AN: Fair, fair, fair WARNING. I skipped some months between Chapter 86 and this chapter. Nothing actually occured on the timeline within the months skipped. So here is a chapter I am sure a lot of you have been waiting for. I hope you guys enjoy it.
January 30, 2004
Hap spotted the newborn squirming in her bassinet, crying. However, he didn't notice her mother standing in the other archway that led to the dining room. Hap picked up the crying newborn and quickly adjusted her to a comfortable situation, shushing her as he did so. He started to bounce her, remembering that's what Hanna would do to quiet the baby. Veronica slowly started to hush and calm down as she took in the sight before her.
Hanna continued to watch her boyfriend and his baby girl as she tried to wipe at her tears that were drying on her cheeks. It wasn't that she was having a hard time being a new mother, but it was the fact that she was afraid of losing the man she loved so much. She was scared that during the four to six weeks she wasn't supposed to have sex that he'd grow impatient and turn to a different source of release. Hanna knew how much the man loved sex and she knew that four weeks was a long time, especially without sex. She couldn't help her fears, she just had them. She was afraid of not being able to lose the baby weight and that he would leave her for someone who looked better. She had many fears of just the welfare of her relationship.
Happy continued to bounce himself affectively bouncing the tiny baby that just so happened to resemble him with her tan skin, dark hair and dark eyes. He made sure that Veronica remained calm and once he knew for sure that she was ok, he sat down in his chair at the kitchen table, watching the newborn watch him. "What are you looking at? Huh? Yeah, kid, I'm your dad… You're stuck with me. Sorry 'bout it." He spoke to her as if she really could understand him. For a split second, Hap started to think she could understand him because she looked so intrigued in his words. "I guess you know that beautiful woman that you're with most of the time is your mom… One lucky kid, ya know… She's the best thing in this crazy world. She's so smart and beautiful; I know you'll be just like her. I bet you're wondering how I won her… I don't know, kid but I'm so glad I did. I think she knows it but I love her more than life… hell, I hope she knows it. We should probably go check on her… I think I upset her a minute ago. I didn't mean to, shit I just meant to make her feel good. You wouldn't understand that and you better not understand that for a very long time. You got it, kid? You're not dating ever, especially a Son. I'll kill any little shithead that tries anything on ya." Hap pointed his finger at her and he watched her form what seemed like a smile to him. He chuckled at her and shook his head. "Jesus Christ, you're gonna be just like her... Damn troublemaker." Hap stood up and started to walk through the archway that led to the foyer but he stopped and grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate in the middle of the table. "Come on, let's go check on your Mom."
(End)
October 12, 2024
Huntington Beach, CA
The Lowman Family Beach House
Veronica Lowman stood at the end of the sofa, staring down at her son as he continued to eat the stack of oreos he wasn't supposed to have and she shook her head. She looked back as she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and she looked back at her mom. She took in a deep breath before letting it out and she shook her head again. The day was finally here, the one she'd been waiting on since Carlos Acosta proposed to her ten months prior. She was excited. She was happy and she was completely nervous to get into her dress and see her soon-to-be husband. Veronica grabbed her mom's hand to stop the blonde from leaving her and she furrowed her brow.
"I'm nervous." She murmured as she was pulled into a warm embrace. "Make it stop, I shouldn't be nervous." She pulled back to look at Hanna and she started laughing. "Stop making fun of me, I'm going crazy."
Hanna shook her head as she kissed Veronica's head before she moved away from the brunette to go to the sofa and pick up Vincent's stack of cookies. "No more, you can have cake later. Let's go find Pops and get dressed. Veronica, you have an hour, get in that dress. I'll meet you upstairs in my room with Victoria and Ale in five minutes." She looked back and smiled before leaving the room.
"I wanna cry!" She whined as she picked up her phone and checked the notifications, stopping at a message from Carlos. "Baby." She murmured as she read the long message before she quickly replied and started upstairs. She heard laughter from her parents' room and she smiled, it was her sister and cousin. Roni entered the room and closed the door before stopping as she felt arms around her from behind. "Oh. Hi, who's this? It's not Vee. Who's this?" She turned around and started grinning at Rina Hohrykova. "Hi. You're here! Good, get in your damn dress!"
