The Big Day
"Holy…" Sydney and Cade gathered around Kairi and stared down at her hand. "Kairi, that thing barely fits on your finger. Are you sure Fred didn't rob a bank to afford it?"
Kairi giggled. "Nope. Fred got a big promotion at work and they gave him a huge signing bonus. He said he knew right away what he wanted to spend it on."
The three of them plus Jade were hanging out in Kairi and Fred's apartment. Kairi had called them over earlier to share her big news. She proudly held her left hand in the air to examine her engagement ring. "I couldn't sleep at all last night."
"Too busy celebrating with Fred?" Sydney teased.
Kairi blushed, ever the modest one. "Well, maybe, but I meant that I couldn't stop thinking about the wedding. I have so many ideas! You two have to help me plan it. I think I want the date to be on Valentine's Day, but it would also be really cute to do it on our anniversary, but that means I'll have to wait until April and I don't think I can wait that long. But the fall is also really pretty. And what about a theme? Do I do classic and simple or should I go big and have an enchanted forest theme like our senior prom when we won king and queen?"
"Why don't you relax and enjoy being engaged for a little while before you jump right into wedding mode?" Cade gave her a sympathetic grin.
"But I can't wait to be married! Maybe we should just do what you and Joe did and elope at city hall." Kairi looked at Sydney.
Sydney shook her head. "I know you, Kairi. You want a big fancy wedding, not a quick city hall elopement."
"I guess… but there's just so much to figure out! How am I supposed to do it all?" Kairi pouted.
"We'll help. Anything you need, just ask." Cade and Sydney smiled at her. "What do you know you want?"
"Well, Sydney, you have to sing at the reception for us. Maybe you and Skyler could even do a few duets. It will be so romantic when we have our first dance together. And I know Jade would make the cutest flower girl." Kairi picked up Jade out of Sydney's lap. Jade began to squirm under Kairi's tight squeeze. She looked to her mother for help. "Can't you just see her in the prettiest little dress?"
"I'm sure Jade would love to be your flower girl." Sydney quickly took her daughter back into her own arms. Jade happily relaxed and rested her head on her mother's shoulder.
"If she'd leave your side." Cade studied Jade. "She's been clinging to you more than usual lately."
Sydney shrugged and looked away. "I'm sure she just wants to spend as much time with me as possible before the twins arrive." Sydney patted her protruding stomach.
"Oh, kids! I can't wait to have kids!" Kairi clapped her hands. "Do you think Fred would be okay if we had kids right away? We haven't really talked about how many kids we want. I think three is a good number though. I hope it's all girls, but Fred would probably prefer all boys, not that I wouldn't love them if they were all boys, but it'd be nice to have a daughter, you know?"
"Focus on getting married first." Cade cut her off to save them all from one of Kairi's long speeches. "Once you get married, then you can start having children."
"What if we have a double wedding?" Kairi started to bounce in her seat. "Fred, me, you, and Sam! It would be so cute! You just need to get Sam to propose."
Cade frowned. "Kairi, we're both a little busy right now. We don't have time to get married."
"What are you two working on this time?"
"Well, we're still trying to sort out a research project for our doctorates." Cade paused to reach into her bag. She pulled out a metallic orb the size of a cantaloupe. "And PAIA's arms need to be adjusted to extend further, along a few other things Sam wants to modify and add in."
"The thing already does everything. What else can you add to it?"
"Voice modification. Sam thinks he can put in a program so that PAIA can change its voice and mimic what it hears." Cade pressed a button and the machine in her hands came to life. Two wings unfolded and the orb silently lifted into the air while a screen started up.
"So I can play a Maroon Five song, PAIA will alter its voice, and it will sound like Adam Levine is my personal assistant? Cool."
"My capabilities and AI levels far exceed mimicking a celebrity for your entertainment. But it's understandable if that's only way you can get a man to talk to you," a woman's voice with a robotic pitch to it spoke up.
Sydney frowned. "You kept the sarcasm feature I see."
"One of PAIA's duties is to entertain." Cade shrugged. "Though it is possible to lower those levels if the user feels antagonized."
"Well this user feels antagonized."
"Unfortunately, I am not your PAIA and you cannot adjust my levels."
"PAIA," Cade spoke in a commanding tone, "make yourself useful and play Blue's Clues for Jade."
