Bridgette - Chapter Twenty: The Love of My Life - Part One

A warning to let you know that part one and part two have a ton of pictures. I tried my hardest to weed them out but it's a wedding chapter. There were just too many great pictures. : )

We returned home to ASU a couple days after Christmas and we immediately started trying to figure out what our near future would look like. One thing that was certain, Carson needed to do an internship at a physical therapy facility during the summer. There were several that he was looking at but eventually he approached me about doing his internship in Appaloosa Plains. As far as I was concerned it was his career and therefore his decision but he insisted in including me in his decision making process.

Once we decided to move back to Appaloosa after the school year was over, we told our parents and then Jeff and Rosamund. The two of them would need to find at least one other roommate and we wanted to make sure they had enough time to find one. Jeff and Star had recently started talking again and he and Peter were still good friends which made me wonder if they all would eventually move in together. Although the thought of Star and Rosamund living together was kind of scary.

Carson and I also started making trips down to Appaloosa on the weekends that Carson didn’t have a lot of homework to look at houses. I had been making a steady income for several years selling my paintings so we had a decent amount saved for a down payment. Sometimes we asked Mom and Dad to come with us to let us know what they thought. It was hard buying a house in Appaloosa; most of them were older homes and outdated. That meant that we either had to renovate an existing house or completely demo a house and start all over on a decent piece of land.

We were out one weekend looking at a house that was actually down the road from Mom and Dad’s. The house wasn’t anything great, but the land overlooked the river. We walked inside and I immediately started cringing. I was usually pretty good at looking past outdated materials and seeing the potential of a house but even I was having trouble with this one.

We walked outside “Well, what do you think?” Carson asked me.

“Honestly, the house would need a ton of work, but it just might be worth it for this view.” I motioned to the water.

“It does have an amazing view.” He agreed.

“My other reservation about it is the fact that it’s a little on the small side. For right now, it would be okay, but add a child or two, we wouldn’t have enough room.” I admitted.  Carson smirked and I started blushing.

“Well, you could always renovate what’s here and add on.” Dad suggested.

“Do you think that would be doable in the timeframe we have?” I asked.

“It might be tight but if it wasn’t ready by the time you moved back here, you could always move in with us until it’s ready.” Mom offered.

The thought of moving back in with my parents didn’t sound too appealing but if it was for a short period it might work. Carson and I decided to think about it and drove back to campus.

“What did you really think about the house?” He asked as we drove back.

“The house needs to be gutted and expanded; there’s just no getting around that. But I can’t get over the land. I’ve gone past there my whole life and looked at that piece of land thinking about how lucky the people that lived there were to have a view like that.”

 

“Would you have a problem moving in with your parents if it took longer to fix the house?” He inquired.

“Hmmm. . .I wouldn’t want to for very long but a short time wouldn’t bother me. What about you?”

“I’d be okay with it.”

“So what are we saying?” I wondered.

“I think maybe we should meet with an architect and a contractor, let them know what we’d like, see how much they think it will be, and then make a decision.”

Over the next two weeks we met with people and got estimates for the work that needed to be done. We sat down with our parents and they all agreed that the price was good.  We were a little concerned about the overall price and that’s when my parents told me about a trust fund that they had set up for each of us kids. We were supposed to get it on our 25th birthday but they decided to go ahead and give Charlie and me ours.

Once finances were in place, we placed an offer on the house and once we got the house, we started the process of renovating and adding on.  We must have been crazy to take on a home renovation during Carson’s last semester of undergrad amongst the planning of a wedding, which we had decided to have in the later part of May so Carson would be back in town to start his internship.

In between picking flooring, wall covering, paint colors, cabinets, and everything else for the house, we tried to plan our wedding. One thing that Carson and I agreed on very early in the planning was that we didn’t want a big wedding like Jeff and Rosamund had. We didn’t even want to get married in Appaloosa. We had toyed with the idea of eloping but both of our mothers made it known that they would be very upset if we did that. We eventually started looking at having a destination wedding and only inviting our closest friends and family.  Our moms were more accepting of that idea and we started looking at different locations.

