This life... by Emily Zimmerman. (online e reader TXT) 📕

Chapter twelve. We sat in the living room, me and Kyle, staring at my mother, father, Hail, Jake…and Jared. Jared was looking at us expectantly, mom and dad already knew, and Hail and Jake looked bored. I looked at Kyle with a raised eyebrow, and he shrugged “were getting married” he said simply. I winced, I knew what Jared’s reaction would be, and it wouldn’t be pretty. “What?” he shouted, jumping up from the couch. Yep, I knew it. Mom and Dad looked happy, Hail and Jake looked shocked. “Jared, calm down before I kick your ass” I told him. He looked me in the eye, seeing that I wasn’t kidding, he sat down. Kyle chuckled “yes, we are getting married, no, I am not pregnant, and yes I am still a virgin” I answered all of his questions as he opened his mouth to speak. He sat back, crossing his arms. “Then why-“ “Because we love each other and that will never change” I interrupted him again. He huffed and sat back again. “Ooh! Let me see the ring!” mom squealed. I showed her the ring that was proudly displayed on my finger. She gasped and took my hand, looking at the ring from side to side “this ring is gorgeous! And it has your birthstone!” mom said, tears welling in her eyes. “Mom?” I asked worriedly. She quickly blinked the tears away “I’m so happy for you dear!” she said. Dad was silent, putting an arm around mom, comforting her “dad…are you alright?” I asked him, he looked a little pale. He smiled slightly at me “it’s just sinking in that my little girl is getting married” he said. I rolled my eyes “I’m almost eighteen now dad” I said. He nodded “you’re not even in college yet” he reminded. I nodded “that’s true, but it’s not like I’m going to have a child to take care of, me and Kyle will still go to college” I said, tightening my grip on Kyle’s hand. Jared still looked unhappy, so I got up from the chair, gesturing for Jared to come with me. “Kyle…stay here and…try not to get killed by my protective father okay?” I asked him. He nodded and laughed. I walked down to the park in silence with Jared; he seemed to be deep in thought. I sat down on the swing and looked up at Jared, pointing to the swing beside me. He sighed and sat on the swing. “Are you sure about this?” he asked me. I thought about it for a second before I answered, trying to figure out if I was sure “yes, I am one hundred percent sure” I answered honestly. Jared studied my face “if he hurts you again…I will not refrain from ripping his balls-“ “Okay! That’s all I need to know!” I yelled holding my hand up. Jared chuckled and nodded “okay then, we understand each other” Jared said. I laughed “You are so overprotective” I muttered. Jared punched my shoulder lightly “hey, I’m happy for you, and you know that Kyle is going to choose Jack, Laurence Jessie and Ben to be the best men” he chuckled. I groaned and shook my head slowly “oh well I guess” I muttered. Jared got up from the swing and pulled me up with him, hugging me tightly “I love you sis, I hope you’re happy” he said, kissing my cheek as we walked back. I smiled and nodded “I am” I murmured. Chapter thirteen. I stood in front of a mirror in a floor length white satin gown, lace flowed down the bodice, and the skirt flowed out behind me in a long but not too long train. The veil flowed down to my waist and was held into my hair by a jewel incrusted tiara, I felt so nervous, even though I was only fitting the dress, the wedding was a two days away, tomorrow was the rehearsal, and just a week ago, my mom made Kyle stay in a motel because she believes that the groom cannot see the bride until the rehearsal and wedding day. I have been texting him, but I haven’t seen him for seven days! I am going to die from not seeing him! “What do you think sweetheart?” mom asked me as I stared at the mirror lost in thought. I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled “it’s beautiful” I said. Mom squealed and hugged me, tears had been running down her cheeks for three months ever since we said we were getting married. I think this is the first time I had seen her dry eyed. Marianne was here with me too, she was wiping her eyes as she looked at me “it is beautiful!” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks “Marianne! Don’t cry! You’re going to make her cry!” I exclaimed as mom got all teary eyed too. Too late, they were both crying, and I was rubbing my hand across my forehead, shaking my head and sighing “if I had known this was going to be so emotional, I would have just gone to the justice of the peace” I muttered. Mom shot me a glare “you would not have” she said sternly. I laughed “it’s a joke mom” I said. She nodded and smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. After taking off the dress we went to the best hairdresser in town and she planned the style of my hair, and her makeup artist studied my face, finding the best way to make me look like a princess. When they were both done, they stepped back for me to look, I stared at the mirror, trying to figure out who it was I was staring at, I looked nothing like myself, my hair was curled and clipped into an