by Morgan Utley
“Me either,” Peyton chuckled.
“Do you think I’m ready?” he asked nervously.
“Oh yeah,” Peyton nodded. “You two are perfect for each other,” she assured him.
“She is pretty amazing, my little mamacita,” he smiled and looked as if he was daydreaming, “Well, I better get to bed. See you in the morning,” he started lying down on the couch and pulled a blanket over him.
“Night, bro,” Peyton patted his leg and went to bed.
Chapter 24
The next morning, the house was in complete chaos. Gloria’s mom left early to meet Gloria at the hair salon, and Peyton’s mom was nagging at Chris to shower, but Chris kept eating bowl after bowl of cereal to combat his nerves. Her dad ironed his and Chris’s shirts, and Peyton was in charge of putting flowers in the vases and finishing any last minute touches for the reception. Gloria wasn’t showing up until right before the wedding in a limo that would also be taking Chris and Gloria to the airport for their flight to Hawaii. Her mom didn’t want to risk Chris trying to sneak a peek at Gloria before she walked down the aisle. Which he would have totally done. All the bridesmaids, except Peyton, were getting ready with Gloria and were coming in the limo along with her. They invited Peyton to come along, but she knew her mom would want her around to help.
In no time, it was four o’clock, and the caterers were starting to arrive with the food. The groomsmen arrived to get dressed in their tuxes and ultimately got their stamp of approval from Peyton’s mom. Peyton decided it was time to get dressed, too, in her bridesmaid’s dress, which was a blush pink maxi dress. Thankfully, it didn’t look too bad on her, but it was a little long on her, which forced her to wear heels.
Once she was dressed, she looked for her mom out back, where they were holding the ceremony. After the walk through the garden where flower petals lined the path, it opened up to about a hundred chairs set up with an archway covered in flowers at the end, where her mom happened to be. She was still trying to add more flowers so that very little of the metal showed on the arch.
“Mom, it looks beautiful. Stop messing with it,” Peyton reckoned, and her mom turned to scold her, but then her eyes lit up once she saw her in the dress.
“Peyton, you look gorgeous!” she gushed. “That pink looks so pretty on you! Are you going to trip in that dress?” Her brows furrowed when she looked at Peyton’s feet, “You're wearing heels, right?”
“Yes,” Peyton raised her dress to reveal her sparkly heels. “See?”
“Oh boy, walk slow. You're walking with Noah, right?” she wondered.
Peyton shrugged her shoulders, “I think so? I would assume so.” Chris found out at the rehearsal dinner that one of his buddies ended up with the stomach flu and wasn’t going to be able to make it. So Chris asked Noah to be a last-minute replacement for a friend who was unable to make it to the wedding. Peyton was surprised, but so happy that Chris had thought to ask Noah.
“Maybe he should just carry you down the aisle then,” her mom smirked and kept putting flowers on the arch. “Man, I’m so glad Gloria decided to change her colors from red and green, to blush pink and orange. It’s so much prettier. Not to mention the dresses she picked for you girls is so flowy, and I love the three-quarter length bell sleeves on them! You’ll be able to wear it for other occasions and not just for today.”
“Yes, I agree. Uh, Mom? People are going to start showing up soon, and you haven’t gotten dressed yet,” Peyton pointed out and grabbed her hand. “Step away from the arch.”
“Fine!” her mother gave up and stomped off toward the house.
Peyton followed her back inside the house to find Noah sitting at the dining room table in his tux.
“Wow,” Noah stood up, awestruck, “You look amazing.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” Peyton winked and kissed him on the cheek. “It’s a good thing you had a pair of navy dress pants to match with the other boys. I like the pink tie too.”
Noah smirked and leaned in close to her ear so only she could hear, “I’m never going to wear this tie again. Only today, for your brother.”
Peyton had to restrain herself from barking out a laugh. Luckily her dad walked down the stairs in his tux, and Peyton had completely forgotten she was trying not to laugh. She whistled, “Look at you, Daddy!”
