December 26th 2019

Chapter 360
Their Ceremony of Dressing

After they'd had breakfast, Maya and Nadine had needed to go ahead and get a move on. Of all the things they had to do now, before they ever got to the church, the very first involved both of them getting a go at the showers, getting dressed as they got out of there with as little attention to looking anything more than decent. Everything about their looks for the day would fall into place after they left here.

Once this had been done, their next stop was the Zhu house to pick up Nadine's sisters. Riley, Rosa, Sophie, and Chiara were all going to the salon, where Maya and Nadine and the others would meet them, the better to get things moving while they could. After the lingering sort of problem brought on by Nadine's grandmother, and Nadine's choice to head off and spend her last single night elsewhere, she was not sure what would happen when she saw her parents again, so if they could speed up the process of getting everyone ready to go…

They were met at the door by Marley Zhu, the second born of the Zhu girls. She'd been just a kid when Maya had first met her, often to be found being raced around on someone's back, while someone else was taken on as little sister Michaela's steed. Now she was a tall, gangly nineteen-year-old, just finished with her first year of college over in California. She had also been the one to let slip the words that had sent her grandmother off, and even though it had been done by accident, to stand up for Nadine, who didn't hold her responsible in any way, she still looked riddled with guilt.

"I…" she started, but Nadine just hugged her, putting an end to any apologies that were not hers to make. She hugged her big sister back. "I like your flowers…" she still declared, pulling back, and Nadine beamed proudly, turning to Maya.

"She made them for me, so I wasn't going to leave them behind, was I?"

"I should have made more," Maya nodded.

"How's it going in there?" Nadine asked, hesitantly gesturing past her sister. Marley looked back and forward again.

"Ignoring the problem," Marley reported, and Nadine actually looked relieved.

"So long as she keeps on ignoring it until tomorrow… You ready? Where are the others?"

"Olivia is practicing her bit with Michaela."

They could just hear the sound of a violin from upstairs, two violins in fact. Michaela had played since she was very little, and when she had been about that age, too, Olivia had wanted nothing more than to take up the instrument, too, after watching her big sister play so many times. So, they had gotten her into lessons, and she had quickly shown herself to be as talented as her big sister. Today, at the reception, they were both to play a song when Zay and Nadine would step on to the dance floor together for the first time. They had been practicing for weeks, to the point where Mr. Zhu was having to do his very best not to have a fit over hearing the same song for the thousandth time.

"Go get them, okay?" Nadine told Marley, who nodded and sped off up the stairs. "Can you stay here?" Nadine turned to Maya now.

"Sure," Maya told her, in such a way as to say 'if you're sure' and also 'shout if you need me.' Nadine gave her a nod of gratitude and wen off in search of her parents.

Maya trailed off into the living room as she waited. She looked at all the pictures, on the walls, on shelves… It was like a running chronicle of the Zhu girls, from small babies on to now, ranging from twenty-three down to eight. She loved specially to see those pictures from before she'd known the family, of little Nadine, just a firecracker from day one…

"Hi, Maya!" She looked up, finding Olivia as she came bounding down the steps and right over to open arms ready to hug her.

"I heard you play, you sounded great up there!" Maya told her, making her smile bright.

"Maybe I can play with you and the band sometime?"

"Maybe!" Maya agreed. Olivia hopped happily, making her laugh.

When Nadine emerged again, the five of them took off, Maya and the four Zhu girls. Maya didn't dare to ask how it had gone. She didn't look upset, but it couldn't be said that she looked entirely unaffected by the encounter. She wasn't saying anything about it though, so Maya left it alone, for now. They had so much to do and so little time to do it in… Next stop was a coffee shop near the salon. Nadine sent her sisters on ahead, so they would get taken care of over there, too, while she and Maya awaited their friends' arrival.

"Layla finally made it," Nadine reported, looking at her phone, as they went and sat down inside the coffee shop. "She went straight for the salon, I could have told her to meet us here." Still no mention of home and her parents, so either it had all gone fine, or it had not and she wasn't going to say.

"Hey, want to hear something weird?" Maya asked after she'd taken a sip of her iced coffee. Right now, a small distraction to pass the time felt very much appropriate.

"Always," Nadine sat up, smiling.

"You know how I told you that my brother seems to either have a secret crush or a secret someone?"

"Yeah," Nadine chuckled. Any time any of them would discuss the concept of any of their younger siblings dating anyone, it would always leave them either laughing sympathetically or looking like they had been traumatized. Maya had been no exception. Her kid brother wasn't as little as he'd once been, but he was still so young to her, even if he was starting college in the fall.

