Back to Life (32 page)

“There’s
the bride,” Vivian said, and stood from the table. She came over to me and
hugged me. “Good morning, darling, you look beautiful.”

“I
don’t, I just got out of bed. I look like a mess,” I said.

“I
wish I looked like you when I got up in the morning,” she said, smiling. “How
are my grandsons doing today?”

“Kicking
all night long, they kept me up for a bit. They just can’t wait to see their
daddy today. I know the feeling, guys,” I said, rubbing a hand across my
stomach. One of them kicked me and I smiled.

“Well,
come and sit down. You need to eat something before we head to the hotel to
start getting ready,” she said, beaming. I walked over to the table and took a
seat as Marissa sat a plate of delicious food in front of me.

Three
hours later, we were at the hotel and I had just finished putting on my dress,
which thankfully fit nice and comfortably around my belly. As I stepped out of
my dressing room in my wedding gown, I heard several loud audible gasps. I
usually didn’t like being the center of attention, but in that moment, I felt
like a princess for the first time in my life, and for once it didn’t scare me.
“Oh Rory,” Marissa said, “you look so, so beautiful!” I hoped I did…for Liam.
My dress was a vintage style fitted white silk gown with wide straps that
hugged my hips, accentuated my belly, and flared out at my thighs. It looked
like it had been designed in the thirties, and the moment I saw it I fell in
love with it, and I knew it would be the dress I wore when I married Liam.
Since Liam loved when I would wear my hair down, I had decided to keep it
simple and part it on the side and wear it in soft large curls that flowed
around my shoulders and back, and instead of a veil I wore a large white silk
flower in the side of my hair. I hoped Liam loved it, because all I wanted was
to look beautiful for him.

I
looked at the faces of the three beautiful ladies in the bridal suite and
smiled. Marissa, Samantha, and Vivian. They all looked gorgeous in their gowns.
They all smiled at me and looked like they were fighting back tears. “Thanks,
ladies,” I said. “Thanks for being here with me today.”

Vivian
held out her hands and walked toward me, taking my hands in hers. “We wouldn’t
have missed this for anything, darling girl. Thank you for letting me be a part
of your special day. I know I’m not your mother, but…”

“I
wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you, Vivian. You have been
more of a mother to me than I ever hoped for. Thank you for everything. I love
you so much,” I said, trying to fight back tears. I knew when I walked down the
aisle toward my future husband the tears would come, but I wanted to at least
make it to that point before I was a blubbering mess.

“Oh,
my sweet girl,” she said, pulling me into a hug, “I love you too.”

“Rory,
you really do look amazing,” Samantha said. “I bet Liam will cry when he sees
you.”

“That
reminds me,” Vivian said, sniffing. “For you. It’s your something old,” she
said, handing me a beautiful cream lace handkerchief. “This belonged to Liam’s
great grandmother, and I had it on my wedding day to Grayson.”

I
took it with shaking hands. “It’s beautiful, Vivian. Thank you.”

Samantha
walked toward me holding a beautiful silver bracelet. “Here you go. You’re
something borrowed.” I slipped it on my wrist and told her thanks.

“My
turn,” Marissa said. She handed me a black velvet box. “This can count as your
something blue.” I smiled at her and opened the box to find a gorgeous pair of
aquamarine tear drop earrings. They were breathtaking and they looked
expensive. I looked up at her, and she already could tell I was going to
protest. “Don’t even try to refuse it, Rory. They are from me and Brody, and I
know you can’t say no to him. We went with aquamarine since it will be the
babies birthstones.”

I
smiled and hugged her. “Thank you, Marissa. They are beautiful.”

“Okay,
that just leaves your something new,” Samantha said. “and no, the babies don’t
count this time,” she smiled.

