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Chapter Six

“Weddings by Design, Valeria speaking.”

“Val, this is Olivia Ryans.”

“O-livia,” she said, stressing the ‘O.’ “I was hoping I would hear from you. We have so much to discuss.”

“Actually, we do have a lot to discuss. I have a problem.”

Nick was sitting on the floor by Brooklyn, a duck puppet on his hand. He looked at me and shook his head. He had been doing that a lot.

“A problem?” Val asked. As a professional planner, she was trained not to let her voice show any panic. “Let’s see if we can solve it, shall we? What’s the problem? Table covers? Dresses?”

“I need to move the wedding to July 2.”

Dead silence filled the line. Finally I heard a sharp intake of breath.

“I’m sorry sweetheart,” Val said. “I think our connection broke. What do you need?”

“I need to move the wedding to July 2,” I repeated.

“That’s six weeks away.”

“I know.”

I heard papers flipping madly.

“Isn’t your maid of honor due around then?” she asked. I detected a hopeful note in her voice.

“She is,” I said calmly. “It will be fine.”

I saw Nick lean over and kiss Brooklyn’s forehead. “Mommy’s quackers,” he whispered.

I cupped the phone. “I heard that!” I whispered loudly. He grinned.

“Quack, quack, quack,” he teased, opening and closing the duck’s beak as he spoke.

“O-livia?”

I put the phone back to my ear.

“Yes?”

“You do realize that July 2 is the 4th of July weekend,” Val explained.

“Yeah?”

“That’s one of the biggest wedding weekends of the year.” I heard a huge note of hesitation in her voice.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to do this.”

“You don’t think or there’s no possible way?”

I could almost see her chewing her lip on the other end of the phone. On one hand, moving everything would be a total pain in the ass and she’d have to work twice as hard. I’m sure she thought I was being a total bridezilla. On the other hand, the Carter wedding was probably the highest profile wedding Weddings by Design had ever worked on. That meant keeping the bridezilla from freaking out was in the best interest of the company.

“Let me see what I can do,” she said slowly.

I let out a squeal.

“Meanwhile,” she continued. “Could you contact your wedding party? If I can do this, you need to make sure everyone gets their dresses in plenty of time to get any alterations done.”

“That’s fine,” I said happily. “I’ll take care of that.”

I hung up the phone and pumped my fist in the air. Nick looked at me and shook his head. Again.

“Did she say yes?”

“No, but she didn’t say no,” I said. I sat down beside him and picked up a bunny hand puppet. Nick leaned over and kissed me softly.

“You’re a crazy wabbit,” he whispered next to my lips. I laughed.

“Shut up. I’ll feel much better once we get the date moved. Plus, that means we get to honeymoon even sooner.”

That produced a big grin.

“I forgot about that. You still didn’t tell me where you want to go.”

I shrugged. “I really don’t care. I’ll be happy because I’ll be with you. Surprise me.”

Nick smiled. “I thought you don’t like surprises.”

I laughed. “Okay, so maybe I lied.”

I brought my puppet up to Brooklyn’s face and brushed her face in whiskery bunny kisses. I was rewarded with a smile.

“So you don’t hate me after all,” I said. She cooed.

Nick and I sat on the floor seeing who could make the stupid cartoon voices. After awhile I stood up.

“I’ve got to make some calls,” I said.

“To who?”

“The girls. I just need to give them a heads up, especially about their dresses and alterations.”

Nick smiled. “Make the phone calls in here.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t wait to hear Leighanne when you tell her you moved the wedding up.”

I rolled my eyes.

“You’re being overly dramatic. She’ll understand.”

Nick laughed. “We’ll see.”

-------------------------------------

“You’re what?!”

“We’re moving up the wedding. I thought tomorrow I can come up to Atlanta and we can get you a dress.”

“You’re kidding.”

I had Leighanne on speaker phone. Nick was highly amused.

“I’m due July 9!”

“I know. But it will be fine.”

“I don’t even know if I’ll be able to walk down the aisle!”

“Think positive,” I said. “Can I come up and help you pick out a dress tomorrow?”

