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“Laurel come on, just open the door.”
“I mean it Wes, go away.”
Wes sighs, not quite ready to give in. “I just want to see what it looks like!”
Even through the bedroom door he can hear her sigh in exasperation. Then another voice pipes up.
“Papa, it’s a surprise! No boys allowed!” she says.
“Yeah no boys allowed,” Laurel echos.
He laughs, leaning against the doorframe.
“That’s not fair!” he exclaims. “I’m out numbered!”
“Get used to it, Waitlist,” Michaela chimes in, using the nickname he’d learned long ago he’d never escape.
“Michaela don’t call him that,” Laurel retorts. Wes smiles, feeling a rush of affection for his soon-to-be wife. Seven years later and she’s still sticking up for him; some things never change.
“But she’s right,” she adds. “Patience, young grasshopper. You’ll see tomorrow.”
Little giggles erupt from the girl. “Papa’s not a grasshopper!”
“That’s right! Thanks, Peanut,” he says through the wall.
“Welcome, Papa.”
She pauses for a second.
“Wanna see my dress?”
He smiles. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Come here, Jojo. Let’s help your mama out of her dress and then we’ll get you into yours, ok?” Michaela reasons from the bedroom. Wes gives up at that point and heads into the living room, swinging his arms.
He and Laurel had both agreed that most wedding traditions are stupid and sexist. Laurel’s dad wasn’t walking her down the aisle, she was keeping her last name, and she definitely wasn’t wearing a long, white dress. They just wanted a small, simple wedding; she didn’t need to spend so much money on one dress.
Or so they thought.
Then one day Michaela convinced Laurel to go “window shopping” for wedding dresses. They’d only go for an hour, two max.
Six hours later Laurel had called Wes saying she’d found the most beautiful dress in the entire world.
“I know it’s expensive and ridiculous and sexist but I can’t help it. I look like a princesa,” she had told him, excitement laced in her voice. He laughed, saying that she could wear a potato sack if that was what she wanted and she’d still look beautiful. She called him a suck up, but was laughing too as she asked if it was okay if she bought it. Obviously he had said yes.
They’d had to keep it at the store for alterations, and she’d had a variety of fittings over the last six months or so, so Wes had yet to see the dress. He’d always just assumed he’d see it when she brought it home. Laurel, however, had other plans.
“What happened to ‘wedding traditions are totally outdated?’” he had asked when she came home with her dress in an opaque black bag.
“It'll be more fun this way!” she reasoned, a smirk flickering across her face.
“Fun for who?” he’d teased.
That was two weeks ago. Since then he’d tried in vain to get her to let him see it, but she hadn't budged. He’d even tried to get Josie to help him, knowing Laurel would have a helluva hard time saying no to her, but Josie’d just giggled and said, “It’s a surprise, silly!” so he’d finally dropped it.
That is, until Michaela came over before the rehearsal dinner and insisted on seeing it.
He stews for a few minutes in the living room, but all that is forgotten when Michaela and Laurel, now dressed in a floral maxi dress, come in. Laurel clears her throat and shoots him a grin, holding her fist in front of her as a makeshift microphone.
“Introducing the smartest, silliest, most adorable four year old in--”
“Four and a half!” Josie yells from the other side of the wall.
“Oh yes, my mistake,” Laurel says, suppressing a laugh.
“How dare you,” he mouths, narrowing his eyes shaking his head dramatically. Laurel giggles, but keeps going.
“Anyway, she’s the most adorable four and a half year old in the entire world. She's the one, the only, Josie Gibbins-Castillo!!” she exclaims. She extends her arms and wiggles her fingers, backing away from the door as Josie skips in wearing her flower girl dress.
“Oh Jojo,” Wes says under his breath.
Her dress is simple but elegant, and her curly hair is pulled back into a tiny poof on top of her head. She looks nothing like the tiny baby they brought home from the hospital. The only traces of that baby are her little bare feet as they pitter-patter across the hardwood floor. She looks so grown up and so incredibly beautiful. Once again he looks at Laurel and shakes his head, this time in actual disbelief. She has tears in her bright blue eyes.
