As soon as we pulled into the driveway, I was sold. The driveway! It was a long stone path that opened up into a wide circular turn around. The realtor called it a motor court. Whatever it was, it could fit all of our friend’s cars if we had a party. The three-car garage was detached and looked like another house. The house is surrounded by luscious trees and plenty of room for the kids to play and grow up. I was trying so hard not to show him how in love with just the outside of the house I was.
Aiden squeezed my hand when we got to the master suite and Debra opened the door to the custom his and her closets, complete with a packing table and vanity. The closet was to die for! I stood in the middle of the room-sized space with my eyes closed picturing all of my clothes, from Chanel to Rag & Bone, sorted by style and occasion. This house, with better amenities, a better school district, and a better location, was twice as big as my house in Los Angeles and about the same price. If we sell my house and Aiden’s mansion, we’d still be up eight million dollars.
Aiden was out back staring longingly between the mother-in-law suite and the pool house. He was probably trying to figure out which one he was going to convert. This six thousand square foot home is everything the two of us wanted in one house. We had to have it. No doubt.
I walked up behind him and held him around his waist. He held both of my hands as I kissed right between his shoulder blades.
“Would you like to see the other houses on this block?” Debra asked.
“No, we have to get to our wedding rehearsal. We’ll take this one,” I replied. “When will the owners be ready to move?”
Aiden spun around and held my face with both of his hands. His smile and eyes were brighter than the afternoon sun shining down on us.
“Are you serious?”
“Yup!”
“Hell yeah!” he lifted me up and swung me around in a circle. I threw my head back and laughed. “Holy shit! I didn’t think I’d be able to sell you on Musicians Row at all. You really want to buy this house?”
“I’m sold. Let’s do it. Let’s move back home.”
After agreeing to a sixty-day close, we made an all-cash offer that was two hundred grand lower than the list price but higher than every other offer. The owners’ broker responded to Debra’s email within minutes with a solid confirmation that the owners had agreed to our offer. The house was ours in two months.
As soon as we got in the car, Aiden sent a three-word group text that I’m sure everyone was waiting on.
Aiden: We’re coming home!!!!!
Debra stood in the driveway by her car with a dazed look on her face as she read through six back-to-back texts. In one fell swoop, she just sold seven houses on one street. I’m sure she probably cleared over a million dollars in commission in one day as the rest of our extended family put in their offers for the other six houses.
***
It was ten o’clock at night. Our rehearsal dinner had ended an hour ago. My mother had taken Summer and Winter. Aiden stood in the living of our apartment with his groomsmen. I had to admit, they looked good. His half of the wedding party were coordinated in dark jeans, black shirts, and part of Aiden’s groomsmen gift, customized black and white Air Jordans. Mike, Eddie, Clay, and Aaron were wearing black fitted ball caps with NOT THE GROOM stitched in white. Paulie’s cap simply said BEST MAN. Aiden’s cap said GROOM of course. They all cleaned up so well. I didn’t have anything to do with their bachelor party attire but they looked photo shoot fresh and ready to murder the city. However, they didn’t have anything on me and my girls.
We entered the living room in formation like Beyoncé’s dancers in our black leather shorts, thigh high leather boots, and tight black fitted shirts with Bridesmaid, Matron of Honor, and Bride written across the front in pink script. The entire outfit was coordinated by Daniela. I normally wouldn’t wear thigh-high boots but tonight is my last night hitting the city as a single woman. Go hard or stay home was the motto for the night.
Grinning, we faced off with the guys to finalize Erica and Mike’s planned assault on the city. They stepped to the front of the group and stared down each other like two fighters in a boxing ring.
“Alright, listen up,” Mike said. “The ground rules are simple. We’re taking downtown and South Atlanta. You’re holding down the perimeter. Our paths should not cross until 1:30 at Power Lounge.”
“Aiden, we know you have beef with Rayshawn and Dre,” Erica said, “but Jay-Jay is throwing this huge party in her club so y’all better show up.”
“Is there going to be free liquor?”
