Chapter 51
Alyssia
A giddy sensation rushes down my spine as Kandace lifts the teal and pink flower crown with a lace veil attached to place over my head. The veil streams down my back, blending in the with the delicate lace of my sleeveless wedding dress that extends all of the way to the floor.
I look down at my rose tattoo prominently displayed and smile.
“There you go,” Kandace sighs, taking a step back, a sheen of water covering her eyes.
“Don’t you dare start that right now,” I warn her, my own vision turning blurry.
She laughs at the same time my phone beeps.
“You stay right there.” Kandace dashes across the room to retrieve my phone from the couch.
The moment she places it in my hand, I pull up the text message from Travis.
“Oh.” I place my hand against my chest, everything inside of me going soft and mushy at the picture he’s just sent.
“That waterproof mascara is already getting a workout and the wedding hasn’t even started.”
“But look.” I turn the phone to her, showing Lucky dressed in a pair of light-colored linen shorts, suspenders over a white button-up with a matching bowtie.
“Oh, my goodness, he even has a hat,” Kandace squeals, crying now, too. “I have the most handsome Godson.” She sniffles.
Travis: Sorry about your makeup but I had to send this one to you.
He ends the message with a winky face emoji and a heart.
The phone beeps in my hand again.
Travis: Now can you please hurry up so I can make you my wife??
“So impatient,” I grumble while stifling my smile.
Today, five months after our son’s birth, Travis and I are getting married. We’ve flown our family and closest friends to the Maldives to rent out half of a beautiful beach resort.
The first thing I did this morning when I woke up was pinch myself. It took me a few moments to truly accept that while it feels like a dream, it’s also my reality. I not only have a healthy baby boy that I’m totally obsessed with, but I’m equally in love with his father, and he with me.
For a girl who spent so many years of my life believing I was unlucky, it’s as if some loving power beyond me chose to take all of the luck I thought I’d gone without, triple it, and give it to me all at once.
My heart is full to the point of bursting.
A knock at the door interrupts me from completely bawling.
“There she is,” Uncle Theo says, smiling so wide and proud that he mirrors the sun.
His smile quickly drops, however.
“What’s wrong? You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
I laugh at the worry in his voice. And because I know that if I were to tell him right now that I didn’t want this, he would do his best to get me whatever I needed.
To believe I’d shielded myself from his love for so long saddens me.
“No.” I shake my head. “Nothing like that.”
“She’s on the verge of having a meltdown because of how happy she is,” Kandace says for me.
Uncle Theo’s face instantly turns to one of understanding, and he crosses the room to embrace me.
“I’m okay,” I say after allowing him to hold me for a minute. “Let’s have a wedding.”
That’s when the flurry of action really kicks up. Annalise, who I’ve gotten closer with over the past few months, starts ushering all of the wedding party in the direction of the door to line up for the walk down the aisle.
Annalise has been a huge help in planning this wedding and a terrific aunt, in general. While she’s not the official wedding planner, she might as well be. But that would detract from her role as one of my bridesmaids. Along with her and Travis’ younger sister, Chloe.
From the back of the line of my bridal party, I hear the music start as the glass doors part. A slight ocean breeze fills my nostrils with fresh air lightly perfumed by the floral arrangements that mimic the crown on my head.
Kandace and her husband exit first, followed by Annalise and Tristan, Chloe and one of their cousins, and finally, Uncle Theo and me.
I barely make out all of faces that swim in front of me as we start walking. My entire body trembles, not from nervousness or fear, but anticipation. Movement out of the corner of my eye captures my attention. I smile and blow a kiss at Uncle Owen, who unashamedly has tears streaming down his face.
My heart melts at the sight of Lucky in his wedding attire in his grandmother’s lap.
When I turn toward the end of the wooden pier, my heart stops.
I inhale at the beauty of it all. The circular gazebo, decorated with the same blue and pink floral arrangement, surrounded by an almost luminescent body of teal water.
None of that compares to seeing Travis standing there in an exact replica of the outfit he dressed our son in.
Except Travis wears linen pants instead of shorts.
The smile on his face rivals the brightness of the sun. My heart sighs, knowing we’re safe right here, right now, with him.
