Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 801 : Venues

*Two Months Later*

*Cat*

“Come on! You can do it, Emi!” I called, face stretched wide in a grin as I opened my arms, “Come to Mama!”

“Ba-ba,” my now almost eight-month-old daughter babbled as she slapped her little hands on the carpet as she crawled her way across the floor to me. There was a look of intense focus to her like this was the most important mission of her life to accomplish, and despite how slow going her wobbly movements were, she didn’t stop for anything.

“Almost there, baby, just a little more!” I encouraged her brightly, clapping my hands together gently for extra incentive while I tucked her little fox plushie in the crook of my arm.

I beamed, watching her as she crawled straight into my arms, giving me a bright two-tooth grin as she cried out, “Ma!”

“That’s right, Emilia, I’m Mama!” I lifted her into my arms, getting to my feet as I happily handed over the little foxy. “You did so good, baby! You crawled across the floor. I’m so proud of you.”

I kissed the top of her head, now much thicker with more curled strands of medium brown. Her hair had darkened a bit since she was born, now closer to her daddy’s color than mine, but her bright eyes, a forest shade of green, were all mine.

Emilia laughed, showing off her two front teeth that barely protruded out of her mouth. After getting her first tooth early at four months, the rate of the others had been prolonged with her other tooth popping out only a few weeks after her seventh-month milestone.

And speaking of milestones, once Emilia had learned how to sit up by herself, she was unstoppable. She learned to flip around, crawl, and even stand at some points as she raced to break through her milestones but my favorite party had to be watching her as she zoomed across the house any chance she got.

Despite her clumsiness, she was growing fast, and she was just as smart as her daddy too, whom she absolutely adored.

It was apparent to me very quickly that as much as Emilia loved me, sticking to me closely all day and night like a little velcro at my side, Emilia held a special place in her heart for Elio.

They had a bond that not even I could come close to getting in between, much to Elio’s smugness.

“Alright, ready to hang out with Grandma while Mommy heads to meet Daddy? It’s for our wedding and you’ll be just the prettiest flower girl, won’t you, Emilia?” I cooed to her, heading to the nursery to pack up her stuff real quick.

Mom had her own stash in her cottage for when Emilia came over, which was more frequently now that I was working with Elio more closely, but I always liked to be prepared anyway. Luckily, Mom’s house was only a short walk away from our own and Mom was already prepared when I arrived.

“Are you going to work today?” Mom asked as I passed over Emilia to her.

She laughed as Emilia babbled to her, saying something that could be a word every so often. Mom hummed, listening to her intently and gasping at all the right points like they were having an actual conversation.

“No, I’m meeting Elio downtown. Both of Elio’s businesses are doing well now, because of me,” I boasted playfully, laying a kiss on Emilia’s forehead before Mom took her over to the play area she’d already set up in her living room. The baby gates worked wonders, especially now that her curiosity had an outlet for her exploration.

Emilia cooed, immediately digging into the big bag of blocks my mom had gotten her. She didn’t quite have the hang of stacking them, but she had learned how to throw them with astonishing accuracy.

“Another venue?” Mom sent me a sympathetic look as I nodded.

“I’m gonna head out, hopefully, we’ll find one before Emilia’s tenth birthday,” I huffed, only half-joking as I headed for the door.

But my motherly instincts rang and I barely managed to dodge the C block as I snuck out the door.

I could hear my mom laughing from inside as Emilia giggled. The bruises I had on my thighs from the last few playdates with her blocks still hadn’t faded yet.

I pocketed my keys, humming a song I didn’t remember the name of as I headed out, taking the car. I double-checked the address Elio sent me, a cathedral in downtown LA where my lovely soon-to-be husband had found me.

I pulled out onto the roads, tapping my fingers on the wheel to the beat of the song on the radio as I let the windows down. The early spring air was already here and the heat had yet to catch up to normal temperatures so it was a gorgeous day outside, though it had been the past two months too.

Ever since Elio had decided to set the date, we’d been pouring over wedding plans. Anna had bombarded me with all kinds of preparations like dress shopping flower themes and even colors for the tables.

Everything went well, except of course the venue.

Between Elio’s traditional sense of wanting to be married within a church grounds, which I didn’t really care for, to be honest, and my sense of wanting an outdoor wedding with an indoor reception, neither of us had found a place that we both loved.

There had been one place in Santa Monica that we had considered, but ultimately it had been too small for all of Elio’s family to come, and having all of the family there was something we both had agreed on.

