“Where's my bouquet?” I asked. Missy picked the bouquet of white and yellow flowers off the bed and handed it to me. She was one out of my two bridesmaids. Niall had two groomsmen, one of whom was Riley. We were doing it small, on purpose. Nobody who didn't deserve to be there was going to show up. This was a total one-eighty from my last wedding which was full of people I both knew and didn't know, but didn't care about me. This time, it was only our closest friends, both of our families having been left off the guest list.
It was for the best. Neither of our families had come around when we told them that we were making wedding plans. Niall's family, very much in tune with their usual behavior refused to acknowledge his decision. They were pretending that if they didn't acknowledge it, it stopped existing. I was estranged from my family after everything that happened with Russell. They were interested in the marriage and wanted to come especially since Niall was a man of an even higher title than Russell had. Of course, that meant they weren't invited. As far as I was concerned, they were not reaping the benefits that they thought they would because of my marriage to Niall. The only reason they were so happy about it was because Niall was rich.
The money was nice, I would never pretend that it wasn't. Because of the money, I had one less thing to worry about. All of Russell's old debts were paid and the estate had stopped looking like an abandoned wasteland. I was eternally grateful but now I had the marriage and family life that I never had with Russell. Niall was kind and engaged and he loved Riley and me with his whole heart. During my first marriage, I thought I was getting my fairytale ending but it turned into a nightmare. This time, I was finally getting my happily ever after. I turned around one more time so I could see myself in the dress with a bouquet. That moment, the door opened and Brenna walked inside. She stopped in her tracks when she saw me.
“Oh, oh my God, you look amazing,” she said coming up and hugging me. Brenna, Niall’s cousin's wife didn't come around to the UK as much as I needed her to. We hit it off the first time that we met and we had stayed in touch through the periods that she and Charlie were back in New York. Speaking of New York, the past few months had been the longest time that Niall had spent in the UK since he had moved to New York all those years ago. We had been back and forth a few times since he still had a home and his belongings there, but for the most part, we had lived here on the estate when it wasn't undergoing renovation. I was excited for Brenna to meet Missy and just as I predicted, they got along like a house on fire.
“They're ready for you.”
“Perfect,” I said. “You guys head down, and I'll be out in ten minutes. Both of the women hugged me before leaving. I was walking down the aisle alone, for obvious reasons. I laughed. From the outside looking in, our wedding looked a little bit sad. It was like two orphans getting married. Neither Niall or I had our families there, but that wasn't necessarily true. I would have Missy and Prue there, the closest people to me. Our son would be there and Charlie who Niall regarded as a brother would be there too. Those people were our family. They had treated us more like family than our actual relatives had, and I wouldn't get married any other way.
When it was time, I went downstairs and walked outside. Behind the house, we had set up our little alter and seating area. The aisle wasn't very long since there weren’t that many people in attendance. Everyone important was there though. The music began as I approached the aisle, two wedding players on harps that we hired for the ceremony. Down the other end of the aisle was Niall in his slate gray suit. I tried not to look at him because I knew I would start crying. I walked down the aisle and stood in front of him.
“You're beautiful,” he whispered to me. The ceremony was short. It was my second wedding so I had done all this song and dance before. I didn't feel like I was missing out by having a simple ceremony now. Thankfully, Niall was uninterested in all the pomp and circumstance and all he wanted was for me to be happy. The one thing I absolutely refused to skimp on was the vows.
Niall went first. “Eddy, I'm not going to stand here and tell these people how we met because admittedly, it was under slightly unsavory circumstances. That was the day that planted the seed though, because after that day I never stopped thinking about you. I couldn't believe my luck when I met you again a few months ago in London. I knew then that it wasn't luck, it was something else. It was something greater, something bigger that said you and I were meant to be standing here today. This was the woman I was supposed to be with, and this was the family I was supposed to build. I don't know what led me here, but I'm so happy that it did Eddy. I'm going to spend the rest of my life by your side making you happy.”
Tears ran