Vivian
handed me a large velvet box. “Your something new,” she smiled. I was going to
protest, but she nodded at me. “Open it.” I smiled and lifted the lid. It was
the most beautiful platinum diamond necklace I’d ever seen. The chain was so
delicate that I thought I might break it just picking it up. The pendant was a
large emerald cut pink diamond. There was a small note, and I picked it up and
read it.

Something new for my gorgeous bride. Meet you at the
alter, angel
.

My
eyes were stinging from the tears threatening to fall. There was no way I could
possibly love this man any more than I did in that moment. I handed the box
back to Vivian and said, “Can you help me put it on?”

“Of
course I can,” she said. I pulled my hair to the side and she fastened the
delicate chain around my neck. Once it was on, I touched it with my quivering
fingers, and my heart swelled. I quickly put on the earrings from Marissa and
Brody, and Samantha was checking to make sure we were all ready to go when
there was a knock on the door. Janelle, the amazing wedding planner Vivian
hired, came in and let us know it was time to begin. With a final round of
hugs, we all walked out of the suite and I began to walk down the hallway to
the grand ballroom of the hotel where my handsome husband-to-be was waiting for
me.

Liam

“Damn
it,” I muttered, “you’d think after having to dress up in these damn monkey
suits as a kid I’d have figured out how to tie my own bow tie.” I fumbled with
the damn thing for a few moments before my dad walked over to me.

“Relax,
son, you’re just nervous. Here, let me help you,” he said, and took the tie
from my hands. I blew out a breath through my lips as he quickly twisted and
shaped the tie into a perfect black bow. “There, all set.”

“Thanks,
Dad,” I said, and he clapped his hands on my biceps. “And I’m not nervous, by
the way. I am anxious, there’s a difference.”

Dad
smiled at me. “Anxious, huh?”

“Of
course I am. These last few hours have killed me. I just want to get the
ceremony over with and be married already.” To be honest, I couldn’t wait to be
standing at the altar to see my beautiful Rory in her wedding gown walking
toward me, but more importantly, I couldn’t wait for the wedding night to be
able to peel that dress off of her. This pregnancy had made her body even more
gorgeous than before, and I was sporting a semi every time I was around her.
The bigger her belly got, the more turned on I was knowing that she was
carrying my baby boys in that beautiful belly.

“It’s
almost time, son. You will be married to your girl soon enough. Just hang in
there,” he said, still smiling.

“Oh,
hey, did you give Mom the gift for Rory?”

“I
made sure she had it in her hand when she went to bridal suite,” he said.
Taking a deep breath he said, “I’m so happy for you, Liam. There was a time I
thought I might not be here for this day.”

“Yeah,
me neither,” I admitted, “but I’m glad you are.”

He
smiled a smile that reached all the way to his eyes. “Me too, son. For you,” he
said, handing me a small leather box.

“Dad,
what is this? You didn’t have to get me anything,” I said.

“Don’t
worry, I didn’t buy it. It’s a Tanner family tradition,” he said, and I opened
the box to find two silver cufflinks with the initial “T” engraved in it. “They
were your great grandfather’s, and I wore them on my wedding day to your
mother, just like my father wore them on his. They will bring you good luck.”

I
grinned and started taking them out of the box, ready to fasten them. “Thanks,
Dad,” I said, and we shared a quick hug. Before things got too emotional, I
heard a knock at the door of the suite and Nick came walking in with Brody and
James, Rory’s dad, in tow. “Hey guys,” I said, fastening the cufflinks into
place.

“Hey,
man. We didn’t interrupt anything, did we?” Brody asked.

“Nah,
it’s cool. We were just finishing tying this thing and putting on cufflinks,” I
said. “Apparently it’s a two person job.”

Nick
walked to me and handed me a shot glass, then handed one to my father. “Well,
you look gorgeous, my man,” he said, smiling. He took out a bottle of Jack
Daniels and began to pour some into my glass, and then passed the bottle around
to everyone until every shot glass was full. James was the last one to fill his
shot glass, and he placed the bottle on a small table behind him. “You ready to
be shackled, bro?”

I
chuckled at him. “To Rory? Hell yes, I am. Bring on that ball and chain,” I
said, and everyone barked out a laugh.

“To
Rory and Liam, and a lifetime of love,” James said, raising his glass.

“And
a lifetime of fighting and great make up sex,” Brody added, and everyone
laughed. Even James cracked a smile, but that didn’t stop him from lightly
smacking Brody’s head. “Ow, Dad. What was that for?”

“I
know Rory’s a grown woman and that’s she’s already pregnant, but she’s still my
daughter. I don’t want to know that stuff,” he said, grinning.

My
dad raised his shot glass. “To the happy couple, congratulations,” he said, and
everyone raised their glasses before we downed our shots.

Just
then, there was a light knock on the door, and Janelle popped her head in.
“Guys, we’re ready to begin. Let’s get this show on the road.” She was
impatiently pointing at her watch, and I couldn’t help but smile. I swear that
woman could run the world just by batting her eyelashes and tapping her foot.

Everyone
put their glasses down and began to walk out of the suite. My father walked out
with Nick and Brody. James was about to exit as well before he stopped and
turned to me. “Liam,” he said, “I just wanted to tell you that I am so happy
that my daughter has you, and I wanted to thank you for loving her. I know I
don’t have the right to do that because I haven’t been there for her like I
should have, but I let her mother cloud my judgment. It kept me away from
watching my daughter grow into the extraordinary woman she is today. She is
that woman because of your love, and a father couldn’t ask for more for his
little girl. You’re a good man, Liam. Take care of her,” he said, emotion in
his eyes.

“Wow,
thank you James,” I said, taken aback by what he said. “I’ll protect her with
my life.”

He
patted me on the shoulder. “I know you will, son.” He took a deep breath and
said, “Okay, let’s go get you married!”

The
music began playing as I took my place at the altar waiting for the doors to
open. When they did, I felt butterflies in my stomach, anticipation taking over
me. My parents walked in first, smiling at our guests as they walked down the
aisle and took their seats up front. Next was Brody walking with Samantha.
Hurry
up, hurry up,
I thought. Then Nick came walking down with Marissa. As they
finally reached the altar with me, I smiled and sighed contently. The doors to
the room were closed for a moment to get ready for Rory’s entrance. Then,
finally, the string quartet started to play the wedding march and the doors
opened again. My heart almost burst out of my chest when my eyes finally landed
on my beautiful bride walking toward me. She looked like a goddess in white in
a beautiful old fashioned gown that curved around her gorgeous belly. I didn’t
care if I looked like a wuss in that moment, because as I saw the woman of my
dreams walking down to me on her father’s arm, the tears began to flow. When
James and Rory reached me, I turned to him and he placed Rory’s hand in mine
and gave me a nod.

“You
look so beautiful,” I whispered to her, and she smiled at me.

“I
love you,” she whispered back, and squeezed my hand. The minister finally began
the service, and we both recited our vows to each other when the time came.
Everyone was crying, including me. I had never been happier in my life than I
was right at that moment. I had found my dream girl, we were becoming husband
and wife, and she was carrying our children. I really was the luckiest man on
earth.

Before
I knew it, the ceremony was over, and I heard the minister day, “By the powers
vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Liam, you may kiss your bride,” he said, and wasting no time, I pulled her
close to me and planted a kiss on her that made everyone laugh and cheer. I
dipped her low and she laughed as we stood back straight.

I
then leaned in and kissed her belly, saying, “Daddy didn’t forget his boys,
love you too,” and Rory smiled at me when I stood back up straight. We walked
back down the aisle and as soon as we were out in the lobby, I pulled her into
my arms and kissed her like I wanted to since I first saw her. Our tongues
danced together for a moment before I released her, leaving her breathless.
“Hello, Mrs. Tanner,” I said, smiling.