FAWN
"It's beautiful honey!" My mom is nearly in tears as she watches me in this ivory wedding gown. It's a nice one, with a very long train and deep v-neck.
I just can't stop thinking of how long it'll take me to walk down the aisle...
"Mama, the ceremony will take forever to start in this dress," I tell her as I pick up the train to do a twirl. She's completely mesmerized by it.
She waves off my concerns as she gets up to get a closer look. "It's fine, no one will be thinking about that! Look at how beautiful you are! Oh!"
"Thanks..."
"Did you want to try on some other options," the consultant working with us, Abby, asks, and just in time. I'm not buying this dress.
"No."
"Yes, please."
My mom and I look at each other, and she looks disappointed.
"This isn't the dress, mama. We'll find the one, but this isn't it."
"Mais, cherie, it's beautiful on you. You look angelic. C'est tres belle!"
"Mother, please."
My mom sighs, then rolls her eyes, "whatever she wants."
Abby smiles at us, takes a quick look at her phone, then goes to get the other dresses that I liked.
I turn toward the mirror again, admiring my figure in this dress. I can appreciate something without wanting to buy it.
"I thought that the girls were coming?" My mom asks as she looks through her phone.
"I think Liv and Nia are coming," I tell her, "Liv's bringing her kids."
My mom looks up with a smile. "Oh, great! I haven't seen them in a while. How's her boyfriend? What was his name?"
"Robert... Um-"
"I'm back with the other dresses!" Abby comes into the room with a rack full of wedding gowns, and I'm seeing a lot of lace. Not just lace, different designs, colours, and some veils.
"Now, some of these were the ones that you chose earlier. I noticed that you seemed to favour lace and semi-transparent designs, as well as ballgowns, so I found some new designs. But, I know you said you like rose gold and pink, so I grabbed some dresses with different colours and different designs since you're planning to change into another dress during for the reception. Anyway, let me know what you think."
I've already stepped down from the little 'stage', and am counting the amount of dresses she brought for me to try on. "Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. That's a lot of dresses..."
"Oh, many brides try on a plethora of gowns," Abby smiles, looking through the choices as well. "Appointments go on for hours. No worries if you don't have time to try everything on today, we can always make another appointment. How about these two?"
I open my mouth to respond, but scream instead when I feel something grab my leg, "AH! What is that?!" I'm about to shake my leg, but relief replaces my fear as my eyes are met with those belonging to a very cute toddler. And he looks scared.
"Neil, I told you not to run... Sorry, Fawn. I don't think he tired out at the park." Liv gives me a quick hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, I'm Olivia, Fawn's cousin," Liv shakes Abby's hand. "I'm Abigail, their bridal consultant, nice to meet you."
Liv gives Abby a smile in return, then bends over to pick up her son, and that's when I notice one of her twins on her back in a kitenge. The other is in a carrier strapped to the front of Liv's body. And they're fast asleep.
So, I pick him up instead.
"God, look how much you've grown man!"
Liv smiles wearily, "you don't have to do that, Fawn, this is your special appointment for your special day! I can-"
"Even if you wanna carry him, where are you gonna put him?"
Liv sighs, and I laugh a little, "where's your stroller anyway?"
"It's in the car... Is Nia coming?"
"Yeah," I reply, most of my focus on the cute kid, "she should be here in a few minutes."
Liv nods, "Well, I'm gonna go say hi to your mom."
She walks away and I watch after her, noticing something off. Liv's usually a lot more energetic than this, but it could be anything.
"Oh well," I whisper, walking back into the fitting with Neil on my hip.
Twirl, twirl, twirl...
I stop after a few seconds with my eyes closed to keep the dizziness at bay, "how do I look?"
Everyone sounds kind of excited, but they're not saying anything so I can't tell if this dress is a winner for them.
"Well I- you gotta open your eyes if you wanna see it Tess," Nia laughs, and I open my eyes quickly. She's up now, and she's examining the details of this gown up close and personal. I'm hearing a lot of 'hmm's and 'huhs'. I don't mind until my view of the gown includes the side of her body.
"Nia..."
Her hands smooth down the part of the dress that she was pulling at, then she looks up and smiles, "I love it." Nia then turns to my mom and Liv, "what do you ladies think?"
My mother is already going at her tears with a napkin, "c'est tres belle, ma cherie! C'est parfait!"
"Maman, are you going to cry every time I put on a nice one?" I laugh as she grabs more tissue from her bag. She hands one to Liv even though her eyes are dry. But she's polite, and she thanks my mother anyway.
"It is beautiful Fawn," Liv smiles at me. She starts using the tissues my mom gave her to wipe Nuru's nose, "I have tears in my heart for the beauty of it. I don't wanna sway you too much, but I kinda feel like this is the one."
Nia shakes her head like a proud parent, takes my hand in hers and says, "I really think it is... And we've been here for like two hours, I'm hungry."
A loud gasp comes from Liv, and she stands up for emphasis, "Nia!"
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