As the words of the song sunk in, Violet thought about how much she had come to love Noah"s face. Over the years it had been as familiar to her as her own. She knew the exact location of the chicken pox scar on his left eyelid and the spot on his chin where he used to get zits frequently as a teenager.
But it wasn"t until they were dating that she truly studied his face, searching for something. While doing so she noticed the fondness in his dark eyes every time he looked at her that she hadn"t paid attention to before and the fact that his lips were soft and full.
Even now, going along with the magic of the music, Violet found herself getting lost in the depths of those eyes. The line "I"ll be the greatest fan of your life" played and she nearly broke form to throw her arms around him.
Noah had been the greatest fan of her life since she was a child. And she had been his. They had supported each other through everything both drastic and insignificant. Nothing could ever break the bond between them, she was sure of that.
How had she ever thought their relations.h.i.+p was sibling-like? None of her siblings had ever supported her the way Noah had. None of them had ever been as patient or kind or adoring. He had always thought the world of her and she had stupidly dismissed it as teasing for so long.
Right now her love for him was so overpowering she felt she might burst. But they had to make it through the rest of the wedding.
At the end of the dance the music changed to something upbeat and Violet threw her arms around her boyfriend unable to hold back another moment, burying her face in his chest. He hugged her back immediately but seemed concerned.
"Vi? You okay?"
"I"m fine," she insisted. "I wanted to hug you, that"s all."
There was a definite smile in his voice when he responded. "Oh, alright. You know my arms are open to you any time."
She did know that. They always had been, though she rarely took advantage of it before they started dating. It was her loss. Inside Noah"s arms was a wonderful place to be.
Violet remained distracted through the rest of the party but they couldn"t get away with leaving because there were so few guests. But being there with her feelings bottled up was killing her. She picked at the cake even though it had been purchased from one of the best bakeries in New York.
Her mother noticed, frowning in her direction as they all chatted around a table set up in the corner. "Are you feeling alright, sweetie?"
Now would be the perfect time to bow out. She silently thanked her mother for the opportunity before speaking. "Not really. I think it might be in my best interest to go home and lie down."
Turning to the happy couple, who was too wrapped up in each other to pay much heed to anything else, she gave them the sincerest congratulations she could muster. "You make a beautiful bride, Aunt Mandy. I wish both of you a lifetime of happiness."
They both beamed at her. Coming from Michael Gray, it was a bit disconcerting; nevertheless, she smiled back. Noah gave his congratulations as well on their way out the door.
Once they were outside the conference room, he raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said you were okay earlier."
"I was a bit antsy to get outside," Violet said lamely.
He led her by the hand to an atrium to the left of the main lobby. It was surprisingly empty for a Friday night. Everyone must be at dinner. They sat down on a stone bench behind a fountain.
"This isn"t exactly outside but there are enough plants in here that the air should be fresh," Noah reasoned. "What had you antsy? Is it because you don"t like your uncle?"
She shook her head. That wasn"t it at all. They weren"t at home yet but she supposed here was a better place than the middle of someone else"s wedding reception. There was nothing holding her back now.
Violet gently rested a hand on the side of his face and smiled sweetly at him. Here goes nothing.
"It was because I was thinking of how much I love your face…and the rest of you. You"re the only one for me, Noah. I can honestly say that I"m in love with you and my feelings overwhelmed me a bit back there. It took everything in me not to hug you before that first dance was over."
He blinked at her for a moment before laughing out of pure happiness. "So that was it, huh? I truly can"t tell you how long I"ve been waiting for you to say that. Now I can do this."
Noah slid off the bench and onto one knee, pulling a ring box out of his pocket. Violet"s hands flew up to cover her mouth out of instinct. He was proposing to her? Here? Why on earth was he even carrying that around at someone else"s wedding?!
Noah looked up at her as if she were as beautiful as the stars in the night sky as he popped the box open. A beautiful but understated ring twinkled there. Exactly her style.
"Marry me, Violet," he said simply. "I"ve loved you since before I knew what that even meant and I promise to continue loving you until the day I die. I have been, am, and always will be yours."
