Taking Chances (Taking Chances 1)

“That’s just sad.”

I stopped shaving for a moment and pointed the razor toward her, even though she couldn’t see me, “When you have a baby, you’ll see. And I’ll be there to laugh at you for how ridiculous you are.”

“Are you done yet? You were supposed to have done this before we even got here.”

“Rude. Aren’t you supposed to be nice to me today since I’m the Bride?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be nice to me because I’m your best friend in the entire world, your Maid of Honor and I planned an awesome day for you?”

“True,” I shut off the water and took the towel Bree was holding when I stepped out and grabbed her in a big hug, “You really are the best. I love you friend.”

“I love you too.”

Brandon walked in and when he saw us he held up his hands like he was surrendering and slowly backed back out. It wasn’t weird to see Bree and I hug, but I usually wasn’t naked.

“You’re not supposed to see her!” Bree said over my shoulder, “You’ve already seen her too much this morning. Go hide until we can leave.”

“Bree,” I whined and looked at the empty doorway, “I love you Brandon!”

You could hear the smile in Brandon’s voice, “I love you too sweetheart, I can’t wait to marry you. Bree keep your hands off my wife, you already had your chance to make her gay…too late now.”

Bree and I laughed so hard, tears were streaming down our faces. When I was finally able to take a normal breath, I wrapped the first towel around my body and grabbed another to get most of the water out of my hair.

After I was in my green Victoria’s Secret PINK sweats, and a plain button-up shirt so I wouldn’t mess up my hair later, we were off to the salon. I’d heard of Bridezillas, and brides that were so nervous they threw up or continued to cry; but I was so blissed out, all I could do all day was smile and laugh with the women in my life. We had the most amazing time at the spa, we got massages, manicures and pedicures, had our hair and make-up done, and had an endless flow of water, champagne and fruit and cheese platters. I guess they didn’t care that Bree and I were only nineteen.

We all looked amazing, and we weren’t even in our dresses yet. Everyone’s make-up was flawless, Carrie and Mom had up-dos, Breanna’s shoulder length blonde hair had loose spirals, with a braid going around the front right side of her hair, and mine was just as I’d pictured in my head. My long auburn hair was parted on the side, each side going into a soft braid down the side, coming together into a twist leading to a soft off-center bun low on my neck. After everyone that had helped us get ready for the day gave us hugs and said their congratulations, we were off in Bree’s Lexus to the ceremony and reception site.

Even though they weren’t thrilled, I’d eventually gotten my way and helped everyone set up for the wedding, so first thing we did when we got there was check both rooms to make sure everything still looked perfect. The room where we would have the ceremony had soft lighting, and twinkle lights inside tulle going down each side of the aisle. We didn’t want too much in here, so other than large bouquets of white lilies, and some more lights, that was all there was in there. The room where we were having the reception was a different story. More white tulle filled with twinkle lights made soft arcs up to the middle of the room, making it look like we were in a large tent rather than a room. The tables had white table cloths, with green, silver and black tulle running along the top. Hurricanes filled with candles were spaced evenly in the tulle. Each seat had a little thing of bubbles for the end, and a favor of a short jar filled with things to make peppermint hot chocolate. The DJ was setting up his equipment, and there were tables in the back for where the food would be. The wedding cake was really just a top piece, white with swirls of black and green, and the next two layers were a hundred cupcakes, all with the same type of designs. We were in one of the rooms in the back getting our dresses on when the guys showed up in their suits.

“Oh my gosh they’re here!” I ran towards the window to watch them walk towards the building with a huge smile on my face. I don’t know why, but I’d been holding my breath until I saw Brandon here. And he looked amazing, as did the rest of them. Dad was in a dark gray suit, with a black shirt, Konrad and Jeremy had on black suits with dark green button-ups, black vests and loose black ties. The love of my life was in all black with a loose green tie, in his arms was our bundled up son. I’m sure he’d dressed up for the funeral, but since I wasn’t exactly aware of much going on at that point, this was the first time I’d ever seen Brandon in a tie, let alone a suit. His rugged looks in a suit made him look powerful and mysterious and oh so sexy. I was already biting my lip just thinking about taking it off him tonight. We watched them until they were in the building and it took an incredible amount of will power not to rush out to my almost husband.

