“Rave, we’re so happy for you. This is one of the happiest times of your life.”
“Thank you all.”
Besides my china, I get several pieces of crystal and houseware items. When we are done, my mom serves champagne, and we eat. I tell my mom about the charities we want to look into, and she promises to get some names for me to contact.
Around four o’ clock, Robbie walks in and looks around at us in horror. “Mom, what happened to your house? We can’t have a party with all this girly shit.”
“Robbie!” Ember shouts.
I whip my head to my mom and see an equally surprised look on her face. She doesn’t miss a beat and smiles widely at Ember. “Thank you Ember, I taught my son better than to talk like that.”
Ember turns a bright shade of pink and hides her face in her hands. Robbie sets his motorcycle helmet on the entry table and comes in to greet everyone. When he gets to Ember, he pulls her into a hug and kisses her cheek softly. There are tears in my mom’s eyes.
We clean the living room and pile my gifts in a corner as some of the moms’ clean the dining room table off to get ready for tonight’s dinner spread. My dad comes in from wherever he’s been hiding, and he and Robbie go out back to set up the patio and porch.
I walk into the kitchen to offer to help and notice a full service crew setting up bars and appetizer stations.
“Raven, your dad and I hired some help tonight so we can enjoy the party.”
“This is so awesome, thank you.”
I hug her tightly, and she whispers in my ear. “Tonight belongs to you and Declan, but tomorrow you are going to fill me in on Robbie and Ember.” I nod against her and giggle.
Declan and David arrive at five and then the house starts filling with all the men. My parents set most of the party in the back. The have standing heaters, tiki torches and lantern lighting all around the perimeter of the patio. There’s a bar set up in the corner and light music playing over the speakers. I try to stick close to Declan, but we are pulled in opposite directions.
I’m in the middle of explaining our wedding plans to Charlie and Kendall’s moms when I feel a squeeze on my shoulders and a light kiss on my cheek. Declan pulls me to his side and introduces himself again to the women. We talk for a few more minutes before he excuses us and leads me into the house.
In the kitchen, he kisses me softly. “How was your party?”
“Wonderful? I can’t believe you remembered my pattern. Thank you for helping my mom with that.”
He doesn’t answer but kisses along my jawline delicately.
“Cut it out, we’re bringing in the food now.” Robbie passes us with a tray of kabobs.
The kitchen fills with people and we get in line to fix our plates. The servers walk around and refill our drinks and clean after we are finished.
“Raven, are you going to do your wedding announcement when you get home next month or after the reception in May?” Mrs. Black asks.
“To be honest with everything going on, I thought about holding back. I guess I need to get it together. We’ve already ordered the reception invitations to reflect it’s a celebration.”
“Raven, don’t let those hateful people take away from your wedding. And speaking of invitations, I loved it. It was perfect for the two of you.”
I smile at my mom and mouth ‘thank you.’ She took care of them for me once I gave her the time and the picture I wanted to use. Declan and I chose one of us in front of the marsh that Laurie had taken while we were touring around the island.
Once everyone’s finished eating, my dad ushers us back to the patio where there are two chairs set up in the middle and a pile of unopened presents. Declan and I sit down, and he looks at me uncomfortably. I explain that we’re supposed to open them while everyone watches. At first he’s hesitant, but by the last gift, he’s enjoying himself.
Declan and my mom were right; I did want this. I just didn’t know it.
Chapter 47
Wedding Weekend
Declan
It’s almost time. Thank fuck! We leave for Florida tomorrow. I look through my folder one last time making sure I have everything we need for the honeymoon. Raven has taken care of all our wedding paperwork and has confirmed everything with Laurie one hundred times. Our parents and a handful of our friends are on our flight tomorrow, but the rest are on a later flight.
Jay called today and told me the reporter had a proof for us to read on the article. I promised to look over it, but wanted to wait until Raven could read it too. The photographs were also ready, and when I opened the email, I almost lost my shit. They wanted to use the pictures of her in my arms topless with the guys behind us as the cover for the magazine. The picture was cool as shit, but I was torn about thousands of people seeing it. The video was one thing, but for some reason this made my overprotective instincts kick in. As soon as we approved everything, they agreed to push the publish date up.