Once Upon a Wish

1

I watch Sang dreamily finger through a rack of Princess costumes while we wait for Gabe to be done with the others in the fitting rooms. My Cupcake sighs as her hand stills on the hanger of a sparkling pink dress, and I decide to do something about it.

I step up behind her and pull the pink one off the rack. "Try it on, Sugar," I suggest as I take her tiny hand in mine and pull her toward the fitting rooms.

Her eyes go wide, and the corners of her perfect lips quirk up. "Do you think that it's okay for me to do that when we're not buying it? You know that Meanie already has my Halloween costume."

I see her fingers itch to take the shimmering ball gown from me and I smile. "Of course it is, Cupcake! Besides, we are buying nine other costumes here, so they wouldn't mind if just for that."

She grins and bounces on her tiptoes in excitement. "I always wanted to play dress up!" she gleefully squeals. It's a punch to the stomach, the reminder of all the things she never got to do.

"What are you going to try?" She innocently asks.

Her smile is dazzling, and half in a fog from the daydream that pops into my head of Sang's smile replacing the sun, I randomly grab something off of the rack by the door. She giggles, and I'm brought back to the here and now by the sweet sound. I see that I've grabbed an Elsa costume, and I wink at the beautiful girl before me.

"What?" I feign hurt and clutch my chest dramatically, "do you think it will make my butt look big?"

She plays along and circles me critically. She pushes a finger to those delectable lips and leans a hip out in a pose that steals my breath away. "Hmm, Luke, I've reevaluated. I think it's the perfect dress for you...it is your color, after all."

We both laugh, and I escort her to the changing rooms.

***

Luke and I have a blast playing dress-up, and it makes the hour we spend waiting for Meanie to be done with the others go by much more quickly. I tried on just about every princess costume they had, but my favorite was the first one, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. I hum the song from that movie softly to myself as we all begin to pile into the various cars in the parking lot. I count seven of my boys and frown, catching Mr. Blackbourne's eye before taking a seat.

"What's the matter, Miss Sorensen?" he questions.

I look at all of the now concerned faces hanging out of open car doors, turning toward me, and take a mental tally. "Where's Luke?" I deflect. I don't want to bring the mood down.

"He had to grab something inside. He will return to us shortly." He nods to the others, and they all obey his silent command to get into Kota, Victor, and North's vehicles.

My phone buzzes with a flurry of texts from the boys telling me that they'll see me or talk to me later. I smile and lower myself to the front passenger seat of Mr. Blackbourne's car.

"Miss Sorensen, please tell me what is really bothering you."

I look up and meet those piercing grey eyes. He's not going to let it go, and I slump back into the soft leather seat.

"It's just," I pause, arranging my thoughts, "we've all spent a lot of time together this weekend, but it feels unfair. We've watched movies and gone shopping, and swam in Nathan's pool, while Dr. Green has worked two doubles and barely had enough time to sleep."

I wipe away the tears that have sprung to my eyes and I hear the back door open and close again.

"Didcha miss me?" Luke sings from the back seat amidst a rustle of shopping bags, and I hear Mr. Blackbourne mumble something under his breath.