Cherished (Wanted #4)(85)
Author: Kelly Elliott

Josh laughed. “I guess I’m the only one who has never had to deal with the father-in-law.”

Jeff, Brad, Gunner, and I all said at the same time, “Lucky bastard.”

I smiled as I looked down at Lauren sleeping peacefully in my arms. “This day couldn’t be any more perfect,” I said.

I felt Jenny put her hand on my back. She guided me out of the house and into the backyard. I sucked in a breath of air as I looked around.

“Oh, wow,” was all I could get out.

To my left were about ten high-top tables set up around where the DJ would be. On the opposite side of the DJ was the bar. I chuckled when I saw Scott, Senior and Dewey directing the guys with all the beer and wine. My eyes moved to the right where there was a huge dance floor.

“My god. Why is the dance floor so big?” I asked.

Ari and Ellie started laughing.

“So all the kids have room to run around, but it still leaves space for the adults to dance. I just want to do a little bit of two-steppin’, damn it,” Ari said with a sigh.

I laughed and walked up to the tables. “Oh, Mom, Jenny…y’all, these are perfect. It’s exactly what I wanted!”

The round tables had white linen draped down to the ground, and a dark silver satin cloth was draped over and pinned up to make the scalloped edges. It looked beautiful.

Each table had a pumpkin that Ari, Ellie, and I had carved out, soaked in bleach, and then sprayed down with some preservative that Jenny had made, so they wouldn’t mold. Inside each pumpkin were beautiful fall flowers. Light brown and ivy-colored candles were set in hurricane glasses on either side of the flower centerpiece. The seats were all labeled with mini pumpkins that had a little sign stuck in it with each guest’s name written in chalk.

“I thought we were going with plastic dishware?” I asked as I went to pick up one of the silver plates. As soon as I picked it up, I realized it was plastic. “Holy hell. They look like real plates!”

Jenny nodded her head.

Melody picked up the pumpkin-shaped cookies. “These are to die for. Wait until you taste them! A girl in Fredericksburg made them.”

I looked around at each table setting, and there were cookies in every shape, including pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and witches. Each cookie was in a darling clear bag tied with black and silver ribbons.

“The tables are perfect,” I said with a smile.

“Want to see the cakes?” Melody asked as she clapped her hands.

I nodded my head as I looked at Jenny, who rolled her eyes and smiled. Jenny was so used to all of this, but this was Melody’s first job. Not to mention, it was her son’s wedding.

We walked up to the dessert table, and I had to stop.

Oh. My. God. They went crazy!

In the middle of the table was a beautiful three-tiered white cake with black and silver scrolls on it. It was the exact cake I’d had in my mind brought to life. On either side of the cake were two huge five-layered plates of cupcakes. The various decorations—ghosts, witches, bats, gravestones, black cats, and little spiders—were all so cute.

“The kids are going to go crazy over these,” Ellie said with a giggle.

“Good god, look at the candied apples,” Ari said before licking her lips. “Cake pops? Jesus H. Christ, there are cake pops. Luke and Jeff are gonna be up all night. Oh my god! Look at those cupcakes. They look like brains! Luke is going to be in heaven.” Ari turned to me and said, “This is going to be the best wedding ever!”

I tried not to laugh, so I didn’t wake up Lauren, but I almost busted out laughing at how excited Ari was.

“Melody, I think there are more desserts than there is food!” I said.

“Speaking of food…” Jenny turned.

We all followed her.

Ellie leaned into me and whispered, “Holy hell…you have cake, cupcakes, cake pops, brownies, cookies, candied and caramel apples, and I’m pretty sure I saw chocolate-covered strawberries.”

“Melody kind of thinks Scott has a sweet tooth,” I whispered back.

Ellie pulled her head back and looked at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him eat a single sweet thing,” she said with a confused look on her face.

I held back a laugh. “He hates sweets. His mother had them in the house all the time. He got so sick of eating them, so he won’t eat them anymore.”

“Shit, I wish I felt that way about sweets,” Ellie said.

We walked up to the table, and I couldn’t help it. I let out a squeal. They had written each food item on small tan pumpkins.

“Mac and cheese,” I said. I laughed out loud and then began rocking Lauren who had woken up during my moment of insanity. “That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Melody smiled and pointed at Jenny.

“I love it. I love it all. Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Jenny. You’ve truly made this a dream wedding. Not only are the adults going to love everything, but the kids are also going to have so much fun.” I hugged each of them the best I could with Lauren in my arms.

Melody took Lauren from me and gently kissed her as she turned and started walking away with my crying baby. “I’m going to go feed her. It’s almost showtime, and you need to get dressed,” she called over her shoulder.

I looked at Ellie and Ari. “I’m so nervous.”

They each linked their arms in mine, and we made our way back to the house, following Jenny as she barked orders to people while we walked by them. We headed into my bedroom, and I took one look at Amanda and busted out crying.

“What? Oh god. Do I have the wrong dress on or something? Shit, it’s the baby weight, isn’t it?” Amanda said as she began jumping up and down, vigorously shaking her hands.

“Don’t be silly, Amanda. You have the right dress on, and, bitch, you don’t even look like you just had a baby. Jessie is just happy to see it on you,” Ari said as she just began getting undressed in front of all of us.

I dropped my mouth open as I looked at her and instantly stopped crying. “Fuck me. How do you look like that after two kids?” I looked her up and down.

The smile that spread across her face was priceless. “Lots and lots of sex.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Ugh…really? Gag me,” Ellie said as she took off the sweatpants and T-shirt I had made for each of them.

They were both wearing black corsets with matching lace panties.

Azurdee came walking out of the bathroom, cursing. “Shit…how in the hell do you get these bastards on?”