"Oh my God, the dress is trying to eat me!" Addison's muffled voice said as she flailed around. "I can't see!"
Hallie watched with amusement as her best friend fought the yards of lace and tulle. "The dress is not eating you."
"And it doesn't fit! It's too tight!" Addison's voice got more frantic, "I can't even get my head through! It's my wedding day and my dress doesn't fit!"
"Hey, you might want to consider unlacing the back there, chief." Hallie looked up from a piece of paper she was scribbling on and noticed that Addison had left her corset ribbons tied.
The fabric struggle paused. "Wait. What?"
"The laces of the corset. You left them tied."
"Then why don't you help me!"
"Sorry, I was correcting your vows." Hallie said, setting down the paper with Addison's handwritten vows and a pen.
"Correcting them?!" Addison exclaimed, still struggling to get out of the dress. "What was wrong with them?!"
"Hold still, or I'm coming in there!" Hallie warned.
"What was wrong with them?!" Addison practically shrieked.
"You called Mark a 'that' instead of a 'whom.' It's my pet peeve." Hallie explained, her hands working to unlace Addison's dress while her feet carefully avoided the gown's long train. "My students do it all of the time."
"This is why people don't have high school English teachers for matrons of honor!"
Hallie groaned as she tried to pull the lacing in the back of the dress apart. "Can you get out now?"
"All right, I can't get it off. I'm going to have to come in there." Hallie said, lifting up Addison's dress and ducking underneath it with her. "It's like a damn tent made of lace!"
Derek entered the church library, which had been converted to their makeshift dressing room, looking confused when he saw the moving lump of lace stumbling around the center of the room. "Uhhh… Is everything okay in here?"
"What are you doing in here?" Hallie demanded.
"He's always had the worst timing!" Addison moaned.
"Delivering a present for the bride from the groom. Hey… Is anyone naked under there?" Derek asked hopefully, a smirk playing on his lips.
"If you ever want to see me naked again, you'll help us!" Hallie growled. "The dress is trying to eat us!"
"I told you so!" Addison wailed.
"Help us, damn it!" Hallie commanded Derek. "Pull it off, but don't tear anything! On 3. 1… 2… 3!"
On Hallie's count, Derek yanked the dress off, revealing Addison standing in a corset bra and crinoline slip, with a satin pillowcase over her head, and his wife wearing a fuzzy pink robe. He stumbled backwards onto the couch, the dress falling on top of him.
"You could have told me that it weighs 50 lbs.!" Derek complained. He fought his way out from under the dress and handed it to Hallie.
"And that's why I got married in a bikini!"
Derek tilted his head. "Why is there a pillowcase on Addie's head?"
Addison yanked the pillowcase off. "It's to protect my hair and makeup while I put the dress on."
"Oh…" Derek looked thoroughly confused.
Hallie studied the gown for several moments, trying to determine the best course of action. "Okay, we're making the corset as loose as possible this time!" Hallie sat down on the couch to pull at the champagne colored ribbons.
"You could just wear that down the aisle, Ad." Derek suggested, gesturing to her lingerie.
"And you could just go to hell, Der!" Addison retorted with a sweet smile, and threw her pillowcase at him.
"Tsk tsk." Derek shook his head, producing a small, wrapped box from his pocket. "Maybe I shouldn't give you this now." Addison shot him a glare. "Um, okay, clearly you are not to be trifled with right now, so… Here."
Addison took the box from Derek and eagerly untied the white ribbon around it. She opened the Tiffany and Co. box and found a pair of sapphire and diamond hoop earrings, set in yellow gold, nestled with a small, folded piece of paper. Addison smiled and unfolded the paper.
Just in case you need a "something blue." I love you. I can't wait to make you my wife.
Love, Mark
"He spoils me too much…" Addison murmured with a grin. She reached into her purse and pulled out a wrapped box of her own. "Take this to him, please."
"Well, since you said please…" Derek kissed her cheek and took the box from her. "Chill out, honey. Everything's going to be great, and you'll look beautiful."
Addison smiled. "Thanks."
Derek leaned over and kissed the top of his wife's head. "Good luck, Hal." He smiled at Addison, then left the room.
"Okay, okay, I got it!" Hallie announced, standing up and holding the dress up triumphantly. "Let's give this another try. Let's put it on this way instead. Put your arms over your head, like you're going to dive into it."
Addison was skeptical, but put the pillowcase back over her head and followed Hallie's instructions. The dress slid easily over her body. "Good work. I'm impressed. Where's my mom?"
"She was… Um… 'Instructing' the florist the last time I saw her." Hallie took the pillowcase off of Addison's head and spun her around. She tugged at the bodice of the gown so that it was situated correctly on Addison's bust.
"Throwing a tantrum?"
"Basically.
"Where are the other bridesmaids?"
"They're ready. I told them to keep their distance until you were dressed. Let me lace you up."
"Are you sure you're going to be okay to stand?" Addison asked, peering over her shoulder as Hallie pulled the ribbons tightly. "You can sit down, if you want to."
"I'm pregnant, not 105 years old. I'll be fine. Suck in."
Addison held her breath while Hallie tugged the ribbons as hard as she could, then began to tie them into a neat bow. "Damn, Mammy. So this is what Scarlett O'Hara felt like."
"Can you breathe?"
"No."
"Then it's perfect." Hallie winked.
"Go ahead and put your dress on." Addison instructed. "I'm going to touch up my makeup."
Hallie quickly slipped her empire-waist dress of periwinkle chiffon down over her body. Addison reached over and fluffed Hallie's hair out over her shoulders.
"You look lovely. That dress was a good choice." Addison said, smiling.
Hallie ran a hand over her 7 month baby bump and smiled. "Yes, thank you for not growing too big for mommy to get into her dress."