"I think I know who it is, but it doesn't make sense?" she frowned.

"Why?"

"Well, they've never met." Nadine tipped her head. "I don't mean like on the internet, like Sophie and Chiara, I mean there's no way that they should even know the other one exists, or if there is I'm not seeing it."

"You're not making a lot of sense," Nadine declared, sounding amused nonetheless. "Who is it?"

"Lucas' cousin, Dora? I told you about her and her family coming over to the house a few times…"

"Yeah, I know Dora," Nadine smiled at once. "I, well, I haven't seen her in years, not since before Boston, how old is she now, like fifteen, sixteen?"

"Sixteen," Maya confirmed.

"So, you're trying to figure out how your brother and your boyfriend's cousin could know each other? Okay, we can figure that one out," Nadine pondered with exaggerated intrigue.

"Oh, so that's how we're going to play it?" Maya squinted at her. "Fine, it's fine, I don't have to tell you any of this, continue with your weird tea," she gestured to Nadine's cup.

"Alright, sorry, sorry," Nadine laughed. "Why do you think she's this mysterious crush of your brother's?"

"Just something he said the other day, while we were talking," Maya scratched at the back of her neck, resettling in her seat and looking out the window to spot some familiar faces coming along. "To be continued," she pointed to Nadine, who nodded and took another sip of her tea. Maya scrunched up her nose at it before they got up. The door had just opened and made way for the arrival of Isadora Smackle and Rebecca Fitz in their midst.

"You're here!" Nadine was a bolt as she moved from Maya's side and toward the pair of them, first throwing her arms enthusiastically around Rebecca, who hugged her back with equal fervor and nearly knocked them both over.

"Not too late, I hope," she smiled. Her hair had been distinctly and perfectly multicolored when she'd come into their circle of friends. For the last few years, she'd gone back to her natural blond. Now, as she made her return to Austin, she had gone for a minty sort of light green that really suited her. Along with her new glasses in a bold red, she had turned to this new chapter starting in her life with a look that fit her as well as the ones before had done.

"I don't do late, that's for other people," Nadine smiled before turning to Isadora. "Right?" In response, TXNY's original songwriter had stepped up and wrapped her arms around Nadine. It wasn't so much that this gesture was entirely unexpected anymore, not as it might have done years ago, but still, they had never known Isadora to be so open with it, when it used to be that some kind of consent, from one side or the other, would have to be established. And without knowing that this was the case, Maya had much the same reaction as Lucas had done, just a bit baffled at the intensity of the hold when it moved from Nadine over to her.

"Hey…" Maya hugged her back, finding it both surprising and super comforting to be hugged this way by Isadora Smackle. "You should definitely do her again, she needs it today," she indicated Nadine, and Isadora turned to her with intrigue in her eyes.

"Why, did something happen?" she inquired.

"It's nothing, really," Nadine waved this off as casually as she could. "We should get going. Do you guys want something?" she indicated hers and Maya's cups.

"I'm good," Rebecca told her.

"I've got water," Isadora lifted up her travel mug for show.

"I'll see if any of them want something before we leave here," Nadine took out her phone and walked up to the counter. Rebecca watched her go before turning to Maya again.

"Nothing?" she asked, believing Nadine's claim of this about as much as Isadora did, which was to say not at all.

"Her grandmother isn't coming to the wedding anymore," Maya frowned, and she had to hand it to Rebecca and Isadora, because one way or the other they both figured out the reason and the discussion was left at that.

A few minutes later, they were marching up the street together, a couple of drink trays and bags of treats split between them. Halfway there, after she'd been sniffing and looking uncomfortable since leaving the coffee shop, Isadora had finally turned to Maya and asked her if they could trade, Isadora's tray for Maya's bag.

"Too heavy?" Maya asked, stopping so they could make the trade.

"No, it's not that, but something in one of those just smells weird," Isadora shook her head as they started again.

"Does it?" Maya looked down to the cups on the tray, lifting them to her nose to see if she smelled anything off. "I don't get anything…"

"Anyway, this is fine here," Isadora promised. She had the bag open just a crack so she could confirm it to be true. She looked as though not only was it smelling better than the drinks on the tray but right about now she was one nudge of temptation away from getting hold of one of the baked goods and eating it right now. "The food on the plane wasn't idea…" she revealed, looking back to Maya like she sensed she was possibly about to do something she wasn't supposed to do.

"You can have my danish," Maya freely offered, and Isadora turned her head back toward the bag.

"Are you sure?"

