by RP Fischer
I’m so excited for our trip, and I think I know what to get Aaron as his surprise since he wanted this vacation to be special. A few months ago I went to the Bands For Arms website and got Aaron the Law Enforcement support bracelet. He loves this company, and after the research I’ve done when he gave us our first bracelets, I love it, too. The bracelet got here right before Thanksgiving, but I’m holding out to give it to him until after our trip.
I got a little something else for our actual trip. Okay, not a little something.
A big something.
Something I’m beyond nervous to give him but is extra special that every time I think about it, I nearly start crying.
I know he keeps saying we’ll be together for the rest of our lives, so I want to connect us in the best way we can. I have it hiding in my suitcase.
I want it to be spectacular.
I want it to be just us.
I want the moment to last forever.
My heart pounds our entire trip. What I’m gonna do is stuck at the forefront of my mind every step of the way, but I’ve still thoroughly enjoyed our vacation. Our trip has been the ultimate tourist experience. We’ve been to Fenway Park, the Freedom Trail, the Sam Adams Brewery and all the top sites in Boston.
As a kid, I looked at everything as if it were larger than life. History that I didn’t understand, beer I wasn’t allowed to drink, and other stuff little kids couldn’t quite possibly grasp. Now as an adult, I can appreciate everything, historical and whatnot. Spending this trip with the love of my life is only the icing on the cake.
We leave first thing in the morning, but we’re making the most of our last night. We’re in the middle of a sleigh ride around the Boston Gardens, and my nerves are telling me it’s time to do this or I never will.
I grasp Aaron’s leather gloved hand in mine. His stormy blue gaze turns to me, and my heart triples in angst, nerves, happiness, love, and anything else one can feel when they’re freaking out.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Mainly, your Christmas present.”
He tightens his hold on my hand. “You can talk to me about anything. Whatever you got me for Christmas, I know I’ll love. But all I really want is you.”
I reach into my jacket pocket and bring the black platinum ring into my palm. His eyes grow larger than a grapefruit when he sees it.
“See, Aaron. My Christmas gift to you is actually, me. You wanting to marry me. Us being together forever.”
He takes the black band from my hand and fiddles with it. Without me pointing toward it, he sees the silver lettering inside where I had, “My Lifeline” inscribed. With the ring still in his palm, he grabs the sides of my face and pulls my lips to his.
After a few seconds of the best lips invented against mine, he pulls away.
“Ooohh, Kylie Mitchell soon to be Hanston. The answer is Fuck Yes.”
INNER SQUEE!
He kisses me hard again before he speaks, “Aren’t I supposed to be the one getting down on one knee, making the grand speech, and asking you to marry me?”
I laugh as we both slide the ring onto his hand.
“You could, but I thought about it. We’ve wasted enough time dancing around our feelings. I know you’re my future, and you already told me I’m yours. Why not make it official?”
It’s his turn to pull something out of his pocket. It’s the most beautiful square cut diamond with two bands wrapped around it in almost an infinity symbol. Engraved inside where the thickest parts meet, also has “My Lifeline” written.
It’s crazy how much he knows me. He grabs my left hand with his and slips the ring onto my finger. His voice wavers as he lifts the hand to kiss the ring that sits perfectly on my hand.
“I’d marry you tomorrow if I could.”
I take my hands from his and cup his face in my hands like he did with my own face. “How about we get the license tomorrow once we make it home and we plan something quick, but small?”
He settles us back against the sleigh carriage and holds me close. “Well future, Mrs. Aaron Hanston. We’ll have to somehow get practicin’ on the wedding night festivities.”
My grandmother has a fairly large apartment, but I call her and tell her that we’re going to check into a hotel for the night and that we will see her for breakfast first thing in the morning with some good news.
I think she can already guess what has happened because she suggests the honeymoon suite at the Ritz.
We take a far less glamorous approach, but still manage a beautiful suite in downtown historic Boston. Aaron orders champagne and a delicious chocolate cake from one of Boston’s best bakeries near our hotel.
Inwardly, I laugh. Somehow a lot of our fun yet intimate moments alone involve some sort of dessert.
I’m definitely not hating on that idea at all.
I might smear some chocolate all over him and enjoy the dessert a little more.
I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling the whole night.
When we’re not pre-consummating our marriage, loudly and with many orgasms, we’re talking about our wedding.
I get to marry the woman of my dreams at the start of the New Year. How all the women of the Hanston and Mitchell clans can plan a wedding in just a few short days is beyond me, but Kylie has faith that once we tell everyone the news, everything will fall right into place after that.
Even before last night, I started the process of moving all the stuff around my place to make room for hers, hoping she’ll leave more stuff here. But now, I can’t wait to see her stuff mixing with mine for the rest of my life.
My task of getting the license is complete. Since I know a judge from previous cases I’ve helped with, he expedited our marriage license as a wedding gift to us. He will also officiate the wedding.
We decided to postpone our honeymoon for a few weeks because she felt bad for giving work such short notice of the wedding. We’ll both work two and a half days this week and then be on call for at least two weeks. I at least convinced her we’re going to enjoy the weekend somewhere and then spend time picking the perfect honeymoon destination.
