Unavoidable Chance (23 page)

We silently stand and don’t say a word to each other all the way to the courthouse. Visiting my dad at his grave on my wedding day was a very hard thing to do. Knowing that on my special day that was the only time I’d see my dad, breaks my heart.

Jax walks me to Judge Gerard’s courtroom, and I head back to where all the girls are. They’re all piled in the judge’s personal chambers getting ready. The men are all down the hall in another courtroom. I can hear the kids running around crazy in the courtroom. I’m whisked to a table that has been set up just for me. My dress hangs in the corner, a stylist yanks and pulls at my hair with a hot iron. Another lady is putting concealer on my face. All the girls are already dressed and look beautiful. Since this was completely casual, all the girls wear whatever they liked, the men too. They all look beautiful. Chloe walks over to me and I break out in warm fuzzy tingles. She smiles at me and holds out a rectangle box. I know what’s in this box. It has become the Wellington bridal tradition for the previous bride to gift the new bride a tennis bracelet.

It started with Asher giving Willow a pink sapphire and diamond tennis bracelet. Willow gave Amelia a platinum diamond tennis bracelet. Amelia gave Shay an alternating sea foam green and peach diamond tennis bracelet. Shay gave Chloe a platinum tennis bracelet alternating in black diamonds and purple amethysts. Now, Chloe stands before me with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “For your something new,” she says. I take the box and pull on the pale yellow ribbon. Taking off the lid, my breath catches in my throat, it’s just beautiful. It’s set in platinum and alternates lemon opal’s and canary diamonds.

“Chloe, it’s beautiful, thank you,” I say. She takes it out of the box and clasps it on my wrist.

“For your something borrowed,” Amelia says. She hands me my bouquet of flowers. I’m confused. The flowers are new and at first, I don’t see it; her eyes sparkle and go to what’s wrapped around the stem of the flowers. Wrapped and pinned around the flowers is one of my dad’s neckties. It’s not just any one of his ties, either. It’s the tie he wore to my college graduation. I’ll never forget that day. Just for me he went out and bought a special yellow tie. It’s light pastel and alternates varying shades of yellow. I touch the silk tie, and break down in tears.

“Oh, honey,” Amelia says.

“No, I’m alright,” I assure her.

“For your something old,” my mother says. She hands me a small square box, touches my cheek, then takes a step back. I open the box, and other than it being beautiful, I’m not sure what it is. My mother steps forward, takes it out of the box, unsnaps three small hidden snaps and puts the delicate, embroidered lace three-inch wide cuff on my other wrist and snaps it together.

“This came from your grandmother’s shawl. I cut a small piece from it and made you this bracelet,” she says. It’s absolutely stunning and matches my antique lace wedding dress perfectly.

“For your something blue,” Quinn says. “The girls helped me make it,” she adds. She hands me a small rectangle box. Knowing Sky and Hope helped her make it means so much more to me, especially today. It’s a blue garter belt. It’s trimmed in lace and feathers and doused with sparkles.

“Thank you all so much,” I say, wiping a tear. The makeup artist puts the finishing touches on my makeup. Willow takes down my dress, and I step into it. Never before have I ever felt like a princess, until this very moment. It wasn’t easy finding a dress I liked that had a train for the girls, until I laid my eyes on this dress. It’s sleeveless, but has a thick band of a sleeve between my neck and shoulder. It has a low plunging V neckline in the front, but the back is what’s killer. It’s all see through white antique lace, until it reaches my waist. At the waist is a pale yellow silk ribbon that ties in the back. Then the dress flows to the ground and has a three-foot train. The best part, well it’s tied for the best part, are my shoes, Jimmy Choo collar glitter lamé platform sandals.

Jax and I discussed it earlier and we won’t give each other wedding gifts until we get home tonight. We aren’t going on a honeymoon just yet either. The girls only have another week of summer vacation, so we’ve decided to go to Disney World as a family over Christmas break. We both want to include the girls in this day and our honeymoon as much as we can.

“It’s time,” someone calls from the doorway.

We all exit out the side door into the hallway. Everyone stands in line in order of how they’re to walk in. Aiden takes my hand and puts it on his arm.

“He’s watching,” he says with a wink.

