My Future Husband

Chapter 54

The door slams downstairs, Heather’s footsteps racing up like a bat out of hell, before she comes barrelling through the door.

“You got it?”

“I got it.”  She holds up what looks like a bag of glittery fabric, but when she pulls it out, even Brie comes to a standstill.

“Holy Project Runway, babe! Did you really make that yourself?” Heather nods, immediately shoving it back in the bag. I hate she feels she has to hide how incredible she is. She’s one of the most confident girls her age I’ve ever met, most grown ass women can’t even stand with their head held as high as she can, but in this one aspect she feels like she has to play down her talent.

“It’s no big deal, I just followed some instructions on YouTube. Do you want to try it on? I can do the alterations here if you need them.” That definitely wasn’t made from a YouTube tutorial, she's probably been working on it for weeks.

“Are you sure I can wear it, hun? I’m not even sure what this date is, and that thing is fucking beautiful. I don’t want to waste it at a fast food drive-thru.” Although I’d be happy with a McDonald’s if I’m honest. I’ve got a Big Mac craving.

“I want you to have it. It doesn't matter where you're going, you deserve to look beautiful. Not that you don’t always look beautiful, obviously.” Every woman in the world should have a Heather Thompson by their side.

We jump into the closet, my niece pulling me out of my towel quicker than even Kage could, before draping me in her creation. You’d swear she made it right to my measurements, the zipper slipping straight up to the top.

“Wow, this is incredible.” I run my hands over the details most people would miss. She’s so bloody gifted!

I’m not as confident in my body as I used to be; my stomach still bears the marks from bringing an actual human being into the world, my boobs resemble sad bags of soup most days, but she's got a skill for cutting things so they emphasise everything you love, and hide anything you want hidden.

“It’s okay I guess, you just make everything look good. Try the shoes too.” She guides my feet straight into the custom sneakers. These could give my Cinderella ones a run for their money.

“When you open your own fashion house, I want first pick of every new season line, okay? And don’t you dare start making them just for those tiny little models, I want a human size.” Damn, look at my ass in this thing. How did she even make that look better? I didn’t think that was possible.

“There's actually a summer programme on right now, it’s had some of the biggest designers come out of it. I applied last year as a bit of a joke because Liam made me... I didn’t think I’d actually get accepted.”

“Hold up.” I spin in my new favourite shoes, grabbing hold of her shoulders. “You're telling me you got accepted into a prestigious fashion summer programme at fourteen-years-old, and you didn’t fucking go! Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because I couldn’t take it. I’d already promised Dad I’d help run the basketball camp, you know Mum can’t cope with the kids without me, and it would’ve meant Liam being-”

“Nope, no way, I’m not having this.” I tug her down to the floor, sitting opposite her and trying to control my mum voice from slipping out. I’m not her parent, I’m her aunt, but I’m more than that too. This girl right here is one of my best friends in the world, but it doesn’t make me want to kill her any less right now! “How many times do we have to go over this? Your siblings aren’t your children, and I know that your folks depend on you more than they should, but they WOULD cope without you. You put so much of this on yourself too babe, you know you do.”