Rosamund suggested that we look at Paradise Island and I was glad that I for once listened to her. Everything we saw about the location was beautiful. She showed us pictures and video of it and even Jeff admitted that it was gorgeous there on their honeymoon.  Rosamund’s dad offered to send Jeff, Rosamund, Carson and I to stay in their vacation home so we could go see wedding locations and see about possibly honeymooning there. We spent a weekend there and fell in love with it. We visited several wedding venues and decided on one that we felt would work out best for a wedding the size we wanted.

After returning back from Paradise Island, I went to Appaloosa to check on the progress of our house and I met Kate there so we could talk about the upcoming wedding.

“I can’t believe you and Carson are getting married in a month! Are you excited?”

“I am but we’ve also been so busy with Carson ending school, this house, and now I’m feeling like crap. I sometimes find myself realizing  ‘Oh yeah, I’m about to get married.’ It’s kind of crazy the way things have worked out.”

“Have you gone to the doctor yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a sinus infection so he gave me some meds. Hopefully it will clear up soon. It’s draining all of my energy and I don’t have time to be sick.”

“So you, Carson, Julia, Trent, Rosamund, and Jeff are traveling to the island together while the Davila and Hobble clans travel together?” She asked.

“That’s the plan. We should all arrive there a day before the wedding and hopefully have some down time. . .” she gave me a doubtful look. “Okay, maybe you all will have some down time while Carson and I are running around getting last minute things together.” I admitted.

“You know everyone is going to be crying at the wedding, right? This is the wedding that everyone’s been waiting forever for!”

I smiled then thinking about marrying Carson. It did seem like it had been a long time coming and it was just around the corner now. 

I arrived home that night to find Rosamund and Jeff watching TV while sitting on the couch.

“How’s the new house coming?” Jeff asked.

“They’ve made a lot of progress in the last two weeks. There’s even some drywall up now. The contractor said that the decorating could start in hopefully the next two weeks. Fingers crossed. Where’s Carson?”

“He’s in the bedroom studying. He’s been there since he got home from his last class.” Rosamund informed me. Ever since we had gotten back from the islands Carson had been studying non-stop for his upcoming finals. He had a 4.0 GPA going into this semester and he was determined to graduate with it.

I walked into the bedroom and saw him sleeping on the bed with a book next to him. I had tried to convince him to take it a little easy but he just kept studying every chance he got. I reached over him to grab the book and he woke up.

“When did I fall asleep?” He asked me.

“I don’t know; I came home a couple of minutes ago and Jeff and Rosamund told me you were in here studying. You were asleep when I opened the door.” 

He looked over at the clock. “You just now got home?”

“Yeah, I met with Kate while I was there and the contractor took us around the house. It looks really good. It’s definitely going to be close. We may end up having to stay a week or two with Mom and Dad. Kate pointed out to me today that it’s exactly one month until we get married. I’ve been so busy I hadn’t even realized it till she mentioned it.”

He sat up and got serious. “I hadn’t either. I will be so glad when this month is over. It’s still going to be busy after it but with school out of the way a lot of pressure is going to go away.”

“You need to take a break.” He started to protest. “I know you want to end school well but you shouldn’t be stressing so much. Just take a little break.”

“I already did; I took a nap.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I started crawling towards him.

“Oh, I think I’m starting to understand what kind of break you’re talking about. . .” Carson smiled and I giggled.

Carson, Trent and Julia graduated from ASU in May and two days later the four of us, Rosamund and Jeff headed to Paradise Island. It was nice for everyone to get away after a stressful semester. I had to admit that I was very happy that we were moving back to Appaloosa Plains and that the part of our lives at ASU was over. 

As everyone talked on the plane, Carson and I took a moment to spend some time alone together and talk about our wedding.

“In one day, we’ll be husband and wife and I’ll be able to call you Mrs. Davila.” He said as he smiled. “I have to admit, I’ve been waiting a long time for that day to arrive.”

“I know; I almost feel bad for putting you out of your misery.” I joked with him.

“You’re not going to back out now are you?” He joked back.

“I don’t guess so, I mean we’ve come this far and a lot of people would be disappointed if we didn’t get married.” He chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“I feel better I just can’t seem to get my energy back.”

“Maybe after we get back from the honeymoon you should go see the doctor again.”

