Dedicating Every Day to You

Chapter Forty-Eight

I stare at myself in the mirror in Hercules' dress shop, my mouth hanging open. I knew he was capable of working small wonders, but this is a serious miracle.

Hercules grunts from where he's hemming the waist of the dress. "Stop squirming, Kathryn! I can't finish the dress if you keep dancing around."

I blush. "Sorry. You're just playing catchy music." It's true- I'm one hundred percent loving the cheerful disco music that pipes through the store- but it's mostly just an excuse. There's so much more that I'm excited about.

This is the final fitting for my dress for Maria and Peggy's wedding. I'm the junior bridesmaid- it's a very small wedding- but a more apt title would be 'glorified babysitter'. Adrienne and Lafayette are both in the wedding party, and Henriette, Anastasie, and Virginie are the ring bearers. I have been keeping up with their antics every time we get together, which is definitely no walk in the park.

"Almost finished," Herc calls, pinning another length of pumpkin orange silk. I've been incredibly excited about this dress for ages- I love wearing orange. Maria's favorite color is red and Peggy's is yellow, so their colors for the wedding are white, red, yellow, and orange. The wedding dress for Maria looks spectacular, and though I haven't seen Peggy's dress yet I'm sure it's going to be equally gorgeous.

I close my eyes and imagine what a wedding is like. The only ones I've ever seen are on TV, and those usually have people running in left and right to object. Also, they're mostly in Spanish- Vanessa loves telenovelas. In those, someone usually gets dragged out crying, or someone punches someone. There's a lot of drama.

I hear a rustle of fabric, and then Hercules calls, "You can look now." I open my eyes slowly and gasp out loud. My dress is knee-length, with a puffing skirt that swishes when I move. The sleeves are long and delicate, trimmed with tiny spikes of perfect orange lace. I feel mature and, if I'm allowed to say so, beautiful.

Hercules smiles widely. "Another victory. Humor your uncle and spin around?"

I raise my hands and execute a perfect pirouette- or as perfect as I can make it in bare feet. The dress makes gentle whispering noises as it flies out at waist level. Herc claps and makes a note.

If this is the dress that I'm supposed to wear, I can't wait to see what the real wedding is like.

********

John reaches over to straighten Alex's tie, smiling brightly. Our whole family looks so dressed up and nice, my dads in suits and me in my bridesmaid dress. I was allowed to wear my dingy Converse with my dress, on the condition that I at least try to clean them with bleach and a rag. It didn't so much as make a dent, but I have my comfortable favorite shoes on and now we're standing on Garden Hill waiting for everyone to arrive.

Peggy's dress is white and yellow and very, very Peggy. Its silhouette is beautiful, but not very frilly or delicate- just like the gorgeous woman who wears it. She has her hair pulled back from her face with a clip that has glittering yellow stones in it. Her eyes are sparkling with a feverish excitement, and she squeezes John's hands nervously.

"What if I mess up the vows, or drop the ring in the grass? What if she doesn't show up?" Peggy's voice is a higher pitch than usual.

John laughs softly, shaking his head and fiddling with his boutonniere. It's a lemon yellow rose with a spray of tiny red flowers around it. Alex's is a red rose with yellow flowers. "She's on her way now, Pegs. There's no need to be nervous."

Alex nods and ruffles John's hair. "I was exactly like this when John and I were getting married."

"Nah, you were worse." John grins. "If I remember correctly, you had a nervous breakdown and Lafayette had to hold you and sing to you in French to calm you down."