A Dress Shop

"Do ya think he'll like it?" Genni asked, watching her own reflection as she twirled in the cheerful yellow dress.

"Honey, if Connor doesn't like that dress, he's an idiot, and I'll knock him over the head for you," Ronnie promised, before sipping her champagne carefully to avoid spilling on her own dress.

"And I'll gladly help," Claire added gleefully, somehow managing to look effortlessly glamorous while lounging in a dress shop chair.

"As long as it's after I've said I do, I don't care. Now, you girls all have your dresses, but I still haven't found mine. How is that possible?" I may have been a bit panicked, but there was good reason for it. The wedding was only two weeks away, after all.

"Stell, you could show up in a burlap sack and Alex would still think you're the most beautiful woman in the world," Ronnie said exasperatedly.

"But it's her wedding!" Claire countered. "She's got to look better than she's ever looked in her life. Which is hard, because you are so fine."

"What about this dress?" Genni was still wearing her dress, but she was holding a tulle and lace creation that I wasn't so sure about.

"That will make me look three miles wide," I said, but the other girls overrode my objections.

"It will look perfect on you," the shopgirl gushed.

"And you're trying it on," Claire pushed. Literally. She pushed me into the changing room with the dress. "And you're not going to come out until you've tried it on," she added with a grin, then shut the door on me.

With a sigh, I tried it, grumbling the whole time. But once I looked at the mirror, the grumbles ceased. The lace overlay of the bodice contrasted nicely with the olive tone of my skin, and the waist of the tulle skirt was raised slightly, so my hips didn't look gigantic.

"Stell? Are you alright in there?" Claire sounded concerned, but I was too busy staring at my reflection to open the door.

"Ya hate it. I'm so sorry, Stell! I neva shoulda suggested it. I knew it-"

I cut off Genni's worried ramblings with a quickly opened door. "It's perfect!" I declared triumphantly.

The girls all agreed with me, oohing and awing and fluttering over me as they examined all the tiny details of the dress. The satin ribbon at the waist was declared perfection, and the fact that the skirt hit at just the right spot on my calf, even for being so short, was nothing less than divine. The shopgirl took note of the few tiny alterations needed and promised to have our shoes dyed to match the other girls' dresses, then we sadly had to take them off.

The four of us changed back into our street clothes, before Claire payed for our dresses, but only after a quick argument. "Remember, this is my present to you and Alex. Charles may be paying for the rest of the wedding, but I am making sure that the wedding party is adequately dressed." We were far too used to her overly pompous ways to even call her out on them.

"I'm famished. Lunchtime?" Ronnie asked, and we quickly agreed. We found a little bistro tucked away nearby, and soon enough had our lunches in front of us.

"So, Stell, are you finally going to tell us which one of us is your maid of honor?" Claire asked, all but bouncing out of her seat.

"Yes, we really do need to know," Ronnie added.

"The weddin' is in two weeks," Genni reminded.

I laughed a bit nervously. "Well, I've been doing some thinking," I started slowly, "and talking with Alex, and-"

"Good gravy, just tell us already!" Genni burst out.

I laughed again. "Well, we've decided that we won't have a maid of honor or best man. I can't choose between the three of you, and Hank, Sean, and Piotr are all his best friends, too, so there will only be bridesmaids and groomsmen."

Silence greeted my announcement, and I waited nervously for their reactions. It took them a few moments, but all three of them burst into speech at the same time.

"That's a fantastic idea!"

"Ya'll are geniuses!"

"As long as Claire didn't get it, I'm fine with anything."

Laughing, we spent the rest of lunch on last minute wedding plans.

"You've got to talk to him, querida," Alex gently reminded me later that day. We were taking a walk through the garden at the school, supposedly to work on wedding plans. Really, we'd spent most of the time making out, since I'd just come back from the city for the first time in weeks.

"I know," I sighed. "I just don't know how to bring it up in conversation."

"Just ask him, Stell. He won't bite," he said with a grin.

"Okay, okay, I'll go now," I laughed.

"But not until I kiss you again."

After Alex had kissed me several times more, we finally headed back inside. "I've got to work on designing the cake with Sean. You go talk to him," he said, sending me up the stairs.

Once up the flight of stairs, I walked down the hall, but hesitated at the door. "Stella, you may come in," came Charles's voice from inside the room, with more than a hint of amusement.

Gathering up my courage, I pushed open the door to reveal Charles with a wide smile on his face. One that fell once he saw my face. "What's wrong, Stella? Did something happen with Alex?"

"No. No, of course not. Alex is fine. I just- I need to ask you something."

"Of course. Anything. What is it?"

Just hearing Charles's smooth British voice calmed me down. "Well, you know I don't have any family, any biological family left to come to the wedding. And you know I've never actually known my father, so-"

"So you'd like me to find him for you?" he asked, a gentle smile on his face.

"You can do that? I mean, I know you did it for Sophie, but she knew who he was, just not where." I was a bit amazed at the possibility.

"I can try. For you, Stella, I can try. I want your wedding day to be perfect, and if that means having your father here for it, I will do everything in my power to find him and get him here so he can walk you down the aisle," Charles vowed.

"That's sweet," I said, tearing up a bit. "But that's not actually what I was going to ask you. I'm fine not knowing who he was. He's never been a part of my life, so I'm not missing anything. No, I wanted to ask you to do it. To walk me down the aisle."