I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired. The last thing I wanted was for it to put a damper on our wedding and honeymoon. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Maybe it’s just from all that’s been going on this past month.” 

In the last month I had made ten visits to Appaloosa trying to oversee the final stages of the house renovation, finished planning the wedding which since it was a destination wedding had made things a little more difficult, packed up our belongings to go into storage for the first couple weeks after we returned since we were staying with Mom and Dad till the house got finished, and stressed over Carson’s finals with him.

“You have been amazing these last couple of months. I never would have made it through all of it without you. I don’t know how you’ve done it all. I plan on pampering you during our honeymoon.”

“Only during the honeymoon? Maybe I should rethink this whole marrying you thing.” I teased.

He leaned over and kissed me. “Oh don’t worry, I plan on pampering you for a very long time.” He smiled and kissed me again.

“Oh dear Lord! My eyes are burning from the image!” Trent joked. “You all do realize that there are other people on this plane besides us and the last thing they want to see is the two of you smooching?”

Carson and I both smiled and rolled our eyes at him. The rest of the plane ride we all talked about the wedding and the island.  When our plane finally touched down, we made our way to baggage claim and immediately saw the rest of my family and Carson’s. I was so happy that we had decided to have a small wedding. All I wanted was for our family and friends to be around us; the ones who had been through this journey with Carson and I. 

“Bridgers, are you feeling okay? You look a little tired.” Dad asked.

“I’m fine. I’m just tired from all the running around and the stupid sinus infection I had.” Everyone looked at me concerned and that was the last thing I wanted. “Really, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” They looked around at each other before turning their attention back to collecting the bags. We had rented a shuttle bus to take all of us to the resort and as we headed out of the airport, we caught sight of it and enjoyed the short ride to the resort. Once again, I was glad I had actually listened to Rosamund about looking into Paradise Island. I was thrilled that we were getting married and honeymooning here. 

The honeymoon was the only thing I had no idea what was happening.  Carson had decided to plan it and not tell me anything. All I knew was we were staying somewhere on Paradise Island. For all I knew, it could be our resort we were all staying at before the wedding.

The shuttle bus pulled up to the resort and we all looked at it as we exited the bus. It was the largest resort on the island and had everything anyone would want while staying on the island.  A bellhop came out and collected all our bags while Dad and Carson’s dad, Will checked us in. Mom and Dad had decided several months ago to pay for everyone to stay at the resort, even though we had tried to argue with them.  They really wanted to help out with the wedding so we finally agreed to let them.

Once we got our keys, we all headed to our rooms. Carson and his parents stayed in one suite and Mom, Dad and I stayed in the other. Everyone else had their own rooms. After everyone got settled the rest of the day was jam packed full of activities. The girls all went to have manicures and pedicures while the guys hung out at the pool.

Later that night we all went to dinner where everyone took turns telling stories about Carson and me. The one that was my favorite though was Charlie’s.

“I think everyone here has heard some version of how these two met and what happened afterwards, but it’s usually Bridge or Carson’s point of view. I have a slightly different point of view though.” I was really curious about what he was going to say. He was right, I had never really heard Charlie talk much about when Carson and I first met. I’d heard him tell the story of how all of us came together as friends but never just about Carson and me.

“So Bridge and I walked into our first day of high school and of course I wasn’t nervous but Bridge was a basket case.”

“Hey now! That is not true and you know it Charlie!” I complained and joked.

“Who’s telling the story? I gotta make myself look good.” Everyone chuckled. “Anyway, so maybe I was more nervous than I said and Bridge was less nervous. Either way, we were both excited and nervous. So we walked into school and hung out with Kate and then went to homeroom. Bridge and I sat together and spent most of the time goofing off.” He looked over at Mom and Dad. “Sorry, we did a lot of that at school.” He flashed them a sheepish grin.

“We got our locker assignments and of course Bridge and I got lockers right next to each other. She finished putting her things away and decided to go ahead to her first class. After she walked away, this blonde guy comes walking up to me and says ‘Hey, do you know her?’ 

Everyone laughed. “I was like, ‘Dude, she’s my twin sister.’ This guy who I had never met in my life starts introducing himself and talking about the middle school he went to and how he’d never met a set of twins, which I thought was odd since it’s not that rare of a thing.”

