I don’t know what I did for me to get to where I am now, but I did something right.
Life was tipped upside down the moment Emma was born. Daily life was gone. Lennox and I used to wake up in each other’s arms, take a shower together, and have a quiet breakfast before starting our day. Once Emma was born, I didn’t know when one day ended and the next began. We slept weird hours, ate at even weirder hours, and Emma kept us on our toes nonstop.
We slept in shifts, lived off cereal and take out, and never seemed to be alone together. If Emma was asleep, we were asleep. If I was feeding Emma, Lennox was eating or taking a shower. If Lennox was taking care of Emma, I was busy checking on the shop or running to the store for diapers, formula, or stuff we needed around the house.
Over the course of a month, time didn’t slow down a bit. Emma stayed awake a little longer, she would smile and giggle every now and then, but mostly she just watched her surroundings. She loved to see her mommy laugh and she loved it even more when I was making her mommy laugh.
The guests that were filing in and out everyday had finally slowed down some. We had to tell Kathryn that she wasn’t allowed to move in with us. She was excited and she never had kids of her own. She didn’t think she would ever have a grandchild and was beyond excited that she finally had a little baby to spoil.
We knew Emma would call Kathryn grandma. Lennox’s mom never called or came to see her. I didn’t even know if she knew about her. Lennox said it didn’t bother her, but I think it did to some degree. She had a grandma in Kathryn and that was all that mattered.
Dane and Alissa had been hanging out more around the house. Alissa was beginning to show and said she needed to suck up some baby knowledge since she had no idea how to take care of a baby. Dane had never showed any interest in children and I was worried that he was secretly freaking out. One night while the girls were fussing over Emma, I pulled Dane aside.
“How’s everything going with you and Alissa?” I asked over a beer.
“Fine I guess. I don’t know, man. She’s going off on this baby thing. Wanting to plan everything and make sure everything is ready. I’m kind of freaking out about it.”
“What are you worried about?”
“Everything I guess. I’m going to be a dad. I don’t know how to be a dad. I’ve never even thought about having kids. I’m not exactly a role model. You know?”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure this baby will straighten your ass out,” I said with a laugh.
“She wants to get married.”
“Well can you blame her? You guys have been living with each other for a while now and you’re having a baby.”
“I know, it’s just that my life is going in the opposite direction than I thought it would.”
“You’re not the only one,” I said taking out the bottle of Jack.
I poured us both a shot and watched as Dane downed the shot.
“But you’re happy.”
“And you’re not?” I asked, almost afraid of his answer.
“Yeah, I guess I am. I don’t know, everything is just happening so fast. I haven’t really had time to sort out my feelings yet.”
“It’s okay to be overwhelmed, Dane. A lot has changed.”
“I know. I just wish I knew what to do,” he said taking the bottle and pouring another shot.
“Do about what?”
“Nothing, don’t worry about it. You have your hands full here, I will manage.” He walked off into the living room before I could ask anything else.
“I think it’s time to start planning this wedding again, don’t you?” I asked crawling into bed with Lennox.
“No, not yet. I haven’t lost all the baby weight yet and I am wearing that wedding dress.”
“I’m ready to marry you, can’t we just buy a new dress?”
“No, that is the perfect dress and I’m wearing it.”
“Please, marry me, Lennox,” I pleaded.
“I will, just not yet.” She gave me a teasing smile before moving closer so I could wrap my arms around her.
I let the subject drop. I knew she loved that dress, even if she could have bought a small country with as much as she paid for it. I just wanted to make her happy and if wearing that dress would make her happy, I would wait as long as it took.
Chapter Eighteen
Lennox - Two Years Later
It was finally the day, Mason and I were going to get married. It seemed everyone and everything was against us for the longest time. I remembered feeling like I needed to go off and find the life that was waiting for me when really, it was with him the whole time. It was time to marry the man I’d loved since I was eighteen and nothing was stopping me. Chris, Ashley, Nicole, and Jessica were out of our way. It was hard to believe that we had to overcome all those people and obstacles just to be together. Two years late, but better than never.
Everything was just the way we had planned it the first time. We were getting married in the backyard. There was a big white tent to the right holding everything needed for the reception. The only difference was Emma. Our two-year-old daughter didn’t understand what a wedding was, but she knew what a party was and she was ready for the cake. What two-year-old wouldn’t be waiting for the cake?
Emma was spending the day with her grandpa and Kathryn. Mason dropped her off the night before and went to stay at Dane’s while Alissa, Sarah, and I stayed home to have a little bachelorette party.
After the last one, there was no way I wanted to have another big party. The three of us stayed in to watch movies, laugh, and drink margaritas.
Alissa had changed so much since her baby boy, Jax was born. He came in the middle of Alissa and Dane’s worst fight. Alissa found out that Dane wasn’t happy about having a baby and didn’t really want to get married. He wasn’t ready to grow up and he was afraid of all the change that he was being shoved into. When the truth finally came out, Alissa was so upset that she went into labor in middle of packing to leave him. Once her water broke, Dane couldn’t think of anything but Alissa and his baby.