"Okay, I'm ready." Addison said, taking a deep breath.
"Wait! You need the veil!" Hallie exclaimed, grabbing it from a chair and carefully sliding it into Addison's hairstyle. She looked Addison from head to toe, trying to determine if anything was missing.
"The earrings are blue…" Hallie murmured. "All kinds of things are new, your grandmother's pearls are old… Do you have a something borrowed?"
Addison's eyes widened. "Oh my God, no! I don't!"
"Calm down! Here…" Hallie unfastened her diamond tennis bracelet, a present from Derek on their wedding day, from around her wrist. "Wear this."
"Oh, it's beautiful, Hallie." Addison said with a smile, and put it on. "How do I look?"
The dress, which Addison and her mother had bought in Paris, was handmade of ivory Alençon lace and covered in beads and pearls. The dress was strapless, with champange colored ribbons and other accents that made it unique and classic at the same time. Her hair was in soft curls, and pulled back in the front. The veil was covered in pearls and reached her fingertips.
"You look like a doll!" Hallie sniffled. "I had this porcelain bride doll when I was little and you look just like her… Ohhh!" Hallie threw her arms around Addison. "My best friend is all grown up!"
Addison laughed and hugged her back. "Yeah, and older than you."
"Ready?" Hallie asked, offering her arm to Addison.
Addison smiled and linked arms with Hallie. "Ready."
"Did she like it?" Mark asked, nervously pacing the church nursery, where he had gotten dressed. "Did she like the earrings? And the note?"
"Yes, she loved them."
Mark let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his face with his hands. "Good. Good."
"Do you remember the wonderful, sage advice that you gave me on my wedding day?" Derek asked as he straightened Mark's tuxedo jacket.
"Yeah. It was: 'Calm the fuck down.'"
"Yes, it was. Words to live by. So do it."
Mark patted his tuxedo down. "Where are the rings? Oh my God, I don't have the rings. Addison is going to kill me!"
Derek pointed to the breast pocket of his own tux. "I have the rings."
"Why didn't you tell me you had the rings?!" Mark demanded furiously.
"It's a standard best man duty! My only jobs are to get you wasted the night before the wedding, hold onto the rings, and keep you sane." Derek took in Mark's frantic pacing. "At least I got 2 out of 3 right."
"What if she doesn't show up?"
"She's already here!"
"What if she doesn't walk down the aisle? Women run out on these all the time."
"Not Addie." Derek said, producing Addison's gift to Mark. "She asked me to give you this."
"Why didn't you tell me that before?!" Mark exploded. "I might have felt better."
Mark ripped the paper off nervously, and removed the object from the box. He smiled when he realized that it was a gold pocket watch. He turned it over in his hands, and read the inscription.
Our Happy Beginning
June 1, 1996
Love, Addie
Mark bit his lip to keep his emotions from overtaking him, and pushed the watch into the pocket of his pants. His heart rate instantly slowed, the queasy feeling in his stomach subsided, and he felt a sudden burst of confidence.
"Better?" Derek asked with a smile.
"Much." Mark nodded. "Let's do this."
Three hundred sets of eyes were fixed on Hallie, who considered bolting back out the door. She suddenly remembered why she and Derek had chosen to grab a few of their closest family members and friends to elope on the beach in Atlantic City, rather than throwing a lavish affair like Addison and Mark's. Every corner of the room was draped with hydrangeas, and dozens of candles were lit around the room. She looked toward the other three bridesmaids, who were already standing at the altar, and quickly made her way towards them. Hallie did not like being the center of attention, even for 10 seconds.
Once Hallie reached the altar, Addison confidently glided down the aisle on William's arm (who had finally stopped hating him, by Mark's calculations, at the rehearsal dinner the night before), a huge smile on her face. When Mark first saw her, his breath hitched. He didn't realize that it was possible for her to look even more beautiful than she already was, but she proved him wrong that day.
The ceremony was a blur for Mark and Addison. They were too caught up in the surreal nature of the moment to pay much attention to what the minister was saying. The rings were exchanged, and soon, it was time for Addison to say her vows.
"You are my friend, my best friend, my confidant, my soul mate, my forever, and now my husband. I would never let all of that go, and I will always fight hard to keep it." Addison started by reading the vows, then she looked up at Mark and said the rest while looking into his eyes. "We've been through so much together, good and bad, and we will go through so much more; but, we will be able to get through anything, because our love is so strong. Right now, standing here beside you and promising to be yours forever, everything just finally feels right. I love you, Mark, and I always will. You are the only person with whom I could spend the rest of my life."
Hallie did a victory dance in her head at Addison's use of proper grammar. Addison was openly crying by the time that she finished. Mark smiled, taking a deep breath to keep the tears out of his eyes. He reached into the breast pocket of his tux and handed her his handkerchief. He waited for a few moments for her to compose herself before beginning his own vows, which he had memorized and rehearsed dozens of times.
"I love you, Addison. I love everything about you. I love how we can sit for hours and talk about everything and nothing, and the utterly awesome, amazing feeling that I get every time that I see you. There was a time when I wondered if I would ever want to get married, but that was before I fell in love with you. Now, I know that this is all that I want. I will always love you and take care of you. I'm so glad that things are falling into place, and that we will share a life we've always dreamed of – this is our happy beginning."
A few tears rolled down Mark's face, and Addison passed the handkerchief back to him, causing both of them, and their guests, to chuckle softly. Mark stared into her eyes, zoned out again until the most wonderful words he'd ever heard were spoken.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Mark surprised her by dipping her back during the kiss, much to the delight of their guests.
"We're married." Mark whispered in her ear as they walked back down the aisle together, hand in hand.
Addison grinned at him. "We're married!"