Chapter EIGHTEEN
Three Weeks Later
Emma surveyed her reflection in Grammy’s full length mirror. Turning left and right, she let the poofy layers of her bridal gown twirl around her. In her mind, the dress had been the most beautiful thing she had ever seen with its empire waist flowing into yards of satin along with the intricate pearl and sequined encrusted beading of the bodice. She never imagined finding such a beautiful maternity bridal gown, especially on short notice.
But now that the big day had arrived, she wasn’t so sure. “Ugh, I think it’s safe to say I look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man,” she moaned.
“Oh hell no, you do not!” Casey argued, adjusting the glittering tiara at the top of Emma’s head.
Emma’s cousin, Stacy, nodded as she helped to fluff out the long veil. “Don’t be silly, Em. You’re absolutely gorgeous.”
“If I were straight, I’d totally want my bride to look just like you,” Connor said, with a wicked grin.
“Oh God, you’re starting to sound too much like Aidan,” Emma replied.
“Now you listen to them, sugar. You look stunning!” Grammy cried from behind Emma. She hadn’t even looked up from digging around in her jewelry box for one of Emma’s “borrowed” items. The blue lace interwoven into her garter counted for her something “blue” while the dress and veil completed the “new”. Carefully concealed under the yards of fabric was her “old” in the form of a pair of cowboy boots. Today she was going for comfort as well as shoes that fit on her swollen feet and wouldn’t make her trip and fall.
Emma sighed. “I appreciate you guys trying to make me feel better, but seriously, it’s a toss up between the Stay Puff dude and The Michelin Tire guy.”
Casey snorted. “Stop fishing for compliments.” Grasping Emma’s shoulders, she turned her around. “You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen in my entire life, and I’m including myself in that figure! It doesn’t matter if you’re seven months pregnant. The moment you start down that altar, you’re going to take Aidan’s breath away.”
Tears welled in Emma’s eyes at Casey’s compliment. “Oh shit, don’t start the waterworks now and mess up your makeup!” She waved her hands frantically in front of Emma’s face.
Emma pushed them away. “Okay, okay, I won't cry.”
“Good.”
With a strand of pearls in her hand, Grammy stepped over to them. “Can you all give us a moment?”
Casey smiled. “Sure. We’ll go get the bouquets out of the fridge.”
“Don’t even think I’m letting you put on my boutonnière.”
“And just why not?”
“Because you always end up stabbing me!” Connor cried. They continued bickering as they went out the door.
Once they were alone, Emma arched her brows expectantly. Grammy’s expression was so serious it made Emma uneasy. Trying to lighten the mood, she joked, “You know you don’t have to have the sex talk with me, right?”
Grammy waved her empty hand dismissively. “I should hope not. Of course, I assume that ship sailed back with Travis.”
Emma’s face warmed as she nodded. Without another word, Grammy moved to stand behind Emma. She brought her hands over Emma’s head and then slipped the strand of pearls around her neck. They rested a little past Emma’s collarbone.
After she fastened the clasp, Grammy gripped Emma’s shoulders and then caught her gaze in the mirror. “All my life, I wanted a strand of real pearls. For our third wedding anniversary, your granddaddy worked two extra jobs to buy these pearls for me after he did something much like Aidan did.”
Emma gasped in horror. “Oh Grammy, I can’t believe Granddaddy would ever do something like that!”
“He thought he could run from marriage and commitment, but when he did, he realized his mistake. It’s something I’ve never told anyone, not even your mama.” Grammy smiled. “Of course, our making up after his affair was the whole reason why she was here in the first place. I guess I got these pearls and your mama out of the deal.”
“So you forgave him?”
“I’m still with him, aren’t I?”
Emma fingered the pearls while thinking of all the happy years her grandparents had together. Never once had she ever seen a crack in the fa?ade. They were what she aspired to be when it came to a married couple.
Grammy patted Emma's back. “I wanted to tell you this today so you would understand that no marriage is perfect. There’s going to be good times and bad times and heartache and joy. Don’t ever think that because of what happened before that your love isn’t as strong or as beautiful as anyone else’s. It's the love that goes through the hardest trials and survives that is worth having.”
“Thank you, Grammy.” She leaned over and kissed Grammy’s wrinkled cheek. “Do you think Aidan and I will be as happy as you and Granddaddy have been?”
