Alyssa's Desire (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Perfect Wedding

   
Jack made a full recovery and eight months after the shooting, things were very different in his life. Coleman, Patters and Schleicher managed to come back from the Sam Masterson fiasco that nearly put an end to the firm. After the news got wind of what happened to Jack, the firm was no longer viewed as accomplices to Sam Masterson's wickedness. They were soon looked upon as victims in their own right. This turned out to be excellent publicity for Coleman, Patters and Schleicher, because they now had public sympathy. This not only helped them to gain a whole slew of new clients, but it also warranted a fair amount of favoritism among certain judges. This may not have been fair to their opponents, but the law is rarely fair and justice is usually served on the side that is most convincing.

     Coleman, Patters and Schleicher had to keep
up with all their new clients without their star attorney though. Jack Coleman had a long recovery. He had only spent two weeks in the hospital but it was about four more months until he was fully recovered. Now he was finally able to live without pain in his chest and shoulder. He had minor motor skill damage to his left arm and hand, which made it hard for him to hold onto things sometimes. This was something that Jack would have to contend with for the rest of his life. Considering that if the bullet had been just a hair to the left it would have killed him, Jack was grateful that occasionally dropping stuff was his biggest challenge.

   
Jack debated returning to work once he was feeling better, but he had grown quite accustomed to a few things. For one thing he loved having Alyssa by his side every day. The couple had become incredibly close through the whole ordeal. After spending nine years in a loveless marriage with Jade, Jack was truly amazed at how wonderful true love could be. Jack now had joined custody of his son, Jason. Alyssa and Jason had become really close as well. Alyssa loved the boy and she spoiled him rotten when he was around. She doted on him and showered him with attention, something that the child never got from his own mother. Jade was always so self-involved that she never paid much attention to the boy. Truth be told, he was closer to his nanny than he ever was to her, but Alyssa was different. She played with him and talked to him and she always invited him wherever they went. Jason felt a new sense of belonging and his confidence soared. His grades improved and his attitude really improved, and Jack finally got to spend quality time with his boy and just focus on being a father.

     So instead of returning to the crazy hours and undue stress of practicing law, Jack and Alyssa decided to invest in a few different startup businesses. They became silent partners in two local restaurants and a popular night club called Razor's Edge. In addition to this, Alyssa started her own online retail store. She bought and sold fashion, jewelry, handbags and shoes online. It took a little while to get her business going, but with a lot of marketing and some creative
networking, Alyssa's Boutique was now turning a fair profit. She loved the flexibility that it provided and the fact that she was contributing to their lifestyle. Before she was making any real money, she always felt weird allowing Jack to pay for everything. Now she felt like everything was shared; their home, their finances, and their lives.

   Of course the biggest perk to getting out of the business of law, was that they were no longer exposed to criminals. There were no crazy heroin dealers or psychotic serial killers out to get them anymore. Now they really could go out into town without being followed, threatened or attacked. They were truly free to just live their lives in peace and to be a family. Needless to say family became a focal point in their future plans. Alyssa was now two months pregnant and they planned to have a few more children if nature allowed. Jason was thrilled at the idea of having a little brother or a little sister in his life. Jack was excited as
well. He had always wanted more children but Jade was dead set against anything that had the potential to ruin her body. She still complained about the nearly invisible stretch marks that she had from Jason.

    With family fast becoming the focus for Jack and Alyssa, of course they had spent countless hours planning their wedding. Alyssa had always fantasized of a big, elaborate wedding ceremony. She wanted the kind of dream wedding that young girls read about in fashion magazines. Jack was more than happy to oblige
as he wanted their wedding day to be magical and perfect. So one day while they were looking at various venues to hold the ceremony, Jack got an amazing idea.  

   
"Let's get married in Paris!" he suggested completely out of the blue.

    "Paris? That sounds beautiful but how would we get our guests there? No one is just going to fly across an ocean for a wedding," Alyssa said skeptically.

