Warning: this is the last chapter! There will be epilogues as well, giving insight into Caroline's life years later, but the real story is over. Make sure to keep the story in your library and to follow me so you'll get notified when I decide to add another epilogue or something. And... enjoy the final chapter! Thank you for reading this story!
I hold my breath as Shaughna zips up my dress, praying that it still fits. When the zipper is up and my boobs are still firmly tucked inside, I let out a sigh of relief. A glance in the mirror tells me that I look just the way I wanted to. Like a sexy angel.
"You're gorgeous," Tiffany assures me, sipping champagne as she sits cross-legged on the bed watching me. She's in a pretty blue dress, but she doesn't look very ladylike as she sits there, her underwear on display because her skirt is bunched up.
"Honey," Hillary says, pointing at her girlfriend's panties with a smile. "A little more modestly, please."
Embarrassed, she covers herself back up, blushing fiercely. Hillary kisses her softly before moving over to me to fix my hair. My hair is loose on Nathan's request, carefully curled but otherwise unembellished. I've got no jewelry on, letting the dress speak for itself. It's a strapless pure white gown with a sweetheart neckline. It's more fitted than I thought I'd like, showing off my curves. It flairs out a little at the bottom. Not quite a mermaid gown, but still the best of both words: fitted and flowy.
Nathan hasn't seen me in it yet. We've already done so many things in a non-traditional way that we figured we could at least keep one tradition alive. Sean suggested we should sleep in different houses or at the very least in different rooms the night before the wedding, but we just laughed in his face. That tradition didn't make any sense to us. Instead, we stayed up for hours, talking and making love.
"Do you have your something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?" Shaughna asks as she fixes her own hair in the mirror.
"Well, Nathan is pretty old," I joke, "so that's taken care of. "Our love is still pretty new, since we only met a nine months ago. And my entire life feels like I borrowed it from someone much older and saner than I am. As for something blue..."
"Your eyes," Tiffany says, smiling up at me from the bed. "They're blue."
"Then I guess you're ready," Shaughna decides, clapping her hands. "Stay here, I'm gonna see if everything is set." She leaves with Tiffany and Hillary in tow, leaving me alone for a moment.
"Breathe," I tell myself, meeting my own gaze in the mirror. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Nathan and I are perfect for each other, anyone with eyes can see that. Hell, even people without eyes would agree. Still, I can't help but feel I rushed him into this. He wanted to go slow, to not make the same mistakes he did with Elise, yet here we are, getting married before we've even known each other a full year. Technically, he never even really asked me to marry him. It was just sort of implied and I know that he wants this as much as I do, but still... what if he regrets giving me his grandmother's ring? What is he gets cold feet and takes off?
A knock sounds on the door, startling me out of my worries. I call out for Shaughna to come back in, but instead, a male voice sounds from the other side of the door. A voice I know almost as well as my own.
"Can I come in?" Nathan asks, that familiar edge to his dark voice. "I know we agreed that I wouldn't see you in your dress, but I need to talk to you."
"O-okay," I reply. This can't be good.
"Oh wow," he breathes when he steps in, taking me in from head to toe. "Oh, Caroline, you're beautiful. And sexy. Fuck, I didn't think you'd look this sexy. Is a wedding dress supposed to be sexy?"
I'm stunned as well. I thought I was used to how gorgeous he looks in a suit, but a wedding tux is a whole other level of yumminess. His hair is carefully styled but somehow still looks ready to turn back into it's usual mess. His tie is the exact same color as his eyes, beautiful emerald.
"Did you change your mind?" I ask, my heart sinking. Please, God, if you exist, don't take this godlike man away from me. I will do whatever you want me to, but please make him stay.
Nathan chuckles. "Change my mind? Hell no. I can't wait to call you my wife. I still can't believe you said yes that night in the car."
I smile at the memory. "Worst proposal ever."
"Hey, it was romantic and you know it." He grins, moving in for a kiss, but I stop him.
"My make-up," I explain. "Can't mess it up."
"Right." He rolls his eyes. "Like you need it. Fuck, Caroline, I'm gonna get so many pictures of you in this dress and put them up all over the house. You look amazing." He cocks his head to the side and sighs. "Then again, maybe that would be a bad idea. I'd get a raging boner in really inappropriate places if your picture was up everywhere."
I breathe a laugh, unable to keep my eyes off of the man that will be my husband in just a little while. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Right," he realizes, snapping back to reality. "We forgot something when we planned this whole thing."
