Chapter 32
Sydney
“I know you didn’t have a wedding, but what do you want to do to celebrate your wedding?” Charlie asks as soon as we have a free day.
We have one more week on Mulberry Lane and I'm already sad knowing we’ll be leaving soon. I love it here. I can understand why Peck was willing to move here. Everyone is amazing and it really is like a fairytale being here.
“I don’t know. We talked about doing something to celebrate, but I don’t think either one of us had anything particular in mind.” I shrug my shoulders.
“I was thinking…” Sophia trails off, nibbling on her bottom lip.
Peck, Wyatt, and Maverick are in the backyard playing with the kids. Carter is smiling from her place in the carrier strapped to Wyatt’s chest. She’s always so happy when she’s with her daddy.
“Spit it out, Soph.” Wes lifts his coffee mug to his lips and watches his youngest daughter.
“Well, I don’t want to be engaged forever,” she huffs out, making Addi and Wes grin.
“Ok…” I glance around, wondering if I'm missing something.
“So, when should I plan for the wedding? Saturday?” Wes asks like it would be normal to plan a wedding in three days.
“Does that work?” Sophia scrunches up her nose.
“You already have your dress, sweetheart.” Addi smiles as she brushes her daughter’s hair behind her ear.
“None of the boys have games this weekend.” Wes checks the little calendars they keep on the fridge with the baseball and hockey schedules.
“We could do it!” Charlie claps her hands in excitement.
“I just want to make sure Sydney, Maverick, and the kids can be here and I don’t know the next time they’ll be able to get away.” Sophia glances in my direction.
She’s going to be the best sister-in-law I could ask for.
She’s always inviting us to be a part of things with her family and to really be included in her life with Peck.
I think she’s really upset to move away from Maple Springs, especially because she’s taking Peck with her and she knows we’ll miss him.
I have no doubt we’ll be visiting Mulberry Lane a lot, especially while Sophia’s getting the bakery off the ground. I know she won't be able to go on vacation a lot in the beginning, even though she doesn’t realize that yet.
“We’ll make it work. You know we love you guys too much to miss it.” I smile softly at her.
“What if we have our wedding on Saturday and do it as a joint wedding?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you and Maverick are married, but no one was there for it and it wasn’t really a wedding. What if you do it again? Then the four of us can have a big party and we all get to be there for the weddings.”
A slow smile spreads across my lips as the idea takes root. I think this could work and it could be amazing.
“Let me make two calls and then talk to Maverick.”
“I never thought I’d be doing this again,” I whisper as I stare at myself in the mirror.
Somehow, I was able to find the perfect wedding dress and it fit me like a glove straight off the rack. I love the lace top and the details of the dress. It’s exactly what I always wanted, but couldn’t find for my first wedding.
“He’s perfect for you.” Sophia appears at my side and helps me get my veil in place.
Addi and the rest of the women from Mulberry Lane are like little fairy godmothers. They’ve gone above and beyond to help us get ready for this wedding.
Kendra helped us with our hair and Sammie helped us with our makeup. Kennedy’s been taking care of Bree and making sure she feels like a little princess in her flower girl dress.
Olivia’s been snapping photos of everything and somehow convinced her boss to come help with wedding photos. It’s insane to have such high-quality photographers taking pictures at my wedding.
Lacey and Delaney have checked in with the guys to make sure everything is going smoothly and Addi’s fawning over her daughter like she should be.
I love knowing Peck will have a family like this to lean on. A massive group who will drop everything to be there for each other. He deserves this more than anyone I know.
I stare out the bay window in Addi’s kitchen at the rows of chairs the guys set up in the backyard.
I don’t know how they did it, but this looks like a professional wedding.
There’s a wooden arch with flowers attached to it.
Each aisle of chairs has a wooden post next to it with lights strung between the posts.
“This isn’t our first backyard wedding,” Addi says softly as she stops next to me.
“How many of you have gotten married here?”
“Well, all of us have had our weddings on this property. Kendra, Olivia, Lacey, and mine were at the old house. You passed it when you entered Mulberry Lane. None of this was here when those weddings happened. Sammie was the first to get married here but Kennedy and Delaney followed shortly after that. Charlie refused to even entertain the idea of getting married anywhere else. It’s fitting for you and Sophia to get married here too. ”
“Why me? I'm not part of Mulberry Lane.”