Jax

I stand at the front of the room in front of the judge’s bench, just inches away from where my sunshine laid bleeding, where she died in my arms. Yes, it was only for a few minutes, but in those few minutes, my world ended. Standing next to me with her arm in a sling is Judge Gerard. Before we walked in here, she told me how happy she was to perform this wedding in her courtroom. She hadn’t felt like things were right in here until today. A man, the defendant, died in this courtroom just a few short weeks ago. To most, they thought he was guilty, but a jury couldn’t convict him. A distraught father took it upon himself to take matters into his own hands. Anger and rage took over, and the only thing he could see was revenge and making right in the universe what the law could not. It’s unfortunate that he will spend the rest of his life in jail for his crimes. But he did commit a crime himself, and for that he is paying for it. In all, ten people were wounded, including Ava. Judge Gerard told me that the evil that was done in this room is now undone with this wedding.

I look out at my family and at Ava’s family sitting in the old wooden benches of the courthouse. Even Gus is here with his beautiful wife. Judge Gerard stands tall with a smile on her face as the music starts to play. The courtroom doors open, each couple walks in hand in hand with big smiles on their faces. First is a beautiful, pregnant Willow and Asher, followed by a radiant Shay and the proud new papa, Adrian. Then come Chloe and Max, followed by Amelia and Kyle. Savvy didn’t show, so Quinn decides to walk down with the little kids, just in case they needed help. Then come Micah, Makayla, Abbey, Aaron, and Noah. Each one of them has a wooden sign tied with a yellow ribbon around the back of their neck. In order, each kids sign says one word; it reads ‘Jax here comes your bride’. The doors are closed and the music changes. My heartbeat changes, too. The doors open again and my beautiful bride, who is healthy, radiant, and strong, fills the doorway with her brother, Aiden. She smiles, and it’s that familiar sunshine smile that takes my fucking breath away. She walks slowly down the aisle; my two little girls are beaming ear to ear, each holding a corner of Ava’s dress. Hope lets go with one hand and waves at me with a smile. I wave back at her. She takes her role as train holder very seriously. She puts her hand back on Ava’s train and walks the rest of the way to the front. Ava stops just one step away, and the girls smooth out her dress; they give each other a high five then stand next to Quinn.

“Who gives this woman to be married?” Judge Gerard asks.

“Her family does,” Samantha and her brothers and sister all say together. That was a secret little gift from her family. Ava was only expecting Aiden or her mother to say it, but they all got together and thought it would show unity and respect to their father if they all said it as one. Ava’s eyes fill with tears, and I can see her thoughts crowd in her mind. Aiden places her hand in mine, I rub my thumb over her knuckles and they clear.

“Ava and Jax wanted this short and sweet, so we’ll get right to it. This wedding is a celebration of the miracle of love. It’s not only the binding of two people, but of two families. Jax and Ava have each written short vows and would like to say them to each other now,” Judge Gerard says.

“Ava, since the first day I met you, you brought sunshine and meaning back into my life, but you wanted no part of me. I don’t think the universe agreed with you, though. Thank God, she was on my side and thought it would be funny to keep putting us in each other’s paths, sometimes on a daily basis. I love you, and I love how you love my girls. I promise to always hold your hand when you need clarity. I promise to always be there for you and our girls. I promise to love you until the end of time.”

“Jax, I haven’t always been the easiest person to be around. Before I met you, my priorities weren’t in the right order. Meeting you and your girls was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you, and I love Skylar and Hope like they’re my own. I promise to love you all until the day I die. I promise to be the best wife and mother, I know how to be. I also promise to cut back on Swedish fish.” The room laughs, then Judge Gerard starts to talk again.

“Jaxon, do you take Ava to be your wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor and cherish until the day you die?”

“I do,” I say, looking into Ava’s crystal clear, blue eyes.

“Ava, do you take Jaxon to be your husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor and cherish until the day you die?”

“I do,” she says, looking back into my eyes.

“Today, in this room, it gives me great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Landry. Jaxon you may kiss your bride.”

I pull my wife close, look in her eyes then kiss her. It’s slow and warm and the courtroom goes wild. We file out to my waiting H3, which the family has decked out and written ‘Just Married’ on the rear window.

Everyone comes back to our house for a small get together. There’s wine and food and laughter among everyone. I tap my wife on the shoulder and crook my finger at her in a come hither motion.

“How are you feeling? It’s been a big day. Are you tired at all?” I ask concerned.