"What?" I start panicking right away. We only had a few weeks to plan the whole thing, but I really thought we had pulled it off. The guest lists turned out a little bigger than we'd planned since we had both kept adding to it, but since we had a huge backyard and the weather was nice, that should be a problem. We agreed to let Rose invite three friends, which meant that Gracie, Tommy and Manny were attending our wedding, along with their parents. Of course Michael Thompson wasn't welcome anywhere near our house, so that meant that Gracie's mother and Mallory were chatting to Elise right now, probably making fun of everything we had carefully planned out for our special day. Still, that shouldn't be an issue. What could we have possibly forgotten?
"The tattoo," Nathan says, gesturing at his chest. "We never talked about what tattoo I should get to mark you finally becoming a permanent part of my life."
"Oh," I realize with a small smile. "Yeah, right, the tattoo." I indeed forgot all about his promise at the beginning of our relationship to get a permanent reminder of me inked onto his chest where he already has a bunch of ink, including an angel that signifies Elise and a Rose that obviously symbolizes his daughter.
"I was thinking... a diamond," Nathan says, running his hands over my arms. "You are, after all, my Sweety Caroline, which is a song by Neil Diamond. And you're just as beautiful and priceless as a diamond. Your eyes sparkle more brightly than that huge diamond on your hand... Wait – why are you still wearing the ring? Shouldn't I have that to put on you when we say I do?"
We both laugh at the mistake and I hand him the ring, feeling naked without it.
"A diamond," I say. "Yeah, that sound good. That would match the emerald I want to get perfectly."
"You – you..." Nathan shakes his head. "You're getting a tattoo?"
"Of course," I reply, leaning in to kiss him but remembering just in time that I can't because of my make-up. "And since your eyes are such a striking color, I figured an emerald would be perfect."
"You don't have to-"
"I want to," I interrupt him.
"Where?" he asks, his eyes raking my body like the tattoo is already there and I'm not wearing a dress.
I point to my foot, grinning at his confusion. "How did we meet?" I ask him, fixing his tie for him since it's not completely straight.
"You had locked yourself out in the rain," he recalls. "You had on a sundress that was soaked so that I could see right through it, showing me your bra. You were so sexy, Caroline. Just like you are now."
"And what was I doing?" I question.
He frowns. "Kicking the door." His eyes widen with understanding. "Oh. Your foot. Yes, that's perfect. Although... could you make it a heart? An emerald heart? I'd like a heart to signify me on your body, as you are mine."
"I'm your heart? Ahw, Nate, that's so cheesy."
Just when we're about to kiss, Shaughna bursts into the room. "Fucking hell, I leave for ten minutes and you're about to ruin your make-up and breaking a sacred tradition!" She pulls me away from Nathan and shoos him off. "Go wait by the altar. Or well, near the minister, since there's not actually an altar in your backyard. She'll be the one in the white dress you already saw, you naughty boy!" She turns to me and smiles, her eyes turning misty. "Oh, Caroline, you look amazing. I can't believe I'm about to walk down the aisle and watch you get married to goddamn Nathanial Storm."
"Better believe it." With that, I check my dress and hair one last time in the mirror. I'm ready. And after seeing Nathan, my nerves are gone. We're not rushing into this. If anything, this was a long time coming. Even though I didn't know it back then in my sundress, getting soaked by the rain, Nathan was never going to leave my life after that faithful meeting late at night.
My dad is waiting for me in the living room, tearing up when he sees me. He takes a deep breath and hugs me, holding on way longer than he normally does. I tell him to stop it or he'll make me cry, which makes him smile. Shaughna tells me to wait for the song that Nathan picked out to start. I don't know which song it is, but she assures I'll know when it's time for my dad to walk me down the aisle. She kisses my cheek before heading out into the garden.
A minute later, familiar sounds come from the speakers in the backyard. I give my dad an incredulous look. "No," I breathe, shaking my head. "He can't seriously expect me to walk down the aisle to Sweet Caroline."
"Hey, you picked the guy," Dad says, offering me his arm. "I'm just the one handing you over to him. So... shall we?"
While Neil Diamond's voice sings my name, I walk out of the house and into the beautifully decorated yard. My eyes go to Nathan immediately, ignoring all the people looking at me. He's smiling brightly, those intense emerald eyes raking my body before setting on my face again. My mother is in the front row, crying already. Shaughna is standing next to the minister, winking at me before letting her gaze drift to Dshawn on the second row, whose eyes are on her instead of on me, the bride.
