Mila

Why on earth am I so nervous?

I was ready to marry this man the second he stepped into my life, but now, standing in my wedding dress in our bedroom...I feel like I can't breathe.

"I can't do this. What if I trip?" I mutter, pulling at the hem of my dress.

"You won't trip, Mimi. Sam will make sure of that," Jas says, doing her best to keep my anxiety at bay, as she always does.

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Mila..." she warns me with a sigh.

"Shit, sorry. It's just...peanut's been kicking all day, and I just want it to be done—I want to be his wife."

She steps behind me, rubbing her hands over my arms as she shoots me a smile through the mirror, resting her chin on my head when she says, "Usually I'd make fun of you for being so fucking sappy, but I'll make an exception today. It's literally only a matter of minutes until we go out there and make you his wife."

I turn around to look at my best friend, the one who went through thick and thin with me, the one who always stood by my side, every step of the way. It seems like yesterday when a little boy stole my shovel in kindergarten, and Jasmine took it back and hit him on the head with it. She exclaimed that's what best friends do, although I didn't even know her name at that point. And she always kept her word, always stood by my side and fought every battle with me, no matter how hard it was.

"Mimi...why are you crying? You'll ruin my meticulous makeup!"

Her words make me laugh; I didn't even realize I started crying at some point in my reverie. "Sorry, it's just...I'm so thankful for having you as my best friend, Jas. I don't... I don't know how I would've survived any of this without you."

"Mimi, I told you I'd punch you if you make me cry." She wipes tears from her cheek and wraps me in her tight hug. "We'll always stick together, I promise. I know it may not seem like it, because I'm so bad at showing it, but I'm really, really grateful for your friendship. You helped me more than you might think."

"I don't believe that," I whisper, red hair falling into her face as she pulls back, her palms on my cheek when she lowers herself to look at me properly.

"Have I ever lied to you? I need you in my life as much as anyone needs their best friend, if not more. You should know that by now."

I only nod, knowing there's no use arguing with her, and she's probably right. Jas has had her fair share of unpleasant experiences in her life, and I know how hard it was to overcome them as well as she did. "Yeah, okay." I sniff, wiping another wave of tears from my face as I take a deep breath.

"Good. Now, stop crying. Your dad will be here in a minute, and I need you to look the part, okay?"

"Okay, okay. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. I love you, sister." She winks, and I can't help but laugh, squeezing her hand once more.

"I love you too."

But the next wave of tears is already coming. These hormones have my emotions all over the place today. Jasmine takes it all like a champ, though, reapplying waterproof mascara and fixing up my hair, working on the last finishing touches when we hear a loud knock on the door.

"Who is it?" she yells. "If it's Hayden, he can fuck off! The bride will be down in a minute."

My dad's laugh echoes through the hallway, and I can only shake my head at Jasmine, even though I wouldn't be surprised if Hayden actually showed up by the door.

"Come in, Dad!"

Jas helps me up, and I hear the door close before my dad appears in front of me, his eyes wide when they take in my appearance. "Oh, God."

"No crying, Sam! We already did that!" Jas warns, but Dad shakes his head as a row of tears flows down his cheeks, starting my own waterworks when he looks me up and down.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just...you look so beautiful, Mila. Just like your mother."

I can't help but throw my arms around him, needing his fatherly hug right now. It's still so unreal that he's out, that he's free and can walk me down the aisle.

"Sorry, buttercup. You look breathtaking, really."

"Thanks, Dad. You clean up quite nicely as well."

We share a laugh, breaking the hug to look at each other again before he taps my nose with a shake of his head. "Thanks, sweetheart. Are you ready?"

I hesitate for a second, which Dad notices immediately. He raises an eyebrow, asking what's going on, but before I can even explain, Jas chimes in, "She's afraid to trip and fall."

"Oh, buttercup." Dad grabs my hand and brushes a kiss on my knuckles. "You won't trip. I'll make sure of that."

I heave a sigh, knowing there's no going back now. I wish we could get married in this room with just Jas and Dad...and maybe Kilian, if he behaves.

But Hayden has done so much for me already, I feel like I can give him the proper wedding he deserves. He compromised by having it in our garden, simply because I wanted to be close to home if our peanut decided to act up.

I just don't want to keep him waiting any longer. He deserves this. I only hope I won't make a fool of myself. "Okay, I'm ready."

***

Hayden

Jasmine made sure I left the apartment by ten this morning, and things have been pure stress since then. Doing this in our garden meant we had a shit-ton of preparing to do.

Kill stuck with me the entire morning, helping me set shit up while the caterer brought the food. An hour before it all started, Kilian pulled me away. Jasmine wanted to make sure I didn't see Mila when they sneaked into the house and finished everything up in the bedroom.

