Game Changer (17 page)

Chapter 25

As a child, I never really thought about getting married. Well, actually, I dreamed of my wedding, but the actual idea of being married never appealed to me. Until I met Aiden. There was something about him, immediately, that changed me.

The morning before I got on the plane to my sisters’ wedding, I was a witty, sarcastic, kind of bitchy, nineteen year old girl who was just trying to make it through school. As soon as I met Aiden, I became a shy, nervous, emotional, person who was suddenly dreaming of the future.

Looking back, I think it’s a miracle that Aiden and I are still together. His crazy ex-fiancée showed up and separated us for over a month. Then I got pregnant almost immediately after we got back together. When we found out it was twins, for a split second, I was sure he would run. But he didn’t. I think that the perfect word to describe Aiden, is that he is a rock.

He’s stable and, depending on the day, has many different sides to himself. He’s cute, depending on which side you see. He can be annoying, like the tiny pebbles you get stuck in your shoe. But through it all, he’s always there.

The past two and a half years have been crazy. I never realized that planning a wedding would take so much effort. In my mind, all I saw was a white dress and a church. In reality, there’s a white dress that comes with a billion fittings, bridesmaids dresses, tuxes, flowers, color schemes, music, timing, cards… the list is endless. At first, I thought we’d be married quickly, but the more planning I did, I realized that I didn’t want a backyard wedding. I wanted my wedding to be simple, yet elegant, and that took some time.

When Aiden and I were picking a date, we both realized that no matter how long it took, we were already practically a married couple. It took a lot of the stress off of us and I finally felt that I could plan the perfect wedding.

My babies turned three a few weeks ago. It’s crazy to see how they’ve grown. Jude’s hair is even darker than Aiden’s, and has only a slight wave to it compared to the curls he had as a baby. Micah, however, has my blonde hair with tiny ringlets. They’re both gorgeous and perfect in every single way. They talk to each other nonstop, and their laughter could light up a dark room.

In my wedding, Micah is going to be my flower girl. I got her a white leotard and a grey tutu, since my wedding colors are grey and white, and a pair of grey ballet slippers. I also found a purple flower barrette to put in her hair. Micah is my little dancer. She’s always moving around when we have music on.

Jude is the ring bearer. His little tux is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. It’s grey, with a white button up shirt and a purple tie, to match Micah’s flower in her hair. He’s got a little pillow that, thus far, he’s been very serious about taking care of. He gets this stubborn little look on his face that makes his bright blue eyes swim with emotion if anybody tries to touch the pillow. He even sleeps with it.

My bridesmaids are wearing grey strapless dresses that hug under the bust and flow down to their knees. I have a fairly large wedding party with Kira as my matron of honor, Mel as my maid of honor. Hailey, Grace, and Samantha have all become closer to me than Erica (who was not part of my bridal party) so they were in. I also have little Mis
s
Katarin
a
as a junior bridesmaid. She’s almost nine and still just as gorgeous as the day we met.

Aiden chose Seth as his best man; he’d be walking down the aisle with Mel. Ethan is going with Kira, Owen is going with Samantha, Hailey is going with Dominic, and Grace is going with Jesse. Dom and Jess are both from Aiden’s team and were over at our house more often than we were.

My dress was white, strapless, and hugged my body to my hips, where it puffs out to the floor. I fell in love with it the moment I tried it on, it was perfect. My hair was pulled back in curls with a cream colored flower towards the top.

I tried to go with an earthy theme and used yellow flowers for the bridesmaids’ bouquets and white ones for mine. Our reception had an entirely different feel than the actual wedding, so the centerpiece flowers were pink, in tall clear vases.

The wedding was actually taking place in a church. We didn’t choose the location based on our religion; we were having a non-religious ceremony, but I was googling places we could have our wedding in Houston and the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it there. The walls were a light stone, the ceiling was at least thirty feet up, and there was a round chandelier right over where Aiden and I would say our vows. It was a little rustic, but still beautiful.

I think that my favorite part of the whole wedding was the cake. It was three tiered with a white fondant covering. On top of the covering, flowers and leaves were drawn on in a gel icing. It was not necessarily traditional, but I fell in love with it and had to have it.

