Emily

Planning a wedding in a month is crazy busy. I completely underestimated how much work goes into planning a wedding. We are set to go though, tomorrow I get to marry the love of my life and my best friend.

Julie is my maid of honor and Henry is Braxton's best man. We agreed to keep it small, so we aren't having anyone else stand up for us, I would have asked Stacey, but she just had a baby and couldn't travel.

We are getting married at Surfside beach under an arbor. We are going to carve some pumpkins tonight to have lying around. After all, we are getting married on Halloween!

"Babe, can you grab the pumpkins from the car?" I know he would rather I don't carry them, so I'll let him. It's a win for both of us.

I grab some washcloths, so we can clean them first.

"Cora, do you want to help mommy and daddy carve some pumpkins? They will be decorations for our wedding." She runs up to me and nods wildly.

"Okay, what designs should we do?"

"You should do a heart, mommy!" Braxton walks in carrying the first two pumpkins, they are huge and perfect for bigger designs.

"Okay, baby girl, want to help me wipe them off? Then we can clean them out!" She helps we wipe down the pumpkins as Braxton carries them in.

"Okay, these are the last ones. Ready to start cleaning them out?" We both nod and he cuts the top part out.

I laid newspaper down earlier, so the tables won't get too dirty.

"Ewww, it feels weird!" Cora is pulling out the seeds from the first pumpkin and the look on her face is hilarious.

Braxton and I start laughing, Cora joins in too, she will laugh at anything. The fact that we are laughing means she will too.

"That's the goo stuck to the seeds. We have to take it out, so we can carve the pumpkins!" The sour look on stays, but she keeps taking the seeds out. She helped me last year, so she knows what she's doing.

Braxton and I pull up our sleeves and start digging seeds out of the other pumpkins. With three people, it doesn't take long.

"Okay, what's next up, Em? All the pumpkins are seed free." I hand Braxton a marker.

"Next, we have to draw our designs on the pumpkins. Didn't you carve pumpkins growing up?"

"I did when I was little, but I don't think I've carved a pumpkin in 15 years." My jaw drops, 15 years, how?

"What? Please tell me you aren't serious." He nods and stands up. He walks into the bathroom and I hear the water running, then he comes out with clean hands and a hair tie.

"Scoot back, please." I comply and he pulls my hair back with the hair tie he brought.

"Thank you, Braxton." My voice is tight, and tears are pricking the back of my eyes.

No one has ever noticed the small things like that. Things that just show how much he loves me.

He winks at me as he sits down and picks up the marker.

"Let's go, guys!" Cora is a little impatient and she picks up a marker. I place one of the smaller ones in front of her.

"Okay, just draw a design that you want to cut out." I pick up a marker and draw 8-31.

It's actually a lot more challenging than I thought with a baby bump. My protruding stomach is out pretty far now and I can't lean over onto the table to mark the pumpkins.

It was fun to find a wedding dress with my bump though. I was worried that since we had very little time, that it would be hard to find something I actually loved and fit into. It was incredibly easy though.

I went to this cute little maternity bridal shop and found my dress in the first 20 minutes. I saw it on the rack and instantly loved it. It fit pretty well already and the alterations were minimum.

I lift the small pumpkin to rest on my baby bump, making sure it's not putting pressure on the baby and try to draw out B&E. It's actually a lot easier this way.

"Okay, next up we start cutting." I walk to the kitchen and grab the knives.

I pass Cora the kid's kit and Braxton the carving knife.

I realize that I can't try to carve the pumpkin over my belly.

"Hey, Brax. I don't think I can carve them."

"Okay, let me finish with this one and I'll help."

I peek over at Cora's pumpkin and see she is carving a heart. It looks really good.

I decide to start drawing on more pumpkins.

I have a pretty decent cursive, so I draw some cute words and other designs.

Braxton carves them all once I finish and Cora finishes with her heart pumpkin.

"That looks really good, baby girl! Are you ready to get to bed?" She nods and I send her up stairs to brush her teeth.

"I can't wait to marry you tomorrow." I really can't.

"I can't wait to be married to you. I'm so excited to be living this life with you. Thank you so much for giving me a second chance." What he doesn't know is that I had no choice, but to forgive him. He doesn't just have my heart, he is my heart. He has given me my two pride and joys, and stuck by my side through thick and thin.

He kisses me hungrily and I really wish he didn't have to go tonight.

"Okay, you need to go before I drag you upstairs." He looks at me perplexed.

"What do you mean go?" I look at him. He really doesn't know what I'm talking about.

