DECEMBER 28th, 1994, SEATTLE, WA
"EVERYONE IS OUT back, if you were wondering," Beth announced, sliding into Lindy's dimly lit bedroom and closing the door behind her.
"And Charlie?" Lindy asked, wringing her hands together in her lap and looking towards her best friend with round, questioning eyes.
"In Wendy's lap, safe and sound. She hasn't put him down since she got here."
Lindy nodded in understanding, looking down at her twisted hands and trying not to notice that they were shaking. Beneath the robe she wore was her wedding dress, peeking out at her at her knees and drifting down to the floor in silken waves. Her feet were bare. Staring at them, Lindy was immediately grateful that she would not be wearing heels. Outdoor weddings had their perks, especially when they meant that any shoe with a raised point would sink in the grass.
"Chin up," Shelli instructed, several hair pins tucked between her teeth. She climbed onto Lindy and Kurt's bed, balancing herself on her knees behind Lindy who was leaning rather than sitting. She'd been told that she wasn't allowed to sit — it would wrinkle the dress, and that would certainly lead to a Shelli meltdown.
"How many people?" Lindy asked quietly, leveling her voice as she looked up and allowed Shelli to sweep half of her hair back. Of course it would be styled half-up. That's the way everyone had told Lindy it looked best. The pinch of pins being stuck against her scalp kept her aware of the reality of what was happening. It wasn't a dream or play pretend. It was her wedding day.
"For God's sake Lindy, you invited these people, you ought to know," Beth said, sighing. Despite her tone, she sat down next to her friend and took her hand. Beth was, as always, ethereally beautiful. Lindy hadn't been crabby about what her bridesmaids would wear, but upon her friends' forcefulness, she had decided that they'd dress in deep blue. The color looked wondrous against Beth's pale skin and blonde hair.
"There are thirty-two guests exactly," Shelli said, wiggling the last pin into Lindy's deep brown locks. She got up, fixing the blue dress that she wore. "I asked Krist for a head count once everyone arrived."
"I didn't know we were in relations with thirty-two people," Lindy breathed. It was a small number considering the size of most weddings, but to her, the amount was huge. She and Kurt had been so sheltered away from their social life that she couldn't even presently recall thirty-two names to mind. The thought of them all being downstairs, milling around towards their seats and waiting for her impending arrival made her stomach clench.
"Don't be nervous, Lindy. You're beautiful," Allie called from the corner of the room, busy swiping on last touches of mascara on to her eyelashes. Between her, Shelli and Beth, Lindy's bridal party was almost complete. The only missing person was Frances, who was to be brought to the wedding by Courtney. That news alone was enough to set anyone on edge.
Lindy offered her sister-in-law a grateful smile, but was too consumed by her nerves. She felt that she had a right to be nervous contrary to what her bridesmaids said. There was something monumental about walking down an aisle, especially knowing that her mother and father would not be physically there to witness it. None of her biological family would be, besides Trae. Her only reassurance was that Kurt would be waiting for her at the end of all of it, his lips closed into one of his massive smirks of a smile.
It was the kind of smile that made her bones feel suddenly weak, except it was for all the right reasons.
She was going to be Kurt's wife by the end of the night.
"How cold is it?" Lindy asked, glancing out the window. There was no snow falling from the sky, but the atmosphere was grey and the window pane looked frosty. She didn't mind. She liked it better that way. There was no need for a sunny wedding, not when her and Kurt's entire relationship had occurred underneath the gloomy skies of Washington. It felt proper somehow, having the sky amassed by clouds.