Tears sprang to her eyes at the simple but true words he spoke. He had always been hers, even if she didn"t know it. He was hers now. And he would be for the rest of their lives. That promise was all she needed.
She couldn"t stop herself from tackling him to the ground before he even had the chance to get up. "Of course I"ll marry you," she practically sobbed.
Noah held her tightly and pressed his lips against her hair several times, unable to help himself. When she tilted her head up to look at him he switched to kissing her lips instead. Violet responded to his kisses eagerly, completely forgetting that they were in public.
They came to their senses eventually and broke apart, giving Noah the chance to slide the ring onto her finger. Violet admired it as it sparkled in the light.
"When did you get this? And why did you happen to have it on you?"
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Believe it or not I bought it on impulse the day you said you would give me a chance. I"ve had it on me at all times ever since because I never knew when you would finally tell me you loved me, wanting to do it then."
She laughed in disbelief. "Seriously? What if I had told you I loved you the day after? Would you have only dated me for a day before getting engaged?"
He shrugged. "I didn"t see a reason to delay it. Dating is meant to be used as a time for people to discover whether or not they"re compatible. I know practically everything about you after a lifetime together. There wasn"t a point in waiting."
Violet supposed she could see his point. They had been acting like they were dating for years before they actually were due to the natural closeness of their relations.h.i.+p. There was no reason to wait.
Now that she knew she loved him, she didn"t want to delay starting the rest of their life together either. She would marry him tomorrow if she didn"t know her brothers would never forgive her. That meant waiting at least until baseball season was over and Oliver could come home from Boston to visit.
"Let"s get married in November," Violet said suddenly. "Everyone will be home for Thanksgiving anyway and it"ll give us just enough time to send invitations out to the people living farther away."
"Works for me. But we should probably wait to tell our families until tomorrow. It"s bad form to get engaged at someone else"s wedding," Noah replied with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes at him. They had already left the wedding before getting engaged. But it wouldn"t kill them to wait a little longer so she conceded.
Without any warning, he scooped her up in his arms and began walking toward the underground parking garage. Her face heated when she realized people were staring at them but Noah didn"t care. He practically floated to the elevator, looking happier than she had ever seen him before.
The second the elevator door closed he slammed his lips on hers and they kissed all the way down to the third bas.e.m.e.nt level. Violet was pretty sure she knew where this was going but she didn"t care. She loved him. Really, truly loved him. Anything was fine as long as she got to be with Noah forever.
===
Neither set of parents was surprised at their announcement or how quickly they wanted to get married. This had been a long time coming and everyone knew it.
Keeley and Jennica got to work helping with wedding preparations right away. First they focused on getting engagement pictures taken and announcements sent out. Then came booking a venue, band, cake, and so on.
A ridiculously large amount of female family friends came along to help Violet pick out her wedding dress. She was fairly certain that every woman in the Quinn, Clark, and Griffith families came along with her, her mother, and Jennica.
Everyone oohed and ahhed over the potential choices until she settled on an off-shoulder lace princess-style gown. Elsa Quinn, Lila Clark, and her fellow ballerina Abigail were going to be her bridesmaids and they picked out their dresses, which would be ballet-slipper pink.
Violet thought she was going to lose her mind over all the tiny details such as flowers and centerpieces for the tables. It was going back to work that saved her sanity.
She showed up in the middle of rehearsals for the last show of the year before The Nutcracker so she was given an ensemble part but was too excited to care. Any part was better than nothing!
It felt like every moment outside of rehearsals was spent planning the wedding. She hardly even saw Noah unless he was helping her make insignificant decisions. It felt like the whole thing had gotten wildly out of her control but she reminded herself again and again that it was only one more month. Then she would never have to worry about getting married again.
One night she and her mother had stayed up so late trying to figure out venue decorations that they fell asleep on the couch together. Aaron had moved them to proper beds in the middle of the night so Violet was in her old room when she was awoken by an earsplitting shriek.
Disheveled but suddenly wide awake, she ran downstairs and saw her mother sobbing and kneeling on the floor with her phone clutched in her hand.
"What is it? What"s wrong?" Violet demanded, right as her father joined her with his s.h.i.+rt only half b.u.t.toned and a panicked look on his face.