I heard her put her hand over the phone. A few seconds later Brian was on the phone.

“Was this Nick’s idea?”

“What?” I said surprised. “No.”

“Are you sure? It sounds like something Nick would do.”

“I’m innocent!” Nick yelled out.

Brian sighed. “Well you’re more than welcome to come up tomorrow. What happened to August?”

I fidgeted in my seat. Nick spoke up.

“I took Liv to the circus and decided to get my fortune read and…”

“So this is your fault,” Brian interjected.

“Dude, let me finish,” Nick said. Brian made a clicking noise with his tongue.

“So the fortune teller tells us that these two dark forces are out to get us and then she proceeds to tell us to beware the month of August.”

“So how is this not your fault? Between the Ouija boards and the fortune tellers…”

“It was just for fun!”

“You don’t tell a bride that the month of her wedding is doomed. Take it from someone who’s been married more than a decade.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Well gee, thanks for giving me this advice before!”

Brian laughed.

“Hold on, I’m putting Leigh back on.”

“So tomorrow afternoon?” Leighanne asked.

“Yeah. I’ve got to call Rochelle, Leigh, and Angel, Leslie, and BJ. They’ve already ordered their dresses but I’m going to let them know that as soon as they come in we’ve got to get them altered. I’ll call you back with my flight time.”

I took her off speakerphone and we spent a couple more minutes talking about random things. When I hung up, I immediately dialed Rochelle.

I heard the ‘Are you crazy?’ line four more times. Even so, everyone was sticking by me no matter what. When I told Angel, all she could do was laugh.

“Are you sure you want to marry my brother? I swear he can get you guys in trouble without even trying.”
I laughed. “Lucky for him, I love him unconditionally.”

I heard a weird noise in the background. “Angel, where are you?”

“Oh, I’m up in Montreal doing a modeling shoot.”

I smiled. I had a soft spot for Canada. “I’m jealous,” I said. “I’ll call you if the boutique tells me your dress has come in.”

“Thanks, Liv. By the way, how’s Brooklyn?”

I glanced over to see Nick scooping her up. He pinched his nose to indicate a diaper change. I smiled.

“She was going through dad withdrawal. After three weeks of crying, he walked through the door and found the secret to keeping her happy.”

Angel laughed. “It figures. Listen, I’ve got to get back to work, but I promise that the second I’m home I’ll be ready to get into wedding mode. Geesh, I can’t believe it. Six weeks from now you’ll be my sister-in-law.”

I smiled.

“I can’t wait. I’ll see you when you get back.”

I hung up and made my flight reservation. I called Leighanne back with my arrival time and then set the phone down with a sigh of relief. Seconds later panic hit me like a tornado.

Even though all of the girls but Leighanne had their dresses, I had yet to find a dress. I had been determined to wait until the last moment to shed the last little bit of baby weight I possibly could. My palms began to sweat. I had a feeling that taking a quick look in Atlanta wouldn’t hurt.

As I was lost in my thoughts, Nick came back downstairs with Brooklyn. I heard the television turn on and the telltale sounds of a NBA pre-game show start blasting through the room.

I looked up and had to laugh. Nick had put on his Celtics jersey. I had almost forgotten that the NBA quarterfinals were going on. Nick, as always, was rooting for the boys in green. He was obviously ready for a father-daughter bonding moment; Brooklyn was decked out in a little Celtics cheerleading outfit. He had even put a green bow in her hair. She looked like an adorable miniature blonde leprechaun.

“I don’t remember that outfit,” I said with a laugh.

“I bought it when I did my solo tour. I was waiting for the perfect occasion to bring it out. We’re going to the semifinals, right Brookey?”

Loud gurgles filled the room. I saw Nick slide a cloth down across his chest.

“No droolin’ on the jersey, darling.”

Nick got lost in the game; Brooklyn fell asleep halfway through. I spent the time absorbed in bridal websites. After awhile all of the wedding gowns seemed to blur together.

Moving the wedding up a month didn’t seem like a big deal. Finding a wedding dress?

Near impossible.