Elise's birthday had ended blissfully, with both Savana and Michael happily putting her down for the night. Many calls from his mother later, Michael finally decided to ignore her.
Every day that he saw her name on his screen, he became irritated. More so than he usually did, especially since it had been a week since it happened, and it was the night before Lindsay and Niall's wedding.
All the boys were hanging out in Niall's hotel room. Lindsay had packed her stuff up and moved rooms to be with a few of her cousins, Savana, Sierra, and Elise, of course.
"I still love her because she's my mom, but the way she's acting about all of this," Michael shook his head, "It's insane. I thought she'd be happy about being a grandma, but she turned it into a lecture about how we weren't ready and it was ridiculous."
Ashton set his hand on Michael's back and turned to Niall, "I mean, other than that, it was a pretty cute party. Elise called him 'Dada' for the first time."
Niall seemed interested at that, "Oh, seriously? I know she's been saying 'Mama' for a long time, but I didn't know she said that!"
"I know!" Michael's face brightened, "I was really excited, and she's the one that made me tell my mom. Before that, she thought the baby was Savana's and her friend, Josh's."
"Guys," Liam spoke up from the chair, "I think we should start celebrating Niall's last night before marriage! He and Lindsay have been through a lot and I'm sure he wants to have some fun tonight."
Niall smiled, "I just want to spend time with you guys. I feel like I've spent the past few months with the girls only. There's only three of," He paused, "Four, sorry mate." He looked at Michael, who shrugged it off, "There's now four of them, and I feel like I've seen more makeup, dresses, and flowers than I have anything else lately. It's maddening."
"If you think about it, though," Ashton said, "It's going to be the prettiest wedding you've ever seen in your lifetimes. Past, present, and future. The three of them working on things? It's like a symphony of insanity, but it always ends up looking fantastic."
"You guys remember Christmas?" Zayn leaned forward, "Didn't Lindsay and Sierra put everything up, and Savana corrected it?"
"I think so." Harry smiled.
Michael sat up more, "Do you guys realize how much those girls changed our lives over the past ten months? I mean, I've noticed a difference in the way I eat." He was waving his beer around, making everyone nervous that he would spill it, "Savana can't eat very much gluten, which is in, like, everything. We have gluten-free everything now, and she makes everything taste super good. I can hardly tell a difference."
"I think it's the opposite for Lindsay. She makes these gorgeous looking cakes that taste like she made it with magic or something, and I can't stop eating them. She takes pictures for an Instagram account, but they're gone before she can fully post them." Niall tried to hold his laughter in, but he couldn't help but laugh at himself.
Ashton had to think for a second, "Sierra's showed me all the ways that some of my daily habits can harm animals, and we're taking it little by little, but I feel like I've come a long way. She's also showed me ways to help out animals like she does, but not have to go everywhere for it."
"I feel like they've changed more than that, guys," Liam said, "Remember when they got to the flat and it stank so bad they nearly passed out or puked? We cleaned the entire place almost instantly, and it's been super clean since. We have to take into account Elise's messes though, but she's excluded from the mess. She can't help it."
They all sat and thought for a moment. Zayn huffed from the corner, "Can we just share them? We all need a bit of each of them in our lives."
That brought out a laugh from everyone in the room. Niall knew he wanted to marry Lindsay, and she felt the same, he was sure of it. He didn't need a 'last night of freedom.' He wanted a 'first night to forever' with her.
Lindsay sat in a circle of her closest girl friends, nearly shaking with worry. "What if he's out cheating o-or what if he leaves me there tomorrow and doesn't show? Oh, my God, why did I have to say yes to him?"
Her cousins all talked at once, giving her advice and supportive comments. Savana's voice was louder than they were though, "If I were to say you were getting married next weekend, would you worry less?"
"Maybe, but I don't-"
"If I told you that you were getting married in a month, would your worry go away?" She continued. Everyone fell silent as she held a sleeping baby.
"Probably. Savana, I-"
"Linds, you're going to be worried about it the night before. You're going to be worried until the minute you're at the opposite end of the aisle as him and you see his eyes well up with tears because you look the prettiest he's ever seen you, and he's sure he'll get to see you in more gorgeous states than you will be tomorrow." She looked over, "There's always going to be worry, and you're probably going to cry before you leave this hotel room. You'll probably cry when you wake up because you're stressed and you're worried that something will go wrong tomorrow, but it won't. You've been planning this day for how long and you think something will screw it up between now and ten o'clock tomorrow morning? Your entire family is here to see you finally tie the knot with a boy you've been gushing about since before you met him."
Lindsay looked away, feeling stupid for thinking all of those thoughts.
"Hey," Savana said, "This is your dream come true, and I'm not going to let you ruin it with some shitty anxiety, okay?"
Lindsay smiled as everyone else looked at her, seemingly agreeing with Savana's sentiment, "Okay. Thank you. I knew I chose the right best friend."
"Good," She said standing up, "Now I have to go see if Michael's drunk so I can decide whether we're sleeping with you or E's going to be getting ready with us in the morning." Sierra opened the door for her as she walked out, "I'll be here in time for hair, makeup, and putting you in the dress, I promise. Good night, everyone!" She walked away, and Sierra shut the door.
"Okay, Lindsay, I know you're still worried, but pre-wedding jitters are like a tradition, regardless of whether people talk about it or not," She smiled, looking at her cousins, who were all on their phones, "But she's got a point. Y'all love one another, and neither of you are going to mess that up."
Lindsay nodded, "I'm just wondering where she suddenly got that kind of wisdom."
"I think having a kid, whether you birth it or adopt it, changed your whole mindset on a relationship." Sierra leaned into Lindsay, giving her a hug. "Like she said, though, what could go wrong between now and ten o'clock tomorrow morning?"
Lindsay could think of a million things, but she knew none of them would happen.
