Never say forever (Never series Book 1) (31 page)

“
He’s in the other room. He’s in recovery. I’m not sure if he knows about the baby yet but he had to have a procedure done after he
went into cardiac arrest. He may still be under.”

Did I just hear her right? Aiden is alive?

“
Aiden made it?”

“
Yes, sweetie. Let me go check on him and see if we can drag his bed in here.” She winks at me and leaves.

I can’t believe it. My wish was granted. God listened to my prayers and didn’t take him from me after all. I lie here holding our baby, watching her sleep. I am mesmerized by her. I start singing a lullaby to her and about ten minutes later the door opens.

I see them wheeling a bed in here and my heart leaps. I sit up and
look and they are bringing Aiden in. He’s awake! They put the bed next to mine and walk to the door.

“
We’ll give you guys some privacy.”

When they closed the door, I look at Aiden and he’s already looking at me.

“
I am so sorry you had to do this by yourself.” He just had brain surgery and he’s sorry?

“
Don’t even be sorry. I thought you were dead. I thought I would have to do this myself the rest of my life. The nurse just told me you were alive.”

“
I freaked out when I woke up because you weren’t there and then when I was told that they had to perform an emergency C-section, I totally
freaked out. I thought something bad happened. I didn’t want anything happening to you or the baby.”

He then notices that I’m holding the baby.

“
Scoot to my bed, handsome man.” I smile at him.

He scoots from his bed to mine and puts his arm around my shoulder and leans in to take a look at our
creation. He lifts her hat like I did and noticed the blonde hair. Violet didn’t like that too much and opened her eyes and started crying. Once we got her settled and not crying anymore he got a look at her eyes.

“
She has your eyes. That’s what I wanted all along. She so beautiful, just like her mom. We haven’t thought of a name.”

“
I kind of already named her. I thought you were dead and they asked if I had a name yet.”

“
What did you name her?”

“
Violet Theresa.”

“
That’s perfect. I love it.”

He leans over and kisses her on the forehead.

“
Forever my baby girl. I love you so much Violet,” and then he raises his head and kisses me. “I love you so much!”

My heart flutters, knowing I have my happily ever after. I have my love and I have my perfect baby girl in my arms. Life couldn’t get any better than this.

My heart belongs to two souls. Aiden and my baby girl, Violet Theresa. When she was born, I thought the perfect name for her would be Violet. She came from true love and I wanted to give her a name that really meant something. Even though I never met Aiden’s mother, from what I’ve heard she was a great mother and a great person. I decided as a tribute to her that my baby girl would carry her name as her middle name.

I still stand tracing my tattoo when Larissa and Abby come walking in with Violet. My baby girl is going to break hearts one day. She has my eyes and she has my curly hair but she looks just like Aiden. Her hair is blonde and she has his facial features. She even has his dimples. Anytime I have a bad day, she shines her dimples at me and she makes my heart smile. She is now five and she walked in looking like the most beautiful girl in the world. She’s wearing a pretty white dress, at the middle there is a pink flower and the rest of the dress brightens from white to pink. Her hair is curled and twisted into an up do. A few strands are hanging on the sides that are curled to perfection. I almost cry just thinking about what a blessing she is. Larissa stops me short.

“
No crying on your wedding day. Do you want to mess up your makeup?”

I smile and don’t even reply because Violet comes up to me.

“
Mommy, I missed you.”

I want to cry tears of joy so bad but I have to hold back the tears. I pick her up and she hugs me tight. Moments like these I could live forever for. She simply melts my heart every time I see her. Every day that I feel I can’t love her anymore, I am shocked and my heart grows even bigger.

“
I missed you too, sweetheart.” I hug her back and she giggles.

“
Mommy your hair is tickling me!” She’s giggling more and I just think to myself how much I love that giggle.

“
I’m sorry. Why don’t you go out and see Grandma. I’m sure she has a present for you. Abby will take you out.”

She smiles wide and makes a run for it.

“
Let’s get you in your dress.”

Larissa holds the dress out and helps me put it on. The dress I picked is gorgeous. It is a white strapless gown that is tight around the top down to the hips, it starts extending from there in soft layered sheer ruffles. This is the dress that had the
wow
effect. Everyone in the room was speechless when I tried it on. Larissa zips up the back and I smile at myself through the mirror because this is all becoming a reality now.

My makeup was done about a half hour ago; I just needed to get in my dress and shoes. Once the dress is on, everyone comes back into the room to get ready for the walk down the aisle. Violet walks in with that sparkle in her eyes.

“
Mommy you look pretty.”

“
Thank you. You look beautiful yourself.”

I lean down and smile at her.

“
I love you, Mommy. When can we go see Daddy?”

She’s starting to get impatient. After all she is a five year old. They don’t have very much patience.

“
In a few minutes actually.” Right when I said that one by one each couple was walking out. It was almost time.

My dad is standing next to me. It’s a shocker that he’s here but when my mother found out the true story about Cadence, she made a call. Since that day, my dad has managed to get back into our lives. I haven’t completely forgiven him but I still talk to him and he came to my wedding.

