Wide Open Spaces

Linger (Pt 2): Full Circle

A distant date had been set and plans had been made. The day that once felt like a million years away, was here. Stevie and Lindsey's parents, siblings and extended family flew out to San Francisco and arrived the day before the big event. Their friends were coming in droves from all over the country and everything was becoming so real. Stevie's mother helped dress Iris in her pale pink flower girl dress, Callie wore lavender and Dylan wore grey and powder blue.

Stevie sat at her dressing table, dabbing under her eyes with tissues. She couldn't stop crying. She wasn't nervous and scared like last time. She was excited, bursting with joy to finally be joined with Lindsey for the second and final time. It felt right, there was no running away. She thought of him often as she tried to get herself together enough to do her make up. She applied it carefully, meticulously enhancing her features. She took special care not to wear too much, remembering how much Lindsey liked her to look natural. She smiled, thinking of him, how he had always loved her as she was. A couple of years back, when she sat in front of her vanity in their Phoenix home, he had made her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. Brock was her boyfriend at the time and he always loved for her to cake on her make up, dress sexy and wear a lot of perfume. She was a trophy. Though Lindsey loved to show her off, she was always much more than an object to him.

"You look beautiful" Barbara told her, entering the room her daughter was getting ready in.

"Thank you, mommy"

"How are you doing?"

"Good! I can't wait to get out there and finally say I do"

"It's been a long time coming. It better stick this time."

"It will." Stevie assured her.

"Good girl" Her mother pat her daughter's cheek lovingly. "Iris is being a typical wild two year old out there"

"Oh, I bet" Stevie chuckled.

"But Callie and Dylan are handling her well enough"

"Good. How much time do I have?"

"One hour"

"So close."

"I'm so happy for you and Lindsey. Your kids seem thrilled too. The twins have seen you guys through almost everything and now to see their parents together and working like a well oiled machine, I can almost guarantee this is a day they will never forget"

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

"It sure is" Barbara moved to help her daughter put her dress on. It was a little elaborate and over the top but she knew she deserved to go all out after over 20 years of trying to get it right. Her mother tightened the corset of her dress, pulling it until Stevie practically fainted from lack of oxygen.

"Mama, loosen it up a little. I need to breathe. I have lungs and other very valuable organs in there."

"If you can breathe to complain, you can breathe well enough to walk out there and get married." Barbara teased and Stevie rolled her eyes dramatically. "It doesn't seem too tight at all."

"Please, just a little" Stevie asked and her mother obeyed her wishes.

"Radiant" was all her mother could muster before bursting into tears.