“Oh, brother,” he rolled his eyes. “Guests are going to start showing up soon,” he turned to look at Chris and all the groomsmen. “I need you boys to go stand out front by the walking path to help guide guests to their seats when they show up. If you get lost, follow the rose petals and the candles,” he said sarcastically and winked at Peyton.
“Alright, men,” Chris clapped his hands together, “Let’s move out!”
Noah kissed Peyton’s cheek, “See you in a little bit.”
“Bye,” she waved and looked at her dad, “You really do look good, Daddy. I haven’t seen you wear a tux since my wedding!”
“Well, it's not my favorite outfit to wear,” he admitted. Just then, they heard someone walking down the stairs and saw her mom step down in a sparkly burgundy dress with her makeup perfectly done, accenting her hazel eyes, and her brown, curly hair pinned up in an elegant twist. “You look absolutely beautiful,” her dad swooned and kissed his gorgeous wife.
“You don’t look so bad yourself, stranger,” she smiled, “Your tie is crooked though.” She reached up to loosen the blush pink tie and straightened it out. “There,” she chuckled, “Now you're perfect.” Staring at her husband, her eyes looked as if they twinkled, and it made Peyton hope that someday, in about twenty years, she would have someone look at her the same way her mom looked at her dad.
“What time is it?” She looked around aimlessly for a clock.
Her dad looked at his watch and reported, “It’s four twenty-five.”
“Oh! I wonder if guests have started to arrive!” She ran over to the window as fast as she could in her four-inch heels, and peered through, “There are lots of cars already, and the boys are walking people back and forth! I hope Gloria and her bridesmaids are on time! Is her dad helping walk guests? I haven’t seen him…” she trailed off.
“I believe so, honey. I don’t believe there’s anyone in the house except for us,” he confirmed. “What time should the boys stop walking people?”
“At about four fifty-five. Then the guests will have to find their own seats. Gloria said she wanted to walk down the aisle at exactly five o’clock and not a minute later. The guests will have to figure out for themselves to follow the flower petals. I need them to stand in line so that when the bridesmaids show up, they can hook arms and start walking,” her mom explained. “Peyton, will you help me grab the bouquets and do some last minute touch-ups, so we can hand them to the girls once they show up?”
“Sure thing,” she answered quickly and headed to the fridge where the five bouquets of orange, pink, and yellow roses were. “Man, I did a good job making these things,” she gloated.
“Yes, you did,” her mom affirmed. “How are you doing with everything?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, puzzled.
“You know, with your little brother getting married,” she explained quietly.
“Oh yeah. I mean I had a hard time at first, but I’m very happy for him. They seem good together,” she responded and shrugged her shoulders, “I’m glad he’s happy. Everyone deserves to be happy, right?”
Her mom smiled, “You're so right.”
They finished pulling out the bouquets and adding any final touches until her dad called out, “Four fifty-five!”
All three of them walked outside to find the guys still waiting for guests until her mom put them in a specific order—Chris’s childhood friend Evan, Chris’s friend Brad, his other friend Nick, Gloria’s brother Eduardo, and then Noah last. Peyton handed each of the groomsmen a bouquet to hold, while Chris and her parents walked to the backyard.
Within a few minutes, the limo pulled up, and out came Glo
ria, her mother, and the other bridesmaids. Gloria looked absolutely beautiful in her strapless mermaid gown, her hair half up with curls falling on her shoulders and her smoky eye paired with a pretty pink lip. All the bridesmaids had their hair curled, letting the curls loosely fall onto their shoulders. Peyton felt a little guilty with her hair loosely pinned up hair, with curls falling down either side of her face, but figured it was too late to fix her hair now. Then Gloria looked at her and smiled, so Peyton knew she was just fine. Her mom kissed her daughter and followed the trail of petals to the backyard, and then the bridesmaids were paired up with their groomsmen.
