“I was. In a very specific context.”
She laughs and begins fussing with the train again. “Okay, Mrs. Baylock.”
I turn toward her sharply. “Don’t.”
“What?”
“That’s terrifying.”
“You are literally marrying him in less than an hour.”
“I know, but saying it out loud feels…intense. It’s one thing when he does it. But hearing it from someone else feels odd.”
She studies me in the mirror. “You’re not scared.”
“No,” I say honestly. “I’m not. It’s still weird. The name thing. I’m not sure why.”
She smiles softly at that. “Because you feel like you’re disappearing in his life?”
“Maybe. But as he said, the name thing is for social things. He doesn’t care if I don’t legally change my name. He understands what a pain in the ass it is.”
A knock sounds at the door again, lighter this time. “Two minutes,” someone calls from outside.
Olivia moves toward the door but pauses. “You really are going to nail him every chance you get, aren’t you?”
I tilt my head. “Is that a question?”
She laughs. “Those boys are going to grow up with the most inappropriate parents.”
“They’ll get used to it.”
She opens the door a crack to answer whoever is waiting, then closes it again. “Alright. It’s time.”
I take one last look at myself. The woman in the mirror looks nothing like the girl who crashed a masquerade party for revenge. And I am fine with that.
Olivia adjusts the bouquet in my hands. “You good?”
“Better than good.”
The End.