PAIA flew down in front of Jade and the screen began to display an episode of Blue's Clues. Jade giggled and eagerly watched the show.
"Do you think PAIA would be useful in the wedding?" Kairi watched the machine with interest.
"It's possible. It's designed to help with all tasks and have access to all kinds of knowledge. It could keep all the plans and budgeting organized for you and with a quick search of its database could inform you of the current wedding dress prices and trends."
"Oh!" Kairi clapped her hands. "I'll take twenty!"
Cade laughed and shook her head. "They won't be available for purchase for quite some time. PAIA still has to undergo a lot of testing. And Sam and I have been recruited for so many research projects and invention designs that we haven't had time to run those tests."
Kairi frowned. "Fine, but I want the first one when it becomes available."
"Deal."
"Hmm… no." Kairi shook her head and crossed her arms.
A collective groan came from Cade and Sydney. "Kairi, your wedding is a month away and you still don't have a dress."
"I'm sorry, but it needs to be perfect. This dress just isn't the one." Kairi sighed and walked back into the dressing room to try on another dress. The dress she had on was ivory coloured and had a mermaid style bottom.
"What are you talking about?" Sydney called back to her. "It's gorgeous!"
"Just like the last hundred see tried on today," Cade grumbled and slumped down in her seat. "She does know our lives don't revolve around this wedding right?"
"She can act like a queen all she wants on her wedding day. She doesn't need to behave that way every day leading up to it. Anna was never this bad when I was helping her with her wedding." Sydney groaned. "What time is it anyway? I need to get home to check on Jade."
"Time is currently four thirty-eight in the afternoon. A watch is a device used to tell time. Perhaps you should invest in one."
A scowl spread over Sydney's face. "Why did you bring the talking toaster along?"
"Because Kairi has been using PAIA to keep all the details of her wedding organized. And she'd been hiding Fred's wedding band in its storage compartment. It has the intelligence and capability to run a country, and this is what it's been reduced to." Cade rested her face in the palm of her hand.
Kairi came bustling out of the dressing room with a new dress on. She studied herself in the large mirror. This time, the dress was pure white. The bodice was plain and the sleeves were capped. "I don't think I like this one either."
"Kairi, if you haven't liked any of the dresses here so far, maybe you should just design your own." Sydney was only half-serious, more concerned with getting home to her daughter than Kairi's wedding gown. "You are a fashion designer after all and the costumes you've made for all our shows have all been wonderful. You're bound to get a Tony nomination for costume design next year."
Kairi straightened up, a grin slowly appearing on her mouth. "I think that's a great idea! And you two can help me design it!"
Sydney and Cade both paled, quickly regretting their words. "Uh, we're not really the fashion experts."
"Yeah, so why don't you trust your own judgement on this? I'm sure it will look beautiful."
Kairi pouted. "But I thought you two were going to help me every step of the way?"
Cade and Sydney shared a pained expression. "We were… and we will still help if you really need it, but we sort of have other needs to attend to."
"But… my wedding." Kairi's arms dangled at her sides, her eyes widening as she looked back and forth between her two friends.
"Your wedding is going to be amazing." Sydney and Cade stood and walked over to Kairi. "Everything has been planned out and you've done a great job. Whatever dress you end up going with, even if you make your own, will be perfect and will look beautiful on you."
"And you know Fred will love it and you no matter what."
Kairi huffed and sat down in one of the chairs. "I just need this to be absolutely perfect. Nothing can go wrong. I only get to do this once."
"Everything will be perfect."
"But you're focusing too much on the material and not the meaning. Remember why you're getting married in the first place."
Kairi closed her eyes. Fred's loving face appeared behind her eyelids. Kairi's lips turned up in a grin. "Because I've met the man of my dreams. A man who I've fallen completely in love with and who loves just as much in return. You guys are right. This wedding will be perfect, but not because I've planned out every detail. It will be perfect because of who I am marrying. This wedding can't get here soon enough."
October 12th, 2019
Kairi was vibrating with excitement. She couldn't stop smiling even if she wanted to.
"Kairi, if you don't stay still, I'm going to end up burning you with this curling wand." Sydney pulled the curling wand away from Kairi's head. Her hair was almost done, but a few strands were still straight and needed to be curled.
