The Billionaire's Substitute

Mrs. Hunter

It wasn't hard walking down the aisle, wearing the dress which reflected the kind of person she became. The fact that all eyes were on her didn't matter, she saw no one else but Ethan who stood at the end of the room, a smile spread across his face as he only had eyes for her. Her father gave her a pat on the arm, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Ethan. It made her father laugh while Ethan's eyes glittered with amusement. It wasn't hard at all to approach the man she loved and say her vows. They did it before, it mattered more then than it did now. At this moment they were just making things official in front of everyone. As she stood in front of Ethan, her father stepped away.

"You look beautiful," Ethan whispered to her.

"You really do," Gabriel told her, his voice not toned down which made a few people in the front row laugh.

Rachel flashed him a teasing glare. Gabriel merely responded with a smile, looking quite pleased with himself that she finally had eyes for the people around them. As she took in the room decorated in white, beige and gold she noticed the proud smiles of her family. Her mother was holding Ava, letting her baby girl take in the scene. Ava's little white dress looked cute on her, but it also restricted her movement. The little girl didn't look happy about that. Her face puffy while she looked ready to start crying. She wanted to take Ava from her mother to calm her down and it looked like Ethan was thinking the same thing because he already started moving. Gabriel grabbed onto his shoulder and kept him in place.

"I got this. You two just got married."

So they let Gabriel handle it while they listened to the speech of the officiant about marriage and love. Saying their vows was easy, the promised each other the same things they promised each other the other night. Getting married didn't mean they found their happily ever after. To make them work as a team they'd need to work on their relationship and always be honest with each other even if it was sometimes the hardest thing to do. So they promised each other that. They slipped platinum wedding rings on each other's fingers. And when the officiant told Ethan that he could now kiss the bride, they couldn't help but laugh. No one understood the joke, it was their little secret.

"I'm going to kiss the bride now," Ethan told her quietly.

Smiling she met him halfway, both of them keeping the kiss light. It was over in a split second, but when they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes she couldn't help but feel content. It was the perfect wedding day, not the kind of wedding she always dreamed of, but better.

***

While everyone was either on the dance floor having the time of their lives or sitting at their appointed tables, Rachel and Ethan were fussing over Ava who was throwing a fit because she was cranky and tired.

"It's okay." Ethan reassured her, letting her rest her head against his shoulder, "Just go to sleep."

She was making whining noises, but she kept her head rested against his shoulder.

"I told you I'd watch over her." Gabriel and Valerie entered their private room, Gabriel approaching his friend and placing his hand upon Ava's little head, "You're just tired aren't you, sweetie?" He trailed his eyes to Ethan, "We can watch over her while you two end the night with a dance?"

Rachel shook her head, "No, we got it. I think we're supposed to end the night like this. As a family."

Ava's eyes drooped and within a few seconds, the little girl finally fell asleep. Ethan placed his hand upon Ava's back, keeping it steady there while he met her gaze.

"I think we should call it a night."

Valerie stepped up before her husband could, "Then we'll take care of all this while you two go home and put Ava to bed. She's one cranky little girl who misses her bed."