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She hoped that wasn’t the case, but perhaps that was a conversation she needed to have with her sister. However, that was for a different time.
That day was for her wedding.
It was New Year’s Day, and the pastor at their church had agreed to marry them. All the siblings that didn’t live in Serenity—including Skylar—had left already, but they’d be attending via video chat.
Amelia and Layla were wearing matching dresses in dark green, and Janessa had agreed to be Charli’s matron of honor, even though she wasn’t as enthusiastic about Blake as she’d once been.
While her parents had been willing to accept her and Blake’s past relationship, her siblings had taken a bit longer to accept and adjust to the news.
Jay and Gareth had been the first to let go of their anger over how Blake had treated Charli in the past. Janessa, however, still had moments when she’d glare at Blake, but those moments were becoming fewer and further apart. And Charli hoped that with Janessa agreeing to stand up with her, she’d let it all go completely.
Jackson had gone from being profusely apologetic for spilling her secret to Blake to gloating and taking credit for them being together. Charli rolled her eyes whenever Jackson went on and on about how he was responsible for their happily-ever-after.
It was especially important for Janessa to get over her anger at Blake, since they were all going to be living together for a while.
Since she and Janessa had purchased the house together, Charli would need to pay her for her half if she and Will decided to move out. She didn’t mind them all living together. The house and its rooms were large, and they were well soundproofed, so Charli wasn’t worried about a crying baby bothering the people on the second floor.
Layla was already planning to share her room with Amelia, so they’d do that until the baby’s arrival. Once the baby had joined their family, the girls would have to move to the second floor. Whether they’d share a bedroom or not at that point would be decided closer to the time.
They had three months to make that decision.
They hadn’t told anyone about the adoption yet. They’d wait until closer to Skylar’s due date, just because it might be too much to spring on everyone. Though she’d had plenty of questions from her family about the rapid wedding, most had accepted it when they’d stuck to their story of it just being time to move ahead after twelve years apart.
Because that was also true. Even without the adoption looming, Charli was confident that they would have gotten married sooner rather than later.
“You look beautiful, Mom,” Layla said as the girls came into the room.
“Even if it’s not a fancy wedding dress?”
Layla smiled at her, then came to give her a hug. “It’s perfect.”
When they’d decided to get married so quickly, she and Blake had sat down with the girls to let them know. They hadn’t exactly explained why they were doing it beyond saying that they’d waited a long time to get married and didn’t want to wait any longer.
“You and Amelia look beautiful, too,” Charli said, glad that the dresses she’d found on Amazon for them and Janessa fit so well. “Is everyone ready?”
“Yep,” Janessa announced as she joined them. “Everyone is sitting down, and Blake is pacing.”
“Dad’s excited,” Amelia informed them. “This morning he said he couldn’t wait.”
Charli smiled. “I can’t wait either.”
When her dad appeared, Charli knew it was time.
The ceremony was being held in her parents’ large living room, which had been set up with chairs from the church. Everyone had pitched in to help set things up the night before once they’d finished their family New Year’s Eve party.
They left the bedroom and made their way to the large opening that led into the living room. Kayleigh had said she’d help facilitate what they wanted, so when she spotted them, she motioned at Hudson.
Immediately, string instruments began to play the song Charli had chosen for them to walk to. They hadn’t had time to hire anyone, so they were relying on Hudson’s phone and the Bluetooth speakers in the living room for the music.
Soon, it was her and her dad waiting to step into the entrance. He smiled down at her as he offered her his arm. “Ready to get married?”
Everyone kept asking her that like there was any chance that she wasn’t. “Never been more ready.”
“Then let’s do this.”
Charli couldn’t keep the smile from her face as they stepped into the living room and her gaze found Blake. He, the pastor, and Jackson were in front of the large Christmas tree that stood in the bay window.
At her request, her parents had left the Christmas decorations up, and there was a fire crackling in the large stone fireplace at the other end of the room. The couches and other chairs had been moved out to make room for the folding chairs, which had all been set up in a semi-circle facing the tree and window. There were candles warmly glowing throughout the room.
