Liddy's POV
As my dad and I reach the alter I take a hold of Hunter's outstretched hand. He squeezes my fingers ever so gently and I instantly feel a sense of calmness. Any worries or concerns that something might go wrong just disappear with his one simple reassuring gesture.
The smile on his handsome face and the love shining in his gorgeous stormy blue eyes makes my heart flutter and my knees weak. I have to take a moment to catch my breath. I'm not sure what I did to deserve a man as wonderful as him, but I'm thankful beyond words.
Once the ceremony begins and Father Paul begins to speak, I try to pay attention to each and every word, wanting to remember every detail of this perfect day. Unfortunately, I quickly find myself lost, in the depths of my soon to be husband's soulful eyes and begin thinking about the amazing life we will have together.
When Father Paul informs me it's time for me to recite the vows I wrote for Hunter, I nod politely at him, then lean over to whisper in Hunter's ear. He looks back at me questioningly. I smile brightly then glance over my shoulder, assuring him that he heard me correctly.
I'm not surprised by his confusion since we didn't practice this during the rehearsal. It's something I thought of last night while I was laying in bed. I think it will make our vows that much more special.
As Hunter walks over to get Harper, I take a few deep breaths and let them out slowly, trying to prepare myself for what I'm going to say. Praying that I don't mess up. When he returns holding beautiful Harper, in his arms, I reach out and grab each of their hands.
"Hunter and Harper, I pledge before God and everyone here, to love you both unconditionally, with all of my heart, for the rest of my days. I promise to listen when you speak and hear not only your words but the message that is hidden among them. I will hold you when you feel sad, scared or lost and I'll laugh with you and try to make every day happier than the one before."
"I promise to support each and every one of your dreams and will always cheer the loudest for your success. I pledge to be honest with you and will never take you for granted, instead I will cherish and respect you the way that you deserve to be. I will stand by you both through the good times and the bad and most importantly, I promise to NEVER give up on us and our family, because you are the loves of my life."
When I'm finished, I automatically reach over and brush away the tears that rest upon Hunter's cheeks. He smiles that smile that takes my breath away then whispers the 3 words, I will never tire of hearing 'I Love You'.
"Now, Hunter, it's your turn." Father Paul instructs.
He nods, straightens his shoulder and clears this throat. Then he quickly squeezes my hand once before he begins. "Lindsay Irene, I ... No wait, let me start again." He says as he looks over at Harper. "Lindsay Irene, Harper and I want you to know that we thank the Lord every single day for bringing you into our lives. You are the biggest blessing that we have ever been given. The love, light and laughter that you share with us each day has given us more joy then we can ever express. You are what make us a family. We need you more than you will ever know......"
"That is why we pledge to always love you with our entire hearts and promise to NEVER take you or your love for granted. We will try our best to inspire you and encourage you to chase your dreams. Then do whatever it takes to help you achieve them. We promise to sing and dance with you in the rain and try our hardiest to protect you from things that may hurt you. When we can't, we will always be here to hold you in our arms until the sadness passes."
"We will support and respect you and VOW to cherish you every second that we are together. You are my best friend and soul mate and one of Harper's biggest loves that is why we pledge before God to love you unconditionally and promise to follow you wherever you go and stay wherever you stay because without you we would be lost."
When Hunter finishes, I can hardly see him through my tears. I knew he would say things that would make me emotional, but I never guessed it would touch me so deeply. 'Lord, I love this man.'
The rest of the ceremony flies by. Before we know it Father Paul pronounces us husband and wife. When he does, I note an extra spark in Hunt's eyes. I can tell he is as excited as I am and is looking forward to our first kiss as a married couple.
When it's finally time, he softly places his right hand on my left cheek and leans in. The moment his lips touch mine I feel the electricity shoot through my body. The kiss is filled with so much love. I don't want it to end.
Eventually, the sound of Harper's voice insisting that it's her turn to "kiss Lids" breaks through our loving haze and we part. We are both breathless.
As the music begins, Hunter and I turn towards our guests. He places Harper on the floor and we each grab one of her tiny little hands. Then we walk happily out of the church, amongst words of congratulations, to our new life.
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Hunter's POV
"So Mrs. Hayes, may I have this dance?" I ask Liddy as we walk onto the dance floor, for our first dance as man and wife.
She giggles. A sound that I still think is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. "Yes, I am dear husband."
"God I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing you call me that."
Again she giggles. "Well, that's good because I plan to say it as often as I can."
As we sway to Carrie Underwood's song "Only You" I revel in the feeling of my wife's body next to mine. She's warm, sexy and gorgeous and all mine. 'How did I get so lucky'?
"Hunt"
"Hmmmmm"
"I love you, so much."
