"baby, please don't cry"
Candice "Candy Cane" Marshall hasn't seen or talked to any of her friends in a long time. Dallas and Johnny are gone and she's terrified to face the fact that Steve and Sodapop may have met their fates in Vietnam. But when t...
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"Aw, look at us," Hannah sighed as we stood in the master bedroom at Evie's parents'. "We're getting so big."
"Only a few more weeks to go," I sighed. "I honestly can't wait. I'm so uncomfortable and all I wanna do is just hold her, y'know?"
"Oh, I know. I wanna hold mine, too. Two-Bit asks me about every day how I'm doing. He's so sweet and, god do I love him, but sometimes my hormones take over and all I wanna do is punch him."
I couldn't help but giggle. Poor Two-Bit. As I gazed back into the mirror, I smiled. Mine and Hannah's matching pale blue bridesmaids dresses looked so beautiful. The other girls were already ready, but Hannah and I decided to change last since we'd take the longest, what with our enormous bellies and all. "I can't believe Steve and Evie are getting married today."
"I know. It feels like yesterday we were only planning it. Now... Oh, I can't wait to see Evie in her dress. She's gonna look so gorgeous."
"Hey, ladies, you decent?" came a voice from outside the bedroom door.
"Come in, Keith," Hannah called. The door swung open and in walked Two, Mikey right at his side as usual. I swear, the kid never let Two out of his sight. He was getting big. It was hard to believe he'd been under Two-Bit's care for a year now. Two was doing great as a dad for Mikey. I couldn't wait to see him as a real dad with his own baby. Hannah was due just a few weeks before me and I knew she was getting anxious. I knew all about caring for babies and little kids, and she was helping to raise Mikey, but she knew next to nothing about babies.
They decided to keep the gender a secret. None of us knew what their baby was going to be, but we were all excited to greet Baby Mathews all the same.
"We're about ready to start the ceremony," Two-Bit said, wrapping his arms around Hannah.
"Okay. We're ready. We were just admiring our hourglass figures," I chuckled.
"Hey, you both are beautiful."
"Well, I didn't say we were ugly."
Two-Bit frowned, then let out a loud, boisterous laugh. "Come on," he said, tugging Hannah's hand. Sodapop appeared in the doorway a minute later and smiled when he saw me.
"Aw, you guys look gorgeous," he commented, grinning from ear to ear. He took my hand in his and, together, the five of us left the bedroom and headed out to the backyard for the ceremony. For a December day, the weather was really nice. They wanted to get married outside in the snow. The ceremony wasn't supposed to be very long. A quick sharing of their vows before going inside for the reception.
I wrapped my giant cardigan around me when we got into the kitchen. The guests were standing around, prepared to head outside to watch Steve and Evie finally get married. I spotted Steve by the door, looking nervous. He was dressed in a very military-ish suit, a few medals pinned to his chest and an army beret on his head. He had a nervous look to him like he could just start running in circles at any given moment. I left Soda to go and stand next to him.
