Since it's been a little longer and the last one was pretty short, here is an eventful one. Remember, the more you review, the more I'll want to write! :)
"Today is the big day!" Marcia yelled as she jumped on Sophia's sleeping body. They had decided that Luke would sleep at Linda's house so Sophia could have all of her friends over to his house and she could get ready without him seeing her. "Five more minutes! I haven't gotten all the beauty sleep I need." Sophia replied, putting a pillow over her face. "Okay, but the girls will be here in about an hour and we need to eat and shower before they get here." "Fine I'll get up. But I need coffee right away. I can't believe how tired I am." "Well, you didn't want to say goodbye to Luke so you didn't come over here until after midnight and you stayed up who knows how long after that." "Well whatever the reason, I'm still tired. How's that coffee coming?" Marcia handed Sofia a large mug of steaming coffee and she drank it in slow sips. She really had enjoyed having another sleepover with her best friend. They felt like little girls again, staying up late and sleeping in 'the big bed'. But she really did miss Luke. "So eat, shower, the girls will come, and the stylists will be here soon too. The girls will get their hair and makeup done out here in the kitchen while you and I get ours done in here. Then, you will put your dress on and we will take pictures with just the girls. After all of that, we will go to the chapel. Oh, I almost forgot your mom and sisters are driving over now so they will get here before everyone else. Are you ready for all of the chaos?" Sophia wasn't exactly sure how to answer the question, but she nodded while she took another sip of coffee and began to eat her eggs and toast. When she was finished eating, she got into the shower and took those few moments she was alone to prepare herself for the day. 'You're getting married to Luke today!' She told herself. She was finally letting it set in and it was the most exciting thing to ever happen to her. As she stepped out of the shower, she could her a car driving up and the excited greetings shared between her family and Marcia. She hurried up and put on a tank top with jean shorts and ran out to greet them. This would surely be a very long, emotional day for everyone.
Over at Linda's house, Luke didn't have as much to do to get ready, so he had his friends over to hang out before he put his tux on. His mom would be going over there soon to take picture and help Sophia. He wished so badly that he could go see her. Last night was the first night he had spent without her in over a year and he couldn't believe how much he missed her and how little he was able to sleep. The only thing that kept him from running over there is the fact that Sophia would kill him if he saw her, but he decided it wouldn't hurt if he called her. When he heard her sweet voice over the phone, a huge smile immediately flashed over his face. "Well good morning, gorgeous. How are you doing?" "Well I miss you a ton but I am super busy over here so I don't have much time to think about it. How did you sleep last night?" "Not to well. I'm so used to sleeping with you I just couldn't fall asleep. I can't wait to see you and I know you will be the most beautiful bride to ever walk this earth because you are the most beautiful woman to do the same." "Thanks, babe. You always know exactly what to say. Well I really need to go, but I love you so much and I can not wait to see you." "Okay love you too, bye." He hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen where all of his friends were eating the breakfast his mom had prepared. "Okay guys, we need to get ready for this thing."
"Alright everyone! We need to walk over to the other side of the house so we can take pictures underneath the weeping willow. We need pictures of the bride with each mom, the sisters, bridesmaids, etcetera." the photographer called out to all of the chatty girls. They had all put their dresses on, gotten their hair and makeup done, and gotten mani pedis a few days before. They all headed out into the perfect, warm spring day and took some of the cutest pictures the photographer had every seen. The girls were all so photogenic and cooperated, included some great candid shots. After pictures were taken, they all piled into the limos waiting for them and headed off to the chapel, shortly followed by all of the guys. The next step in the journey was to get Sophia down the isle.
Before she knew it, Sophia was standing outside the double doors that lead to her future husband. She stood nervously next to her dad as the wedding party made their way down the isle. Next, it was her turn and as they opened the doors, she heard the music start and everyone stand. At that moment, she laid eyes on Luke and the rest of the world disappeared. She could see on his face just how beautiful she was and she herself couldn't believe how handsome he was. She slowly walked down the isle and then her dad handed her off to Luke after kissing her on the cheek. She smiled at her family and the bride and groom walked up the steps to the minister that would be marrying them. They said their vows and exchanged rings and the moment they all had been waiting for arrived. Luke grabbed her and dipped her down, kissing her passionately and not caring who could see. She heard the applause of all of the guests and the snapping of the cameras belonging to the hired photographers and the reporters that had been allowed inside. After the ceremony, Luke an Sophia climbed into their private limo and changed into the clothes for the reception. "I can not believe how beautiful you are. It just takes my breath away." Luke said as he kissed Sofia. "Not yet" She replied. "We have to get through the reception and then you can kiss me all you want. With a sigh, Luke continued changing his clothes and they drove off to the reception, the biggest event of the year.
