Megan Smith - Hard To Love You

Love you always and forever,

Your soon to be husband

We all look over at Elle who is placing diamond hairpins on the table in front of MacKenzie.

“These were your grandmother’s, who then passed them down to me. And now I’m giving them to you to wear on your special day.” Elle explains.

We all have tears in our eyes now. “Who knew my brother could be such a sap.” Jaylinn sniffles.

Someone knocks on the door; I look down at my cell phone. The hair stylist and make-up artist are right on time, “I’ll get it.” I tell them.

For the next hour, MacKenzie’s hair is being styled while I get my makeup done. When we finish, Chloe disappears upstairs to get MacKenzie’s something borrowed.

MacKenzie looks over at Chloe who comes back into the room with a black box.

“Here’s your something borrowed. Your brother bought this for me on our wedding day and I think it would go perfectly with your dress.” Chloe explains.

Inside the box is a beautiful, diamond, tennis bracelet. We all sigh, including the makeup artist and hair stylist. MacKenzie and I switch places, I’m getting my hair styled and MacKenzie is now getting her makeup done.

After we finish, Jaylinn presents MacKenzie’s something blue. MacKenzie smiles brightly at her as she hands her a blue piece of fabric. “I know you thought you lot Ryder’s blanket but don’t worry, you didn’t Hunter took it and it’s now back in Ryder’s crib.”

“He’s trying to kill me with these tears today.” MacKenzie says while wiping her cheeks.

MacKenzie, who now has her makeup and hair done, relaxes out on the balcony not that the sun is starting to set; talking to Elle and Sadie, Hunter’s mom. Chloe and Jaylinn are finishing up with their hair and makeup so I make my way upstairs and lay MacKenzie’s wedding dress across the bed, being careful not to wrinkle it. I dig in my small overnight bag for the gift that I get to give to her from Hunter. I place her shoes on the floor; take one more look at her dress and her gift that I’ve placed on it. My best friend is one lucky bitch. I feel the burn in my eyes. I wave my hands in front of my face so the tears don’t fall. I’m so happy for her, she deserves this.

Chloe calls my name, letting me know they are done. I tighten my robe and pad down the stairs to let MacKenzie know we need to get dressed. When I reach the bottom of the stairs I hear Jaylinn explaining to the photographer that MacKenzie is about to get dressed and if she wants to head upstairs to set up for photos she can.

I slide the balcony door open and Elle, Sadie and MacKenzie all look over at me. “It’s time.”

I see MacKenzie take a deep breath and both moms grab one of her hands and squeeze. She stands and we all follow her upstairs.

As soon as she reaches the top, we all see a light flash from the photographer. MacKenzie has her hand covering her mouth. We all pile in the room and it really is a sight to see. Her gorgeous dress is spread out on the bed with her veil lying next to it and her blue shoes, that are dyed to match our dresses, are placed on the floor along with the last and final gift.

MacKenzie looks at all of us and when her eyes land on me I wink.

“I love you girls. This day couldn’t have started out any better than it has.” She tells us.

MacKenzie moves forward to the bed and reaches for the small black box. She turns towards us and a single tears slips down her cheek.

I blink a few times, trying to keep my own tears away.

“Hunter said they remind him of your eyes and I have to agree with him.” I explain as she holds the box in her hand.

Hunter’s so sweet. I would never have guessed Hunter had all this sweetness to him; no wonder MacKenzie couldn’t ever give up on him.

MacKenzie flips the little black box open and her hand immediately flies to her mouth. We all step closer to look over her shoulder. Tucked inside the box is a pair of blue and white, diamond twist drop earrings. They shimmer and glitter every time she moves the box.

“Just like your eyes.” I whisper in her ear.

MacKenzie turns around and flings her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I see the moms hugging each other as well as Jaylinn and Chloe. MacKenzie sniffles a few times and I feel the wetness on my shoulder through my silk robe. She squeezes me even tighter, takes a deep breath and finally lets go.

I’m so glad that Hunter told MacKenzie that he wanted to handle these gifts. He’d heard her stressing about it one night while we were hanging out and talking about the wedding. I was a little worried that he was in a little over his head but he nailed it. He’s a keeper in my book.

“Ok ladies, no more tears. We need to get dressed and get our asses downstairs.” I tell them all.

As we all help MacKenzie get dressed, and then sort out ourselves, the photographer takes pictures. Now that we are all dressed we take group photos, mom photos and then a few of MacKenzie and me.

“Let’s go girls, I can’t wait anymore.” MacKenzie exclaims.

It’s show time.

It’s nearing the time and my nerves are starting to get the best of me. I’ve been anxiously going over my vows in my head all morning. The only thing keeping me completely calm is Ryder. I’ve stepped out of the groom’s suite a few times and can see that guests have started to arrive. They are spread out in little groups and are talking amongst themselves. Thankfully the sun is just starting to set and things are cooling off. CC and I are lucky to be having perfect weather, not unbearably hot, but nice and warm. The wind is picking up just a little; CC was worried about the wind being an issue. She didn’t want people to be worrying about their hair being messed up or the decorations falling over - she has candles that will be lit on the beach, just off the deck. I’ve been able to grant all her wishes for a perfect wedding but this is one thing I have no control over.

I’m sitting in my suite, feeding Ryder, when my mom comes in.

“Hi Sweetie, how are you holding up?” she asks me.

I smile at her; she looks beautiful all dressed up with makeup on. She looks younger, happier than I have seen her in a long time. “Good, just finishing up feeding Ryder so he should be pretty quiet for you.”

She walks over to us, bends and gives Ryder a little kiss on his forehead. “He looks so handsome, Hunter.” She looks at me and I see the tears pool in her eyes. “He looks so much like you when you were his age.”

I hear that a lot, but I see a lot of CC in him too.

“He looks handsome in his little suit, huh?” I pull Ryder’s bottle out and lift him to my shoulder so that I can burp him.

“So handsome,” She responds and the tears finally start to fall.

Standing up, I wrap my one arm around her and kiss her head. “I love you Mom.”

She sniffs and nods, still too choked up to speak. I hold her for a few more minutes until Ryder starts to fuss.

She reaches for Ryder. “Ok, give me my grandson and get out of here.” Mom holds him out in front of her and he kicks his legs like a mad man. “Look at you, Ryder, all dressed up just like your daddy.”

CC wanted him dressed just like us, tan suits, white button down shirts and our blue ties to match the girls.

I give them both a kiss on their heads. “Mason will walk you and Ryder down to your seats in a few minutes.”

I leave them in the suite and double check the dining room to make sure everything is perfect. I stop a few times to say hello to a couple of guys that I work with, a few friends and family members on my way out to the deck.

When I step outside I see a few familiar faces; Bentley, Zeke, Logan and to my surprise, Dominic. CC and I talked about Dominic when we were doing the guest list and she convinced me to allow him to attend. I agreed as long as there was no dancing, she agreed.