by T L Swan
Natasha and Jenna beam with happiness before they both kiss me on the cheek.
“You ready?” one of the ushers asks.
I nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
The usher nods to someone down at the barn, and moments later piano music starts to play. It’s the Bridal March. I smile when I get a vision of Cam and Adrian picking out this song.
Oh, I love this man.
Natasha walks down the blue stone path first, with Jenna slowly following behind. I blow out a breath and link my arm through my father’s.
“You look beautiful, baby girl.” He smiles as he kisses my forehead.
“Thanks, Dad,” I whisper as I choke up.
We begin to make our way down the path toward our hall. My heart is somersaulting hard in my chest. Every step feels like a mile and I want to run.
I want to run as fast as I can into Cameron’s arms.
We get to the double doors at the back. The guests are all standing and watching, waiting for me to arrive.
Oh my God. Oh my God.
I look up the aisle of red carpet and there, at the end, he stands.
His hands are linked in front of him and he smiles sexily as he sees me. I feel myself melt.
He’s wearing a black suit and bowtie. I’ve never seen a man look more beautiful than he does, and a broad smile takes over my face. Owen gets excited to see me, and Cameron reaches down to pick him up in his arms.
They both watch me in awe.
We slowly walk towards my two boys.
Cameron smiles softly as he watches me, desperately trying to keep his emotions under control and failing miserably.
His eyes are filled with tears.
I finally reach them, and Cam places Owen back down beside him. My father shakes Cameron’s hand and passes my hand over to him. As if he can’t control himself, Cameron leans in and kisses me softly, cupping my face. I smile up at him and he stares down at me lovingly.
We haven’t seen each other for three long days.
“Is someone getting this on camera?” Carson calls jovially.
The crowd laughs.
“You getting soppy on me, Stanton?” I whisper.
He raises a brow. “Possibly.”
He takes my hands in his and we face each other.
Our eyes are locked and while he fights tears, I’m fighting a goofy smile.
I don’t really hear anything the minister says or take notice of anyone else in the barn; I don’t even know what it looks like.
Because all I can see is him.
Looking at me, his eyes are filled with love.
This beautiful man. My knight in shining armor.
I’m snapped out of my daydream when the minister speaks to Cameron.
“Repeat after me.”
I hold my breath.
“I, Cameron John Stanton, take you, Ashley Rose Tucker, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death us do part.” He smiles as he slides the ring onto my finger and I smile back, bouncing on the spot a little.
The crowd giggles.
Now it’s my turn.
“I, Ashley Rose Tucker, take you, Cameron John Stanton, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death us do part.” I concentrate as I slide the gold band onto Cameron’s finger.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
We both laugh, and Cam grabs my face and kisses me softly. It’s a wedding kiss. We practiced this… a lot.
A little bit of suction, a little bit of tongue, and a whole lot of perfect.
The crowd cheers as we kiss. Owen bangs Cameron on the leg, feeling left out. Cam bends down and picks him up, and the three of us put our arms around each other.
My family is united.
* * *
I walk around the beautiful wedding reception in wonder. I can’t believe this place.
How the hell has Cam pulled this off?
The barn has been transformed into an amazing reception hall, with large circular tables that are covered in fresh flowers and candles. A piano and a violin play up in the back corner. Outside is like a scene from a movie. The big oak tree’s branches are all covered in fairy lights. Large white seats have been strategically placed all around, and there’s a cocktail bar where a server is making the most delicious- looking cocktails that I have ever seen. Fire lanterns are lit around the perimeter, and waitresses are circling with champagne and canapés. Our family and friends are all here.
I feel two hands snake around my hips and then soft lips press against my ear.
“Hello, Mrs. Stanton.” Cameron smiles against me.
I laugh and turn in his arms. “Cam, this is so beautiful. Thank you so much.” I kiss him softly and look around in awe. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
Adrian walks over to stand with us.
“Thank you so much, Adrian. This is amazing,” I whisper. “More beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen.”
Adrian kisses my cheek, glances around, and lifts his chin proudly. “It is, isn’t it?”
I see a speck of white paint in Cam’s hair and I giggle as I tuck the piece behind his ear.
“You have paint in your hair.” I smile.
“You have no idea,” he mutters dryly as he glances at Adrian. “This was hardcore. We should have filmed it for some reality television show.”
Adrian raises his eyebrows. “It really was. I thought I was going to die yesterday. We’re lucky to still be here. But at least you can take your hands out of your pockets.”
I frown in question and he pulls his hands out. His cuticles have white paint imbedded on them. My mouth falls open in shock and I burst out laughing.
“We ran out of time and turpentine,” Adrian mutters dryly. “It’s appalling.”
“Did you see Stan’s legs?” Cameron laughs.
“Oh no.” I laugh as I put my hand over my mouth. “What’s wrong with Joshua’s legs.”
“Covered in paint,” Cameron replies. “But I got the last of the turpentine because I was the one getting married. We sent someone to get some more but it was too late; the photographers arrived before they got back.”
My heart melts and I put my arms around them both. “It means so much to me that you did everything here yourselves.” I tear up.