Charles was silent. He simply looked at me with a puzzled expression. Panicking, I started to babble. "I mean, only if you want to. But you've been there for me, for both of us, really, and Alex and I wanted you to be a part of the wedding. And you've been more like a father to both of us than our biological fathers, not that you're old or anything, and-"

"Stella, I've never been so honored in my life," he said softly, cutting me off. Wheeling himself around his desk, he came to a stop next to me. He took my hand in his and continued. "It would be my honor to walk you down the aisle on your wedding day."

"You'll have to wear a daffodil on your suit," I warned him, laughing a bit wetly.

Charles beamed. "If it made you happy on your wedding day, I would wear an entire garden."

The girls whisked me away after the rehearsal dinner as the boys took Alex, though they did allow us one last kiss first. Ronnie even took a photo of it, calling it my last kiss as a single girl. We spent the night in our old dorm room, and they pampered me with a manicure, pedicure, and some ridiculous face mask that Ronnie brought. "Jackie O swears by it," she assured, spreading more goop on my face.

We talked, and laughed, and drank a bit, though I refused to drink enough to get drunk. "I'm not going to have a hangover for my wedding day, and none of you are, either," I declared, taking Claire's fourth glass of wine away.

The four beds ended up pushed together, and we lounged in a tangle of arms and legs. "Has it sunk in yet, Stell? That you're getting married tomorrow?" Claire asked.

"Yes and no," I laughed. "Sometimes, it feels like I've waited forever for it to get here, and other times, it feels like the past five years have flown by."

"How does it feel to be the first one of us to get married?" Ronnie questioned.

"Well, I've beat you all, so great! But don't worry. We'll still do this when each of you get married, too. We've just started a tradition."

"One that'll be repeated in anotha five months," Genni grinned over at Claire.

Who promptly replied, "Four months, three weeks, and four days."

"Not that she's counting!" Ronnie and I cried together.

"And Connor's going to propose soon. I mean, he's got to. He's crazy about you, Gen," Claire said.

"That just leaves me as the odd girl out," Ronnie sighed dramatically. "At least until Sean Connery figures out who I am."

Morning came bright and early, with Geni bouncing one me and squealing, "You're gettin' married today!" I didn't have a minute of peace after that, as the girls swarmed around getting me, and themselves, ready. Alex and Hank brought breakfast for the four of us, though Claire and Ronnie took the trays from them quickly, then shut the door in their faces. "I love you! But Alex can't see Stella until the wedding. It's bad luck!" Claire called through the door. We could hear them laughing as they went to join the rest of the boys.

It was just after nine-thirty that I was declared perfect, then the girls did their own finishing touches. "Alright, I'm going to make sure that Alex is outside where he should be, and not sneaking around to catch a glimpse of you," Ronnie announced. A few minutes later, she declared the coast clear.

The four of us made our way down to the library, where Charles was waiting. "You all look absolutely beautiful," he beamed at us.

Sophie, my little flower girl, dutifully handed each of us our bouquets with all the solemnity of a state affair. Each of us had to stifle laughter so we didn't offend her, but it was very hard. "You look very beautiful, as well," I told her, and she adorably blushed.

Connor stuck his head in the door and took us all in, though his gaze did linger quite a while on Genni. "You girls are all ready, then?"

"Absolutely," Claire proclaimed with a nod. Her twin nodded back, then left to have the violinist start.

It was then, as the music started, that the flamingos hibernating in my belly suddenly woke and took flight. I started to shake with sudden nerves, though I had no idea why. "Stella, calm down," Charles said quietly, but that was enough to get Claire's attention.

"Estrella Rosana Castellanos, you listen to me right now. You are madly in love with Alex, and he with you, and there is no reason to panic. Do you hear me?"

Her words penetrated the anxiety rolling around in me. I looked to her, and calm anticipation flowed through me. I knew it was partly her, and possibly Ronnie, but I didn't care. This was what I wanted, more than anything, and I wasn't going to let a little anxiety over what the future might hold for us to stop it.

"I hear you," I grinned at her. "Let's get this show started."

Genni sent Sophie out first with her little basket of petals, then followed the little girl out, after giving me a huge hug. Ronnie followed, giving me a squeeze on her way out, then Claire, who also threw her arms around me, after throwing my veil over my face quickly. And then it was just me and Charles left.

"Are you ready, Stella?" he asked with a smile.

"Absolutely," I said, echoing Claire.

We left the library through the double doors, following the path to the side lawn. Then, just as the violinist started to play the wedding march, Charles stopped me. "I've got something for you," he said, then, before I could even wonder what it might be, he parked his wheelchair and shakily stood up. "Hank and I have been working on this for the past two weeks. I wanted to walk you down the aisle, not wheel you."

Tears threatened, but he stopped me with humor. "Claire would murder me if I made you cry and caused your mascara to run. Now, I believe we have somewhere to be."

Charles tucked my arm in his, and we turned the corner to where everyone was waiting. I saw the small crowd of our friends, family, really, but then I caught sight of Alex, and nothing else mattered. He watched me as we made our way down the aisle, and the awe in his eyes nearly brought me to tears again.

The ceremony was a blur. I wasn't even aware of saying anything, but I apparently said all the right things, as the priest declared us man and wife. And then Alex was kissing me, and I knew it was the very best decision I could have ever made.

AN: Here's the first of Stella's visions. It's a bit sooner than I was anticipating, but I don't think anyone will complain! Thanks for reading!