Time after time

Beautiful in white

Elle POV

Noah and Matthew were very suspicious of why we were even going out today. June silenced their whining by telling them that instead of complaining, they still had a free day to do guy things.

The Pronovias New York boutique was located a few minutes walk from our hotel. So June and I left and on the way we passed the Plaza hotel facing Central Park. It reminded me of the movie Home Alone that Lee made me watch over the holidays when I was young.

While walking, I took the liberty of asking June :

- Do you think they guessed what we're doing today?

- Noah probably suspects it but I don't think Matthew knows. He's not very interested in these things but he would be the first to hand over his credit card for a purchase like that." June told me, laughing.

- He doesn't have to do that, June! It's not your job to pay for my wedding dress.

- Me and Matthew want to do it, Elle. If you want to let us do it, sure. We are very happy with what you did for our son! He's changed so much since you started dating. As if you had allowed him to be himself." June said to me with a smile.

I smiled at June's comment before asking her :

- Did you think we would end up like this when we were little?

- I started having doubts when Noah came to see me at the hospital the day you and Lee were born. Joni and I were in the same room and Noah completely ignored Lee. He didn't want to touch him or take him. But when he saw you, he declared that you were his. He spent the entire visit wanting to hold you and give you kisses.

- It's so cute!

- When you grew up, Noah looked after you and Lee like his chicks. When you entered a room, he automatically positioned himself so that he could have you in his field of vision and he still does this today.

- It's true?

- When Noah entered high school and started to have a reputation as a bad boy and a player, I felt like I didn't recognize my little boy. So I told myself that he had to fight against his feelings.

- He admitted to me this fall that he had a big need to protect me and that all his fights in high school had something to do with me.

- I suspected that, June told me. "When you started seeing each other in secret during Noah's senior year in high school, the change in him was so obvious. I knew he found a girl and I hoped it was you!" June said to me, taking me in her arms.

I took a deep breath before asking June :

- You think my mother suspected it or hoped it.

- I think she suspected it because when I talked to her about the difficulties we had with Noah when he was teenagers, she said to me : Don't forget that Noah has a good background, June. You just have to look at how caring he is with Elle.

I was happy to know that my mother would have agreed with this marriage and despite all the pain that my mother's absence caused me, I was happy to live this day with June. I could never have had a better future mother-in-law.

Upon entering the bridal boutique, I was struck by the atmosphere. Pachelbel's Cannon music was playing in the lobby. Oh there! It's becoming more and more real. We were greeted by a lady in her mid-40s who took June and me into a small living room with comfortable armchairs. We discussed what I liked and what I wanted. Where was the wedding going to take place and when? 30 minutes after we arrived I started trying on dresses. It was really weird to see myself dressed in white!

I tried a few styles before deciding that my favorite is a strapless dress with a satin fabric and a limited number of sparkles. The third dress I tried on, my eyes watered in the mirror and the look on June's face when I left the fitting room told me that she also thought it was the Good choice. I could imagine myself walking out of the back door of the beach house toward the gazebo on my father's arm as Noah and the rest of the family waited for me there.

June got up from her chair and hugged me and said :

- You look absolutely beautiful in white, my darling little girl...