A Baby By Bestie

32: We Do!

ONE YEAR LATER

"Samantha, I don't think you should be eating at this time," I could hear my mother over Jessie's loud squeals as she sat playing with her ribbons in her high chair. 

I stared at myself in the adjoining bathroom mirror while mom fusses over Sam and her box of freshly done doughnuts. "I can't help it, Lexi, I'm hungry." 

"You're going to get frosting all over your dress!"

"I'm not a baby, it'll be fine!" 

I shook my head and sighed, fixing my already fixed hair. Chad and Ricky was probably waiting out of patience out on my back lawn with the rest of the guests and the officiant. I gave myself one last look in the mirror and gathered my flowing white, backless gown in my hands, stepping back into my bedroom. Alexis gasped at me with the same surprised gush she made the millionth time that she looked at me since I got myself ready with the help of Sam, as I did the same for her. 

"OMG, my baby!" I swear if she starts crying again, I'm abandoning her. "You look so beautiful in that dress!" 

I sighed, "Thanks mom. Again. Like really, you can stop saying that now." I covered my face to hide my blush. "But, seriously Sam, you've been eating a lot lately." It was almost like when she was stuck on wine for the passed several years. Hopefully she didn't develop an eating disorder, or worse, stress eating. 

She stuffed the last piece of the pastry she was eating in her mouth and wiped her hands in a paper towel. "You're right. I should stop." she said in the most monotonous voice ever. 

I took both her hands and made her sit beside me on my bed, "Is there something you want to talk about, Samantha?" I tucked a single stray hair behind her ears, admiring the dress she wore that mirrored mine. She had paired it with the prettiest silver necklace that made her brown eyes twinkle. "We have a little more time. I'm sure the boys can wait on us." 

"But-" Mother piped up and we both turned to glare at her in a not so menacing way. She was a bit pissed at me for how I had planned the wedding in the first place, but realized eventually that there wasn't much she could do about my decision. So now, mother was trying her best to do as much as she could for us, which happen to include making sure we made it on time to our own weddings in my backyard. She stared back at us for a minute, then threw her hands up and left the room with Jessica, my daughter, who was practically glued to her side ever since she was born. 

I turned to Samantha, finding her chewing at her bottom lip, something she does when she's nervous. "So, what's up?" 

she sighed, "I'm just not sure about this." she talked as if she was speaking in deep conversation with herself about a difficult decision, and not exactly to me. 

"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to marry Chad." I immediately got alarmed. She shook her head vigorously and started to grin from ear to ear, adding more to my confused brain. 

"It's not that, I'm so very happy I'm marrying him." She laughed and shook my shoulders, trying to get me to laugh too. It worked a bit as I managed to let out a chuckle. "Its something else."

"What?" 

She went to scratch her head and seemed to suddenly remember her new hairstyle, ending up running her hands down her face. "I wanted Chad to be the first to know, but I also don't know how to tell him and I don't know how he'd take this kind of news and I don't want this to go downhill because it can get that way really fast and..." 

I wasn't quite sure when she started rambling as she fumbled for her overnight bag, but I started to find a hard time following. "I didn't know at first, but I got suspicious because it's my body, right? So I checked it out and, and, and..." She pulled out a small rectangular gift rapped box and handed it to me. 

"What is it?" I think I'm supposed to know this, but my brain just decided to act slow at the right moment. 

"Open it!" 

"Are you sure?" I mumbled, looking at the green and gold rapping paper. "I doesn't seem like it was meant for me." 

"Just do it!" She screamed and I jumped in my seat. 

"Okay, okay! Fine." I pulled the cover off to find a pink and white pregnancy test nestled on top of some cotton. "No way! Oh my gosh Samantha, congrats!" I pulled her into the tightest hug I could manage. 

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled shyly down at her lap and intertwined fingers. "I just hope he feels the same way." 

"Are you kidding me?" I almost screamed again, the excitement still bubbling up inside me, "He'll be over the moon about this. Why don't you think he'll be happy?" 

"Because, I don't know!" She sighed, "We've never really talked about it.Plus there's Phoebe and Tess..." Sam trailed off at the mention of her two girls. 

"Samantha, stop." I said, "You're thinking too much."

She nodded.

"I think, you should just tell him and see how he takes it. But to be honest, I believe this is the perfect wedding gift and the best he'll ever receive." I grinned as I said this and she copied me. 

"Thank you so much, Ari." She sighed and blinked back tears, "You're the bestest friend a girl could ever have." 

We hugged, rocking each other from side to side and then proceeded to fix each other's attire. Mom walked in with Jessica clinging onto her index finger with her tiny hands, her little lavender dress made her look like a fairy from some mystical movie. She took tiny steps towards me, giggled and fell on her butt, then rolled over and picked herself up. "Are we ready now?" Mother asked, and Sam and I nodded and stood up, holding hands. 

When I heard that Chad had proposed a few months ago, I was actually in the middle of ignoring my mother's nagging to get set my wedding plans into motion, or rather hers. But I instantly decided to collab with Samantha as long as our fiances were down with it. Samantha of course was thrilled and we planned everything together, then eventually told mother. She wasn't very happy to hear that we had planned to walk each other down the aisle, but I understood her disappointment. I'd be quite pissed if Jessica pulled something like that on me. But she came around just when Jessie took her first few steps. 

It was right after her first birthday and we had gotten her a Corgi pup. Jessica was so excited that she screamed so loudly, the poor doggy ran off to hide under the couch and she just picked herself up off the living room floor and wobbled after it. Anyway, mother got the bright idea to 'help' Jessica walk down the aisle as flower girl and promised to teach her how to do it 'right.' I didn't argue with that, partly because I felt awful about not giving mom the chance to walk with me, and I also wanted to see how her plan will pan out. 

So here we were, watching from the back porch as my little girl and mother make their way down the path made. Joy and Suzanne went right after, and I blinked back happy tears as turned around to face us. Samantha and I gathered our dresses, linked arms and stepped out into the wide yard and steadily, with the guidance of the music, marched towards our waiting grooms. I spent most of the ceremony blinking back tears and grinning up at Rick who seemed to have a hard time taming his adorable dimples. By the time the vows were being said, I could stop myself from crying as I listened to Samantha and Chad's. Then, it was our turn and I was a mess. 

"When I saw her, I fell in love, she smiled because she knew." Rick sounded like he'd been waiting his entire life to say the quote from Shakespeare. "Would it be cliched to say you're the best thing that has ever happened to me? I don't think many person have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to marry their best friend from childhood. The very thought that we still have that kind of relationship and more is almost unbelievable and extremely amazing. I must say also, that I had no idea things would turn out like this, but I'm so glad it did.

I promise to always love you with my whole heart. And even though I've said this a million times before, I will never leave you again. I will spend the rest of my life with you, stubbornness and all, because there's no other person I'd rather be stuck with than you, Ariadne." 

After that heartfelt speech, I was a sputtering glass of tears and I had trouble remembering the words I had spent a whole month memorizing. But that was okay, because we said we do in the following minutes and had the best evening imaginable.