"Sorry." Kairi sheepishly grinned and forced herself to be still. "I can't help it. My wedding day is finally here!" Her arms wrapped around her own torso in a tight embrace. She let out a string of giggles.
She smiled at herself in the mirror. After months of planning and designing, everything was finally in place. Kairi wasn't one to brag, but this was going to be the most fantastical wedding ever.
"I understand that, but unless you want to walk down the aisle looking like you just woke up, I suggest you stay still."
Kairi suppressed her giggles and managed to calm down. Her grin never went away.
She had decided on an enchanted forest theme, just like their senior prom. Luckily for them, the Brooklyn botanical gardens just opened a new indoor forestry area and it was perfect for Kairi's vision. They had rented it out and completely transformed it into a mystical wonderland. Kairi hadn't been around when they were putting in the finishing touches, but she had no doubt that it was going to look perfect. She couldn't wait to walk down the aisle and see it all in person.
Following Cade and Sydney's suggestion, Kairi had designed and made her own dress. Once that turned out so well, she decided to make the maid of honour dresses and Jade's flower girl dress as well.
Kairi looked at Jade out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help but think how adorable she looked, even though Jade was awkwardly fidgeting in her dress. Sydney had mentioned something about how Jade wasn't a big fan of wearing dresses, but she should be fine if she only had to wear it for a short amount of time. Apparently, time was running out.
Jade's dress looked similar to a short ball gown. The top half was black and looked like a tank top, but the bottom was white, flared out, and stopped at her knees. Three black lace stripes horizontally circled the bottom. A splash of colour was added by a light pink satin sash tied around the middle, dividing the white bottom from the black top. The sash featured a large pink flower in the front that rested near the left side of Jade's waist. The back of the sash was tied together in a cute bow. Her shoes were white gladiator sandals decorated with three matching chiffon, glittery flowers. Her basket filled with blue and purple tie-dye dendrobium orchids sat next to her.
Kairi couldn't wait to have kids of her own. She wanted to start trying right away.
"What are the chances Fred forgot to write his vows?" Cade was sitting in a nearby chair watching Kairi get ready. She had smirk on her face. "Not that he couldn't make them up off the top of his head, but you know how he is."
"I trust my prince to have written his vows by now. And I'm sure they're wonderful." Though even Kairi felt a small seed of doubt in the pit of her stomach. She loved Fred, but he did have a tendency to forget important things like that. She shook off the feeling. She couldn't worry about it now.
Her eyes focused on Sydney's reflection in the mirror, making sure there were no flaws in her dress. Kairi had had difficulty designing the bridesmaid dresses. Sydney wasn't due for another two months, so she couldn't get Sydney's exact measurements since her pregnant stomach was still growing. Still, Kairi thought her estimates were surprisingly good considering Sydney fit into her dress well. Cade's measurements were easy to get.
The other problem Kairi had was finding a colour that looked good on both of her friends considering they had different hair colours, eye colours, and skin tones. She'd settled on a metallic gold.
The dresses were strapless and featured a pleated bodice with a straight neckline. The bottom half was loose, flowy, and was made of cascading layers of the gold chiffon fabric. Like Jade's flower girl dress, the bridesmaids' dresses stop at the knee. Also like Jade's outfit, the bridesmaids' dresses were accessorized with a wide satin sash. The sash was white and had a large flower on the front right side. Their shoes matched the dresses, sparkly gold flats that were comfortable to stand in for long periods of time. Their hair was pulled back in a French twist which looked good on both of them.
Sydney finished curling Kairi's hair and sprayed some hairspray to keep it in place. The curls shortened Kairi's hair, but not by much. It still fell to her chin. Her curls were large and tight, framing the sides of her heart-shaped face. Her bangs swept across her forehead completely covering the right side. Kairi wanted to make sure they wouldn't obscure her eyes because she had spent a lot of time on her make-up and wanted it to be on full display.
She'd chosen to do a baby blue eyeshadow that darkened to an electric blue towards the outer corners of her eyes and lightened to white on the inner corners of her eyes. She'd lined them with black eyeliner, even giving herself winged tips, and voluminous mascara. The total effect really made her eyes pop. The rest of her face had been carefully contoured to give her a completely glamorous look.
