Brooke
We’re all at Kenzie’s and we’ve been getting ready all morning. We just have to help her slip on her dress before the photographer gets here and she’ll be ready to go. Her dress is exquisite. She’s wearing a beautiful strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. “Look at this.” She pulls out two garter belts, one that says ‘Army Wife’ on one side with ‘Bennett’ on the other, and the other says ‘You’re Next.’ She slips them both into place under her bathrobe.
“Those are so cute, but you know what’s even cuter?”
“What?” she asks, confused.
“This. Remy asked me to deliver it to you today and told me to have you wear it around your neck.” I open the box that displays a white gold necklace that holds a single white gold dog tag he had made special for her. It has a solid diamond on the tip of it and it’s engraved with ‘Bennett’ on one side and on the other it says ‘Near or far you’re always on my mind and in my heart.’
Her hands are shaking as she pulls the box from me. “It’s beautiful.”
I smile at her. “No crying now.”
Lilly hands her a tissue to dab her eyes. “It’s gorgeous. Let me help you.” Lilly pulls the necklace from the box and places it around her neck. It lays perfectly on her chest. “Let’s get you dressed, the photographer will be here any minute, as will the limo, and you promised Remy you wouldn’t be late.” She takes a deep breath, trying to maintain control over her emotions. She’s done well up until this point. We girls are all dressed and ready to go. Kayla and I are wearing red halter dresses, with some embellishment below the breast to dress it up slightly. Lilly is wearing the same dress but hers is blue to go with the patriotic theme for the military wedding that’s about to take place.
“Let’s do this.” She finally stands and slips off her robe to reveal a beautiful white corset and thin white stockings. I grab her dress from the hanger and Lilly and I get busy helping her into it.
“The photographer is here,” Kayla shouts to the back room.
“We’ll be out in one minute,” I shout back.
Lilly tells Kenzie to hold her dress in place while she zips up the back. Once she’s dressed, we sit her down and we each get busy helping her put on her shoes. She thought it would be funny to wear boots for the wedding, so without Remy knowing, my mom took her on base and got her fitted for a pair of women’s boots. It’s funny, but in reality probably smarter than heels. It’s July 4th, and with the wedding being outside in the south, she would only sink into the grass, causing her to worry about falling. Once her boots are laced up, we all walk into the living room, and as soon as we do, she picks up the dress, revealing her glamorous shoes. The photographer bursts into laughter and starts snapping pictures. She also gets a close up of her new necklace.
The photographer is a hoot. She has us doing all sorts of silly things. She takes a fun picture of us checking out her camouflage garter with shocked looks on our faces. We also take a shot pretending to help her with her boots, and then she takes some serious shots of us as well. When Aunt Kenderly and Uncle Jasper arrive, she takes some nice photos of the three of them, as well as some of her and Uncle Jasper alone. He’s giving her away today since he’s the only family she has left, and she’s close to him. Poor guy got choked up when she asked him at one of our family dinners.
It takes the photographer a little bit to take every shot that Kenzie had requested, but she does it in her allotted time. As she’s finishing her last shot, the limo pulls up to the house. It’s silly she got a limo when we’re only going from her house to ours, but it’s what she wanted, and Remy told her she could have anything she wanted. My understanding is that was their compromise. He wanted a backyard wedding and she wanted a limo. “You ready to do this?” Lilly asks Kenzie.
“Let’s get out of here.” She walks to the door and the photographer is behind us snapping pictures as we help her into the limo. Uncle Jasper and Aunt Kenderly follow right behind us and the door is closed with the five of us seated inside.
When we pull up to my parents’ house, I’m totally shocked. It almost doesn’t look like their house. There’s a sign out front with rings on it that says ‘Congratulations Remington and McKenzie.’ There are wildflowers and decorations all over the place. There’s no way that you could mistake which house the wedding was taking place at. Kenzie has a huge smile on her face as the limo comes to a halt. “Wait here. I want to make sure they know you have arrived before you get out of the car,” Uncle Jasper tells her as he climbs out. The limo has pulled into the driveway. It’s the only car in front of the house. Mom and Dad have valet parking set up to move cars away from the house so the caterers and everyone else can do what they need to, plus she didn’t want anything to take away from the decorations or the sign she had put up.
