Bad Boy Brit (A British Bad Boy Romance)
Page 44
Chapter 30
Riley
Two years later
“Did the cake arrive?” I asked Kaiden as I balanced about twelve other plates in my hands.
“Yes, it’s here,” he replied, sounding about as excited as I felt. “Christ, can you believe we’re already at birthday number two? How the hell did that happen?”
I grinned at this. It was so damn true. It felt like I’d given birth to Nina and Chase just yesterday, but two whole years had raced by already, and our two little angels were now walking and talking toddlers.
A chorus of wails started up from a few feet away as Nina dropped her favorite teddy bear, and Kaiden shot me a rueful smile.
“They were so quiet when they were newborns. What happened?” he asked in a teasing tone as he headed over to check on them.
“It might help if you didn’t insist on spoiling them so much,” I called out, knowing we were both as bad as each other. We couldn’t help it. After all, they were our miracle babies.
Kaiden had managed to surpass even my highest expectations of his fathering skills. He doted on the twins day and night, changing nappies and doing night feeds, and he even took them out on his own to give me the occasional moment of peace when I needed it.
He’d been even better when I’d had my operations, and I couldn’t have done any of it without him. The twins had been about seven months old when I’d been called into the hospital, and I’d been desperate not to go because I didn’t want to leave him to cope all alone. He’d been just fine, though, as I should’ve known he’d be. Even for the weeks I’d been recovering he’d done absolutely everything for us all.
In my deepest of insecurities, I’d wondered if he would look at me differently after the operations, like I was somehow less of a woman now, but I’d had nothing to worry about. He clearly found me just as attractive as ever, and he told me that I was the most beautiful woman in the universe every single day.
I was a very lucky woman.
I watched him set up the table outside, near the white marquee that we’d had erected in the spacious backyard. See, today wasn’t just the twins’ birthday…it was also our wedding day. With all the time it took to take care of two babies, two years of our engagement had flown by without a wedding, and we’d finally decided that enough was enough. I wanted to be able to call him my husband, and he wanted to call me his wife, once and for all.
Neither of us had wanted a big fancy wedding, so we’d decided on a small event at our home with only our closest friends and family in attendance. That small guest list included my aunt, who’d ended up pulling through her cancer about a year ago, and Alexa, who was still my best friend.
It was summer, so we’d hired the marquee to keep us out of the sun during the ceremony, and Kaiden had laid down a white runner carpet and sprinkled it with red rose petals. My aunt and Alexa were going to be holding onto the toddlers as Kaiden and I walked down the little aisle together, and I couldn’t wait to officially be Mrs. Cross.
Two hours later, all of the guests had arrived, and I’d changed into a simple white dress which skimmed my curves and made me feel like a million bucks. Alexa had done my hair and makeup, and soon I was standing at the end of the aisle with Kaiden.
He took my arm, and I took a deep breath.
“Ready?” he asked.
“More than ever,” I replied.
Everything else in the world seemed to fade away as Kaiden and I reached the makeshift altar where the officiant stood, and I honestly felt like I was about to burst from excitement.
“Mama! Dada!” Chase called out from the seats, and we smiled and waved at our two gorgeous children as they watched us.
My heart swelled even more as we began our vows a moment later. “Riley, when I look at you, I’m home. No matter where we are,” Kaiden began, squeezing my hands as he held them in his.
I kept listening as he spoke, thinking of how incredibly lucky I was to have a man like him. He’d given me everything I could’ve possibly dreamed of, and with our two perfect toddlers, we had absolutely everything we’d ever wanted. On top of our wonderful little family, his training business was going well, and I’d just finished my third book.
All of my dreams had come true, and it was all because of him.
Our vows were soon over, and the officiant grinned at us.
“You may kiss the bride,” he said, but he didn’t even need to. Kaiden’s lips were already on mine.
Everyone watching us whooped and cheered, and as he kissed me, it was like the very first time all over again. My head was spinning, my legs were trembling, and butterflies flitted around in my stomach until the second he broke away and stared down at me, eyes filled with adoration.
Years ago, a friend had told me that she believed people only ever fell in love once in their lives. I knew that wasn’t true at all, because every single time I saw Kaiden, I fell in love with him all over again, and that was never going to change. He might not have seemed like the perfect match for me when we’d come into contact again after all those years apart, but he’d managed to steal my heart anyway….and I was letting him keep it.
Forever.
THE END