“Now she cries,” Cameron replies flatly with an eye roll. “She marries the greatest man on Earth and sheds not a tear. The minute she finds out we’re covered in paint and boom.”
“I’m about to curl into a fetal position and cry about this paint, too,” Adrian says flatly as he looks at his fingernails.
We all laugh and Adrian glances at his watch. “The cake and speeches are in five minutes.” We watch him walk off through the crowd as he immediately snaps back into his wedding-planner role, and I slide my arms around my husband.
“Thank you so much, Cam.” I kiss him softly. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
His lips linger on mine. “Yes, I do. That’s why I did it.”
“I love you,” I whisper.
“You’d better.” He smiles down at me. “Let’s go cut our wedding cake.”
* * *
We’ve cut the cake, my father and Joshua have given their speeches and toasts, and the teaspoons have started to hit the champagne glasses. Everyone is waiting for his speech.
Cameron rolls his lips nervously and stands.
Owen comes and sits on my lap, looking up at his father.
Cam puts his hand on the top of his affectionately as he gathers his thoughts.
Joshua hands him the microphone and Cam exhales heavily. Oh, he’s nervous.
I smile as I watch him.
“I would like to thank you all for coming today. We know it was a long trek, but Ashley and I really appreciate it.�
�� He turns to Joshua and Adrian, who are sitting on the other side of him. “To my two best men.” He watches them for a moment and then scrunches his lips together as he becomes emotional, dropping his head.
Joshua shakes his head and Adrian smiles proudly as he watches on.
“I’m trading you both in for new best friends as soon as possible.” Cam frowns as he regains composure. “Out with the old and in with the new is my new mantra.”
The crowd bursts into laughter. It’s such a Cameron thing to say.
He puts his hand on Joshua’s shoulder. “On a serious note…” He pauses and swallows the lump in his throat. “Thank you both for always being there for me.” He drops his head again, unable to speak through emotion, and I smile through tears.
“Fucking pussy,” Joshua whispers up at him with a smirk.
Cameron shakes his head as he desperately tries to regain his composure.
He turns his attention to me and smiles softly. “Ashley. My beautiful wife.”
The crowd smiles and cheers, and he takes a sip of his beer and then he holds it up to offer a silent toast.
He frowns as he thinks. “I had this big three-page speech written out for you.” He frowns. “But there aren’t any words to describe what I feel.” He frowns again and swallows.
My eyes tear up even more. He’s really struggling here.
He smiles and looks at the guests. “You all know our story. We met in Vegas and I fell hopelessly in love with her.” He puts his hand over his heart to accentuate his point.
The crowd laughs.
“I lost my phone and had no way of finding her, so the next weekend I went to New York, desperately hoping that I would find this woman who was haunting my every thought.”
The crowd gushes, and I smile.
I love this story.
“I even put an ad in the classifieds to try to find her.” He smiles down at me and I take his hand to kiss it. “But…” He smiles cheekily. “Much to my surprise, she didn’t want to find me back.” He widens his eyes and holds his hand out. “I know. Shocking, isn’t it?”
“She was dodging a bullet,” Carsen calls, and everyone laughs.
He takes my hand in his and I smile up at him. “And then fate stepped in and gave her a transfer across the country to be one of my interns. You can imagine my surprise when my dream girl walked through those hospital doors and into my office all those years later.”
His face falls serious and he drops his head. “And I met this perfect little version of myself.” He rubs our son’s head. “His name is Owen.”
Owen smiles proudly up at his father and my vision becomes blurred.
Cam frowns as he tries to articulate his thoughts. “You know… I thought I was happy. I thought I had it all figured out. That was, until Ashley walked back into my life with Owen and I found out what true happiness really was.” He smiles down at me. “Suddenly nothing else mattered anymore. She and Owen became my everything.”
The crowd swoons.
He looks down at me. “I love you, Ashley.” He bends to kiss me softly and I smile against his lips. He stands and raises his glass in the air. “To Mrs. Stanton, and the best son in the world,” he calls.
Owen’s eyes light up with excitement.
The crowd stands to clap and cheer. “To Mrs. Stanton, and the best son in the world.”
A song starts and Cameron smiles, taking my hand in his. “Dance with me, Bloss?”
I stand, and he leads me out onto the dancefloor, taking me into his arms as the iconic melody rings out.
“Wise men say only fools rush in,
But I can't help falling in love with you.”
I hear the song and break into a beaming grin. “Elvis?” I ask.
“The king for my queen.” He smiles and kisses me softly as we sway to the music.
Suddenly, we’re alone in the room. I can’t see anything or anyone else but him.
“We did it.” I run my fingers down his cheekbone as I study his perfect face. “We actually got married, Cam.”
He spins me around super-fast and we lose our footing, nearly falling over. I laugh out loud. “You’re a terrible dancer.”
He raises a cheeky brow. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Bloss.” He spins me again.
“Yes, I do.” I now know where the term drunk on love comes from. I feel like I’m going to overdose on love here. I’m on a Cameron Stanton high. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” I whisper up at him.
