Written in the Stars
By Tvdfanpam
Chapter 21
Wedding at Hemingway's
Unfortunately, the state of Florida had a three day wait time for couples after the marriage license was obtained; that was good news and bad news, depending on your point of view. Christian was disappointed to have to wait but Ana was secretly happy that there was time to plan an impromptu wedding. Her dad was more than happy to come see his daughter get married; not too happy to give her away though. Carla had to be bribed by Christian unbeknownst to Ana with a new house to come see her only daughter get married.
The wedding was set for Friday evening at sunset in the gardens. The tropical setting was ideal for an outdoor wedding. Kate flew in and the girls went wedding dress shopping on Wednesday. Ana stuck with her pale pink color scheme and found a beautiful dress in a ball gown style off the shoulders and looked like a princess in it. She was even wearing a tiara! Kate was wearing a pale pink dress and Christian and Elliott would wear off white summer weight suits with white shirts and beige ties.
Mia was in a club in Key West and heard a singer with the stage name Runaground singing Next to Me and went right up to him and hired him to sing at the wedding. Christian was amazed at his voice and told him that he would help him find an agent and get his music career going.
Friday morning Ana woke up to the sound of a soft rain falling and Christian propped up on his elbow watching her. "Stop staring! That is creepy!" He leaned over and kissed her softly. "Is it bad luck for it to rain on your wedding day?"
"Some cultures say that rain on your wedding day symbolized fertility and cleansing." He said and Ana blushed when he said fertility making him smile. "I can't wait to marry you Ana. I already know this is the best day of my life." Christian handed Ana a small gift. "A token of my affection, Mrs. Soon to be Grey." Ana scooted up so she could sit up in bed beside him. She gave him an exasperated sigh.
"Another gift Mr. Grey?" She carefully unwrapped the box and gasped when she saw the contents. Tears fell down her face. "It's beautiful! Thank you!" She scrambled over and climbed into Christian's lap and hugged him and then gave him a smacking kiss. It was a dainty diamond bracelet that Ana took out of the box and had Christian help her put on her delicate wrist. They admired it together then Christian's phone buzzed on the side table and someone knocked on the door at the same time.
"Ana, are you awake?" Mia called from the other side of the door. "The hairstylist and makeup artists are here."
Ana jumped out of bed and grabbed her silk robe that Christian had thrown in the floor last night, preferring her to sleep naked beside him. She tied the belt and ran to the door and opened it. "Sorry Mia! I overslept!" Ana said panicking. Mia hugged her close.
"No worries! We let you sleep in since my brother won't let you sleep tonight." She smirked in his direction as he came out of the bathroom dressed in a tee shirt and shorts. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned sheepishly. Ana blushed bright red. "Happy Wedding Day!" Mia squealed and the two girls giggled as Christian rolled his eyes.
"Ana! I'm coming in!" Kate yelled from the hallway. "Oh hi Mia! Ana! You're getting married today!" The three girls danced around the room. Sawyer led the hairdresser and the makeup artists into the master bedroom to get set up.
"Girls! Could you hold it down a little bit?" Grace came in the room and clutched her head. "I drank too much champagne last night at the rehearsal dinner and need some Advil." Mia ran out of the room to get her mother something for her headache.
Christian and Elliott and Carrick went outside to eat breakfast on the covered patio. "We have tee time at 1:00 pm." Elliott said, taking a Mimosa from the sideboard. The men were going to go play golf at one of the many golf courses in town while the women got ready. They would get ready at the Hemingway Estate when it was closer to time for the wedding. Ray was going to meet them at the golf course since he was staying in a hotel.
Carla and her husband Bob were also at a hotel. Christian couldn't stand to be in the woman's company more than necessary and put them up in a hotel for the week. Ana was glad her mom was going to be at the wedding but didn't include her in the day's activities. Carla would be on her own until the wedding. That was fine with everyone since she whined about the heat and being pregnant and the fact that she couldn't drink any liquor.