"Brax, we can't sleep in the same bed the day before our wedding. You can't see me tomorrow. The next time you see me will be when I'm walking down the aisle."

"What? How am I supposed to sleep without you in my arms? Come on Em, please." I almost give in to those beautiful eyes. Almost.

"Nope, we can't. I love you, but you gotta go." He frowns.

"Okay, I love you too." He kisses me again, but this time it's quick. Short and sweet.

I watch him walk out of the door. How did I get so lucky?

***

Today is my Wedding Day

I cannot believe that today is the day I marry the love of my life. I was never fully convinced I would get married after having Cora. I never thought I would find a man that loved me and my daughter.

Then I ran into her dad.

Watching my little girl meet her father and watching Braxton jump into being a dad headfirst was so astonishing. He found out about our little girl and dived into loving her.

Seeing them get to know each other, made me slowly fall in love with Braxton, way before I even knew it was happening. He knew though and he didn't stop pursuing both of us.

Finding out I was carrying our second child was just as shocking, but it solidified everything Braxton seemed to want from us, a family.

Telling our families and embracing our unborn child was even more perfect.

Tragedy struck and he never left my side. Almost dying and losing our baby was awful, but he was there for every step of the way.

We even got through fear and lashing out. I know that he didn't mean any of the things he told me and we have built that trust back up.

He taught me so much, like how to love and how I want to be loved. How to forgive and how to appreciate everything he gives us.

I couldn't possibly be nervous for a day like today and I'm not. I'm just excited to get the show on the road, today is a day I will remember forever, but I can't wait to be able to say I'm Braxton's wife.

"Honey, are you ready?" My mom is driving and we are on the way to the hotel by Surfside Beach to get ready.

"Yes! Cora, what about you? Are you ready to help me marry daddy?" She looks up at me from the back.

"I can't wait! I get to wear a pretty dress and walk like mommy!" I grin at her excitement.

We decided that she would be the flower girl.

"I'm still shocked you are getting married before me!" Julie laughs next to Cora and I smile at her. I know she's just joking, but they were a little surprised when we announced that we were getting married at the end of the month.

We made it work though. After getting my dress, the food, flowers, and cake figured out everything was much easier.

"Here! Julie, will you start grabbing the dresses from the back. Emily, you grab Cora and get inside. They need to start getting you two ready!" My mom directs us around, which is for the best. I'm too excited to plan anything out.

"Sure." We say at the same time and giggle.

"Mom, you gave dad the box to give to Braxton, right?" She nods and I sigh in relief.

I'm still not sure what all the pumpkins look like because I left them out last night when I went to bed and this morning my mom came over and had them in the car before I woke up.

I'm sure Cora and Braxton made some cute designs.

I get Cora out of the back and we walk inside. The hairdresser and makeup artist are already here and have their tools set out.

"Are you Emily?" The woman who stands by the makeup asks.

"Yes and this is my daughter Cora. My maid of honor will be in soon. My mom too."

"I'm Marcy and I'll be doing your makeup. This is Grayson and he'll be doing your hair." I instantly love them both. I can't tell they are excited and they have both introduced themselves to Cora too.

She directs me over to a chair and starts on my makeup.

We are getting married at 2, so we have a few hours because it is only 10:30.

Julie and my mom walk in only a few minutes later.

"The dresses are all in the other room!" Julie's excitement is contagious and I smile. Marcey looks over at me and grins, she probably deals with sappy brides every day.

We start chatting and the next time I look at the clock it's already been an hour and Marcey is passing me over to Grayson.

"Mommy! Look how pretty my hair is!" Grayson just finished with Cora and she is spinning in front of me. He curled her long brown hair into delicate waves and pulled the front half up in a horizontal braid.

"It looks beautiful, baby girl!" It really does, if Grayson could do that to her hair, I'm even more excited about mine.

"Okay, darling, so what are we looking for. Up or down? Curls or straight?"

I think of my dress and the crepe in the front and my train. The dress barely even has a back, it dips to low in my back.

"Well, my dress doesn't have much of a back, at all. So, whatever you think and I do have my veil to pin up. Definitely curls." Grayson nods and gets to work.

My mom is getting her makeup done and Julie just finished getting her hair done.

Cora is spinning around the room like a princess, she's so excited and I love that. If I thought for one second that us getting married would hurt her I wouldn't. Cora is my daughter and I will protect her with my life.

I know that having her parents together and in love, will only help her. Braxton has already brought her so much joy. The joy of having a father and bringing her a baby brother.