Everything kicked in right when it was supposed to. In that instant, Dane grew up. After Jax was born, he realized Alissa was the most important thing in his life and he wasn’t prepared to lose her. She forgave him and everything else was history. They were in middle of planning their own wedding. We each got our precious babies and were marrying the men of our dreams.
“Time for makeup and hair,” Alissa said pulling Sarah along with her.
I sat down in the chair texting Mason while they got busy making me pretty for my wedding day.
“I can’t believe this day is finally here.” Alissa’s eyes locked on mine in the mirror while she ran her fingers through my hair.
“Tell me about it, I’ve been waiting for this for almost ten years now.” Sarah twirled my hair around the curling iron.
“I can’t believe you wouldn’t let me call in a few favors with hair and makeup.” Alissa flashed me an irritated look while applying blush to my cheeks.
“And miss out on all this quality time? No way.”
After hair and makeup was done, it was time for “the dress.”
They held the dress open while I stepped in. They pulled it up around me and fastened the back. I stood back and looked into the full length mirror. I couldn’t believe that it was finally my wedding day. The day I got to marry Mason.
My hair was pulled up in the front, with the rest hanging in loose curls down my back. My makeup looked perfect, like I had it done professionally. And the dress fit just as it should. It hugged every curve and glimmered when light hit the beadwork.
I felt like I had grown so much since the last time I had that dress on. I had overcome abuse, healed mentally and physically, found out that I was pregnant and delivered a baby. Mason waited patiently for me to be ready. He never tried to push me, even though he knew I wanted to marry him just as bad as he wanted to marry me. I just wanted everything to be perfect. I didn’t think it would take as long a
s it did, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
When we agreed to put the wedding off for a little bit, neither of us thought that it would take two years. We just wanted time to heal after what we had been through with Chris. Then I needed to adjust to the news of being pregnant. I knew the doctor told me everything was fine, but I couldn’t understand how it could be. I drank so much on my bachelorette party, not to mention the drugs I was given. I was a mess thinking my pregnancy could end at any time or that my daughter could have a higher risk of birth defects. Not that that would have changed my mind about her, she was my miracle baby.
“It’s time,” Sarah said peeking her head into the bathroom.
I slowly made my way down the stairs of the empty house. My dad met me at the foot of the stairs and handed me my bouquet.
“Are you ready for this?”
“I’ve been ready for this since I met him,” I said, sure of myself.
“Okay, let’s get to it then.” He stood up straighter when the music started up.
Dad led me through the living room and to the open sliding glass doors. I looked out onto the backyard and met Mason’s eyes. He looked handsome in his black tux. His short, dark hair was styled in its messy way, while the stubble on his jaw was longer than usual. It made him look sexy and I couldn’t wait to get him alone in our room.
I looked across the grass to all our guests. There wasn’t many, since neither of us had a lot of family, but I smiled at each and every one of them as they all turned to watch me walk down the aisle. I smiled to Joey, knowing Mason was happy that she showed up. I saw Wendy from the bar, I smiled at her but felt my smile fall when my mom came into view. I felt the pit in my stomach grow, I hadn’t seen my mom in years. She didn’t even show up when I had Emma.
“Why is mom here?” I asked through the smile that I’d been forcing since my eyes landed on her.
“I invited her. She needed to be a part of this.”
I wanted to smack my dad. She wasn’t a part of the day her granddaughter was born, but she got to be a part of my wedding? I wasn’t happy that she was there, but I wasn’t going to let her ruin my wedding day. Instead, I turned my eyes back to Mason. The love and admiration in his eyes made my heart flutter in my chest. I no longer had to fake a smile because anytime I looked at him, one appeared on its own.
We made it to the arbor where Dad gave me away. He had a tear running down his cheek when he placed my hand in Mason’s. I met Mason’s ice-blue eyes and felt the butterflies in my stomach. Not because I was nervous to marry him, but because the rest of my life was staring me right in the face and I couldn’t wait to get started.
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to write our own vows but standing up there with everyone’s eyes on me, I was seriously regretting that decision. The preacher asked Mason to say his vows and I met his eyes.
“Lennox, you came into my life and was exactly what I didn’t know I needed. I was angry, bitter, and falling apart when I met you. But, one day with you changed it all. Even with everything stacked against us, we made it though. I vow to love you every day for the rest of my life. You are the world to me and I will spend everyday of forever proving that to you again and again.”
I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
“Lennox, you may recite your vows,” the preacher said.
“Mason, I’ve worked on this for months, but nothing was ever good enough. I thought something would come to me when I was standing here in front of you and it has. I couldn’t come up with the perfect vows because we’re not perfect. Nothing about us has ever been perfect. I crashed into your life the same way you crashed into mine. From the moment I saw you, you swept me off my feet. I fell so deeply in love with you that I wasn’t a whole person on my own. It was only when I returned to you, that I realized I couldn’t live another day without you. Mason, you are the only one that has ever had my heart. I gave it to you a long time ago, but now I know that you will keep it forever.”