Roni whined as she hugged the brunettes back. "Carlos' mom hates me so much, I don't know why either. I've always been really nice to her." The eldest brunette pulled out of the hug and moved toward the bed where her wedding dress was laying. "How the hell does your mother think I'll get into the skinny thing? I feel so fat right now, everything is wrong and I'm so nervous guys."
Vee shook her head slowly. "Get your little cute lingerie on and get into this dress. We do not have time for your games." She smiled as she ran a few fingers over her sister's curls before she moved past her and started slipping out of her soffe shorts and t-shirt before she pulled on the light gray dress. "You're also not fat, Carlos' mom likes you and you're still wasting time."
"I agree so let's get you into your dress." Hanna smiled as she walked into the bedroom, Bri Hohrykova following behind her. "I found Bri and she's going to help me get you into your dress before your dad gets in here."
"You're going to look absolutely stunning." Bri smiled at the brunette. "I'm happy I could be here today to help and witness true love."
Veronica moved to the brunette, hugging her. "I'm really glad you're here. I know we're not that close so let's change that but I do love you and I love that you're in here with us."
"You're so emotional right now, stop being so nervous." Vee shrugged as she righted her dress before looking at the group. "One down, three to go. You three are slacking, let's get this moving along before the princess finds something wrong with something." She smiled as she tapped on Veronica's wedding dress. "Put it on and let's go, make Carlos wait any longer and he'll come up to find you."
"Sounding like a taskmaster." Bri smiled at Vee. "We'll get her into the dress, no problem. Let her be a little emotional. She's going to get out there and be emotional even more because we all know Carlos will have leaking eyes once he gets a look at her all dolled up."
Hanna nodded her head slowly. "If he's crying over her beauty, he'll be crying because he's finally marrying her." She smiled at the group. "Rina, Ale, get in your dresses and let's get moving downstairs. Bri and I will help Roni then we've gotta find my husband."
"He was already out there tearing up when we ran into him." Rina smiled. "He's too excited for this. He just kept saying 'I'm marrying my best friend' and Chuy was like 'oh I see you now man'."
Roni smiled as she slipped out of the oversize button-down and started to step into her dress. "Chuy's a jealous hoe. Just wants to steal my man. Too bad, he can't have him." She pushed her long curly hair over her shoulder and sighed. "This dress weighs a ton, mama."
"Good, a lot of work was put into it. Had to perfect it." Hanna smiled as she started tying the dress into place. "My dress weighed a little more, Ben designed it for me then we turned it into a better design. TThe outfit your brother came home from the hospital in, the outfits you three wore in the first Lowman children professional pictures. I have some lingerie made from it then the rest of the leftover material was turned into a not-so cathedral dress that is framed in my closet at home." She nodded.
"Oh. My. God." Rina grinned. "That's sooo damn cool. That's like the most brilliant thing I've ever heard in my life."
Vee nodded her head. "She'll do it for Roni too. It's going to take some work though." She smiled as she passed Rina a necklace. "I heard you wanted this but my brother isn't allowed up here so I get to give it to you."
"Yes, I did want that." Rina smiled as she put the necklace on. "I love it so much, so gorgeous. I'm so excited for today. Finally, Roni and Carlos are getting married. It's amazing."
"Finally nothing. She waited long enough amount of time. Don't rush her." Happy grumbled as he walked into the room. "Everyone's seated. Waiting on you women."
Hanna shrugged. "Keep waiting, were checking Veronica one last time. Girls go downstairs and wait for us before you start walking down the aisle."
"Play nice, grump. It's a happy day." Vee smiled at her dad as she moved past him and left the room. "Damn, he's so emotional. It's adorable."
"You look drop dead gorgeous." Ale smiled at Roni. "God, I can't wait to see the pictures that are going to come from this."
Roni smiled at her cousin as she pulled her into a hug. "Thank you so much babe. I can't wait to see how my pictures with you three come out, they're bound be perfection."
"Alright, let's get down there. I want to watch this whole thing unfold." Ale nodded. "Congratulations once again."
Hanna nodded her head. "You and your daddy now babe. I'll be right there with you though, your brother is taking me to my seat. I'll see you down there." She kissed Veronica's head and smiled before leaving.
