Zayden and I wasted no time in embracing each other as tightly as we could and kissing deeply, lovingly with all our might, as the crowd continued to cheer from every corner into the visible distance. It was done, it had happened, it was over. I was now and will always be the wife of Zayden Sinclair.
Chapter 8
Zayden
The wedding ceremony had gone perfectly and I was rather thrilled that Aria wanted to keep that part small. It made it easier to let my emotions run wild. Her vows were still sending shivers down my spine. It felt so surreal to be loved so deeply and earnestly. It was hard to believe that a girl so small could harbor that much love. And for me!
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We were at the reception at the Plaza and it was as grand as could be. Hundreds of guests – all of my colleagues and business partners and all of Aria’s friends from college and her extended family had arrived – were admiring the fantastic decoration Fiona had put together. The hall really did look like an enchanted forest, mixed with Christmas lights. I wasn’t sure I had ever seen anything quite so beautiful before. Except my wife of course.
I looked at her standing across the room and talking to my mother. It had only taken a few hours for them to start getting along. Of course, I should have thought that it would from the get go. Aria wasn’t exactly an amateur at charming someone. She had done such a fantastic job with me. My mother was hardly tougher than I was. I felt a great sense of pleasure watching them chatter delightfully, as I grabbed a glass of champagne.
The D.J. was playing all of Aria’s favorite romantic songs and I realized it was time for our first dance together. I motioned to the D.J. with a nod of my head and he understood.
“Ladies and gentleman,” the young looking guy said. “The bride and groom will now have their first dance as a newly married couple.”
The song “You and Me” by Lifehouse began to play as Aria and I slowly began walking towards each other, with everyone watching in awe.
When I held her, she put her chin against my shoulder, standing on her tip-toe in the most endearing way. We began moving together to a song that seemed to perfectly describe our moment as it was happening.
“I love you, Mrs. Sinclair,” I whispered softly against her ear and then kissed her temple.
“I love you too, Mr. Roberts,” she said with a slight giggle.
“Yeah right, so you hope.”
“How about this? We can both hyphenate. Roberts-Sinclair?”
“I really should have listened to you about that prenup, huh?” I joked, knowing that if that was what she wanted, she would have it. My name wasn’t nearly as important to me as she was. I had vowed to dedicate my life to making her happy and that was exactly what I was going to do.
“Okay, we can be Mr. and Mrs. Roberts-Sinclair,” I said after teasing her for a little bit longer. “Does that make you happy?”
“So, so happy,” she said and hugged me tighter. “Thank you, Mr. Roberts-Sinclair.”
We continued to dance into the evening, as the Christmas lights took over the wedding lights and everything was joyful and perfect. The music slowly took the form of Christmas music, as everyone danced delightedly, a little buzzed from all the champagne and wine, celebrating this extra special occasion. Soon enough, I found myself dancing with my mother, then Aria’s mother and then both of them at the same time.
After some wine in their system, the two ladies found it surprisingly easy to get along, even bonding over the music of their times, which I specifically requested the DJ to play.
I danced with Stacey as Aria waltzed away happily with Nick, who seemed to have gotten emotional after seeing one of his best friends enjoy the best night of her life. He treated her much like an older brother. Aria didn’t have any siblings and it was nice to know she had made her own family through the course of her life. Stacey, who had gotten humorously drunk, was saying some really random and funny things as we danced together.
“You know, Aria and I once went skinny dipping in our neighbor’s pool when we were fourteen,” she said giggling, while continuing to sip her champagne. “And I don’t think I am supposed to tell you this, so keep it to yourself. I hope I can trust you now that we are friends.”
“We are?” I inquired. It was nice knowing that I would now have close friends. People that looked out for you and enjoyed your company without any particular occasion to do so. It had been a long, long time since I had experienced friendship in that manner and I was looking forward to this new phase of my life.
“You know, for a brilliant billionaire, you aren’t very smart,” Stacey said pointedly. “You got Fiona Davis to plan Nick and my wedding, without us so much as asking, and more importantly you just married our best friend. And you still have to ask if we are friends? Maybe Aria didn’t make the best decision marrying you after all.” She shook her head.
“Since we are friends,” I said jovially. “I feel comfortable saying that if you repeat those words ever again, I will stab you with a dagger.”
“Do you even own a dagger?” She looked at me quizzically. “Because I do. Let me know if you ever need to borrow it. It will give much more weight to your threats, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Sure, I will gladly borrow it so that I can threaten you with it next time you call me that. For someone who calls us friends, you seem to have an awfully difficult time referring to me by anything but Mr. Sinclair.”
“Fine, Mr. Roberts-Sinclair then.” She giggled some more.
“Seriously, how do you girls find time to exchange news at such rapid speed? It has barely been half an hour since Aria and I made a decision to go with that hyphenated last name and I can swear on my favorite car that the two of you haven’t even been a foot within each other since, considering everyone has been dancing the whole time.”
“We have our ways.” Stacey said and shrugged as the Christmas carol ended. “You will get used to it soon enough. Now dance with your wife, I think the party is about to come to an end.”