Chasing Shadows (Jaylor Fanfiction)

Vogue

January 2nd; 2024
3 Days Later
Olivia Swift's Point Of View
Dear diary,
I'm about one month pregnant and a new year has started. I've started to get those infamous pregnant cravings. I went to the store and bought ice cream, pickles, and put both on a piece of toast. I think the grossest part is that I felt the need to also had ketchup. Do you know what annoys me? I liked it. God, I hate myself. Maybe next time I'll mix the pickle slices with the ice cream to make it easier. I wonder how it would taste with mustard? Ugh, this is one of those moments I wish I wasn't pregnant. Eating gross foods makes me feel a little bad about myself. I've also been throwing up constantly for the last few days. Hopefully, that'll go away before the wedding. Speaking of the wedding, it's in four days and I've surprisingly accomplished quite a lot.
We have the marriage license and all those fancy forms. We decided to get married in California. We didn't want to go far since there isn't much of a heads up. We're getting married on a beach and having the reception at a nice banquet hall. Today I'm going dress shopping with Juliet. She wanted to come and I thought why not? My mom isn't coming so it'll be fun to go with my sister. My mom isn't coming...I asked her and she said no. I mean, I know why aren't getting along, but it still hurts. She still won't support me getting married and I don't know if she's even going to show up. If she doesn't show up, I don't know what to do exactly. I mean, I'll still get married but she won't be there. The mother always shows up on their daughter's wedding day if they can.

Sincerely,
Olivia Swift

I set my journal down and my pen along with it. I stand up and take my purse with a sigh. I'm only one month along and I'm already struggling. I feel so nauseated and fatigue is running throughout my body but I power through it because today is an important day. I'm dress shopping and I shouldn't be held back because I feel just a little crappy.

"Juliet, it's time to go!" I shout. Juliet comes running up with a tube of lip gloss and her face is covered in it.

"I want to look as pretty as you. It's a girl's day, so I should dress up." Juliet explains. I giggle and go to the kitchen to get a washcloth. I take it and wipe the gloss off her face.

"Let me do that for you. Now puff your lips out." I take the lipgloss and put it on her lips.

"There, all done. you look beautiful. All good to go dress shopping."

"Thank you, Livia." Juliet says with a grin.

"Come on; let's go." I take her hand and we both head to the front door. Taylor glares at me which feels like a stab to the chest. Is it so hard to support your daughter when she's getting married?

I drive Juliet and me to the nearest dress store and park on the side of the road. Juliet follows me as we walk into the store. The dresses are beautiful, extraordinary, it all feels magical.

"Be careful Juliet. These dresses are all very expensive." I tell her.

"Can I try on some dresses?" Juliet asks.

"I don't think they sell anything here that'll fit you. You can help me out though."

"Yay!" She runs chaotically throughout the store which makes me giggle. I look through racks of dresses but none seem to strike my fancy.

"I like this one," Juliet says pointing to probably the ugliest wedding dress I've ever seen. It's extremely poofy, has angel wings, and to top it off, it has what seems like confetti strings pouring out of it.

"Uh, no," I tell her quickly.

"What about this one?" She runs over to another dress and shows it to me.

"There you go, now you have some taste." I take the dress from the rack and hold it up.

"I'm going to try it on, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." I walk with the dress to the dressing room. I walk out after a few moments and stand outside the dressing room.

"So, what do you think?" I ask.

"It makes you look fat." She tells me.

I scoff and look at her, slightly surprised. "At least you're honest."

After what seems like 200 dresses later, I walk out wearing a white sparkling dress. The dress immediately catches the attention of Juliet and she smiles. "It's perfect!" She exclaims.

"It's Juliet approved?" I ask.

"I approve."

I look down at the dress which is floral lace and reaches the floor. It flows lightly with every step I take. The veil I'm wearing reaches the length of the dress and is pressed into my hair. "I approve of it too. How about I change back into my normal clothes, pay for it, then go out for ice cream?"

"I like ice cream." She says with a grin.

"Me too. Come on." I pay for the dress and the veil with my card which has hundreds of thousands of dollars on it because my mom has well, lots of money. Speaking of that, Lucas agreed to a prenup. Now I have reassurance he's marrying me because he loves me and not because my family has millions of dollars. I drive us to an ice cream shop and the two of us sit down at the table after getting our ice cream.

"Juliet, I'm getting married in a few days so I have a very important question to ask you."

"What is it?" She asks.

"Will you be my maid of honor?"

"What is that?"

"I'm going to be the bride and your job is to help me before the wedding and to stand next to me while I'm getting married. It's simple but really important. So what do you think?"

"Sounds intense. I'll do it. This is a job for a real woman."

"It is," I say with a small laugh.

"I have a question though. Why are you getting married? I thought people didn't get married until they're older."

"I'm getting married because I love Lucas but mostly because I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby."

"A baby?"

"You know what that means? You're gonna be an aunt. You get to have the best job which is to love the baby as much as I do without all the work."

"If it's a boy, will you name it Romeo?" She asks.

"I haven't thought about names but I'll put it down as an idea." I'm not going to name the baby Romeo.

"What about Juliet?"

"I'm not naming the baby after you, Jules."

"Awww...Livia, why is Mommy being so mean to you?" She comments. Apparently she has noticed too.

"I wish I knew, but we have ice cream which means we get to ignore our problems." I take a spoonful of ice cream and shove it in my mouth. Juliet shoves ice cream into her mouth as well and enjoy our girl time together. Man, it feels to be good around her for once. She's innocent and pure. She's oblivious to the problems of the family and it feels nice to talk to someone who feels happy and knows the world as unicorns. She thinks the world is good or bad, black and white, simple...but it's not simple. There's a whole other mess of garbage in there.

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Author's Note:

This is a bit of a filler chapter but Olivia and Juliet are so cute together :)

I love the next chapter so much

Song: Vogue-Madonna