There Will Be Freedom (not mine)

39. Opening Day

"I'll go do damage control." I headed into the bedroom where Bridget was sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I'm sorry about this." She shook her head. "I hate crying."

"I know you do." I sat down, rubbing her back. "She didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"When you... lost the first one, was it hard for you?" Bridget blew her nose.

"Incredibly hard. I didn't know how to handle it. I would just cry for days and I was so young."

"Do you think about it now?"

I nodded. "Sometimes. Roman and Sophia would have an older sibling. It's so strange to think that."

"I'm sorry we never helped you through it."

"I know you are, but you have us here if you ever need anything."

"Thank you so much." Bridget hugged me tightly. "I just kind of want to be alone for a minute."

"Okay, we'll be in the bathroom."

I got up and let her be so that she could have a good cry.

I thought about Elizabeth a lot, but didn't shed many tears anymore. Only when I really contemplated how my future might have changed if she was here. It was hard for me, but harder for Bridget. She had lost so many now, and I couldn't imagine the pain she went through.

Olivia was finishing up her hair when I went back to the bathroom.

"You're being really insensitive," I told her.

"I am not. I love her like a sister, but I can't stand it when she gets all depressed like that. It brings down my mood."

"Because it's all about Olivia?" I said sarcastically, pulling on my black stiletto heels. They were very high, but I could do it.

She didn't bother acknowledge me.

Bridget pulled herself together and joined us in the bathroom to finish up getting ready. She smiled and put on her usual joyful face, but she was hurting so much. I tried to be as comforting as I could. She and Olivia were my older sisters, for all intents and purposes. I loved them both fiercely, and it hurt when one of them were in pain.

I held the banister of the staircase as I went down slowly, trying not to fall before I even got out of the door.

"Hot stuff." Keegan catcalled as we descended. "I like what I see."

Bridget ran to him like a schoolgirl. Olivia did the same with Finn.

Justin was in the corner, shaded in darkness like some kind of mysterious enigma. He had a flute of champagne held close to his face, his lips in a smirk. He was in a pewter gray suit with a skinny black tie; perfectly formal without trying too hard. His hair was styled, yet disheveled at the same time, as it always was.

"What exactly are you trying to do to me?" he asked when I walked towards him. "Mrs. Bieber, you are going to be turning heads tonight."

"I want to turn your head." I pushed him gently against the wall.

"Your hormones are getting the best of you again." He chuckled. "We talked about this over aggressive sexual nature."

"I can't help it."

"You know what would set your outfit off even more?" He pulled me closer to him.

"What is that?"

Justin reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a strand of shining diamonds.

"You bought me another gift?" I exhaled in surprise, watching the jewels sparkle. "Wow."