Society Weddings (Corrigan & Co. Book 11) (12 page)

We all laugh for a few minutes as they tease
me, and then it’s time to get ready. My mom comes up and shakes her
head when she sees my bed again. It’s not like I could hide it last
night when she came to tuck me in. Yes, I’m in my twenties, but I
still let my mom tuck me in. Nothing wrong with being sentimental
before getting married.

The girls all put on their “wave” gowns. The
dresses are sleeveless and go from black and light blue designs on
top to silver designs over a sheer netting that is white
underneath. They really do look like the ocean.

My dress is a strapless, sweetheart princess
gown. The top has a little embroidery, and the stiff skirt folds
over onto itself a few times. I have a peal trimmed, sheer shrug to
wear over it in the church. I’m also going to wear a veil over my
dark waves, and I’m carrying a pretty white bouquet. Or at least I
think I am.

When all of the flowers are passed out, my
bouquet is not with them. I’m freaking out a little until Stella
hands me a white box. I open it to find a bouquet made of seashells
mixed with white roses, along with a note from Aiden.

Doll,

I hope you like my surprise. If not, Stella
has your other bouquet. The beach was where you gave me the
greatest gift I’ve ever gotten—a promise of forever with you. I
wanted to have something you could use for the wedding, and we
could have after. No worries if you don’t like it for the wedding.
We can still put it in our apartment when we get home.

I love you,
Hawk aka the guy who’ll be at the end of the aisle.

“You are using that one, right?” Stella
asks.

“Of course I am,” I tell her as I wipe tears
from my eyes.

I almost missed out on this beautiful gift.
And if Aiden was a lesser man, I might’ve lost him, too. I thank
God and my friends for bringing me back to my senses. All I need to
do now is marry my man.

* * *

Aiden

I smile at the Society girls as they walk
down the aisle, but I’m bouncing on my feet as I wait for Ellie to
appear. I hope she’s got my bouquet, but if she doesn’t, I’ll do my
best to hide my disappointment. We’re getting married, and nothing
else really matters.

Sunlight is streaming through the stained
glass windows here in Ellie’s church. She was baptized here, and
other things I don’t know much about. I just know she wanted to be
married here, and that’s good enough for me. The pews are decorated
with clusters of white roses and candles in blue glass holders. I
barely glance at all of it as I look for Ellie. It’s been almost a
minute since Jade made her way down the aisle, and the little
Griffin girls have finished dropping their petals. It’s time.

The wedding march starts, and there she is.
I smile at her princess dress and traditional veil that hides her
face. I never expected all this tradition from her, but she’s
completely embraced it, and as long as she’s smiling all day and
night, I don’t care what we do. I’m happy to see that she bucked
tradition where her bouquet is concerned, though. She’s carrying
the seashell bouquet I got her, and my smile grows even wider when
I see it.

I step forward to meet her and her father.
He lifts her veil, kisses her cheek, and places her hand in
mine.

“Thanks for using my bouquet,” I whisper to
her.

“It’s perfect. I love it, and I love
you.”

“I love you, too.”

The ceremony goes exactly like I was told it
would. I say and do everything we practiced, and when it’s time, I
give her the chaste kiss she asked for.

“Thank you,” she tells me as everyone
cheers.

“It’s my pleasure. Just keep smiling for me.
That’s all I need today. Just to see you smiling and happy to be my
wife.”

She grabs my lapels and pulls my mouth back
to hers. I’m shocked for a second, and then I kiss her back.
There’s no tongue, but we’re definitely not being chaste. When we
break apart, we’re both smiling.

We take lots of pictures in and out of the
church. We wanted Candi to enjoy herself, so we hired her friend
LauraAnn to take our pictures. Once she’s done, everyone piles into
the limos that will take us back to the Gallagher’s house. Ellie
and I make out like teenagers, kissing and touching. I’m hard as a
steel beam when we reach the house, and I’m glad that my suit
jacket will somewhat conceal what I’ve got going on down below. I
know Ellie’s soaking wet, but she has all those dress layers on her
side.