I don’t give a shit how we do the honeymoon as long as I get my future wife alone and uninterrupted.
We just left the courthouse offices and called both of our families for dinner. We spend the small drive talking about honeymoon destinations.
She pulls up an amazing idea. “I think we should rent a cabin in Gatlinburg.”
I mull over the idea of a cabin in the woods and holding Kylie by the light of a fire.
I grab her ring placed hand and kiss it again. “I think that sounds like the makings of a damn fine honeymoon, sweetheart. Now we just need to figure out scheduling. If we can swing Valentine’s weekend then I’m all for it.”
Both of our families are waiting for us as we pull up to the café. Matt is helping Charlie in the kitchen, and our parents’ are setting the table. Our parents’ stop what they’re doing and immediately bombard us with hugs and questions.
“How was your trip?”
“What’s the news you wanted to tell us?”
“Is your grandmother still insisting on using the stairs with her knees?”
“Are you pregnant?”
“Aaron! What the hell is on your left finger?!”
That last statement actually comes from Matt who is walking from the kitchen.
Literally, all five faces stare at my left hand that I didn’t bother to conceal, and every single one of their jaws drop. A bowl clanks in the kitchen, and I hear Charlie’s footsteps clunk out toward the group.
She starts ranting, “If you guys got married without us there, I swear I’m never letting you see Ruckus again, and I will not name any child I have after either of you. You will be banned from this restaurant for two months or until I’m no longer bitter. I can’t believe you two did this. I’m happy for you, but I really want to hit both of you right now with several pies to the head.”
Matt pulls her
back against him before she whacks Kylie or me with the spoon in her hand. “Now, Charlotte Reynolds. Calm down or else I’ll put you on early morning dog duty for a month and no breakfast in bed. Let them speak. They must have a perfectly good explanation.”
Kylie reaches her hand up to showcase her ring too, and everyone gasps.
I groan.
This is so not helping our situation right now. Before the screeching starts, I halt everyone with my cop slash military tone.
“Everyone, stop with the drama and let us explain. Alright?”
They all move to sit down while Kylie and I stand at the head of the table.
She begins explaining, “That is a wedding band on Aaron’s finger, but no, we didn’t get married while we were in Boston. I actually proposed to Aaron last night, and then he proposed to me. We want to get married on New Year’s Eve, so that only gives us two weeks to plan. We don’t want anything too crazy or fancy. We’re also not going on our honeymoon until Valentine’s weekend.”
I pull her closer to me and kiss the top of her head while we let the information settle in.
Charlie is the first to jump up. “Oh my geeee! You are so forgiven and not banned. We have to start dress shopping tonight! I’ll make the cake, of course, and we’ll have to figure out where.”
I stop my sister. “We actually just wanted it to be you guys and a few others. I have Zander, Tyler and Shay, and David, plus a couple guys from the station. Kylie has Bree and a few people from work. We want to keep this as low-key as possible. We were thinking a small gathering in Charleston.”
Everyone else joins in, jumping from their chairs to switch their shocked faces to congratulatory ones. Our mothers are crying and hug the opposite child.
Mrs. Mitchell pulls me down so she can whisper in my ear, “Thank you for bringing my daughter back to the life she deserves.”
The night Aaron gets us our marriage license in his hands, I bite the bullet to talk to Bree. I so didn’t want to do this right before Christmas, but maybe the wedding will soften the blow.
And the promise of her Christmas present.
Yes, I’m trying to buy my best friend’s forgiveness, but I feel super guilty. I’ll do anything to help her.
I walk into our condo and call out for her, “Bree?”
“In the living room, Kylie.”
She’s sitting in her favorite chair she brought when she moved in. If she’s not holed up in her room on her desktop, she’s sitting in this big oversized chair curled up with her tablet and coloring furiously across her apps.
Waffles comes strolling in from the hallway and plops himself at my feet as I stand a few feet away from her. Without making too much startling noise, I take a seat on the couch that’s next to her.
I watch her for as she messes with a shade of purple that looked fine before, but her perfectionism means she probably thinks the lighter shade presents better.
“Hey, girl. Do you think I could drag you away from that weird shade of purple for like two seconds?”
She puts her stylus down and sets her tablet on the table. She gets herself situated in her chair by tucking her legs under herself and holding a pillow in her lap.
Her timid smile tells me she’s a little afraid of the conversation. I’ve known her long enough to recognize her tells.
She gives me her sass. “First of all, Miss I-don’t-know-my-colors, it’s lilac. Second of all, what’s up?”
I take a deep breath and hold out my left hand. Her jaw drops before she’s jumping up and down in front of me.
“Oh my goodness. That boy finally came to his senses and locked you down!”
She grabs my hand and inspects the ring. “That man did good. Tell me everything, but first, tell me why you have that sad look on your face.”
Crap. She knows me as well as I know her.
“Well, the thing is that we’re actually getting married on New Year’s in Charleston. Which meeeaans, I’m moving out in the next few days.”
Her shocked face lasts only for a second before she sends out a big exhale while plopping back into her chair.
