Caitlin's P.O.V.
One year later.
The cake was too tall to fit through the front door, so I asked the catering staff to take it around back. I was still getting to grips with the Greek language, but I felt pretty confident I'd said everything correctly, so I couldn't understand why he was staring at me like I'd just offended his ancestors, it's quiet annoying "ok pretty sure you're confused , lemme take you back a bit after the whole fiasco with Aurora and all me and Max decided to go back to Greece although I was a bit sceptical because of his mother but decided it's a great idea I mean it's better than groups of reporters hoarding me anytime I decide to step out .
We decided we needed the break , although this time we didn't stay at his parent's house but at his place he called it a beach house but I call it a beach mansion, every woman's dream and the blue large ocean . Waking up to the sound of it is refreshing , breathtaking and stupendous.
We've been in Greece for a year , miraculously Elizabeth A.K.A Max's mother is now In love with her grand daughter am pretty sure if Care's not taken Isabel will be raised spoiled, anyway things has been going super great I never even dreamt or believed I'd find that perfect man and make a family of my own.
Being in Greece has been good for me, Max works from home although it isn't easy but it's what he wants and I'm planning on opening my very own Law firm instead of working for someone and with the time spent here Roselle and I have become best of friends. My very first official female bestie she totally gets me , we've gotten pretty close this past year.
Presently am preparing for my wedding, I know ,I know we've had one but it was all rushed but now I want a real wedding with a pretty wedding gown and a big cake so that's what am on right now."snapping out of my thoughts I fazed back to reality .
So I've been trying to learn some Greek language and am getting a hang of it but I still mix things up"I called Max and repeated what I'd said to the delivery man.
"You told the poor guy you want the cake up his butt," he said interpreting what I said, laughing so hard he was snorting into the phone. "Put him on the phone; I'll sort it out."
I handed the phone to the delivery guy, my cheeks flaming with embarrassment, and walked back into the kitchen.
"Everything is going perfectly, Max, so please don't panic," Roselle said, pinning flowers in her daughter Rachel's hair.
Three hours before my wedding. And am pratically freaking out like I can goosebumps all over my body "I mean it's weird am so nervous when I've done this once .
"Come on, girl, chill out," Roselle said, sending Rachel upstairs to find her brother.
"Oh, the cake!" I said, jumping up and running to check if the cake has been settled in.
I'd forgotten all about the cake issue, but seems Max must have sorted everything out because when I opened the back door, one of the male catering staff was coming around the corner of the car, with the wedding cake balanced in his arms. He helped him load it into the industrial-sized fridge in the storage room and then reclaimed my seat at the island.
"Listen to me," Roselle said, apparently still able to see the strain and stress written all over my face. "If anything goes wrong today-"she said smirking seeing how am a nervous wreck
"Gee, thanks Rose," I said, interrupting her.
"Listen to me," she commanded, narrowing her eyes at me like the boss mama that she is. "If everything goes wrong today-if maybe the cake collapses, or when walking down the isle you trip and fall and your dress rips and it rains during the vows"then it will be our poor choice of having a beach wedding without checking the weather.
will you still wish you get married?"she screamed trying to get my attention.
I didn't even have to think about it, but now that you're talking about it maybe we should change the wedding location"I said panickly.
Will you still marry him"she said taking my shoulders with her hands shaking me
"Of course."i shriek.
Good.
"Then, don't stress," she said. "You are marrying the man you love, the father of your child so today should be the happiest day of your life.
Enjoy it."
Don't freak out!"she says.
Ok"mustered and So, I did my best to do just that.
Max has hired the best hairstylists and makeup artists on the island, although I protested but then I decided am not that great with makeup so it's best to let the professionals do their thing.
After the fuzzing of my hair then make-up, I stepped into my wedding dress.
It was the one thing I'd allowed Max to really splurge on I wanted my wedding dress to be the best. It's a strapless white dress with a trumpet silhouette that clung to my body and then flared out at my knees. A layer of lace rested over the bodice, with crystals sewn into the delicate fabric, and of course with a tiara .