"Go for it," Maya insisted, maybe a quarter of a second before Isadora reached in and fished out the offered pastry. She took a bite about as contented as could be. "Okay…" Maya didn't know how else to respond except to laugh. She had no idea what had gotten into her friend and former bandmate, making her even more peculiar than usual. She wasn't opposed to it in any way, especially today. As far as they knew, she and Farkle were only going to be in Texas for a week or two, but so long as they were here, them and everyone else who'd been scattered to the winds over the past four years… It would feel like the old days but with the perk of change and growth. They had all changed, and maybe Isadora's way of changing had meant being a bit weirder and being way more into hugs…

They arrived at the salon, finding that things were thankfully moving along. Sophie, Chiara, Riley, and Rosa had their hair all done, as well as their nails painted, on both fingers and toes. They now sat back while the Zhu sisters were in the middle of undergoing this same process. Michaela and Olivia already had their hair done and were getting their nails done, while Marley was still in the hairdresser's chair and nearly ready to move and join them. Layla rounded up the group, currently walking back from the sinks with a towel wrapped over her hair. When she spotted Nadine and the others coming through the door, she quickly moved toward them, holding her towel with one hand so it wouldn't slip off even as she reached out the other hand toward her friend and now former classmate. At the end of the summer, she would be flying from Boston and over to Seattle to continue her studies, while Nadine would be settled in Austin once again.

"Hello, bride!" she grinned.

"Hello, bridesmaid!" Nadine replied, giving the distinct impression that they'd been having this joke go on for a while before either of them had found their way into Texas.

"Who's next?" one of the hairdressers called then, and Layla pointed to Nadine.

"Girl with the crown!"

"Oh, no, you go, really," Nadine insisted, even as she was being ushered toward the chair.

"You are more important than any of us today, now own it," Maya laughed, assisting in this motion until Nadine had finally relented. "Now, I think one of these belongs to you… Yeah," she pulled one of the cups from her tray after she'd found it to marked with her name.

Olivia Zhu had quickly dashed to show her eldest sister how they'd done her hair up, also displaying her finger and toenails in their violet glory. Maya looked on with a smile as Nadine pulled her crown of paper flowers from her head and carefully deposited it on top of the littlest Zhu girl's head, who received it like the greatest of honors.

Her attention was diverted at the sound of sniffles. Specifically, as she turned to find where the sound was coming from, it was diverted by Isadora Smackle, standing there with the last of her gifted danish as she gave every last ditch effort she had in her body not to cry, witnessing the sisterly exchange. It was a middling success.

Before Maya could ask her what that was about, Isadora had been taken off to get her hair washed, and the moment was lost. They had to get ready, had to be at the church in what was getting to be a smaller and smaller time window.

She was getting her toenails painted the same shade of violet as Olivia and all the others had done when she heard a loud and unrestrained 'What?' from across the salon. Both she and the woman bent over her feet had jumped – least fortunate for Maya's right foot, met with an unwanted streak of nail polish. Looking over, Maya could just see Rebecca trying to get her to quiet down. Riley looked so incensed though, and there was just little to no way that she'd be able to hold this down.

"What's going on?" Nadine asked, as she could see them in the mirror while her hair was being done. Now that so many of them were looking their way, it really didn't seem likely that they'd be able to brush curiosity under the rug, and after a minute, Rebecca finally relented and walked over to where the two of them might hear her better without her having to shout across the salon that, a few weeks before they had broken up, she'd discovered that Joey had cheated on her.

"He what?" Maya blurted out, as stunned as Nadine was. No, 'stunned' didn't even cut it for describing what it felt like to hear that he could have done this. "Joey, our Joey?"

"Not my Joey, not anymore," Riley shook her head, moving to join them and crossing her arms before herself. "He's some different… New York Joey…"

"Ri, we're from New York," Maya took the time to remind her. Riley frowned.

"You know what I mean." Rebecca was looking at her now like she had broken something. Later, they'd understand that she hadn't meant to tell Riley, or any of them for that matter, not today at least, but then she'd misspoken and one thing had led to another, and the truth was out, poisoning what was supposed to be a great start to a greater day.

"What happened?" Nadine asked Rebecca, who had been her friend before any of them here, then estranged, and then returned to her forevermore.

"Is that why you two really broke up?" Maya asked right after.

"No, no, okay," Rebecca shook her head. "Not in that way, more like… The way it affected me, the way it didn't affect me, that's how I started to realize me and him weren't really in it anymore. The offer, the restaurant, and him with his show, that just sort of gave us an out. But, really, I still care about him, as a friend, and I want you to do the same. Please…" She looked from one to the other. Maya and Nadine weren't sure what to say, and Riley was just shaking her head. "Let's just focus on the wedding, yeah?" After a few beats of silence, they finally, slowly, got back to what they'd all been doing.