His mischievous eyes hold mine. “That’s true. You are.” He winks. “I will undoubtedly be the best husband of all time.” He twirls me again, and we nearly fall over once more.
I laugh into his chest.
“I’m taking you home, Mrs. Stanton,” he whispers into my ear with that devilish tone in his voice. “I’m ready to start the rest of my life with my wife.” He pauses for a moment. “Hey. That rhymes.” He raises his brows. “See that? Now that I’m married, I’m just making up poems naturally. This stuff is just rolling off my tongue. This is definitely going to raise my romance score. You are one lucky woman.”
I roll my eyes and giggle. “Give me an hour.” I kiss him softly. “I want see everyone before we leave.”
Owen taps Cameron on the leg and Cam lifts him up to dance with us. He spins us around and Owen squeals in delight. “Nearly bedtime, buddy.” Cam smiles as he kisses his head. Owen nods an over-exaggerated nod and rubs his little eyes.
“Where are we staying, anyway?” I ask.
Cameron shrugs. “Some dumpy hotel down the road. I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet.”
I giggle.
Owen’s face falls as he looks between us. “What about me?” He’s exhausted and fragile. “Can I come to dumpy?” he whispers in his little worried voice.
“Yeah. You, too. We can’t leave you out of dumpy. You’re the dumpy king.” Cam tickles Owen’s ribs, and he chuckles as he tries to wriggle away.
I frown.
Cam shrugs. “I want Owen to be near us on our first night as a real family.” He kisses me quickly. “In another room, don’t worry,” he mouths.
Owen puts his head down on his father’s shoulder in relief.
I smile broadly and kiss him softly. “This is why I love you.”
He leans his head against mine and smiles. “We need to leave soon, Bloss, or you’re going to find Owen and me asleep in the car. This wedding shit is exhausting.”
I laugh. “Okay, half an hour it is.”
* * *
An hour and a half later we say our final goodbyes to our circle of friends and climb into the back of the limo. Everyone is laughing and cheering as the driver pulls out, and the car rattles and clangs from the tin cans tied to the back of it.
“Here we go.” I smile as I wave to our guests through the window. The car slowly pulls out of the driveway, up around the corner, and out of view from everyone at the wedding, and then the car stops.
I frown. “What’s he doing?”
Cam shrugs. “I don’t know.”
The door opens, and the driver holds out his hand. “We’ve arrived at your destination, Mr. and Mr. Stanton,” he says.
Huh? I look over to Cameron and he’s smiling like a Cheshire cat. “Cam?” I frown. “What’s going on?”
He kisses me quickly. “Owen and I have got a surprise for you, Bloss.”
My eyes flicker to the house in front of us.
“Get out of the car.” He smiles.
“Oh.” I shuffle across and climb out of the car to get out, and he opens the white gate in the screen.
Oh, my God. My hands fly to my mouth. The front veranda has been refloored and the weatherboards have been freshly painted white. “You painted this?” I gasp.
Cam shakes his head. “We started it, but we ran out of time.” He pulls me to the front door and opens it. I peer in. Everything is sheeted off, but the stairs have been re-timbered.
My eyes widen. “You started the house?�
�� I whisper.
Cameron smiles, and with his sleepy son on his hip he leads me up the stairs by the hand. On our arrival upstairs, I peer down the hall to see a light coming out of the master suite. A large red bow is stuck to the door.
Cameron proudly leads me down the hall and opens the bedroom door.
My mouth falls open and my wide eyes flicker to him in shock. The bedroom is finished... and not just finished, but it’s completely amazing.
“What?” I look around, but I don’t know where to look first.
“Cameron…” I whisper. Tears instantly fill my eyes. I’m surrounded by beautiful cream walls and a plush carpet, and he’s fitted coffee-colored drapes to hang over the windows. I stare up at the light. “A chandelier,” I whisper.
A huge king-size bed with padded headboard sits against the wall, the same colors as the drapes. There are two beautiful wingback chairs and ottomans near the window, too.
“You did this?” I whisper. “You did this for me?”
“Yes.”
My tears flow over and run down my cheeks.
“Oh, there’s more.” Cam smiles as he opens a door. “A beautiful cream marble bathroom, too.”
“Cameron…” I whisper. I look around at the perfect room and frown. “How could you have possibly done this?”
“A lot of bickering between Stan, Murph, and me,” he replies dryly.
I laugh as I imagine the three of them here this week working like slaves.
“You did all this?” I whisper.
He nods. “The builder knocked out one of the adjacent bedrooms to make room for the bathroom and walk-in closet, and then the bathroom and plastering we had done professionally, but we did everything else.” He looks around and smiles proudly. “I wanted our first night together as man and wife to be somewhere special.” His eyes search mine. “Do you like it, baby?”
I kiss his lips tenderly. “Oh, I love it. I love you.” I grab him and squeeze him tight. “Thank you, thank you.”
“Oh, and we did your room a little, Owie. But it’s not finished yet.” He leads us to the closest bedroom and opens it. I smile broadly. The room is plastered, and one lone, single bed sits in the middle.
“We didn’t have time to paint it yet.” He shrugs.
