Love in thirds

14.1 Daniel & Nell

A YEAR LATER

You look up when Sofia walks into the dressing room with a whiny Milo on her hip. "I think he's hungry, Charles couldn't get him calm, so he told me to bring the little guy to you" she says, handing Milo over to you. "Oh, thanks love. I'm sorry you had to entertain my fussy man" you say, winking at her before pressing a kiss on Milo's head and getting ready to feed him. "It's not a problem, Charles gave him to me and said that I should bring him to you. He's scared that he'll tell Daniel what you look like if he sees you now" Sofia answers, making you and the other women in the room laugh. You smile at Grace and your mom through the mirror, glancing at Marie who's busy fixing the last small details of your veil before they'll help you get dressed. "I'm really grateful that you're all here" you say softly, looking down at Milo who's happily drinking. "I can't believe that I'm really getting married" you continue, looking around the room with tears in your eyes.

After Daniel proposed to you a year ago, you both decided that you wanted to soak up the first few months with Milo without stressing about planning a wedding. You had struggled a lot during the last races of the previous season, missing Daniel and feeling emotionally overwhelmed to be looking after your son. Daniel gave you the space and time to relax during the winter break, which you spent it in Perth together. He went out with Milo for hours a day, taking him to all his favourite places while you enjoyed some quiet time. It did you good, and after a month you told him that you wanted to join in on their adventures again. Dad-life suited Daniel, he loved walking around with Milo strapped to his chest, pointing at every little thing that caught his eye to tell his son what it was. He barely complained, telling you to stay in bed whenever Milo woke up during the night and always being there whenever Milo needed him.

Milo just laughed and squealed at everything when Daniel pointed things out, and you thank the heavens every day that your baby is so relaxed. It made the hard days a little less hard because they didn't occur that frequently. Daniel and you decided that you wanted to get married in Perth, picking out the Darlington Estate as your wedding and reception venue. It's located in a huge vineyard, and when you and Daniel went to take a look you both fell in love with the place immediately. Daniel wanted to invite a bunch of his friends and people from work, and you were fine with it as long as the overall feeling of your wedding would be intimate. He agreed, inviting a lot of people from work for the reception and inviting friends and family for the entire wedding-weekend. Grace and your mom helped out with a lot of things, especially because Daniel couldn't stop coming up with ideas and it made you a little overwhelmed.

Your favourite moment of all the wedding planning was asking Marie and Sofia to be your bridesmaids and asking Marie to help with designing your wedding dress. You had invited them to lunch in Monaco, asking them the big question after you were done catching up with each other. Needless to say, there were a lot of tears that day. You smile when Milo shakes you from your thoughts, patting your cheek with his small hand. "Are you done love?" you ask him, putting him against your shoulder and patting his back softly until he lets out a little burp. "Alright, now that you're finished, let's get mommy in her dress" you tell him, booping his nose before smiling at him when he giggles. His dark curls are styled just like Daniel's, and it's the cutest thing ever, especially in combination with the small tux he's wearing. "You look so handsome, just like your dad" you whisper, kissing his squishy face before handing him to your mom.

A gasp leaves your mouth when you look at your reflection in the mirror after you finally got your wedding dress on. You look at Marie with tears in your eyes, opening your arms so you can hug her. "Thank you, it's perfect" you whisper, smiling when she squeezes you back and mumbles a "you're so welcome." The soft silky material hugs your widened hips perfectly, accentuating all the parts of yourself that you love. A V-neck neckline shows just the right amount of cleavage, and you smile when you see the detailing along the line. Small flowers with little sparkles blink slightly, not too overwhelming, just enough. Perth weather has done you good, and the off-white material stands out against your tanned skin. You look up when you hear a sob, seeing Grace and your mom leaning on each other while trying not to ruin their makeup with their tears. You smile at everyone in the room, butterflies fluttering through your stomach when you think about seeing Daniel's reaction in a bit.