Lennie did in fact make her own dress.
It was pristinely white and showed off her beautifully dark shoulders and prominent collarbone. The sleeves were a sheer lace and covered a third of her arms, stopping right after her elbow. It was snug on her tiny ballerina waist, only to branch out into tiered lacy layers.
Lennie could not stop staring at it on the hanger as she sat at her vanity. Her long hair was currently being pinned back and decorated with flowers by Mary and Giselle was dusting blush on her cheeks, while baby Susie was playing with her doll.
"Giselle will you quit blubberin'?" Mary snapped, rolling her eyes, "Ya gonna ruin her makeup!"
"I'm just so happy!" Giselle sniffed making Lennie laugh. At the sound of her mother's laughter, Susie started to giggle too. "I've never been to a wedding before!"
"Ya gonna have to get it togetha', Gee." Lennie teased with a smile, "I can't have all the attention on ya cryin'."
"Speakin' of attention," Mary murmured, "Who gets to walk with that hunky Bucky Barnes?"
Lennie gagged facetiously, "Flip a coin, whoever loses gets 'em."
"You can have him, May may." Giselle urged, now finished with Lennie's makeup. "I want Howard."
Mary and Lennie looked at Giselle before sharing a look between them. "I knew it was a bad idea to put all of ya in the same hotel." The bride snickered, "He speaks french, don't he?"
"Oui." The french dame breathed, falling back on the bed, "But he does more than speak it."
"Baby in the room!" Lennie snapped with a scowl.
"There's a baby in her womb." Mary retorted with a snicker, pining the last gadenina into her hair. "All done! Let's get that dress on!"
The spring bride nodded and stood up, watching with hawk like eyes as Giselle lifted the dress from the rack.
"Arms up, Miss Rogahs." Mary teased and Lennie obeyed, holding her breath and closing her eyes. She had never actually seen herself in her dress, she wanted it to be a complete surprise. She had an idea of what it would look like, but nothing could really prepare her for when she would see it. The ribbon that tied her into the dress was pulled tight and she was so nervous her hands were shaking. She heard gasps from her bridesmaids and her heart dropped.
"Okay," Giselle soft voice sounded from her side, "On three."
"One." Mary started, squeezing her shoulders.
"Two." Giselle continued, sliding her hand into Lennie's.
"Three." The three of them whispered and Lennie's eyes popped open.
The dancer had to tell herself to breathe. She looked beautiful, like a princess of a forgotten kingdom. Her dress fit her perfectly and in all of her drawings and dreams, she could never imagine that it would look like this.
"Oh my God." Lenore Dolores, who finally felt like the name fit her in this dress, muttered as her kid wiggled in between the three dancers.
"Mommy," Susie called, looking up at her with shining eyes, "You look like a prensess."
Giselle and Mary cooed as Lennie bent down to pick her up. "Thank you, kitty cat."
"Hey Susie Q, you got a dress just like mama's!" Mary chimed as the little girl beamed at her, "Ya wanna put it on?"
"Yeah!" Susie cheered.
"Yeah!" Giselle cheered back, taking her in her arms and beginning to leave the room. "We're gonna put flowers in your hair, just like mommy!" Susie cheered and wiggled her fingers at her mother, Mary following after the two.
"We're leaving in an hour, don't runaway!" The bridesmaid winked at her friend, closing the door after her.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Lennie muttered still staring at herself in the mirror. She spun once, just to watch her skirt twirl around her. She giggled girlishly and bit her lip, an unimaginable amount of happiness running through her.
A true dancer at heart, Lennie lowered her shoulders and extended her arms, placing her bare feet in first positions. Raising herself on her toes, she did one of her spins from Swan Lake and landed in a pose, beaming at herself in the mirror.
"Still got it, Lennie B."
A knock at the door interrupted her show and she tiptoed to the door, laughing as she opened it. Her smile quickly fell.
"Lenore Dolores." The light voice of her mother greeted, walking past her into the hotel room.
Lennie swallowed and shut the door, leaning against it so she could find her footing. May Eleanor Beacon was a strong woman with the will of an ox and a head as hard as steel. When she made up her mind, nothing could change it and as her dark brown eyes studied Lennie in her wedding dress, the young woman couldn't meet them.
"Mama." Lennie finally spoke, her eyes on the ground.
