Fate Interrupted

43. The Big Day

Ren

DECEMBER 2010

"It won't zip, Rennie."

"Don't play with me right now, Sydney! I'm already freaking out."

"You're boobs are way too big now!" Chiara giggles, helping Sydney pull the dress closed in the back.

"God, I never thought that would be the problem!" I groan. "Here, I'll breathe in deeper." I suck in a huge breath and can barely utter the words, "Try it now."

"Yes, that did it! Got that sucker up!" Sydney cheers.

I look down at my off-white wedding dress, and my breasts are nearly bursting out the top. I picked out this dress two months ago with Sydney, and it fit just right—an empire dress with a lacy bodice, wide lace straps, and a sweetheart neckline. The chiffon fabric pleats just under the bust and cascades to the floor. Perfect, I thought, to accommodate a growing belly—I wasn't thinking of a growing chest size as well.

"Let me take a look," Chiara says, coming around to see the front. "Jeez, that's a lot of cleavage."

"Well, I'm pretty sure the groom won't mind!" Sydney smirks.

"I want him looking at her face, not her breasts Sydney! We don't need two indecent body parts on display up there. Can you even breathe, Ren?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It is what it is, I guess. How pregnant do I look?"

"Not at all. You look gorgeous!" Chiara assures me.

I'm glad I'm not showing because we haven't told everyone yet. I'm just entering my second trimester, and we are waiting until just after the wedding, which we pushed forward as soon as the divorce was finalized in October. It was a race to get a dress, rings, and a venue, but Gio pulled it off. And thanks to a December wedding, Gio got his way—it's in a church.

It is the cutest little white historic wooden chapel with a steeple, located on a country road on one of the routes out to the beach. The inside has creamy white walls and only eight rows of old, dark wooden pews. We both fell in love with it instantly. Happily for me, it was nondenominational, and because we were looking in the off-season, it had an open weekend. We booked it the day we saw it.

Sydney's lip quivers as she does some finishing touches on my make-up. "I can't believe you're finally marrying Gio. I remember the first time you told me about him. You gushed about some fifteen-year-old boy you had a huge crush on, then totally ran away from him when you bumped into each other at the concert!"

"I remember not trusting you at all with my brother the day I caught you in his room," Chiara cut in. "When you guys broke up, I realized how much I missed having you in our family's life. There is no one I'd rather have as a sister-in-law. I just had to get you back." 

Oh, my heart! I pull both girls in for a hug just as the old knob rattles on the door to the dressing room. The door cracks open, and the three of us spin around. My dad peeks his head in the door, looking modestly at the ground. "You girls almost ready?"

"Yes, Dad, come in. How do you like it?" I do a little twirl for him.

"Aw, Honey, you look incredible!" He pulls me into a big hug.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Everyone is in their seats, and the boys are going up to the front right now. You feeling good?"

Somehow, the thought of Gio waiting for me at the front of the church sets my heart up a notch, pulling more moisture to the edge of my skin. People always say you're glowing when you're pregnant, but I think that's just a nice way to look at having a constant layer of perspiration.