192 - Twinkling Stars
192 - Twinkling Stars
I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself. - Henry David Thoreau
Victoria took the elevator up to where the women were getting ready. Jennifer and her staff were finishing up with Helen’s hair and makeup. Meanwhile Harper and her assistants were putting the dresses on the bridesmaids, flower girls and those that were close to Helen but did not have an official position. Gigi declared that her title was Little Star Wrangler.
The bridesmaid’s dresses were made of layers of blue chiffon over blue and white ombre silk with a sweetheart cut and floor length A-line skirt. An elaborate applique at the waist hid a small box at the front of the dress. A silver shawl with iridescent stars of various sizes and styles offered a little warmth and coverage over the low back and bare arms.
A light dusting of body glitter covered their exposed skin. Jolene had the same glitter in her short swing bob. Bunny’s hair was curled in waves down her back with temporary gems tacked into the long tresses. Cheryl had part of her hair pulled back and it all hung down her back with similar gems in her own curls.
Dean’s hair was twisted up into an elegant updo with crystal-topped bobby pins holding the curls in place. Much like Dean, Sam could not handle the feel of hair on her neck, and her hair was also twisted up into an updo. She could not bring herself to cut her hair short like Jolene, but it was now significantly shorter than it had ever been before.
Sam’s belly was growing a little bigger and her dress had been modified slightly. The applique had been removed, and her little box was tucked into a little pocket between her breasts. She was uncomfortable with so much of her skin exposed and Harper added material to the dress.
Victoria fluffed the skirts and turned on the fairy lights that had been added under the chiffon. She set them on a slow rotation of lights going between blue, purple and green and that all the dresses were set to the same timing. The bouquets that they would be carrying had similar lights that twinkled on and off on a random pattern.
The flower girls would be wearing very similar dresses with light belts beneath the thin sash. Baskets with twinkle lights completed their look. Along with fake rose petals that glowed in the dark.
“Harper, Jennifer,” Victoria asked as she checked her tablet, “are you good? Do you need anything else?”
After checking in with their assistants, they both confirmed that they were good.
“Will you take Claira and Mary Beth over so that they can do the flower girl’s hair? I don’t know where they are,” Jennifer asked as she took the last curler out of Helen’s hair.
Grabbing her safety pins, Harper moved over to where Sam patiently waited but looked at her assistant. “Oh, yeah! Coralee, are you good to go dress the girls?”
“Sure,” the other woman said as she took the shorter dress bags off the rolling rack and joined Victoria and the other two women as they waited for the elevator.
Victoria watched as Harper adjusted Sam’s dress to accommodate the baby bump. Not for the first time that day, she was glad that Heather sewed as a hobby and was willing to fix the vests for Neo’s new boys. Honestly, she was not sure what she would have done if Heather had said no. She might have stolen some of the safety pins that Harper held between her teeth.
Harper sat back on her heels and spoke around the safety pins in her mouth as she looked up at Sam, “Does that feel better?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sam said softly.
“Tell me the truth,” she warned the teen. “You’re going to be in this dress for the next few hours. We can still adjust it.”
The elevator dinged and the doors opened as Sam gave her soft answer. Trusting that the seamstress would take care of the teen, Victoria ushered the other three onto the waiting elevator and down one floor. They headed down the hall to the room where Gigi, Madison Leigh and Candi had all the children being entertained in a playroom.
Leaving the women to do their magic with all the kids under the age of four, Victoria headed down to the main floor. The ceremony and reception would all take place in the same area. The tables were arranged in such a way that they created an aisle down the center.
The centerpieces on the table all had constellations that seemed to hover above the stargazer lilies, Cosmo Orchids and a half dozen other flowers with a cosmic theme. Ushers escorted guests to their assigned tables, carefully chosen by the bride and groom. Waiters easily moved through the tables, filling water glasses and delivering drinks from the bar.
“Mom?”
Turning towards the voice, she smiled at her husband’s nephew. She did not correct him, but bit back her laughter as his eyes went wide with realization of what he had called her. “It’s okay, we all joke that there’s so many of us answering to mom that our kids don’t know who their actual mother is.”
He gave a nervous laugh, “Okay. Rudy? Ruby?”
“It’s probably Reba.”
He pointed at her and nodded with a giant grin. “That’s it. She asked when you wanted to start, this sounds so wrong. When do you want to turn everything on and everything else off?”
She chuckled as she looked at her tablet and then her watch. “Let’s start in about five minutes.”
“I’ll go let her know,” he looked up before walking away. “This is so fucking cool, Aunt Victoria.”
She chuckled as he walked away and she returned to her own duties. There were twenty-five six-top round tables on either side of the makeshift aisle. Three hundred people for what her brother had wanted to be a small intimate wedding.
Considering how large their family was, how many people he employed, and coworkers Helen had, and then added in friends and business acquaintances, she was surprised that the couple had paired it down to only three hundred guests.
And that did not include all the children who had their own party upstairs after the ceremony. Shaking her head, she moved to where the head tables were set up. A dark curtain currently hung to separate the two long tables and small table for just the bride and groom from where the altar was positioned.
Walking back around the curtain, she found Clarence setting up his notes on the small podium. He looked over at her and smiled broadly.
“This one,” he motioned around them, “is my favorite.”
“Just wait.”
Right on time, the lights around the main room dimmed and the twinkling lights on the tables and chairs blinked to life. Above them, the planets glowed softly as they continued to slowly move in their orbits. Victoria looked around the club and saw her brother’s vision come to life.
He truly was giving his wife the universe.