Chapter 22
Ava
After all that Matthias did to ensure our wedding would happen on the day I want it to, I’m standing in our bedroom with my best friend and matron-of-honor in the final minutes before I need to walk down the stairs and become his wife.
I’ve thought of us as married all these years, but finding out he was still married to Jillian makes me feel like I’ve been living a lie.
Thankfully, today I get to rectify that.
Eden stands behind me doing something on the back of my white sundress.
She tried to talk me into a full wedding dress, but that’s not who I am.
I may have dreamed of that when I was a girl, but now that I’m a mother of three children who’s been with Matthias for years, I decided I wanted to be comfortable and myself today.
Of course, Matthias loved hearing that since he hates wearing a tux.
“You know, I adore this dress on you,” she says as she walks around to inspect the front of me. “It’s so…you.”
I smile and say, “Simple and not frilly or fancy?”
She looks up from straightening out the hem and smiles. “Well, yeah. I doubt most people who see you when you go to the grocery store would believe you’re marrying a billionaire.”
Shrugging since what people think is none of my business, I smile in the mirror to see if I have anything in my teeth. “You married Marius, and he’s a billionaire. Do you think people believe that of you?”
Eden levels her gaze on my face. “I look high maintenance. I’ve never denied it. I have expensive tastes. You don’t. Half the time, you don’t even wear a full face of makeup. I won’t even go out to get the mail on my porch without makeup and my hair done.”
She’s always been so modest. I don’t think Eden is high maintenance. I just think she likes to do her makeup and hair. I’ve never been that kind of woman. It’s okay, though. We complement each other perfectly, which makes being best friends even more incredible.
A knock at the door makes her scurry in front of me, just in case it’s Matthias. I’m not sure why she’s doing that, though. I thought that only applied to the groom seeing the bride in a regular wedding dress. Sure, my white sundress is new, but it’s not really an official wedding gown.
My father pokes his head around the corner of the door and peeks in. “I’m being told it’s almost time.”
“Come in, Dad! You don’t have to wait out in the hall.”
He slowly walks in and closes the door behind him. “I didn’t want to interrupt you and Eden with any girl talk you’re having.”
Eden and I look at each other and laugh. “We’re grown women, Dad. We haven’t done girl talk in at least a week.”
That makes him laugh too. “Okay, maybe I should have used a better term. I just thought it was right to give you ladies time to talk.”
“Well, Mr. Sutton, we appreciate that, but I’m going to hand your daughter off to you now.” Eden wraps her arms around me for a hug and whispers in my ear, “See you at the altar. I’ll be across from the tall, dark, and handsome guy you’re marrying.”
She loves to describe Matthias that way. I guess he is all those things, but he’s so much more. Those describe his outside. What he has on the inside are the parts of him I love the most.
Alone with my father, I check out my hair and makeup, the little I’m wearing, one final time. Everything looks good, so I’m ready to go.
Behind me, my father quietly says, “Your mother would be so happy to see you today. She would be so proud too.”
I look at him in the mirror and fight to keep the tears at bay. “I wish she was here. I’d love for her to see how happy I am, Dad.”
He glances up at the ceiling and says, “Don’t worry. I know she’s watching. They all are.”
For a moment, I’m confused, but then I understand. “I wish they were here too. I know Matthias would love that.”
My father wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek. “They’re always up there watching us, and I know your mother, Max, and Elizabeth are as happy as I am today.”
I like to think they’re smiling when they see Matthias and me together. I don’t know if his mother thought I’d be the right one for her son, but I hope she sees I love him dearly.
Stepping back, my father says, “You know, I once told Max I didn’t want you and Matthias together.
Elizabeth had you two married off before you were even in kindergarten.
I wasn’t so sure about that. I see now that I was wrong.
Matthias is a good man. He cares far more about people than I thought he could.
That’s his mother coming out in him. I guess I was worried he’d be far too much like his father, and I wouldn’t want that for you. ”
I’m surprised to hear him talk like this. Turning around to face him, I say, “But I thought Elizabeth was happy with Max, and she always seemed to be very down-to-earth.”
He nods and explains, “She was, but when Max was young, he wasn’t that kind old man you knew at the end. He could be ruthless, and when it came to Matthias, she worried he’d be like Max instead of her. I’m glad the kindness she always showed to us found its way to her kids.”