Everyone we love is here. My aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews... Nathan's mother, sitting in her wheelchair in public for the first time since her stroke, whispering something to Jennifer. We even invited Annabel and Aston, who both look dashing. All my colleagues from school and Nathan's fellow realtors. Sean and Jillian, Angelo and Gina, along with all of their kids. It's a full house – well, a full backyard. Even Yord made it.
My dad hands me to Nathan, kissing my cheek softly.
"Hi," I say to Nathan, feeling like I need to lie down. "Awful choice of song."
He laughs loudly, making others grin as well. "Yeah, well, it's our song, isn't it?"
I recall all those times he sang this song in the shower in my small apartment. He was even belting this song when my parents were over, right before meeting them for the first time. He still puts this song on sometimes when I'm cooking or when we're sitting in the garden, watching Rose play on the swing set.
"Yes," I agree. "It is."
The minister starts talking about eternal love the minute the song is over and I look at Nathan while he speaks, wanting to just be able to kiss him already. But, of course, we first need to say our vows.
"Caroline," Nathan starts, taking my hands in his. "My sweet, sweet Caroline. You are not the woman I thought I'd end up with. You are, of course, way too young." He grins, his green eyes sparkling. "But like I told you many times before, you're incredibly mature, no matter your age. I've learned so much about life and love from you. You're the most brave, kind and sexy woman I've ever met. I promise to always make you feel special, because you are. But also... I vow to make you feel normal." He winks, making sure I know what he's talking about. My mind takes me back to those early days, discussing why I hadn't known what I liked in the bedroom, why I was so scared that I was frigid. "You are my heart and I promise to keep my heart whole. I will never hurt you – well, not on purpose – and to always be honest to you, just like you are to me."
I'm already crying by the time it's my turn. "Oh Nathan," I sigh, wiping at my eyes. "I should have gone first. I can't even remember what I've been working on for weeks now."
"Improvise," Shaughna advises me, nudging me.
"From the moment I met you, I trusted you. And in a world with so many reasons not to trust other people, that is pretty damn special. You're my protector, my safe haven, the one person who I know will always be there for me. You make me feel whole. And even though our story is a little unconventional, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Today, I'm not just gaining a husband, I also get to be a stepmother to the sweetest girl in the world." I look around until I find Rose, looking like a sparking mess in her orange and pink dress. "When you and Rose are together, it's obvious that you're an amazing dad," I say, smiling at my stepdaughter-to-be. "You told me on our first day together that you weren't looking for a stepmother for your child, but here we are. We weren't looking for each other, but we ended up finding love anyway. I promise to keep being honest, even when it hurts. And I vow to always treasure you, because you deserve the very best. I will try to give just that to you every single day of my life."
"Ask the question," Nathan tells the minister, his voice heavy with unshed tears. "Because I do. I really, really do."
"Me too," I reply, moving in to kiss him.
When we break apart, the first person I see is Shaughna. She rolls her eyes at me, grinning.
"Well..." The minister says, looking at a loss. "I guess that you're husband and wife then. Oh, wait, the rings!"
Everyone laughs at the way we're butchering the whole ceremony, but I don't care. I just want to be Nathan's wife. He pulls the ring he took from me earlier out of his pocket and slips it back on my finger. I get his ring from Angelo. He's Nathan's best men, of course, and he is looking surprisingly emotional.
"Best wedding ever," he tells me as he hands me the gold wedding band. "Maybe you're not a fickle little slut after all."
I smile and take the ring from him, sliding it onto Nathan's finger. Without anyone needing to tell us what to do, we kiss again. Nathan's hands knot in my hair, totally messing up the time and effort my friends put into my careful hairstyle.
"Hi, Mrs. Storm," he breathes when we break apart. "Ready for our first dance?"
"I'm ready for it all," I tell him, meaning every single world. "I'm ready for the rest of our lives to begin."
THE END!
Don't worry, there's more to come. I am going to put at least two epilogues up about their later years, so you'll get to see a little more of Caroline and Nathan. I'll just add the epilogues as chapters in this book. I hope you will enjoy them!
I am also writing a second book called "Slutty Shaughna" about her love story with Dshawn. So please go to my profile to add the book to your library. Also, follow me for updates!
I'm planning on writing a few short stories as well, perhaps about Annabel, Tiffany or maybe even Yord. So please, let me know what you'd like to read and follow me to stay tuned!
Thank you for reading my story!