Page 83 of Dirty Money
Taking their places at a lovely table filled with gorgeous white flowers as the centerpiece, they found Charles waiting on them all. “There they are. I got a phone call from the Four Seasons, they can get you in for the reception party on the date you wanted. The wedding is on!”
“Really?” Aulora asked as she held her baby sister up. “You should be walking by then, Hope. Do you want to be my flower girl?”
“That’s a year from now,” Clara said. “I’m sure she’ll be over the moon to walk down the aisle, tossing flowers around.”
“Do you think they could make her a replica of my wedding gown?” Aulora asked. “Wouldn’t that be so cute?”
“I bet we can make that happen,” Weston told her then kissed her cheek. “So, one year and three weeks from now, you will finally be my wife. It’s about time we have a date set for that.”
“Pity, you couldn’t get a date sooner than that,” Clara said. “Wedding venues in New York are nearly impossible to get on short notice.”
“Nice ones, anyway,” Weston said. “But that’s okay. It’s better anyway. Hope will get to be a bigger part in it. I know Aulora wants that more than anything else.”
Aulora smiled at him and caressed his cheek. “You know me better than I know myself, West.”
“I do, peach.” He kissed her lips with a light kiss, making Clara sigh.
“You two are so cute!” She clapped her hands and laughed. “I cannot wait for you two to make me a grandmother!”
Aulora laughed. “How silly you are. If you didn’t look so young, people would swear you were fifty. The way you talk and think is off the charts.”
“Sorry for loving my family,” Clara said with a smile. “So, the bachelorette party, the wedding shower, the honeymoon, we’ve got a lot to do, don’t we, Aulora?”
“I guess we do. All of those plans and reservations need to be made too,” she agreed.
“And the invitations have to be sent out. My family in England will need plenty of time to get their affairs in order, to make the trip. We’ll have to get the reservations for the hotel rooms,” Weston added.
Aulora went tense with the realization about how much work needed to be done for the big wedding. “Perhaps we should scrap the whole thing and run off to Vegas.”
Clara’s jaw dropped. “No way! You can’t do that to yourself. You should have a huge wedding. You deserve one, honey!”
“You do,” Weston agreed. “You’ve never had anything big. You wouldn’t let me give you a big graduation party. Your last birthday you also wouldn’t let me give you a big party. I want to give you a wedding to remember. The sky’s the limit.”
Aulora wasn’t used to being the center of attention. The fact was, she was nervous about the whole thing. But she did have a little secret, she did want the grand gesture of a gorgeous wedding. She did want pictures of her and her family all made up sweet and beautiful.
“Okay, I’ll shut up and go along with this thing,” she said as if she was conceding to them. But she was actually conceding to herself. She’d always fought herself about stuff like that. It was time to turn over a new leaf and let her light shine.
She had money, and so did Weston. She had a family who wanted to be a part of her life now. The poor and lonely days were fading into the past, rapidly. The future was anything but poor or lonely.
Aulora was on a path she’d never even dreamt of, all because of Weston’s persistence. She beamed at him as she thought herself lucky. “I’m glad you found me, baby.”
“Me too,” he agreed then kissed her again. “Now to eat and then we can get to making some plans, peach!”
Toddling down the long aisle with Clara following close behind her, Hope tossed out white rose petals as she smiled at everyone. Decked out in a small white wedding dress that matched Aulora’s, the little girl was on cloud nine as she shared her big sister’s special day.
Clara picked her up as they got to the end of the aisle and took her to sit down on the front row. “Look, Hope, Daddy’s about to bring out, sissy,” she whispered to her little girl.
Hope smiled and pointed as her father and sister stepped up to the back of the large church, and the music changed to that of the bridal march. She clapped as they came down the wide path, she’d sprinkled the flowers on.
Aulora couldn’t help but smile at her baby sister. She’d woken up to a gorgeous day. Everything about the day was glorious. Birds were chirping, and the sun was shining in warm rays that streaked the morning sky. At the end of the path was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
When Aulora’s father handed her off to the man she’d spend the rest of her life with, she felt a chill run through her. Weston took her hand in his, and they turned to look at the preacher who was about to make them man and wife.
A shrill scream came from behind them. The next thing they knew, they’d been upstaged by the little one-year-old who was bound and determined to be a bigger part of their union than they’d planned.
Weston had to pick Hope up as she tried to climb up him. Safe in his arms, she ran her small hand over Aulora’s face as the preacher continued to ask them to repeat the things he said.
Aulora’s eyes were brimming with tears. It was the happiest day of her life, and she was pleased to share the center of attention with the little girl she grew to love more with each passing day.