"You've never looked more beautiful." Sydney smiled at her cousin as she fixed a tiara modelled after a Victorian-style crown in Kairi's hair. The tiara had actually been Fred's idea. Ever since Kairi could remember, she and Fred had been referring to each other as prince and princess. It fit their adventure-seeking lifestyle perfectly.
Kairi reach for her veil and pinned it to the back of her head. It was white and see-through like any other veil, but this one was lined with silver hemming and had a sparkling flower design stitched into the right side.
And that was the last step. She was now ready to walk down the aisle and say 'I do' to the most wonderful man she had ever met in all of her six hundred and eighty-three years. Technically, she was only six hundred and eighty-two, but Kairi's birthday was just a few weeks away.
Kairi only felt excitement. She'd expected to feel a little nervous, but she wasn't. She could only hope Fred felt the same way.
Fred nervously adjusted his black bowtie. No matter how hard he tried, the stupid thing wouldn't stay straight. Sam and Joe had gotten theirs on no problem. His must have been faulty.
"Joe, give me your bowtie." Fred roughly pulled his bowtie off in frustration.
"Why?" Joe glanced up from his cell phone and raised an eyebrow at Fred.
"Because mine's broken." He tossed his bowtie over to Joe who caught it.
Fred studied his groomsmen. He couldn't pick one over the other to be his best man, so he had chosen both to fill the role. Kairi had done the same with Cade and Sydney to be her maids of honour.
Joe and Sam were in identical tuxedos. Black pants, jacket, shoes, and bowtie, but a white undershirt. It was the same outfit Fred himself wore. The only difference being that Fred wore a small, white and pink stargazer lily as his boutonniere. It was pinned to the upper left side of his jacket. He didn't have a hat on, which bothered Fred. He felt so naked without one.
"It's not broken. You're just tying it wrong," Joe said after examining the black strip of fabric. He threw it back at Fred.
Fred grumbled and attempted to tie it for the tenth time. "How am I supposed to know how to tie one of these things?"
"It's not that hard." Sam looked at him. "How have you never tied a tie before?"
"I've tied plenty of ties, but this is a bowtie. It's not the same." The bow tie turned out crooked again. Groaning, Fred had no choice but to undo it.
Joe and Sam snickered at him. "Need help?"
Fred folded his arms over his chest. "Yes," he mumbled. "How do you two know how to do this anyway?"
"Because it's one of those things you should just know how to do." Sam shook his head.
Joe rolled his eyes and stood to help his friend. "To be fair, Sam and I have been to enough events wearing these to know how to do it by now. I can't count the amount of galas, balls, and award shows I've been to with Sydney where I've had to wear a full tux. They never get comfy." Joe finished tying Fred's bowtie and stepped back.
"Are you sure the reason you're having trouble with this isn't because you're nervous?" Sam teased from across the room.
"I'm not nervous." Fred turned away and started to mess with his hair in the mirror.
Joe tilted his head, a smirk playing along his lips. "Sure about that?"
"Were you nervous before you married Sydney?" Fred challenged. "Shotgun weddings can be stressful."
"It wasn't a shotgun wedding," Joe quickly denied. "And I didn't have time to be nervous. The time it took for me to decide I wanted to marry her to me actually marrying her was barely more than an hour." Joe studied his blonde friend. "It's okay to be nervous, Fred. You don't need to be all man all the time."
"I know what I'm doing. I love Kairi with all my heart. I wasn't nervous when I proposed, and I'm not nervous now. Everything about what is happening today feels so right to me." Fred grinned at himself in the mirror, finally satisfied with his appearance.
"So you're ready to go out there and read those vows you wrote for Kairi?"
Fred's face paled and he began to fidget. Joe and Sam noticed his reaction right away and started to laugh.
"So that's what you're worried about."
"Did you even write them?"
"Yes!" Fred scowled at them. "I've been working on them ever since Kairi suggested we write our own vows." He sighed and sat down in a nearby chair. "But they don't seem good enough. I can't find the right words to tell Kairi how I feel about her."
"Kairi knows how you feel about her. You are about to marry her after all."
"Yes, but she wants these vows to be special. But I feel like everything I write down will pale compared to whatever she has." Fred frowned. "Kairi means the world to me. I can't let her down."
Joe and Sam shared a knowing look, both grinning. "Something tells me whatever you wrote will be perfect."
