I couldn’t believe that this was my life now. I’d come from nothing, hadn’t known my father and had lived with my deadbeat mother until she went to jail, I was in and out of foster care. Just thinking of my life before and my life now had the first tear falling down my cheek.
“Becky, your makeup.” Linda, one of the wedding planners, approached with a pressed compact, ready to touch up my cheeks but I raised a hand to stop her.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m sure you are, but your makeup is not.” Her voice was stern, her eyebrows narrowed.
Mary squeezed my hand and in the next second she tugged me forward, placing both of her tiny hands on my cheeks. “Why are you crying? Aren’t you happy?”
“Mary, careful of Becky’s makeup.”
I didn’t appreciate the tone in Linda’s voice and I shot her a look. “Can you please give me and my girls a few minutes?”
There must have been something on my face that told this woman there was only one correct answer to my question, because without another word, Linda and her team of five—yes five—were out the door.
My attention was back on Mary as soon as the doors shut and I bent down and rested my elbows on my knees to get into her line of sight. “I am happy. These are happy tears. I promise you.” I turned my attention to Sarah who had this blinding smile that lit up my insides. I cupped her cheek. “You just don’t understand. From someone who didn’t have much of a family before to having you girls …” My words got stuck in my throat from all the emotions running through me.
Sarah placed her hand on top of mine on her cheek. “And Daddy.”
More tears.
“And Daddy,” I repeated, my voice soft and full of emotion.
“And don’t forget Uncle Brad and Uncle Mason,” Mary added, wrapping her arms around my center.
“I love you, Becky.” Mary full-on crushed me, followed by Sarah.
I couldn’t get out the words I repeated before bedtime, before we hung up on the phone, before I dropped them off for school. Not because they weren’t true anymore or that I didn’t mean them with every fiber of my being. Simply because the emotions of uttering those words were so overwhelmingly powerful that I was a nanosecond from washing away all of my makeup with even more tears. “You girls …” I swallowed and tried hard to make the tears cease. “Are my whole world.” Now and forever, I silently promised them.
The knock on the door had us peering up to see a not-so-happy Linda. “It’s showtime.”
After we all stood from—as Mary would call it—our bubble of love, Linda came over and fluffed out the girls’ white tulle bridesmaid dresses. They seemed more like flower girl dresses to me, but Sarah noted that they were my bridesmaids since I didn’t have anyone else standing up.
After Linda retouched my makeup, my fingers intertwined with my two little girls. Because they were mine now. Today I would claim them in front of an audience, even though I’d already claimed them long ago in my heart.
We walked hand in hand down the stairs, passing some of the waitstaff and other coordinators. They oohed and aahed at my dress, at my hair done up in a ponytail of flowing curls. I felt like a queen, but more than that, my heart was so filled to the brim with joy that I’d thought it would burst.
I closed my eyes briefly, lifting my face to the skies, taking in the summer sun on my cheeks, the breeze from the light wind against my skin. When I opened them and walked further into the backyard, I took in the decor, the flowers, the guests.
Long tables were set at the outskirts of the pool and the pool? For tonight, it was a lit dance floor. Mason had hired someone to place a covering on top of the pool so we could dance on it. It still freaked me out to think that at any moment we could fall, but Mason assured everyone that we’d be fine. Knowing him, he’d done the research on the reputability of the company that had installed it.
The Brisken brothers went above and beyond to make this the wedding of the century. A champagne wall was set up to the right of the pool. A donut wall right next to it. Candles were everywhere. On pedestals in