Keeley grinned at them through her tears. She held out her phone for them to see. A press release filled the screen that read "The n.o.bel a.s.sembly at Karolinska Inst.i.tute has today decided to award the 2040 n.o.bel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Keeley M. Hale for her discovery of a viable form of gene therapy to treat genetic diseases."
"You won," she said faintly, letting it sink in.
Her mother had devoted decades of her life to her research and now she had received one of the most prestigious awards in the world for it. Since it"s conception in 1901, the n.o.bel Prize in Physiology or Medicine had gone out to less than 300 people in the entire world. And now Keeley was one of them.
Aaron snapped out of his shock first, lifting his wife in the air and spinning her around with a crazy grin on his face. "You did it! I knew you could!"
She continued laughing and crying at the same time, trying her best to wipe away the onslaught of overjoyed tears. "I can"t believe it. The announcement came out a while ago because Sweden is six hours ahead of us but I didn"t see it until now. You"d think they"d give me a little warning beforehand!"
Keeley checked her email and saw that she had already been sent tickets and instructions on attending the award ceremony in December. Violet"s face fell. December. One of the ballet"s busiest times of year. There was no way she would be able to get time off to see her mother get the award in person.
Unless… She frantically checked her phone calendar. December 10th was a Monday. The Nutcracker always ran on the same schedule, Thursday-Sunday. If she could get the director to give her the matinee and evening shows off that Sunday, she would be able to fly to Stockholm the day before and see her mother"s moment of glory.
Violet asked him the moment she breathlessly arrived at rehearsals. He looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Violet, your mother just won a n.o.bel Prize. Of course that"s more important than a couple of performances here. I haven"t even a.s.signed parts yet but I"ll make sure someone can cover you that day."
That was much easier than expected. Kaleb was able to come no problem because it would be during his off-season. Oliver would have to miss a couple of days of cla.s.s right before finals but his professors agreed not to penalize him because of the unique circ.u.mstances. The same went for Nathan. All of the Hales were cleared to go.
As for Noah, who would be Keeley"s son-in-law by then, the dojo owner agreed to let him have the time off too. Everything seemed to be falling in place, though everything got crazier for Violet"s poor mother once the announcement was made.
She did her best to continue balancing work, helping her daughter wedding plan, and dealing with swarms of curious people on the street who had heard the news. When she and Violet went out for a dress fitting they were mobbed by no less than twenty avid science fans.
Keeley was as polite as possible at first, trying to answer people"s questions as best she could but when someone accidentally knocked Violet down she went into total Mama Bear Mode.
"Look, I"m here trying to help my daughter prepare for her wedding and we don"t have time for this right now," she growled as she helped her up.
Sensing her malice, the crowd dissipated immediately. Violet rolled her eyes and smiled indulgently. "It"s rough to be a celebrity, isn"t it?"
Her mother sighed wearily, sagging as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. "You have no idea. I love science but all I"ve ever wanted is a peaceful life. First I was famous because of your father. Now because of my research. Someone as normal as me isn"t worth freaking out over, honestly."
She gave her mother a side hug. "Someone as talented as you can"t be considered normal, Mom. You better get used to it."
===
Things settled down a little in the weeks following the big announcement. As Violet"s wedding drew closer, she ended up spending a lot of time with Kaleb, who had finally come home when the season ended.
When he first saw her he gave her a big hug and laughed. "I"m gone for a few months and the whole world turns upside down."
Of course he still stayed in contact with his family as best he could while on the road but he still hadn"t been present for two of the biggest events to ever happen in his family. Everyone told him what happened afterwards but it wasn"t the same.
The weekend before the wedding, Noah had a karate tournament to chaperone so Violet was lounging around her apartment with her freeloading twin. He had decided to stay with her rather than their parents to spend more time with her until she was, according to him, "gone forever."
"I"m always with Noah anyway," she informed him irately. "It isn"t like things are going to be all that different."
Kaleb sighed dramatically and rolled over on the couch. "You say that now but wait until you have cute little baby Violets and Noahs running around. Then you"ll never have time for me anymore."
