Chapter 80
“This dress makes you shine. I adore it!” Harper gushed as I looked at my wedding dress in the mirror. I designed it myself. I had always had this image of the perfect wedding dress for myself, and I was glad that I managed to bring it to life.
I didn’t like bright white dresses, so when I designed my dress, I chose an ivory shade. It was an off–shoulder dress with a cape that was connected to the shoulders. It was fully beaded, but the beads started to fade until they no longer existed at the very end of the chiffon skirt. It was tight from the waist to give my body a nice shape, but I chose the A–line style for the skirts.
“I’m in love with it.” I smiled, looking at my reflection in the mirror. My heart was beating so fast. There was no valid reason for my nervousness. Julian and I had known each other for years. Not to mention the fact that we had been living with each other for almost a year. Despite all of that, my heart was beating so fast. I felt like it was a minute away from jumping out of my body.
“You look beautiful, Mom!” Rosie exclaimed. Lately, she had been calling me ‘Mom‘ instead of ‘Mommy‘. Although I was aware that this transition was bound to happen, I couldn’t help but miss the way she used to call me ‘Mommy‘. It felt like she was growing up so fast. I needed time to slow down.
“Thank you, cupcake.” I widely smiled at her.
“Are you having cold feet?” Rose joked, making me laugh. If she had asked me that during my first wedding, I would have said yes. In fact, I would have told her that all I wanted was to run away and disappear from the entire planet. Today, all I wanted was to walk down the aisle to my soon–to- be husband. I couldn’t wait until I was officially his wife.
“Not at all. I’m really excited,” I admitted. Saying that out loud made me blush.
“Do you have your something blue?” Maya asked me. I had postponed my wedding until she gave birth because I wanted her to fully enjoy the day.
“Yes.” I pointed to the small blue crystal in my bouquet.
“Something borrowed?” Harper wondered and I pointed to the earrings Rose gave me five days ago.
Something old?” Rosie asked.
“Here it is,” I pointed to the two bobby pins studded with diamonds in my hair. They belonged to my mum. I liked having something she owned with me.
“Something new?” Harper asked.
“Got it.” I smirked. I wasn’t going to give more details while my daughter was around. My underwear was my something new.
A knock made all of us look at the door. Maya opened the door and Sam walked inside.
“It’s time,” he said, then looked at me. “Oh my God… Emily, you look absolutely gorgeous!”
“Thank you.” I grinned at my best friend.
“Come here.” Sam walked over to me and gave me the tightest hug he had ever given me. Sam and I had gone a long way and without him, I would never have been able to make it. He was the brother I never got to meet when I was young, but fate decided to bring us together years later.
We all headed out of the room. First, the groomsmen took their place, followed by the groom. Afterwards, the bridesmaids walked down the aisle. My heartbeats accelerated. Julian and I hadn’t seen each other in more than twenty–four hours, and I couldn’t wait to see him waiting for me at the end of the aisle. My little girl walked down the aisle, scattering flower petals here and there.
It was finally my turn. My hands were slightly trembling. I was a few minutes away from being Mrs. Kensington. For five years, I did my best to run away from having any relationship with this family. Today, I couldn’t wait until I was officially one of them for the second time.
Julian and I decided that we didn’t want to hold the ceremony at a church. Instead, we chose a nice and vast outdoor venue where the ceremony and the reception would be held.
I stood at one end of the aisle for a couple of seconds and my eyes met Julian’s. A wide smile appeared on his face the moment he saw me. I slowly walked towards him even though all I wanted to do was run, but I couldn’t just run down the aisle.
Once I was close enough, he extended his hand towards me and I took it. I looked into his eyes and I saw them glistening with tears. He pulled me close to him for a moment and kissed my forehead.
God! I was madly in love with him.
“My eyes have never seen a woman as beautiful as you,” he whispered before the two of us stood in our designated spots. I handed my bouquet to Maya who was my maid of honour and held Julian’s hands.
Chapter 80
The marriage offciant started talking and all I could focus on was the man before me and the way he was looking at me. Not once had he failed to make me feel like I was the only woman in the room.
As we held hands, he kept rubbing small circles on the back of my hands, a habit he acquired over the years and I enjoyed. These small circles never failed to make me calm down whenever I got nervous.
“Have you written your vows?” the officiant asked us.
“Yes” we both said in unison.
Julian let go of one hand and got out a paper he kept in his pocket
“Emily, ever since you walked into my life, it has never been the same. Just by being you, you made me fall in love with every single thing about you I never thought that this kind of love existed, but then you came and convinced me that I could love in a way I never considered possible. You own my heart and I like that it is in your hands. I know what life is like without you and trust me, it is horrible. I wish to spend the rest of my life with you because you make everything beautiful. You have this magical touch that nobody else has and I’m proud that I’m the one who gets to be with you
“I vow to give you the best life I could ever give you, I will do whatever it takes me to make sure that you know I love you with everything in me. I will protect you until my last breath. I will always be your Eugene as long as you are my beautiful Rapunzel. Thankfully, my makeup was waterproof because as Julian spoke, my eyes brimmed with tears and even a couple of them rolled down my checks.
“You surely know how to ruin a woman’s makeup, Julian.” I laughed making everybody laugh as well.
I looked at Maya and she handed me the folded piece of paper on which I had written my vow.
“When I was young. I wasn’t a reader. I used to pick a book every once in a while just to kill time. At some point in my life, I turned to books, especially romantic novels. I used to tell myself that the kind of love I read about in them didn’t exist. It just didn’t seem real. But then, I found you. I got to know you and I realized that book boyfriends and husbands did exist.” Another round of laughter erupted from the crowd.
“You love me in a way I have never experienced before. Whenever I am with you, I feel safe and comfortable. Even if the world was ending outside and you were with me, I would be okay with that because for a reason I still cannot figure out until this very moment, everything else fades in the background when you hold me.
vow to love you with all my heart. Just like you said Town your heart, I want you to know that you also own mine. I like that. I don’t want it back anyway because I know that you’re going to keep it safe until we’re grey and old. I vow to be your rock and to always have your back whenever you need me. I vow to be your best friend and your partner in crime, I vow to always be your Rapunzel, my Eugene. I love you”
After exchanging the rings and saying “I do” to each other, the officiant declared us husband and wife.
Not wasting a second, once Julian was told that he could kiss me, he pulled me towards him as he placed his hand on the small of my back. His lips latched on mine, and I closed my eyes, letting myself enjoy the moment. I felt the crowd laughing around us, so I opened my eyes, only to find my husband’s fist in the air in triumph.
“Im in love with you. Emily Claire Kensington,” my husband mumbled as we pulled away. Officially, I was Emily again.
“And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Julian Beau Kensington” I held onto him like my life depended on it. Julian was the love of my life and I was thankful that fate managed to bring us together despite everything we had been through
Soon, it was time for the reception, which was absolutely magnificent. I was in love with everything about my wedding. This was the wedding of my dream and here I was about to dance my first dance with the love of my life.
I was living a fairytale and all I wanted was to stay in it until the day I die. I didn’t want
You call the shots, babe
from.
How did my life end up being this perfect?
I looked at Julian and saw him dancing with our little girl who seemed to be ecstatic. Julian was the best dad you could ever find and I was that he was the father of my daughter. I couldn’t wait until we grew our family together.
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