"I read in the papah' that you were gettin' married today." Miss May informed her daughter taking out said paper, "Imagine my surprise that my only child in this world is gettin' married and I didn't know."
"I didn't… I didn't think ya would…"
"That I would what?" Her mother's voice hit her like a bullet, sharp and burrowing into her skin, "That I would want ta' be there ta' see ya throw ya life away?" She questioned, looking her up and down, "Does he know that you have a bastard child? Does he know that you used sneak out at all hours of the night doin' who knows what with who knows who? Does he know that ya just a whore who-!"
"I am not, mama." Lennie found her voice, "I am not a whore. Or a failure. And you will not call my baby a bastard." Her chest heaved as she finally made eye contact with her mother.
"Who do ya think ya talkin' to?"
"You." The bride snapped with as much venom as she could, "All I wanted was fa' ya to be proud of me, mama. For you to be proud of me achievin' my dream. But because you never got ta' be a dancer, you couldn't find in ya self to be happy fa' me. And when I was pregnant and had nothin', I started to believe everything ya said about me. I started to think about how I failed you as a daughter and how great of a mother ya were. But when I looked into the face of my baby, I realized something. It wasn't me who was a failure, it was you. Maybe if you had followed ya dreams, you wouldn't have had to push aside mine."
Miss May sneered, "Oh how proud ya are, Lenore. So pristine and pretty now but just wait." She smiled bitterly, "He's gonna leave ya all alone, just like ya daddy did me."
Lennie shook her head, a tight grin on her lips, "Steve would never do that. Unlike daddy, he actually loves me."
The sharp sound of a slap echoed throughout the room and Lennie's head whipped to the side. Her hand shot up to her cheek and she glared at her mother. "Get out. Get out!"
"Right away, Miss Beacon." The old woman snarled, marching away from her. She flung open the door to see a little girl with bright blue eyes. The bitter woman paused for a moment, her expression softening as the baby wiggled her fingers at her.
"Get out." Lennie called louder, rushing to the door to take Susie from Giselle. "Now."
With one last look at her daughter, May Eleanor Beacon walked away.
Lennie's chest heaved as anger ran through her. She turned away from her two friends and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. A small hand on her cheek was enough to bring her back to reality.
"Mama," Susie smiled, "We matchin'."
The bride managed a small smile for her daughter and nodded, tugging on a rogue curl, "We sure are, kitty cat."
"We need ta' see daddy." The blue eyed copper girl reminded her mother, "Geegee says he waitin'!"
"Ya right." Lennie whispered, hugging her baby to her chest, "He is. He'll always be waitin' for us, baby."
"Well we won't!" Mary snapped with a wink, "Now let's go!"
"Wait, wait!" Giselle protested, grabbing Lennie's veil from the vanity. The taller woman grabbed a hat pin and stuck it through the flattened fascinator, then draped the lace over her friends face. "Perfect."
"Let's go, time's a wastin'." Mary urged again, this time grabbing Lennie's bouquet for her.
"Time's a wastin'!" Susie parroted, clapping her hands as all of them rushed out of the room.
A town car was waiting downstairs and they all piled in, Giselle holding up Lennie's long veil.
"Step on it, mister!"
The driver tipped his hat and they were off, arriving at the church in no time, where bells were ringing.
"We're so late." Giselle grumbled as the door was opened.
"I can't be late I'm the goddamn guest of honor." Lennie retorted, though she felt nervous.
"Okay headliner, calm ya self. Gi, alert everybody that we're here. I'll take Susie and Len, just wait by the door and for the love of God don't let no one see ya!" Mary was the oldest and the bossiest, but she got stuff done.
Lennie watched her friends run off, her bouquet shoved into her hands as she waited in the shadows. She fiddled with her fingers and took deep breaths, pacing back and forth.
Mary, Giselle and Susie came back soon enough and the sound of the organ began to play. Her lovely bossy bridesmaid lifted her veil and smiled softly, pinching her cheek.
"Okay Lennie B," Mary chimed, her eyes sweeping over her face, "This is the biggest performance of ya life and the house is packed. But the only one that matters is gonna be lookin' at you like the God looks down at the angels." Twirling a loose curl around her finger, the older girl sniffed. "Ya look beautiful, Lennie."
