I Do Pt. 2
Third Person's POV
Time was winding down. Soft piano music was playing through the garden area through speakers no one could see. The family of both brides had been escorted outside and seated in the front rows on either side of the aisle and now it was time for Janet to walk out as the officiator of the ceremony.
In order to be heard throughout the entire crowd of people, Janet had a mic attached to her. The mic pack was almost invisible inside her fitted beige pantsuit but the actual mic part came around her head onto her cheek. Janet hated it but went along with it for the sake of her sister. She wanted this day to be perfect for her...well as perfect as it could be considering earlier events.
One of the venue aids hurried towards Janet and checked her mic before she shooed her out the building to go out to the altar. Because Laurel was a superb Maid of Honor, the aids weren't needed to put the bridesmaids in order. Laurel had made the girls stand in line behind Janet in the order that they would have to stand in at the altar. Em was first, then Mel, Hope, Liv, Faith, and Laurel was last. At the end of each girl's walk down the aisle, they would turn and either go left or right to stand behind their particular bride. Em, Hope and Faith would be standing behind Grace when she finally walked out and Mel, Liv, and Laurel would be standing behind Julia.
Laurel bounced from side to side in her heels at the back of the line as she tried to shake her nerves away. She'd never been in a wedding before and the last time she'd walked in heels in front of a large group of people had been years ago at her high school graduation. All she could do was pray she didn't fall face forward while walking down the aisle. That would be embarrassing.
Almost as if she were standing outside, Laurel could suddenly hear the "A Thousand Years" cover by Piano Guy begin to play.
"That's our cue!" Laurel shouted over the murmur of voices in the room. "Go Em! Each girl is to count to 20 then follow behind the girl ahead of you. The aisle is long as shit so be prepared!"
Em stepped outside the Kirtlington Park main office and was handed a small bouquet of dark red and yellow roses. Emily starts her journey down the aisle and the line got shorter as each girl follows after the other.
Laurel's heart pounded in her ears as her turn to walk down the aisle got closer and closer. Finally, it was Faith's turn. She took her bouquet and started her graceful trek down the long white fabric placed in the middle of the two sides of chairs. Laurel inhaled slowly and began her count to twenty.
One, two, three...
Seven, eight, nine...
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen...
When 15 came, Laurel turned to look over her shoulder just in time to see Julia being led out of her room by one of the aids. They smiled at one another and suddenly, Laurel didn't feel so nervous anymore. She wasn't even the one getting married. All she was doing was walking down the aisle, fixing a trail, and handing Julia Grace's ring when it was time. A ring that she had safely tucked inside the bouquet she'd just been handed so Laurel didn't have to worry about it falling or being misplaced.
Laurel could see the glistening gold wedding band as she looked down into her bouquet, and smiled at the beauty and simplicity of the ring. Grace would love it. With that final thought, she stepped out of the main building and began to walk slowly towards the altar.
A smile appeared on her face without effort, and her feet were steady. She could feel several pairs of eyes on her, but she was not nervous. Laurel listened to the beautiful piano riffs of the Piano Guys cover and it calmed her immensely. As she neared the end of her walk, she glanced over to her left and her eyes met Steph's. They glistened a beautiful blue and Laurel's heart swelled, her smile growing bigger.
