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“Merry Christmas!” we all exclaimed back.
“But more importantly,” she said, sitting down next to me. “Happy wedding day to the best best-friend in the whole world!”
“That would be you.” I smiled, which made Fabio give me a stern look. I was supposed to be sitting still. “Can I have one moment, Fabio? I want to look at my maid-of-honor.”
“If you must,” he said reluctantly.
“Stacey, you look amazing!” I exclaimed upon turning around to look at her. She was wearing a bright purple dress of her own choosing – I didn’t believe in subjecting my maid-of-honor to a hideous dress of my choice – and her hair was tied up in a neat bun.
“Nothing compared to the bride of course, you’re going to be turning heads in all of Central Park today, mark my words.”
I beamed delightedly. “We will be,” I said, reaching out both my hands to grab hers. “I can’t believe this is happening, Stace. I am actually getting married today!”
She joined my squealing, which made me feel a whole lot better about me acting like a little girl all morning.
“Now let Fabio finish getting you ready so you can go get married.”
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When Stacey, Nick and I arrived at Central Park – we had a separate limo sent to us than Zayden’
s – nobody was there except an old lady with bright blonde hair dressed in a designer red outfit.
“You must be Zayden’s mother,” I said brightly approaching her. I realized it was the lady I had met at his house that one morning.
“You must be his newest play toy,” she said with a fake smile. “Good for you, hun. Make sure he gets to play well, since you’ll be getting quite a lot of monetary advantage in this situation.”
“That is incredibly rude,” I said with a smile still plastered to my face. “And under any other circumstances I would have responded with an equal - if not more – sass, and believe me I may look small but I am capable of a lot. However, it is my wedding day and you are the mother of the most important person in my life, so I will be nice. Look, Mrs. Sinclair, I understand you have your own little pre-conceived notions about who I am and what I want from your son. And you know what, in a way it’s oddly endearing. It means you care about him in your own little weird way. But make no mistake, I care about him too and I will not have anybody questioning my intentions. Of course, I can’t expect you to change your mind based on my words alone – anyone can claim anything, after all, as you witnessed from the whole disaster with Gina, a woman I believe you did in fact approve of for your son. All I ask of you is you reserve some judgment until you get to know me. After a month or two, if you still feel like I am using your son for money and don’t actually care about him, feel free to hate me.”
“Bold. I like that. I should have known Zayden wouldn’t be marrying some wussy,” Mrs. Sinclair said with an awkward – but what I suspected to be genuine – smile. “And pretty too. Very pretty,” she said those words with a sternness that almost felt like an insult. “Well, I guess I can reserve judgment after all.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to sound softer. Somehow her approval of my boldness made me soften towards her a little. She was an old woman and the thing that mattered most was that she cared about Zayden. “I, on the other hand, don’t need to reserve any judgment,” I said smilingly. “You seem to care about Zayden which wins my approval of you.”
“I don’t recall asking for your approval,” she said in a stern voice, but seemed somewhat amused.
“You didn’t have to.” I grinned. “Now if you excuse me, I have to go get married to your son.”
I turned away, realizing a little too late that the effect couldn’t have been as grand as I had hoped considering that Zayden had yet to even arrive. I simply sat down on one of the benches by the tree where we were holding the ceremony and admired the breath-taking view. Getting married on Christmas Day was a stroke of pure genius, for New York City looked like it had been embellished with the joy that I was feeling.
All the trees in Central Park were covered in Christmas Lights, and the buildings on the edge of the horizon appeared to be glowing in celebration of my big day. Everything was bright and shiny. The crisp winter air of December didn’t even bother me – despite wearing a sleeveless dress – because the happiness of the moment was enough to keep me warm from within.
When Zayden’s limo pulled in and he got out of it, I was sure my heart stopped for a few moments. He looked just like a movie star in his tuxedo and I took a deep breath, unable to believe that this was the man I would soon marry. The look on his face mirrored my awe and I could swear I saw the hint of tears in his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to see me yet, but since we were getting married in a park there was nowhere to hide.
My mother walked me down the aisle, something I was very happy about. She had, after all, been both my mom and dad for me the last few years and she deserved this honor. I hadn’t even thought to look for my dad to invite him to this wedding. He had decided to run away and with that lost all my respect. But mom looked radiant and proud as she took my hand and walked with me right until I stood face to face with Zayden. Nick and Stacey were next to me while Ned stood cheerfully behind Zayden.
The minister began the ceremony and half-way through asked if we had written our own vows.
“Yes,” we both said. And I went first, because I didn’t think I would be capable of speaking after I heard what Zayden has to say.
“Today I am fortunate enough to be entering a union with the love of my life and I doubt there is a single person on this planet that is as happy as I am. I love you Zayden Sinclair and even though I ignored your advances at first, somehow I feel like I knew this since the moment we first met. You have the wits and charms to win over the heart of any woman in the world, yet you chose me and fell for me, making me feel like the luckiest woman in the world. You are as kind as you are handsome, something not many people get to see because they haven’t spent as much time with you to know you like I do. You practically saved my family and never asked anything in return. You go out of your way to do little things for me, which in turn are things of great value. The amount of time you spent going over my homework with me. And submitting my paper to that journal. Things you had absolutely no reason to do, except that you thought somehow they would make me happy, and you were right. I have learned so much from you, Zayden, just from a few months of our time together. I yearn for our days ahead when I will only learn and grow more from your incredible company and our love, both personally and professionally. You have made me feel like the luckiest woman on this planet and I want to return your love by making you feel like the luckiest man every single day, every single hour, every single minute for the rest of our lives. I love you, Zayden Sinclair, and on our wedding day, I vow to always love you just as much as I do right now, and a little bit more with every passing day, as we build a life together and grow old together. And live happily ever after.”
Zayden beamed delightfully, as Stacey and my mom began to sob into their handkerchiefs. Even Zayden’s mom looked reluctantly moved. I found myself tear up as well, from the sheer power of the words I had spoken. Because they were true and because we were in love and because this was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to me.
By the time Zayden spoke his vows, his voice was trembling.
“Aria, Aria, Aria. I feel like there is very little words can say that can describe just how ecstatic I am to be here with you today, ready to make you mine forever. I think I have spoken enough of why you are so extraordinary – which no one can argue that you are one in a million – and of our past and how you made me fall in love with you so hopelessly. Today, I want to speak of our future. Oh the beautiful, magnificent future we are going to build together, Aria. I wish I could show you the things we are going to be doing together, extraordinary things, both in terms of business and our personal lives. I can’t wait to build my perfect family with my perfect partner. We will have as many kids as you want and can have. They will all take after their mom and be adorable little feisty trouble-makers. We will buy a house in every State – and country – you desire so you are never bored of a place again. Your mind is too grand to be stationed at a single town. You are capable of so much Aria. I look forward to being your business partner almost as much as I look forward to being a husband – which is still not nearly close enough, cause God I have never looked forward to anything in my life as much as I look forward to being your husband – and I know you will take my life to its highest points and my business too. You will get everything your enormous heart desires, before you even ask for it, before you even realize you want it. I will take care of all your needs and always love you with everything I have, more every day than the last. Even when we are old and wrinkly and blind. No matter what. In sickness and in health. You are right, Aria, this right here is exactly what fairy tales are made of. You are right. This is our happily ever after.”
Everyone burst into applause, as I started bawling as hard as Stacey and my mom. Even Nick was tearing up and Zayden’s mom’s eyes seemed rather twinkly. I was so overcome with emotion that for a moment, I had even forgotten where I was, until I saw that hundreds of onlookers were gazing at our wedding. Strangers dressed in bright and colorful Christmas outfits were cla