I feel like a princess."I say as I stare my appearance in the mirror , I hate to admit but the make-up artist really did a great job.
"You're basically a princess now, right?"Rose say
I turned to find her leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, smiling broadly and proudly at me , God bless her soul she's been there every step of the way with me , I remember not just a few months ago Clarice fell ill and I nearly lost my mind but she brought me back . Max and her and of course Patrick least I forget are my pillar.
"He isn't royalty, Rose remember? His family was royalty once and he has a friend who's also royalty. King Alexanda weatherson, but Max was never in line for any throne."
"Like that matters?" she said, rolling her eyes. "You are way closer to being a princess than most girls will ever get, so just accept the compliment."she says smiling witfully
Just then, the nanny, came in, carrying Clarice in her arms.
"I'm sorry," she said, doing her best to hold on to my squirmy one-year-old. "I'm trying to get her down for her nap, but she just keeps screaming for her mama."
I laughed and held my hands out to her. Clarice practically leapt into my arms and nuzzling her head against my shoulder , my little bundle of joy.
"You have to nap if you're going to be ready for the wedding," I whispered cooing into her curly hair. She's got my hair color from me, but had the same heart-melting, caramel-brown eyes as her father's.
She pulled back and smiled at me with her two bottom teeth. "Mamamama."
"Mama" was my baby's favorite word, so she often liked to string it together into long sentences. Max was more than a little jealous that she's still hadn't gotten a hang to pronouncing "Papa" yet.
Eventually, I rocked her to sleep and handed her back to the nanny, who whisked her away to one of the guest rooms so she could finish her nap before the ceremony.
The next two hours passed in a flurry of last minute details-bouquet, photographs, makeup touch-ups, putting down a red rug from the house to the beach.
"Are you ready?" Rose asked, squeezing my fingers.
I nodded. I was ready. More than ready, while also feeling like I could pass out at any moment. I haven't seen Max all day because he'd insisted it was bad luck to see each other on the wedding day, and any day when I didn't get to see him felt a little off to me. So, I was beyond excited to finally step out of the front door and walk down the hill to our ceremony on the beach.
The orchestra started up, playing the song , Rose gave me one last hug and then walked out the door. A few moments later, it was my turn.
The door opened and the small crowd of friends that were gathered in the sand below stood up and turned towards me, but I didn't even notice them. My eyes were locked on just one person.
Max.
He was standing under a canopy of peonies and hydrangeas, the deep blue water of the Aegean behind him, and I knew in that moment that I was marrying the most handsome man in the world. He's cut in a fine figure in his tan linen suit. His white shirt was unbuttoned a little, showing off a flash of his tan chest, and his sleeves were rolled up to the middle of his forearms. He'd gelled his hair back into place, but it still had the beachy wave I loved, and I relished the idea of a lifetime of getting to run my fingers through it.
When I finally made it down the aisle, he grabbed my hands, and we vowed to love each other forever. Through good times and bad times. In sickness and in health. For richer, for poorer.
On that last one, I gave his fingers a special squeeze. I meant it. I loved him now, and I'd love him if we lived in a cave by the sea. No amount of money would ever change my feelings for him, and I wanted him to know it. He smiled at me and winked, and I knew he trusted me, I never knew I would go back on my being independent phase but I actually did that but also got married to the love of my life and now have someone to call me mom. Looking back maybe the whole mistake of the artificial insemination was predestined.
He tipped me backwards for the kiss and hooked my leg around his torso. The crowd clapped and cheered and blew bubbles as we ran down the aisle and up the hill towards the house.
String lights hung from the roof of the beach house to the trees in the backyard, and a dance floor with tables and chairs around it had been set up in the grass. Large bouquets of peonies and roses filled every table. It was beautiful, but we ran right past it. Max had a tight hold of my hand and he pulled me across the grass until we were hidden by the trees, cool in the dark shade, our perfect hiding spot.