Erica scowled at him. “Of course.”
“Then there’s no beef.”
“Whatever. Rule number two,” she said. “If you’re wearing a wedding ring or an engagement ring, don’t do anything that you don’t want your significant other to see online tomorrow. All of our famous asses will be Snapchatting and whatnot all night. If you don’t want to your wife to see some stripper’s ass in your face, don’t have some stripper’s ass in your face. I’ve already told my boyfriend that there will be ratchet shit going down tonight so I suggest that you give yours a heads up too.
“Delilah and Paulie, these two have to stand in front of three hundred people, Pastor Hodges, and God tomorrow at three o’clock and recite vows. They can’t still be hung over at three o’clock. As best man and Maid of Honor, it’s your responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Other than that,” Mike said. “It’s no holds barred tonight. There’s fifty Gs to the wedding party that has the best turn up, courtesy of the bride and groom. If your turn up isn’t mentioned on the radio, TMZ, or E! News tomorrow, then you lose. Lastly, we have a wedding tomorrow. No one is going to have time to bail you out so don’t go to jail. Let’s be out.”
Aiden and his boys each grabbed a bottle of Moet from the case sitting by the door that was sent over from Roxy and Joey. We grabbed ours too and headed out of the door to meet our stretch Hummer party limos. I hung back while Aiden locked the door. He turned around and pressed me against the door. Trailing his fingers along the deep V of my shirt, he kissed my neck softly.
“Sunny, you look so fuckin’ hot. Wanna ditch our friends and go back inside?”
I slid my hand along the crotch of his jeans and nibbled on his earlobe. “Tomorrow night, you can have all of this for however long you can handle it. Tonight, we party one last time as unmarried people.”
***
“Do we have everything?” I heard Delilah ask Erica.
I was sitting in the living room of our suite at the Mandarin Oriental where we’d checked in early this morning to crash after the most off the chain bachelorette/bachelor party I’ve ever been to. My girls went out of their way to make it as over the top as they could. We hit up a drag show, a male strip show, and two clubs before we drunkenly made it to Power Lounge. I don’t even remember most of the party. I spent most of the night feeling up my fiancé. Now I was laid out on the couch sipping orange juice and champagne.
“I have everything on my list,” Erica said to Delilah.
Both of them were nearly bursting out of the seams with excitement. I was trying to stay as calm as I could, hence the mimosa. I could have easily been freaking out. I’ve been in and attended enough weddings to know that any and everything could and would go wrong if I let it.
Dina and my mother had hired the top bridal agency in Atlanta to coordinate this day. They had four associates working Atlanta’s biggest wedding of the year; one was at the Ritz-Carlton with the guys, one was here with us, and two were at The Estate in Buckhead overseeing set-up. I had strict instructions not to worry about anything.
There wasn’t much to worry about anyway. The Estate, one of Atlanta’s premiere wedding venues, was happy to accommodate our outdoor/indoor wedding for three hundred guests when the Botanical Gardens could not. With a full wedding coordinating staff on site, I feel like the Russell-Tyler wedding is in great hands. I just want to cherish every single moment of it
. I want to remember being in this suite with my girls while they get their makeup done. I want to enjoy the ride over to the venue. I don’t want to stress over this beautiful day. I’m getting married. That’s all that matters. It’s going to be perfect.
My memory doesn’t have to work extra hard though. Aiden hired not one, not two, not three, but seven photographers and videographers. Like I said before...this wedding is a production. The Knot should be covering this.
They probably are.
All my girls were dressed in their pre-ceremony dresses, simple coral slip dresses that we could wear to The Estate and change into our actual wedding attire once we arrive “on set” because we didn’t want to arrive at the venue looking like we’d just rolled out of bed. There have been cameras on us since last night, however, there will be more people snapping pictures of us from the moment we leave this hotel. We cannot look busted. My hair and makeup is being done at the venue too so we had to get moving.
The coordinator from Sunlight Events was meticulously checking each bridesmaid’s bag to confirm that they had their shoes, jewelry, and the right dress. Each bag was taken down to a waiting car. I’m surprised the SUV carrying our dresses didn’t have a police escort.
