Dress Shopping

Dress Shopping
I took Tyson over to the couch where he sat on his knees, facing me as I unzipped the package. As soon as it was open, he reached over to run his small hand over the cloth.

“Ooooh, Auntie Mama, that is so soft,” he exclaimed. “And it’s green! Green is my favorite color!”

“Is it? I thought it was blue!” I told him as I removed the item from the package so I could shake it out.

“It was, but then I saw the coolest green car, and now my favorite color is green!” he informed me, making me smile.

I held the blanket up between us and he immediately squealed again excitedly. “It’s a dinosaur!” I laughed as he took it from me and held it up to his body. “See?”

I nodded before peering closer at it. “Oh, it has a zipper. Let me see it, Ty.”

He gave it back to me, and I immediately unzipped it before carefully pulling it over his head. As soon as it was on him, he jumped off the couch to go look in the mirror, while Jane sat next to me. Her lips curled up in a soft smile as she watched him growl at his reflection.

“He’s adorable, Laurel,” she told me.

I beamed proudly at her. “Isn’t he?”

“How old is he?” she asked.

“Almost 7.”

“That’s a cute age. I miss my babies being that age,” she said softly before taking my hand. “How are you doing?”

“I’m great, Jane. Like really good. Mason is such a great guy. I really do love him, and I really can’t wait until we have our baby. I’m really glad to be home. It’s the only place in my life that I’ve ever really felt like I belonged, and now I don’t have to leave it ever again.” I glanced at her. “Wait! How did you guys know that we were looking at dresses?”

“You have a good man, Laurel. He called Joey and Joey informed all of us what was going on, so we wanted to come and support you. No bride should be dress shopping alone. So ta-da. Here we are.”
I gave her a bright smile. “Thank you, Jane. Thank all of you for showing up for me. I hope that this doesn't hurt Lauren’s feelings,” I whispered worriedly. “She seems really… I don’t know.”

Jane laughed quietly. “I’m not going to lie, we were having a family outing when Mason called Joey. Caleb is really upset that he wasn’t invited to the wedding.”

I blinked in surprise. “Is he? But he doesn’t know me.”

“While that’s true, he’s hoping that he knows your sister,” she told me.

I giggled as I glanced toward the dressing rooms. “Between you and me, I hope he is the man she’s been looking for. Have any of you guys told him how to find her?”

“No. Ramira said not to. She thinks that it would be bad for Caleb, and she hadn’t met Lauren before to make a call on her. She said that this whole situation is very tricky, because of how long ago everything happened, and while I agree with her, the mother in me just wants to see her last son find his person. All of my other children have found their forever people, even if they are fighting it at the moment.” She leaned back against the couch as she shook her head. “Anyway, Maddie was supposed to talk to you about how to push them together. Since she failed, I’ll do it. How are we getting them in the same room without looking like we’re setting them up?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you guys try to convince him to use Mason and Lauren’s company for all his public relations needs?” I suggested, making her roll her eyes and huff agitatedly.

“That boy of mine isn’t trying to be well-known. His clientele is very…gruesome for a lack of a better word,” she told me, making me sigh.

“Well, I’m going to keep trying to convince her to go to a support group. His support group,” I promised.

“Yeah, that might be the best way to get them together,” she said.

“Why doesn’t Ramira think that it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell Caleb?” I asked curiously.

“She says that he’s been so obsessed with finding the girl he rescued all those years ago that she’s worried that if your sister is not the girl he’s been looking for that it might cause Caleb to spiral a little bit, and the last thing we want is to put anyone in danger, which is what we would be doing if we built up all that hope for him only for it to be ripped away from him. You know that Ramira is usually very correct about things that she says or sees. She’s very good at what she does. Not only that, but we can all see that Caleb is holding onto his sanity by a very thin thread.”

I sighed as I glanced at my sister as she walked out with the others, looking for all the world to see like a lost little girl, who was terrified about what was about to happen. I had never seen her look so downtrodden before. I couldn’t tell how I should react. Ramira’s question and following conversation must have really tripped her a little, which didn’t surprise me at all. Ramira had this way of making you feel like you were naked in a room full of other people who were all staring at you, while fully dressed alone with no one else but her. Lauren’s face lit up as soon as she saw her son, while his face dropped.

“Mommy, where’s your fairy dress?” he asked, pouting, which made my heart melt.
“Come here, Ty,” I called out.

He grumbled under his breath as he stomped over to me, really making him look like the cutest little angry dinosaur that had ever existed. He hopped up onto my lap, crossing his arms over his chest, while I smiled softly at the ladies up on the raised platform.

“Hmmm, ladies. Do you ladies like any of these dresses?”

“Yeah,” Maddie said excitedly as she gestured toward the dress Angel was wearing. “That one.”
Angel laughed as she nodded. “I love this one too!”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” Jenna agreed. “There’s only one problem with it!”

Ramira raised her eyebrow. “Yeah there is. I’m going to look the best in it.”
Jenna shot her a pretend annoyed look. “Nope! I am!”

As they continued to argue playfully, pulling a tense Lauren into the pretend argument, I whispered in Ty’s ear, “are you ready to see your mommy in her fairy dresses?”

He nodded eagerly. “Yes!”

I clapped my hands together to get their attention. “Alright, ladies! Are we all in agreement?”

They nodded before Lauren cleared her throat.

“What do you think? Is this the one you want?” she asked, her voice wavering.

I gave her a soft smile. I chose the groom. My decisions are done.”

Lauren nodded as she eyed me. “You chose a really good groom.”

“Mommy, I want to see your fairy dress!”

I laughed as I nodded my head. “Go on, my nephew wants to see his princess mommy.”

“Auntie Mama, she’s not a princess. She’s a fairy.”

“Oh, excuse me, he wants to see his fairy mommy,” I corrected myself while I booped his nose.

As they walked back to the dressing rooms, I turned to look at Jane. “What did you think of the dress that Ramira was wearing?”

“I loved it.”

“Would you like to wear it to my wedding? Maybe when you walk me down the aisle?” I inquired shyly, making her eyes light up.

“Yes! I would love to walk you down the aisle! But you know what that means if I do, right?” she replied.

“No, what?”

“That means you are officially one of my children.”

I beamed at her as I nodded. “Then I definitely want you to walk me down the aisle!”

Jane looked down at Tyson in my lap. “I have a question for you, little one. Do you have a grandma?” When he shook his head, she reached into her purse to pull out a piece of candy before unwrapping it and handing it to him. “You do now.”