A/N: Somehow I managed to find time to write a chapter yesterday. I'm about 2 chapters out from a wedding. It's about darn time. This whole story got a little out of control! Sorry about that Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 34
Mass was a whole different experience when she became the instructor. Geoffrey had more questions than Elizabeth could answer but she was surprised that she had retained most of the information Henry had given her. She did add a question to her list about decoration. The priests all wore colors that matched the church decoration. Was that a church choice thing or did it have to do with not being the Christmas season anymore? Three different churches in three weeks, The other two were white and this one was green. After Mass, Geoffrey took her out for lunch and they spent a quiet afternoon together.
Monday afternoon a large envelope arrived for Elizabeth. It was the list of wedding contacts from MaryHelen. God bless that woman. She sent brochures from nearly all of the vendors so Elizabeth could see what products they offered. With assistance from Frederick, who always had an eye for these things, she picked out the things she liked the best and called to get prices and check availability. She and Henry hadn't really talked about if he had any preferences, so she decided to wait to confirm until she at least talked to him. She had a feeling that he wouldn't really have strong opinions on most of the things she was looking at, but wanted to make sure she included him, especially choosing the colors.
Elizabeth knew Henry wasn't thrilled about the church being decked out in red, so she wanted something that would look nice with it and not clash. Frederick had suggested gray and white. While she thought that would look nice together, those certainly weren't trendy colors and she didn't know if she would even be able to find dresses in gray and that seemed drab anyway. Dresses! It was then that she realized she would need a maid of honor, and maybe even bridesmaids. Crap! That's a whole new can of worms.
Elizabeth was a person with many acquaintances, but few friends, and even fewer that were women. She had lost all contact with her friends from elementary and junior high school. Her best friend from high school was Joey, the Crown Prince of Bahrain. She had no real friends in college, except Henry. There were lots of people she was friendly with and could go get coffee with or go to a party with, but no one with whom she would share personal things or a go to person when she had a problem. The only person she had ever done that with was Maria. Even though Maria was five years older than Elizabeth, she had always been the one Elizabeth asked for advice since moving in with her Aunt and Uncle.
She smiled and then frowned. The baby. Elizabeth sighed. The baby would only be a few weeks old. Maria probably wouldn't want to travel that far to go to the wedding, much less be in the wedding. Then there was Erin and Maureen. Erin was a possibility, but Maureen. Oh good Lord! She laughed at the thought. And choosing Erin over Maureen wouldn't go over well. Deciding to table that line of thought, she changed direction and went over to the phone to call Maria. She thought she would invite her to go dress shopping. She didn't think it would be too taxing-just sitting in a chair while she tried on ridiculously poofy dresses.
Maria was excited that Elizabeth was back in town and happily agreed to go with her the next afternoon as long as she wasn't in labor. She said she felt horrible, but was so stir-crazy that going dress shopping seemed like a great idea. Hanging up the phone, Elizabeth's spirits were lifted a bit.
The next day around noon, Elizabeth pulled up in front of Manny and Maria's garage apartment. She found Maria struggling to get down the steps. "It's hard on these narrow steps and I can't see my feet." Maria laughed. Elizabeth offered her a hand. Descending successfully, they headed out to grab lunch before shopping.
They had a wonderful time talking and catching up beyond what they had been able to do in the short conversation a week prior. Taking a chance, Elizabeth posed a question. "I want to ask you something and feel free to say no if you don't think you would want to or it would be hard to work out." Maria nodded. "I was wondering if you would be my matron of honor. I know the baby will still be tiny and it is quite a trip, but it would mean so much to me if you would stand with me."
"Oh Lizzie. I would be honored. Let me talk to Manny and see how we could work it out." They hugged.
"I hope it will," Elizabeth said, thankful that perhaps one more piece of the puzzle was about to fall into place.
Dress shopping started out in the same abysmal way it had ended a few days ago. Elizabeth lamented to Maria, "Why, oh why, does every dress have to be huge and fluffy? I don't want big and I don't want fluffy! I just want simple, ugh!" she groaned.
They tried a second store. Elizabeth started rifling through the racks of dresses. Within moments, an older lady approached her. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a wedding dress. I will likely need it to be off the rack since the wedding is in 10 weeks."
"Ok, well, that might be a challenge, but we have a lot of things in your size. I'm sure we can find the right dress." Elizabeth looked at her curiously. The woman knew what she was thinking, "You're a size 4, right, but you often wear a 6 because you don't like anything too clingy." Elizabeth's eyes widened wondering how she knew that. "I've done this a long time, and I'd like to say I'm pretty decent at it. Come, sit down and talk to me. The two women joined Maria, who had already found a plush seat near the dressing rooms. "Tell me what you ideal dress would look like."
