She rolls her eyes. “Of course, it was.”
I glare at her, my eyes narrowed, but I can’t be angry.
“The worst part was when Matt turned up on my doorstep, begging me to take Luke in, and made some offhanded comment about the girl in cubicle nine,” I say.
“Oh, he didn’t,” Annie says, laughing. “I would’ve died.”
“Trust me, I wanted to.”
I shake my head and stare at the shirt. This did exactly what he wanted it to. The panic is gone and all that’s left is excitement about marrying such an amazing man. I’m not sure if it’s the laughing or just remembering how much we’ve been through together, but I can’t wait for tomorrow.
I get up and lean over, kissing Annie and then Becca.
“Thanks for staying with me tonight.”
“Thank your Mom for babysitting,” Annie says, holding up her glass. “I’ll do just about anything these days for a night off.”
“Now I feel extra special.” I grin.
“And you know nothing would stop me being here,” Becca says. She gets to her feet, throwing her arms around my neck. When she starts to sob onto my shoulder, I groan.
“Yep, you’ve definitely drank too much.”
#
The morning passes in a blur as we frantically rush to get ready. I thought getting up at five would give me plenty of time, but even that was pushing it. Wait, who was I kidding? I didn’t sleep at all. I sat on the couch for most of the night, thinking about Luke and how amazing he is.
I’m doing my best not to freak out about the fact that I’m about to walk down the aisle and marry the man of my dreams, but it’s hard. For so long, this was beyond anything I could have even let myself dream. A family inevitably leads to kids, which wasn’t in my future. But I guess it’s all about perspective. I have an amazing daughter, and after today, the three of us will finally be a family. I know this day means as much to Luke and Allie, as it does to me.
Allie walks out, wearing her beautiful dusky pink, raw silk bridesmaids dress.
“Maybe go and change into something that isn’t going to matter when it’s covered in makeup and hair product, rather than your five-hundred-dollar dress?” I grumble, pushing her back down to the bedroom.
“Sorry,” she says, rolling her eyes, like I’m being overdramatic. “You’re a real treat when you’re stressed, you know that?” she adds as she stalks inside and shuts the door.
“Laura, hair!”
Shit. I race back up to the front of the hotel suite, where the hairdresser is waiting for me. Mom walks over to me and kisses me on the cheek, then she leans down to hug me.
“You look stressed,” she smiles. “Just relax and enjoy this.”
“Thanks,” I say. Even my voice is shaking. “I just want it to be perfect, you know?”
“I know. And it will be. And you know what? All the little imperfections that do happen are what’s going to make it your day.”
I nod, because that’s a great way to look at it, but it’s unfortunately not making me stress any less.
“I’m going to head down to the chapel. I’ll see you down there in that beautiful dress of yours soon.”
She kisses me again, then smiles at Annie, who appears, looking stunning in her dress, her hair and makeup already done.
Becca’s laughter rips through my thoughts. I glance up, my eyes widening when I see Allie standing there. She changed, like I told her to, into a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt…with Girl in Cubicle Nine scrawled across it. Oh shit. I jump up, not sure what to do. If I make a big deal of it then she’s going to want to know what’s going on. Allie frowns as she examines the front of the shirt, then looks at me.
“What is this?” she sneers. “Some crappy band from the seventies that Dad likes?”
“Yes.”
Becca nods, without missing a beat. It’s like she’s rehearsed this, or something. She walks over to us and winks at me. I give her a warning look, which she ignores. I know Becca, so I also know this isn’t going to go well.
“A very small, one-woman band. She only did the one show, but boy could she strum that instrument. There was a lot of screaming too, apparently.”
Allie frowns and furrows her brow, then shakes her head and stalks off to get her hair done.
“Weirdo’s”
I glare at Becca and Annie, who are both nearly in tears.
“Thanks,” I hiss to Becca.
“What?” she frowns. “I totally saved us from that disaster.”With my hair and makeup done, I close my eyes and step into my dress, shivering as I pull it up over my body. I hold my breath as Becca zips me up, the bodice almost forming a second skin against my own. So long as I don’t want to breathe today, I’ll be fine. I turn around, my heart stopping when I see my reflection in the mirror.