When there was only twenty minutes left, the girls helped me into my dress, garter, and white Converse. There’s no way I was wearing heels all night. My dress was simple and beautiful, strapless and form fitting until my hips where it lightly bunched and flared out to the floor, the back lacing up with thick ribbon. I looked at Mom and Carrie in their black and silver shimmery dresses, and my best friend in her dark green halter tea length dress. We all hugged and kissed each other on the cheek before they handed me my bouquet of white lilies and red roses, dark green ribbon holding them together, and heading out to meet the guys.

“Wow sis,” Jeremy gently hugged me, afraid to mess anything up, and kissed my cheek, “you look awesome.”

“Thanks Jer, you guys all look so handsome!” I squealed and accepted a hug from Konrad.

“You look beautiful Kid.” He kissed my cheek as well before taking Bree in his arms.

“Thanks old man.” I teased and gasped when I saw Dad and Liam, “Hi little one!” I kissed his soft head and played with his hands for a minute before Mom took him so she and Carrie could go sit down.

Jeremy and Konrad escorted them to their seats, then came back for Bree. She winked at me, and when the music started, the three of them left the room to take their places up front. Dad wrapped his arms around me and held me for a moment.

“You look so beautiful sweet girl. Thank you for asking me to give you away, it means so much that you’ve allowed us to be your family. We love you and are so proud of who you are and your choices.”

I blinked back tears when he released me, “Thanks Dad. You guys mean everything to me, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you.”

He held out his arm, and I placed my hand in the crook of it, “We’re up, you ready for this?”

“So ready!” I did a little happy dance so Dad and I were both chuckling when we rounded the corner and started our walk down the aisle.

My eyes instantly found Brandon, and his expression made my body sing. A huge smile spread across his face, accentuating his dimple, his eyes were bright as he watched me walk toward him. If Dad didn’t have a hold on me, I would have taken off running toward him, but we kept the slow pace, getting to Brandon seconds, that felt like an eternity later. When Dad gave me away, and put my hands in Brandon’s, I smiled widely at him and we continued to stare at each other, letting everything else melt away.

Hi. He mouthed to me.

I smiled and mouthed back I love you.

I love you too. He squeezed my hands tight and looked at me with an expression I can only describe as pure joy.

We said our vows, repeated words after the pastor, exchanged rings and when asked, said “I do”. The pastor announced us husband and wife, and Brandon tilted my face up towards him, capturing my mouth with his. In that moment, in that kiss, we promised each other forever and I felt like my life was finally complete. We reluctantly broke apart to face our family and friends before heading up the aisle and out of that room. As soon as we rounded the corner, Brandon took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine again.

“You look amazing Harper,” he said around soft kisses, “so beautiful.”

I ran my hands over his short hair when he pressed his forehead to mine, “We’re married,” I breathed a small laugh, “you’re my husband.”

“And you’re my wife.” He smiled as he pressed his mouth to my cheek, then my neck.

Our families found us then and we were bombarded with hugs from everyone. I was excited to see Brad and Derek had made it with their girlfriends, as well as some of Brandon’s other friends from school. We took a few pictures; the photographer couldn’t stop laughing because Brandon and I couldn’t stop kissing, and finally said she’d just continue to take candid shots throughout the rest of the reception. We ate a bit, danced a lot, and by the end of the night I’d danced with all the men in my life, including little Liam Chase, a few times. I blushed fiercely when Brandon removed the garter with his teeth, and both Konrad and Bree caught the garter and bouquet. I winked at Konrad since I knew he was planning on proposing on Christmas Eve. When Brandon wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered softly in my ear, I hurried to say good bye to our son and handed him over to Carrie, who was taking the first half of the watch. People blew bubbles at us as we made our way to the car, and we were off to our make-shift honeymoon.

Brandon rented a condo right on the beach not too far from where we lived, and we were there in no time, with Brandon carrying me through the door. He laid me on the bed before running back to my car and grabbing our bags, leaving them in the entryway and rushing back to me. His face was full of love and passion, his gray eyes burning. He stopped at the edge of the bed, and let his eyes take me in while I did the same. He’d taken off his jacket earlier in the night and rolled the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows, his green tie was still on but even looser than it had been when the wedding started. The shirt and pants fit him perfectly, stretching over his broad shoulders and chest, accentuating his narrow hips and falling perfectly down his long muscled legs. He looked like a god. An incredibly sexy god.