Author's Note: Hey!
Chapter Twenty-Four
"Spencer—"
"What? What do you mean, you're not prepared to deliver the flowers today? I placed the order three months ago for today!"
"Spencer—"
"No, it's not okay. My best friend is getting married in seven hours and I have no flowers for her. Have you ever been to a wedding without flowers?"
"Spence—"
"I don't care if you have to cultivate the flowers yourself. I need a bouquet of morning glories and champagne colored roses wrapped in a navy ribbon for the bride along with four bouquets of bluebells wrapped in champagne ribbon, plus the twenty African rose centerpieces. And don't forget about the other flowers I informed you about which I need to arrange in the house!"
"Spencer, I don't think—"
"Compromise? This is my best friend's wedding day, so I won't settle for anything less than flawless. Fix it. I'll see you at one o'clock. Thank you," she said before hanging up. She quickly dialed a number, not allowing Toby to talk to her. "Hey, Aria! I've gotten the whole flower issue worked out. The florist should be there at one to set everything up."
Toby watched Spencer's expression change from relieved to deeply concerned. "What do you mean, they're not coming? How could they just not come?"
There was clear distress coming from the other end of the phone.
"Don't worry, Aria. I know a group that may be able to throw something together at the last minute," Spencer said hopefully. She hung up the phone and dialed another number.
It astonished Toby how she could do it all without breaking a sweat.
"Hello? Bonjour, Alissa." She carried on the conversation in French. Toby caught peeks of what she was saying, but didn't really bother. After passing his French AP, he sort of gave up on the language.
After hanging up with the person she just spoke to, she called back Aria. "Good news, Aria! Melissa's friend Alissa and her string quartet can come and play at your wedding. She said she'll just have to find the sheet music, but she thinks they can learn it by the ceremony," Spencer said. She hung up soon after telling Aria that their dilemma was solved.
Spencer finally let out a sigh of relief. She soon felt Toby's hands in between her shoulder blades, massaging her back. She moaned slightly.
"Toby," she whimpered.
"You're really tense," he commented.
"How many times do I have to tell you—I was born that way," she commented, too caught up in the pleasure and relief she felt. "I can't wait until this damn wedding is over.
"When do we have to leave?" Toby asked.
"Jason's aunt's house is like an hour away. Aria said we should get ready there, so I think we should probably leave by eleven or twelve. I want to be there when the florist comes, and I'm sure Aria will want help with getting ready. Hanna stayed over there with her last night, so she's already there. Tiffany and Shane are coming over later and Emily will probably get there around the same time as us," Spencer explained.
Toby nodded. "So we have three or four hours to do anything we want?" he inquired.
She sighed, as though it were trivial. She had a vague idea of where he was going with this. "No. I'm sorry, Toby, but do you know how much there's left to do? I have to finish picking out what I'm going to wear with my dress—"
"I'm sure Hanna will have jewelry to borrow," Toby interrupted, pressing a kiss onto her temple.
"—and I still have to pack all of my makeup—"
"Hanna," he suggested before kissing her on her cheek.
"—and I'm sure that you haven't written your speech yet, so I'll probably have to help you with that, too," she said as he kissed her neck.
He pulled away abruptly. "Hey! I started writing it!"
She gave a small laugh. "And how much of it did you actually do? Two sentences?" she asked.
He pouted. "Five…" he mumbled.
Spencer looked at him for a moment before kissing him. "You're so cute when you pout like that," she teased.
"There's something really cruel about you when you're under pressure, you know?" he asked quietly as he got up from bed.
Spencer laughed as she watched him leave the room.
"I'm sorry, Toby!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."
"Aria, you look so pretty."
Aria stared at her reflection in the mirror for at least ten seconds before her neutral expression morphed into a pout.
"Did I gain weight since I went to the last fitting?"
Hanna furrowed her eyebrows. "No! Why would you say that, Aria?"
Aria turned to look at her profile. She scowled. "I don't remember it being this tight. This dress is making me look so fat," she complained.
"You must be kidding, right? You're tiny," Spencer insisted. She picked up the bouquet of roses and blue morning glories and gingerly handed them to Aria.
Aria looked at the flowers and smiled. "Where is the little flower girl?"
"She's with her daddy. Tiffany was going to show her how to throw the petals. Your mom is bringing her down the aisle, right?" Emily asked, walking back into the room.
Aria nodded, smiling as the thought of her little girl toddling down the aisle crossed her mind.
"Spence, did the caterers get here yet?" the bride asked as she fidgeted whilst Hanna attempted to put in her earrings.
"Aria, hold still or I'm going to give you another piercing!" Hanna yelled sternly.
Aria shook her head in defiance. Hanna rolled her eyes.
"They just got here twenty minutes ago and they're starting to set up in the ballroom."
Aria nodded, which earned an exasperated sigh from Hanna.
"Alright, bitch; if you don't stop moving your head, I am going to nail it to a post so I can fix your damn jewelry," Hanna threatened.