"Besides, it's time to go. You don't have time to change anything. You ready?"
Fred checked the time on his phone, noting that his friends were right. They had to be waiting at the altar in five minutes. Within the next half hour, he would become a married man.
"I don't have much of a choice." Fred took a deep breath. "Here we go."
Fred wasn't surprised to see that the building where their wedding was taking place was magical. Kairi had done an astounding job. He knew Kairi had themed their wedding and he was aware of the basic details, but she had kept a lot hidden from him. She wanted him to be wowed when they day arrived. He was definitely wowed.
The greenhouse they had rented out was filled with various types of trees and all the trees were lit up with golden string lights. Jars filled with the same lights were hanging from the trees. The entire building had been tented to make it look like night time inside. You would never guess that it was the middle of the day outside. The golden lights were also hanging from the ceiling, creating the effect of fireflies flying through the air.
Fred was almost afraid to touch anything, worried he would mess it all up.
He heard Sam blow out a low whistle behind him. "Cade said Kairi was going all out, but I didn't think it would be this extravagant."
"I feel like we just stepped into another world," Joe added.
Fred grinned. He was so proud of his princess. He couldn't wait to see her walk down the aisle in her dress that he had no doubt was beautiful.
The men continued on their way to the altar. The ground they walked on was black and reflective. In the dark room, it made it look as if they were walking on water or floating through the air. It wasn't long after they settled in their positions when the processional music, played only by a pianist and a violinist, started. The familiar 'Canon in D' melody filled the air.
Fred knew how it would go from the wedding rehearsal they had had, but seeing everything come together blew him away. Kairi had done an impeccable job designing the dresses for everyone. Sydney and Cade looked gorgeous as they came down the aisle. Even little Jade looked pretty as she spread the flower petals down the aisle. But Fred didn't care about them, though he did notice Joe and Sam smiling and winking at their respective girls as they came to a stop across from them at the altar.
The music changed to the well-known 'Here Comes the Bride'. A lump formed in Fred's throat. He forced it down. He hadn't been nervous all day, and now that he was finally standing at the altar, all Fred wanted was to be married already. He hadn't seen Kairi in a day. He wanted nothing more than to kiss and hold his princess in his arms again.
His wishes were soon answered. The obsidian curtain at the end of the aisle wavered, Kairi stepped out, and...
And Fred's heart stopped. All the air left his body as he slowly took in the glowing visage of his bride before him. The white dress was beyond spectacular. Fred couldn't think of a single adjective to describe it. She truly looked like a princess in a glamorous ball gown. The forming-fitting bodice was woven with beaded embroidery that reflected all the lights dangling in the air. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The bottom was large and poofy. It bounced lightly as Kairi made her way towards Fred. Like the top part, the bottom contained beaded embroidery that sparkled under the lights. It was tiered in three layers and lined with white lace at the bottom. Her long train swayed behind her. She carried her bouquet in front of her. The flowers cascaded down her lower torso. It was composed of pink and white stargazer lilies, the same flower Fred wore as his boutonniere, blue and purple tie-dye dendrobium orchids, identical to what Jade had spread out on the ground, and white crabapples. They were all woven together with a thin green vine.
She finally reached the entwined trees that made up their altar. During her walk, Fred had forgotten to breath and would have kept forgetting if Joe didn't pinch him in his side. It broke Fred out of his trance just in time to hear the officiant began the ceremony. He grabbed Kairi's hands and held on tight. He suddenly had this fear that all this was a dream and he would wake up soon. He needed to enjoy every minute of the ceremony while it lasted.
"We have been invited here today to witness and celebrate the uniting in marriage of Kairi and Fred. They are taking the first step of their new beginning; their new life together. The ability and desire for one human being to love another is perhaps the most precious and fulfilling gift that has been entrusted to us. It is an all-consuming task, a lifelong endeavour, the journey we've been preparing for all of our lives. Loving someone is a reason to stretch beyond our limits, to become more for the sake of the other. It is to look into the soul of your beloved and accept what you see. Loving is the ultimate commitment which challenges humans to become all that we are meant to be. As they join in marriage today, Kairi and Fred are announcing to the world that they are welcoming that challenge.
