The Days Of Vegas J. Clearwater & Francis J. Kidd

Morning Of July 14, 1991

                I wake up smelling bacon. The sun is indeed shining in my eye. Time for life to start anew.

               I get out of bed and go to the kitchen where Francis stands shirtless, clad in only jeans and manning the stove.

               "Hey, you're up. Wanna get married today?" He jokes, his eyes never leaving the stove.

              "Well, it's either that or I have alot of cancellation fees to pay." I say with a laugh, taking a piece of bacon off the plate on the counter. I take a bite and subsequently burn my tongue. Probably should've asked if it was cool first.

              Nevertheless, I muddle through the too-hot piece of meat and give Francis a kiss on the cheek before heading to the bathroom.

              Once inside, I let my hair down and strip of my camisole and shorts, before taking a brush to my hair to get the knots out. I start the shower and wash my hair first, following up with conditioner and letting it work while I wash the rest of my body.

            I quickly rinse the conditioner out and get out of the shower, wrapping a towel around myself. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I moisturize from head to toe and don my undergarments.

          I exit the bathroom and go down the hall to our room as Francis passes by me with a wink. He goes into the bathroom himself, closing the door and starting the shower.

         I head to our closet and grab my dress off the rod. I stand before the mirror and hold the hanger against myself, taking in the shimmer of the sequins and running my hands over the slightly starchy surface.

         In my mind, I envision my first wedding, where I wore a short black dress and thigh high boots. I had gotten lucky twice in the fiancée department, and truthfully I don't know why. I don't think I deserve it.

        I unzip the back of the dress and step in, slipping it up and reaching around to zip myself. I brush through my wet strands and apply mousse by the palmful before treating my hair to a round of blowdrying and curling. I pin the curls down to let them cool and start on my makeup.

      Once my eyes are mascaraed and my lips painted red, I put my heart necklace on and give my engagement ring a good swab of jewelry cleaner so it shines. My other wedding ring still resides proudly beside it. I'll never take it off.

      Stepping into my shoes, I head out to wait for my ride. Minutes later, Donna pulls up in her car.

      "Have you seen a bride around here?" She jokes.

      "I don't know. I'm looking for a tall bridesmaid." I joke back, running around to the passenger side. I get in and she heads out for the event room.