Chapter Twenty
I rolled over in the empty bed I had gotten used to. When Law wasn’t home for the weekends, I always made sure to shove pillows on his side in order to not feel so lonely, but last night I had been in such a daze, I had forgotten to.
I let my hand run over the cold cotton sheet. This cold space meant so much today, because when we came home tonight it would be warmed with a completely different couple. This bed would be occupied by a husband and wife. I rolled to the other side of the bed at this thought and grabbed for my phone. There wasn’t anything.
“Good. You’re awake.” Leah stormed into my room and grabbed for my phone before I could pull away. “Law’s has already been confiscated, so I need yours too.”
She held the phone to her chest and refused to give it back.
“I think that’s a little drastic.” I sat up in the bed as my mother and Cary walked into the room.
“Too much has gone into planning this for you two to get some bright idea of ruining it early,” my mother added as she walked toward the bathroom. I knew she was going to be setting up the makeup to start my transformation from fiancée to bride.
“You’re both already spoiling it for us all with this early reveal.” Cary pouted toward me and crossed her arms over her chest, like I had done with Law last night. I laughed and just shook my head.
“She’s right.” My mother pointed a makeup brush out the door and toward Cary. “We don’t even get to see his first look!”
I let them argue back and forth a little more, both Leah and I were there just as bystanders. These two had gotten off to a rocky start, but once they saw how Law and I were together, they put aside anything that was between them and went full force into mother duties. Both of them.
“Let’s get you ready.” Leah held her hand out to me and pulled me out of the bed. All I had on was a tank and pajama bottoms. I was lucky that I had even that on. There were some nights when I slept with nothing on, but lately, I had to, with us now having guests in the house.
I made my way to the bathroom to where my mother had everything she could find as far as makeup laid out. I didn’t wear much, so I watched as she pulled some of her own out of her travel bag and Leah went to her room to grab more for them to work with. I paid no mind to how much time had passed, with my mother and Leah doing my makeup and Cary working on my hair. When they all stepped away I felt like a different person, even though I didn’t look it.
They had stayed true to my natural look that I always tried to go for, that I knew Law loved. Cary had only done a soft beach wave for my hair, since it had grown at least a full inch since I’d moved and was now past my shoulders. The blond that was always naturally in my hair had grown brighter with more time in the sun. Even my skin had a fresh glow to it I’d never seen before.
I looked myself over in the mirror at the person staring back at me. In just a few short hours I was going to be Anya Kane and that was something I didn’t think my mind had fully wrapped around yet.
“Anya.” My name coming from Leah snapped me out of my trance. I turned around to her holding the bag that held my wedding dress. A dress I had shown no one until this very moment. Not even the other three people in this room had seen it and I did it on purpose. I wanted this to be mine. I tried to stick true to the vibe that Law had wanted for the wedding and I was pretty sure the dress I had chosen was perfect for it.
Leah hung the dress on the back of the door and the women left the room for me to change. I slipped out of the clothes I was in and opened the bag to see the gorgeous vintage dress I had found online. I had taken it into a shop in town with sworn secrecy that word would not get out to anyone. The woman had done an amazing job to get it to fit me just right so I wouldn’t have to wear a bra with it.
I slipped the dress out of the bag and stepped into it, bringing it up my body and placing my arms through the top of the dress. I pulled it the rest of the way up and adjusted my breasts into the fabric and aligned the seams on the side, so that the dress lay perfectly.
I turned around to look in the mirror. I had seen myself in it so many times over the last month, but each time it got better and better.
The dress was cut much different than most wedding dresses. It had a nude slip underneath that stopped about mid-thigh. It was attached to the top white lace of the dress, but where the middle seam met around my waist, the lace bellowed out and the slip hugged my legs. The top of the dress was two slips of lace covered fabric that covered my breasts just enough and met at the top of the middle seam of the dress. You could see my breasts on the side, but I paid no mind to it, it made me feel elegant the way the dress lay on me. The two pieces on top connected as a halter around my neck, leaving my entire back open.
I turned around to see how my hair fell with the dress and I felt like a nymph who was ready to head out into the sunset with a Prince Charming she had never expected to come along. A knock sounded on the door, but no one waited for me to tell them to come in.
Leah got to look first and her response was a hand over her mouth and instant tears. My mother was next and she stood there, mouth gaping open, with Cary’s same expression following. I stood there in the bathroom, waiting for someone to say something.
“So…” I egged them on.
“Gorgeous.”
“Stunning.”
“Majestic.”
All three of their voices collided together and I didn’t know who had said what, but it didn’t matter. They all loved it.
“Lawson is going to die when he sees you in this,” Leah said as she came up to me and grabbed for the lace at my legs, examining the delicate flowers pattern that covered it. “It’s so intricate.”
“It’s truly one of a kind, darlin’.” Cary came up to me and gave me a hug and then made way for my mother to invade my space next. She placed her hands on my shoulders and gave me another once-over before starting in.
“I can tell you this now, I never expected today to look like this, but seeing you in this dress, with that look on your face…” A tear slipped from my mother’s eye. A tear. My mother was crying in front of me and I looked over at Leah with wide eyes and she had a just as shocked look on her face. My mother wiped a tear away and then continued. “I know this is crazy to agree with, but I’m glad you left dancing, Anya.”
“You are…?” I asked wearily.
