Chapter 27
I had been in this boutique for two hours and my patience…
like my lower back was shot. Steph was on the velvet couch with her phone out like she was live-blogging.
Kasey was next to her, shoes off, rubbing her own feet and making commentary like this was a fashion competition show.
Serenity and Kori were on the floor with coloring books, their tiny flower girl dresses hanging on the rack behind them like little clouds.
Last night, me and Kasen had finally circled a date.
A small beach ceremony with our family and friends. Something simple, at least that was the plan. Except nothing about wedding dress shopping felt simple.
“Next one,” the consultant chirped, holding open the dressing room curtain.
I stepped out in something slinky and fitted that should have worked for a beach wedding…light, easy, pretty in theory. Except it did absolutely nothing for my eight-month belly except make me look like a roll of raw cookie dough in silk.
Steph squinted. “Mmm. That’s cute if you trying to be minimalistic and depressed.”
“Yeah, no,” Kasey agreed. “You ain’t a slip dress bride, babe. You extra by nature.”
I laughed, exhausted. “My feet hurt. My son is mad and I’m five seconds from wearing white leggings and calling it a day.”
The consultant cleared her throat gently. “There is…one more,” she said. “It just came in. Not technically beach but… when you said you wanted to feel like a bride-bride…”
“Bring it,” Steph said immediately.
They whisked me back into the dressing room.
It took help to get into it. Layers, boning, weight. When the zipper finally came up, the consultant stepped back and put a hand over her heart.
“Oh,” she said softly. “Okay. Don’t look yet.”
She guided me carefully out toward the pedestal in front of the big mirror.
“Keep your eyes closed,” Steph ordered. “If this ugly I’ma lie, but I feel like this the one.”
I snorted, belly tight under the corset. “If I pass out y’all better catch me.”
“Open,” Kasey said.
I did and everything went quiet.
The dress wasn’t “beachy.”
It was ridiculous.
A full ballgown, the skirt exploding out from my hips in shimmering layers that caught every bit of boutique lighting.
The bodice was strapless, sculpted perfectly over my chest, the neckline a soft curve that made my shoulders look softer, more delicate than I felt.
From top to hem was covered in tiny crystals and fine glitter that didn’t look cheap, it was…
magical. Like I’d been dipped in starlight.
A long veil trailed behind, attached to nothing but pinned around the mannequin earlier. Even without it actually on my head, I could see the picture.
I felt like a princess.
Not beach-simple at all.
And yet…The way the skirt framed my bump. The way the bodice held me. I turned slightly, and the dress turned me into the kind of bride I never let myself imagine being.
Steph’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, bitch.”
Kasey’s eyes were already wet. “Yeah. That’s it. That’s the one. Wrap it up.”
The babies scrambled up, eyes huge.
“Mommy,” Serenity breathed. “You look like a real princess.”
Kori nodded so hard her beads clicked. “Like the one from the movie with the big dress! But sparklier!”
I stared at myself.
At the girl from the east side with a five-year-old and trauma and a pilates studio. Eight months pregnant. Ring on her finger. Baby boy rolling under the crystals. Standing in a dress that looked like it belonged in a castle instead of on a beach.
And somehow…it fit.
I laughed, tears blurring my vision.
“This is insane,” I whispered.
“In a good way,” Kasey said. “You been through enough. You deserve insane.”
Steph stood up. “You said you wanted to be married before he got here so you could feel like y’all chose this whole life. Nothing says I chose this like wearing the most extra dress possible to the sand.”
The consultant smiled. “We can hem it so it floats just over the ground. He’ll see you from a mile away.”
He.
Batman.
Standing barefoot on a beach in a linen shirt, watching me waddle-float toward him in a galaxy of glitter.
My throat got tight.
“Yeah,” I said, voice thick. “This is it.”
Sevyn Amor-soon-to-be-Reed, in a sparkly ass ballgown, on a beach, belly first.
It wasn’t what I imagined.
It was better.
Hours later, we’d migrated to a little spot downtown—nothing fancy, just good pasta and cold drinks. Me, Steph, Kasey, Serenity, and Kori squeezed into a corner booth, shopping bags piled on the empty chair like a fifth friend.
Serenity was explaining in great detail how she was going to throw flowers “like confetti but gentle” at the wedding. Kori kept reminding her that she was older, so she got to walk first.
I was halfway through a forkful of Alfredo when Steph’s face changed.