At exactly five o’clock, the music began playing “Canon in D,” Evan walked with Gloria’s friend Marisol first, and then Brad and Gloria’s sister, Emilie, followed after about ten seconds. They were followed by Nick and Gloria’s other friend Sofia. Next to walk were Gloria’s brother, Eduardo, and her best friend Megan. And at the end were Noah and Peyton. She could hear Gloria’s father getting a little emotional behind them, but she tried to stay focused on her walking, so she wouldn’t trip on her dress.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you looked?” whispered Noah as they walked through the garden and saw the guests watching them walk down the aisle.
“You may have mentioned it,” she breathed and continued to stare straight ahead.
“Well, you do,” he chuckled, and Peyton giggled in response. They stopped once they got near the altar where he kissed her on the cheek before they each stood in their line.
They watched as Gloria walked through the garden arm in arm with her father, who was starting to shed a few tears. She looked as if she was lightly gliding above the grass as she walked toward Chris. Once they locked eyes, they couldn’t stop staring at each other. They looked so head over heels in love that Peyton could feel her own eyes start to tear up.
Gloria’s father kissed her gently on the cheek when they reached Chris, and then he sat down next to his wife. Peyton took the bouquet from Gloria who then joined hands with Chris, who had the biggest smile spread across his face—so big that it almost looked painful.
The ceremony was beautiful. The two exchanged vows that left the audience in tears. Peyton had no idea Chris could be so sentimental. Once the ceremony was over, everyone congregated in the white tent where the food would be served in a matter of minutes. Peyton made sure to look for Lucy and hugged her, letting her know she was happy to see her. Then Peyton got in trouble with her mother for wandering off when she was supposed to be standing in the receiving line.
“Somebody got in trouble,” Chris sang and laughed.
“Hilarious,” Peyton rolled her eyes and stood there like she was told. Luckily, her mom only made them stand until dinner was served, and then they were free to sit and eat. Following dinner was the cutting of the cake, which turned out to be hilarious because Chris was kind to Gloria and nicely fed her a piece of cake, but then Gloria shoved Chris’s bite into his face. Everyone got a kick out of that and laughed. After the cake was cut and handed out to guests, the dancing began. This was the part where Peyton tried to make herself scarce, but Noah sought her out.
“Where are you going?” he chuckled and eyed her suspiciously.
“I was going to check on the caterers,” Peyton lied and half-smiled at him.
“Oh, I’m sure. They look like they need a lot of help too,” he pointed to the crew of workers covering the food and cleaning off the tables.
“Yeah, I guess not,” mumbled Peyton.
“Peyton,” he said thoughtfully, “will you dance with me?” He smiled his crooked smile at her, and his sparkly blue eyes twinkled at her, which naturally took her breath away.
“Sure,” she smiled back and breathed. “Just as long as you're okay with getting your foot stepped on because I have two left feet.”
He held out his hand, “I guess love hurts sometimes.”
Peyton busted up laughing as he guided her onto the dance floor next to her parents. He pulled her close and they started swaying slowly back and forth. She looked around the room and dozens of eyes were staring in her direction. She had a lot of family and friends here, and she was sure that she was catching people off guard by dancing with a man other than Derek. She started feeling a little overwhelmed with the number of people staring at them and turned her focus to Noah.
“I think we have some fans,” Noah teased and started quietly laughing.
“You noticed?” asked Peyton, worried she was taking the focus off of Chris and Gloria.
“I think the entire room is staring at us,” Noah chuckled.
“Ugh, perfect,” she groaned.
“Should we give them something to stare at?” he asked, looking a little too amused.
“What do you mean?” she wondered. Just as she asked, Noah spun her away from him—causing Peyton to almost trip over her own feet—then he spun her back in, dipped her, and bent over to kiss her. He pulled her back up into their original stance, and he had a big smile spread across his face.
Peyton, feeling her face completely flushed, was still dazed and tried to stammer out words, “Well, I think everyone is staring now.” Noah laughed and held onto her for the next two songs and then let her sit down while a swarm of family and friends started asking questions.