“Yeah, I may have lied about that dude. I was trying to get in good with you hoping you’d introduce me to your pretty sister.” There was more laughter and Charlie continued.

“I kind of thought so but the more we started talking, the more I realized that this blonde and really friendly guy was kind of fun to talk to. Soon Kate was walking over to us and then two other people joined us, who of course were Julia and Trent and Carson introduced Kate and me to them. After we had all been introduced, Carson started telling Julia and Trent about the fact that I had a twin sister and he started describing her. I looked at Kate and she and I exchanged a knowing look. I mean, it was obvious he was interested in her.”

“Oh it was written all over his face!” Julia chimed in. There was more laughter and Carson’s face turned a little red.

“The bell rang and we went through most of the morning. Sometimes I passed Bridge in the hall but we really didn’t have a chance to talk until close to lunch time. Bridge came over to our lockers and we were getting ready to go to lunch when I heard a familiar voice behind us asking if they could join us for lunch. It of course was Carson with Julia and Trent. Before I had a chance to respond, Bridge says ‘Sure, only if you introduce us to your friends though.’ I’m half paying attention at this point with Julia and Trent meeting Bridge because I’m thinking about how in the world Bridge already knows Carson. Bridge then turns to me and looks confused. She asks me how I know Carson; so I explain to her how we met. Then I say ‘What I want to know is how you two know each other.’ She explained how they met in Biology class and Carson had come up and told her he knew her brother and would she like to be lab partners.” 

I looked over at Carson. “You sly dog! You set yourself up so you could find a way to be my lab partner?!”

Carson put his hands up in protest. “Hey, all I was trying to do was get to know you better. I figured getting to know Charlie would be a good way. I was completely surprised to see you in biology class but I figured what was the harm in using my acquaintance with your brother to help me get to know you even better.” The room erupted with laughter.

“After almost eight years of knowing each other, I’m just now finding out just how sneaky you were?!”

“Oh, it gets better sis.” I turned and looked at Charlie and he continued. “The next day we all met around where Bridge, Carson, and my lockers were; which eventually became our normal meeting place for the remainder of our years in high school. We talked for a little bit and then broke off to go to our homerooms.  Julia and Kate ended up being in the same homeroom but what was even more interesting was that as Bridge and I turned to go to our homeroom class, Carson kept tagging along. I kept waiting for him to say goodbye and go to his homeroom, but he just kept walking with us. We got to our classroom and Carson walks in with us and then sits down. Bridge gets up to ask the teacher a question and I look at Carson and ask ‘Don’t you need to go to your homeroom class?’ He smiles at me like only Carson does and says ‘I am in my homeroom class.’ Of course Bridge never really thought anything about it but it was then that I realized, he saw her on our first day of school in homeroom, saw that I was her brother, thought I would be a good way to get to know her and then used it to his full advantage.”

Everyone looked at Carson in shock and Charlie continued. “I normally would have been a little upset that a guy had done that but there was something about Carson that made me somehow respect him more. He never tried to give her any stupid pickup lines, he never tried to be anyone he wasn’t. Bridge came back and I started noticing, how should I put this. . .that their two personalities complimented each other. We all know Bridge has a firery  personality and Carson is as cool as a cucumber. I watched them interact during the rest of homeroom and it was obvious to me, even back then, that the two of them would be good together.”

“I gotta tell you, bro; that was one of the best decisions I ever made, getting to know you and Bridge. All because of what happened that first day of high school, I got a great best friend and. . .” He turned and looked at me. “. . .I found the love of my life.”

Pretty much everyone was tearing up at this point. We all finished eating and then started to go to our rooms to get some sleep before the big day. Carson followed Mom, Dad and I to our suite. 

“We’re going to bed. Don’t stay up too late.” Mom advised and she and Dad went to their bedroom.

Once they had left the room I turned to face Carson. “So I guess what Kate told me several years ago was true.”

“What’s that?”

