top 10 after moments

3

after ever happy - page 139

wedding in Vegas

She was planning on changing when we arrived at whatever hotel we were going to check into, though. She wouldn't be wearing a wedding gown, the way I had always imagined in my head.

"You're okay with not wearing a wedding dress?" I blurted out.

Her eyes went a little wide, and she smiled, shook her head, and said, "Where did that come from?"

"I was just wondering. I was thinking about how you won't be able to have, like, the wedding that women are always obsessing over. You won't have flowers or anything."

She handed me a bag of some sort of orange-dyed corn puffs. An old man walked by us and smiled at her. His eyes met mine, and he quickly looked away.

"Flowers? Really?" she asked, rolling her eyes and walking past me, ignoring the way I rolled my eyes back at her. I followed her, nearly tripping over an unsteady child in light-up shoes wobbling by, holding the hand of his mother.

"What about Liam? Your mum and David? Don't you want them to be there?" I asked.

She turned to face me, and I could see the thought occurring to her in a different way. During the drive, our minds were both so clouded by our excitement over our decision to be wed in Vegas that we forgot about reality.

"Oh," she sighed, staring at me while I caught up to her.

We walked to the register, and I could tell what she was thinking: Liam and her mum have to be there when we get married. Have to. And Karen—Karen would be heartbroken if she didn't witness Tessa becoming my wife.

We paid for our junk food and caffeine. Well, she fought me and paid for it. I let her.

"You still want to go? You know you can tell me, baby. We can wait," I told her as I buckled my seat belt. She pulled open the bag of orange puffs and popped one into her mouth.

"Yeah. I do," she insisted.

It didn't feel right, though. I knew she wanted to marry me, and I knew that I wanted to spend my life with her, but I didn't want it to start this way. I wanted our families to be there. I wanted my little brother and little Abby to be a part of it, walking down the aisle, throwing flowers and rice and doing whatever crap people make the youngest family members do during weddings. I saw the way her eyes lit up when she proudly told me how much she helped with the planning of Liam's wedding.

I wanted everything to be perfect for my Tessa, so when she fell asleep thirty minutes later, I turned the car around and drove her back to Ken's house. When she woke up, surprised but not cursing me out, she unbuckled her seat belt, climbed into my lap, and kissed me, warm tears running down her cheeks.

"God, I love you, Harry," she said into my neck. We stayed in the car for another hour. I held her on my lap, and when I told her I wanted Smith to throw rice at our wedding, she laughed, pointing out that he'd probably do it very precisely, grain by grain.