* Bridal shopping meeting *
As soon as Meg announced her sisters the official plans for her wedding, they didn't waste any time in the preparations. Amy sent Meg sketches of invitations and decorations almost every day; Beth started to work on some compositions in her piano and even sent Meg some samples as well as some pictures of floral arrangements for the tables and chairs; Laurie sent them the numbers of great DJs he knew and even started to compose some tunes along with Beth; and Jo provided Meg with bridal books and started confectioning the menu for the reception. Everyone had a task and everyone was working on it. Meg and John had already gone ring shopping one weekend and chose a pair of simple silver wedding bands that weren't that expensive. They had already decided that they would spend a week in Malibu for their honeymoon (despite everyone's suggestions and complaints) and decided to save most of the money they were expected to spend on a luxurious honeymoon abroad, for the purchase of their own house in a near future. Every other day, Meg crossed an item off her list happily, thinking everything was going right on track. Well, that's what she thought until one Saturday morning.
Meg and John were having breakfast at the dining room table as every Saturday. As usual, John was reading the newspaper and Meg was checking their wedding list, making notes and doing the math when the doorbell rang. They looked at each other, confused. They weren't actually expecting any guests that day. As a matter of fact, they had plans with John's best friend, Aaron, that day, but that wasn't until dinnertime. Meg got up and went to get the door.
"Don't you check your freaking phone, Meg? I sent you like a thousand messages." Jo exclaimed, annoyed, as she walked in the apartment followed by Amy, who rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Good morning, Jo. It's lovely to see you too." Meg said, sarcastically.
"Don't mind her, Meg! She's being overdramatic! She just sent you three messages." Amy corrected as Jo glanced at her. Beth walked in next holding Rose's hand.
"Don't worry! Marmee and dad are alright. She just wrote to you to let you know we were coming." Beth said, reassuringly, when she saw her eldest sister's worried face.
"I... what the..." Meg started.
"Hi, mommy!" the little girl greeted happily. Meg smiled and kissed her daughter.
"Yes, of course. You can all come in!" Meg answered, sarcastically, as she closed the door behind them and looked at her sisters, surprised and confused. John looked at them and raised an eyebrow.
"Good morning, ladies! I assume you all had breakfast already? Because if not, we'll have to buy more milk and bread." he said, closing his newspaper as Rose ran to greet him.
"Nana gave us a big breakfast with eggs, toasts and jam." Rose confirmed. John smiled at her and kissed her cheek.
"We actually came to get Meg." Jo said.
"Me? Why?" Meg asked, even more confused than before.
"Dress shopping!" Jo and Amy said at the same time with a matter-of-factly tone in their voices.
"I already have a nice white dress in my wardr..." Meg started before Amy cut her in.
"The one you wore for Laurie's birthday party? No way! That's not suitable as your wedding dress, Meg. You need a splendorous one!" Amy exclaimed. Once upon a time, when Meg was younger, she longed for having a pretty, wonderful dress for her dream and luxurious wedding. But after having Rose, her priorities and ideas changed to more realistic and simple ones. She was still a stylish and elegant woman, but she didn't long for many pretty things anymore. She was content with simple and practical ones.
"Well, I'm not spending thousands of dollars in a big, meringue-style dress that I'll only wear once!" Meg exclaimed.
"It's your freaking wedding, Meg! It happens once in a lifetime, hopefully! You need a great dress!" Jo said, enthusiastically. Meg looked at her sister, shocked. Jo was never into anything too feminine, especially weddings. That was mostly Meg and Amy's department. So Meg thought that this sudden change of character was suspicious.
"No, I don't! And I don't understand why you're making such a big deal over this, Jo. As far as I am aware, you were never into dresses or shoes or make up, let alone weddings. Why the sudden change of heart?" Meg asked, arms crossed across her chest. Jo sighed, exasperated.
"Because you freaking deserve it!" Jo shouted. Meg looked at her, surprised. Jo sighed. "You went through a lot in the past years. You changed many things and sacrificed a whole lot. I know you used to love all this when we were kids and now you just think practical and simple, but it's your wedding to a wonderful man who loves you more than anything and who you love more than anything. You deserve to look beautiful in it because you ARE beautiful, Meg." she said. By this point, Meg had tears in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her tight, and Jo did the same. "You can then dye the dress purple and wear it for Halloween." she then joked, which made Meg laugh.
So, the four sisters and little Rose went to visit some bridal shops in the city. Meg was reluctant to walk in any store and just limited herself to window-shopping until her sisters finally pushed her into the fifth one they saw.
"How are you going to buy a dress at all if you don't try any of them on?" Jo asked.
"Besides, we need bridesmaids dresses as well. And Rosie needs hers too. So, let's see what they have here." Amy added. Meg sighed, but agreed. The woman in charge greeted them and gave them a tour, explaining to them all the silks, cuts and different styles they had in that store. Meg just looked at the price tags, horrified in some occasions, to which Jo elbowed her and glanced at her. By the end of the tour, Amy had chosen three different bridesmaids dresses for her, Beth and Jo to try on, Meg had a dozen and Rose just looked around, excitedly.
"Mommy, look at this one!" she exclaimed as she pointed to one of the dresses in a rack.
