“You’re eye fucking your husband again,” Gemma leans in and teases me.
When I turn pink, my best friends laugh and I can’t help but join in.
After I told them about Aiden choosing me and about how we finally ignored everything keeping us apart to find happiness, they rallied around us. Because they’re amazing like that.
Meadow is pulled away to the dance floor by her husband, but that’s her story to tell. Going by the smile on her face, she ended up right where she belongs.
Just like I did.
Myhusband’s arms wrap around my waist as he pulls me back against his chest.
“Oh, come on,” Gemma whines teasingly, “none of that. You’re like our brother now and we don’t want to see any mushy stuff.”
Aiden just huffs out a laugh and buries his face in my neck.
I’m not sure he really thought through what it meant to make me his. I come with baggage in the form of three women who will help you bury a body or get over heartbreak. Trust me, he got a damn good deal when he got me.
Who wouldn’t want three sisters you never asked for as well?
They give each other shit, but I can see the affection and love my husband has for each of them. It’s sweet, pure, and exactly what my man needs after having to work for scraps of love his entire life. He’s drowning in it now, but what a way to go.
“Are you about ready to get out of here, wife?”
I make a humming sound as Gemma makes a gagging face and Mayer grins from ear to ear. York walks by at that moment and does a double take. If he never noticed how gorgeous my friend is then he’s been missing out.
“I just have one more thing to do,” I murmur as I turn in Aiden’s arms.
He swoops in for a kiss that starts out soft and sweet but quickly heats. Hoots and hollers fill the space around us, and I can’t help but grin as we pull away. My cheeks might be warm from the attention we’re getting, but it feels amazing too.
Mom and Dad are excited for me and are always gushing about how nice of a boy Aiden is. Yes, boy. We’re still working on them seeing me as an adult. One step at a time.
When I step into the middle of the room, I call out, “Mayer. Gemma. Meadow. Can you three come to the middle please?”
They look hesitant as the music is lowered and everyone turns their attention towards us. I tug on one of the ribbons holding my bouquet together and feel it give way in my hand.
“Normally, the tradition is you throw your bouquet and the person who catches it is the next person to get married, but I’m changing it up,” I explain to the room.
I hand each of my best friends, the women I will always walk through fire for, a part of my bouquet, each section looking like a miniature version of the whole. They look at them with surprise written on their faces.
“I’m not sure how I managed to keep this detail a secret, but I can see that I did from the looks on your faces,” I tease them and the people who have come out to celebrate Aiden and I getting married laugh.
“The three of you helped me get this wedding organized and you have all stood by me when the sun is high in the sky and when the clouds roll in. I’ve arranged for each section to be preserved, but then you’ll each get one. Tossing the bouquet to see who gets married next is silly when the reason we are the women we are, the reason we can stand so tall and face the world each day is because we have each other. We are beautiful as pieces, but together we are magnificent. Thank you for being my sisters and for always standing by my side.”
I’m engulfed in the arms of my best friends as they blubber, babble and shed a few tears. I soak it up because this feels like a new chapter in our adventure. We’ll adapt; we always do.
As my friends release me, Aiden is there. His green eyes are soft as he studies my face. He kisses my forehead, the contact too brief and light. And then he hauls me up and over his shoulder.
The sounds of people cheering fill the space, but we don’t stick around to enjoy it.
It doesn’t take us long to get home and when we do, Aiden stops me at the front door. He scoops me up into his arms and carries me across the threshold.
The house used to be just mine, but now it’s ours. After long talks, a few lists of pros and cons, as well as some soul searching, we decided to keep my smaller house. We’ll keep our eyes open for some land where we can build the life we want.
But for right now the smaller house suits us just fine.
He wasn’t really attached to his home, and wanted to start fresh, without expectation or image influencing his decisions.
We leave for a weeklong honeymoon tomorrow and I can’t wait to see where we’re going. It’s Aiden’s surprise to me. As long as we’re together, it’ll be perfect.
