emilia wasn’t joking.
Dean looked spectacular.
His tailored pants were black, but the vest around his body was golden. Shimmering in the beautiful summer sun. Ignited by the vast and beautiful garden that surrounded all of us. The button-down shirt underneath his vest was a crimson red. The color red that matched the bouquet of flowers Emilia had surprised me with earlier that morning. His black shoes shone, and his hands were clasped in front of his body, showcasing the strength of his arms and the breadth of his chest.
He really did look like a prince.
“Who gives this woman away?” Hayden asked.
“I do,” Grace said.
I turned to her and she flipped my veil over before hugging me closely.
“Go get ‘em,” she whispered into my ear.
I held Dean’s hands all through the wedding ceremony. I lost myself in his beautiful eyes while Hayden recited whatever it was he’d worked out for our moment together. I could only remember bits and pieces. Between feeling weak in my knees and excited at this new venture Dean and I were taking, my mind tuned him out. All I could remember was the way Dean’s lips moved as he recited his vows to me that day.
“There’s nothing we can’t conquer and there’s nothing we can’t get through. I can’t promise we won’t fight, but I can promise I’ll always work to resolve it.”
Then he slid my wedding ring onto my finger.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said.
Everyone chuckled around me as I looked up into Dean’s eyes.
“When I lost my family, I… I relegated myself to being alone. And I was okay with that. I was okay with being alone. I’d gotten used to it. Made my bed in it. Bought some decent sheets. But I didn’t know how lonely I’d really become until I met you that night. Until you sent me that first text message. You exposed my loneliness, and then you pushed it away. You drove it out, and not once have I felt alone while having you in my life.”
I slipped his wedding ring onto his finger before I brought his hand to my lips to kiss.
Each and every knuckle.
A tradition that had blossomed between us whenever we no longer had words to convey how we felt.
“By the power vested in me yesterday by whatever website I trained on, I now pronounce you man and wife. Now kiss this woman before we get trampled on by kids.”
Dean scooped me up into his arms and held me close to his body before he crashed his lips onto mine. Their children toddled towards us and circled us, yelling and laughing and making all sorts of exclamations. I smiled into his lips. I danced my tongue against his. He scooped me up into his arms before the children started pawing at my dress and walked me back into the house. I did it. I was married.
Married to my prince.
The reception wasn’t really a reception, but the six of us heading back to Tristan and Emilia’s home. They had been kind enough to cater in some food and have wonderful drinks available while the nannies continued to watch the children at Hayden’s mother’s place. We all sat around and filled our stomachs, talking and laughing like we always did. It was rare we all got to get together like that. It was rare we all got to sit down, cast aside the worries of work, and enjoy some unfiltered adult time.
But I was looking forward to the honeymoon.
We ate until we couldn't eat any longer, then a knock came at Tristan’s front door. I looked over and smiled at Dean, then quickly stood up from my chair. It was here. The limo I’d ordered for us was here. I could see the confusion on Dean’s face as I tugged him from his seat, his legs stumbling underneath him from the scotch he’d thrown back with Hayden at Tristan at the end of the table.
“What’s going on?” Dean asked.
“I have a surprise for you,” I said.
“What surprise?”
“The best of surprises.”
Tristan opened the door before he threw me a wink. He was the one that helped me work out the kinks in the plan. Dean had surprised me with a week-long honeymoon to Hawaii, but we were having to spend the weekend at our newly-purchased house before flying out Monday morning. It took us forever to find a place for us to move into that accommodated both of our wants and passions for a ‘forever home’ while keeping Dean within a decent emergency distance from the hospital. Which meant we were still surrounded by boxes.
Not a very romantic start to a marriage.
“A limo?” Dean asked.
“Not just the limo. But where it’s taking us,” I said.
“Where is it taking us?” he asked. “Our plane doesn't leave until Monday morning.”
“I think you might need this,” Tristan said.
I took the brochure from his hand and passed it quickly to Dean. I watched him unfold it before his eyes widened. He whipped his head up to me as his jaw dropped, and I threw my head back and laughed.
“The Casablanca Hotel?” he asked. “How in the world did you get reservations for this place?”
“I pulled a few strings,” Tristan said.
“How much did this cost you, Ivy?” Dean asked.
“Wow. Rude. I didn’t ask you how much our honeymoon cost,” I said with a grin. “I figured we could spend our first weekend being married in a romantic book-themed room with spa services and food brought right to our door. You know, instead of being surrounded by cardboard boxes.”
“I’ll need the keys to your new place as well,” Hayden said.
“Why?” Dean asked.
“That’s the second part of the surprise,” I said. “I’ve hired some guys to come in and unpack our stuff. I’ve laid out a plan for each room so everyone knows where to put someone, and they’re going to unpack us while we’re on our honeymoon.”
“You guys don’t have to do that,” Dean said.
“You really don’t get how this works yet, do you?” Hayden asked. “You’re family now. And family steps up to do things like this.”
“I’m not alone anymore,” I said. “And neither are you.”
I watched Dean blink away tears before he wrapped his arms around me.
“I love you,” he said.
I held him as tightly as I could as we stood in front of the opened limo door
“I love you, too,” I said. “Now, let’s get a move on. There’s a beautiful bed calling my name and wonderful drinks I still want to order.”
“Don’t get too drunk,” Grace said.
“Don’t tell her that. Sex is the best when drunk,” Emilia said.
“Well she doesn’t want to get sick while being jostled. Have you seen Dean? He’s massive,” Grace said.
“Uh, guys. We’re right here,” I said.
“And so are your husbands,” Tristan said.
I giggled into Dean’s ear before I pulled back from him.
“Ready to go start the next chapter of our lives?” I asked.
He crashed his lips against mine and I could feel all the love in the world pour through my veins.
“I’m ready for anything as long as I have you,” he said.
Then we slid into the limo, Dean tossed the keys to Hayden, and we waved our family goodbye as headed for the hotel.
To start our new lives.
Our forever.