"Bro, are those your parents?" he asks, pointing toward the fence of our garden where I welcomed the guests who have already arrived.

I'm surprised to see them here. I know it was Mila who wanted me to arrange the meeting with my parents, but there's a small part inside me that's glad they came. With Mila being pregnant, I thought a lot about our future, and I came to the conclusion that our child should have the chance to meet their grandparents.

"Yeah, they are."

"Shit. I did not see that coming, man."

"Me neither, honestly."

It takes them a second to spot me, but when they do, my mother shoots me a polite smile, while my father just nods at me.

"Come on, let's say hello," Kill encourages me with a nudge, and I'm suddenly more than grateful to have him here. Despite his douche-facade, he has a good heart and always stood by my side whenever I had an argument with my parents back then.

"Okay." We move over to them, and I hate that I'm suddenly nervous, for whatever reason. "Mom. Dad."

"Mr. and Mrs. C, good to see you again." Kill waves, and they both shoot him a smile.

"Kilian. Nice to see you again, son. How are you doing?" my father asks, and I'm taken aback by his nice demeanor for just a second. I know Dad always liked Kilian; he spent a lot of time at our place in our high school years.

"You know me, sir. Never been better."

"That's great to hear."

"You look great, Hayden," Mom suddenly chimes in, giving my arm a quick squeeze.

I feel completely out of place. I have no idea what to do suddenly, so I just shoot her a smile. "Thanks, Mom. Thank you for coming."

"Of course. We wouldn't miss it for the world."

I glance at my father, who actually shoots me a sincere smile for once, and I'm grateful when Kill slaps my back with a wide grin on his face.

"Alright, brother, we need to get back."

"Yeah, right," I mutter, running a hand through my hair.

Kilian gestures toward the row of chairs we arranged next to the aisle in the middle of our garden. "You can take a seat there, Mr. and Mrs. C. It'll start soon."

They shoot us one last smile before taking a seat, and as soon as they disappear, this insane rush of adrenaline runs through me, realizing it's finally, finally, time.

"Alright, she'll be here in a minute!" Jas calls out from right behind me, pushing me toward my spot at the aisle after I greeted a few more guests. "How are you feeling?" she asks when she positions me, a wide grin on her face.

"Fucking excited," I answer, stating nothing but the truth.

"Good." She grins again before taking her own position a few feet away from me right when Kill slaps my shoulder, making me turn to look at him.

"Ready for your funeral, bro?"

"Oh, shut up, Kilian!" Jas hisses, glaring at my best friend, who's now grinning from ear to ear.

"You know I didn't mean that. I just like to rile her up," he whispers, and I can't help but raise an eyebrow in response.

"Something I need to know about that?"

"Oh, hell no. You know my type."

"You mean fuck-and-chuck?"

"Exactly." He shrugs.

"Stop whatever you're doing! They're coming!" Jas calls out, and that's all it takes for my head to snap to the entrance of our living room, just in time to see Mila step out of it.

Her eyes are on the ground as she probably focuses on not tripping over the doorstep, holding on to Sam, who is holding on to his daughter.

"Holy shit," I mutter, having to catch my breath when she looks up at me, her doe eyes immediately finding mine.

I take her in; every inch of this goddess stealing my breath. Soon enough, our eyes meet again, and it feels like nothing else matters anymore. The only thing I need in life is Mila. She's everything to me, and seeing her in this white dress, her baby bump on display, a ribbon tied right on top of it...fuck, it makes me doubt my own existence.

"Dude, you're crying." Kill laughs into my ear, but I blatantly ignore him, not needing this distraction and also not giving a shit if I'm crying or not.

Let these people see what I feel for this woman—that's the whole fucking reason we're here, right?

It seems like ages until Sam finally places Mila's hand in my own, and I only avert my gaze to look at him when he whispers, "Take good care of her, son."

"That's my life mission, Sam."

He smirks before taking his seat in the first row, and I immediately redirect my attention to my beautiful fiancée in front of me.

"You're the most beautiful fucking woman I've ever laid my eyes on, Lucky." I brush my fingers over her cheeks.

"And you're the most handsome man in this universe, Cash."

She beams when her fingers mirror my movement, rubbing the tears from my cheeks as she studies me, her eyes just as always piercing so deeply into mine, I feel like she's undressing me to my very core.

We don't care about the words the officiant speaks right behind us, even though we probably should. It's just fucking impossible to look away from her, both of us holding on to each other.

"Dude...dude!" Kill stifles a laugh before he whispers, "The vows, man."