Grammy smiled. “I think you will.”
“I hope so.”
“Time flies so fast when you’re happy and in love. One minute you’ll be young, and the next minute you’ll be standing in front of your granddaughter, who looks so much like her mama did on her wedding day.”
At the mention of her mother, Emma’s eyes misted over again. She would have given anything for her mother to be standing beside her, adjusting her veil, and telling her she made the most beautiful bride.
When she met Grammy’s eyes again, Grammy shook her head. “The last thing on earth your mama would want is for you to be sad today. She would want you to be happy and to embrace the wonderful future ahead of you with Aidan and with Noah.”
“I know she would. It’s just hard.”
Grammy stepped around to touch Emma’s cheek. “I know, baby girl. She was my only daughter, and I’d give anything to have her here. But she’s never very far away. She’s always right here.” Grammy placed her hand over Emma’s heart. “She’ll be there with you today, and when that sweet baby boy comes into this world and is put into your arms for the first time, she’ll be right there too.”
Emma bit down on her lip to stifle her emotions before throwing her arms around Grammy. “Thank you for being here with me today.”
“It’s my pleasure honey.”
Granddaddy cleared his throat in the doorway. “All right, that weddin’ plannin’ woman said to tell y’all it’s time.”
Emma pulled out of Grammy’s arms. For a flickering second, she saw Granddaddy in a different light for the mistakes of his past, but then she thought of Aidan and of forgiveness, and a smile curved on her lips.
She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. When she pulled away, she grabbed the lapels of his suit and smiled. “Look how handsome you are.”
Granddaddy beamed. “It’s my best suit. I hoped it would do.”
“I’ll be honored to be on your arm.”
As they started out the door, he stopped her. “Virginia told you about the pearls, didn’t she?”
Emma’s mouth gaped open. “How did you know?”
“The look on your face when I walked in.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, Emmie Lou. I’m just surprised that Aidan didn’t tell you.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You told him? When?”
“The time he came up here to get the food while you were on bed-rest.”
“But why?”
Granddaddy grimaced. “I wanted him to understand that I knew where he was coming from, but at the same time, I wanted him to fight like hell to get you back.”
“You like him that much?”
“I do.” Granddaddy grinned. “I think I might even love him.”
Emma jerked her head up to stare at him in surprise. “Seriously?”
“I’m happy for you, Emmie Lou. I think ol’ Aidan’s gonna make you a mighty fine husband.”
“Oh Granddaddy,” she murmured, her eyes filling with tears.
“Don’t cry now.”
“They’re happy tears, I promise.”
“Yeah, but you’ll get me in trouble with all the hens around here if you mess up your make-up.”
She giggled. “All right then. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.”
“Good then.” Eying Emma’s dress, he scratched his head. “Let’s see how we’re gonna get you out of here in that thing.”
She giggled as she turned to the side and slid out of the bedroom doorway. As she swept out into the living room, she found the wedding planner organizing the bridal party. “How do I look Aunt Emma?” Georgie asked, spinning around in his tiny tux.
She grinned. “You look so handsome and so grown up.”
He thrust out his pillow. “I thought today I would get the real rings.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but Casey and your Papa Patrick are in charge of the rings.”
Georgie cocked his head. “Then why the hell am I the ring-bearer?”
Emma’s eyes widened while Casey tried to hide her laughter behind her bouquet. “George Byron Parker! Don’t you dare say a naughty word like that!” Emma chastised.
“Is hell a naughty word?”
“Yes, it is.”
Georgie shrugged. “Oh, I just heard John and Uncle Aidan using it.”
“Well, let them be in trouble, not you.” She patted his back. “You have a very important job as the ring bearer, even without the real rings. You’re part of our wedding party, and that makes you very special.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Georgie seemed momentarily appeased. Then his face clouded over again. “Do I really have to walk with her?” he jerked his chin over to Emma’s cousin, Sarah, the flower girl.
“What’s wrong with Sarah?”
Georgie rolled his eyes in exasperation. “She’s a girl!”
Emma bit her lip to keep from grinning. “I promise she’s a very nice girl, and you won’t have to hold her hand or anything.”
“Good!”
