Keeley"s heart was full when she came downstairs in the morning and found all four of her children asleep on the couch in the entertainment room. The last time this had happened was probably when the twins were in middle school.
Feeling sentimental, she snapped a picture of the cuteness before gently waking her daughter up. They needed to get ready so Violet wouldn"t be late to her own wedding.
Sleepily, she let her mother lead her upstairs to the master bathroom and remained quiet and compliant as her hair and makeup were done. Keeley had to stifle a laugh. She was completely out of it and probably didn"t even register what was happening.
"Eat something before putting on lipstick," she encouraged.
Violet consumed a banana with her eyes still half-closed, acting as if on autopilot. How late had she stayed up with her brothers anyway?
She didn"t fully wake up until it was time to change out of her b.u.t.ton up s.h.i.+rt and into her wedding dress. At that point she stared at herself in the mirror with a smile, twirling back and forth to admire the view from every angle.
"You look like a princess," Aaron said in a slightly choked up voice.
Keeley hadn"t noticed him come in. He must have been wondering what was taking them so long. He was already in his tuxedo and looked quite das.h.i.+ng.
Violet beamed at him. "Thanks, Dad."
He immediately composed himself and addressed his wife. "Sweetheart, you need to get ready. The boys are already dressed."
She excused herself and changed into the matching purple "mother of the bride" dress that she had gotten with Jennica. It was crazy that their babies were getting married. To each other. Where had the time gone?
It felt like the days when the two of them had been visiting each other"s houses nearly every day because little Violet and Noah would throw fits if they couldn"t play together weren"t that long ago. But now those kids were all grown up and starting a family of their own.
By the time Keeley made her way downstairs, her sons were a visible mess. All of them had gotten emotional seeing their only sister in her wedding dress.
"I know the wedding photographer will probably take a million pictures later but I want to get one last one of the Hale siblings together before one of them becomes a Singleton," she said.
Normally her kids weren"t at all cooperative about group photos but this time they complied. Perhaps because it was a special day. Nathan, being the goofball he was, tried to lighten the mood by picking his sister up.
Kaleb caught onto what he was doing immediately and gestured to Oliver so they could all hold her up together. Violet laughed at their antics and ended up doing an uncharacteristically silly pose while being suspended in the air.
It was a great picture, truly capturing the essence of the relations.h.i.+p between the four of them. Keeley was going to put this one in a frame on the wall for sure.
Realizing they would be late if they didn"t leave right now, she hustled her family out the door and down to the parking garage. They arrived at the venue only fifteen minutes before the wedding was going to start. Everyone else had arrived but them.
Violet was ushered into a side room by her bridesmaids, most of whom were already holding their bouquets. Lila fussed over the hem of her dress before handing the most elaborate bouquet to her friend.
"You look gorgeous, Violet. You"re going to knock him dead," she informed her before tearing up. "You two really are perfect for each other. I"m so happy for you."
She hugged Lila tightly, feeling the emotional charge of the moment. Keeley watched the two of them fondly before Jennica came in and reminded her that she needed to be in her seat.
The immediate families of the bride and groom were sitting together at the front with the exception of those involved in the ceremony. Keeley and Jennica were sandwiched in between Cameron and Oliver and whispered together before the ceremony started.
"Can you believe we joked about this for so many years? I can"t believe it"s actually happening," Jennica said thickly.
Keeley understood what she meant completely. It was completely obvious those two would get married eventually once they started dating but before that she had never dreamed it would actually happen.
Violet had been in denial about her feelings for so long. She held back self-deprecating laughter when she thought about how that particular character trait must run in the family. She had been in denial about her love for Aaron for a very long time.
"Our babies have grown up," Keeley replied with the same amount of emotion in her own voice.
Cameron caught onto the conversation and ended up patting his wife"s arm to comfort her. Everyone quieted as soon as the music began.
A couple of Noah"s younger cousins had been chosen to be the flower girl and ring bearer. They came down the aisle first and were followed by Lila and Kaleb, Logan and Elsa, then Abigail and Noah"s friend James.
The music changed to the bridal march and Violet appeared at the top of the aisle arm in arm with her father, looking like an angel. Her smile was brighter than Keeley had ever seen it and her heart was fit to burst seeing how happy her daughter was.
A glance towards the front of the room showed that Noah had teared up at the sight of her. Ah, those two were so cute!
Aaron gruffly handed Violet off to him and took a seat between his sons after she kissed his cheek. Keeley reached behind Oliver to pat him on the shoulder. She could tell he was feeling the same way she was now. Their baby was getting married; any parent would get emotional about that.
The bride and groom had written their own vows and parental tears started flowing freely once Violet and Noah earnestly looked into each other"s eyes and began to profess their love for each other.
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