Violet scoffed. "Please. You"re busier than I am for half of the year. And the other half will likely be spent loafing around at my place or mom and dad"s until you find a girlfriend."
His expression turned sour. "We can"t all marry someone tailor-made for us after a lifetime of best friends.h.i.+p, Vi. You have no idea how hard it is to find someone who likes me for me rather than my fame."
A pang of guilt went through her. It was true that she didn"t know what that was like. She had been too flippant with him. She lay a hand on his arm as consolation.
"I"m sorry, Kal. I didn"t mean to bring up something painful. I"m sure you"ll find somebody someday; maybe after your baseball career is over."
"People can stay in the majors until they"re in their forties! I don"t want to be single that long!" he protested. "You"re making me feel worse."
"If you want to go the childhood friend route there"s always Lila or Elsa," Violet suggested, resulting in her twin throwing a pillow at her head.
She supposed she deserved that for teasing him. His problems were so out of her element that she didn"t know how to offer him valid advice though. Her career wasn"t nearly as in the spotlight as his was and she had always had Noah waiting in the wings for her. Her situation was entirely different from his.
"Why do I even bother with you," he grumbled.
Violet grinned at him. "Because you love me."
Kaleb said and dr.a.p.ed his arm over his eyes. "Whatever. At least I probably won"t be the last one in our family to get married. Oliver has no interest in girls; he"s married to engineering."
She thought that was a bit of an exaggeration. He loved his intended career path as much as their mother loved genetics and she had managed to have a happy and healthy marriage. The only catch was that he would need to find someone to support his career the way their father supported Keeley"s.
He was going to be insufferable from here on out, going on about how his wife had won a n.o.bel Prize to anyone who would listen. He was like that every time she made a splash in the science world but this was more like a tidal wave than a splash.
Sitting up, Kaleb became more serious. "I am happy for you though, Vi. Don"t mind my bitter grumbling. Noah is probably the best guy I know and he"s always adored you so you"re bound to be spoiled rotten for the rest of your life."
Violet did feel pretty spoiled already but she wasn"t about to give him the satisfaction of saying so. She mussed up his hair, resulting in a minor scuffle. They hadn"t mock-fought like this in years and the nostalgia made her smile.
Yes, she was getting married and starting a family of her own, but her brothers would always be her family too. Despite his bitterness about being single, she was sure Kaleb knew that.
===
Thanksgiving fell on the 22nd of November that year and Violet wanted to be sure that their anniversary was never on the day of the holiday, which was always the fourth Thursday of the month. So they chose to get married the Sunday before since their brothers were home from college.
The bridal shower (held by her mother) and the bachelorette party (held by Abigail) were done and all she had to do was show up the following morning and it would be all be over. She and Noah were going on a honeymoon to Jamaica and then they would finally be left in peace.
The holidays were normally one of the craziest times of year for ballerinas considering the popularity of The Nutcracker but her director had been surprisingly considerate this year. Because of her impending marriage, the fact that she had barely come back to work, and that she would be missing a few performances, Violet had been a.s.signed the simple role of a snowflake in the first act and a flower in the second.
He had told her not to get complacent though; as soon as they got back to work on their next show in January he had confided that she would be one of the leads again. "n.o.body dances quite like you, Violet. We"ve missed your talent around here while you were recovering from your injury," the director had confided.
It had made her smile. He could be an overly harsh man at times but he still knew how to appreciate the hard work his dancers put in.
Violet sighed as she stroked the cat in her lap. Her mother was having her stay overnight at her old home so it would be easier to help her get ready in the morning. It was strange to think that this would probably be the last time she ever slept here.
Kaleb had orchestrated an entire day of sibling bonding between the four of them that consisted mostly of playing board and card games. They had rounded it off by watching some home movies from when they were kids. Weddings tended to make people nostalgic.
He and Nathan had fallen asleep already so only she and Oliver were left watching. The scene on the screen now was from when Violet was ten. She was playing the violin while Nathan, still a toddler, spun in circles to the music until he got dizzy and fell down on top of a sleeping cat. That hadn"t ended well.
Oliver laughed and shook his head when that clip merged into the next one. "Our poor cats have been through so much over the years."
