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L: What the what??? It’s gorgeous! Congrats girl!
K: We did! Thank you all so much, it was completely unexpected, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my life.
L: Girl, Whitney will be all over this!
K: I’m gonna let her, I’ve already planned one wedding that didn’t take place. I’m not looking to do it again.
V: So many congratulations!! We need to get together to scream about this – all of us!
As I agree that we need to meet up, we end our conversation, and I decide there’s one more person that I want to inform. The next people should probably be my parents, but Caleb has been such a large part of our relationship, I want him to be one of the first to know.
K: Thank you so much for helping your dad pick this out! I can’t wait to officially be a part of your family.
I fire off the text to Caleb, feeling a little weepy, wishing he were here for me to hug. Quickly he became a part of my life I didn’t know I was missing and if it hadn’t been for him, Mason and I wouldn’t be together now.
C: You’ve been a part of our family since Dad took you out on a date. Don’t think you haven’t. I can’t wait to freak people out by calling you Mom.
K: LMAO!!
C: I gotta go to an early morning workout, but I love you, Kari. Thanks for completing our family. I can’t wait to be an older brother.
K: Have a good practice! Love you too, kiddo.
And with the biggest smile on my face, I go about my day.
CHAPTER 25
KARINA
July
There have been a lot of times in my life when I imagined my wedding day, especially when I was engaged before. That day was supposed to be the most magical day of my life. It had been planned for almost a year. The dress had cost more than I’d been able to afford, but it had been a gift from my parents, and the honeymoon was more than my yearly salary. That had been a gift from his parents. I still wonder to this day if they’d known what was going on. If that had been their way of trying to buy me off. I should have known something was up when they’d been all too eager to spend what could have been a down payment on a nice home to send us away.
All of that though, it pales in comparison to what this day means to me. Last week when Mason had asked me to marry him, I’d imagined a long engagement. I’d thought maybe we’d get married next summer before Caleb started workouts for next year, but the more I’d thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t want to wait.
Which is why, at this moment, everyone we hold dear to us is standing in the backyard of Whitney and Ryan’s home, waiting to watch me walk down a makeshift aisle in a gorgeous dress I found two days ago.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” my dad asks as he holds out his arm for me to take. He and mom have met all the important people to us in a whirlwind. They came in on Thursday and now Saturday I’m getting married. Thank God for being a teacher and having summers free.
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life,” I assure him.
As my dad and especially with my track record, I know he’s just making sure I’m ready, but at the same time he’s seen me with Mason. Anyone who’s seen me with Mason knows how much I adore him, how much he means to me, and the love and passion we share for one another.
“I have to say-,” he nods, “-I was worried when you called us and told us you were getting married. I worried you were rushing into something because of what happened last time, but the more I’m around the two of you, the more I’m convinced this is the real deal.”
“It is. I love him; I’m in love with him. I love Caleb, and we share some of the same friends. There isn’t a better man for me to marry. He treats me better than I deserve.”
“There’s no such thing.”
My dad never sees my flaws, never sees how I jump first without thinking, never sees how I don’t care about the ripples I cause if I believe in something, and he sure doesn’t see how wrong it probably was for me to sleep with Mason on the first date. But I’m beginning to learn that was the best impulse decision I’ve ever made.
“We’re ready when you are.” Whitney brings in a bouquet as she crouches to fix my train.
“Thank you again for getting this together on such short notice.” I’ve thanked her profusely numerous times, and at some point, I have a feeling she’s going to tell me to shut up.
“Are you kidding? This is what I live for. If I can’t put a wedding together in a few days, I don’t need to be a wedding planner. Sometimes it’s fun for me to challenge my contacts and my skills. While it’s a little stressful, romantic situations like this are my best to do. It makes my heart pitter-patter that the two of you can’t wait to be married. That you don’t want to have a long engagement because you just want to be married now. When Mason told me that, I knew I would do everything in my power to make it happen for the two of you.”
“Still I appreciate it.”