Aiden rented seven white Rolls Royce wedding cars to drive us to the venue and five were outside waiting for us. One was to take me and Delilah directly to The Estate but we already planned a Chic-fil-A detour. The other four were taking Erica, Jordan, Mikayla, Daniela, Sara, Mona, Dina, and my mom to the Ritz-Carlton to pick up the fellas. The seventh was driving Kat, Jerry, and my grandparents to The Estate.
I guess if you only plan to do this once in your life, it might as well be as beautifully extravagant as you can afford. And we did put Aiden in charge of transportation and too many other things.
Before we could leave, I topped off everyone’s mimosas and stood in the center of the suite.
“First,” I began, already tearing up. “I’m not even going to try to get through this without crying. I probably won’t get to say this any other time today, but I have to say thank you to all of you. You ladies have made planning this wedding so easy for me. I love all of you so much. Thank you for being my friends, for putting up with my moods and my craziness, and especially for supporting me and Aiden through all of our ups and down. And for pushing to me to do the right thing. If it weren’t for you, this day might be happening.” I raised my glass. “To Daniela, my business partner and the ever present voice of reason in my life. To my official sisters, Sara and Delilah, thank you for being my friends even when I thought your brother wasn’t. Jordan and Mikayla, you are my favorite cousins and always have been. And to my best friend, Erica. These last two years have been insane. We both said and did some things that we should and shouldn’t have. I remember saying that our friendship was in repair and I’m glad that we took the time to fix what was broken. I know it hurt when I asked Delilah to be my Maid of Honor. That’s the last thing I wanted to do.”
I turned around and took the extra garment bag from my mother and unzipped it. Carefully, I lifted the coral Dior haute couture mermaid gown with its super-sexy plunging neckline and mini-train, the same dress that Delilah was wearing as my Matron of Honor, and turned around to face my best friend.
“I made a mistake,” I told her and tears began to fall from both of our eyes. “And I need to let you know that I already had the wedding programs changed so it will be really embarrassing if you say no. Plus, this is Dior haute couture. Erica, will you please be my Maid of Honor?”
“I hate you so much,” Erica laughed and cried at the same time. “You know I can’t say no. I love you, heffa.”
“I know.” We put the dress back in the garment bag and zipped it up before handing it off to the coordinator to ride in the SUV with the other dresses.
“Alright.” I grinned from ear to ear and downed the rest of my mimosa. “Let’s go get me married.”
Chapter 33: Forever for the Rest of My Life
“THE DRESS” AS IT SHALL forever be known was $1500 worth of the brightest white organza and lace I could fine. The beading cost over $500 and sparkled like real diamonds. The floor-length mermaid gown outlined the curves my mama gave me like a still-life portrait. The neckline was a shallow V, modest enough for a wedding while still making my breasts look delectable to my groom while we stood at the altar. It was hand-sewn with Diamante beading on the bust, skirt, thin shoulder straps, and outlined my back. It took me three months to sew it. My entire bridal party gasped when I removed it from the garment bag.
An hour later, when I opened the door to the bridal suite and let my mother, mother-in-law, and my girls see me wearing “The Dress” there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I didn’t feel like a princess in my dress. I felt like a Queen, ready to spend the rest of my life with my King.
Crystal and Kelly, the day-of coordinators were on top of their game as they hustled everyone out of the bridal suite, leaving me alone to spend these last few minutes with my daddy who kept wiping at his eyes with a silk handkerchief. He looked so dapper in his black tuxedo that I almost teared up too.
“Get it together, Russell,” I teased him. “You’re crying more than mama.”
“I’m fine. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to become another man’s problem?”
“Be careful what you wish for, old man. I am marrying Aiden. And we haven’t gotten the final bill for this wedding yet. We might be broke and have to move in with you.”
That got a small laugh from him but not much. My father stood in front of me and held both of my hands. He didn’t even try to wipe the tears from his eyes this time.