Everything eventually came together nicely, which leaves me standing here in the dressing room at the church, looking into the mirror. In a few minutes, I’d be Mrs. Aiden Swift. The thought gave me goose bumps and butterflies. Behind me, things were chaotic with the girls trying to get a few last minute things ready. “Momma Momma Momma!” I heard from the open door. Jude was standing there, clutching the ring pillow tightly in his left hand.

“Hi baby!” I said, twisting to look at him. He looked so handsome.

“Momma…” He was about to continue, but stopped halfway through, looking at me. “You pretty Momma.”

I smiled and walked over to lift him up, careful not to tug at the dress, “Thanks baby! Now, what are you doing all the way over here, stinker?” I asked this as I tickled him, making him giggle and twist in my arms.

“Daddy ready.” He announced. I took a deep calming breath before setting him on his feet.

“Okay, Mommy will be finished soon.” I promised. He nodded and ran back outside, but not before kissing Micah’s cheek and telling her she looked pretty too.

I turned to my bridesmaids, “Alright, you all ready?” I asked, grabbing my bouquet when Kira handed it to me.

“Are you?” She asked with a smirk. I grinned and nodded, “I’ve been ready for this, my entire life.”

We all started heading toward the doors, where my Dad was waiting to walk me down the aisle. He hugged me and got a tear in his eye, “You look beautiful Kitten.” He told me proudly.

I blushed, “Thanks Dad.”

I peeked around the door as the couples were walking down the aisle, and saw Aiden standing there nervously. I chuckled and stepped back. Micah didn’t want to let go of my hand when it was time to walk down the aisle. Jude, being the great big brother that he is, even it if is only by five minutes, grabbed her hand and talked to her the entire way down the aisle. He even helped her with the flowers.

“You ready?” Dad asked with a puff of air. I couldn’t help but smile and nod.

‘Here comes the bride’ started playing and we turned the corner so we were facing the altar. I watched as Aiden sucked in a breath, and a beautiful smile took over his face. A few times during the walk, Dad had to hold me back from running to him.

We finally reached the alter and my fathers’ friend who was a retired judge asked who was giving me away, “Her mother and I.” He said clearly before moving over to his seat.

Aiden stepped forward and we met in a soft kiss. I had planned that moment since I was tiny. I thought it was more romantic to have your last kiss as a single person right before your first kiss as a married couple.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur. I was simply too caught up in Aiden, and the fact that we were about to be married, to really care about what was being said.

Finally, we both said ‘I do’ and Clayton, the judge, told Aiden to kiss me. We shared a passionate kiss before we pulled away and Aiden got that grinning smirk that he usually got when he was about to embarrass me, right before he grabbed me at the waist and flung me over his shoulder. He started running down the aisle yelling, “I’m a married man!”

Everybody started laughing and clapping for us, and I knew that this would be a day to never be forgotten.

“Aiden, you ass! Put me down!” I yelled, smacking his butt.

“Aww babe, that’s the first thing you’ve ever said to your husband!” He said as he set me on the ground by the limo.

Kira and Ethan had offered to take care of Micah and Jude, so we fooled around in the back for a while as we waited for all of our guests to get to the reception. Everything felt new now that we were a married couple. Eventually, we pulled up to the new building and made our entrance as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Aiden Swift’.

For that moment, the world had officially found peace… at least that’s how it felt.

We had our dinners and eventually, the DJ announced that it was time for the first dance. Aiden and I had a bit of a struggle deciding what we would dance to, but eventually we ended up with ‘That’s how strong my love is, by Otis Redding’. Neither of us necessarily loved that kind of music, but the song was so perfect for us.

It was a little heartbreaking when the father of the bride dance happened, ‘I loved her first, by Heartland’ played, and I spend the whole time crying on my Dad’s shoulder.

It was hard to move on from being his little girl, even though I hadn’t been that for a long time. My father would always hold a special place in my heart, and the dance was symbolically us, moving on.

The rest of the night was spent enjoying ourselves and dancing like fools. At around midnight, we all went our separate ways. Kira and Ethan took Micah and Jude home with them to be with Reese, while Aiden and I went on our honeymoon.

On our flight to Cancún, I had a moment of clarity where I simply knew that Aiden and I would officially live happily ever after.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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