  "Okay, I realize that it would mean a very small wedding, with only a few close friends and I know you wanted something big. But what we would lack in size, we could make up for in romanticism. We could fly our closest friends and family down and have the reception in the Champ de Mars, which is a huge grassy park surrounded by floral gardens and accented by the Eiffel Tower itself. Think about it Alyssa. It would be in all of our pictures and our videos and then we could tour Europe for our honeymoon!" Jack's eyes grew wide with excitement as he spoke and the idea quickly grew on Alyssa.

    "Could we really pull that off?" Alyssa asked as her mind wandered to the fantasy of traipsing around Europe in the ultimate romantic fashion. They talked about spending a good deal of time there just reveling in the beauty of the old world. Jack suggested that they hire and train someone to handle orders from Alyssa's online store and that they invite their wedding guests to tour Europe with
them for a week and then they would spend about three months there, just the two of them.

    Before long the idea had become more than just a fantasy and Jack and Alyssa were not just planning a beautiful French wedding, but also a romantic three month long honeymoon. They had made arrangements for their friends and family to all fly out and stay at an elegant hotel and then to visit France, Italy and England. They invited Jack's parents, and Jade so that
Jack's son could come and they could still have plenty of alone time on their honeymoon. They invited ten of their closest friends as well. Everyone who got the invitation was ecstatic at the opportunity, after all a free trip to Europe doesn't happen every day.

    Now that it was getting close to the wedding date and Jack and Alyssa were starting to pack their things and prepare for their adventure. They had not planned for Alyssa to be with child during this time, but her morning sickness had passed and she was early enough in her pregnancy that she could travel without worry. Alyssa was happy that she was not showing yet and that she could fit in her wedding gown without any alterations.

    Finally the preparations were all made and it was time to head to the airport. Jack and Alyssa ran around like crazy trying to make sure that everything was done before they left. Alyssa quadruple checked to make sure that they had everything packed and ready to go. She must have made sure that they had their passports and plane tickets forty-times. Jack called and confirmed that all of their utilities would be shut off during their vacation dates. Alyssa called everyone that was coming and made sure that they all had their important items as well. Then they packed their bags into a cab and set off for their grand adventure.

  
When they arrived at the airport, Alyssa admitted to Jack that she was a little nervous. She had never flown before and it was a bit intimidating, but she was super excited as well. Then they saw everyone gathering together and she felt a little bit better. Jason ran up and he gave her a big hug and a kiss and then he did the same with his dad. He was bouncing around with excitement. Everyone else seemed equally excited and the whole group seemed to be talking at once. Even Jade was being uncharacteristically pleasant for a change. Jack whispered that she was probably being nice because she just got a free trip to Europe.

    The chatter was interrupted by the boarding call. Everyone gathered their things and made their way onto the plane. The plane ride itself was uneventful for the most part. About half way through Alyssa started to wonder what she had been worried about. They had a decent meal on board and they had watched a couple of in-flight movies. Alyssa enjoyed thumbing through the Air Mall Magazine and then everybody slept for quite a while. The best part of the plane ride by far was flying over Paris and getting to see the Eiffel Tower from the
plane window. Not only was it a marvelous sight, but it really made the magnitude of their wedding plans seem real to Alyssa. That glorious structure would forever be a part of her wedding memories.

    They had arrived in Paris two days before the wedding. This was part of their planning. They wanted to make sure that they left enough travel time to account for delays or cancelations. Fortunately everything went smoothly on the plane ride and they all checked in to their hotel with no problems. Everyone had their bags and personal items and all of their rooms were ready for their arrival. The whole group decided to unpack, take showers and get refreshed from the travel and then they would meet at a bistro on the corner for brunch followed by some sightseeing and some shopping.