“Jax, I’m fine, stop worrying. In fact, I have something I need to show you,” she says, and pulls me by my tie up the stairs.

“But we have a houseful of people,” I remind her.

“It’s our wedding day; I think they’d think there was something wrong with us if we didn’t disappear for a little bit,” she says.

She leads me into our bedroom where there is a small box sitting on the bed next to the box I had put on the bed earlier.

“Gifts, I want you to open your gift. More importantly, I want to open my gift,” she says excitedly.

“Alright,” I say, and hand her the box.

She opens it quickly, rips off the top of the box and stills. Her face falls and her hand comes to her lips. She hates it. Shit, it was too soon, or maybe it brings back too many bad memories. I just ruined her wedding day for her. For the rest of her life, she’ll remember just how I ruined her wedding day. Fuck, is this what it’s like to live inside Ava’s brain all the time? I know how much her yellow silk blouse meant to her that her dad gave her on the day she graduated from college. It was her lucky blouse, and it was the same blouse she was wearing when she got shot. She never asked about what happened to it. When the paramedics came I was still doing CPR, they pushed me aside and ripped open her shirt to shock her back to life. I thought today would be the perfect day to replace something that has always meant so much to her.

“Ava, honey, say something. You’re scaring me,” I say, and touch her arm. The second my hand lands on her arm, she throws herself in my arms.

“I love it, thank you. It’s perfect,” she whispers in my ear. Her hand comes to my face, and then she kisses me. She backs away, but doesn’t remove her hand. Her eyes sparkle, telling me that it was the perfect gift.

“There’s one more thing under the blouse,” I tell her.

Her face lights up, she takes the blouse out of the box and sets it on the bed. She removes the small flat box and opens it. Tears fill her eyes as she takes it in. It’s a round platinum locket. On the outside is a scrolling tree. Randomly set in the branches are four stones, one for each birth month for her, me, Sky, and Hope. There is a little red bird at the base of the tree to represent Scarlett. She touches the bird, then her fingers come to her quivering lips. “It’s beautiful,” she says. She opens the locket; on one side is a picture of Sky, on the other side, a picture of Hope. She squeezes her eyes closed as more tears flow down her cheeks. She brings the locket to her lips, and presses the locket to them.

With the chain dangling from her hand and the locket in her palm, she holds it to her heart, and with her other hand she wipes her tears then reaches for the other box.

“Here is yours,” she says, handing me the box. I open it, and inside are the professional chef knives I’ve wanted since the first day I opened the restaurant. It’s a full set of Zwilling J.A. Henckels knives in a professional carrying case. Chefs are particular about their knives and usually carry them around like a woman carries her purse.

“I love them, and I love you,” I say.

“There’s one more thing,” she says, pointing in the case.

In one of the slots is an unmistakable work of art. It’s a Patek Philippe watch. It’s a thick black leather band with a black face. Ava scoots closer to me and turns the watch over in my hand with a smile. It’s engraved. It reads, ‘
Our love is unavoidable. United as four, always and forever.’

I take the locket out of her hand, set the locket and the watch inside the case and push it to the side. I pull Ava close and unzip the back of her dress. She shrugs her shoulders out exposing her bare chest. She reaches for my tie and undoes it, tossing it to the ground. She unbuttons the top two buttons of my shirt. I haven’t made love to Ava in weeks. I don’t have time for buttons. I grab the shirt and rip it open, while buttons go flying and bounce on the wooden floor. I lay her back on the bed and kiss her while rolling her breast in my hand. She goes for my pants and quickly undoes the belt, button and zipper. I stand up and take off my shoes and pants then go for her shoes. Taking off Ava’s sparkling shoe makes me feel like a prince in one of the girls’ movies. Ava’s dress slips right off, and I lay it over the chair in the corner of the room.

I crawl over my wife and hover over her. She’s wearing sexy as hell white lacy underwear trimmed in little yellow flowers. She wraps her legs around my waist and her arms behind my neck, and then lifts herself off the bed, clinging to my body. She holds me tight as she kisses up my throat. I thread my hand in her hair and lay her down on the bed. I trail my tongue between her breasts, down her chest, and over her scars on her stomach. I kiss there gently, reminding her that to me she’s perfect. I look up at her and her eyes are closed, her mouth is open with pleasure.