Made To Love You (8 page)

Mom and Elle take the babies and sit them near each other in front of the TV, with all their toys that were brought for them. Chloe, MacKenzie and I take a seat on the couch playing with our phones.

A few minutes later there is a knock on the door and we all look at each other. “Wonder who that is?” MacKenzie says scrambling off the floor near her daughter, heading to the door.

“Hey, baby,” MacKenzie says. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We brought some food to hold everyone over,” Jackson answers walking into our room with Hunter in tow.

I glance to the time on my phone and see that it’s about seven. A few more hours and we’d have to make our way across the boardwalk to the venue.

Chloe’s ears perk up. “I knew I married that man for a reason.”

Jackson scratches his head. “You married me for bringing you food?”

“Mom, can we go?” Alex bounces into his mom’s lap.

“Soon, baby, soon.” Chloe grabs a bag from Jackson and starts to pull sandwiches out and placing them on a paper plate she also took out from the bag.

“Be right back.” MacKenzie walks away towards the room Hailey is in. A second later she comes back shaking her head.

“What’s the matter, CC?” Hunter asks.

“I asked crazy in there if she wanted anything to eat and she threatened to break my fingers if I touched the doorknob.”

Hunter chuckles. “Sounds about right coming from her.”

MacKenzie takes a seat on the floor next to Olivia and Ryder, Hunter slides in behind her and he pulls her back against his chest. Seeing them sitting there makes me want to be wrapped up in Cooper’s arms. The love my brother shares with MacKenzie is a true fairytale, the ones you only read about in books. But seeing them here in front of me makes me believe that anyone can have what they have, once they find their true soul mate.

I found mine, even if it was a little rough getting there, just like a diamond in the rough, it takes a lot of time, patience and energy to find the beauty within. Cooper is my diamond in more ways than one. One day I hope to have his babies running circles around us, keeping us up late at night, mending broken hearts, and cleaning their cuts.

Hunter kisses MacKenzie’s neck and tosses a chip at Ryder making him giggle. He’s such an amazing dad.

After mom finishes eating she sits down on the chair next to mine and leans her head against my shoulder, it takes everything I have not to cry. She’s fine on the outside and she looks more beautiful than I’ve seen in a long time but I know that on the inside she’s being killed slowly. Cancer is a bitch like that. It rips away your whole life, not just your body.

With an empty hand I reach over and thread my fingers with my mom’s. “I love you, Mom.”

She sniffles. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

Hunter must have heard her because his head twists towards us. His face is etched with worry but it quickly fades when Olivia places a messy kiss on her daddy’s face.

In this moment I want to say so much to my mom but I won’t because today is supposed to be a happy day. A day that we forget about all our worries and be happy for Mason and Hailey.

After everyone finishes eating and gets cleaned up, Elle looks to her watch. “It’s about that time.”

Jackson hands Chloe a tuxedo. “Help me get this monkey suit on him, please.”

Chloe takes it and shakes her head. “You’d think you’d have mastered this by now.”

He shrugs. “I have,” he points a finger over to Alex. “It’s him that’s got the problem.”

“Jackson,” Elle scolds. She takes the tux from Chloe and hands it back to him. “Take this, Alex, Hunter, and Ryder and go back to your rooms. You can manage that much.”

Chloe snickers.

Jackson blows a kiss to her. “Come, buddy. Let’s go get our monkey suits on.”

The four of them leave and then it’s on. We get Olivia and Alexis in their dresses, it’s easier to do it here and less wrinkles for our dresses when we get over to Midnight Atlantic.

When we’re ready to go, MacKenzie goes and knocks on the door for Hailey. “Hailey, it’s time we get over there.”

The door opens and all our heads turn in her direction. Hailey is traffic stopping beautiful. Her blonde hair is pulled back, much like MacKenzie’s, on the side of her head with curls cascading over her shoulder pinned back with three white roses and her bangs wisped to the side. Her makeup both dark and light illuminates her eyes making them look drastic but subtle. Her Nordic blue eyes ringed with long, black eyelashes and her lips a medium pink.