“Don’t turn around yet,” she said quietly.
Instantly, my stomach got tight for a different reason.
“What?” I asked. “Steph.”
Kasey glanced past me too, then cursed under her breath. “Oh, hell no.”
I twisted in my seat before they could stop me.
Across the restaurant, near the host stand, Troy was standing with a woman I’d never seen before. She was pretty and tired. She had a diaper bag on her shoulder, edges laid, eyes wary like she’d learned better already.
On her hip was a little girl who couldn’t have been more than a year old.
Brown skin, big eyes, curls pulled into two buns and a face that took my breath away; Kori’s round cheeks with Serenity’s exact mouth.
My fork slipped out of my hand, clattering against the plate.
Troy looked up at the noise.
Our eyes met.
For a second, everything in the restaurant dulled. The music. The clinking of dishes. The kids’ bickering beside me.
I couldn’t even process it before it got worse.
“Daddy!” Serenity shrieked.
“Dad!” Kori echoed.
Before any of us could grab them, both girls shot out of the booth, sneakers hitting the tile hard as they ran straight across the restaurant.
“Renny—Kori—wait,” I hissed, reaching, but they were already gone.
Troy barely had time to move the little girl on his hip before they crashed into his legs, hugging him from both sides.
He steadied himself, one arm tightening around the toddler, the other bracing on the back of a nearby chair.
“Hey, hey,” he said, trying to smile down at them. “What y’all doing here?”
The woman beside him didn’t smile.
She looked from Serenity…to Kori…then back to me across the room. She looked at us like we’d ruined her meal by existing.
That mug on her face directed at my child pissed me off.
Kasey slid out of the booth fast. Steph’s hand shot out to grab my wrist under the table.
“Breathe,” she murmured. “Don’t move yet.”
The woman’s gaze dragged up and down both girls like she was measuring a threat.
Troy saw it.
His whole expression changed.
“Keep looking at my daughters like that,” he said quietly, turning his head just enough for her to hear but loud enough that the words carried, “ and we gone have a bigger problem.”
“Troy—”
“You knew they existed before Melody got here,” he cut in, jaw tight. “Don’t play stupid now.”
I took a breath so deep it made my ribs hurt, slid out of the booth, and smoothed my dress over my belly.
“Sev,” Steph warned under her breath.
“I’m fine,” I lied.
Every step toward them felt heavy, but my face was calm by the time I reached their little circle.
Troy’s shoulders tensed when he realized I was there. The woman straightened, chin lifting, that mug still on full display.
I stopped just out of arm’s reach, hand resting on top of my belly, and gave her a small, polite smile.
“Hi,” I said evenly. “I’m baby mama number two. That’s baby mama number one—” I nodded back toward Kasey, who was standing a few feet behind me with her arms folded, “—and you must be secret baby mama number three.”
Her mouth fell open.
Behind me, Steph choked on a laugh.
Kasey muttered, “Welp.”
Troy closed his eyes briefly like he was asking the ceiling for strength.
“Sevyn…” he started.
I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes on her.
“Nice to finally meet you,” I added. “You know, in daylight. With all the facts present.”
I let my gaze drag up to Troy’s face then, slow on purpose.
The faint yellowing around his eye was almost gone, just a shadow now unless you knew what you were looking for.
“I see that eye healing nicely,” I said lightly.
His jaw flexed. “Really?”
Before he could say more, Kasey stepped up beside me, folding her arms, voice sweet.
“Does she know,” she asked the woman calmly, “that you got beat up for being a bitter baby daddy and trying to ruin her baby shower?”
The woman’s head snapped toward him. “Beat up?”
Steph, from behind us, couldn’t help herself. “Batman bike and everything.”
Troy cursed under his breath. “Y’all doing too much.”
Kasey shrugged. “We giving her context, since you like fuckin’ with folks happiness and shit.”
She turned back to the woman, expression almost sympathetic now.
“Don’t feel bad, sis,” she said. “You might actually be baby mama number four anyway.”
The woman looked confused. “Excuse me?”
Kasey tilted her head. “Yeah. Since I heard there’s a little boy a year younger than our girls running around this city with his whole face.”
The silence that dropped over the host stand was loud.
The woman’s eyes whipped back to Troy, searching his face for a lie.
He didn’t answer fast enough.
Her lips pressed together, hurt and anger mixing there in a way I recognized too well.
For a second, I almost felt sorry for her.