"Are you trying to make us late for our own wedding reception?" I asked, reaching up to run my finger along the exposed skin of his chest.
He pushed me back until my spine was pressed against a tree trunk and placed his hands on either side of my head. "Maybe."He said , typical max .
He bent down and kissed along my collarbone and my shoulder, up my neck and across my earlobe. I ran my fingers along the backs of his arms and smiled every time I remembered he was my husband. After a while, I heard the music from the party drift up to us and I pushed on his chest.
"We'll have to resume this later tonight," I said, stretching up on my tiptoes to kiss his pouty mouth. "The party is starting without us."
"Let it start," he said, waving his hand in the direction of the party and planting another kiss on my lips.
"Clarice has been excited to see you all day," I said , to distract him.
Immediately, He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the trees.
"I miss her so much. She did such a good job as the ring bearer during the ceremony."
I knew that mentioning our baby would get him to moving toward the reception. He had stayed in his villa at the resort the night before the wedding to be sure we wouldn't see each other at all before the wedding, but it meant he hadn't seen our daughter all day.
Before we even made it to the reception, I could see Clarissa short for (Clarice) thrashing in the nanny arms. She seems pretty excited since she could see us walking through the grass and she was desperate to get to us. We waved at her and blew kisses, but still she thrashed giggling Finally, the nanny sat her down in the grass, tired of being kicked in the ribs by a feisty squirmy one-year-old.
Max knelt in the grass a few feet away from him, arms wide. "Come to Papa, Baby Come to Papa."
"Mama!"she shrieks , giggling.
Max laughed and shook his head. "No, come to Papa. Papa."he says pouting.
"Mamamama."
"You stubborn girl,"he said, laughing harder.
She then lifted herself up to a standing position, and then, for the first time ever, she took her very first step.
Everyone watching gasped as she took a second step and then a third until she ran wobbling and giggling in the process until she was safely in the arms of her papa.
"Way to go, girl," Max said, nestling her into his neck and kissing her cheek. "Your first steps!"He say excitedly , I couldn't help the tears that slipped from my eyelids , sniffing .
Moving forward I ran my fingers through my little girl's hair, happy tears streaming down my cheeks.
Rose held up her phone and waving it wildly in the air. "You're welcome, Max. I just got that wonderful moment on camera!"
"You have to send me that video!" I said, laughing, typical rose also with perfect timing.
"I'm sending it to everyone," she said. "It was so adorable!"
She winked at me and then disappeared to go find her husband, who was already making a move towards the dance floor. They still based in New York though but she now spends her time here in Greece she like my" island best friend," as Rose likes to call it.
Truly, I didn't want for anything. I had my own business which has been my dream what I had always wanted. I had the most supportive husband, who was also the best dad to our healthy, happy baby girl. I have everything I had ever wanted in my life, and I'm perfectly, completely happy and nothing can change that even a million type of Aurora's , if they do come I can handle them.
We were still cuddling Clarissa at the edge of the party when the music slowed and everyone begin cheering as the fireworks went off.
Andreas handed Clarissa off to Rose and extended his hand. "I do believe it is time for our first dance, Mrs. Giovanni.
I placed my hand in his and he led me to the dance floor where we twirled and dipped to the music. When we were all danced out, having chatted with and thanked each one of our two-dozen or so guests in between songs, we made our way to the back of the party.
He bent down and whispered in my ear, "Are you ready to go?"
I looked up and nodded. We slipped away from the party, stopping only to hug and kiss our baby, who would be staying with Nanny for the night while Max took me to whatever wedding night destination he had planned for us. It was a secret that he refused to share.
"Well, what now?" I asked, sitting in the passenger seat of his sports car, our fingers interlocked over the center console.
He picked up our hands that was interwined and kissed the back of mine tenderly.
"The rest of our lives, my love.
"Just enjoy the ride"