“Well, in a few minutes we’ll all be getting out to start this amazing ceremony. Are you ready?” Kayla asks her.
She takes another deep breath. “I’m excited. Is that weird?”
“No. I was excited on my wedding day, but I felt like I didn’t breathe until after I said ‘I do,’ and then it was all a breeze from there.” She gives her a warm smile.
She chuckles. “That’s kind of how I feel. I keep taking deep breaths, like I’m gasping for air, but I’m excited, not really nervous.” She rubs her hands together and suddenly the door opens.
“They are ready for you.” Uncle Jasper gives her a huge smile and we all pile out of the air conditioned limo.
“Damn, it’s a hot one today,” Lilly fans herself.
“Come on, girls. Let’s get you into place before you all melt in this heat.” Aunt Kenderly ushers us to the side of the house where we’re supposed to wait for the music to start so we can make our entrance into the backyard. The honor guard stands by the entrance we are to walk through, as we enter there’s a white path telling us how to get to the archway set up in the shade toward the back of the yard. I peek around the corner to see the yard is filled with people, most of which are our family. There are teachers from the school, and I believe one of Kenzie’s cousins made it.
The air is sucked from my chest when I spot them. Remy and Vaughn are standing together in uniform and they look amazing. They hug it out and Remy takes his spot at the altar with Dawson by his side. The music begins and Kayla begins her walk down the aisle. I turn to Kenzie. “You look gorgeous.” I give her a quick hug and begin my walk down next with Lilly following. When we’re all lined up, I can’t help but glance around the yard at all the decorating that was done today. There are white tablecloths on each table with red and blue napkins. There’s a huge chalkboard set up with the schedule for the day in military time. Vaughn catches my attention and winks at me when the music changes and Kenzie walks down the aisle holding on to Uncle Jasper. I can’t help but giggle at her boots peeking out from her dress and I know the minute Remy catches it because he bursts into laughter. As soon as she’s at the altar and Uncle Jasper has given her away, he pulls her in and tells her she’s amazing. He’s about to kiss her when the priest reminds him that it’s not time for that yet and we all laugh.
The priest says his speech and they go through their vows, both my mom and Aunt Kenderly light the candles, and they light their unity candle, which I absolutely love. It’s white with camouflage wrapped around both the single tapers and the bigger one that they lit together. They once again take their place, and after a few more words from the priest, he’s finally announcing them husband and wife. The honor guard has taken their places at the altar again, lining the aisle. Remy and Kenzie finally turn to their guests. “I’m honored to introduce to you for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Remington Scott Bennett.” Everyone in the yard claps and cheers for my brother and his wife. My eyes well with tears of joy. I’m so happy for my brother and I’m excited to have a new sister-in-law. The honor guards raise their swords up in the air and Remy and Kenzie step down to walk under them. When they get to the end guys, their swords drop, stopping them in their place. Remy leans in and kisses Kenzie sweetly while the photographer snaps a dozen pictures. The swords go back up in the air for the rest of us to walk under. Lilly walks down with Dawson, I walk down with Vaughn, and Kayla walks down with Keaton.
When Vaughn links his arm with mine, I can’t help but look up at him. “You look mighty fine in that uniform, Vibe,” I tease.
He chuckles grabbing my arm and walking me out to the front of the house where we’re going to take a few pictures. “Yeah, well, you look delicious in that red dress.” I bite my lip and fight the blush that creeps up on me. The photographer starts snapping pictures of Remy and Kenzie as we follow behind them, honor guard included.
When the photographer announces for everyone to stand around the bride and groom in any order, we all bunch in. Vaughn being tall is toward the back, and I stand in front of him. The photographer gives a few directions and then hands two of the honor guard guys each an end of a sign that they hold up for the shot. She tells Remy and Kenzie to kiss, and as soon as they do, she starts snapping pictures. She tells us to look at her and smile, then she tells us to turn our heads to face the bride and groom with excitement. When we’re done, we get to see the sign says ‘Mission Accomplished.’ I can’t wait to see these photos.
