Prompt: Dress
Rating: T

Becker was proven to be right, not for the first time, when Jess announced to their family and friends that she was going to go shopping for her wedding dress. No sooner had she spoken, she was overwhelmed by suggestions of what kind of dress would suit her and people volunteering to go with her to find the perfect one.

Since the ceremony was going to be so small with only their closest friends and family in attendance, the couple had decided against officially having bridesmaids and grooms men. Davey was going to give her away and Lester had been sweet talked into conducting the ceremony by Jess, who'd thanked him with a tearful hug when he agreed.

Lizzie would be flower girl, just because the little girl wanted to be a princess for the day and neither her aunt nor uncle could deny her that. Tom, so he didn't feel left out, would be the ring bearer and would carry the wedding bands Becker and Jess had already commissioned from the same jewellers who'd made her engagement ring.

The others would be the only guests invited to witness the ceremony. Jess had worried at first that her friends would be insulted that they weren't officially being given a role to play in the wedding but they'd all assured her that being asked to be part of it by being invited to attend was involvement enough.

In the absence of her own mother, Jess had invited Eleanor Lester and Margaret to come with her in her search for a wedding dress. The two women had been touched to be asked and had agreed to meet the younger women later in the afternoon after Jess had narrowed her choices down to her favourite gowns.

There were three dresses her friends had chosen for her, after visiting four different shops. The styles were quite different but all three suited her though she couldn't make her mind up as to which one was "the one". It was then that Margaret and Eleanor were called and asked to join them so they could lend their opinion to the undecided bride to be.

The first was a classic ball gown wedding dress in crisp white satin, chosen for her by Abby. It flared at the hips and blossomed into a full skirt of layers of fabric, with sparkling stones and sequins that glinted in the light. It had off-the-shoulder straps, a lace up bodice at the back and made her feel like a fairytale princess... but not necessarily a bride.

She stood in front of the full length mirror and listened to the admiring words and gasps of the women around her. She tried it both with and without a veil, with a small tiara and a bigger one. She kept still as Andi and Rachel played with her hair, testing what it looked like when it was up and when it was down but still couldn't see herself walking down the end of the garden towards Becker in the dress.

"It's lovely," Margaret told her, coming to stand behind her at the mirror while the younger women discussed which hair style would work best with the fancy gown. "But you don't look comfortable in it."

"It's amazing," Jess murmured, turning to see the back of the dress, feeling the skirts swish around her legs. "But it's a bit big for a small wedding, isn't it? I think I'd feel silly wearing something so fussy for such a small ceremony."

Margaret patted her shoulder and smiled at her in the mirror. "Try on the next dress, sweetheart. You'll know when you've found the right one."

The second dress she came out in was a definite no. Jess had had her doubts when she'd first tried it on but had allowed herself to be swayed by the others, notably Rachel who'd said it looked very classic and sophisticated.

It was ivory in colour, strapless, with a fishtail skirt. The material, raw silk, clung to her curves until it flared out at the bottom.

Jess stood in front of the mirror, critically staring at her reflection.

It did look pretty – much nicer on than it had been on the hanger – but she knew it wasn't the dress for her. Besides, the skirt along with the heels she was so very fond of would be a trip hazard and the last thing she wanted to do was fall over and make an idiot of herself at the wedding reception when she and Becker danced for the first time in front of their almost a hundred guests.

"No." Eleanor shook her head after exchanging a long look with Margaret. "It's very nice, but it's not for you, Jessica. You're fidgeting and you've only been standing there for a few minutes."

"You do look like you can't wait to get out if it," Emily chimed in sympathetically.

"Isn't that what she's supposed to want to do on her wedding day?" Abby teased lightly, wanting to take the pressure off the frustrated bride-to-be.

Jess blushed in response to the comment but felt her eyes well with tears. "None of them feel right," she said to no one in particular. "It just doesn't feel right."

As she was ushered back into the changing room to try on the third dress, Jess let the first tear fall and admitted to herself that it didn't feel right because her own mother wasn't there with her.

When she was a little girl, she'd always imagined that Elizabeth Parker would be the one standing with her while she chose her wedding dress. She'd always envisioned standing in front of a mirror with her mum standing behind her, blinking back tears as they stared at their reflections and then laughed at themselves for being so silly and sentimental.

