“You guys are the best.”
“Don’t you dare ruin your make-up,” Jessica said as she wiped at her own eye.
The three women laughed and then threw their arms around each other. Emily could feel her pulse start to slow down.
There was knocking at the door. “Is everything okay in there?” Joseph asked through the doorway.
“Everything is fine. We are coming out in a moment,” Jessica said.
“Good to hear,” Joseph said and then they heard his footsteps start to retreat.
Jessica stepped out of the doorway, with her two new sisters on either side of her. There was a gasp from the audience as the three beautiful women made their way towards the stage. Not one of them realized the stunning picture they made.
The men standing at the end of the aisle couldn’t take their eyes off the glorious women. The sight of them was enough to stop traffic, or cause a riot.
Mark’s chest puffed out in pride, as he realized in just a few short moments, the beautiful vision walking towards him would be his wife. He wanted to run to her and pull her into his arms. It took everything he had to stand there and wait for her to reach him.
The ceremony went by in a blur and before Emily knew it the preacher was pronouncing them man and wife. Mark took her in his arms and pressed his lips gently to hers. It was slow and sweet and took her breath away.
She felt like she was floating on a cloud as they made their way back down the aisle and then stood there greeting guests. She was on autopilot as they cut the cake and sipped champagne. She wouldn’t be able to repeat a word that was said during the toasts. She had ears and eyes for nothing but her husband.
When it was finally time for the dancing to begin, Emily melted into Mark’s arms and laid her head against his chest. He gently rubbed her back, soothing her nerves completely. He was the most magnificent man she could have ever hoped for.
He sang along to the country tune that was being played by the live band and she glided along the star lit dance floor, like a true princess, being courted by her prince charming. She couldn’t believe a wedding could be so magical or she was Mark’s bride.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look?” he asked her.
“Only about a hundred times tonight.”
“You’re always gorgeous but seeing you walking down the aisle in that dress has taken all rational thoughts from my head,” he said as he spun her around.
“Seeing you in that tuxedo, looking so striking has made me want to strip it from you piece by piece,” she whispered.
Mark’s whole body tensed at her softly spoken words. He pulled her tightly against his body and even through the layers of silk and lace she could feel how her words had affected him.
“Let’s get out of here,” he pled with her.
“That sounds perfect to me,” she responded and took his hand as he started to lead her off the dance floor.
They both heard a commotion over by the caterer’s station and turned to find out what was going on. They heard one of the security guards on staff tell someone to leave immediately, before there were consequences.
They both walked towards the commotion to find out what was going on. Emily gasped when she discovered who was causing all the turmoil. She spotted them about two seconds before they saw her.
“Do you really think the judge is going to believe this sham of a marriage you little slut?” a middle aged woman spat at Emily.
“What are you doing here?” Emily asked them in complete shock.
“We came to get our grandson. You stole him from us and with your husband barely in the grave, it looks like you found yourself a new man to throw his money at you. You always were a gold digger. We begged our son not to marry you. We even told him the boy wasn’t his. We were shocked when the DNA results came in,” the woman continued to throw insults at Emily.
“You had my son tested without my knowledge,” Emily raged at her. Mark was impressed the only thing she even bothered to comment on was the violation against her son.
“Of course we did. You didn’t think we were going to take the word of some tramp the boy was really our son’s did you?” the woman spit out.
“If you don’t want anything to do with him, then why would you fight for custody?” Emily asked the horrible woman.
“You took our son from us, now we will take yours from you,” the woman said in explanation.
Mark was stunned by the hatred coming from the woman who used to be Emily’s mother-in-law. He didn’t know someone could be that cruel and evil. He’d never been tempted to hit a woman in his life but had to fight like hell not to slap her.
“You won’t come near my son. You never wanted him and you won’t use him as some pawn in a game I don’t want to play,” Emily said, with the full force of a mother’s protectiveness in her voice.
“You stupid little girl, you can’t beat us,” the woman spat.
“You try and take my son and you’ll see how I beat you,” Emily said, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning.
“We’re taking Trevor tonight. Where is he?” the woman said and started moving towards the wedding reception area.
“Over my dead body,” Mark told the woman, stepping in front of her.
She sneered at Mark and then stumbled backwards, as he was flanked on either side by his brothers. The three of them standing there made an intimidating sight.
“Security, escort this couple off my grounds. If they fight you in any way call the sheriff. He’s a personal friend and will be here in minutes,” Mark added as he glared at the hateful woman.
“Fine we will go for now but enjoy your pretend family, because come Monday morning, the boy will be ours,” she said, before turning around and stomping away. Her husband followed meekly behind and the security guards followed behind them both, making sure they really did leave.
