Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 163(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 163(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“No, no,” I insist, “you look beautiful. I take in her delicate, cream-colored gown, covered in dainty lace and tiny buttons. “That dress – it’s just so you.”
Juniper grins brightly. “Are you kidding? Bess, your dress is so you!”
I giggle and turn back to the mirror to look at myself more closely. Juniper is right. Everything about the pearl-colored gown – from the deep v-neck to the thin straps to the full, floor-length skirt screams me. I pat my thick brown hair, amused that for once in its life, it’s tame.
“Are you ready?” Juniper turns to face me. I smile, and we take one another’s hands.
“I am,” I tell her earnestly. “I’ve never been more ready or more sure of anything in my entire life.”
And so, hand in hand, my best friend and I walk out of the large bedroom where we’d been getting ready. In the upstairs hallway, our parents wait to greet us and fawn over our bridal gowns.
“Oh sweetheart,” my mom, Maria, gasps with her hands over her mouth. “You look absolutely stunning.”
My father, Patrick, usually a more reserved man, comes up to me and crushes me in a giant bear hug.
“Oh my baby girl,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion. “You look like a princess.”
I smile at my parents. Maria and Patrick have done so much for me and supported me unconditionally over the years, so I’m grateful. In fact, I hardly know how to express my thanks to them as I clasp their hands, all of us so emotional. Before I can say a word, however, my tiny toddler comes bouncing up and flings her arms around the base of my dress.
“Mama,” she coos delightedly. “Pretty mama.”
“Don’t worry, I made sure to wash her hands thoroughly,” my mom laughs reassuringly.
But I don’t care if my little girl has grubby hands. I lean down and scoop Melanie up, twirling us around in a circle as I do so.
“Now you’re the princess, little miss.” My daughter giggles and flaps her arms about excitedly, her wild black curls flying in every direction. I stop spinning us and look deep into my daughter’s stunning azure eyes – the exact same color as her dads’. Her light blue dress makes them all the more brilliant, and her creamy skin looks almost porcelain.
Next to us, Juniper smiles fondly as she watches me play with my daughter.
“Melanie’s a sweetheart,” she says warmly.
“She’s a hellion,” I correct her, “but she does take after me, at least in the personality department.
At that moment, Juniper’s twin girls come bounding up too, each one looking absolutely darling in light blue dresses similar to Melanie’s.
“Mama, look!” Serena holds up a large basket of flower petals, showing off her flower girl duties.
“Me too, Mama!” Selena chirps, her own curls swept up with a tiara. It’s funny that my buddy named her daughters Serena and Selena, but hey, to each their own. Meanwhile, Selena twirls her flower basket with wild abandon while everyone laughs, and of course, Melanie watches the older girls with awe.
Juniper looks adoringly at her precocious daughters and then leads them back to where her own parents are standing.
“All right, now I want you to behave for your grandparents. Just copy your big brothers because they know how to listen well.” Juniper raises an eyebrow at the mischievous girls and they nod solemnly in response.
“Of course, Mama!” cries one.
“Always!” cries the other. “We love you!”
With a smile, Juniper’s parents each take one of the children’s hands, and I give Melanie to my mom to carry. The tot can walk, but she loves to be carried. Then, I turn back to my friend.
“I guess this is it,” I say as I take Juniper’s palm in my own once more. “Ready to get married to the men of our dreams?”
She claps her other hand on top of mine. “Yes, absolutely. I never thought I’d be having a double wedding, but you know? It’s perfect. We’re best friends, so why not?”
I laugh.
“It’s more than a double wedding, it’s a sextuplet wedding, or at least something like that,” I giggle. “After all, we each have two husbands so there are six of us total.”
Juniper giggles.
“A sex-agon wedding then. Isn’t that hysterical?”
I titter as well.
“Very much so.” But then my mood goes serious. “Did you ever think we’d get here?”
My friend thinks for a moment.
“I’d always hoped, but I never knew for sure.” Juniper’s eyes are misty. “Until I met Shane and Stanton.”
“I know the feeling,” I say, giving her hand a quick squeeze. “I feel the same about Ben and Brandon.”
Flushed with happiness, we make our way downstairs slowly, grabbing the hems of our respective dresses so we don’t trip. At the bottom of the stairs, Juniper’s mom straightens out our trains and pats our hair one last time.
“I’m so proud of you,” she says as she plants a soft kiss on Juniper’s cheek. “Both of you.” She gives me a quick peck. “You girls ready?”