Chris and Gloria only stuck around for another hour and left to get dressed in some street clothes for the airport. While they were changing, all the bridesmaids and Gloria’s mom started handing out sparklers for everyone to light as the newlyweds walked to the limo. When they stepped out, they were completely surprised by all their family and friends waiting there to wave them off. Smiling and laughing, Chris and Gloria ran through the sparklers before hugging their parents goodbye and hopping into the limo to catch their flight to Hawaii.
The rest of the night consisted of taking down tables and chairs and cleaning up all the decorations. Luckily, a lot of people stuck around to help, so the cleanup didn’t take long. Noah found Peyton after everything was cleaned up.
“Can I see you tomorrow?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” she said thoughtfully. “You can help us eat all the leftovers. I’m hoping we don’t have to cook for the next few days.”
“Awesome,” he kissed her, “I have some stuff to do most of the day tomorrow, but I’ll be here around six, is that okay?”
Peyton was taken aback because she thought he would have come sooner but tried not to let it show and smiled, “Sounds good to me. Thanks for everything today.”
“Anytime,” he smiled and kissed her goodnight before he left.
Chapter 25
The next morning, Peyton and her mom slept in and ate cake for breakfast. Gloria’s family had an early morning flight back to Mexico, and her dad had graciously offered to give them a ride to the airport. While they were gone, Peyton’s mom received a text letting her know that Chris and Gloria made it to Hawaii and were laying out on a beach relaxing. This made Peyton incredibly jealous. She hadn’t been to the beach in a long time.
Her dad came back home around eleven just before the rental company came by to pick up the tables and chairs and take down the big white tent. This took a couple of hours because they had to do some additional clean up from the night before, move the tables and chairs out to the company truck, and then work together to take the tent down carefully.
Peyton could tell her mom felt a whole lot better. It was probably an item checked off on her mental list of things to do. The next thing they did was strip the sheets off the two guest beds to be washed and start cleaning the house. They cleaned all the bathrooms, vacuumed the floors, swept and mopped, and wiped down all surfaces. Her mom was determined to make sure all the germs were taken care of from all the people that had been in her house all week.
By the time they were done cleaning the house, it was time for dinner. The fridge was full of chicken breast, steaks, guacamole, rice, salad, tamales, refried beans, salsa, tortillas and lots of dressings and sauces. Peyton felt as if it
was a buffet because they reheated all the food and laid it out on the dining room table. Before Peyton knew it, it was six, and Noah was knocking at the door.
Peyton opened the door and saw Noah wearing dark wash jeans and a blue and white flannel shirt. It kind of made him look like a cowboy, a handsome cowboy.
“Hey,” grinned Peyton.
“Hey,” he grinned back and kissed her cheek.
“Are you hungry?” she asked him and waved to the food on the table, “We have lots, including cake and cookies for dessert.”
“Sounds good, thanks.”
“Hey, Noah, how are you doing?” her dad called.
“I’m doing good, and how was your day?” he inquired.
“It was busy with lots of cleaning and taking care of the last of the wedding things,” her mom answered and handed Noah a plate.
“Thank you, and awesome! It looks great in here, but of course, it always looks good in here,” Noah complimented and started scooping up refried beans on the plate.
“You're too kind,” her mom gushed. “I couldn’t have done the wedding without you, Noah. Your help did not go unnoticed. Thank you for being here every day to help set up and letting me boss you around.”
“It was my pleasure. I was happy to help. Plus, I got to see a certain someone every day,” he smirked, and Peyton started blushing.
“Well, regardless, it was very sweet of you to come whether or not it was for Chris or to see Peyton. You helped a lot, and it is greatly appreciated,” her mom thanked him.
“Yes, thank you, Noah,” her dad repeated and shoved a spoonful of rice into his mouth.
“Honey, eat some salad,” her mom pushed the salad bowl toward him.
“I had some yesterday,” her dad retorted. Peyton snorted, and her mom gave him a look.
After they were done eating, Peyton and Noah helped clear the table and clean the dishes, so they didn’t leave it all for her mom to do.
“So, what are you guys planning for the night?” her mom wondered.