I laugh at the sign on the bar right inside
the backyard, telling everyone to pick their beer. There will be
champagne for the toasts, and they’ve got hard liquor for those who
want it, but beer is the name of the game with this family. One of
the many reasons I love them all.

“This is really cool,” I tell Ellie, looking
around.

“Thanks. I wanted to be casual, but I also
wanted something different. I saw some things on Pinterest, and I
ran with them.”

She definitely achieved that. There are old
windows with blue and grey borders hung around the borders of the
yard. The tables and chairs are artfully mismatched, and ours have
signs that say “Mr.” and “Mrs.” There are iron chandeliers, twinkle
lights, and mason jars with little lights in them all over as
well.

It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, which is
perfect for us. We fell in love when we were different versions of
ourselves. We’ve faced tragedy, pain, and some other things that no
one should ever have to go through. We did it, and came out
stronger, and better. The world better watch out, because Mr. and
Mrs. Aiden Ford are a force to be reckoned with.

Audrey

“This can’t be happening,” I cry as Kendrick
wheels me into one of the hospital rooms. “I’m getting married
tomorrow.”

“Sorry, Audrey, but this baby isn’t going to
wait.”

“I didn’t want to be an unwed mother.”

“Then you shouldn’t have had unprotected
sex.”

“I think I might punch you.”

“Where is Blake?” he yells, stepping
back.

“He said he was five minutes away. That was
almost five minutes ago,” one of the nurses responds.

“Thank God.”

“I wasn’t kidding about the punch, Kenny.
These contractions are no joke.”

“They aren’t supposed to be. Didn’t you
watch the videos in the Lamaze class?”

“Um, no. That’s some scary shit.”

He rubs his hands over his face. “I did not
sign up for this. I did not sign up for this.”

“You can keep telling yourself that, but you
know you love us.”

“I am fond of you when you’re not
threatening me, yes, but love is going a little too far.”

“Where is she? Where’s Audrey?” I hear Blake
ask as another contraction hits, and I force myself not to
scream.

He’s at my side, with my
hand in his before it stops. I know I almost break his hand, but I
can’t help it. It
hurts
. I knew it would, but when you’re experiencing it, you forget
everything you’ve learned. Or at least I am currently feeling that
way.”

“We have to get married, Hollywood.”

“We will. Stella’s already calling everyone
to tell them we’re re-scheduling the wedding.”

“I don’t care about the wedding. We need to
be married before this baby comes out.”

“What? I don’t know how I can do that,
Dree.”

I reach out and pull his face to within
inches of mine, and pretty much growl at him. “You’re a fucking
movie star. Make it happen.”

Another contraction descends on me, and this
time I do scream. It’s more out of frustration than pain, but I
hear Blake ask Kendrick how much time he has to get someone here to
marry us.

“Not long. You better hurry.”

* * *

Blake

I’ve been calling every Justice of the Peace
I can find on Google, but so far no one is free to just drop
everything and come here to marry us. It might have something to do
with the sounds they can hear in the room behind me. Audrey is
alternating between crying and screaming, and honestly, I’m about
to lose my mind. When Jeanne was born, Misha didn’t let me in the
room because she believed I wouldn’t have sex with her again if I
saw our child coming out of her vagina. Audrey has no qualms about
that, knowing there’s pretty much nothing in the world that would
keep me from having sex with her.

I’m about to give up, and just tell her it
can’t be done when Jeanne runs in with Wayne. “Dad. Wayne got
ordained for Stella and Kace’s wedding. He can marry you and
Audrey.”

“Seriously?” I ask the boy band singer.

“Yep. Since you were getting married
tomorrow, I’m assuming you’ve got a license already.”

“We do. It’s at home.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Let’s get this
done.”

“Wait for us,” Reina yells, and I turn to
see all of Audrey’s friends running down the hall. The guys follow
behind them, along with her parents.

“I’m not sure Audrey would want everyone in
here,” I say, planting myself in front of the door.

“Let them in. All of them. We’re getting
married,” Audrey yells.

I turn and smile at her. “Yeah, we are.”