There was a wedding planner at the Hemingway Estate that would take care of the decorations and table settings. Mia had a singer lined up and the food for the wedding dinner was being catered in by a local chef. They were having grilled fish and shrimp and mango salad among other things. The wedding cake was made by the baker at the Casa Marina Hotel. He was the baker for the Key West Elite.
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Ray adjusted his tie and cleared his throat. All day long he felt on the verge of sobbing whenever he thought about his baby girl getting married. Just yesterday it seemed like he had dropped her off at school for the first day of kindergarten. He hoped someday he would find someone to share his life with. He didn't have any excuses now to put it off any longer. He patted his pocket, glad he thought to put a handkerchief in there. He took a deep breath and walked out of his dressing room and into the hallway. He could hear his daughter's laugh somewhere in the house.
He turned the corner and his breath caught in his throat. His daughter was a vision in a beautiful off the shoulder cream colored satin gown with embroidery on the sheer over skirt. Her smile made him tear up. He tried to clear his throat. "You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen." He said with tears in his eyes. "Christian is a lucky man." He got out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. "You grew up, baby girl." Ana hugged her dad and they clung to each other for a few minutes. Ray wiped Ana's eyes then kissed her softly on the cheek. "You are sure about this?" He asked and Ana nodded yes. "Okay, let's do this." They could hear the music playing as they walked out of the house and around the corner to where the rest of the guests and the wedding party were waiting.
Kate and Elliott walked sedately up the aisle together and then Elliott let Kate go to stand beside his brother on the other side of the minister. The wedding march started and Ray and Ana walked slowly up the aisle. Christian was in awe of his bride. Her skirt swayed as she walked and he was mesmerized by her beauty. When the minister asked who gave this woman away, Ray choked back a sob and said he did. He got his handkerchief out again and dabbed his eyes. He sat down beside Carla and Bob and Carla took his hand and squeezed it.
The vows were softly but firmly spoken. Ana and Christian were wearing matching platinum bands and Christian could not stop smiling. He did it! He was married to the love of his life. The beautiful woman beside him was his wife! He couldn't hardly wrap his head around it. Elliott came up to Christian and decided to tease his brother a little.
"We are staying another week little brother. I love it here in Key West. Let's take the boat out tomorrow and do some deep sea fishing." Elliott said smiling. Christian frowned.
"No. My wife and I are here on our honeymoon. You're going home tonight. The jet is ready to take everybody back to Seattle after we cut the cake." Christian said firmly. He was tired of his family in his space and wanted to be alone with Ana.
"Mom and dad are tired and Mia wanted to go clubbing with that guy she hired to sing. We're staying another week with you." Elliott laughed at Christian's sour look. "Ha Ha. I'm just kidding. We're going back tonight. You can have your house to yourself again." Christian looked relieved. Elliott winked at him and took another drink of his champagne. "I'm going to dance with Kate again." He walked off and grabbed Kate, who had also had too much to drink and they swayed to the music. Elliott leaned in and whispered something to Kate and she laughed as expected.
Grace came over to Christian and put her arm around her son. "She seems nice. I like her a lot more than that vile Gia Mateo." Christian smiled down at his mom. "She is nice. She is too good for Elliott. She will make him work for it." They laughed together then Kate and Elliott went to the microphones and gave heartfelt speeches about the bride and groom. Kate said she had never seen Ana so happy and Elliott said his brother was almost human.
"Ana we are going back to our hotel." Carla said softly, sitting down beside her daughter. "I am happy for you, I can see he makes you happy and he loves you very much." Ana put her head on Carla's shoulder. "You have a great life despite me." Carla had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you growing up. I was so jealous of you. Maybe someday you can forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive mom. I'm glad you are here. Let's stay in touch." Carla nodded then Bob came over and helped her up.
"Let me know when that baby comes, I'll fly down." Ana promised as they left.
Christian took Carla's abandoned chair beside his wife and took her hand and brought it up to his lips and gave her a soft kiss.
"Mrs. Grey, it's time for the honeymoon."
A/N: Check out Pinterest. There is a link for the singer mentioned. I'm in love with Ana's dress. Pcwbooks/Written-in-the-stars. Hope you liked the wedding. I cried writing it, LOL.