“I know,” she whispers, reading his mind.
“Do you like it?” Josie asks, spinning in circles to make her dress puff out like a giant cupcake. “KayKay said she’d even do my hair all pretty tomorrow!”
“I love it!” he exclaims as he reaches out and lifts her in the air. Josie giggles as he spins her around. “You are absolutely gorgeous.”
“Like Mama?” she asks, gripping his shirt and resting her cheek on his shoulder.
He looks up at Laurel and grins.
“Just like Mama.”
--
He’s standing in a navy tux at the end of a long path in the middle of the estate grounds, his back turned away from the house per Asher’s, well Michaela’s, instructions. The photographer, a family friend of Laurel’s, stands off to the side testing settings on her camera. He looks at his watch impatiently before scratching the back of his neck, a nervous tick he’s never been able to kick.
“Wes, dude, relax,” says Asher, patting him on the back. “They’ll be here any minute.”
Wes nods, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. “I know.”
“You know, I always knew you two would wind up together,” Asher comments after a while. “I could see it in your big puppy eyes from the very beginning.”
“You did not,” Wes scoffs.
“Yeah-huh. Just ask Laurel. I called her out months before your secret rendezvous began.”
“I think this is the first time Asher’s actually right about something,” says a voice behind him.
Wes turns around and immediately feels all the stress from the last 18 hours melt away. Because standing right in front of him, holding their daughter’s hand and looking absolutely breaktaking, is Laurel. Just seeing her grounds him, making all the wedding drama seem insignificant.
Her dress is almost all lace on top and flowy on bottom, with short sleeves and a low back. He doesn’t know the technical terms for any of it but he does know that every penny spent on this dress was completely worth it. Her hair, darker now than it was when they were first dating, is up and out of her face, allowing all the focus to be on her deep blue eyes. Upon making eye contact with him she breaks into a giant grin, laughing to herself as she and Josie walk closer.
“Papa! I missed you,” Josie exclaims as she lets go of Laurel’s hand and runs ahead, hugging Wes’ legs. He hears a camera clicking in the distance but can’t seem to take his focus off his girls.
“Missed you too! You look even more beautiful than yesterday. I didn’t think that was possible!” he replies, giving her an extra squeeze before she runs over to Asher to show off her dress. Wes returns his gaze to Laurel, who was still making her way across the grounds. When she finally reaches him she gives him a little twirl, imitating Josie showing off her dress the night before.
“Whatd’ya think?” she asks, raising her eyebrows. Her voice is playful, but behind her eyes he sees a hint of nerves. He takes her hand and pulls her close, taking her face in his hands and kissing her in response. It’s only after a not so subtle cough from Asher that they break apart. Laurel giggles and wraps her arms around his waist, nestling herself into his chest like she has for the past seven years. Wes plants a small kiss on the crown of her head before resting his forehead on the top of hers. It’s so natural; it feels like coming home.
“Worth the wait?” she asks after a moment, looking up at him and locking her eyes with his. They break into smiles as Wes nods.
“Laurel Castillo, you are so incredibly beautiful.”
Her eyes begin to fill with tears and she immediately brings her hands to her face to try and wipe them away.
“Mama, why are you sad?” Josie asks, their sensitive little girl almost instantly appearing at Laurel’s side and tugging on her dress. Laurel sniffs and laughs before carefully picking Josie up and resting her on her hip.
“I’m not sad, Mija. These are happy tears.”
“Happy tears?”
“Yeah, sometimes when people are really, really happy they cry a little bit. It’s a good kind of cry.”
“So you’re really, really happy?”
Laurel smiles and looks up at Wes. There is so much joy and love in her eyes he can hardly breathe.
“Yeah, baby,” she says. “I’m really, really, happy.”