"That's our princess-themed dresses. We have a whole Disney line for those brides who want to feel like in a fairytale." the saleswoman said with a smile. Meg left the dresses in a fitting room while her sisters were trying on theirs and went to get her daughter.
"This one is beautiful, mommy! and it's Belle's!" Rose said, happily. Meg looked at it and smiled. It was a white version of the famous yellow dress from the movie.
"It is beautiful, sweetheart, but mommy can't try this one on, now. Mommy has a lot of dresses in her fitting room already." Meg explained.
"Please, mommy! Please! You'll look so pretty!" Rose begged. Meg looked at her, then looked at the price tag. It was way more than she could afford. She shook her head, then looked at Rose who was still looking at her, hopeful. She sighed.
"Fine. I'll try it on." she said. Rose smiled and hugged her and they went back to Meg's sisters as the saleswoman went to get another dress. Amy was taking pictures of all of them and looking at them, examining the dresses and the colours. Meg just sat down and watched them as they talked.
"So, we reduced it to three dresses. What do you think about the peach one, Meg?" Amy asked pointing at Beth who was wearing a long peach dress with thin straps. Meg made a face and shook her head.
"Too peachy." she said. Beth sighed, relieved, and went to change her clothes.
"Ok. What about the black one?" Amy asked pointing at Jo who was wearing a short, black dress with a V neck and short sleeves. Meg shook her head.
"Too short." she said.
"I told you!" Jo exclaimed, glaring at Amy, as she walked to her fitting room. Amy sighed.
"What about this one?" she asked. She was wearing a navy blue, up-to-the-knee, strapless dress. Meg smiled.
"Perfect." she said. Amy smiled and ordered Beth and Jo to try on the blue one. They all looked very pretty, even Jo.
"Ok, now it's your turn. Let the wedding dress parade begin!" Jo exclaimed when the three sisters were all changed back to their own clothes and sat in the big, white couch in front of the fitting room. Meg sighed and got in the fitting room.
The first dress she tried on was very big and puffy, like one taken from one of those medieval stories. Neither of them liked it. The next one was strapless, but a meringue-style which Amy loved but Jo wasn't convinced. Meg kept coming in and out of the room, looking at herself in the big ceiling-to-floor mirror as she wore short dresses, very long ones, simple ones, or princess-style ones. The last one that she tried on was an off-the-shoulder gown, which featured a fitted column silhouette and dramatic cape-style train. Her sisters fawned over it.
"You look absolutely stunning!" Jo exclaimed. Meg smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"It beautiful, Meg!" Beth said.
"It is, isn't it? And it's not that expensive, so I won't have to worry about that." Meg said.
"That's definitely THE DRESS, Meg!" Amy exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. However, little Rose didn't seem quite convinced.
"What about the other dress, mommy?" she asked. Meg turned her head and looked at her.
"Which one, sweetheart?" she asked as she walked to her daughter.
"The Belle one." Rose said. Meg looked at her. "You said you would try it on, mommy." Rose added, sternly. Meg sighed. She turned around and went back to the fitting room as her sisters whispered at each other. She then emerged from the room wearing off-the-shoulder gown, which was wide, and with many layers. She looked like she was floating. Rose was delighted when she saw her mom. "Now you look like a real princess, mommy!" she exclaimed. Once again, everybody fawned at her. However, after Meg changed back to her everyday clothes, she chose the last one (not the Belle one) to wear at her wedding, despite Rose's complaints.
"Honey, I'd love to wear that one, but it's way out of mommy's budget and we still have to buy your dress." Meg exclaimed. Rose sighed. "Why don't you go to the kids' section and see which one you like best?" Meg suggested. Rose raised an eyebrow. "You can choose whichever you like." Meg added. Rose sighed and agreed, reluctantly. They chose many dresses and Rose tried them all on, spinning and dancing around as her aunties and mom fawned over her. She finally chose a princess-style one, which was pink and had puffy sleeves and a big skirt. It cost a bit more than Meg anticipated, but still she bought it.
"So... when's the big date?" the clerkwoman said. Meg smiled at her.
"June 15th." she said. The woman smiled. "Erm... can you just... just... I'll just take my daughter's dress. I'll... I'll get mine another day." Meg said, realizing that she didn't have enough money to pay for both dresses.
"She'll take both dresses." Jo said from behind her. Meg turned her head and looked at her with big eyes.
"Jo, I can't take both! I can't pay for both of them." Meg said.
"How much else does she need?" Jo asked the saleswoman.
"Josephine, no." Meg commanded her but it was too late. Jo was already giving her credit card to the woman in front of the desk and paying for both her dress and the difference of Meg's one.
"Consider it part of my engagement gift." Jo said as Amy and Beth got to them.
"Ooh! Can I cheap in too? I haven't bought her anything yet." Amy asked.
"Maybe the shoes. You have good taste on them." Jo said. Amy smiled proudly. They got out of the shop quite satisfied with their purchases.
"You really didn't have to, Jo." Meg kept saying. Jo intertwined her arm with Meg's and rested her head on her sister's shoulder briefly.
"You're my sister and you deserve just the best. So, accept the gift and let's go and have lunch because I'm starving!" Jo said. Meg smiled at her. She then looked at Amy and Beth who were each holding one hand of Rose and talking to her joyfully. Yes. Wedding plans were coming along quite well and she just couldn't wait for her wedding day to arrive.