Smiling because I love hearing about when my parents and Matthias’s parents were young, I say, “After the ceremony, I’d love to hear more about those days when all of you were first starting out. I’m sure Matthias would too.”
With a twinkle in his eye, my father asks, “You don’t think it would be too boring?
I mean, we didn’t have a lot of the stuff you have.
No cell phones or internet or even computers.
We’re talking phones and leaving messages with people, hoping the person you wanted to talk to would get them.
It was a very different time. You might find it a bit slow. ”
I shake my head, sure it couldn’t be that different than now. “I think it would be great to hear about, but now it’s time for us to get going. We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
He takes my hand just like he did when I was a little girl, and we walk out into the hallway. Eden is waiting for us holding her bouquet of pink roses and my bouquet of yellow roses.
“It’s showtime!” she says excitedly before handing me my flowers. “Wish me luck. I’m wearing new shoes today, and these stairs are utterly purgatorial.”
My father, ever the tease, jokes, “Break a leg!” The two of us turn to look at him like he just hexed the whole day.
“Dad!”
“It just means good luck,” he says sheepishly.
Eden shakes her head and begins walking down the stairs she’s dreading. “Let’s hope I don’t break anything. If I do, I’m blaming you, Mr. Sutton.”
When she’s already down on the first floor, he and I link arms and follow her. My father asks, “Why does she still call me that? We’re all adults now. She can call me Joe.”
I look over at him and smile. “You’re always going to be Mr. Sutton, my dad, to Eden. It doesn’t matter how old we are. Your friend’s parents are always what we called you as children. I can’t imagine even thinking of calling her mother Janine. It doesn’t sound right.”
He leans close to me and whispers, “I’d be afraid she’d bite your head off and swallow it whole.”
Suppressing a giggle, I try to chastise him, but he’s right. Eden’s mother is more than a little terrifying. I honestly don’t know how Marius deals with her.
When we reach the first floor, I hear the music begin to play.
Eden stands at the door to the patio waiting for me to get there, and suddenly, I start to feel nervous.
I’m finally getting married. I’m going to be Ava King after today.
It’s about time, some people would say, but nothing with Matthias and me has ever happened on a normal timeline.
I’m just so thankful we got through all the hard times to reach this point today.
The moment my father and I step out onto the patio, I see Matthias standing with the minister.
My soon-to-be husband looks so handsome in his dark gray suit.
It’s his favorite, so I’m not surprised he chose to wear that particular one today.
I told him he could show up in a pair of khakis and a comfortable shirt, but he didn’t think that would be respecting the day enough.
He really is just the most wonderful man.
Eden takes her place on the left side of the minister across from Matthias and his best man Marius, and my father and I continue walking toward them.
I smile at our family and friends here to join us in this big day and see Kate holding Elizabeth with Ronan beside her.
Salem and Kellen stand with Elias, along with little Theo and Matty.
Too young to be in the wedding, they get to watch their Mommy and Daddy get married on this beautiful, sunny September day.
My father and I stop in front of everyone, and he gives me a kiss before setting my hand in Matthias’s. It’s a little old-fashioned for my taste, but my father asked only that one thing to be included in the ceremony, so I couldn’t say no.
Matthias smiles at me, and I see he looks nervous. He really can be so cute. I wish I could ask him what’s making him feel that way, but the minister has already begun to speak. I feel Matthias gently squeeze my hand, and I know this is real.
We’re getting married.
When the minister says the vows, just as I begin to say, “I do,” our daughter lets out a scream that I think could be heard in the next town. Everyone laughs, lightening the mood, and I turn to Matthias, chuckling.
“Our daughter has something to say about all of this, but I think I do.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’ll have to get her a pony to get her on my good side.”
Then it’s his turn to say his vows, but there’s nothing but his strong voice when it’s time to say, “I do.” Our wedding may not have been the society party of the year, but it’s just what he and I wanted.
Family and friends together to celebrate our big day with us. We couldn’t want anything more.
“By the power vested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss.”
Clapping and cheers erupt all around us, and when we kiss for the first time as a married couple finally, it’s as magical as that first time we kissed all those years ago on that snowy winter afternoon. We’ve been through a lot since then, but we made it.
Matthias leans over and whispers in my ear when we turn to face our family and friends, “Now you’re stuck with me. No give backs no returns, Mrs. King.”
I wouldn’t trade this man for anything in this world.