“New Year’s? Wow.” She nods her head, “Two weeks. Okay. Umm sudden, but I’m happy for you, Kylie.”
I scoot to the edge of the couch and grab her hand in mine. She looks at me with tears on the edge of her eyelids.
“Bree, I know this is kind of a lot to take in. When Charlie first told me she was going to move in with Matt, I was scared that all of our comfortable lives were changing too fast. So trust me when I say, I know how you’re feeling right now.”
“You mean, like major changes all happening at once when you least expected them to, and possibly getting a migraine trying to process it all with crazy mixed emotions?”
I nod.
“Yeah, pretty much. Is there anything I can do? Like, help you find a roommate?”
She lets go of my hand and leans back against her chair. She taps on the armrest and sighs.
“Actually, I kind of wanted to move back in with my grandfather. The aids only do so much, and I want to be closer to him. He’s done so much for me, and I want to spend time with him. I won’t get many chances for much longer.”
“I think that’s fantastic, girl. I know how much he means to you. I know our lease isn’t really over for a few months, but it could take weeks to find a sublease.” I quickly do some math in my head. “I want to offer to pay to cancel our lease. The place is in decent shape so whatever else they need to charge will come from the security deposit.”
She slaps both arms of the chair. “I appreciate that, Kylie, I really do. But I demand to at least pay my half. We will take this head on together so that you can focus on having the wedding of your dreams.”
I get up from the couch and grab one of the take-out menus from the box we keep on the coffee table.
I toss it in her lap. “Okay, woman. Well, I’m at least paying for dinner so let me know what you want while I get Charlie over here. You’re one of my bridesmaids, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
She mock salutes me before opening the menu. “Yes, ma’am bridezilla, ma’am!”
I go into the kitchen to get some plates and silverware for the three of us. Bree tells me her order and I already know Charlie’s favorite meal from the place, so I call to make our order.
Charlie arrives shortly after I text her, because apparently, she was hiding out at Aaron’s place to help make room for my stuff.
I let Bree get back to her tablet while I go into my room and start figuring out if I want to actually move everything over there or put some stuff into storage.
First things first, though, I grab my laptop and start looking at dresses online. I find what I want to try on in town, a three-quarter sleeve satin gown with rhinestones all over the bodice that will glow in the sunset yet still keep me slightly warm, and a small eyelet opening on my chest for a little flair. I hope it elongates my short frame, but that’s what heels are for. Oh the fun I have when I start looking at shoes.
Once the food arrives, I stop my research and enjoy the rest of the night discussing the fun parts of life with my two best girls.
In between the food fest, Bree gushes over the huge pack of canvases I got her, the new sets of brushes, and paints. Her art is incredible, and anything to fuel her creativity is worth everything.
Aaron sends me a picture of him pouting when I tell him that I’ll be staying here tonight and there are no boys allowed. Matt’s reaction is hilarious when Charlie says he needs to fend for himself for one night and soon he’ll be on moving duty.
I fidget with my ring every so often as we put on a movie to finish off girls’ sleepover night. I clutch my hand close to my chest as I lay in bed and dream about my New Year’s wedding.
Christmas goes by with a round of fanfare at Charlie and Matt’s house. The gifts are plentiful and the love is overflowing. Word got out about our nuptials, so Aaron and I set up a small registry at Bed, Bath, and Beyond as a backup plan.
We’re more than appreciative for anything people send, but we also told people to make donations to the community center instead if they could.
Our parents’ have already paid for the wedding, so we told them anything extra for gifts is unnecessary.
I love the earrings and necklace that my mom gave to me that belonged to her grandmother. They’re going to be my something old and borrowed because the necklace is way too pretty for me to keep, but the earrings I love.
I give out all the presents to my family, giving them stuff I think they will actually use on a daily basis. Aaron loves his new Law Enforcement bracelet that I got from the Bands for Arms website and surprises me with the Nurse’s bracelet, too.
Oh how much I love this man.
All the other gifts we get are for our apartment and future home. I feel horrible we might have to put a lot of this in storage until we get a bigger place, but we just can’t seem to fit everything.
In one short week, I will be Mrs. Aaron Hanston, and I’m beyond excited.
Pacing.
I can’t stop pacing.
Why isn’t it five yet?
I’m in my light gray suit with my black tie perfectly in place, waiting for Kylie to come down the aisle. The judge who expedited our marriage license has told me to calm down at least half a dozen times in the last five minutes. I got ready too early and have been on everyone else to be ready as well. The faster we get this show on the road and say our vows, the faster I get to take her away alone before the dinner tonight at the bed and breakfast we rented out for the wedding.
The lady who runs this place has been incredible with all the last minute plans. Her place had been partially booked, but all of their client’s flights were canceled due to crazy snow, and we took their spots before anyone else could. She had this kick-ass gazebo that was large enough for all of us, a music system throughout the whole place, and a honeymoon suite for Kylie and me.
Now we just need to get this show on the road.
Luckily for me, soft music comes on the speakers and the processional begins. The photographer stops taking pictures of us guys and stands on the other side to take pictures of those walking down the aisle.