It takes a while, but we finally manage to get through all of the photos that Kenzie and Remy wanted of their bridal party and family. Luckily, the catering staff had been walking around with appetizers, because we’re starving at this point. We finally make our way to the backyard, where there’s a reserved table for the bridal party, as well as the honor guard. Once we’re seated, the photographer takes a few more pictures and the DJ announces that it’s time for the first dance. We all watch Kenzie and Remy take to the dance floor that was set up in the yard. They sway to Wanted by Hunter Hayes, staring into each other’s eyes Remy sings to her and she can’t stop smiling. They look absolutely blissful together.
Their song comes to an end, and when it does, wait staff appear by the table with plates of food for us. They’re holding them up with covers on them, waiting for Remy and Kenzie to take their seats. As soon as they do, the plates are placed in front of us and the covers removed. The wedding is set up buffet style, but Kenzie wanted her bridal party served. We all put an order in for what we wanted off the buffet and the staff served it. I told her I didn’t think it was necessary but she disagreed. The caterers send the honor guard up to get their dinner and then start sending the remainder of our guests.
I look over to Vaughn, who sits beside me. “How’s your food?”
He wipes his mouth. “This is so good. I love southern barbecue food.”
“For a New Yorker you certainly fit in down here.”
“Good, because I don’t plan on leaving.” He has a grin on his face. “Listen, will you stay with me tonight?”
“Is that what you want?” I’m so excited, but I’m really trying not to show how eager I am.
“Well, you know Brody really misses you, and I think it would be good for him if you spent the night,” he teases. My jaw drops and I smack him playfully. “I’m kidding. Yes, that’s what I’d like. I meant it last night when I said I miss you.”
“Then yes, I’ll stay with you.”
Dinner is finally over and I’m thrilled, because that means we all get to change. Remy doesn’t know it, but we all had t-shirts made up and they’re in my room for us to change into. “You ladies ready to get out of these clothes?”
Remy looks at Kenzie, shocked. “What do you mean out of these clothes?”
“We were smart enough to plan a change.” She wiggles her brows at him. “I warned you.”
He laughs. “Okay, let’s see what you have in mind.” We all hurry up from the table and run into the house. Once we close my bedroom door, we all start stripping out of our dresses and into our shorts, olive green sneakers, and camouflage shirts. “Kenzie, catch.” I toss her the shirt that says ‘Army Bride’ on it with dog tags. All of ours say ‘The Bride’s Crew’ with dog tags on them. We can’t help but giggle at our appearance. We all still have formal makeup on with our hair all done up, but we’re now wearing kick ass t-shirts with sneakers. Kenzie is still in her boots and she has her garters on for Remy to toss shortly. After a quick selfie, we make our way back out to the party. When we do, we find the guys in total shock. Even Kayla, who is very prim and proper, is wearing shredded jean shorts and sneakers. Dawson’s jaw drops when he sees her, and I can’t help but wonder if baby number three will be conceived tonight.
Everyone starts clapping when they notice us on the back porch. The photographer runs over and snaps some more pictures, asking the Honor Guard to jump in for a few. It’s going to make for some great memories. The guys burst into laughter. “You ladies look great! I’m glad we’ll match.” Remy turns to his guys and says, “Shall we?” They all nod their agreement and head inside as well. This wedding is getting interesting. It went from formal to casual really quick. I’m glad my mom told everyone to dress comfortable for a summer backyard wedding because I would feel bad that we were so dressed down.
Mom and Aunt Kenderly come out a few minutes later, getting their first glimpse of us. “You ladies look awesome.”
“Hey, Kayla, did you see the look on Dawson’s face when he saw you?”
“Yeah, I thought he was going to fall over. He hasn’t seen me dressed like this in years. I have to admit it feels good to let my hair down, so to speak.”
Suddenly the music changes and the guys come walking out wearing khakis and white t-shirts that say ‘Groom’ and ‘Groom’s Crew’ in camouflage. We all burst into laughter because we really do match and we didn’t even try.
“I think it’s time for some fun!” I shout. Vaughn takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor. We start dancing, and next thing we know people are joining us. We’re having a great time, Kayla and Dawson are dancing next to us, and even Lilly and Keaton are dancing. They were once a couple, and although I don’t see them getting back together, it’s nice to see them getting along. One Dance by Drake starts and the younger crowd erupts into cheers. Vaughn is behind me holding my hips as we sway to the beat. I’m so thankful my man can dance.