It was Aria's turn to roll her eyes. Spencer intercepted, changing the subject. "Hey, Aria? Do you even know how Jason's aunt managed to get a home this size?"
"Yeah, really, it's ridiculous. I got lost trying to find this room. You should've given me a freaking map," Emily chimed in.
Aria laughed as she thought of it. "Honestly, I don't know. Obviously, she was a wealthy lady and she really liked Jason."
"So what are you going to do once this wedding is over? What is Jason planning to do with the house?" Spencer inquired.
Aria shrugged. "He asked me about that, too. Apparently, along with this ginormous house, she left enough money to get by for a pretty long time, upkeep and all. I don't know how much money Jason is worth, but he promised me that we'd discuss it after the honeymoon," she said.
Hanna sighed as she pulled away from Aria, finally allowing her to move her neck. "Well, if you two don't want it, I would be more than happy to take it off of your hands," she jested.
"How many bedrooms?" Spencer asked.
Hanna squinted at Spencer, thinking. "Are you planning to start in real estate? What's with the fifth degree?"
Aria ignored Hanna. "Jason said it's twelve bedrooms, ten bathrooms, with a study, a dining hall, a dining room, a main living area, a really big kitchen, a fully-furnished basement, and a home rec room," she said, reciting the facts.
"And don't forget the giant backyard with a swimming pool, a patio, and enough field space for a football field," Emily reminded her.
"That's exaggerating. Maybe a soccer field," Aria corrected.
Spencer didn't look too enthused. "You can cut the whole modest act and just say it: this house is gorgeous and we should all be jealous because you'll find a way to persuade Jason into moving here."
"Well, why wouldn't we be jealous? Every bedroom in this house is like a suite; it's right by the water; and if Aria is lucky enough, she'll convince Jason to use some of his inheritance to convert at least two of the bedrooms into her own personal shoe closet," Hanna said as she fixed Aria's hair.
"Hey, can we discuss this some other time, preferably after we make a decision about what to do with this house?" Aria suggested after swatting Hanna's hand away from her face.
Spencer looked down at her watch, realizing that it was already about time to go.
"Guys, grab your bouquets; it's time."
Aria walked over to the window, which had a perfect view of the lawn where the ceremony was set up. She already saw her guests seated in their summery, beautiful attire. They were conversing amongst themselves. The impromptu string quartet looked well prepared, with the two violinists going over notes and the viola and cellist practicing.
"It's already three?" Aria asked.
Spencer glanced at her watch again. "Actually, you're twenty minutes late," she said.
Hanna smirked. "Ten minutes, then. Everyone knows you have to be at least 30 minutes late to be fashionably late," she said, putting her bouquet on the bed.
"But I don't want to be fashionably late!" Aria whined. "I want to get married now!" she exclaimed.
"Okay, Aria? Calm down. We can go right now," Spencer promised.
Just then, Tiffany came back, holding Cassidy's tiny hand.
"Why didn't Cassidy just stay with my mother?" Aria asked as Cassidy slowly walked over to her. Aria picked her up.
"She said mumbled something about wanting to see you," Tiffany explained, crossing her arms over her still tiny baby bump. For some reason, Tiffany barely looked pregnant, even though she was about seven months pregnant. This stirred some kind of fear in the group, that something was wrong with the pregnancy, but Tiffany's obstetrician quelled their fears, telling them that she was likely carrying the baby in the back of her uterus or her uterus was closer to her back than her stomach or something like that.
Spencer took a deep breath in and out as the bridal party waited behind the French doors to the patio, which led down to the ceremony area. She figured that she was more stressed than Aria could ever be.
She took another deep breath as she looked out the window to the ceremony.
She saw Jason look her way anxiously.
She took another deep breath and headed back to the girls.
"Okay, we're ready."
"Are you ready, Mr. Montgomery?" Tiffany asked.
Spencer didn't really stick around to hear the answer. Hanna latched onto Caleb's arm, followed by Emily, who hooked her arm on the arm of Mike, Aria's little brother. Shane quickly grabbed Tiffany away from Aria and her father. Spencer took another deep breath. She was clearly freaked out.
You could only imagine her mini-heart attack when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She turned around, realizing it was only Toby.
"Calm down, Spence. This is all going to be over soon," he said, trying to soothe her. "Everything is perfect," he said before kissing her on the cheek.
She took another deep breath before she put her arm around Toby's.
"…And for all of those reasons and more, I'll let you marry my best friend," Spencer continued humorously. There was a wave of laughter around the room. Spencer became more serious. "But really, as her best friend, I want her to be happy, but I also want her to make the right choices. I don't think any decision involving a man could have been more right than marrying you." Jason smiled at Spencer. Spencer turned to Aria. "And you! Don't you dare make him any crazier than you've made me in this whole wedding planning process! Don't you dare scare him away!" she said before putting her hand on Aria's arm. Aria laughed, holding Spencer's hand. "Congratulations to the happy couple!"
After a split second of silence, there was applause for Spencer's speech as she handed the microphone to the DJ. She sat down at the bridal party table, alongside her fiancé and Hanna.