"I'm not sure how that's going to work out once Riley sees him over there," Nadine told Maya, who didn't know how to feel about the fact that this thought made her laugh.

Little by little, the wedding party had completed the part of their transformation which was to take place at the salon. When they were done, their ride to the church came and collected them, taking them off to where they would be able to change into their dresses, do their makeup, and complete their looks before it would be time to 'get on with the show.'

One by one, they had traded in their normal 'boring' clothes – as per Layla's description – in favor of their matching dresses. They weren't all identical, some of them having different cuts, depending on the styles that favored them, and the shades of purple that they wore weren't identical either, but no one would doubt, seeing them walk along, that they were all in this together.

"Okay, bold claim here, but I actually like this dress?" Rosa informed her soon to be former roommates. They all looked over at her, standing there, almost shimmying about. "I'm serious, like I can see myself wearing it again, and in public. No special occasions, no Halloween…"

"Just going to do groceries in a bridesmaid's dress?" Sophie pointed out, as Chiara gave an amused chuckle.

"I will find a valid reason, you know I will," Rosa insisted, pointing her finger at them.

Maya had tuned out the conversation just a bit, noticing Isadora standing off on her own, staring out the window. She didn't know what she was thinking about, but it looked like it held all of her attention. Leaving the others to their talk of where one could or could not wear one of these dresses, Maya moved to stand at her friend's side.

"So, I'm standing here now, and all I can hear in my head is Lucas' mom going all 'penny for your thoughts?' If you ask me, that's just undercharging big time…"

"If I tell you something, promise you won't tell them?" Isadora asked, apparently not as deep in thought as she'd appeared, nodding over at the others before looking to Maya straight on.

"Sure…" Maya nodded, grown attentive to her now and her alone.

"And promise you won't make a scene?" Isadora added. Maya's brow flicked up just a bit.

"Yeah… Am I going to want to?"

"Far as I've seen, it seems likely."

"How likely?" Maya asked, trusting that if anyone in the world would know the odds…

"I'm pregnant…" Isadora quietly told her, and Maya turned her head so that she'd be facing the window as her eyes bugged out. Her face went through too many expressions in the minute that followed for her or anyone to even keep track. Next thing she knew, she was being nudged into the small bathroom, and she only really realized it once she heard the door click shut and she turned toward Isadora… Her little Smackle friend… having a baby… Farkle. Farkle! Her Minkus was going to be a father!

"If I didn't know you would never make a joke like that, I… I…"

"Hug?" Isadora suggested.

"Right now," Maya nodded, embracing her and feeling momentarily grateful for the fact that she hadn't done her makeup yet. She would definitely have needed to start over if she had. "You're…" she finally pulled back, looking her friend over for any sign… Understanding this perhaps, Isadora flattened her dress as flat as it would go, enough that Maya could now make out a discreet but undeniable roundness. "How many weeks?"

"Thirteen, almost fourteen," Isadora informed her, and it only made Maya get emotional all over again. "We weren't going to tell anyone yet, not until after the wedding, but I know Farkle wanted to tell Lucas, so I decided I should tell you, too. I'm due at the end of the year."

"That is just… so amazing…" Maya beamed.

"We've known for about a month now, and I… Sometimes I don't know if I… if I'll be good as a mom." Maya looked at her. "I know how I am as a person, and I like who that person is, but what if it's not enough for this baby?" she wondered, looking down again. Her dress once again hid her tiny bump.

"Isadora Smackle, you have… so much to offer to this little guy or girl, okay? The world needs more people like you, like Farkle…" The future mom received this declaration with a small sniffle like she'd done back at the salon.

"It does, doesn't it?"

Once their faces were once again presentable, they had emerged from the bathroom. Makeup was applied, everyone was slowly but surely finished getting ready… Nadine first and foremost.

The first time they saw her in that dress, obtained with much help and kindness from her friends, they'd all just sort of stood there in awe. It was really the perfect dress for her. It had been beautiful before, but it became even more so once it was on her. The finishing touches were added, and now all of a sudden she was a bride inside and out, and it was time for her to go and take her walk down the aisle, on her father's arm.

"Maya…" Nadine whispered, as they all took their positions, the bridesmaids joined with their counterparts, ring bearer and flower girls positioned, Mr. Zhu attempting to contain himself in the presence of his firstborn about to be married…

"Yeah?" she whispered back, turning to look at her.

"Is it weird that I can't breathe and I'm okay with it?" Nadine asked. Maya laughed, moving to give her one last quick hug before they heard music come from inside and they had to get in place before the doors opened and they started walking forward.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners