“Last night our entire lives were almost ruined because of one stupid moment and this morning, when I didn’t wake up to your beautiful face smiling at me, I could barely function. My life is not complete unless you’re in it. Today has given me a taste of a life without you, and I hated every minute of it because a world without you is a world not worth living in.” Her eyes glisten and a smile pulls against her lips at my familiar words, and I’m pretty certain I can hear a sigh leave the lips of every single woman here.
“I love you, baby, and my life doesn’t exist without you. I want to exist but only with you and Lily.” I pause for a brief second, taking in the beauty of her pretty eyes that sparkle as they soak in my every word. “I know we were going to wait until Lily was a little older, but I can’t wait a moment longer. Ava, will you marry me? Right here, right now?”
Her mouth drops open and her eyes nervously flitter around our surroundings. “Are you serious?”
I pull her closer until her body is flushed against mine. I love the way her heartbeat thrashes in time with mine. “I’ve never been more serious.”
“But … Lily … we can’t get married without her.”
I can’t keep the lazy smile from my lips as I hear the panic stammering from her mouth. I’ve shocked her, and I’m happy she’s finally talking to me.
“I will give you as many weddings as you want, baby, but I can’t spend another day without you being my wife, without making you mine. I want to marry you now, and give you the life that you deserve. I want to protect you, cherish you, love you, look after you until my last dying breath.” My voice trembles as the emotion of this moment slowly begins to ripple through me.
I can hear my mother sobbing from the front row as Ava nervously glances in Tyler and Mia’s direction with a questioning gaze. Tyler gives her an enthusiastic nod while Mia excitedly says, “Marry him! We can be bride BFF’s.”
Mia’s words are followed by someone sitting a few rows back shouting, “Yeah, marry him!”
Ava giggles as she turns to face me, shaking her head with astonishment as a luscious blush glows against her cheeks.
“So what do you say?” I ask, wondering when the hell she’s going to put me out of my goddamn misery, but from the laughter pouring from her pretty little mouth, I’m pretty confident I have my answer. “Will you become Mrs. Ava Bailey?”
The giggles fade away, and I look closely at the way she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, gazing into my eyes as though she can see deep into my soul. A few moments pass before an all-beaming smile breaks free across her beautiful face. “God, I love you!” she declares before slamming her lips on mine, taking the breath right out of me as she stakes her claim on my mouth.
“Is that a yes?” I manage to whimper out in between Ava’s lips.
“Yes! A million times yes!”
I lean my forehead against hers, smiling down at her. “Do you forgive me?”
She nods eagerly. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
Those words have the smile on my face widening. “You’re amazing, did you know that?”
“Well, I do have my moments.”
“Hell yeah, you do.” I go to press another kiss along Ava’s lips when the sound of my brother coughing halts us in our movements, causing us to turn our heads in his direction.
“Um, do you think we could get married sometime today?” Tyler hollers with a shit-eating grin on his face. “You can kiss the bride when you’ve said I do.”
Laughter erupts all around us as we happily, but reluctantly pull away. I hold my hand out for Ava to take and she does without reservation. “Let’s get married then,” I say to her as we take a few steps forward until we’re standing beside Tyler and Mia.
The minister looks between the four of us with a bemused smile.
“You can marry us both at the same time, right?” I ask, hoping there isn’t a religious restriction against double weddings.
“Yes.” He gently smiles. “Your marriage, however, won’t be legally binding since you haven’t applied for a marriage license, so you won’t technically be husband and wife, but I’d certainly be happy to perform the ceremony.”
I smile down at Ava whose sweet smile is beaming up at me, before I look back to the minister. I shake my head. “I don’t need a sheet of paper to prove my marriage to Ava. Today is about declaring my love and commitment to her, and legally binding or not, she’s going to become my wife today. The marriage license can come later with our second wedding.”
The ceremony starts and Ava and I stand beside my brother and Mia, watching with warm smiles as they exchange their vows and declare their eternal love to one another. I find myself choking up when I see the overwhelming happy tears filling Tyler’s eyes, his gaze never once drifting from Mia. My brother had always played the field; never staying with one girl long enough to make a real commitment, just a bunch of one-night stands and one-week girlfriends that were strewn together since he was seventeen. He’d always tell me he was waiting for the right woman to come along; the one who would take his breath away the instant she entered a room, who would make him furiously sweat and lose the ability to speak coherently whenever she was in close proximity. The one who would love him despite every single mistake he’s ever made, yet who is able to shape him and tame him into the man that she deserves, the one who would become his game changer. Oh, and the one who could make his toes curl with the best goddamn orgasm ever—his words, not mine. And just like me, after years of waiting for the right woman to come along, he found her when he was least expecting it, causing his entire world to tilt on its axis, changing his life forever.
My heart rate increases when Tyler finally turns to me and Ava, his lips turned up into a big-ass smile; a smile that has ‘lucky bastard’ written all over it.
“Your turn, big brother.”
I let out a steady breath as I turn to face Ava and I can’t help but lose myself in her beauty, especially now as the sun shines down on her, enhancing her beauty further. I can never understand how I got so lucky to find her, but I am forever grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with her, that she’s mine, and only mine. I’m never letting her go.
“You ready to become Mrs. Bailey, baby?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. With her right hand already encased around my left, she gently takes my other hand in hers and slips her fingers between mine, tightening her hold.
“I’ve never been more ready,” she states confidently, her face aglow with pure happiness. I can’t help the smug sensation that flows through my veins knowing that I’m the person who put that smile on her face. It’s a pretty amazing feat after such a close call yesterday.
“Good, because it’s you, me and Lily against the world,” I say before pressing my lips to hers, unable to care less that I’m not supposed to kiss her until after we’ve said our vows.
Our ceremony begins, and the moment I hear the minister ask, “Ashton Bailey, do you take Ava Jacobson to be your wedded wife?” the world around us dissolves into a mass of nothingness. All I can see is the beauty who stands in front of me as the words ‘I do’ and vows of love, honor, and til’ death do us part roll effortlessly from our lips. Until this moment nothing has ever felt so easy, and being here, marrying the love of my life, my best friend … it’s simply as easy as breathing.
A lump forms at the back of my throat as I watch the tears roll down the softness of Ava’s cheeks, all the while softly laughing. Pushing away my tears that threaten to fall, I let out a deep exhale of breath with an adorning smile and reach my hand towards the wetness on her cheeks, wiping her tears away with the pad of my thumb.
Once she’s dry of her tears, I let my hand gradually fall and caress along her bare arm, enjoying the way her skin ripples in a million tiny goose bumps under my touch before slipping my hand back into hers.