THIS LOVE | luke hughes

xxii.

PENELOPE LOVED TO SHOP but she had never particularly loved going shopping with her mom and Ellen. The two women together had the pickiest taste whenever it came to clothes and it stressed Penelope out majority of the time to the point she had started to ask for her dad and Jim to take her clothes shopping. But unfortunately, they weren't up for the type of shopping that needed to be done today.

Penelope stood in front of a mirror as she adjusted the large dress that she had one. "Everything okay, Penny?" Ellen asked as she scrolled through her phone, waiting for the girl to exit from the dressing room.

Penelope sighed as she pushed open the curtain and stepped out of the closet. "Kinda poofy." She muttered as she fluffed out the skirt of the dress before she looked up, brushing her hair behind her ears.

Ellen stared at it with her lips puckered before she looked over to Mia who just shook her head. "Too much." They both said at the same time causing Penelope to nod before she entered the dressing room again so she could change back into her clothes.

She felt like she had been through a thousand dresses where both of the women found excuses for why it wasn't the perfect dress for her twentieth birthday. She sighed in the mirror as she adjusted the dress she had just put on before pushing open the curtain.

Ellen stared at the girl in awe as she stepped onto the pedestal. "I love it." She spoke as she placed her hand over her chest, admiring the white dress that Penelope was in.

"Really?" Penelope asked as she adjusted the top dress with a small smile on her face. "Mom?" She said in a questioning tone and looked over towards her mother who was staring at her in awe.

"You look amazing." Mia stated causing Penelope to grow a small smile as she turned around to look in the mirror again.

She brushed her hair behind her back as she looked at the dress. It was simple, consisting of just a heart shaped corset top before it flowed out into a skirt that wasn't too big. She pulled her bottom lip between her tooth as she looked at herself.

Ellen jumped whenever her phone began to ring, causing her to silently apologize as she picked up the phone. "Hey, is everything okay?" She asked the person on the other line causing Penelope to glance to the woman through the mirror.

"Yeah, we're just wondering when you guys will be home." The voice of Luke came through the other end causing Penelope to glance back towards the blonde woman. "Where even are you guys?" He questioned causing Ellen to grin.

"Dress shopping." She said as she tapped her phone screen before finally figuring out how to flip the camera. "Penny, look here." She said and waved the girl to turn.

Penelope had a small grin on her face as she turned to face the woman. "Doesn't she look like a princess?" Ellen questioned as she glanced over to Mia who was staring at her daughter in awe.

Luke was silent for a moment as he looked at the girl who was smoothening out the skirt of the dress. "Yeah, she looks — wow." He chuckled as he looked at the girl, eyes scanning the dress. "You look good, Penny." He said, although she couldn't see him.

Penelope couldn't help the way her face warmed at his words, her smile growing larger as she nodded. "Thank you, Luke." She whispered before she turned around to look at herself, smiling to her mom in the mirror.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to finish dress shopping." Luke said with a grin on his face as he continued to look at the girl, seeing as to how his mom didn't change the camera back. "Be safe." Was the last thing he said before he hung up the call.

Ellen smiled as she stood up, walking over to Penelope. "Mark is going to die when he sees you in this dress." She said as she pulled the girls hair back, running her hand down his back.