Everything Has Changed //Ryan Blaney//

3.9 - Reception

Sienna

It seemed as though the reception eased into the night as smoothly as we had hoped. Everyone was having a good time, taking pictures and videos on their phones. Now that they were allowed to be out. We had wanted the ceremony to be intimate, so we implemented a rule of no cell phones or cameras. I was sure that Max would have great photos of everything and we would send out copies of them if warranted. No one minded this either, happily handing over their phones to Anna to place inside the barn until we were done.

We had an array of drinks in shallow metal tubs on one table that everyone had taken to for a cocktail hour. We made sure to get a list of everyone's favorites and blended them so no one was unhappy with anything.

Ryan and I didn't want to be apart from everyone for long so we decided to throw 'arrivals' out the door as soon as we saw everyone enjoying themselves. Bubba and Chase had snuck in some various flavored Crown Royal, Moonshine, and Jack Daniels bottles into a cooler strategically placed behind a couple of hay bales because I had told them to wait until the children and parents had left before we brought any of that stuff out. That didn't happen though as I had a drink set in front of me. The clear glass was filled to the top with a light pink, fruity-smelling liquid.

Taking a sip, I tasted the peach Crown flavor and knew Ryan had been in on this because that was my favorite flavor and always a go-to whenever we were drinking.

"I hope you like your drink, Mrs. Blaney." Ryan sat himself down beside me, smiling sheepishly. I couldn't help but let my idea of waiting to go out the window at that moment.

"I'm enjoying it quite well, Mr. Blaney. Thank you." I leaned over, giving his lips a sweet kiss before being interrupted by our daughter. Her face had not dimmed an ounce since this morning, and neither had her energy.

She was telling us as animatedly as she could, all about how her grammy was giving her the juice she wanted before the wedding started. The clear cup was moved about widely as she decided to sit on her daddy's knee.

"Be careful with it, we don't want it getting all over you," Ryan told her. "Don't worry Daddy, grammy put this lid on it and even gave me a straw to use." She pulled the straw out of it just a bit, to emphasize how careful she was. Red food color would only make her hyper and with her making the trip back home with my parents tomorrow morning, I'm sure they wanted her to get to sleep early tonight. So seeing that it was still the clear flavored water had me knowing that my mom had told her a little white lie. With a couple more slurps from her straw, she was climbing off of Ryan and ran to find her favorite 'uncle' Chase to see if he would fill her cup with more grape juice. 

Shaking my head, all I could do was laugh at my child. She was spoiled rotten by everyone, and that wasn't a bad case in this instance. I knew Ryan's family adored her and seeing her gain an extra family in all of this was a complete blessing.

As the day turned into night, we had eaten our food; a pretty unlimited buffet of food that consisted of Italian chicken, fried ramps, and potatoes. I know it seemed like a lot but we made sure that there was stuff for everyone. The speeches from everyone concluded after we had finished our meals and to say that I was surely going to smack some groomsmen was an understatement. I wasn't sure if Chase or Bubba was going to get it first. It probably was a good thing that I had that drink earlier because I was more than slightly embarrassed at the end of it. Brad sitting at a table egging the antics on didn't help either. However, they did redeem themselves when they made sure to let Eleanor and me know that we were always a part of this crazy family. Though there is no better place for us to be.