"Oh, okay." I look at the officiant, who seems utterly unimpressed by our behavior, and Mila just raises an eyebrow, still not having taken her eyes off me. I can't help but grin when I lean forward. "The vows, love. Who goes first?"

Yeah...we probably should've rehearsed this shit. Mila is full-on blushing by now, burying her face into my chest to hide her embarrassment. A chuckle escapes my throat, and I press a kiss on her head before I lean back again. "Okay, I'll go first...but I need you to look at me, Lucky."

She takes a deep breath and gazes up at me, her beautiful loving eyes staring straight at me. "Okay."

I place a quick kiss on her lips, earning amused glances and protests from our guests, including Kilian, who releases a shrill whistle to everyone's entertainment; even Jasmine has to smirk at that.

"Okay, love..." I run my thumb beneath Mila's bottom lip to wipe away the lipstick that smeared from our affection, and her cheeks turn even more crimson than before. "I thought a lot about what I should say, and honestly I couldn't come up with the right words, because everything seemed too bland, so I'm just going to wing it." I can hear chuckling in the background, but I keep my focus on Mila, who just stares at me with wide eyes, the pure emotion in them bringing me to tears again. "Fuck, you're so beautiful."

"Hayden," she warns, but I don't give a shit, completely ignoring the murmurs and laughs behind us.

"I'm not sorry for that, Mila. I mean it. You're the most stunning woman I've ever seen, and I'm still not believing you're standing in front of me in this white dress, ready to become my wife."

She bites her bottom lip, and even though I see the way it quivers from emotion, I still can't help but find it sexy as hell.

"When I met you, I immediately knew you're different. I knew you'd change my life the second you thought my chest was a wall." Another row of laughter erupts around us, and Mila starts turning crimson again in a matter of seconds. "Fuck. Sorry, love. I forgot there were people here."

But she laughs and shakes her head, gesturing for me to continue.

"Okay, well... What I mean to say is, I knew you'd change my life, but I didn't know you'd completely turn it upside down. You showed me that life is so fucking precious, that it's not about fame or money or attention. It's about who's by your side through all of it. It's about what you make of what you have, and the moment I finally, finally had you by my side, I swear it felt like my heart was going to burst." I swallow from the truth in my words. It's hard to describe what I feel for this woman.

"I can't put into words how much I love you, Mila. But I promise to try. I promise to make you feel loved, appreciated, and cherished for the rest of our lives, same as our children, however many there may come. Because you give me so much love, you could give me a whole goddamn football team of children, and I'd still never run out of ways to show how much I love them."

Mila is full-on crying by now, and I can't help but kiss away her tears.

"Take your time, love."

But she shakes her head and takes a deep breath, her voice barely a whisper when she looks at me. "No, no. We already took enough of that. I want to be your wife."

And I can't help the fucking huge grin that crosses my face from her words, because fuck, I just want this show to be over with.

She looks around for just a second, the nervous energy radiating off her for a moment before she looks at me again, those brown eyes settling on mine. I can almost see how she calms, her eyes only full of love now. "Hayden. You know I never expected this. I never expected to find someone who understands me the way you do. Who goes out of his way to make sure I'm happy, to make sure I'm taken care of. You made me see I'm much more than I thought I was. I feel like a whole person now, because I realized something ever since I met you. I belong to you, like you belong to me. I am who I want to be, who I never thought I could be, simply because you're with me." Mila releases a quiet sob, and I quickly cup her face, trying to give her the strength she needs.

"I want to say thank you for that," she sniffs. "I want to promise I'll forever show you how grateful I am for everything you did for me, for this whole new world you showed me. Because I just know you'll be the best dad out there, just like you'll be the best husband any person could even ask for. I love you more than any word in the English language could describe, because the love you show me is so unique and irrevocable, it's almost impossible to reciprocate it.

"And so I promise to just try to show you I love you as much as you do me, even though I know it's a lost cause. It's a lost cause because I can't even understand how you make me feel loved and understood every second of every day. It's magic, really, and I just hope you know I'll do anything to give back what you give to me. Even if it means birthing an entire football team of children."

I can't fucking wait anymore. I just need to finally feel her, not caring if the officiant has anything left to say or not. I'm pretty sure we still need to exchange rings and stuff like that, but I don't give a single fuck. All I care about is kissing my goddamn wife right now.

And I'm so glad when she gives in, her bump pressing against my stomach when I steady her with my hand on her back, needing to feel her with every inch of my existence.

This woman is finally mine. Forever. And I won't change that for anything.

She's the love of my life, the mother of my football team of children, and I can't wait to see how our future turns out, how we'll look in dozens of years.

Because I just know, I just know as long as she's by my side, we can conquer anything,and I'll be the luckiest fucking bastard alive.