It’s starting to get dark, but there are lights kicking on around the yard lighting up the dance floor. He leans down and whispers in my ear, “You look so sexy like this.” I turn to face him, but before I can say anything, he plants a soft, sweet kiss on my lips.
“I love you,” I remind him. I don’t want him to ever doubt my feelings for him.
He smiles. “I love you too.” The song comes to an end and the DJ switches it up to something a little slower. If he only knew how perfect the song he chose was. Charlie Puth’s One Call Away, starts to play, and I start singing to my man, changing superman to superwoman, and he bursts into laughter, but I don’t stop because every word of this song is fitting and oh so true. Once I’ve sung the entire song to him, he wraps me in a hug and doesn’t let me go until the DJ announces that it’s time to toss the garter and bouquet. I look up at him with a grin. “You’re tall, make sure you catch that garter.”
“It’s mine.” He wiggles his brows.
Kenzie sits while Remy kneels before her and slips the garter off her leg. As soon as he does, he stands, pulling Kenzie up off the chair. He holds her hand and has the garter in the other. “Gentlemen, are you ready?” the DJ shouts. When the men all begin clapping their hands, he begins to count. “One, two, three.” Remy throws it, and sure enough, Vaughn jumps up and catches it.
He walks over with it in his hand. “It’s all you, darlin’.” He kisses me and I run out onto the dance floor. Lilly stands next to me and there are a bunch of girls behind me.
Kenzie waves a bouquet similar to hers but smaller. “Ladies, are you ready? There’s a fine military man up for grabs tonight.” The hell he is, I think. Kenzie turns around with a smile on her face and again the DJ counts to three and she tosses it. I jump, and thanks to my sneakers, I’m quick enough to snatch the bouquet just as another girl is about to.
I look at her with a smile. “Sorry, but he’s mine.” I walk over with the bouquet in hand and take a seat in the chair Kenzie was originally sitting in. Vaughn is about to slip the garter on my leg when we hear someone clear their throat. We look up and over his shoulder to see my father standing there with his arms crossed. I giggle and Vaughn drops his head with laughter. He stands up, hugs my father, and whispers something in his ear. My father laughs and they shake hands. Vaughn goes back down on one knee and slips the garter into place on my leg. He takes my hand, pulling me from the chair. I take a quick curtsy and we walk off the dance floor. I note it’s almost time for the fireworks, and I know he’s been watching the time as well.
When we’re back at the table, he pulls me close. “Listen, I’m going to get going, but I don’t want to pull you away from the fun. When you’re ready, why don’t you head over?”
“I’m ready. Let’s just say bye to my brother and Kenzie. I’ll run in and gather a quick bag and we’ll get out of here.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” I squeeze his hand and we walk off to find my brother. Once we’ve said goodbye, I head toward the house.
On the way, I find my mother. “Hey Mama. Vaughn and I are going to leave, but I’ll be home sometime tomorrow.”
“Okay, dear. You two have a nice night.” I kiss my mom on the cheek and Vaughn does the same. I have to hurry if we’re going to be out of here before the fireworks start.
“I’m going to tell the valet to pull my car up.” He kisses me and runs out of my room, but I’m not far behind him. I’m actually panicking, hoping it doesn’t take them long to bring his car over so we can get out of here. We only have about ten minutes before they start. When I get down to the front lawn, I can see he’s nervous. He’s pacing, waiting for the car. “It’s okay. I’ll drive if you need me to.” He shakes his head no, but doesn’t say anything. “Take a few deep breaths, the car will be here any second now.”
“I cut it closer than I wanted to.” He tries to breathe deeply. The car finally shows up and the valet jumps out. Vaughn hands the guy a tip and we both hurry into the car. We start pulling away, and when we get up the street from my parents’ house, the first round of fireworks burst into the air, causing Vaughn to flinch.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m okay.” I can see he’s totally focused and I don’t want to break his concentration, so I sit quietly. About halfway there, I see him start to visibly relax.