Giselle nodded with a smile, throwing an arm around both of them. "You're the first of us to get married. You're the best dancer out of all of us and ya got the cutest baby I've ever seen."
"Ya gonna do great." Mary added with a grin, pressing their heads together like they used to before shows. "Everything before this moment is no more."
"Everything after this moment is better than before." Giselle recounted with a grin.
"And everything between was just a dream." Lennie finished the chant, smiling as they kissed both of her cheeks.
Giselle pulled down her veil and fluffed her skirt, while Mary handed Susie her basket of flower petals.
The organ's tune changed and Giselle took got her matching bouquet and stood at the doors, her posture immediately changing. She looked back and winked at Lennie as the large wooden doors opened for her. She then pointed her toe and was off.
Mary took her place after Giselle and smirked wickedly at Lennie, blowing a facetious kiss before following the french woman.
Lennie raised her veil and bent down to Susie's level, smiling brightly. "Y'know what ta' do, right kitty cat?"
"Yeah." Susie grinned back, bouncing on her feet. "Throw flowers and go ta' daddy!"
"That's right, honey bee." Lennie laughed, seeing Steve in her daughter's blue eyes. She smoothed down an ebony curl and pressed her lips against Susie's forehead. "Okay baby, go get 'em."
Susie giggled and grabbed her basket, toddling up to the doorway like she had seen her aunts do. She looked back at her mother and wiggled her fingers, a large smile on her face. Then, just like a real professional, she trotted into the hall.
Lennie took a deep breath and stood, tugging her veil down over her face. The telltale notes of the most famous song in the world began to play and the dancer walked to her place, shoulders back and down, her chin high.
With one last deep breath, the doors opened for her and all she could see was blue eyes. She gripped her bouquet tight and everything went away. Her mother's words, her father's disappearance, her collapsed dream; all of it didn't matter because the way Steve's eyes were watering made all of it fade away.
Lennie stopped in front of Steve and smiled brightly, as the priest began to speak. Steve was dressed in the nicest tuxedo she had ever seen and she could see tears pooling in his eyes.
Everything the priest was saying was muffled and all she could focus on was they way Steve was looking at her.
"I, Steven Grant Rogers, take you, Lenore Dolores Beacon, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part."
Lennie beamed and sniffled, repeating the vow back to him. "I, Lenore Dolores Beacon, take you, Steven Grant Rogers, fa' my lawful husband, ta' have and ta' hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part."
"Can we have the rings, please?"
Bucky with a smile and a wink handed Steve his ring while Lennie's bouquet was taken from her by Mary and exchanged for her ring.
"I give you this ring as an eternal symbol of my commitment to you." Steve recited, taking her hand and sliding the little silver circle on her finger.
"I give you this ring as an eternal symbol of my commitment ta' ya." Lennie repeated, doing the same.
"It is now time for the lighting of the unity candle." The priest chimed, lighting a match and handing it to the couple.
Steve placed his hand on top of Lennie's and together they lit the candle, the fire burning bright and strong.
"Now," The priest bellowed, his voice bouncing around the church, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
As Steve lifted her veil, Lennie's face spread into a wide grin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted herself up on her toes, giving him a smooch that he would never forget. Steve chuckled into her mouth and pressed back just as urgently, wrapping his arms around her waist. The guests whooped and hollered and they were forcibly separated by the priest.
"I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Rogers." He announced and the organ began to play. Steve held his arm out for her and she weaved her own into it, holding a hand out for Susie who toddled up and grabbed it.
All together as one, the Rogers fluttered down the aisle and out of the chapel, their friends following behind them and cheering. The towne car's doors were already open and Lennie picked up Susie while Steve lifted her dress for her so she could walk down the steps. Once they were safely on the ground, Lennie got into the car first, with Susie on her lap and Steve squeezed in after.
The car took of toward the reception hall that they had rented and it was silent inside, save for the cans hitting the pavement behind them.
Lennie glanced at Steve from the corner of her eye and held in a smile, looking forward as he looked at her. Silently, she placed her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. Without a word, Steve wrapped his arm around her and placed his head on top of hers. Susie tucked herself between them and smiled up at her parents, the scene looking like a picture out of a story book.
They were happy, they were together, they were the Rogers and nothing was going to keep them apart ever again.