I see Violet start walking out with the flowers and I know it’s almost time. My dad hooks his arm into mine.

“
I’m proud of you. You have a good man by your side.”

He leans over and gives me a kiss on the forehead. I can see his eyes are teary-eyed at the thought of giving me away. We stand there a minute longer and then we hear the music begin to play.

***

Aiden

Today I stand here on my wedding day, awaiting my beautiful bride. I look out at the aisle and see Ben and Larissa walking down the aisle as best man and maid of honor. I then see Abby walking with Drew. All the couples make it down the aisle and stand up at the altar. I see Violet walking down with her flowers. She looks so beautiful tossing the little petals. She loves attention and is posing for the pictures as she makes it down the aisle. I’m going to have trouble with her later, I just know it. I will have to scare all the guys away from her. She will remain my precious princess forever.

The wedding song we chose
was A Thousand Years
by Christina Perri, sung by a good friend of ours as a slower version played on a violin. The song starts playing and I look up and see everything I have been waiting for. She’s absolutely stunning. I smile as I wait for my beautiful bride to make it down the aisle. She is looking back at me smiling, never peeling her eyes from my sight. My heart is expanding with every step she takes and every inch she gets closer to me. My heart is filled with the everlasting love of my beautiful bride and my beautiful princess. I could not ask for more.

She stands next to me and we are facing each other. Neither of us can take the smile off our faces. Nothing exists right now but me and her. Everything is faded in the background. The preacher says a few prayers and I see my nephew Lukas walking down the aisle with the rings. He looks so handsome. He looks just like Cadence. He brings the rings and it’s time for our vows. Serena starts.

“
The first time I saw you, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I tried to get away but you were persistent. You had a spell on me. I couldn’t get away from your beautiful smile no matter what. Your dimples got me every time. Slowly, you tore down my walls and made me realize how wonderful you are. You are the most amazing man I have ever met and I am thankful every day that you walked into my chemistry class. We have a beautiful girl as a result of our love. I almost lost you and it killed me to think you were gone, but that day God showed us.”

She stops to collect herself because I can see that she is tearing up. “God showed us that even though we were young, our love can conquer anything that gets put in our way. Our love is so strong that we can make anything work. I promise as your wife to be there for you through sickness and health and pretty much anything. You are my hero, my best friend, my other half. I can’t wait to see what our journey has to offer us now that God gave you back to me.”

I can see the tears in her eyes as she places the ring on my finger. I look at her as she is holding my hand and she recited everything the preacher tells her. I say my I do’s and now it’s my turn.

“
The moment I laid eyes on you, you were it for me. There was no one else I could imagine spending my life with. I wanted all in. You are the most beautiful girl inside and out that has ever crossed my path. I came back to you because I couldn’t leave you. You are the very breath that I take. You are my air. I need you. I will always need you. Even though you almost lost me, I heard every word you said in that hospital bed. That pushed me farther to make it for you. I owed it to you to have the strength to survive. I won’t leave you, now or in the future. This is forever, my forever girl. I promise to you to be the best husband I possibly can. I’ll make sure to go to the store and get you tampons if you need me to,” that earned a few laughs from the audience, “If you need ice cream while you’re carrying my next child, I’ll leave at 3 A.M. You just ask and I will make that wish come true. I love you with all my heart and I will love you for forever and beyond.”

I place the ring on her finger and kissed her hand. She starts crying tears of joy.

“
I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Aiden Clark. You may now kiss the bride.”

***

Serena

Aiden smiles his heart melting dimple smile as he embraces me. He tips me backwards with the most heart flattering kiss I have ever had. Everyone around us stands and claps their hands. Looking around seeing the joy on everyone’s face makes this all worthwhile.

We all walk out to the reception area and eat. Larissa approaches the stage ready to present her maid of honor speech.

“
I have known Serena for a long time. She has always been the one to keep to herself. She never wanted to date. She just wanted to be good at school, that’s all she asked for. Then Aiden walked in and he completely swept her off her feet. That was a wake up call, huh?” she laughs and so does everyone else. “She tried to resist him but in the end Aiden won. But seriously, would a guy like Aiden fail? He is the perfect puzzle piece to complete her puzzle. They are the perfect couple and I am so happy that I got to witness their journey of love. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them. This toast is to the beautiful bride and the amazing groom. I love you two with all my heart. Best wishes!”

Everyone cheers as she gets off the stage. Ben is next up to do his best man speech.

“
Aiden and I go way back. I got to see him at his funniest. We have had the friendship that everyone longs for. I may be a few years older than him but that didn’t stop our friendship. The day he called me and told me he had a girl, I smiled. He’s had girlfriends before, but none of them were pronounced the way he talked about Serena. I haven’t even met her and I just knew she was the one for him. She is his rock, his other half and his beauty. Their love will never falter. They display the true meaning of true love. I wish you both happiness for the rest of your lives and I look forward to being a part of it. I love you guys!”