Someone Like You | Toni Kroos

Chapter 11 - Disaster Averted

Toni's POV

Gabi yelled out in frustration as the shop assistant tried in vain to zip up her dress. "Why doesn't it fit?" she whined. "Please make it fit!"

"I – I'm so sorry, ma'am," the assistant stuttered. "Uh, why don't you take it off now?"

It was just a little less than two weeks before our wedding day, and we were there for the third and final dress fitting and to choose Gabi's shoes. We only had three fittings because we weren't sure how big Gabi was going to grow, and we decided to not waste the time and have the dress altered at one go. Hormones were getting the better of Gabi and she was always either tired, frustrated or angry. I smiled apologetically at the helpful assistant as she scurried away with the dress.

Gabi sat down beside me in her robe. "I can't fit into my dress," she said in dismay.

"You'll fit into your dress, baby. They'll make it bigger for you."

"How big?" she pouted like a child and pointed at her huge belly. "There are two in here. I'm four months, but I look like eight!"

I laughed and wrapped her into a huge warm hug. "Baby, it'll all be fine."

"Will it?" she sighed.

I thought all about it – the invites had been sent, the venue booked a long time ago, the judge scheduled, flowers ordered, food menus arranged, decorations set up. Everything was as planned. Except Gabi's dress, of course.

"Gabi, baby," I said softly. "If you feel like you're not ready, then it's okay. We don't have to do this. We can get married after the babies are born."

"But we've already paid for everything."

"I don't care. As long as you feel comfortable."

She sighed again and went quiet for a long while. Finally, she turned and looked at me. "It's just a dress, right? No need to cancel the entire wedding just because of a dress."

I smiled. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll just go naked," she giggled. Oh, her mood swings.

"Gabi!"

"Okay, okay," she leaned her head on my shoulder. "No need to cancel. I want to be Mrs. Kroos."

Just then, the shop assistant reappeared, this time with another dress that looked identical to the one Gabi had worn. She turned them around, and the only difference between the two was that the second had a nice corset back while the original was just a simple zipper.

"Um, we kinda made this for you to try," the assistant started. "All the measurements are the same except for the back. The corset back can be adjusted, so you probably will be able to fit into it. It wasn't ready the previous time you came, and you only have three fittings, so I'm sorry that I brought it out so late."

"No, please, it's okay," I smiled. She was so nervous all the time. "It looks nice, Gabi. Why don't you try it?"

She examined the dress warily before bringing it into the changing room. I gave the assistant another apologetic smile as she followed Gabi to help her, mouthing the words, "sorry, hormones," at her. She smiled shyly back at me.

Gabi emerged looking like a queen again. Her belly was nicely accentuated by the clingy, but not suffocating dress, and the fishtail ended nicely at the front of her feet and left a trail of about three feet at the back. The corset back ended at the small of her back, and was nicely tied up to reveal a little v-shaped sliver of Gabi's bare back.

"Do I look fat?" Gabi asked, standing sideways and looking into the mirror.

I wanted to laugh, because she didn't look fat, she looked pregnant. But I didn't, because then she'd yell at me. So I went over and put my hands on her shoulders. "You look great, baby."