Bound by Tension
89

~ IMOGEN ~

"Isn't it weird that they are getting married so soon?" I asked Hames as he helped me with the zipper of my gown.

"So it wasn't weird to you that we got married a week after we announced our wedding?"

"Oh yeah, that's true. I almost forgot how my husband forced me to marry him when I didn't love him yet."

"You know that's not true." He hugged me from behind, kissing my cheeks. "I didn't force you to, you could've backed out of it and paid the forty million dollars on your own."

"You made it seem like I was helpless." I held his hands.

"You weren't helpless, you could've also gone to court or something. The past is in the past, you love me now and you have my very beautiful baby." He kissed my neck, resting his head on my shoulder. This feeling; the feeling of him cuddling me, having his strong arms around me, it was a feeling I could never stop loving.

I had to shut my eyes when he kissed my neck again, inhaling the sweetness of the pleasure from it.

There was no music but our bodies were moving in rhythm like we were dancing to a very slow song.

"I love you so much, honey." I turned around, wrapped my arms around his neck, stood on my tiptoes and gave him a long kiss.

Our kiss had to end when the adorable cry of our little Tristan filled the room.

"Good thing, else we could've been late for the wedding ceremony due to the next ..." He smirked. "...oh, you're still healing, right." "You're silly." I rolled my eyes and rushed to pick Tristan up.

"You wouldn't want to be late for your best friend's wedding. The nanny will be here soon."

"It's so sad that I'll be leaving my baby for so long." I pouted, petting him to stop crying then started breastfeeding him.

"He'll be with Stella." Stella was the nanny we had hired since almost 6-months ago because we needed someone we could start building our trust in.

"I know, but I'll still miss him." I smiled at Tristan whose bright electric blue eyes were shining its wonder at me.

"If you'll miss him so much then take him along with us, Lila and definitely Kade wouldn't mind." He suggested.

"It wouldn't be healthy for him."

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"Nah, he should rest, he'll be bored at the wedding."

Hames sat beside me, just staring at us. "It's so nice to watch my beautiful family at once."

"People are sending congratulatory messages to me on my social media accounts, they are also asking for photos of my pregnancy and photos of the baby."

"You can post the photos of your pregnancy, but not Tristan's yet, he might not like it in the future." He placed his index finger in Tristan's small fist, something he clearly loved doing. "I love him so much." "You clearly love him more than you love me." I playfully rolled my eyes.

"I realized I can't love you both the same way. My love for you is different from my love for him but the point is that I love you both equally"

"Sometimes, you confuse me."

He chuckled, pecking me. "I'll make sure everything is fine then we can get ready to leave so we'll be there on time."

***

~ LILA ~

"I know you must be pretty nervous right now, I'm so happy for you." Mom said, grinning with tears of joy shimmering in her eyes.

I couldn't take my eyes off the image in the mirror. How could that be me? It was too beautiful to be me. It was all thanks to Kim, Imogen's makeup artist.

"You look more beautiful than ever. I know this might be kinda late to ask and I don't wish to discourage you but, are you sure you want to get married to him? You shouldn't get married under pressure or rush into something you aren't certain of, especially not marriage."

"Mom," I smiled at her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I love you so much, Mom. I know you love me too and care for me but I can assure you that I'm more than certain that I want to get married to Kade. You might think five months is so short to finally come up with this decision but those five months seems like we've been together for five years, it'll be a dream come true for me."

"I'm so happy and relieved to hear you say that. I'll miss you so much."

"I'm so sorry if I'm interrupting this mother-daughter conversation, I'll leave." Imogen said, attempting to turn around to leave the moment she walked in.

"Stop being so silly." Mom Pulled apart from the hug, dabbing her eyes with her fingers.

Imogen chuckled and sauntered to us.

"I must admit that you still look really hot even though you recently gave birth." I commented.

"Am I supposed to not look hot anymore?"

"No, I... never mind." I decided to brush the topic off.

"You look extremely beautiful today. Kade would melt the moment he sees you." She teased while I chuckled.

"I won't want my groom to melt on our wedding day." I chuckled, but yeah, I didn't want that.

"I was just kidding, silly. I'm more than happy for you. I'm certain tonight will be special for you, you'll finally be a real woman." She winked at me and I could tell my face flushed.

"You're going to start a new journey in your life now," Mom sighed.

After Mom lectured and gave me advice on how to make our marriage wax stronger and last forever, it was finally time to start the ceremony.

Imogen quickly left for the church while Mom waited till it was time to leave.

As Mom and I were walking down the aisle with Kade grinning like the happiest child in the world and Hames was behind him, with Imogen and Nikita, already taking their positions before the altar, also smiling, my entire body was dipped in

nervousness.

It was the day we had been waiting for and it had finally come.

Trisha, Amanda, Tyler, Rob, the Pastor, the photographers, and one of Kade's cousins whom he trusted well enough to not tell his family members yet, were also present in Mom's large church. I was feeling bad that Kade's parents and his other family members weren't going to be present at his wedding but he had assured me that it was absolutely fine.

I was brought to stand in front of Kade, my groom, then Mom kissed my forehead and left to take her seat.

I gave my bouquet to Nikita then held hands with Kade who looked the happiest.

The pastor started the remarks then discussed the importance of our wedding vows.

After successfully exchanging our wedding vows, clearly from the bottom of our hearts, Imogen and Hames gave me and Kade our rings respectively, then we exchanged them.

"You've now binded your relationship before God. I'm glad to announce and pronounce you as husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." The pastor announced.

Kade pulled me closer to him, also moving a step closer. His arm went around my waist.

He didn't kiss me yet but was only smiling, peering into my eyes with his eyes shimmering with extreme excitement.

"I'm pretty sure we all heard the pastor just announce that you may kiss your bride." Hames said.

"I know, she's just too beautiful, I can't take my eyes off her." Kade replied to him, still grinning.

"Lila, please do something." Imogen said.

To end the awkwardness, I held his face to lower his head, connecting our lips for the longest kiss we had ever shared. Different emotions were conveyed in the kiss, sending the signal that it was the first kiss we shared after our marriage, it was more than enchanting.

"I love you so much, Lila." He pecked me again as a bonus after the kiss ended.

The pastor made the closing remarks then everyone present took photos with us.

We took multiple photos; extremely lovely ones. It still felt like a dream to me that I had finally gotten married to the love of my life.

After spending more time and a little celebration with everyone, it was finally time for us to leave.

"We have to leave now. We have to catch up with our flight for our honeymoon." Kade smiled, lifting me up in a bridal style.

"Dramatic much." Hames teased.

"I'll also carry you on our wedding day, baby." Tyler said to Amanda, placing an arm over her shoulders while she only rolled her eyes and was clearly holding back a smile. "Wait, Hames, why didn't we leave for our honeymoon immediately after our wedding?" Imogen asked him, placing her elbow on his shoulder.

"Maybe because someone was being too stubborn." He shrugged.

We waved everyone goodbye. Without returning me to my feet, Kade carried me all the way to the car with the photographer taking multiple photos of us on our way out.