“Damn,” MacKenzie says under her breath.

“You are going to push that man’s limits tonight,” Chloe chimes in.

Hailey bites down on the corner of her bottom lips. “Too much?”

Elle goes to where Hailey is standing and grabs both her hands within hers. “There is no such thing as too much where you and Mason are concerned, sweetheart.” From my position I see Elle’s eyes crinkle in the corners. “It’ll be nice to see my son speechless for once.”

Chloe, mom and I all sigh at the exact same time.

Then, in Hailey fashion, she slips her white sweatpants on with the word bride written on the butt, picks up her little mini-me and her dress. “Let’s go, ladies,” she looks over her shoulder. “I’ve got a hot date waiting for me that I’m about to stun silent.”

We all laugh and grab everything and anything we’re about to need to make this wedding go off without a hitch.

Jaylinn

When we all stepped off the elevator Jackson and Hunter were standing there. “What in the world?”

Hunter put up his hand stopping MacKenzie and flanked one side of Hailey while Jackson was on the other. I glanced around wondering what in the hell was going on when a flash caught my attention.

MacKenzie falls in step beside me and Chloe with mom, Elle, and the babies behind us. “Looks like the damn media found out about the wedding.”

I sigh heavily, as does Chloe. “Does that,” Chloe nods with her head to the side, “ever get easier?”

I shrug. “We don’t have that problem, but then again Cooper is still in the minors.”

“Guess I shouldn’t have posted anything on Twitter, huh?” I hear Elle behind me.

MacKenzie falls back a step. “Not your fault, Mom. I don’t understand what the big deal is anyway. Haven’t they seen anyone get married before?”

I guess this is something I might have to get used to should Cooper ever make it to the major league. It’s like Mason became a superstar overnight.

Thankfully, we’re close to the doors and across the boardwalk in no time at all. When we reach the elevators there are two big men dressed in black suits standing on each side of the door. They push the button for us.

Hunter gives a head nod as he steps in and we all follow.

“What the hell?” Hailey says taking Alexis from my mom.

Jackson shrugs. “They were down there when we all came over a little bit ago.”

Hailey shakes her head and no one says another word. I think we’re all a little nervous and excited. Jackson and Hunter usher us into the bridal suite. It’s overflowing with white and black roses and a white and black bag with a card is sitting on a table in the far corner.

MacKenzie kisses Hunter and, in turn, Hunter kisses Olivia goodbye.

I take Alexis from Hailey as she goes over to the gift. She takes a seat at the little table and grabs the envelope. She spends a minute reading it and then wipes a few tears from her eyes before digging into the bag.

Hailey pulls out a pair of tear-shaped diamond earrings, a black and white diamond bracelet and another tiny bracelet for Alexis. Elle places her hands on Hailey’s shoulders. “They’re beautiful.”

“Mason has great taste.” Hailey smiles up at Elle. “I wonder where he got that from?”

Elle beams. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”

I walk over to Hailey with Alexis. Hailey’s hands are shaking so bad she can hardly unclasp it. Finally, she does and I hold Alexis’s hand out. It’s the perfect fit and matches her mommy’s.

MacKenzie pulls Hailey’s dress out of the bag and hangs it from the door. I was one of the lucky ones to see Hailey in it before anyone else and it’s just as beautiful as I remember. Sweetheart empire waist that’s black satin with white pearls and crystals in the center of her breasts giving it that cinch look, the rest is pure white with black pearls and crystals that stem from the top and fade to the bottom. It’s stunning.

A knock sounds from the door. Mom opens it just slightly so that no one can see the dress that was just pulled out.

“Hi, I’m Vi the photographer.”

Mom opens the door wider and Vi steps in. “Now that is a beautiful dress.” And just like that she gets to work.

Vi goes around the room taking different candid’s before stopping before Hailey. She holds her hand out. “Hello, Hailey, I’m Vi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Beautiful dress, mind if we get some pictures of you next to it?”