“Emily I’m so sorry that happened,” Mark said to her, as he pulled her shaking body into his arms.
“No Mark I’m the one who is sorry. You shouldn’t have to be involved in this,” she said on a sob.
“You didn’t deserve any of the things she said to you. Don’t let her have power over you by affecting you in any way at all,” he said as he clasped her chin in his gentle hands.
Emily looked into his eyes and realized he was right. If she broke down then she was giving a small victory to the woman. She refused to do that.
“Do you want to leave?” he asked her.
“No, you are right; I’m not going to let her ruin my wedding day. If you’ll give me a few minutes to freshen up, I would like to dance some more,” she said to him with a brave smile.
“Anything you want,” he answered her.
Emily walked into the house and began attending her smeared make up. As she stared at herself in the mirror, she was surprised by the look of determination in her own eyes. You’re stronger than you thought, she mumbled to herself. She placed a smile on her face and then walked out to enjoy the rest of her wedding night with the new family she was so lucky to have become a part of.
“I’m sorry your honeymoon is being postponed,” Mark said to her, as they flew down to California in the luxury jet.
“Oh, Mark there’s no way I could enjoy a honeymoon with this stuff hanging over our heads.”
“Well still, it’s not right.”
“I don’t need some fancy honeymoon, or this big diamond on my finger. I just need to know Trevor’s safe and you’re in my bed each night,” she said sincerely.
“Woman, you are a gift from the heavens,” he whispered to her before kissing her with his usual passion. They were interrupted by the perky Lana as she brought them their lunch.
“I know this is petty and mean but I’m not comforted by the fact you’ll travel at times without me and be alone with that woman. She’s far too pretty and nice,” Emily said with a slight pout.
Mark threw his head back and laughed out loud. “I have to say I enjoy this jealous side of you,” he teased her.
Emily glared at her new husband. He wasn’t going to enjoy it when she poked him in the eye with her fork, she thought.
“I’m sorry for laughing but Lana is perfectly harmless. She’s very happily married to the pilot in front so you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Do you really think Amy and Jessica would allow their husbands to travel the world with a single lady?”
Emily didn’t know why she hadn’t asked the girls if Lana was single. The topic had just never come up in their whirlwind trip.
They reached their destination far more quickly than Emily had expected and were driven to an attorney’s office. They had a scheduled meeting with the Jackson’s before the hearing the next day. Mark said he thought he could get them to drop the case.
She was praying Mark was correct and the whole mess could be left behind them. She wanted nothing more than to have a worry free and normal life. She was a little afraid though, after the danger went away Mark wouldn’t feel the marriage was necessary.
They’d only been married a few days and it would destroy her if he asked her to get an annulment. She was strong though and could make it through anything, as long as she had her son with her.
They walked into the fancy attorney’s office, holding hands, showing a united front. She was shaking on the inside but to anyone looking at them, she looked confident and at ease. She was thankful no one could see the pounding of her heart.
“Just breathe,” Mark whispered to her as they neared the conference room.
“I’m trying.”
They were led into a huge room with a square table surrounded by chairs. There were two extremely well dressed men sitting at one end, otherwise the room was empty.
Mark led her over to the chairs next to the men and sat down. A woman came in bringing coffee and tea. There were several baked goods sitting out as well but there was no way Emily would be able to get anything down her throat. She was barely even able to sip the coffee and did so more to occupy her hands than for any other reason.
“Thank you for arriving early Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. We have the papers all drawn up and the investigators report. I think this meeting will go in your favor and you can put all this behind you and get on with your lives,” the older gentleman said.
Emily was a bit confused, as there hadn’t been much time for Mark to fill her in on everything. He’d told her a private investigator had been hired to look into the Jacksons past and current lives but she didn’t know much beyond that.
Mark glanced through the papers and then sat back with a huge smile on his face. “You’ve done your usual amazing job Dillon, thank you,” Mark said.
Emily looked at him questioningly but at that moment her ex in-laws stepped through the door with their attorney. Mrs. Jackson glared at both Emily and Mark but didn’t say anything as they moved around the table to sit across from them.
“Hello I’m Mr. Abrams and I’m representing Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. I’m glad you wanted to meet before the hearing, as this could speed things up. My clients went through the legal system to secure custody of their poor and neglected grandson. Ms. Jackson, um excuse me, Mrs. Anderson now, thought she was above the law and fled. It’s pretty cut and dry she’s not fit to raise the child. We have agreed to a supervised visitation schedule, which I think is more than generous, considering the circumstances,” the man said as soon as were seated.