New Life

27|My Sweet Baby...

Janet sat before the mirror in the holding room getting ready for what was, for most women, the happiest day of her life. Everything must be going smoothly out there. She thought since nobody mentioned any hiccups to her. She was about to marry the man she loved after another one of the most dramatic years of her personal life. No doubt about it she loved Jermaine but that wasn't the problem.

Her nerves were getting to her. She'd already had a near panic attack and cold feet, talk about cold feet. Cold feet simply didn't cover it, she had frozen feet. Her bridal party was already dressed. Their dresses were simple, like most of the things about this wedding. The dresses were red, one of the colors for the wedding, and had a flattering V-neck style with a simple A-line silhouette so they pleased all the ladies, no matter the body type.

Breaunna was still young enough and small enough to be the flower girl and was overjoyed to do the job. Her dress was white spaghetti strap tulle, tea length ball gown with a red sash and a white feed through flower at the waist. The hem of the full tulle skirt was banded and in Breaunna's own words, was "Perfect for twirling". Janet smiled as she caught a glimpse of Breaunna twirling in the hall when the door opened.

Rebbie came in to make sure she had everything she needed. She took a breath as she turned around to face her sister. "What's wrong?" Janet asked as worry began to take over.

"Nothing" Rebbie answered swiftly seeing the change in Janet's demeanor. "Who said there was something wrong?"

"Nobody" Janet let out the breath she had been holding. "I guess I'm just doing what I always do when things are going the way things are going." Rebbie gives her a questioning look. "Everything is going well right now so I'm just waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop."

"Well guess what? Nothing is going to happen today and even if something were to happen I'm never going to let you find out." She smiles adjusting one of Janet's curls. "Moving on, do you have everything you need?"

"I've got everything except something old..."

"I think Mother is going to fix that when she gets here. Let's get you into your dress." Finally, in her dress, Janet takes a long hard look in the full-length mirror. When she looks up her eyes meet Rebbie's and an unsure smile creeps across her face. "You're beautiful."

There was a gentle rapping on the door, prompting Rebbie to open it. On the other side were Katherine and Breaunna. "Mommy you look like a princess!" Breaunna gasped, before gushing over her mother, successfully cutting her grandmother off.

"So do you, sweetheart." Janet chuckles as Rebbie goes over to Breaunna.

"Come on Breaunna, let's go take a walk." Rebbie ushers Breaunna out of the room, leaving Janet and Katherine to talk.

"Hey, baby, you okay?"

"Honestly Mother, I don't know. I'm just waiting for this all to come crashing down on me."

"I think that's just your nerves talking. You're scared but you're also happy and excited, just take a deep breath relax and do what you feel is right. Besides that, it's not too late to change your mind if that's what you're worried about."

"Why would I change my mind?! I love Jermaine, I don't think I deserve him but I love him with every fiber of my being. I want to spend the rest of my life with him." She said as she looked earnestly into her mother's eyes.

"Baby, you just said something that's really important and I want you to remember that. No matter how cold your feet get or how bad the nerves are, you want to spend the rest of your life with him. Even if this wedding doesn't happen today you'd come right back tomorrow and do it; nothing's going to stop you." Janet smiled, realizing her mother knew exactly how much she was ready to marry Jermaine. "I have two things for you." She passes Janet a small box and envelope. "Open the box first and the envelope when I leave."