Mads PoV
Everyone was finally ready. The wedding party stood outside the doors to the beautifully decorated ballroom in one feminine and stunning bridesmaids dresses, we certainly owed Emily one for not screwing us over and making us wear awful ugly dresses.
The men were all looking handsome and Grayson in particular looked to die for.
The wedding ceremony could not have been more perfect. Gracie led the way dropping delicate dusty pink rose petals down the aisle until she met Hunter at the end who swept her up in his arms.
Grayson looked so proud as our baby girl appeared to be much healthier and so adorable. It felt incredible holding his hand to follow our cute little flower girl daughter.
Miley was escorted down the aisle by Emily's brother Carl then we all watched in awe as Emily and her father Jim joined us.
Emily was so beautiful and her happiness seemed to flow freely out of her and she didn't care who felt it. She wanted everyone to witness the force of her love for Dylan. I gazed up at him and saw him wipe a tear away totally mesmerised by his bride. He flashed me a goofy grin trying to cover the nerves that I'm sure were coursing through his veins right now. Even at his own wedding he was being his typical silly self which was why I loved him so much and he was my best friend.
Emily noticed and even from under her veil I spotted
her scowl at him scolding him for his behaviour which Grayson noticed to because he elbowed Dylan in the ribs and sniggered at his getting told off,
"Grayson behave" I whispered elbowing his in a similar way to he did Dylan. This time Dylan chuckled at the way his brother got told off too.
I swear these men were just overgrown children. In fact my kids were better behaved then them, well most of the time and when they played up it was usually because Grayson had been egging them in to be mischievous.
Once Jim gave Emily's hand to Dylan we all sat down in the front rows and watched the ceremony proceed.
Grayson was holding Luke and I cuddled Preston whilst letting Gracie spend as much time with Hunter as possible because we all knew he was going to be leaving soon.
Grayson had been gazing over at me every now and again during the vows and he leant into me and kissed my cheek leaving his lips lingering in my skin slightly longer than usual. It felt like it had more meaning to it than just a gentle sign of affection.
"Is everything okay?" I asked quietly feeling a bubble of worry forming in my stomach.
"It's more than okay. You're wearing your rings again" Grayson beamed brightly and lifted my hand to place a kiss in my wedding and engagement rings.
Up until today I hadn't felt comfortable wearing them but when I woke up this morning to get ready for the wedding I felt oddly naked without them, like a part of me was missing.
"I love you Gray" resting my head on his bicep I adjusted Preston in my arms and gave both of our boys soft kisses to their heads taking in their sweet baby scent that never seemed to fade. They were living proof of the love of Grayson and I and having two tiny replicas of him was one of the highlights of my life.
I looked along the row and watched as Gracie kissed Hunters nose and giggled quietly when he is it back again before wrapping his big arms around her and holding her tight.
He looked so happy I hated that I was driving him away but I was so thankful for him giving me Gracie.
Gracie was proof of so many things. Forbidden love, proof that blood doesn't mean a thing when it comes to living a child unconditionally in the way Grayson loves her.
She was proof that if you fight hard enough you can overcome anything. She was a perfect combination of our families. Her Franklin and Barrett blood made her so strong that she was overcoming the odds and kicking cancers ass.
I couldn't be prouder of her.
"I love you too baby, you okay?" Grayson's deep timber brought me back to reality.
"Yeh I'm good"
Once the ceremony was over we all sat down in a huge banquet hall for the wedding meal and stuffed ourselves on way too much luxurious, yummy food.
Gracie has to return to the hospital and Hunter had requested that he be the one to take her so that he could spend more time with her.
How could I refuse that? I'd already ruined his life so the least I could do is allow him to be a dad to Gracie while he was still around because god knows when she'd see him again once he left for good. It felt like it was my fault that he was going to be absent from her life, no matter what happened between us that was the last thing I wanted .
Right there and then I promised myself that I wouldn't let that happen even if we had to travel around the world so that they could be together.
I knew Gracie was in good hands so I could tick that off of my list of things to fret over for today when another one, well no three more problems came to mind.
So far I had done an excellent job at avoiding my three brothers who knew that it was best to stay out of my way until I was ready to talk to them.
We hadn't spoken one word since that awful disaster of a lunch with Lillian and although I'd made up with Miley they were harder to forgive.
They were my big brothers, the ones that had always protected me since I was a baby. Often being overprotective and totally overbearing but they'd always had my back without question.
Until that day that was.
I hadn't been ready to make up with them until today. I just needed to do it in my own time, in my own way and that might be after a few glasses of champagne to get me buzzed enough to brave it.
It was dark and the twins had began to get antsy after the meal so my parents had taken them home for a sleepover which meant that I now had a huge room at this fancy Manor House to myself because I had planned on staying here overnight with the boys. I knew Grayson had a room too so it felt very weird to be at a huge family function and have separate rooms. I'd have to do something about that later.
I had planted myself at a table that held a tower of glasses of a pink alcohol that looked absolutely delicious. I had already had two before I spotted my brothers gathered together near the bar with Grayson. I headed over there thinking I could use Grayson as a way of casually joining them.
"Hey baby" Grayson greeted me sipping his bourbon and watching me looking at my brothers.
"Hi sis... how are you?" Tyler asked after knocking back the entire glass of some type of amber liquid like it was going to make him brave enough to talk.
"I'm okay thanks you?" My tone was cold and slightly bitter and Tyler winced like it was acid in his face.
"Good, I'm good"
"Look Madison we fucked up. We know we fucked up ....hell we knew it the minute we hesitated and we are so sorry " Nat butted in pleading for my forgiveness
"She kidnapped my babies Nat she's not a good person. She never was" I reminded him my voice cracking with emotion that I didn't want to show.
Grayson's arm snaked around my waist giving me strength and support.
"Maddie we could never of known she'd do that. But we are really fucking sorry that she put you all through that" Cameron stared down at me liking so full of remorse it seemed to be drowning him.
"Can we just forget about it and move on? I'm so tired of holding on to negativity" I barely finished my sentence before I was pulled into a crushing set of triple bear hugs whilst Grayson just stood and watched laughing his head off.
It felt like a big weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and I immediately relaxed and began to have much more fun as a child free adult for the evening. We all drunk, we chatted and most of all we laughed until our sides hurt.
It felt like old times. The Franklin's, the Barrett's coming together as one big family and having the time of our lives.