I felt better with them there. “Kelly, Avril, Hope, Isabel, Miley, I’m so happy you’re here.”
Kelly was all smiles. “It’s not every day one of us elopes.”
Hope then said, “And we’ll be having children around the same time, and I want our children to be best friends.”
I headed to the dressing room because my friends had all apparently picked out dresses for me. “I’ve been out of sorts since the doctor said no cosmos.”
Miley analyzed my statement. “Once you have a nanny, you can host us at this place Kelly was telling us about.”
I stopped and pointed at a mermaid-style dress then a simple white form-fitting gown. As the staff grabbed my sizes for the pile, I asked my friends, “She told you I cried?”
“Maybe a little,” Isabel said but then lifted her chin. “We know you’re hormonal.”
I tried on a fluffy princess dress with lace sleeves, but that was clearly more Kelly’s style. I had no time to be picky, but style was style, and until right then, I’d not really thought about actually marrying Michael. I wanted to look like myself when I came out, and I shook my head. “I won’t always have that excuse, but anyway, how come you haven’t asked us to look for a dress for you yet, Avril?”
I stared again at the simple dress, which had beading near the chest. I would wear it out on the town, if I was honest, but I grabbed the long silky-sleeved one that was more Isabel’s style and came out.
Avril was saying, “I’m still deciding when I want the wedding, but we’re not in a rush.”
I gave a thumbs down then decided my time to focus on my friends and noy problems. I shimmied into a buxom, slightly too low dress and stared at the open V-neck as I asked Avril, “You’re happy?”
“Absolutely,” she said quickly. I blinked and wondered if she and Kir had married in Vegas a few weeks before, but I held my tongue. She would admit it in her own time.
The new dress I tried on was perfect. My heart thumped faster. Time to see what my friends think. I came out with a smile and said, “Good. So what do you think?”
“It’s short,” Miley said.
I shrugged. The tea-length dress did show my ankles and some of my lower leg, but I wasn’t heading to a church. “Only a little.”
“You look elegant.” Kelly smiled and beamed like she was happy for me.
I nodded and decided that was it. The open-back tulle Bocho-style dress was perfect.
As I handed over my credit card, Hope said, “No one would believe you’re anything other than a goddess.”
I met her gaze and whispered so that the saleslady couldn’t hear me. “I don’t know if I’ll ever turn into a lady, though.”
Hope hugged me and said, “Michael knows you and can’t expect you to be someone you’re not.”
So that was the dress. Kelly grabbed my clothes for me, I paid, and we headed out to the limo.
“I… he doesn’t. It’s all me,” I said.
The limo turned on to go but Kelly opened the door and pointed at a florist shop near by.
Hope asked, “What do you mean?”
I stared at my friends. After Kelly hugged me and hopped out to fetch the flowers, I said, “I’ve been blaming my parents and my hormones, but I think I’m just plain old scared.”
Miley asked, “Can we help?”
They could do nothing but be themselves. As Kelly ran back carrying a bouquet, I said, “No, just get me to my wedding, and then we’ll all go to my new home.”
When she handed it to me, I realized it was roses and peonies, two of my favorite flowers mixed together.
Refusing to cry, I swiped my face as we raced to the courthouse.
That day was probably the closest thing to a real wedding I would ever have, and I couldn’t tell my friends I was lying and Michael and I weren’t on the path to happily ever after.
