I immediately went into mommy mode. “Why? Did something happen to Riley or Braxton?”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” she said quickly. “I wanted to ask you if Riley and Braxton could be in the wedding. Riley would be a flower girl with Gabby, and Braxton would be a ring bearer with James.”
“Um, it’s fine with me, but they’ve never done anything like this before, so I can’t guarantee their behavior.”
River laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about that. This is a biker wedding; we don’t expect anyone to behave.”
“Okay, then, but I did warn you and I have witnesses.”
“Leave me out of this,” Layla joked.
“Just let me know when and where they need to be.”
“Let me get your phone number and I’ll text you all the details. I know it’s super short notice, but could you meet me tomorrow afternoon for a dress and tuxedo fitting for the kids?”
“Sure. Any time after they get out of school will be fine.”
She blew out a slow breath and leaned back in her chair. “Thank you so much. We did a trial run this morning, and Gabby couldn’t pull the wagon with little Raven in it by herself. Then, James would only walk down the aisle if someone was holding his hand. I had a moment of panic.”
“Do you want them to come inside and do a practice run with you?” I asked. I loved my children, but they could be just as stubborn as any other kid from time to time.
“We’re actually practicing outside. They’ve been looking over like they were interested, but I wanted to run my idea by you before I asked if they wanted to join us.”
I pushed to my feet and picked up my plate. “Let me drop this in the kitchen and we’ll go see if my monsters will cooperate.”
“I got it, sweetness,” Kellan said and took the plate from my hand. “Grab a bottle of water and sit in the shade. It’s already hot as hell.”
“Bossy,” I teased.
“Concerned,” he said and rubbed my stomach. “I’ll be out there in a few minutes.”
To my surprise, my children were thrilled to be included in the wedding. They both listened attentively and carefully followed the instructions they were given. James was thrilled to walk down the aisle with a friend and Riley and Gabby could easily pull the wagon down the aisle together.
* * *
I wasa bit nervous about the wedding. The wedding ceremony was going to be at Judge’s mother’s house with the reception to follow at the clubhouse. Since my children were part of the wedding party, we needed to arrive early. Kellan offered to come with us, but I told him there was no sense in him getting there early just to make me feel better. However, I was suddenly overcome with nerves when I pulled into Leigh’s driveway.
Fortunately, I didn’t have much time to worry about being nervous because Riley jumped out of the car as soon as I turned the engine off. “I want out, too!” Braxton shouted.
“Riley! Get your little butt back here right this instant,” I scolded and went around to help Braxton out of his booster seat.
“But I have to put on my princess dress and get beautiful for the wedding,” she whined.
“And we have plenty of time for that, but you know better than to jump out of a car and run off.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy, but I’m so excited,” she squealed.
By that point, she’d attracted the attention of others. “Do you need help with anything?” Leigh called from the front porch.
“No, I think we’re good,” I said and closed the car door. “But thank you for offering.”
“You’re welcome. It’s a madhouse in there, so enter at your own risk.”
“I can’t even imagine. If there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask,” I offered.
She showed us to the room where we would be getting ready. Keegan, Ember, Layla, and Annabelle were already inside as were several children in various stages of dress. “Good luck,” Leigh said before she disappeared down the hall.
“I am so sorry,” Layla said with her eyes fixed on me.
