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We each take a shopping basket and start to wander through the store. There truly are an infinite number of adorable things associated with babies. The building blocks and stuffed animals, the miniature cars that would carry a miniature person around a house. Even the mobiles have adorable woodland creatures chasing each other in circles.
Thankfully, Starla manages to keep me a little on track, and we only buy the necessities and a few fun things we simply couldn’t pass up. Even so, as we leave the store, stocked with burp rags and bottles, I know I could spend hours more in that shop. Jessica is the store owner, and she is, by all accounts, baby obsessed. And massively helpful as well. By the end of our little diversion into the store, I feel far more educated on what a baby might need.
“Let’s drop these off at the car and then head to the dress shop,” Starla suggests.
The dress shop is just how Mallory described, surprisingly full of white beaded and lace fabrics, all hanging in racks along the walls. A whole section is designated to hair pieces, which are labeled New. Another corner contains veils, and I hadn’t realized there could be such a variety of those. Of course, I knew the different lengths and such, but the ones on display here have everything from patterns stitched into the fabric to beads lining the edge. One that particularly catches my eye even has some floral embroidery that makes it look like a wind has swept the blossoms from a tree.
“Afternoon, ladies,” the shop owner says, stepping from the back to greet us.
“Hi,” I say, my eyes continuing to wander around the room.
It strikes me as odd that I’ve done this once before. My father sent me dress shopping when Dean Blackmoor and I got betrothed. But that life almost feels like a dream now, even though it was less than a year ago. So much has changed since then, and I’m sure this shopping experience will be far different from the one I did at that couture wedding store.
“Are we shopping for a dress today?”
“Yes, Winter here is trying to get married in a few months,” Starla says, her hazel eyes twinkling at me.
“A few months! Well, then we’ll want to find the dresses we have in your size,” the middle-aged woman says. She has a tall, proud figure, on the slender side, and her expression is surprisingly severe. But she seems helpful enough.
I smile at her self-consciously as she sizes me up. The old Winter Romero wouldn’t have blinked twice about someone studying her figure, but with my waistline steadily growing, I catch myself wondering if people might be judging me over my age and pregnancy. It really hits home in this instant as the expression “shotgun wedding” pops into my head, and I wonder whether this woman might be thinking that about me.
Then her eyes meet mine, and a smile spreads across her face, easing the severity of her mouth that had intimidated me. “The good news is, I have a lot of nice dresses in stock that can fit you with just a little bit of alteration, so I’m sure we can find something you like. Do you have a budget in mind?”
“Um.” Once again, I’m struck by the contrast of this moment to the last time I looked at a wedding dress. I’d had no limit on what I could spend last time. “Cheap?” I suggest, my cheeks warming.
The shopkeeper chuckles, combing a few loose strands of her gray-streaked hair back into its bun. “Why don’t you start looking at dresses? Pull any out that you like and think might be close to your size. I’ll find a few affordable options I think you might like, and we can get you started trying them on. I’m Linda, by the way. Call on me if you have any questions.”
Starla sticks close to me as we shuffle through the dresses, talking about the different looks I like. While I find myself drawn to the dresses with intricate embroidery and beading, most end up at the top of my budget, and I’m not sure I want to blow it all on my dress. Still, we manage to find a few that look pretty and might do a good job of catering to my waist.
By the time we’re done looking and Linda has picked out a few for me as well, I have over twenty dresses to try on, and I’m sure to find one I like. Getting in and out of the dresses proves a bit of a comedy show. There are so many layers and so much fabric, I find I can’t stay balanced well, and bending and twisting has become a bit more of a chore as of late. But somehow, I manage, with a lot of help from Starla and Linda, when it comes to buttoning and zipping me inside each dress.
“I like the top on that one. It makes your boobs look good,” Starla says as I step out of the dressing room in a strapless dress with a heart neckline. It’s the third one I’ve tried on, and so far, all I’ve come away with is that I’m getting too big to have a proper dress.
“It’s still a bit tight on the waist, though,” I say, smoothing the beautiful silky fabric over my baby bump. I might be able to fit in it today, but the A-line cut probably won’t last me for the next few months.
“Maybe try a dress with an empire waist,” Linda suggests. “That will give you room to grow, and the fabric tends to be flowy enough that it hides any… bulges,” she adds delicately.
I chuckle at that. “Thanks.” Going back into the dressing room, I sort through my options, setting aside the more traditional waistlines that I used to go for, the ones that might show off my now-nonexistent curves.
I pull out one of the flowing dresses that Linda picked out for me. It’s a halter top, cut with a plunging V neckline that’s so low it remains open all the way to the empire waist. The ruching will hopefully help hide the fact that my body is changing. The waistline has a gauzy tie at the back and a riot of jewels, beads, and sequins at the waist.
As soon as I slip it on, it feels good. I’m not even sure I would need to get it altered besides shortening the hem a few inches. Taking a deep breath, I step out of the dressing room, and Starla gasps.
“Okay, I lied.Thatmakes your boobs look good.”
“Are you going to say that about every dress?” I ask, laughing.
“Hey, I can’t help that pregnancy has helped you in that area. Not that they were inconsequential before…” she adds with a cock of her eyebrow.
“It fits you nicely,” Linda agrees. “How does it feel?”
“More comfortable than I ever thought a wedding dress could,” I admit.
Turning, I look at myself in the three-way mirror and gasp. It actually fits me better than I could have imagined. And Starla’s right. The deep neckline does make my breasts look good. The high waist even tapers down in a gentle, flowing way, hiding my baby bump perfectly. Layers of chiffon give the dress something of a waterfall appearance. This dress could belong to a Greek goddess.
“You should still try on a few more at least, but I’ll be honest, that dress is going to be hard to beat.” Starla’s eyes follow me with admiration as I turn to look at the open back.
At this point, that might be my best feature, as my shoulders and arms are still toned from the years of yoga I’ve put in. I nod, agreeing with her assessment. “I think this might be the one,” I agree.
