Chapter 45
Iwas startled awake by people walking down the hallway. My eyes came open in the quiet of the hospital room, and instantly, my attention went to my mother. She was sleeping peacefully, I hoped, and recovering, and I couldn”t help but pull out my phone to take her picture. She hated being photographed in these moments, so whenever I could, and whenever she wouldn’t give me hell over it, I took pictures for my own memory and to show Aurora when she eventually found out.
We had agreed that we would tell her after she and her husband returned from their honeymoon. We didn’t want anything whatsoever to ruin their enjoyment of this special time together, so we were willing to bear all the inconveniences arising as a result.
Speaking of inconveniences, I went over to my messages and found that besides some work situations, no updates had been sent to me. From my father even, and especially not from Evelyn. So, I called Scott, and he immediately picked up.
Not wanting to disturb my mother, I headed out and spoke freely to him.
“Where are you both now?” I asked. “Everything going well?”
“I think so, Sir,” he replied. “We’re at the wedding dress shop now, but they seem to be having a problem finding Miss Moran’s dress. The one she preferred.”
“There”s a dress she preferred?” I asked, wondering why she hadn”t gone with that after all. What difference would it have made?
“Turn on your video,” I said, and he did as instructed. I looked then, and it wasn’t hard to spot the gorgeous woman in khaki shorts and a white polo shirt, digging through wedding dresses.
Her hair was in a high ponytail, and just like that, I recalled just how much I had missed her. For the next minute, all I could do was watch her as she conversed with the attendant and inspected several dresses until, curiously, Scott”s face appeared on the screen once again and obstructed my view.
“Sir,” he called, and I groaned.
“Yeah?”
“Is there any way we can help?” I considered his question, and just as I was about to say no, an idea occurred to me. I turned then, glanced back at my mother”s room, and told him to hold on.
When I got in, I could see her eyelashes slightly move, and I was convinced then that she was awake or perhaps just lightly sleeping. So, I headed over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
It took a few seconds, but eventually, she stirred, and then her beautiful, gentle eyes opened.
“Hey, baby,” she said, and I smiled. It had been so long since she called me that, but it was endearing all the more to hear.
“I might need a little help from you,” I said, and she nodded.
“Sure.”
“Don”t task yourself too hard with remembering, but do you know anything about an alternative wedding dress that Rory wanted?”
She pondered on this for a moment, and then she nodded.
“Yeah. It was the first one she agreed on when we went searching, but it was too hippie. A lot of rough-cut lace, the weirdest bows.”
This amused me as I understood now why it wasn’t selected.
“Well, we have a surprise wedding that we’re planning for her tonight, which hopefully you’ll be attending, so we want her to have the dress that she wants.”
“Oh,” she said, slightly surprised by this. “Really? I”ll be able to get out of here that soon?”
According to the doctor, in a couple of hours, but you have to take it extremely easy for the next couple of days.
“Of course,” she said. “For Aurora”s sake, if not for anything else. Your father was just watching me too closely last night and this morning.”
This made me extremely sad and unhappy, and she could immediately tell, as my expression turned cold.
“If you had waited and hadn’t spoken out, you would be dead by now. You understand this, right?”
At my words, she stared at me, and then she sighed.
“Yes, I do. I”m just trying to not be a bother.”
“You”re our mom,” I told her.
“Really?” She smiled again and stroked my cheek.
“I”ll help out with the wedding planning as much as I can. I heard a lot of her preferences back at the beginning.”
I picked up my phone once again and called Scott back, but at the last moment, I ended the call altogether and called Evelyn instead.
It took a little while since she was clearly distracted, but eventually, she answered.
“Hey,” she greeted, her eyes a bit wide in surprise.
She seemed a bit confused as she peered at me, almost like the elderly, and it made me smile.
“I heard you”re looking for the dress Aurora wanted in the beginning?”
“Yes,” she replied, startled. And then she turned sideways to look at Scott. “Yes, I am. I think we”ll find it soon, though. I didn’t really remember it, but the attendant here seems to. I”m just hoping it hasn’t been sold yet.”
“My mom can help you,” I said. “She was there on the day, right? I”ll hand her the phone.”
“What?” she asked, but before she could ask any further questions, I handed the phone over to my mom.
She couldn’t quite hold it because she still felt too weak, so I held it at just the right angle, watching as Evelyn greeted her sweetly. She smiled in response, and then they proceeded on, coordinating the dresses.
I watched my mom”s face through the process as she spoke to her, and then eventually, they found the dress. It took another half an hour, and by then, I was gearing up to tell them to give up.
“She”s pregnant, though,” my mom said. “Will it fit her anymore? She”s grown a bit more from earlier.”
I shut my eyes at this, not wanting to imagine what I didn’t want to, and pretty soon, my mom nudged me back to the present.
“We’re done; next is flowers and decoration.”
“Yes, right,” I said and turned the phone back to look at Evelyn.
She couldn’t quite meet my eyes, and I wondered if this was how she had been with my mom as well. So shy.
“Things seem to be going well,” I said, and she made a face.
“I don’t know; there”s still so much to do, and we need to prepare the location as well. I just hope we’ll be able to make it by nighttime.”
“We can have the wedding late,” I told her. “So don”t be unnecessarily stressed and don”t be in a rush. Let me know if you need any extra hands or contacts. There are a lot of staff in my company that can handle this stuff easily; you’ll be able to work with them.”
“Okay,” she replied, and then she stared at me, her eyes glistening. My heart skipped several beats. She was so beautiful that it hurt, however, I was well aware of my mother”s presence close by, so I didn”t linger.
“Alright, keep me updated,” I said, and the call came to an end.