She hadn't realised how important that dream had been to her until now and it was the one dream that Becker, no matter how lovely he was, couldn't help make come true.

She didn't make it out of the dressing room in the third dress, picked out by both Emily and Rachel. After trying it on again – halter-neck with an A-line skirt in brilliant white with crystals adorning the bodice – Jess just knew it wasn't right. It was gorgeous and she loved the way it felt but it wasn't the dress she wanted to be wearing when she said her vows.

After insisting that it wasn't the right one, she let the assistant help her out of the gown and started to get dressed in her regular clothes, deciding the day was a failure and she'd have to try again. She was almost completely dressed when the curtain to the changing area moved and Andi stepped in with a new dress in her hands.

"I was looking through the racks again and I found this," her sister-in-law explained with a soft smile. "Everyone agrees that you should try it on. It's different to the ones you've tried on already today but I think that might be a good thing."

The dress was certainly lighter than the others, Jess thought as she took it and hung it up. It looked nice on the hanger, but not necessarily one she would have picked. Instead of the assistant coming back to help her in it, Andi lingered in the changing room, helping her step into the delicate chiffon gown and zipping it up at the back.

Jess stared at her reflection and swallowed the lump in her throat. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away before looking at Andi, smiling at the stunned expression on her sister-in-law's face.

"You look beautiful," Andi murmured, fussing unnecessarily with the flowing material of the skirt before settling her hands on Jess's shoulders. "Oh, Jess. Your mum would be so proud to see you like this."

"I know." Jess took a deep, unsteady breath, lifting her hand to cover Andi's. "I just wish she was here. I thought I was prepared to do this alone but I'm not."

"You are not alone." Mindful of the dress, Andi moved her hands so she could hug her sister-in-law gently. "Your mum might not be here but you've got a room full of women out there who love you, and a fiancé who couldn't be more devoted."

Jess nodded her agreement, the ache in her heart soothed a little by the knowledge that it was true. She turned her attention back to her reflection and squared her shoulders. "I think this is the one," she declared, admiring the sway of the material as she moved. "It feels like the one," she added quietly, picturing her mother standing on her other side in the mirror, nodding in approval, before imagining Becker's response to seeing her walk towards him in the dress. "It's the one."

Andi smiled at her and moved back towards the curtain. "Let's show the others, then."

There was silence when she stepped out of the changing area. Margaret clasped a hand to her mouth, her eyes bright with tears. Eleanor beamed at her and nodded her head. Rachel squealed and clapped her hands together. Abby and Emily exchanged soft smiles and leaned into each other, their expressions admiring.

The dress was a hit.

Strapless, it showed off the elegant line of her neck and soft curve of her shoulders. It was empire style, white, with a sweetheart neckline. The top of the dress was decorated with embroidered flowers and crystals, a theme that was continued with a medium sized flower detail on the belt before giving way to a flowing skirt of light chiffon that floated around her legs and tapered off into a short train.

It was elegant but girly, pretty without being too fussy.

She wouldn't need a veil, Jess decided, agreeing with the majority decision of the women dispensing advice and giving her suggestions, and she'd wear a small tiara with crystals at the centre of each of the small silver daisies adorning it. Her hair would be partly pinned up but mostly allowed to flow in loose curls around her shoulders. She'd wear the sapphire necklace Becker had bought her for Christmas, alongside the earrings that had belonged to her mother that he'd had repaired, which would be her something old and something blue.

Her dress, the dress, would be perfect as her something new.

Jess's dress, which I have managed to fall completely in love with: (no spaces) www. hitched (dot co dot uk) /wedding-dresses/berketex-bride/noella-by-rosetta- nicolini/ (and yes, I know realistically the dress should've been bought at least eight months in advance of the wedding to allow for creation/delivery/fittings – I worked in a bridal shop for a summer as a teenager. Best summer job ever! But, anyway, we'll forget that fact for the sake of the story ;))

To be continued in 'Separation'... Uh-oh...

And thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews and comments - and apologies to my fellow writers, as I'm terribly behind on reading/reviewing at the moment. Hugs to you all xx