Fall to You (Here and Now 2)

The wedding dress doesn’t quite want to zip.

“Exhale hard and suck it in!” Cally’s sister Drew commands, her voice a little nasally with the head cold she’s been fighting all week. “Liz, hold here at the top. We’re going to make this work!”

Cally sucks in her nonexistent stomach, and Drew and Lizzy work together to battle the zipper up.

“I’m bloated because I’m going to start my period soon,” Cally says when she’s allowed to breathe again. She presses her hand to her white-satin-covered stomach. “I can breathe later, right?” But she grins.

She’s so happy to marry William that nothing is fazing her today. Not the chaos that broke loose when the florist mixed up two orders and brought someone else’s flowers. Not the awkward breakfast where Will’s grandmother apologized for the way she once treated Cally—but not before detailing why it was so hard for her to trust a girl whose mom used to run a shady massage business.

I envy Cally’s impenetrable joy. I love Max, and I know we’re going to have an amazing life together, but Cally doesn’t just love Will. She believes they’re destined to be together. And maybe I’d believe in destiny too if I’d had to go through what they did to get to my wedding day.

“I am so tired it’s ridiculous,” Cally says, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. “It’s my wedding day, and I’d pay any one of you fifty bucks for twenty minutes to take a nap.”

Drew straightens her dress and frowns in the mirror. “You haven’t been feeling well for weeks. Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the doctor?”

I take a step closer to Cally. “Not feeling good how?”

Cally shrugs. “Nauseated in the evenings sometimes. It’s no big deal. Drew keeps me on my toes, and I think I’ve just been worrying about her.”

“Huh.” Lizzy looks up from the bag of makeup she was digging through. “Sounds like you’re pregnant.”

The whole room goes still, and Cally freezes, her mouth open as she stares at Liz.

“Could that be it?” Drew asks. A smile tugs at her lips and she can’t hold it back. “When was your last period?”

“Weeks ago.” Cally frowns. “But that couldn’t be it.” She lowers her voice. “I mean, Will can’t…”

Lizzy drops her mascara and spins around. “Holy shit, I was joking.”

Cally’s hand drops to her stomach. “Do you think we could be so lucky?”

“This is nuts,” Lizzy says. “We don’t have to sit here in suspense when there’s a CVS a mile down the road that sells perfectly good pregnancy tests.”

“I can do you one better,” I say, grabbing my purse. “I have one with me.” I pull out the unused pregnancy test from my two-pack, and Cally takes it with shaking hands.

We all wait anxiously outside the bathroom as she takes the test, and when she comes out two minutes later, she’s grinning so big she doesn’t have to tell us what it says.

There are lots of hugs and squeals and carrying on, and no doubt the guests waiting downstairs in the gallery think we’ve decided to start the party early, but we don’t care. This is Will and Cally, and they deserve this.

“I can’t believe we’re both pregnant,” she squeals when it’s my turn for a hug.

I nod and blink back tears. “Stop. You’re going to make me ruin my makeup.”

“Drew, are you crying?” Liz asks.

“No.” Drew rolls her eyes, but she can’t hide the truth. She’s as happy for William and Cally as the rest of us are. “It’s just that Asher promised me a dance at the reception, and I’m starting to worry he’ll forget.”

Sniffing, Cally grabs a tissue, and I grab one for myself.

“Okay, ladies!” the wedding planner says. “Let’s get lined up. It’s time.”

It’s only as I turn to take my place in line that I see my mother standing in the doorway, her eyes wide, her mouth agape as she stares at my stomach. How long has she been standing there?

She flicks her gaze to my face and back to my stomach. “Are you? But you’re not married…”

Behind me, Maggie draws in a sharp breath, apparently realizing what our conversation is about. “Shit,” she mutters.

The music starts to play, and the wedding planner nudges me forward. I give one last apologetic glance toward my mother and head down the stairs.