Still, Elio was hopeful for this latest one and I could see why as I pulled up to what looked like a massive old cathedral. The white peak of the bell tower was the first thing that caught my attention, a beacon above the rest of the buildings though the bell had long been taken down.

Still, the craftsmanship was beautiful to behold. It helped too that the walls were lined with crawling ferns and vines dotted with small colorful flowers, life was blooming everywhere I looked, the greenery a perfect contrast from the white plaster and concrete.

It was clearly old, but new as well with part of the building having been refurbished. I learned from the plaque on the front of the steps as I approached that it had long since been converted from a cathedral to a venue now for ceremonies. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

It truly held up to its name–a lush and vibrant oasis within the dreary and modern scrapers of the downtown area.

As I admired its stonework, I didn’t notice someone approaching me from behind until two arms slid around my waist and pulled me back into a familiar embrace.

“So what do you think?” Elio breathed in my ear. “Beautiful, right?”

“Yes,” I laughed with a smile. “But it’s only a former cathedral. Is that alright for some of your more traditional family members?”

“Eh, it’s my wedding, not theirs,” Elio shrugged uncaringly. “Besides, it’s named after a Saint. That should be holy enough, right?”

“Whatever you say,” I laughed. “Did you get us a tour?”

“Of course I did,” Elio boasted, then grabbed my hand, walking in front of me to escort me inside, “What kind of future husband would I be if I forgot such a tiny little thing?”

“A normal one,” I said playfully, letting him lead me inside.

Our tour guide met us inside and I was pleased to see that the Vibiana Cathedral was just as beautiful inside as out. The vaulted ceilings and gorgeous stonework carved into the walls seemed to have an ethereal glow to them as we walked through.

Our tour guide told us about the history of the cathedral, how it had been damaged during an earthquake and retired as a cathedral, rebuilt as a venue and monument to its importance to the city, one of the last remaining buildings from early Los Angeles history.

They showed us the outdoor venue area where the ceremony would take place, a beautiful courtyard inside the inner sanctum but still exposed to the sky above. Like everything else, the courtyard was covered with bright vegetation, and interspersed with fairy lights as decorations. It was huge while still feeling intimate and I was in love as soon as I saw it.

Similarly, the reception hall captured Elio’s attention right away. The vaulted ceiling with projections of anything we could imagine, the tall pillars and marble floors which when they turned the lights off looked like we were walking on a sparkling lake.

I could imagine so easily holding our first dance here, surrounded by our loved ones while we danced under a galaxy of stars above.

It was a traditional place, one that held a deep significant history while also holding a modernity that didn’t make it feel too suffocating.

It was perfect.

We said goodbye to our tour guide, wanting to think it over as we ate a quick lunch at a nearby spot. I knew there was still a discussion to be had, but I just knew right away that this was it.

This is where we would be married.

It didn’t take much convincing from me to get Elio on board, and after we checked the rest of our plans, making a few tweaks and so on, we called the cathedral back to book it. Luckily, they had the perfect date at the end of May open in just three months.

I grinned as I set down the phone. “We got it. It’s all booked. We’re officially going to be married at Vibiana Cathedral in May.”

“Hallelujah,” Elio said dryly, sipping on the soda he’d ordered and I rolled my eyes. Despite his joking, hallelujah was right though. It felt like it had taken forever, disappointment after disappointment as we toured venues and now, I finally felt like all the planning was taken care of.

“Let me send out the date cards to everyone so they’re all ready to RSVP and then we’ll finally be done with wedding preparations,” I told him, grabbing my phone to take care of it but Elio had other ideas.

“Take a break, Cat,” Elio laughed, popping a fry from his plate straight into my mouth as he cleverly stole my phone with the other hand. “Do it later. Just relax now.”

I pouted, chewing on the fry. “Aren’t you excited?”

“Of course I am,” Elio chuckled, scooting his chair over so we were right beside one another. He pulled me into a one-armed hug, pressing a kiss to my temple. “But forgive me for wanting to hog your attention a little, Cat. You’ve been obsessing over this for months now.”

“We only get married once, you know,” I smiled as my defense, plucking another fry from his plate. My smile faded though as I fixed him with a serious glare.

“Just so you know as a warning. If you smash my face into the cake and ruin my wedding dress, I will divorce you.”

Elio gulped, seeing how deadly serious I was about this, and nodded.

“Noted.”