Sure, I could’ve came up with something better, but I meant every word of what I said. Mason and I, we were a train wreck. We never did anything right, and trouble seemed to follow us everywhere we went. Everything we tried to do was always fucked up. Finally, after we got everyone out of our way, one by one, we were able to become who we truly were. I couldn’t wait to have that ring on my finger and start the rest of our lives. I didn’t know where we would end up, but I didn’t care as long as he was by my side.
We placed the rings on one another’s fingers and the preacher announced us.
“You may kiss your bride,” he said causing a smile to break out across mine and Mason’s faces.
He didn’t waste any time. He pulled me in quickly and pressed his lips to mine like he couldn’t wait another second to kiss his wife. I could feel all the emotions rising up inside of me. Love, relief, happiness, they overjoyed me and a tear slid down my cheek. When he pulled back, he wiped my tear away.
“I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Mason Reynolds.”
Mason and I turned toward the crowd while the guests stood and clapped. Emma managed to get away from Kathryn and she came running up to us. Mason picked her up as the photographer snapped a quick picture. The three of us made our way back down the aisle.
The day couldn’t have been any more perfect. I was married to Mason, we had our baby girl, Chris was gone and out of the picture forever, and we could finally have our happily ever after.
After Mason, Emma, and myself were finally finished with pictures, we made our way to the tent. When we walked in, the DJ announced us and played our song. Mason took me by the hand and led me to the center of the makeshift dance floor where “Amazed” by Lonestar played for our first dance as a married couple.
That was our song, the song we never picked but a song that claimed us just as we had claimed one another.
Mason began to quietly sing the song to me while we danced. I looked into his eyes and felt every word. Nobody else was around, it was just us out on that dance floor. I didn’t want to look away from him while he sang his heart out and bared his soul to me. The song wrapped up and he pressed his lips to mine for a long, sweet kiss. The crowd stood and cheered. I was lead off the dance floor to start talking to the guests and get the party started.
We didn’t have a bridal party table, we only had close friends and family so we all sat at one big table. I sat next to Mason with Emma on his lap, surrounded by all our friends and family. It was better than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t want a big fancy wedding. I only wanted what I held nearest to my heart, and all of them were there.
We began eating when Alissa decided to kick off the toasts. She tapped her champagne glass and stood, getting everyone’s attention.
“I just wanted to say a few words before I get too drunk to do so,” she said causing everyone to laugh.
“I’ve known Lennox since I was twenty-one. She has been my best friend since the night she came stumbling into the bar I was working at in Tennessee. We instantly became friends and she hired me on the spot to travel and become her personal assistant. She doesn’t know it, but she forever changed my life that night. I was from a broken home, a broken girl who ran away from her problems to end up being damn near homeless and working in a bar. I remember after about five shots of Jack, she finally said, “I don’t know you very well, but I think you need to come with me on the road.” I laughed remembering the night we met.
“I said, ‘why in the hell would I go out on the road with you? I don’t even know you.’ And she said, ‘What else are you going to do?’ That right there showed me, she was just as crazy as I was. Yeah, it could have went bad and I could’ve gotten stranded in California, but she kept me by her side the whole way through. She let me stay with her until I had enough money to get my own place and she has always been there when I needed her. I’ve watched her start at the bottom and work her way to the top. I’ve watched her trip, stumble, and fall through life, but she’s finally where she need
s to be. She found the best guy possible, he adores her and their little girl, and he will stop at nothing to keep them safe. I know, I’ve seen it,” she said with a smile.
“Lennox, Mason, what I’m really trying to say is, if anyone can make this work, it’s you two. I love you both.” She tilted her glass to us before sitting down.
I reached for her hand. “I love you too,” I mouthed the words with tears in my eyes.
We all looked to Dane, expecting his speech. He looked up from his plate.
“Oh, I have to be drunk before I can give a speech. Find me later.” He offered up a grin and held up his champagne glass.
We laughed but didn’t put any pressure on him. I looked around, everyone I had ever loved was right there. I looked over to my husband with our little girl on his lap and felt nothing but joy and love.
Emma wouldn’t let Mason get a bite in, she would steal it every time. I couldn’t do anything but laugh. He would give her anything and that proved it since I knew he had be starving. I looked at her curly brown hair and her ice-blue eyes and knew I had everything I could ever need.
After everyone ate, the music was turned up and everyone began dancing.
“Can I have this dance?” Dad asked.
“Of course,” I said taking his hand.
We walked to the center of the dance floor and began to move along with the music.
“I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become,” Dad said.
“Thank you, Dad.” I felt my face heat up.
“And to think, this all started because your mom was a cheating whore.”
I busted out laughing. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”
“A little more than I needed to, I guess.”
“I hope Kathryn is driving. You guys can stay here if you want, Dane and Alissa are.”
Our Last Chance at Forever (The Chance Series Book 3) Page 14