    They visited the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe before calling it a day. Jason was getting a little restless by then and everyone was a bit jet lagged. They met up for dinner and then they all turned in to get a much needed rest. The next day the rest of the group split off to enjoy more tourist attractions. Jack's parents and Jade took Jason to Disneyland Paris while the rest of the guests made off to enjoy the museums and beautiful structures that gave Paris its unique appeal. Jack and Alyssa concentrated on taking care of the last minute wedding details. They went around ensuring that everything was ready from the catering to the flowers to the photographers. It was a busy day for everyone.

  
That night they had their rehearsal dinner in the fabulous Hotel Scribe, which was also the location of the ceremony the next day. Since Alyssa's parents were no longer around, Jack's parents took the honor of hosting the event. It started it out with the actual rehearsal for the ceremony.  Jack's parents were going to act as the maid of honor and the best man respectfully. Jack and Alyssa thought it was only right to extend them that honor. Jason of course was to be the ring bearer and then he would stand next to his father as an honorary groomsman. The rehearsal went smoothly and then everyone enjoyed a delicious French dinner. Afterwards they all retired for the evening. That night Jack and Alyssa slept in separate hotel rooms so that they would not see each other before the ceremony the next day.

    The next morning Alyssa awoke just as the dawn was starting to break. It was about two hours before her
alarm was set to go off, but she was wide awake. Today was her wedding day and she would finally take her place as Jack's wife. Alyssa sat up in bed and she placed her hand on her stomach and whispered to her unborn child that today was the day that would officially become a family. A single happy tear fell from her cheek and then she jumped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to take a nice, relaxing bath in the spa tub. She dropped in some silky, rose scented bath beads and she allowed the jet spray and bubbles to relax her and prepare her for her day. She washed her hair and shaved everything that could be shaved and then she exited the tub, feeling clean and refreshed.

   
When she was done with her bath, she called down to the front desk and ordered room service. She had a vegetarian omelet, a fruit bowl and a glass of orange juice along with a latte. Then she got dressed and brushed through her rich, brown hair. When room service arrived, she slowly ate her breakfast. She was nauseas but she figured it was a mix of pregnancy and butterflies. She had found that eating seemed to subdue the morning sickness, but she had to eat slowly or she would end up getting sick.

    After breakfast, Alyssa joined Jack's mother and they made their way into town for full spa treatments that began with massages and ended with full hair and makeup. Alyssa and her future mother in law spent four hours indulging in the French spa package that they had ordered but they both looked beautiful for the wedding. The people at the spa even helped Alyssa into her wedding dress and they ensured that every detail was
correct. Alyssa looked more beautiful than she ever had before. Jack's mother said that she was glowing.

   Then it was time to head to t
he hotel for the wedding. Jack's mother had arranged for a limousine to pick them up from the spa and take them to the ceremony. When they arrived and Alyssa first stepped out of the limo, everyone who was outside marveled at how gorgeous she was. Then her friend June grabbed her and hurried her into the bride's chambers before Jack could see her. There all the women gathered to primp and make touch ups so that they all looked their best for the ceremony.

   
Jack's father knocked on the door as he was to walk her down the aisle before taking his place next to Jack for the ceremony.  He called out that it was time and he asked if Alyssa was ready. She opened the door and looked at the man that would soon become her father in law. In that moment it all became real for her.  She reached out to take Edward's arm and held her breath as she heard the wedding march begin.

  
"Let's go Alyssa, everyone is waiting for you," Edward said with an almost melodic sound to his voice. Alyssa smiled at Edward and nodded as they started to walk in unison to the beat of the wedding march. Confidently they walked through the doors. The music guided their steps as they walked down the aisle. Everyone stood as the bride passed by. Jack's mother blew her kisses and then wiped at her eyes with a tissue. Alyssa could see Jack waiting for her next to the priest. He looked so handsome and elegant in his fine tuxedo. When Edward and Alyssa reached the front, Edward proudly announced that he was presenting this woman as wife for his son. Then Jack happily took Alyssa's hand and helped her up the steps to stand next to him.