“Remember how I told you that I caught Charlie and Kate together several times?” He nodded. “Well, the first time I did, Kate and I talked and at that point, you and I weren’t talking much.” He nodded again and got a sad look in his eyes. “We eventually started talking about you and me. It was a wakeup call for me. The first time I even got a whiff of you having feelings for me was our junior year; but Kate gave me the whack in the head I needed. She told me how it was obvious that you had been interested in me since our freshmen year. It was then that I realized how oblivious I was. I didn’t see that Kate and Charlie were interested in each other, I didn’t see that you had feelings for me for so long, and I was completely oblivious to the fact that I had feelings for you. If I hadn’t been such an idiot, we could have been together for even longer.”

“Bridge, who knows what would have happened if things had been different. Don’t go beating yourself up over something that happened several years ago. Sometimes we have to go through the hard times and pain to see what’s right in front of us or give us the wakeup call we need. I honestly believe that’s what that period in our relationship was about.”

“I know, but after hearing Charlie tonight, it made me realize just how blind I really had been eight years ago. I could have missed out on all of this if I hadn’t gotten that knock upside the head. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you, and to think I did almost everything to cause it not to, that just makes me sad.”

 

“But why? Don’t dwell on what might have been Bridge. We’re getting married tomorrow and we’re going to start a new chapter in our lives together; just you and me.”

“I can’t believe you schemed your way into getting to know me.”

“I saw you walk into homeroom that first day and I can’t even describe the feeling I had. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I would do just about anything, within reason, to be with you. I just had to wait a little longer than I thought.” He joked and smiled at me.

I reached up and grabbed his face to look at him. “I love you Carson Davila.” We kissed and continued to until we were interrupted by Mom coming out of their bedroom.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just getting something to drink; but keep in mind, it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.” She smiled as she walked into the bathroom to get a drink. I looked at the clock and it was almost midnight.

“I guess you better go back to your suite. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said and then kissed him.

“I love you Bridgette Hobble.” He said and kissed me one last time before he left.

I stood there looking at the door for a moment after he left. It almost seemed like a dream; tomorrow Carson Davila and I were getting married. My dreamy thoughts were interrupted by Mom

.

“Are you going to stand there looking at the door all night?”

I turned around and looked at her. “I’m just thinking about how all of this seems like a dream. What was it like the night before you married Dad?” She motioned for us to sit on the couch.

“Well, you know your dad and I hadn’t dated long before we got married but we were friends before we started dating. So we didn’t have this build up to the day like you and Carson have had. I spent the night before at the house I had before your dad and I got together. Honey and another friend of mine who you’ve heard me talk about, Josie, spent the night and we gave each other manicures and pedicures. It was fun! We stayed up watching movies and talking. I was really worried about walking down the aisle though. Since Grandpa wasn’t alive, I was unsure about if I should walk down the aisle by myself or if I should ask someone else. Your dad told me he had something in mind so I tried not to worry. But the night before the wedding, and even up till the moment I turned to walk down the aisle, I stressed over it. That’s what I was doing the night before; completely different from your experience.”

“But you were excited, weren’t you?”

“Oh, of course! The one thing we had in common with you and Carson was that it wasn’t all smooth sailing to get from the moment we met to us getting married. There were several bumps in the road. But it all made it worth it in the end. You realize how fortunate you are when you’ve had to fight for something instead of it just being handed to you. That’s something you and Carson have had to do over the years.”

“This is one reason we wanted a small wedding. We wanted to be with all of you that have been with us through everything; almost a ‘thank you’ for being there for both of us and giving us, mostly me, those pushes we needed.”

“Someday I hope you’re as fortunate as I have been and get to see your children happily married. I can’t tell you how much joy I get seeing how much Carson loves you. That’s why we love Carson; sure he’s a great guy but the way he loves you, it just warms my heart.”

I hugged her and started getting tears in my eyes. “I love you Mom.”

“I love you to Bridge. Now, you better get going to bed. You’re still looking really tired and you’re going to need your energy tomorrow.” We hugged one last time and wished each other good night. 

I went up the stairs to my room and got ready for bed. I stepped out on the balcony to look out at the ocean one last time and noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. Over on the other balcony was Carson looking out at the ocean. I smiled and quickly made my way back inside before he saw me and got into bed. 

As I laid there trying to fall asleep I imagined myself walking down the aisle with Dad and seeing Carson waiting for me to join him.

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