Substitute Child (Ross Lynch)

Chapter 5

There's a flashback in this chapter, and it'll be in italics. Enjoy!

"Babe, wake up."

I groaned and opened my eyes tiredly. Ross was staring at me, a small smile on his face. He placed his hand on my back and rubbed his thumb in circles, only making me more sleepy.

"What?" I murmured, my eyes struggling to stay open. "What could you possibly want this early in the morning?"

"I'm going to ignore your grouchiness because I love you, but are you forgetting that we have an appointment with Natasha?" He questioned.

I groaned again and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Yes. How much time do we have before we have to meet her?"

He glanced at the clock. "About an hour. So, go get ready and I'll get Olivia." He kissed my forehead before climbing out of bed, and that was when I noticed he was already dressed.

I tiredly climbed out of bed and dragged myself to the bathroom to take a shower, hoping the water would wake me up. Making an appointment with Natasha so early in the morning was a mistake. All she was going to do was show us different venues for the wedding, so I didn't understand why we couldn't do this in the afternoon.

I got ready as fast as I could, drying and straightening my hair before adding a touch of makeup. Since it was going to be a bit chilly today, I chose to wear a pair of skinny jeans and a button-front cami with a jean jacket over. I slipped on my Uggs before heading into the kitchen, where Ross was feeding Olivia.

"She looks like she's about to fall asleep." I commented, looking at Olivia's drooping eyes.

Ross nodded in agreement, setting the bottle down on the counter. "I did wake her up to change her, but she'll probably fall asleep in the car."

"Let me just make some coffee and then we'll go." I walked over to the coffee machine and set it up, placing my travel mug underneath the spout. "Do you want a cup?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Once my travel mug was filled with the delicious liquid that would keep me up, we headed out to meet Natasha. We were going to meet her at the first venue, a country club with an indoor and outdoor ceremony service.

Searching for a wedding venue was going to be tough, and I could only hope that we would find the perfect one for us to get married.

I couldn't wait to be Mrs. Lynch.

~*~

"This is hopeless. We've already looked at three venues and we didn't like any of them."

Each venue Natasha had shown us was either too big or too fancy, and Ross and I didn't want that. We wanted something simple, but beautiful at the same time. We didn't need something so extravagant; that wasn't us.  

Natasha looked up from her phone and flashed us a smile. "There is one more venue that I think you will like. It's a bit of a distance, but I think it's perfect for you two."

I looked at Ross for confirmation, and he nodded. "Let's go."

About an hour later, we arrived at the next venue, a hotel with a private beach for outdoor ceremonies. On the way to the venue, Natasha had informed us that the private beach was insanely popular and many couples chose to have their ceremony out on the beach.

We toured the hotel itself, including the area that many used for the reception. The Laguna Room, the reception area was outfitted with fresh white curtains and champagne-colored carpeting. It had a built-in dance floor, oak and granite bar, private restrooms, and a small lounge.  Its ceiling sloped down to the sliding glass windows that framed an expansive ocean view and opened onto the Laguna Room balcony, situated right over the beach.