elegant twist, with a few curls loose to frame my face, my makeup was done to make it look natural, my lips were slightly shiny with lip gloss, I looked beautiful. “Honey...?” mom asked worriedly as tears welled in my eyes. I got up and hugged Klora, the hair dresser, and then I hugged Janine, the makeup artist, “I look perfect! Thank you so much!” I said to them. They both smiled and nodded “well, we’ll see you on the big day!” Klora said, looking at her watch “we have another appointment in two minutes” she said. I nodded as they took the clips out and let my curled hair fall down to the middle of my back. We left the shop, and there was nothing else to do but to text Kyle “I wish I could see you, I miss you so much” I texted him. He sent back quickly “I know, and it’s lonely in this big hotel” he sent back. I chuckled and mom looked at me weirdly, I hid my phone and looked out the window innocently, she doesn’t know we text, but hey! I am not going to tell her. “I love you, and miss you, I really wish I could see you but my mom had strict rules about these things” I sent him with a frown face. I could just see him chuckling as he read it, I longed to see his smiling face. “I know, I don’t even think she would approve of us texting” he sent. I shook my head slightly, smiling. “if I could, I would sneak out and see you, but of course Jared has taken to sleeping in a chair in the corner of the room, watching to make sure I don’t sneak out, that dumb-ass” I sent, smiling. “haha, I know love, I have not been sleeping well either without you beside me” he sent back fast. “Well, I am so glad we’ll be seeing each other tomorrow, I can’t wait to see your face” I sent him. Mom and dad extended their stay to plan the wedding, and Thanksgiving was hellish, my whole family was there, they met Kyle and liked him well enough, until they found out we were getting married. Then they were all over Kyle, “how are you going to support her?” and “is she pregnant?” I was about to just start punching some people when mom and dad intervened, then everything quieted down and they eventually excepted Kyle as a part of the family. We have invited my whole family to the wedding, two hundred and three people! Luckily the church is huge. And the reception will be even bigger. My three cousins will be bridesmaids and so will Kyle’s sister Hanna, Angie, Loren and Fay, and my maid of honor will be Tiffany, it seemed right. And, as predicted by my brother –who is the best man-, Ben, Jack, Jessie and Laurence are the best men. The ring bearer will be my little cousin Bruce, he is five years old, and he is so adorable! My flower girls will be Tiffany’s cousin and my cousin, who are the same age, ten years old. Delilah and Jaybird, Jaybird being my cousin. I looked up at my house, it’s not going to be my house very soon, I’ll be moving into a new house we bought nearby with Kyle, sadness and happiness flowed through me at once, happiness because I was moving in with the man I love, and sadness because I was leaving this place behind. I got out of the car and walked into the house, everyone was buzzing, getting ready for rehearsal tomorrow. Jared walked down stairs in a simple but dashing black suit. “Mom, how do I look?” he asked with a grin. His girlfriend came down stairs too, in a very pretty floral dress. “You look dashing Jared” mom said. Grace and I – Grace being Jared’s girlfriend- have gotten along well, she is a good friend. “So how did the fitting go?” Jared asked me. I looked at mom to make sure she wasn’t going to cry “it was perfect, the dress is beautiful” I said smiling. Jared nodded “good” he said. My three cousins and Tiffany were speaking to each other in serious voices, when they saw me, they all smiled and walked over. “Kaila! We know you don’t want us to do the chicken dance, but we were wondering if we were doing jump on it?” Tiffany asked me, dead serious. I laughed a little, trying to see if they were really serious “well yes, of course I am, why do you ask?” I asked them. They all got excited “we were just wondering” Tiffany said. I rolled my eyes “okay” I said. We spent all day picking out outfits for me to wear tomorrow and settled on a floor length black dress that showed off my curves. That night I lay awake, anticipation of seeing Kyle again keeping me asleep. “Okay Kaila, just remember, the faster you get to sleep, the faster you see him” I kept telling myself that until I fell into a not so deep sleep. I awoke to knocking on my door “go away!” I groaned. “it is your rehearsal day! I will not go away!” I heard mom call. I jumped up from the bed, “the day I get to see Kyle!” I squealed. I grabbed my black dress out of the closet and ran into the bathroom. I showered quickly and dried off, putting my dress on, I put makeup on as fast as I could, to be accurate and to be fast is impossible. I blow dried and curled my hair, putting it into a bun and leaving a few curls to frame my face. I ran out of my room and down stairs. Everyone was getting ready for the rehearsal; I think I was the only one that was completely ready. I grabbed a breakfast bar out of the pantry and