"When are they cutting the cake?" Hanna asked, looking around the room.
"They're supposed to cut it now," Spencer said as she checked her cell phone. She had the whole schedule for the night memorized, down to the very minute. They were moving right along and at 8:00, the cake cutting was scheduled.
Tiffany, who was beside Hanna, sighed as she checked the time. "I feel like my mother. I'm already exhausted and it's only 8:00," she sighed.
"We can go after the cake. Besides, we need to take Cassidy and put her to bed," Shane reminded her as they both looked over at the little girl, who was talking to Jason and Aria.
Tiffany sighed. "I hope she goes right to bed," she said plainly.
Fifteen minutes later, the cake was being cut and it was more delicious than Spencer remembered it.
"Do you like it?" Spencer asked.
"It's cake. Who doesn't like any kind of cake?"
Spencer shrugged. "I'm just wondering because we will probably be taking a lot of it home for a while. Aria is convinced that she's gained weight and doesn't want to eat sweets after her honeymoon," she said with a slight shrug.
"Aria?" Toby said, looking over his shoulder at the petite brunette, who was playing with her daughter once more.
"Luckily, I don't care so much," Spencer answered nonchalantly as she took another bite of cake.
"Are you going to keep playing with my ring or just take it back?" Spencer asked, her eyes closed as she lay on top of Toby's chest in their room in the mansion.
"I'd never take it back. It looks great on you," he said as she played with her hand some more.
Spencer sighed as she sat up and opened her eyes. "Okay, I'm done with my half-sleeping. Could you please unzip this dress?" she asked, turning away from him and lifting her hair.
Toby just stared for a moment. "Toby!" she whined.
"Does this remind you of any extremely important point in our relationship?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm too tired to be reminded of anything except for the feel of slumber and that bed," she retorted.
He laughed a bit. He gingerly put his hands on the dress. "I'm talking about the first time we had sex," he half-whispered, dragging the last word out.
She took a sharp breath in, but let it out slowly. "I am way too tired to think of any kind of physical activity. Can we just cuddle?" she asked.
His hand hesitated on the zipper of her dress. She sighed.
"Fine; be like that, Toby. I can do this myself," she said, determined as she stumbled out of bed.
"Cuddle or have sex?" he joked.
She shot him a glare before grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him.
"Hey!"
It was only a matter of seconds before she felt a pillow hit her in the back.
She whipped around, a devious look in her eyes. "Did you really just hit me with a pillow?" she inquired, narrowing her eyes.
He shrugged, a smile on his face. Clearly, he wasn't at all aware of the lengths his fiancé was willing to go to win.
She jumped on top of the bed, a pillow in her hand. She began to hit him with the pillow, prompting the start of a pillow fight.
Somehow, in the midst of the scuffle, Toby had gained control. He had somehow pinned her onto the king-sized mattress.
"Any last words?" he asked as his hands pinned her wrists to the bed.
She struggled, trying to get out of his grasp, but clearly, he was much stronger than she.
"Is there anything I could do to get you let me go?" she asked sweetly.
He thought about it for a moment. Spencer rolled her eyes. He was clearly dragging this out for eternity on purpose.
"Well…that's a tough call."
Two could play at this game.
"I'll so anything," she claimed slowly, attempting to sound sexy. "I mean anything."
"Can you kiss me?" he asked.
"A kiss? That's all you want?" she asked, frowning slightly. By now, she was wide awake, and quite literally, up for anything.
"Is there something you'd like from me in particular?" he asked, curious.
She looked at him for a moment. "Wasn't there a certain itch you wanted me to scratch just ten minutes ago?"
Crickets began chirping outside.
"Really?" he asked finally. "I thought you were too tired," he said, mocking her in the slightest.
"You woke me up to play these trivial games," she countered.
"If I recall correctly, you started all of this, miss."
"Um, that's misses, to you. Have you forgotten about this already?" she asked, waving her ring around.
"I haven't forgotten," he said, finally letting her out of his grip. She immediately shifted so that she was the one pinning him down.
"Role reversal, huh? How does it feel to be on top?" he asked under her control.
"So damn good," she said quietly before kissing him on the lips. Her hands quickly fumbled for his shirt buttons as she moaned.
"Okay, so on our wedding night, we practically have to make it so we're not tired by the end of the night, right? I mean, it seems to be tradition that we have sex after every wedding we go to. That shouldn't stop, especially not at our own wedding," Spencer said as they lay in bed together afterwards.
"Well, when you put it like that…"
Spencer and Toby exchanged a smile between themselves. She settled in his arms.
"We can talk about the wedding all we want, but right now, can we just relax?" he asked.
She nodded. "You'll need it. Especially before you meet my parents next week."
Officially the longest chapter I've ever put out there. You're welcome.
My mom is breathing down my throat to hurry up, so no responses tonight (sorry guys).
Do you want me to tell you about London? No? Fine...
Okay, so 10 reviews, please! Next chapter should be fun! -Kayson