Unadulterated Pleasure

14: Final Fitting

Okay, Mara. Open your eyes."

At her mother's words, Amara slowly opened her eyes and looked herself over in the full-length mirror. Her mother had put the finishing touches on her dress the day before and Amara was trying everything on for the first time.

Originally, she wanted a traditional wedding dress. However, when her mother was fitting her for the skirt of it, Amara had gotten the idea that maybe she wanted a two-piece. As she looked herself over now, tears welling in her eyes, Amara knew she'd made the right choice.

The skirt of the dress contained a thin cotton skirt that rest against her legs. The cotton was covered by layers of tulle, giving the bottom of the dress a princess effect. It wasn't heavy and Amara knew her mother had taken into account that she was joining outside. The top was intricate, made with soft lace, housing short sleeves. There was a slight separation between the two pieces, that allowed some of her midriff to show. It wasn't a large amount, so she didn't feel uncomfortable.

Amara had only imagined what she'd look like in a wedding dress. Much like she'd imagined what it would be like when she left the academy. Her imagination had not done either of those things justice. It was so much more, so much better than anything she'd conjured in her mind.

"I love it, Mom," Amara stated softly as she blinked back the tears.

"You look beautiful." Her mother responded, moving to make eye contact with her in the mirror.

Amara thanked her mother as she turned from side to side, looking at herself. Her joining wasn't that far out, and she couldn't wait to see herself on the day with everything done.

After taking herself in for several minutes, Amara took her dress off with Adina's help and they placed it back on the hangers and inside of the protective bag before hanging it up after she got dressed. They'd been keeping it in one side of her mother's closet and that was where it was going to stay until the joining.

She stayed and spent another hour with her mother until Adina yawned, and Amara decided she would leave her to take a nap. She knew that her mother more than likely stayed up until the early hours of the morning making sure the finishing touches were on the dress. With only a month left until the joining, Adina wanted to make sure there was enough time to make changes if any were needed.

Amara decided that she would go and practice the song Dorian had begun teaching her last week. She sat at the piano, playing slowly through the piece. The beginning she knew from memory. It was the easiest for her to pick up on. The rest she had to look at the sheet music for. The problem with that was that Amara hadn't quite learned to read all of the notes yet. So, she would hit the key she thought it was but if it sounded wrong, she had to hunt for the correct key.

It didn't bother her too much. If anything, it helped her reaffirm the notes she knew, and learn some of the ones that had yet to stick with her. It wasn't the piece he'd played for her when she'd first arrived. That piece was slow and beautifully sad. The piece he'd taught her, while still a slow piece, was light and uplifting. It also was not very long.

She practiced for a while until her stomach reminded her that she'd skipped lunch. Getting up, Amara decided she would ask Dorian to help her practice later when he got home from work if he had time and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Opening the oven, where William typically kept her meals when she decided she wasn't hungry right then, she found the bowl and pulled it out. Amara removed the covering from the bowl and found that it was pasta and chicken in a special sauce William made. She didn't know what the sauce was, but it was delicious.

Once Amara warmed the food up a bit more, she poured herself something to drink, pulled her mobile from her back pocket, and sat at the bar to eat. She'd been making it a point to keep her mobile on her since she'd scared the entire house a couple of weeks ago.