“Oh, babe, you know we are game to go shopping! We need to get Christmas presents and something to wear also. So two birds, one stone.” Chris claps excitedly.
Callum’s mom walks up and pulls me, then all the guys, into a hug. “I’m so happy for y’all. I can't wait to meet my new grandbabies and for you and the kids to officially be family. If it’s okay, I’d love to come dress shopping with you. I understand if you aren’t comfortable with that since we don’t know each other very well yet.”
“I would love it if you want to come as well. It’ll give us some girl bonding time. Maw-Maw, are you going to join us?” I ask, turning to look at the woman in question who is completely engrossed in something on her laptop.
“Of course, dear, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She grins up at me, and I don’t think I like the look in her eyes.
Isla
The last couple weeks have been so amazing. It has been two weeks since we found out the gender of the babies and since the guys asked me to marry them. We obviously can’t all get married but the guys decided Bodie should get to be the legal husband since Callum and Silas are going to legally get married and the twins have each other as biological family. Bodie doesn’t have anyone. We also decided that since there are five kids and five men, each man will be legally adopting each child.
We asked the kids who they wanted on theirs. Arden chose Callum, Lochlan chose Odin, and Vivian chose Silas, so Orin and Bodie will be on each of the twins. Normally that wouldn’t work, but since my grandmother is dating a lawyer and is also apparently really good friends with the local judge, it was nothing to get them added.
I’m currently headed to meet Ellen, Chris, and Nathan. I’m sitting in the passenger seat, listening to my grandmother lay out her plans for what flowers and decor she wants at the wedding, and Vivi is singing ‘Let It Go’ for the hundred thousandth time. I’m excited to actually be able to look for a dress I really love. Stefanie demanded to go with me last time and made sure I got the dress she and Corin wanted, and it was absolutely hideous. I found a local high end dress shop online that tends to cater to more untraditional wedding dresses, and I can’t wait to see the store in person.
I called the shop the day after the guys proposed to see if they had anything like what I was wanting, and she said she has a couple but one she thought I would absolutely love based on my descriptions.
When we pull up, the others are already there waiting on us. Since I don’t have any female friends and my sister is in jail, I brought a little gift to ask Chris and Nathan to be my bridesmen. I ordered them a set of custom wine glasses with their names on them, a decanter, and a really nice bottle of wine. They each have cute little notes that say, ‘I’ve got my rock, now I need my flock. Be my bridesmen?’.
“Hey, babe! Are you ready to find your dream dress? I can’t believe you got an appointment here! It’s so hard to get into, but I doubt anyone says no to Mrs. Emma,” Chris rambles, reaching his hands out for Vivi.
“Hey there, pretty girl, ready to help mommy find a dress?” he asks her as he gently tosses her in the air, making her giggle.
“Yes! Mommy is going to look like a princess! I get to wear a pretty dress too,” she replies excitedly.
“I bet you’ll look so beautiful too. Is everyone ready to go in?” He sets Vivian back down next to my grandmother.
“Actually, I have something for you and Nathan. Maw-Maw, if you want to take Vivi, you and Ellencan go sign us in for the appointment, and we will be right there,” I ask, reaching into my car to grab the gift bags.
“Yes, dear, that's fine. Let’s go, little bit.” She grabs Vivi’s hand, and she and Ellenwalk into the shop, laughing at something Vivian was saying.
“Okay, woman, what you got? The suspense is killing me.” Chris is hopping around.
“Chris, settle down. I knew I shouldn’t have let you have more than one cup of coffee,” Nathan chastises.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” Chris says, not sounding apologetic at all.
“Here, you big child, open it.” I hand them each their bag, fidgeting as I wait for them to get to the note that’s stuffed in their glasses.
“Oh, Isla, these are beautiful!” Chris gushes.
“Did you even see the note, Christopher?” Nathan asks, pulling me into a hug.
Chris yanks the note out of the glass and shoves everything at his husband.
“Yes! A million times yes! We would love to!” Now he really is bouncing around. It’s crazy how hyper he is when his husband is the calmest person ever, but I guess it works.
“Alright, you two, let's go find the future missus, her dream wedding dress,” Nathan teases as he ushers us into the store.
“There you are, Isla Claire, this is Ashley. She will be helping you today. Ashley, this is my beautiful granddaughter.” My grandmother pulls me beside her, so I can face the woman who will apparently be helping me.
She is stunning, standing a good six or seven inches taller than my five foot three frame. Where I’m fuller in most places, she’s thin, but she has a beautiful hourglass figure, long red hair, and pale flawless skin. Honestly, I don’t know whether to be jealous or if I wanna talk the guys into adding another woman into our mix.
I’m not quite showing yet, and I lost a good amount of weight from the gunshot wound recovery, but I’ve had multiple pregnancies and three full term babies, so my stomach already has a little pudge and my legs rub together so much I could start fires with the friction. My boobs are in completely different time-zones, and I’m reminded of when I used to feel so bad about how my body looked.
Corin loved pointing out every single flaw and made sure I knew what each one was. However, after all the therapy and having five guys who love to tell me how beautiful I am and how much they love my body, it’s made me fall back in love with how I look and be proud of what my body and I have survived. It’s a wonderful feeling to not constantly compare yourself to other women.