"You sure you wanna marry him?" Happy smiled at his daughter as he leaned against the door jamb. "We runaway now if you want…"
Roni shook her head slowly. "No! I'm sure I wanna marry him. I love him so much." She smiled at her father as she slowly moved to him. "You wanna carry me down the stairs so I don't trip?"
"I'd pay to see you tumble down those stairs one more time." He chuckled as he leaned off the wall and held his hand out. "Come on, Ron, let's give you away to that fool." He smiled as he started leading her out of the room and down the stairs to the living room and out of the house to the backyard. "It's been a long damn time since I've been down an aisle… let's go, you ready?"
Roni nodded again as she squeezed his arm. "I know, I think I was at that same one." She winked at him as he started to lead her outside and they slowly started down the aisle. "Look at him, he's so handsome. I love him, daddy."
"I know you do, he's a good one." He smiled as the duo came to a stop in front of Carlos and he leaned down to kiss his daughter's cheek. "You look beautiful, baby."
The brunette smiled as she nodded her head. "Thank you, daddy." She took the hand Carlos offered and she stepped closer to him. "Hi handsome." She smiled up at the man before she kissed his cheek.
"Veronica, you look so damn stunning." Carlos smiled at the brunette and nodded slowly. "Like holy shit."
She laughed a little as she shrugged. "Had to make sure I had your undivided attention." She stepped back and looked at the officiant. "We're ready when you are."
"I am. You all may be seated. We are gathered here today in honor of this beautiful couple, Carlos and Veronica. We're gathered to celebrate their relationship and love, so please speak if you think these two should not wed." The man stopped breathing before he nodded and smiled. "Wonderful. It was brought to my attention that Carlos and Veronica have prepared their own vows. Carlos, we'll begin with you."
"I'll probably cry but no one can judge me on that." Carlos chuckled as he locked his eyes on the brunette. "From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew we'd be something. I knew we were going to hit it off and have fun together. Then when you stood up and I saw your belly, I was like alright, she'll friend zone me if I even gather up the courage to talk to her. Ask my sister, I had to give myself a pep talk to even approach you. I'm glad I did though, we became best friends and then that developed into something more serious, something so full of love and happiness. You brought something special into my life, the smile, the dimples, the kid. Don't even get me started on that little guy." He smiled. "It's safe to say, you've become my best friend, so I'm happy that I get to spend the rest of my life, creating special moments with you, spending each and every day, falling more and more in love with you. So, standing in front of you today, in front of all the important people in our life, I am going to make a big promise. I promise to always give you my all, promise to love you, cherish you and argue with you on occasion. Someone once told me you're not really in love with a person unless you fight over the small things, like hogging the blankets in bed, using up all of the hot water or even eating off your plate. So, Veronica, I'm yours, forever and always. You're stuck with this hungry, hungry hippo."
The brunette started laughing a little as she wiped at her tears. "You are so perfect. I was completely convinced that we were only going to be friends because of the pregnancy and the baby but you surprised me. You were with me through the whole labor and delivery, through the first month with him and it only made me fall in love with you more. You're my best friend, my pillow, my supporter, my model even though I don't design men's clothes." She laughed a little. "I can't do this without you, I don't ever want to. I can't wait to see what this journey with you brings our way, I can't wait to see where we are in ten years, twenty years… I promise I will love you, cherish you and you know I'll argue with you. That's just something you can't avoid, babe. I just hope you're prepared for my annoyingly cuddly ass for life." She smiled at him.
"I have modeled, no shame at all. She did however tell me I'm too hippy for a slip dress." Carlos laughed. "I'm so ready for this life with you. I'm so ready to create more and more memories with you and Vin. Also with any other children we have together. I'm surprised little man isn't in one of our arms right now."
The officiant smiled as he looked between the couple. "Very beautiful, now. Let's have the rings." He looked at Carlos before his eyes fell on Vincent. "Thank you. With these rings, symbolizing the bond between you both. Unbreakable, forever binding you both. Please exchange your rings."
"I love you." Roni whispered as she slid Carlos' wedding band onto his finger. "Always and forever."
"I love you too." Carlos slipped the ring on Roni's finger and smiled. "Forever and always. I know man, Vincent and I are identical twins huh?" He smiled brightly.
