Lauren's Waking Up

Lauren's Waking Up
Hours after we finished dinner, I found myself laying in a sleeping Mason’s arms, thinking about the rest of our shopping trip. I really didn’t know what to make of it. It plagued me the entire time it was happening, and it continued to plague me now. It was just…I don’t know. It was troubling in a way that no one else would see if they weren’t me, Mason, or apparently Ramira. I sighed as I rolled over on my side, only to have my lips curl up in a happy smile when Mason immediately shifted to reposition himself behind me, curling tightly around my body as my thoughts shifted back toward the dressing rooms.

Ty gave Jane a shy smile. “Thank you.”

She returned his smile. “It’s no problem. Now, I believe that I heard you picked out your mommy’s dresses. Is that correct?”
He nodded. “Yes. They’re so pretty, just like Mommy.”

“I’m sure they are! I can’t wait to see them.”

While Jane got pulled into a very intense conversation with a very eager little dinosaur about how blue was Lauren’s favorite color, I pulled my phone out to text Mason, asking him how he was doing. He almost immediately replied that he was fine before asking me the same question to which I texted back that I was fine, but Lauren wasn’t doing as well as I was. He had expressed his concern which had immediately touched my heart in a way that I wasn’t sure that I was ever going to get used to. I was so consumed with talking to Mason that I hadn’t even noticed when everyone but Lauren came to sit on the couches next to us.

When Lauren finally came out in the first stunning blue dress, my breath had literally been stolen from my lungs. Tyson hopped up to rush over to her, speaking too fast in his excitement for us to make out his words. He began to walk around her, staring up at her in awe.

“Mommy, you look so pretty!” He turned to look at me and Jane. “Doesn’t she Auntie Mama? Grandma?”

Everyone’s eyes flew to Jane, who nodded. “Mommy looks like a fairy, just like you said she would.”

Lauren gave me a surprised look that I knew meant that she was going to lecture me later, but it didn’t matter. Tyson was happy, and I knew that once Jane claimed you as one of her own, you were stuck. You were now her baby, and she was going to treat you as such. It was the reason that I wanted her to walk me down the aisle. I got up to walk around Lauren, just like Tyson had done, studying the way the form-fitting top hugged her body and showed off her figure while the pleated skirt gave her more of an ethereal look. The little rhinestone accents along with the glitter that had been sprinkled over it gave the sleek gown a shimmery look that I knew was the reason that Tyson thought it was a fairy dress. It really made her look like a fairy. Or at least something other than the grumpy woman that she always presented herself to be.

“What do you think, Lauren? Do you like it?” I asked her.

She looked at herself in the mirror, tilting her head every which way before meeting my eyes. “Do you like it?” she asked worriedly.

I shrugged already knowing that this wasn’t the dress for her. While I wasn’t expecting the same reaction to a maid of honor dress as she had to her wedding dress, I could tell that something was missing from the dress in her eyes. Even though I knew she would wear whatever I asked her to wear, I couldn’t ask her to wear something she didn’t like. Finally I shook my head.

“The dress is beautiful, but I don’t think it’s the one for you. What do you think, Tyson?”

Ty shook his head as he took my hand with his blanketed one. “No, Mommy. You don’t look like my mommy. I want you to wear the other one.”

Lauren relaxed a little as she nodded. “Okay, baby. I’ll go try the other one on.”
No soon had she disappeared back by the dressing room did Ty looked up at me. “Did I do good?”

“You did really good, bug. Mommy didn’t like the dress,” I told him.

He sighed as he shook his head again. “No she didn’t, but I did.”

I knelt in front of him so I could look into his eyes as I smiled sweetly at him. “Me too, but we want Mommy to be comfortable, right?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. We always want girls to be comfortable.”

“Yes we do, buddy. Come on, let’s sit down and wait for mommy to come back.”

As we were settling back onto the couch, Ramira glanced at me, and I instantly began to worry about what she was going to have to say after this little shopping trip. It was clear that in the short time since she had arrived, she had learned all she needed to know about Lauren. Ramira had picked up on everything ‘Lauren’ faster than she picked up my deepest insecurities. I wasn’t surprised. Ramira really was good at what she did. I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I returned my attention to Lauren, who was walking back out to us, thankfully looking more confident in the gorgeous dress she was wearing. Ty immediately jumped to his feet to help her up onto the raised platform.

“Wow, Mommy! This is the one,” he told her confidently.

She beamed down at him proudly as she gripped the flowy skirt before making it dance around her. “Do you really think so?”

He nodded before looking at me. “What do you think, Auntie Mama?”

I got up from my place on the couch to walk around her again, smiling brightly. “Yes. I love how the top almost looks like the night sky before flowing gracefully down into the light blue that I was looking for. Not only that, but it looks almost identical to the bridesmaids’ dresses. The only difference is the darker hue at the top. I actually really like this dress, Lauren. What do you think?”

She gave me a dazzling smile. “I love it! I love the way it fits. It’s not too flashy or attention grabbing. It’s a lot less sparkly than the other one.” She took my hands and held them between our bodies. “You should be the only one that sparkles on your day.”

I hugged her tightly before stepping back. “Then it’s settled. This is your dress.”

“Perfect. I’ll go get changed and then we can rescue the boys,” Lauren laughed.

“I don’t think they’re suffering too much. Knowing Joey, they’re probably all sipping on champagne and talking about something weird like throwing rocks off a bridge into a frozen river just to see the splash,” Maddie giggled, making us all eye her.

“What in the he–are you talking about?” Angel asked, making Maddie laugh again.

“Boys do dumb stuff while left to their own devices. It’s why we live longer,” she answered.

“Oh…”

“Anyway, Lauren, go ahead and get changed. We’re going to go inform Mason about everything he’s buying.”

Lauren nodded before hurrying off toward the dressing rooms again while I took Ty’s hand, flipper?, and began to lead him toward the front of the store where I knew Mason and the other men would be waiting for us. After Lucy got everything rung up for us, Mason leaned forward to quietly inform her that he was also paying for the wedding dress that Lauren had picked out, which was happily added to our total. As Mason was swiping his card to pay for everything, Anna and Lauren came walking up.

“I’ll just ring you up, Miss Washington, and then we will go and pull your dresses for you,” Anna told her.

“It’s already been paid for,” Mason said as he put the receipt along with the small pack of papers that Lucy gave him into his pocket.

“Mason, you didn’t have to do that,” Lauren told him, her voice trembling slightly.

“Of course I did! You’re my sister! It’s a brother’s duty to make sure his sister has the perfect dress,” Mason retorted before catching an emotional Lauren in his arms when she launched herself at him.

“Thank you!”

“Anytime, Laurie.”

When their hug ended, Lauren took my hand and practically dragged me away from the others, leaving Tyson clinging to Mason’s leg. When we were far enough away that we couldn’t be heard by anyone, Lauren turned toward me.

“Why is my son calling a strange woman grandma?” she asked emotionally, but at least she wasn’t upset, which was good.

“Because, Lauren, she is a good woman, and wants to love him like he’s her grandchild. Jane takes a lot of people into her world, and treats them like family. Trust me when I say that Ty couldn’t have a better grandmother figure,” I told her softly. 

“But…after today he’ll never see her again…”

“That’s your choice. If you let her, she’ll come visit him everyday.” I pulled her in close again so I could speak quietly to her. “I know that you’re used to our family just being you, Ty, me, and Mason, but I think it’s time that we both embrace a family. A real family. A family that we choose. They’re good people, sis. Give them a chance.”

She raised tear-filled eyes to mine and uttered the most heartbreaking five words I ever heard her say that left me clueless as to how to respond. “What if I break again?”