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“Bad luck.”
“Hmmmm. Tell me what you’re wearing.”
I laugh. “You’re bad.”
“Right. Should I come home?”
“No.”
“Mia—”
“No, Grayson.”
He gives a heavy sigh. “Okay. But this is the only night for the rest of our lives that I’m sleeping anywhere without you.”
“That’s a hard vow to keep.”
“Not hard at all. Goodnight, baby. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” We disconnect and I snuggle into his pillow and inhale that spicy, male scent of his, missing him. The way I missed him every day we were apart. The way I never want to miss him again.
***
I wake alone and feel the emptiness of the house. My close friend, Courtney, has been traveling for work, and apparently married an Italian man in Italy. My mom is gone. Then Grayson sends me a text: Almost mine.
A smile spreads on my face and I type: Already yours.
Prove it, he replies. Say I do. I love you, baby.
I love you, too.
We’ve finished our exchange, and I’ve dressed in leggings, and clipped my hair on top of my head, when new friends come through for me. Cat calls me mid-morning with a surprise. “My brother is babysitting. Surprise. I just landed at the airport. Reese is here, too. He’s going to see Grayson and the guys at the hotel.”
Instantly, I’m smiling all over again. A few minutes later, she pulls up in a rental car. She exits with coffees in her hands, jeans and a pink sweater as her gear, and smiling her way past the front door. And somehow, some incredible somehow, the minute she’s set her things down and really looked at me, she knows I’m pregnant. “Oh my God. Congratulations.” She hugs me.
“How did you know?”
“You glow, Mia. It’s such a beautiful glow. When are you telling him? Or does he know?”
“Tonight and if you know, maybe he knows.”
“Oh he probably knows, but he doesn’t know. Something just seems different to him. It did to Reese.”
From there it’s all girl talk and nerves for hours.
Late in the day, Cat helps me set-up a surprise for Grayson at the lighthouse. By the time we’re back, not one but three stylists are waiting on me. Grayson clearly went overboard. At some point after my shower, Cat forces me to eat, but I don’t even know what I eat. Banana bread, I think. Fruit, maybe. I’m just too nervous to know.
Someone, one of my stylists, tries to offer me champagne. Cat quickly takes the glass and downs it. “Thank you. That was delicious.”
I laugh and she laughs, and I’m thankful for this new friend. Just before I put on my dress, Cat changes into a pretty floral dress. I’m raving over it, when Grayson’s godmother, Leslie, rushes into the room. “Where is my new goddaughter?!”
I smile and hop to my feet, only to find myself in a big embrace. “I know you miss your mama just like Grayson does, but I’m right here, honey. I will be here as long as God lets me be here.”
Leslie, who was best friend’s with Grayson’s mother, is a petite woman with long dark hair who vowed years ago to look after Grayson and she does. The idea of calling her my godmother squeezes my heart. “I’d like that.”
Not long after Leslie arrives, Delaney joins us in the bedroom, and dressed in a pale pink dress, she looks lovely, but deep in her eyes shadows lurk and pain lingers.
“Hi,” she says, sitting down in a chair next to the vanity where one of the stylists has been working her magic.
“I’m glad you made it.”
She squeezes my hand. “I wanted to watch a real fairytale happen. So I know I can still find mine, too.”
And she will, I decide. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here, looking beyond her own pain. She wouldn’t be at our offices daily helping others look beyond their pain with our new charity program.
When finally, it’s time to dress, my nerves go wild. I’m shaking, I think, as my hands won’t steady. “I’m a mess.”
“It’s normal,” Cat informs me. “I was a wreck when I married Reese.”
Once I finally step into my gown, I stand in front of the mirror, my hair long and silky brown over my shoulders. The elegant white silk and the delicate floral designs are perfect. And it’s not too tight anymore.
“Stunning,” Cat says, as do all the stylists, in murmurs of approval.
One of the girls glosses my lips and then has me bend just enough to place my long, sheer floral veil. There’s a knock on the door and my father pokes his head in. “It’s time. Oh my.” He steps through the door. “Stunning, baby girl. Just stunning. Wow. Your mother—oh god, your mother would be so proud.”
I start to tear up and Cat points at me. “Do not cry and mess up your make-up.”
I nod and eye my father’s tuxedo. “You look pretty snazzy yourself, Dad.”