“Sure, you are. You’re our family, Sydney. You’re always welcome to come stay with us when you want to visit your brothers and their families. We don’t want you to feel like you have to be invited. Just call us up and let us know you’re coming.”
“That’s not-.”
“Wes has already decided Bree and Danny are his grandchildren and unless you want to break that man’s heart, you’ll come stay with us whenever you want to visit,” Addi says firmly.
“You might as well accept that you have a new set of parents, Sydney. They won't give up until you do,” Charlie whispers as she steps up to my other side. “Blake and Kennedy will start trying next to be stand-in grandparents to the kids. I don’t think Dad and Blake know how to do anything separate from the other one.” She chuckles.
“When Peck and I started dating and you found out Wyatt was your brother, you didn’t just gain a brother and sister-in-law, you gained all of Mulberry Lane and our extended family.
” Sophia places her hand on my back as she stares out the window with us.
“Now, are you ready to go marry those handsome men?”
“Definitely.”
As the women hurry out of the house, Wes and Blake climb the stairs to the deck and enter the kitchen. Sophia instantly places her hand on Wes’ bicep and talks quietly with him as Charlie takes Bree’s hand and moves out onto the deck.
Charlie’s being both of our maid of honors and Bree’s the flower girl. The guys decided to have Wyatt as the best man and Danny as the ring bearer. We decided to keep everything small so it was easier, yet the crowd outside seems to keep growing.
“Hey, Syd? I was wondering if you’d let me escort you down the aisle? I always want to escort the prettiest girl in the room.” Blake smiles shyly at me.
“Excuse me?” Sophia turns around so fast I'm surprised she doesn’t hurt herself.
“Oh, shush. You already have your daddy and we all know the daddy’s girl wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle on my arm!” He sticks his tongue out at her before turning back to me. “What do you say? I know I'm not your dad, but I'm a pretty awesome dad anyway.” He shrugs.
“I’d be honored to have you walk me down the aisle. Thank you, Blake.”
He holds his arm out to me and I take it as we step onto the deck.
I take in all the people sitting down below us, waiting to watch as Peck and Sophia and Maverick and I get married.
I never expected to have a joint wedding with my brother, but this is perfect.
Honestly, if it were just Maverick and I getting married, it would be a pretty pathetic turn out since neither one of us really has family.
I smile when I spot Tucker, Skylar, and their kids in a row with Zoey and Colton. Maverick didn’t know I invited them until after they showed up, but I knew he wanted them here for the wedding, even if he said we could celebrate when we got home. I wanted this to be everything he dreamed of too.
I take in the rest of the crowd. There’s everyone who lives on Mulberry Lane, a bunch of the players from the Pit Bulls and the Pythons, and a lot of other people I don’t recognize.
“Man, you guys have a crazy turn out for this wedding,” Blake murmurs.
“I don’t even know who most of these people are.” I chuckle.
“Well, you have Owen and the rest of the owners of Scott, Powell, and Coleman. There are the guys from the Pit Bulls and Pythons. The scary looking guys covered in tattoos work at Ink It Up with Cole and Sammie. That row of slightly less scary guys with less tattoos, that’s everyone from Bennett Bradley Security.
The ones who look like they belong in a rock band?
Yeah, that’s Operation Riot. They’re going to sing at your reception.
There’s a row of doctors that are some of the best doctors in the country.
Somehow Sophia even convinced Jonah and Delilah to bring the twins from Tuft Swallow to be here for the wedding as a surprise for Peck. ”
“This is crazy.” I shake my head, but I couldn’t hide my smile even if I tried.
“Welcome to Mulberry Lane, sweetheart. These people have already welcomed you into the fold and there’s no getting away from us. We’re here for life.”
Blake squeezes my hand as he places it into Maverick’s. I take a deep breath and step up to the front of the arch. Peck is standing right next to me as Lincoln and Nate take turns performing the ceremony. It’s perfect and so much better than I ever imagined.
And just like that, I know that even though Maple Springs will always be home, Mulberry Lane will forever be our home away from home.