The officiant chuckled and nodded his head. "Unfortunately not, he looks like Veronica. Just has blue eyes." He smiled. "By the power vested in me, in the state of California. I now pronounce you husband and wife, Carlos you may kiss your bride."
"Oh hell yeah." Carlos pulled Roni to him and kissed her lips before smiling. "Mrs. Carlos Acostas. Veronica Acostas. I love that."
She laughed as she kissed him again, her arms winding around his neck. "Mrs. Carlos Acostas, I love it so so so much." She whispered as she nodded. "Walk down the aisle with me, I'm hungry and ready to dance with you."
"Come on, let's go." He nodded eagerly as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "First walk as a married couple."
Roni smiled as she kissed his cheek. "I can't believe we're finally married. The ceremony was so quick." She laughed a little as the couple came to a stop inside of her parents house. "Still can't believe mom and Bri transformed the backyard like this. It looks amazing."
"They worked magic." Carlos smiled. "I love it though. I really love it."
Roni looked down at the gorgeous cathedral dress she was wearing and smiled. "I married my best damn friend, less than thirty minutes ago." She grinned up at the man. "I'm so fucking happy right now."
"I'm happy right now. I can't stop smiling, my face hurts." He chuckled. "You're so damn gorgeous in that dress babe. I still can't believe this happened. I've been waiting for this for seems like forever. I'm happy it happened. Best friends forever."
Veronica looked down and smiled. "Wait until I get out of it for you, I think you're gonna love that even more." She slowly stood up and walked to him. "Hi."
"I bet I will." He smiled. "I love you so much."
She kissed his lips and nodded her head. "It's a good surprise for you." She kissed him again. "It's time to go out to the reception, I'm so damn excited. I love you, Los. So much."
"I love you too Roni." He grabbed her hands. "Let's go. I'm eager to see everyone."
She laughed as he started to pull her out of the room. "Babe, slow. I'll trip and fall and die if you try to drag me out." She tugged on his arm. "Slow baby."
"I'm just so excited." He chuckled. "I'm sorry baby."
The brunette laced her fingers with Carlos' and smiled. "I wonder if my son if still fully clothed or if he's stealing bites of cake with Victor." She squeezed his hand. "Baby, I loved those vows. They were so perfect."
"He's probably sitting on Rina's lap, eating cake with Victor." Carlos laughed. "Yours were perfect too. I almost started bawling."
She shook her head. "Oh no, I started to cry. I couldn't help it, you brought some good hits with it."
"I love you." Carlos nodded slowly and smiled. "I probably would've lost it if you went on a minute longer. I would've been on the ground, just bawling my eyes out with happiness."
She laughed a little. "You had me when you started in on us meeting. I love you, baby. I feel like I'm not saying it enough at all right now."
"I love you too." He kissed her and shrugged. "You say it more than enough. I'll never forget."
"Family, friends and guests. It's my honor to introduce Mr and Mrs. Carlos Acostas." The DJ spoke into the microphone as he smiled at the couple once they reached the entrance of the large tent. "Congratulations."
"Mama!" Vincent ran to the bride, wrapping his arms around as best he could. "You look so pretty."
"Pick him up." Carlos chuckled. "Hi family!"
Vic moved to Carlos, pulling him into a hug. "Welcome to the family officially, bro. Congratulations." He grinned as he looked at his sister. "Can't believe you stole her from me."
"Thank you." Carlos nodded. "Feel free to borrow her anytime you want. I'm not too stingy."
Roni scoffed as she shook her head. "Don't believe him. He'll play tug-of-war with Vincent for my hugs and kisses. The boys are ridiculous." She smirked as she peppered her son's face with kisses. "I love you so much. Take me to Pops."
"I always win." He shrugged. "I'm waiting for the kid to bulk up like Vic. Then I won't even bother trying to go against him."
Vee shook her head. "You need to worry about going against Chuy right now, he's trying to take a slice of cake." She laughed as she wrapped her arms around Carlos. "I'm so happy about this I told you it'd happen."
To be Continued...
AN: Annnnd there it is, my loves. Veronica is a married woman now ;) . There is definitely more to follow up, just stand by. Let me know what your thoughts are.