Marie, the wedding planner, clapped her hands. “Okay then. It’s time. Georgie, Sarah, you’ll go out first. Then I need Connor, Stacy, and Casey…oh my, that rhymed,” Marie giggled.
Casey rolled her eyes as she handed Emma her enormous bouquet. “This chick has seriously got to go.”
Emma welcomed the laugh that bubbled from her lips. It helped to ease the nerves she felt. Drawing in a few deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. After all these years, it was finally happening. She was getting married. As she felt Noah kick beneath her yards of fabric, she shook her head and smiled. God had certainly blessed the broken road of heartache and loss to get to this point of extreme joy.
As they stepped onto the front porch, Emma glanced up at the sky. It was like God had smiled down on their special day by blessing them with not only a beautiful cloudless sky, but one of Georgia’s unseasonably warm days for late January. She leaned on Granddaddy’s arm as they took the path around the house. Memories flashed through her mind of taking the same turn with Aidan as they snuck away for their midnight skinny dipping escapade.
The grassy aisle leading up to the altar was covered with intertwining red, pink, and yellow rose petals. Emma’s heart warmed as it was a special touch, not just to liven up the dying winter grass, but it was a reminder of happy times with rose petals in the hotel room on their first baby-making venture as well as their engagement. It brought a beaming smile to her face. But her smile grew even wider at the sight of Aidan standing at the front of the altar. He peered down the aisle, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of her.
The string quartet finished playing Canon in D and then changed over to the first strains of the Bridal March. “It’s show time, Emmie Lou,” Granddaddy said, a mixture of amusement and regret vibrating in his voice.
She drew in a deep breath and stepped forward into the aisle. As everyone rose out of their chairs for her entrance, her gaze honed in on Aidan’s as he finally took her in.
His mouth gaped open while his blue eyes widened. Her breath caught at his reaction. Instead of the cocky grin she expected at her appearance, surprise filled her when Aidan’s eyes shimmered with tears. Her heart shuddered and then restarted. In that moment, all she wanted was to power-walk up the aisle so she could get to him and throw her arms around him. She couldn’t imagine ever loving him more than she did in that moment.
An eternity seemed to pass before she reached his side. Aidan swept the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. Although a shaky smile flashed on his face, emotion raged in his blue eyes. Without thinking, she let go of Granddaddy’s arm and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh Aidan,” she murmured, squeezing him tight.
“Emma, I’m almost speechless. I mean, you’re like nothing I ever could have imagined.” He sucked in a ragged breath and shuddered in her arms. “You’re like a f*cking vision.”
Once again, a flashback filled her mind of the night she met him for their first baby-making session. He had crossed the crowded hotel lobby, kissed her, and then told her those words. “God, Em, I love you so much it hurts,” came his pained whisper in her ear.
“I know. I love you so much, too.”
The minister cleared his throat. “I don’t believe we’ve gotten to that part yet.”
Remembering where she was and how she was totally blowing the carefully scripted plan, she jerked away. “Oops,” she replied, a warm flush filling her cheeks.
Laughter rang through the crowd. Stepping back, she slipped her arm once again through Granddaddy’s. “I’m supposed to give you away, Emmie Lou, not have you run away as fast as you can,” he quipped.
She smiled at him through her tears. “You’re never giving me away, and you know that.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Baby Girl. Especially not with you carrying that fine, strapping great-grandson of mine. He’s gonna need a man to teach him a few things.”
“Granddaddy!” Emma hissed as Earl winked at Aidan.
The minister once again cleared his throat. “Dearly beloved we’re gathered here today in the sight of God to join together Aidan Patrick Fitzgerald and Emma Katherine Harrison in the bonds of holy matrimony.” Emma began to tune the minister out and drown herself in the smiling image of Aidan before her.
She barely noticed when Granddaddy officially gave her away and left her side to go sit with Grammy. She even had a hard time focusing on her cousin, Dave, as he sang a twangy rendition of John Lennon’s Grow Old Along With Me. There was no one for her in that moment but Aidan—the man who had made all of her dreams come true.
Emma jolted back into reality when the minister called her name, and she then repeated her vows as he prompted her. “I, Emma Katherine Harrison, take you, Aidan Patrick Fitzgerald, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer until death us do part.”