"Kairi and Fred are here to marry each other. No one else's will can create such a union. It is their words, their intentions, their vision, that must define and shape this marriage. So I call upon them now to state their promise before this group: the pledges that will bind them together." The officiant turned to Fred expectantly. "Fred, as you look into Kairi's eyes, please say your vows."
Right, his vows. Fred gazed into Kairi's eyes, hoping he had found the right words. "Novella, you know me better than anyone else in this entire world and somehow still you manage to love me. You are my best friend, partner in crime, princess, and one true love. There is still a part of me today that cannot believe that I'm the one who gets to marry you. You are my everything, my world, my life. You light up the whole room as soon as you step inside, and I can't help but smile every time I think about you, which happens a lot. We have been on countless adventures together and we still have plenty more to go on. The way I see it, this is just another adventure for us, but I think it's my favourite one so far."
As he finished, tears formed in Kairi's eyes. Fred hoped that they were happy tears and that meant that he had done a good job with his vows. He still felt like it wasn't enough to fully describe what Kairi meant to him, but he got the feeling that Kairi knew exactly how he felt with or without the correct vows.
Grinning, the officiant now looked to Kairi and repeated to her, "Kairi, as you look into Fred's eyes, please say your vows."
Kairi blinked away her tears. She returned Fred's loving gaze and began her vows. "Fred, I can't tell you the moment I fell in love with you, because I don't when it happened. It's something that grew and blossomed over the course of our friendship. It developed into something far deeper and inexplicably beyond any calculation of time and place. You don't describe a feeling like that. You also can't replicate it or force it. You just let it flow in and around you. You go where it takes you. And it took me to you. I have traveled the world for most of my life, never really calling any one place home, and I've met a lot of men along the way, but none of them were like you. You make my heart soar. You make my head spin. You make me feel alive. I never expected I could be so happy when I finally found a place to settle down and call home. And I was right. It doesn't matter where I am or how long I stay there, that's not what home is. Home is where your heart is, and my heart is with you. Always."
Fred's heart was about to burst out of his chest. It was beating so fast and so strongly, he was worried he was going to have a heart attack. He had never been more sure that he had chosen to marry the right girl.
The officiant continued on with the wedding. "Do you Fred, take Kairi, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to share your life openly, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?"
"I do," Fred spoke with absolute certainty.
The officiant repeated the same thing to Kairi and she quickly answered, "I do."
Fred knew what came next, the exchanging of the rings. He temporarily released one of Kairi's hands and put his hand behind his back. He felt Joe slip the wedding band into his hand. Fred closed his fist, making sure he didn't drop the ring.
"Now we will watch as the groom and bride exchange rings. These rings represent the vows and promises you've willingly exchanged. They reflect the commitment those words inspire and all your hopes and dreams for the future." The officiant stepped back to let them do their thing.
"With this ring, I thee wed." Fred slipped the ring on Kairi's ring finger. He heard her let out a slight gasp. The wedding band he had given her matched her engagement ring. It was a silver band with diamonds encasing the whole thing. It matched her engagement ring perfectly.
Kairi giggled and pulled out the wedding band she had gotten for Fred. "With this ring, I thee wed." She easily slipped it on his finger.
The corners of Fred's mouth twitched up. Fred was expecting a simple silver or gold circle like most men's wedding bands. Of course, Kairi would go out of her way to find one that was different. The outer edges of the ring were silver, but the middle was black with lines of electric blue in a staircase pattern mixed in.
Fred's smile never went away because he knew what the next part was. The most important part. The part that would make this marriage official.
"By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Fred barely let the officiant finish before pulling Kairi into him. His lips met hers in the best kiss of his life. He'd never felt so much love pass between them. The euphoria that filled his entire body was intense and Fred never wanted to forget this feeling.
Too soon, the magical kiss ended and they turned to face their guests, a few of which had already started clapping.
"I now present the newly married couple, Fred and Kairi."
A/N - Sorry for the length :P, but I wanted to keep this all together. Their wedding was so much fun to plan and write. I wanted to make it extra special for them and fitting for their relationship. I'm proud of how it turned out. :)
Oh, and PAIA (Personal Artificial Intelligence Assistant), along with other inventions of Sam and Cade's will be seen in a lot of future stuff. ;)
Don't forget to leave a review and like this story. Follow me for more, and as always, thanks for reading!