Sophia stepped out of the limo to see the most spectacular sight of her life. When she was planning this reception, she wanted to add a little bit of a state fair feel to it to go along with the rodeo aspect. Because of this idea, they had brought in a huge 5 story ferris wheel and popcorn and cotton candy machines. They had to walk over to the barn where the whole crowd was waiting so they could be introduced as the bride and groom and start all of the typical wedding events. Then they would go on the ferris wheel and dance and mingle. As they walked into the room and heard the DJ announce their joined names, both of them were overcome with joy and they jogged into the room fist pumping and cheering along with everyone else. Next came their first dance. As Luke stepped onto the dance floor and put his hand around her waist, he was once again shocked that he was so lucky to get a girl as beautiful and smart as she was. They danced around the room as reporters and photographers and friends took pictures. After the dance, they went right ahead and cut the cake and began eating the delicious home made bar-b-q and continued to dance with all of their family and friends. As the night wore on, they posed for pictures and talked to everyone, but it was a little overwhelming for Luke. He politely excused himself from the conversation and went outside to lean against the fence and look out over the hundreds of people that had come for this occasion. He didn't even know they knew all these people. "You know, I don't think it would be normal for me to tell you how sexy you look in those jeans when we first met, but I know I can tell you now." Luke turned around to see his wife walking over to him. "Hello wife." "Hello, Husband. You doing okay?" As she reached him, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "Of course I am. Anyone married to you could never not be okay." She laughed softly. "Seriously though, what's bothering you? I know you well enough to know that something is making you feel overwhelmed." He looked at her and said, "Nothing really, I just needed to take a break from all of the people. But I am having fun and I don't think anyone will forget this night. You really did an amazing job planning this, Hon." "Thanks. I'm going to go with your answer for now, but when you figure out what's going on, you'll tell me right?" At his nod, she grabbed his hand and started jogging down the hill that lead to all of the festivities. "Come on! Let's ride the ferris wheel and you can kiss me at the top!" He sure liked that idea, so he jogged with her and they jumped in the blue cart. When they reached the top, the ride stopped and they looked out to see the sunset with brilliant oranges and pinks, and Luke kissed Sofia softly, but she deepened the kiss. This would surely be their most memorable night ever.
The party had been crazy and eventful, but successful. Sophia had invited most of her sorority sisters and Luke had many of his old bull riding friends as well as many people from each of their families. The food was amazing and the music was exactly like the night that they met. When the sun had set, the crowd started getting smaller and eventually they decided to leave. For their honeymoon, they would head to the beaches in California. They boarded the plane in first class and began their journey across the country to the golden beaches of California. When they landed, they rented a car and headed to their five star hotel overlooking the water. "I am so tired. Can we take a nap before we eat?" Sofia wondered. "Of course. But I need to shower first. Want to join?" Luke replied, winking at her. After they got out of the shower, they plopped on the luxuriously cozy bed in their fluffy robes and fell into a deep slumber. The both leisurely awoke to the sound of people playing beach volley ball on the sand bellow. As they stretched and yawned, Luke commented, "Man I could live like this more often. I'm loving being pampered and I've only been here long enough to sleep!" "You know, we could buy a villa here and use it for vacations once a month or so." Luke had to think about it for a second. He clearly had enough money to do so, but would he always have enough to travel here? And how often would they use it?" As if reading his mind, Sofia said, "We could come out here all the time and go on road trips once a year and do like a traveling art exhibition all summer and use students from the college as interns or just for romantic getaways for a weekend. Either that or we could get a beach house in Florida." "Well the only thing is how expensive plane tickets are and like I've said before, we don't know if we will always have that money." "Well we can think about it but I think it would be nice to have a warm sunny place to go to for the weekends to just getaway. You know?" "Well why don't we look in Florida because then we could take road trips which would be more fun and we could go to Disney World more often." "You sure know how to read my mind!" She responded, kissing him and looking at the clock. "We better get going if we want to make it to dinner before the sun sets." "Well then after you, Mrs. Collins. Table for two please."
They went to a cute sushi restaurant located on the beach. They sat outside on the patio and watch the sun set as they drank wine and ate the same sushi they ordered on their first date. "I really miss Ira." Sophia said, breaking the silence. "I do to. I would have really loved for him to see everything we are doing and what happened with us. I know most people were only interested in the art and the business side of him but we got to know him personally and I'm so glad we did." Sophia nodded in agreement. "I love you so much. I'm so glad you quit riding. I don't know what I would have done if-" She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Luke wrapped her hand between both of his and said, "Hey at least I did and you won't have to worry about it anymore. I promise. I don't regret quitting or miss it even a little bit. You are so much more important to me." He kissed her hand and she smiled in return. "Well I am so glad to hear that. Sometimes, even though I know it was the right thing for you to do, I feel bad for stopping you. But I'm glad you picked me." Just then, the server brought out their food and they were silenced, taking in all of the delicious flavors of the meal and relishing in each others' company. "So, what do you see our life looking like for, say, the next ten years." Sofia inquired. Looking up and whipping his face, Luke replied, "Well I want to have the property ready by the end of next year. I want to become a very well respected farmer in the area, partnering with my mom, of course. I want you to be able to do anything with art you could ever dream of doing. I want to travel the world with you, going on adventures and collect art. And I also want us to think about starting a family." He looked up from his food to see her smiling at him. "I'm glad you brought that up. I had the very same idea. I know some people say we should talk about this kind of stuff before we get married, but I really want a big family and I think we should just enjoy each other for a few years but I really wants kids. Obviously we have the money and will have the space and I want what my sisters and I have had." "Well I'm really glad to hear that. I think the more the merrier and the earlier the better. If you want to wait five years we can if you wanted to start now, we can. You just say the word. I'm totally on board." "I love you so much. How lucky am I to have a guy that would let me decide and would be so supportive? I really couldn't have found a better person to spend the rest of my life with."
After dinner, they casually strolled down the beach as the sun continued to set. Then, Luke surprised Sofia with a fire on the beach with wine and s'mores and they enjoyed each others' company into the late hours of the night. "So tomorrow, lets do all of the typical tourist stuff and then I have a road trip planned for us the next day." Luke said as they were walking back to their hotel. "Sounds good. How long are we staying here?" "Well I haven't bought the tickets back yet because I wasn't sure when we would be leaving but I was thinking maybe a week to ten days." "I think that's fair. I'm tired and it sounds like we need to get up early tomorrow so let's go ahead and go to sleep, okay?" "Okie dokie." He replied, taking her hand and swinging it through the air. This had definitely been the best day of their lives.