Hailey nods. “Sure.”

For the next few minutes the sound of the camera clicking fills the room along with Olivia and Alexis playing. Alexis crawls over to where Hailey’s dress is and looks up, the sound of the camera clicking in rapid succession. That picture will forever be ingrained in my head.

A dream come true for every little girl, the princess finding the prince.

Another knock comes a few moments later. MacKenzie opens the door this time.

“Hello, I’m Amanda the event planner.”

A smile spreads across Hailey’s face when Amanda walks in. “Mason’s life saver.”

Amanda flushes. “I’m no one’s life saver.”

Hailey winks at the girl who is growing more and more awkward by the second. “One day you will be.”

“Thanks,” she swallows hard. “I just wanted to let you know that we’ll be ready to get started in about a half hour.”

A shiver of excitement rushes through me.

“Okay, we’ll be ready.”

Amanda and Vi excuse themselves while we get our dresses on. I’m the first to get my dress on. I love this dress and it’s something that I’ll be able to wear again. It’s elegant with a touch of formal. It’s a simple black strapless dress with a white sash just under my breasts and the dress hangs right at my knees. The heels are black, open toe with black satin laces that crisscross up to my ankles. The girls and I all got black earrings and bracelets that match from Mason and Hailey. My dress is the same length as Chloe’s but MacKenzie has a floor-length version and Olivia’s matches hers.

“Jay, can you do me a favor?” Hailey asks.

“Of course.”

“Can you go and grab Andrew for me, please?”

I nod and step out of the room and run almost directly into Cooper.

He freezes and stares at me with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. “Fuck.”

My cheeks pink and I feel nervous which is crazy. “Is that a good fuck or a bad one?”

Cooper takes a step towards me and I take one back. My back hits the freezing glass and it steals my breath. Cooper saves me as he slides a hand behind me bringing my body closer to his.

“It’s both a bad and a good one.” Cooper’s cologne washes over me and I have to squeeze my legs together as a rush of heat runs right through me. “Bad because I can’t touch you anymore than I am already,” he slides his hand down to rest on my ass. “And good because you look fucking incredible.” Cooper leans in and kisses my neck. “I can’t wait to peel this off the second we get out of here.” He leans in to kiss me again but his father’s voice stops him dead.

“Get your hands off that poor girl, son.”

I snort trying to hold back my laughter.

“Go calm your brother, and yourself, down.” Andrew’s voice cracks like a whip.

“Yes, sir.”

When Cooper is around the corner Andrew laughs along with me. “That was awesome.”

“Thanks, kid.”

“I was actually coming to get you. Hailey is requesting to see you.”

“Okay.”

I turn and knock on the door once and stick my head in to make sure everyone is dressed and ready to go. When the coast is clear I open it wider for him to step in.

“Andrew,” Hailey says stepping up to him. “I seem to have a problem.”

Elle winks at Hailey.

“What’s that, sweetheart?” Andrew says in a calm manner. He’s always ready to fix everything and do it with a smile.

Hailey bats her eyelashes. “Well, it appears I have no one to walk me down the aisle.”

Next to me, MacKenzie gives Hailey a thumbs up behind her dad’s back.

“Well, what can I do to fix that?”

Hailey holds her arm out. “Be my dad and walk me down the aisle.”

My eyes tear up as does Elle’s, mom’s and Chloe’s. It’s sad to think that Hailey, Chloe and I don’t have our dad’s in our lives but I don’t think anyone could ever stand up to or replace Andrew Cahill, even if we did.

Andrew takes Hailey’s hand and links her arm with his. “I’d love to.”

Another knock on the door. “It’s time,” Amanda sings.

Chloe is the first to go in, followed by me, then MacKenzie and finally Hailey. As I’m walking down the aisle I’m awestruck. The view is absolutely breathtaking. It looks like I’m walking out into the ocean.

“Psst,” I hear from beside me. I glance over and see Layla and Eli.