Chapter 27 #2
“Don’t wanna.”
“Owen…”
His devilish smile lit up his face. “Make me.”
She lifted herself up and over him, kissing each eyelid until he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Now keep them closed.”
He put his arms around her, bringing her down on top of him. “Stay with me. Can’t sleep without you.”
“Only until Holden wakes up.”
“I’ll take whatever I can get.”
She placed soft kisses on his eyelids, his cheeks and lips, stopping only when she felt him begin to harden beneath her. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I don’t have to think about it. Just happens.”
“I’m out of here.”
“No! I’ll behave. I promise.”
“That’s an empty promise if I’ve ever heard one.”
“Stay,” he whispered.
Only because he kept his eyes closed did she rest her head on his chest, listening as his breathing deepened and his arms loosened around her.
She stayed until she heard Holden stirring in his crib, and then she extricated herself from Owen’s embrace, leaving him to sleep while she went to start her day.
“Oh my God!” Full-on panic seized Laura. “It doesn’t fit!”
“Yes, it does.” As Laura’s maid of honor, Grace had been the epitome of calm and cool all day, and now was no exception.
“No, it doesn’t! How could my belly have expanded that much in three days?”
“Um, you’re pregnant with twins, and you’ve stopped puking seventeen times a day?”
“No one told me this would happen if I went on the meds!”
“Laura,” Grace said with a giggle. “Are you listening to yourself? Would you honestly prefer to be puking and feeling like crap on your wedding day?”
“I would prefer that my dress actually fit.”
“It doesn’t fit?” Stephanie asked as she came in wearing an off-the-shoulder coral-colored dress that offset her dark red hair and deep summer tan.
Along with Abby, Maddie and Janey, the girls would each wear a different style of the same color dress.
Unlike the last time around, Laura had told the girls to pick whatever they felt comfortable wearing.
They were gorgeous and would look beautiful no matter what dress they chose.
“It doesn’t seem to want to zip,” Grace said, confirming Laura’s worst fears.
“What am I going to do?” she asked. “People will be here in an hour!”
In the mirror, she watched as Grace, Abby and Stephanie assessed the situation.
The three of them had become Laura’s closest friends in the last year, and asking them to be her attendants had been the easiest decision she’d ever made.
As much as she loved the girls she’d grown up with in Providence, they were part of her old life now.
She’d also asked Maddie because she’d been such a great friend and an incredible help with all of Laura’s questions about Holden.
Janey was the sister Laura had never had, and had been a bridesmaid last time, too.
“How would you feel about going backless?” Abby asked.
“Wouldn’t that also mean going braless? That’s not an option with these pregnancy boobs.”
“I feel you there, sister,” Maddie said, making them all laugh. Her breasts were substantial when she wasn’t pregnant, and her jokes about pregnancy boobs were hilarious.
“If we cut it here,” Abby said, “we can sew the excess fabric into a halter.”
“And this can be done in an hour?” Laura couldn’t believe she was actually considering this plan, but what choice did she have? The dress didn’t fit. “Get Sarah. She sews! She’ll know what to do.”
“I’m going,” Stephanie said. “Relax. It’ll all be fine.”
Laura laughed because what else could she do? And honestly, what did it matter? She could marry Owen in a burlap sack, and it would all be fine. The pictures would give them something to laugh about in their old age.
“You’re awfully calm,” Abby said. “You’re not in shock or something, are you?”
“Nope. I’m good.” Trying to imagine her bridesmaids taking scissors to her dress on the day of her first wedding had Laura giggling madly. She would’ve lost her shit if this had happened then.
“Should we call Victoria?” Grace asked, her brows furrowed with concern.
“No! I’m really fine. I’m just laughing at how ridiculous this is.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Abby assured her.
“I know that, which is why I’m laughing. At the end of the day, I’ll be married to Owen. Who cares what my dress looks like?”
“She’s going into shock,” Grace said.
“I’m not. I swear.” Laura tried to be convincing, but she couldn’t stop laughing.
Stephanie returned with Sarah, who’d brought her sewing kit and a sharp pair of scissors that Laura recognized from the kitchen.
Her stomach fell when it registered that they were actually going to cut the gorgeous white silk dress.
“Let me see it,” Sarah said.
The other girls stepped aside to give Sarah room to work.
“What’s going on?” Adele asked when she joined them.
“Dress disaster,” Laura told Owen’s grandmother. “Compounded by a rapidly growing set of twins.”
“Oh no,” Adele said.
“Not to worry,” Sarah said confidently. “I know just what to do.”
Since she couldn’t contain her burgeoning waistline, Laura decided to have faith that her new mother-in-law would take care of it.