"Oh, honey! It's beautiful! " exclaimed Stacey's mom Maureen, who had flown in from Nevada two days ago, as Stacey put on her finished wedding dress.
"It really is" said Claudia as all three of them stood in front of the mirrored closet doors in her new bedroom. "and it fits perfectly."
Stacey slowly twirled around and the new ruffles that were added to the bottom beautifully swished around with her. Claudia's alteration ideas were so on point and with the inner lining that was added, it was no longer see through and looked very classy. Stacey said "I love clothes but Claud, your artistic eye is incredible" before turning to her Mom and saying "seriously, Mom. This was a legit mumu when we bought it." Her mom laughed and repeated herself, saying "well, it sure is beautiful now." She then turned to Ava who was sitting on the floor playing around with her Barbie dolls, oblivious to what the adults were doing and asked her, "Sweetie, what do think of mama's dress?" Ava looked at her mother and her eyes lit up as she said "That's so pretty mommy! Buy it!" Stacey smiled at Ava's response and just went along with it saying "Ok, I will." "Yaaaay!" shouted Ava before going back to playing. Claudia said quietly to Stacey "So innocent."
Maureen asked Stacey, "have you decided what to do with your hair yet?"
Stacey replied "Well, I was thinking loose waves, just to match the dress since its all flowy."
"I think that would look lovely" said Maureen. "Especially with your hair as long as it is now. I remember how great my hair looked when I was pregnant with you."
Just then, Stacey's phone started buzzing and still wanting to check out the dress, she asked Claudia "can you check that? It's in my purse."
Claudia reached into Stacey's purse that was on the bed and pulled out her phone, making a sour face before saying "It's Ben," referring to Stacey's ex-boyfriend and Ava's father. He was there to pick up Ava for his weekend, which was perfect timing since Stacey, her Mom and Claudia were heading out in the next 30 minutes to The Villa restaurant, where Stacey was having her bridal shower on their outdoor patio. She mouthed to Claudia "Be nice" before saying to Maureen, "I need to get dressed. Mom? Can you..?"
"Oh, sure, hon. I suppose I better say hi to him anyway." She looked at Ava and said, "Your Daddy's here, sweetie."
"Daddys here! Daddy's here!" squealed Ava.
"Let's go get your bag" said Maureen as Ava ran out of the room with her Grandma.
Claudia gently helped Stacey out of her dress, trying not to wrinkle it or rub off any of Stacey's fresh makeup. Claudia went to hang up the dress while Stacey slipped on her sleveless wrap dress. Despite the current summer heat, Stacey was wearing a black dress. It wasn't so much that she wanted to wear black as much as that was the only dress she could find at the maternity store that looked nice and didn't accentuate her "armpit cleavage," which was what she called the very tiny amount of weight that pregnancy had added to her arms. With the subtle jewelry she had chosen, her hair in a low, messy bun and her black strappy leather sandals she was wearing, it looked very casual. Perfect for a party on a patio. Once fully dressed, Stacey sighed and said "well, I better go talk to him. I'll be back" knowing Claudia had no desire to see him. As she walked towards her open front door, she saw Ben's unmistakable dark, curly and frizzy hair, which Stacey was so glad Ava didn't inherit. He was speaking to her mom in the doorway, Ava already standing on the other side of the door, holding his hand. She took a deep breath and said "Hey Ben" she said.
Maureen, figuring they might need a minute, quickly said "Ava, lets go potty before you go to your Daddy's, ok?" Luckily Ava was compliant and went straight to the restroom with grandma, Maureen calling over her shoulder saying, "Good to see you, Ben."
"Hey" said Ben awkwardly. "You look nice."
"Thanks" she said, wondering if it was weird for Ben to see her pregnant with another man's child before adding "My bridal shower is today."
He replied "Yeah, I know. Your mom told me." Not really knowing what else to say to him, Stacey said "well, I'm glad you found the new house."
He replied "It wasn't that hard. This place is really nice."
An awkward silence followed before Ben started talking again, saying "Look, Stace. I know we don't get along and I know we don't talk anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to be happy. You're still the mother of my daughter. I see so much of you in her."
"She is a little me, isn't she?" said Stacey.
"Oh yes. When I look at her, it reminds me that you and I did have a good time together, at one point in time."
"I guess" said Stacey
"Can we try to be more civil?" he asked.
Stacey sighed and said "yeah, we probably should. For Ava." Ben didn't say anything else so Stacey asked "Why are you being nice to me, Ben?"
"Well, the dinner I had with Dave last week went very well. He's a good guy, I trust him with my daughter and talking to him and seeing how much he loves you. Well, he reminded me of all your good qualities that I sometimes forget about" he said. "I know we don't see eye to eye but I know you're a good person."
A little taken aback , Stacey said "that's very nice. Thank you."
Just then, Ava walked back into the doorway. Ben looked at her and said "are you ready to go?"
"I'm ready, Daddy" she responded. "I want ice cream!" Ben glanced at Stacey, his eyebrows slightly raised and Stacey just shrugged and said "whatever," but did so with a smile. Ava then ran up to her and gave her the usual hug around the legs and said "bye mommy. I love you!"
"I love you too, honey. Have fun" said Stacey as Ava then bounced down each step leading down to the street. Not in a good enough place to hug each other, Ben just turned around and said to Stacey "congratulations" then walked away. Stacey walked back into the house, closed the front door and leaned against it for a minute, in shock about what just happened. Hearing the door close, Maureen and Claudia both walked into the entry hall together. The look on Stacey's face prompted her mom to ask "are you alright?"
"Ben was actually nice to me" said Stacey. "He said congratulations too."
Her mom didn't respond but Claudia said "first Robert at the reunion and now THIS? Can you tell me what your secret is to make all these men fall in love with you?" That caused Stacey's mom to burst out and Stacey to say to Claudia " Oh, shut up!" Claudia was laughing too but calmed down enough to ask her, "So, are you ready to go?"
Now feeling a little more relaxed, Stacey replied "I sure am."
As the three of them walked outside to Claudia's car, she yelled "It's party time!"