If You Could See Me Now

36

Over the next few weeks, wedding planning was in full swing. Maddy had started looking into venues and nowhere had openings until the following year.

It was now December and unseasonably warm so Maddy had Lukas playing in the backyard of her townhouse while Ryan was in a meeting at Team Penske headquarters.

As soon as she heard the garage opening, she looked over at her son who was all about dad being home.

"Dada home mommy!" Lukas giggled as he pointed to the driveway where you could see Ryan pulling in.

"He'll come out here buddy, just wait," she chuckled, setting her pen down to put her little boy on her lap.

"I heard you, dude," he chuckled, coming out of the garage door as Lukas got off Maddy's lap and ran toward his father. "Hey,"

"I mish you dada!"

"I missed you too little man. You having some fun outside?" He asked, getting a nod from the little boy.

"Yeah!" He laughed, holding onto Ryan as he ran for the play area. Ryan had turned into a child himself and climbed the little play set, putting Lukas on his lap and going down the slide.

"Be careful!" Maddy chuckled as she looked up from her binder, "I don't need an emergency room trip tonight,"

"No but you do need to get ready for tonight," he said as he walked over with Lukas sitting on his shoulders, "I'm gonna take little man and sugar him up before I drop him off at my mom and dads,"

"You're so mean," she laughed, "gimme kisses bub,"

"Bye, mommy!" He giggled as Ryan pulled him off his shoulders and leaned him down to Maddy.

Maddy got her kiss from her boy and then her fiancé.

"Go get ready," he chuckled, taking Lukas out to the car and putting him in his car seat.

Maddy went inside and got her dress out, hung it up, and went into her bathroom to shower and start her makeup.

Once her makeup was done, she dried her hair and curled it into loose waves before going to pick a pair of shoes from her small collection before she put her dress on and Ryan was back. He'd gone back to his place and got ready before coming back.

"Babe! You almost ready?" He asked as he got in the house and up the steps.

"Yeah, just putting on some jewelry," she called back, putting an earring in before she looked back at him.

"Woah," he grinned, "You look phenomenal in that dress,"

"I try," she chuckled, "You're looking pretty good yourself,"

"Thanks, beautiful,"

"You drop Luke off with your parents?" She asked, fixing his collar.

"I did, after we got ice cream," he smirked, stealing a quick kiss from her.

"Hope you like the pink lipstick you're wearing now," she chuckled, picking it up off the counter and putting it in her little purse. "You ready?"

"Yeah let's go," he nodded, taking her hand and helping her into the car.

They drove to the venue and headed into the building after parking the car.

There were tons of couples and they quickly found Chase, Bailey, Bubba, and Amanda.

"You look amazing," Bailey smiled as she saw Maddy wearing a similar blue dress to hers.

"You look pretty gorgeous yourself, you too Amanda," she smiled, hugging both of them tightly.

"Looks like we're up," Amanda smiled as she saw Bubba waving her over.

That only left Bailey and Chase in their little area as they waited for their turn to walk the carpet.

"You excited?" Bailey asked, watching as their boys were talking and laughing about something probably NASCAR related.

"Yeah. Mostly for him. He's done amazing this year and I'm happy that I got to see it," she grinned, "We'll be able to come with him the next few years until Luke has to start school. Until then, we're traveling with him,"

"He's so happy with you," Bailey beamed, "He loves you guys so much,"

"I love him so much. And I love how much Lukas loves him. From the first time he called him dada, Ryan never questioned it. Just went with it and here we are,"

"Is he gonna adopt him?" She asked, looking at Maddy for an answer.

"I'm hoping. He's marrying me," Maddy chuckled.

"I think he will,"

"I think he will too. It really feels like we were meant to be a family. Even though we've only been together a short time, it just feels right," she beamed as she played with her engagement ring.

"I've seen you 2 and it's definitely right. The way he looks at you when you're not looking. It's true love," Bailey told her, smiling as the boys came back over.

"You ready?" Ryan asked, kissing her forehead as he reached her.

"Let's go, baby," she smiled, giving him a proper kiss before they took their turn on the red carpet.