"I love you, too." I whisper in her ear. "More than you will ever know."
She pulls herself closer and sighs.
"Thank you for including Harper in our vows. It made it very special."
"I was lying in bed last night thinking about all the promises I wanted to make to you and it just hit me, that I wanted to make them to Harper, too. I love her so much... I know she's young and didn't understand everything I was trying to convey, but I still wanted her to feel special... Like she was party of the wedding and not just in it. Does that make sense?"
I cut her off before she can say any more, with a kiss. Hoping to show her just how much her inclusion of Harper in our ceremony meant to me. "Yes, it does." I say breathless after ending our incredible kiss. "And I love you more, if it's possible, for thinking of Harper and her feelings."
She smiles then turns her head to rest it on my chest, while we continue to dance.
"So are you excited about flying to New York tonight?"
She lifts her head and looks at me, with her amazing sable colored eyes. "Sort of."
"What does that mean?" I ask, trying not to panic at her less than enthusiastic response. "I thought that we agreed New York was the best place to celebrate our honeymoon, since we had planned to fly there anyway, in three days, with my parents and Harper for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?"
"Oh we did." She replies mischievously. "But it's such a LONG flight and suddenly I can think of a few other things I would rather be doing after the reception is over, than riding on a plane."
Recognizing the gleam in her eyes and realizing what she really was trying to say, causes me to groan. "Lid, you're killing me, you know that, right?"
She nods her head. "Yup.... That's pay back for all these toe curling kisses and smoldering looks you've been giving me."
I throw back my head and laugh. "God, I love you."
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Liddy's POV
"Are you kidding me?"
"No." Hunter replies excitedly. "I just got a call from Betsy, someone working for The Kraft Corporation contacted her, after hearing that we were honeymooning here in New York and planned to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. They asked her if we would be interested in riding on this year's float."
"You mean they want you to ride on it?"
"No, they want us..... You, me, Harper, my parents, all of us. I guess this year's theme is about 'the love of Friends and Family'. They felt we were the perfect example of that since we just got married. So what do you think? Do you want to do it?"
"I'm not sure? What would we need to do exactly?"
"I believe, just wave to the crowd."
"That's it? Nothing more, like asking us to sing as a family?"
He just laughs at my question. "No, Babe.... I think all it requires is us sitting on the float with Harper and my parents just waving. As far as I know, they never mentioned it to Betsy to have me sing, although I won't lie, I would love to do it sometime. It's kind of been a dream of mine. Lower on my bucket list, but still on there."
"Really? I never knew that!"
"Well, Babe we've only known each other for a few years. I would hope there are still a few things left to learn."
"Oh, I'm sure there are and I'm looking forward to discovering each and every one of them." I say as I kiss him. "Now, back to the parade issue. Do you thing Harper would have fun?"
"I do. I think she would have a blast. What do you think?"
"I agree. What about your parents?"
"I'm almost positive they would be fine with it, but if not I'm sure it would be okay if just you, Harper and I rode on the float.....So do I call Betsy back and tell her we said yes?"
"Sure."
"How come you don't sound very excited?"
"I am excited. I think it would be amazing, but I'm worried about your fans and how they'll react. It's one thing reading about you getting married and another thing actually seeing you on TV or in person with your new wife and daughter."
"I hear what you're saying, but I really think it will be fine. There wasn't too much negative stuff said when we got engaged and very little said since we got married."
"Hunt, we've only been married for a day." I giggle. "Not a lot of people are even aware of it yet. We kept it pretty quiet. But if we ride the float, the whole country will know."
"Good! I want every single person to know! I love you, I married you and I plan to have children with you. My fans need to start accepting that."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive." He says as he wraps his arms around me and spins us around. "Because as soon as January gets here and I'm done touring for awhile, I want to try having a baby. That is if you think you're ready?"
"Are you kidding me? I've been ready since we met with Dr. Elbin and you convinced me that IVF is our best option."
"That's it! It's settled." He kisses me quickly. "We're not going to worry about my fans any more. Instead we're going to think about us and what makes us happy. So I'm going to call Betsy right now and telling her that we accept the offer to ride in the Macy's parade and then we're going to snuggle and start thinking of baby names."
I stand on my toes and wrap my arms around my husband's neck. "Are you sure you have to call Betsy right now?" I question as I hover with my lips just over his. "I really think we should focus all our attention on picking baby names. Don't you? It could take us awhile to agree on names. It will definitely put our communication skills to the test."
"You are so right! Betsy can wait. It's far more important that we work on our communication skills." He smirks just before sealing my lips with his, causing every cell in my body to tingle..... Lord, I love this man with all my heart and soul.
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Sorry for the SUPER long wait!. I hope this Longer than usual chapter makes up for it.
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