She glanced down at Sa.s.sy in her lap. She had been the victim of that particular episode. Poor thing. It was good that she had found peace in her old age. Since she and Noah didn"t plan to have children for at least a few more years so she could continue dancing, the cat most likely wouldn"t live long enough to be tortured by toddlers again.
"Yeah, they have," Violet agreed.
The next video had been taken at Oliver"s sixth birthday party. Aaron had rented out an entire fun center for the day because of how many people had come. All of their family friends were there on top of most of his kindergarten cla.s.s.
This particular clip was of b.u.mper cars. There weren"t enough for each child to have their own so most cars seated two. Some of them zoomed by in pursuit of people to b.u.mp. Others kept running into the wall.
Oliver, who was paired with Liam, had been particularly set on getting revenge on Kaleb and Logan since they kept b.u.mping their car. Those four were the focus of the video but in the background you could see Violet and Noah"s car spinning wildly out of control until they b.u.mped into a wall.
"That"s it; I"m driving," she insisted breathlessly.
She took over the wheel, even from the strange angle she was at, and expertly maneuvered the car so they b.u.mped some of Oliver"s school friends and caused a five cat pileup. Everyone started shouting at her but she only looked smug.
This made Oliver crack up even more than the last video had. "You really were something, sis."
Violet shrugged, a small smile on her face. "If you say so."
Suddenly he grew more serious. "It really is crazy how many of these videos Noah is in. We"ve been watching for nearly an hour now and he"s in about half."
To be fair, most of these videos had been taken on special occasions. The Singletons, as some of the Hales" closest friends, had been present for most of those. But Noah did show up in more of these videos than his brother because he had always been glued to Violet"s side.
He was in most of her childhood pictures too. From the time Noah could crawl they were usually found by each other"s sides. The ones he was in with her tended to have Kaleb too. They had been the three musketeers for a good chunk of their lives even though her brother claimed he always felt like a third wheel later on.
Once he started doing his own thing, they hung out by themselves much more frequently. But those occasions were so casual that there usually wasn"t a reason to take pictures so the majority of their pictures remained as group shots.
The way Oliver said it reminded Violet of how he had teased her about being married to Noah too back when she was still oblivious. "Did you know that Noah had feelings for me too?" she asked curiously.
He looked at her indulgently. "Pretty sure you were the only one who didn"t, to be perfectly honest. n.o.body spends all of their free time with one person if they aren"t in love with them. I had him pegged when he was in middle school."
She should have known. Noah had been a constant in her life for longer than she could remember. Since she was the type to prefer one close friend over a bunch of casual ones, she had thought he was the same and that was why they clicked.
As it turned out, Noah was a lot more social than she was but preferred her company over all others and that was why he always made time for her. That was actually pretty sweet.
"He"s basically part of our family anyway so if you had to marry anyone, I"m glad it"s him," Oliver continued. "I don"t have to give him the third degree like with your other boyfriends because it"s completely obvious he would never do anything to hurt you."
Funny how every male member of her family had said something like that since she and Noah started dating. She supposed that was a benefit of marrying someone who had been around your entire life.
"Yeah, he wouldn"t," she agreed before changing the subject. "So…do you have your eye on anyone these days?"
Her brother snorted. "Please. I"m gone with general ed so all of my cla.s.ses are high level engineering ones. Do you have any idea how many females major in mechanical engineering? There are maybe ten in the whole major and they all have boyfriends."
That sounded an awful lot like an excuse to her. He did practically live in the engineering building but school wasn"t the only place to meet girls.
Violet raised an eyebrow at him and he caved. "Alright, alright. One of my neighbors is pretty cute. We usually do laundry at the same time in the bas.e.m.e.nt of our building and she always smiles at me. Happy?"
"Tell me more," she requested.
Tomorrow was going to be all about her and Noah. Right now she wanted to hear more about the life of the brother she saw the least often. Since Kaleb was typically home for months at a time during the off-season, she had seen him a lot more than she had seen Oliver in the past few years.
They ended up talking about everything from his crush to how he had landed a coveted spot interning at NASA in the spring and eventually both joined their brothers by falling asleep on the gigantic couch.
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