I don’t walk, I float in his direction as if pulled by a magnet.
When the officiant asks who gives me away, Uncle Theo squeezes my hand. We share a look, him silently telling me that I have his blessing for this union, but he’ll never fully give me away.
“Thank you,” I whisper in his ear when he leans in, kissing my cheek.
Travis steps up, taking my hand in his, but not before running a thumb under my left eye, lightly wiping away a tear.
“You’re everything I never knew I wanted,” he says loud enough to cause a collective sigh among our guests.
It’s when I turn to look toward the guests that I notice the trophy that proudly sits by the gazebo wall.
“Seriously?” I laugh, gesturing toward the replica of Travis’ Drivers’ Championship trophy.
He shrugs, wearing a sly grin. “The team thought it should be here today.”
Yes, today I’m marrying a champion and that’s the least of the reasons why I love him with my entire heart.
The officiant welcomes our guests and explains that we’ve chosen to cite our own vows.
Travis goes first.
“Alyssia, a year ago I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be standing here today.
I couldn’t have imagined how full my heart could feel or how capable I was of loving something outside of my own selfish desires.
I love you from a place I never knew existed, but that reveals how tremendously shallow my life was before you.
“Racing used to be my sole motivation to get up each day. Now …” He pauses, glancing over to where his parents sit in the front row. Lucky squirms in his grandmother’s arms.
“You and our son are my reason for breathing. I promise to be your protector, the person you can always come to, day or night, when you’re afraid, lonely, or in need of comfort.
“I love you, Alyssia, and will until these ocean waters dry up and this land becomes desert, the sun stops rising every morning, and the planet stops spinning, and beyond that. My heart is yours.”
By some miracle I manage not to melt into a complete and utter puddle.
“Who helped you with that?”
Travis’ face splits into a smile and he rubs the back of his head. He juts his head over my shoulder. “My sister’s pretty good with words.”
I glance back to grin at Annalise. She blows us a kiss and a wink.
From then on, I can’t recall the words that come out of my mouth. I’m certain they were the vows that I spent weeks writing, but all I can think about as I recite them is how much I want to take Travis’ beautiful face between my hands and kiss him for forever.
He must feel the same, because as soon as the officiant allows us to place our rings on one another, Travis cups my face and pulls me in for the kiss that cements our union.
I sigh into his embrace, my heart finally accepting that this is real. I just married the man I will love forever.
The moment we part, Lucky has had enough of not being a part of the show. He lets out a loud squeal. Travis meets his mother halfway for the hand off. My new husband makes it a few steps before Lucky reaches out his hands for me.
I take him on to my hip, kissing his chubby cheeks over and over until he kicks his feet, giggling.
Then I kiss Travis again and again because I can’t get enough of either of my guys.
A minute later, Travis and I make our way to the cage that houses the white doves.
“Travis and Alyssia,” our officiant tells the crowd, “will now release three white doves. One for each of Alyssia’s parents, Williams and Sharon Scott, and her maternal grandmother, Eleanor Young.”
Travis wraps one hand around my back while his other hand covers mine that holds onto the cage’s door. Slowly, I twist the knob and open the cage, allowing the birds to fly freely.
Our guests erupt in applause behind us.
Travis pinches my chin between his two fingers and tilts my head up to his. His seafoam gaze examines my toffee browns, searching for sadness at the mention of my parents.
But all he finds is gratitude.
I’m grateful he insisted we add this portion to our wedding ceremony.
“Thank you,” I whisper before he lowers his lips to mine.
The kiss doesn’t last long because Lucky tries to pry our faces apart, making everyone in attendance laugh.
“It is my pleasure to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Travis and Alyssia Townsend,” our officiant declares.
We stroll down back down the pier and toward our guests laughing at the rice flying everywhere.
“Here’s to a lifetime together,” Travis says, pulling me into him at the end of the aisle. “And more love and babies.” He grins at Lucky.
“And more championships,” I add. “Don’t think because we’re married you can slack off,” I tease.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. From here on out, it’s flat out or nothing, baby.”
Thank you for reading Flat Out.