This is ridiculous. I don't know, because I haven't seen it yet. "Do you think I could tell you what I don't want in a dress. I feel like that's easier."
"Sure. We can work from that direction."
"I don't like the huge puffy sleeves, or really poofy at all. I would actually prefer sleeveless, but not strapless. It needs to be floor length. I like simple and classy, not flashy and showy."
"But the bride is supposed to be flashy and showy."
"Not this bride. This bride would prefer not to be the center of anyone's attention other than the groom."
"That will be hard to pull off on your wedding day."
"So I'm discovering." Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"Okay, give me a few minutes and I'll bring you a few to try on.".
Elizabeth and Maria made small talk and then "Cheryl," as her name tag identified her, returned with an armload of dresses.
Let's get this over with. Cheryl hung the dresses on a rack outside of the stall and Elizabeth stepped inside.
The first one was long sleeved, but they were fitted sleeves. It was fitted all the way down to her knees and flared out at the bottom. She stepped to the door and Cheryl zipped her up. Walking out, Maria gasped. "You look beautiful Lizzie!"
"Well, I feel like a cross between a mermaid and a sausage. Not liking it." Cheryl unzipped her. Dress number two was strapless, which immediately turned her off, but Cheryl insisted Elizabeth try it on anyway. It did have beautiful beading and the skirt was tulle over satin and was pretty, puffy, but not overly so. Cheryl buttoned every other button for effect and sent her to Maria.
"Oooh! I like this one better. It's definitely more you!" Maria said, bright-eyed.
"It is pretty, but I feel like I'm all exposed. This is a lot of skin." She gestured to her chest, but turned to look at the back in the mirror. It is pretty. Henry would like it. He'd like to peel it off of me later. A blush flashed across her face. It deepened when she remembered she wasn't alone.
"Someone's thinking umpire thoughts!" Maria teased.
"Shut it, Maria!" Elizabeth shot her an embarrassed look before dashing back into the dressing room.
The door cracked and Cheryl stuck the next dress in. "You have got to be kidding me? Do I seriously need to put this on?"
"Put it on Lizzie," called Maria, "I'm big, fat and pregnant. This is my entertainment!"
"You need to know that I am only doing this because I love you."
"Of course you do!" Maria had already started cackling and Elizabeth was now convinced that Maria had somehow picked the most awful dress she could find and gave it to Cheryl for her to try on.
"It's sleeveless and full length. Definitely meets the parameters!" Maria managed to spout before laughter overtook her again.
The dress had a sweetheart neckline and was encased in layers of 4 inch ruffles-satin and lace repeated down the bodice. The waist was tied with a wide satin ribbon and the skirt, which was surprisingly not that poofy, was layer upon layer of satin and lace ruffles. "I hope you like it. I feel like I'm a table doily or maybe a little girl's bedskirt."
"There's enough material there to be both," Maria was crying from laughing so hard.
Doing a few twirls around the room, she looked at Maria, "Are you good? Can I please try on the next dress?"
"I suppose. The next one is THE one, just so you know."
"Doubtful. I haven't been having much luck so far."
"I'm telling you." Maria said knowingly.
When Cheryl slipped the dress into the dressing room, Elizabeth gasped. "I told you!" she heard Maria say.
She slipped the dress on. It was a simple A-line dress with a scoop neck and small capped sleeves. It had an intricate beaded overlay on the bodice and the skirt was three layers of tulle. The back was laced about 8 inches from the middle of her back down. Elizabeth smiled and closed her eyes imagining Henry pressing kisses to her shoulder while unlacing her dress. A wave of warmth washed over her.
"How are we doing?" Cheryl asked at the door. Elizabeth was obviously taking a little too long.
"I'm fine. Just a second." She waited a minute for her coloring to turn to some shade of normal before stepping out. Cheryl tightened the laces and Elizabeth turned in front of Maria showing her the full dress.
Maria eyed her. "Who's right? Uh-huh, that would be me!"
Elizabeth wore a full smile and laughed. "It looks ok? Are you sure?"
"You are glowing, and the dress looks fabulous on you.:
Cheryl came up behind Elizabeth, pulled and tugged a few places and said, "I don't think it will even need to be altered. It looks like it fits perfectly."
"You're right! This is definitely THE one." Elizabeth's eyes sparkled.