After turning off the shower, she climbed out and dried her hair, rubbing down the whole of her body.
Aunty Betty chose that moment to come into the bathroom.
“Thank God, we need the time to make you even more beautiful. I cannot believe that boy thought he could get one past us.”
“He did,” Andy said.
Jane snorted. “Oh, please, that boy could not sneak around even when he was in diapers. We heard him climbing up the side of the house. He needs to be a little stealthier to try to hide from me.”
Eliza and Lilly both chuckled. “He didn’t even bother to knock on the front door. I was worried he was going to break his neck,” Lilly said.
“Lilly was the lookout. I had the emergency services poised and ready to call if it went wrong.”
Andy’s cheeks flamed.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Jane said. “I was proud of my boy. He knows the woman he wants.”
Andy groaned. “Please, all of you stop.”
“Are you having cold feet?” Aunt Betty asked.
“The opposite. I want to marry him.”
“Now that’s the spirit.”
Andy was forced into a chair as all four women got to work on fixing her up. Her face was tugged this way and that. Her hair was the same, and she couldn’t help but wince as they did this. Each second seemed to last longer than the one before.
She kept glancing up at the clock, seeing the time moving ever closer to the moment she’d be with Rome Hard again. After three hours of treatment that felt close to torture, all four women stepped back.
“Crap, I am going to cry.”
Andy looked at them. Lilly and Eliza were hugging, and Aunt Betty stepped forward.
“You are a vision.” She went to touch her but shook her head. “No, I will not spoil it.”
Jane came back with the mirror. “Look.”
Andy turned toward the mirror and was shocked by what she saw. She looked flawless. The wedding gown hugged her figure in all the right ways, pushing her tits up to show a heaving cleavage. Her hair was curled and small flowers had been placed into her hair.
She looked beautiful.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Do not cry. You cannot cry.”
“We need to get her to the church,” Eliza said.
Andy was walked out toward the waiting limousine.
While the women had been getting her ready, they had also been preparing themselves, and were all dressed in the bridesmaid outfits. She had allowed them to pick their own dresses. She wanted her friends comfortable on her wedding day.
They all sat in the limousine, and because she didn’t have a father, she had asked Theodore if he’d walk her down the aisle toward his son.
Seated in the limousine, she listened to the women talk about the honeymoon. She watched the world go by. Some of the townsfolk stopped and waved. The windows were blacked out, but she held her hand up to wave. It seemed rude not to.
Arriving at the church, she saw Theodore waiting.
One by one, Eliza, Lilly, Jane, and Aunt Betty climbed out of the limousine.
Rome’s father was there to help her out. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” he asked.
“Yes.”
She wasn’t nervous. There were no doubts.
“I’m glad Rome finally got his wish,” Theodore said.
“His wish?”
“Yeah, when he was fifteen years old, he blew out his candles on his birthday cake, and several months later, he told me that his wish was to marry Andy Evergreen.”
She gasped.
They entered the church, and there, near the priest was Rome Hard.
Her soulmate.
The music played, but she didn’t care.
Theodore held her arm, and to Andy, everything faded away as they got closer to Rome. He stepped toward her, and Theodore placed her hand in Rome’s.
Together, they stepped toward the priest before staring at each other.
The ceremony started, and Andy focused on Rome. On his beautiful smile. On his eyes, the sharp green that seemed to sparkle as he looked at her.
When the time came to say their vows, Andy’s eyes filled with tears. Rome’s were full of love and devotion, promising a lifetime of happiness, of providing for her. She followed, vowing to love him for the rest of her days. How she’d follow him through sickness and in health.
No one spoke up when the priest asked for anyone to give any reason as to why they couldn’t be together.
Then, they were man and wife, and Rome pulled her into his arms, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.
She was his just as he was hers.
The round of applause was loud, and it filled her heart with joy.
Rome broke the kiss. “Mrs. Andy Hard.”
Andy pressed a hand to his face. “Nervous?”
“Hell, no.”
“Time for pictures,” Aunt Betty said. “Come on, you do not want to have any moment forgotten. Let’s go.”
Rome didn’t let her go as they were led out of the church. A photographer was waiting. Andy looked up to her husband. The only time they let each other go was when the photographer asked to take one of all the men and she had to stand with all the women.