“Sunny, you are everything a man could ask for in a daughter. I have enjoyed watching you become such an inspiring woman and knowing that I played a huge part of that. Peaches and I were taking out the garbage at Rabbit’s when we heard you whimpering from inside that box. When I laid eyes on you, I knew you were going to be something special. There hasn’t been a day since you’ve been mine that you haven’t made me smile. I’m so proud of you and so happy for you.”
I was trying not to cry and mess up my makeup but I had to wave Laura over anyway because the tears started and just kept pouring out.
“I love you so much, Daddy. I don’t know where I’d be without you and Mama. I can’t thank you enough for being my parents and loving me like you do.”
Jermaine took his handkerchief and dabbed at the tears running down my face. “Stop that before you ruin your dress. Fix her up, Laura.”
A few minutes later, I was ready to go downstairs. I hooked my arm through my dad’s. “Come on, Daddy. Walk your baby girl down the aisle.”
“Gladly.”
***
A hundred and fifty gold and white chairs lined each side of a long white satin aisle and every one of them was occupied. I stood behind the bevel glass doors of The Estate with my dad while my heart skipped multiple beats. A live band stood on the veranda of the two-hundred year old antebellum estate playing Kenny G’s “Loving You” as Aiden’s groomsmen escorted my gorgeous bridesmaids down the aisle. I could see Aiden standing at the end of the aisle with Pastor Hodges.
That’s when the nerves hit me. Butterflies were dancing around my stomach. My heart started pounding. I couldn’t breathe, and the two mimosas I had back at the hotel were trying to find the nearest exit.
“What the hell am I doing? I can’t be Aiden Tyler’s wife! Oh my God! This is insane. Daddy, you have to stop this. I don’t want to move back to Atlanta. I don’t want people calling me Mrs. Aiden Tyler. I promised myself that I would never be with a musician. Oh my God!” I rubbed at my temples and paced in a small circle. My father was just staring at me. “Daddy, didn’t you hear me. You have to stop this.”
He chuckled. “Your mama owes me a trip to Vegas.”
“What?” I screeched, completely confused by his easygoing demeanor. “What are you talking about?”
“Your mama was sure that Aiden was going t
o be the one to go jetting for the hills. But I won. I knew you’d freak out.”
“Thanks, Dad. That made me feel so much better.”
“As it should. I’ve never been to Vegas.”
“So you’re just going to ignore what I just said?”
“Most definitely. You didn’t mean a word of it.” He put his hand on my shoulder to stop me from pacing. “Look out there, Sunny. At the end of that aisle is the life you’ve always wanted. He is your other half. You may be great on your own, but with him, you’re not just great; you’re superior. That’s what soulmates are for each other. The two of you together make a whole, an unstoppable force. Take a deep breath and let’s go let Aiden make an honest woman out of you.”
For the last time, my father used his handkerchief to wipe tears from the corners of my eyes. When he was done, he folded the light blue handkerchief into a perfect square and stuck it in between the flowers in my bouquet.
“Your something blue.”
I’m not Jermaine’s little girl anymore. He was the first man to ever love me, but when Summer and Ciara, Asia’s daughter, reached the end of the aisle, white rose petals made a perfect path to the last man I will ever love and who will ever love me.
Pastor Hodges lifted his hands, indicating that everyone should stand. The ushers opened the double doors and I gasped when I heard a baby grand piano and Cash Myers singing his slowed down rendition of ‘All of Me’ by John Legend from the balcony. A total surprise. I had no idea that Cash was going to sing.
I tried to take in every single thing, from the guests in attendance to my girls standing in a row of pure beauty but all of that was a blur. My eyes zoomed in on Aiden and he was all that I saw.
Aiden Tyler, the love that I didn’t realize I’d been waiting for until it was almost too late. My everything. He was wearing an all-white Italian tuxedo and looked taller than 6’3”. His shoulders and back were straight as he stood tall and proud. Once we locked eyes, his tear-filled gaze never left mine.
UNBROKEN (Friends, Lovers, or Nothing Book 5) Page 32