In a booming voice, Aidan repeated his vows with complete and total assurance, which made Emma’s heart flutter. He then took her wedding band from Patrick, his best man, and slid it onto her finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
When she glanced up at him, he winked at her, and she couldn’t help grinning at the glimmer of his cocky side rearing its head. She took his ring from Casey and slipped it on his finger and repeated the words.
They then turned to the minister who smiled. “By the power vested in me by God almighty and the fine state of Georgia, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He gave Aidan a pointed look. “You may now kiss your bride.”
“About time,” Aidan replied before bringing his hands to cup her face. His lips met hers in a chaste, yet passionate kiss. Thunderous applause echoed around them as Aidan pulled away.
Linking her arm through his, they started down the aisle and down the hill to the barn to celebrate.
***
As Dave and her cousins’ band perfectly harmonized the lyrics to her first dance song, Emma swayed in Aidan’s arms. Glancing up at the canopy of twinkling lights, she couldn’t believe how Marie and her team had transformed the barn into a winter wonderland. It was utterly breathtaking, and she couldn’t help sighing with contentment at how perfect everything had turned out.
Working on their tight schedule hadn’t been easy, but Grammy, along with her aunts and cousins, had whipped up a meal better than any catering company. Just the thought of the delicious BBQ she had consumed sent a small burp escaping from her lips.
With his blue eyes twinkling with amusement, Aidan gazed down at her. “Excuse me,” she peeped.
“Eat a little too much?”
“Maybe.”
“Damn, it was good.”
“It was, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Everything has been good. Well, this song could be a little better.” Aidan wrinkled his nose. “How in the hell did I let you talk me into John Denver for our first dance as man and wife?”
“For You is a beautiful song. Did you even bother listening to the lyrics? It’s about how the rest of my life is for you and you alone!”
Aidan grinned at her outrage. “You’re right. It is a beautiful song. And Dave is knocking it out of the park. But still…”
“And just what would you have preferred?” Emma asked as the last chords of the song finished.
Before she could press him again, Dave interrupted her thoughts. “Our next song was especially picked out by Aidan. He wanted Emma to know how much the lyrics mean to him and their relationship. So Em, here’s You Save Me.”
Emma gasped as she jerked her gaze from Dave to Aidan. His signature cocky smirk curved on his lips. “You really did that?” she asked as Dave began singing the Kenny Chesney classic.
“Yes, I did.”
As she stilled in his arms, she let the familiar lyrics echo through her mind. She felt Aidan’s breath warming her cheek. “And it’s the truth, Em. You do save me. I would still be lost if you hadn’t come into my life, and I thank God everyday that you gave me another chance to show you how much my soul cries out for you. There will never be anyone else for me in the world.”
Tears welled in her eyes as he tilted her chin to look at him. His jaw was hard-set with determination. “I mean it, Em.”
“You saved me too,” she whispered.
He kissed her tenderly before pressing his face to her cheek. “If you would have told me this time last year I would be a married man with a kid on the way, I would’ve laughed my ass off and called you crazy,” he mused. When she tensed, he pulled away and smiled. “Boy, I was a crazy bastard then.”
She returned his smile. “I would have done the same thing if someone had told me I would not only be married but carrying the child of the creep who hit on me at the Christmas Party.”
Aidan laughed. “Fate has a funny way of working things out, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.”
He tightened his arms around her as the song came to a close. “So why don’t we hurry up and cut the cake, so we can get the hell out of here and start our honeymoon?”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Are you really that impatient?”
He grunted. “You cut me off ten days ago. I’m going to explode.”
“I wanted our first night as man and wife to be special,” she countered.
A smirk twitched on his lips. “Then let’s make it special sooner.”
“Patience is a virtue, Mr. Fitzgerald. I’m not going to miss out on dancing the night away with you because of your libido. Besides, I want to dance with Granddaddy and your father, and I want you to dance with Grammy. We’re only going to have a wedding reception once.”
“Okay, okay,” he grumbled.
Leaning in, she whispered in his ear, “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
Aidan chuckled. “You don’t have to promise me anything, babe. I’m so crazy in love with you I’ll do anything you ask—including waiting to get laid.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she said, “Oh, who needs poetry when I have you to say romantic lines like that?”
He grinned. “You know I’m one hell of man, babe!”