Chapter 26

"You hungry?" Michael asked, searching through my fridge. "Wait, why am I even asking that. Of course you're hungry." I blushed at his words and pulled my robe tighter.

"A sandwich will be fine. And I can make it myself, you know." I said, leaning over to take the bread from him. He moved his hand and held up the bread so high, I couldn't reach it.

"I know you can, but I'm not letting you. Sit down and watch me do my magic."

"Michael--"

"Uh, uh uh. When's the last time you had a man cater to you?" He raised his eyebrows knowingly and I sighed, sitting in the chair behind the island.

"Fine. Work your magic." I wiggled my fingers, earning a prize winning smile from Michael.

"Now, I have to warn you. This will be the best sandwich you have ever tasted in your life." He bragged. I rolled my eyes playfully.

"It's just a sandwich, Mikey." I stated, leaning my elbows on the island. He gasped and put a hand to his chest.

"How dare you say it's just a sandwich?" He asked in a high voice, sauntering over to me. He bare chest and taut abs tightened as he walked.

"Because it is." I said, lifting my head to look at him. He looked down at me, raising his eyebrows.

"I'll prove to you that it's not." He whispered, leaning down until our lips were a breath away. I stared at his lips before looking into his eyes.

"Prove it to me." I pressed my lips against his softly, leaving them there for a beat before pulling back. The smile he gave me made me melt inside and I wondered why I hadn't gotten with him years ago, when he first started working where I currently worked.

"Daddy!" Natalie's voice sounded down the hall and got closer. "Arielle!" We both looked towards the entryway, wondering what the problem was.

"We're in the kitchen, Nat!" Michael called out. She appeared in the kitchen and put her hands on her knees, panting over dramatically hard.

"Daddy." She slinked up to him, putting on her innocent face.

"Uh, oh. She wants something, Mike." I said, laughing. Axel always pulled that trick with me and unfortunately, it always worked.

"What's on your mind, baby girl?" Michael crouched low to be on the same level as Natalie. She clasped her hands together and leaned forward.

"I wanna go to the wedding with Axel." She whispered loudly. Michael's eyes widened and he looked up at me, obviously thinking the wrong thing.

"Wedding? Uh, sweetie, Ari and I--"

"No, Michael she means to say she wants to go to Rayna's wedding. Tomorrow." Michael visibly relaxed, swiping his forehead.

"Oh, I was scared for a second. I mean not that I don't want to marry you---well not anytime soon, but--" Michael rambled on before smacking his hand against his face. "I'll shut up now." I smiled at how uncomfortable he was getting just by talking about marriage.

"It's okay." I said softly, not wanting him to feel any more awkward than he already did. "You can be my plus one and Natalie can be Axel's....if you want to come of course." I said quickly.

"Of course I'll be your date. Hear that Natalie? You're finally going to a wedding." Michael told his daughter and she squealed, jumping up and down.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She ran out, hollering Axel's name and Michael and I chuckled.

She was going to be a handful when she got older.

* * *

"It doesn't look right!" Rayna said, looking in the mirror. I sighed for the hundredth time that day. It was almost time for Rayna to walk to the alter and marry her long time boyfriend and she was finding every reason to stall.

"Ray, you look beautiful. Come on, it's almost time."

"Oh my god, what if a pimple pops onto my forehead when I'm up there and Marco gets disgusted and changes his mind and leaves me and I never hear from him again?" She asked panicking. "Oh my god, oh my god...." She paced around the large room, where the bridesmaids and me, the maid of honor, were getting ready.

"Rayna." I stopped her with my hands and looked her square in the eye. "If a guy leaves you because of a blemish on your face, then that guy's an asshole. Marco loves you too much to just leave you on this special day. Trust me, everything will be perfect. Now get out there and be the sexiest bride ever."

Rayna smiled and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "You are truly the best friend in the entire universe. Now I wanna cry." She sniffed. "But I can't or I'll ruin my makeup." She took a deep breath and smoothed her dress out. "Okay, let's do this thing."

We formed a line and walked out. I was last because I had to end up right next to the altar. I felt butterflies in my stomach and I wasn't even the one getting married. This reminded me of what it felt like to be engaged to Daxton: preparations, the excitement....but now... I shook my head and put on a smile. This was Rayna's day and I had to be happy.

When we got to the front, we took our positions and looked over to where Rayna was walking in. Everyone stood up and whispers of awe went around the room at the beautiful bride. She walked in as if she owned the room and for that day, she actually did. I don't know how I got through the entire ceremony without crying, but I did and I was proud of myself.

"So when they said seeing the bride before the wedding is bad luck, they didn't mean the maid of honor too." Michael whispered from behind me and I jumped before turning around.

"You scared me!" I said laughing, pressing my hand to my chest, trying to still my racing heart. Michael looked good in his tux and blue tie that matched my blue dress. Axel and Natalie were also matching, but with red. They sat with the other kids in the section just for kids. "And Rayna thought seeing anybody before the wedding was bad luck so..." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Mhmm, sure. Now, where can we get some good food?" Michael grabbed my hand and led me to the food table. "Here, try this." Before I could see what he was giving me, he stuffed it in my mouth and some fell to the floor.

"Michael!" I said around a mouthful of what I believed was a turkey cold cut sandwich. He burst out laughing, clutching his belly as he did. I swallowed it and ran my finger against the icing of the cake (I know, not sanitary). "You asked for it." While he was still laughing, I dragged my icing clad finger against his face and even got some in his hair.

"Oh no you didn't." He lunged at me, but I moved out of the way at the last second and he crashed into an empty cart. The hall got silent and Michael held up two thumbs from where he lay on the floor. "I'm good guys. Go back to....whatever you were doing." Some people chuckled and I went to help Michael up.

"Alright, come on you goof--AHH!" Michael grabbed my hand and yanked me down to the ground with him, making sure to get the icing from his face onto mine.

"Karma." He said, sliding his arms around my waist. I laughed and I swatted at him when he tried to rub his face on my dress.

"Stop it, Mikey." I smiled at him and and looked up when I saw two pairs of tiny feet by our heads.

"Mommy, stop acting like a kid." Axel said, pointing his finger at me.

"Uhh--" I held in a laugh and looked Michael, who was smiling.

"Yeah daddy, you can't act like us. You're old. Get up, get up." Natalie grabbed her father's arm and tried to yank him up, but was too weak. "Axel help me!" She cried and Axel grabbed Michael's other arm.

"Oh, man you guys are strong." Michael said, as he allowed the kids to think they were really picking him up. When he was standing fully, he picked me up bridal style and twirled me around. I squealed and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You're gonna make me dizzy." I breathed, closing my eyes and putting my head underneath his chin. He put me down, arms still around me. I opened my eyes again to see Michael staring down at me adoringly. An unrecognizable emotion clawed at my heart.

"What?" I asked softly. Michael didn't answer me. He only wiped the icing from my face and leaned down, placing a feathery kiss on my forehead and swayed to the slow music that began to play in the background.