“You’re going to have to hurry,” Kendrick
tells us.

“I got this,” Wayne tells him.

Less than two minutes later, we’re legally
married, and Audrey is ready to push. Everyone but Audrey’s mom and
Jeanne leave the room. My daughter is looking a little freaked out,
which I guess is good for a teenage girl. I’m not even near ready
to be a grandfather yet, so bring on the fear.

It only takes a few pushes, and then our
little boy makes his appearance. He wails like he’s supposed to,
the nurses wrap him up, and they hand him to me. He’s beautiful,
and I feel myself tear up a little.

“Here he is, Dree. Our little guy, Joseph
Alejandro Armstrong.”

“We did it,” she says, reaching out to take
the baby from me and hold him close.

“You
did it. I just held your hand.”

“I love you, Blake.”

“And I love you, Mrs. Armstrong.”

* * *

Audrey

It’s been a month since Joe was born, and I
love him more every day. I don’t care that he wakes me up all
night, or that he already has a stubborn personality. To me, he’s
perfect.

My husband is pretty perfect, too. He’s
already planned on taking a two month break to be with me, and he
does as much as he can to get me some sleep, even though I’m
nursing. He watches me feed Joe with a look of wonder on his face,
and no shortage of hunger in his eyes. My breasts were never small,
and now they’re pretty much porn star size. I don’t know how much
will stay once I slowly introduce formula into our routine, but I
know he can’t wait to get his own chance with them.

“You ready to get married again tomorrow?”
Jeanne asks, practically running into the room.

“Yes,” I tell her with a smile.

I’m getting my wedding tomorrow, the one we
postponed when our son demanded to be born. It was important to me
that we get married before he was born, because while I may be
progressive with everyone else’s lives, I never personally wanted
to be an unwed mother, even for a day. I was okay with not having
the wedding, but Blake is all about making my dreams come true, and
he insisted we go ahead. Most of our guests are still able to
attend, and all that I needed was a different wedding dress. I’ve
lost most of the weight I gained, so I don’t need a maternity dress
anymore, and I have to admit that I love the dress Stella got me.
It shows off my curves, and I know Blake is going to freak out.

“I can’t wait to wear my dress. It’s so
pretty,” Jeanne says.

“I think so, too,” I tell her.

The dresses are knee-length and strapless
with a sheer overlay covered in flowers. They’re yellow, just like
everything else in the wedding, along with my gorgeous ring. Reina
hated her yellow ring, but I love mine. It has a large pear-shaped
yellow diamond flanked with smaller diamonds in the same shape on
the sides. Ever since we had a re-do on our prom night, and I wore
a version of the yellow dress from all those years ago, yellow has
been my favorite color. Stella drew the line at me wearing yellow,
but she’s promised me no one will miss it’s meaning to me.

“I’m really happy you’re my stepmom. I wish
you were my real mom.”

She hasn’t seen Misha in months, and my
heart breaks for her. “I won’t ever try to come between the two of
you, but I’m here for you just as much as I am for Joe. I hope you
know that.”

“I do, Aud. You make me feel loved every
day.”

“You do the same for me. I love you,
Jeanne.”

“Can I join in on the love fest?” Blake asks
from the doorway, and I see his eyes are a little watery.

“I guess so,” I tell him with a smile.

“Why don’t you take a nap, Dree? Jeanne and
I will take care of Joe.”

“That sounds heavenly, Hollywood.
Thanks.”

I wait a few minutes, so my son can get his
fill. When he lets go of my nipple, I see that his eyes are glazed
over. I look up and Blake’s are, too. I laugh as I hand Joe to
Jeanne, and take my time covering back up. Who could blame me? I
just had a baby, so having my husband desire me is awesome,
especially since Kenny gave me the green light to have sex on my
wedding night.

I climb into bed and am surprised when Blake
slides in behind me. “Jeanne said I can nap with you.”

“You just want to feel me up.”

“Guilty. Your tits are a thing of
beauty.”

“And full of milk.”

“I don’t mind getting a little dirty. You
should know that by now.”