September 9th 2020

Chapter 253
Their Flight to Dresses

"Pancake… pancake… pancake…" Eliza intoned as she dropped one in each of Abigail, James, and Teddy's plates, while Emma carried the platter. They had tag teamed in making breakfast that morning, chasing off anyone who even tried to help. James had taken much pleasure out of teasing his girls, asking what they were doing, suggesting that he might stir, or measure… They would shoo him and he would laugh, returning to his seat until the next run up.

"Look!" Sadie held up her hands, mystified, to show that there was glitter on her fingers. Surprise glitter was definitely something she liked, first thing in the morning.

"Where did that come from?" Abigail asked, looking from her niece to her baby daughter, who was picking at the bits of fruit she'd been given. Sadie shrugged.

"You have to go wash your hands, don't want to eat any of that," Maya casually told her, taking a sip of her coffee as she turned to look at Riley. She might as well have been whistling.

"That stuff gets everywhere," James prodded at the crack where the table could be opened up to lay an extension panel, his finger coming back sparkly.

"So, what are you girls up to today?" Abigail looked around to her daughters, nieces, and guest.

"We haven't decided yet," Maya looked at the others. "Although… we do have a lot of candy somewhere that needs eating. Oh, and, uh, Riley and I need to go and do this thing later, this afternoon."

"What thing?" Cara asked. Maya had told Riley to let her handle this part. Even after all these years, she was still all too likely to tip her hand and show that she was lying.

"Kind of thing that, if I tell you, it won't be a surprise anymore," Maya told her sister, and that was that. She told no lies, and now they were free to figure out what they'd all do the rest of the morning and up until she and Riley had to head out.

The ideas were tossed back and forth across the table, and it was something of a challenge for them to make a choice. This was nothing new though, was it? They didn't get to see each other nearly enough, so when they did see each other, making up for lost time meant trying to do as much as possible.

"I can cancel the appointment," Riley had whispered to Maya after they left the table. "I didn't think this through, you should be here, with your sisters and your brothers."

"Riley, you're my sister, too, and this is a big day for you. We're going to find your dress today," Maya vowed, keeping her eye. Riley smiled; she knew to trust her word, always.

The morning went by in a flash, but then that was usually the way with these visits, whether Maya was the visitor or the visited. Sometimes, they'd hit these points where they wished, more than anything, that they could bridge the distance even further than they'd done when the Harts had moved from New York to Arizona. But then how could they, right? The Hart-Lanes had their life in Tucson, and they couldn't very well be expected to uproot it all, while Maya had her house, her life with Lucas, her career… careers… All they could really do was take comfort in this shortened distance, as they'd done these past few years.

"Right. Got my paddles, got our notes, got our bride…" Maya counted off as she sat at the wheel. Riley whooped, sitting by her side. "Let's go find you that dress."

"You're going to cry, aren't you?" Riley asked as they took off.

"What's their stock on tissues out there, I might need a few boxes."

Walking into the bridal shop, just the two of them, they might as well have stepped over into another world, filled every which way with those white dresses. Stepping into that world, they were just a pair of small girls, who'd been playing dress up for so long, and now… Now they were stepping up into the big leagues.

"There are so many…" Riley breathed.

"Hey, keep it together, we're good, you're good," Maya promised. "We're going to go in there, and we're going to show them the dresses we were looking at, see if they have any of them, and we'll go from there. Okay? Now, remember what we said? We're going to do our best to find your dress, but you can't just settle for whatever one you liked best by the end of the day. It has to be the one. If we have to continue this back in Austin, that's what we're going to do, okay?"

"Yeah," Riley replied, with the kind of fire in her she'd get whenever they convinced her to step out and throw the basketball around, or when they'd get her playing video games. A few of the customers and salespeople turned back almost at once.

"Take it down a notch," Maya mumbled, ushering her best friend forward.

"Sorry," Riley whispered.

"No, that's good, just work that Topanga magic on the inside, and on the outside…"

"You want me to be my dad?" Riley asked, giving a pitch perfect awkward Cory smile. Maya landed between cringing and laughing.

"Teacher mode Matthews," she tapped her friend's shoulders. Riley considered this for a moment before nodding. She had this.

Once they had been accosted by Jordan, a woman who had to be about their age and who would be helping Riley today, they were off to the races. Jordan was shown the dresses they had been looking at, and she immediately went about collecting the ones she had in store, and a few options that came close to the ones she did not. Riley disappeared with her, while Maya was left to settle on to a cushy couch, with her phone at the ready – for comparative photos and notes – and very importantly her paddles for scoring.

Oh, how badly she wanted to tell Lucas about this, or Nadine… But no. This was supposed to be just between them, and that was what it would be. She was good here, cross-legged and riding solo on this couch, waiting eagerly for her first and best friend of two decades to step out here in the first wedding dress she would try on… and…

"Sorry, do you have any tissues handy?" she craned her neck to address one of the other salesgirls passing by. She was passed a box, which she settled in her lap as she turned back around and waited… waited…

Maya would swear to any and all who would listen that she knew Riley was coming, even before she saw even an inch of that flowy skirt or heard so much as a word out of her. She felt her coming, and she looked up, moments before she appeared. The second she did come into view… Maya felt her insides shift, her throat tightening as she pulled a tissue from the box and held it in her grip.

"Woah…" her voice trembled as she smiled. She could tell Riley was riding a fine line between control and chaos, and she wanted to help keep her focused, but it was no use when she was losing it, too.

"It's lighter than I thought it would be," Riley declared. She looked almost scared to touch the fabric, like she might have developed stains to transfer out of nowhere. When she noticed her friend on the very verge of tears, her smile bloomed. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It was beautiful on its own. Now it's on you and it defies the word," Maya promised, fanning her face in an effort to regain her composure. This was the first one, and it was natural that it would hit her hard. The other ones would be easier, wouldn't they? Still, she had to think straight, not to let this shockwave dictate her feelings on the dress. Maybe it would score so low as to eventually be insignificant. Alright, no, that wasn't true, it was stellar no matter what.

On the plane, they had come up with the criteria that would help them decide what did or didn't make a dress a standout. Maya ticked through each one in her head, snapping photos from the front and the back as Riley turned about on command. Finally, she considered her friend and the dress long and hard before reaching for a paddle and holding it up.

"Eight," Riley read it and smiled.

"A strong start. Now, go try another one," Maya waved her off. "Hey, Jordan!" she called to the woman, as Riley had already disappeared and she turned to follow. The brunette stopped and turned back again. Maya motioned for her to come closer, all the while checking that Riley wasn't coming back. "I know what she told you, budget wise, but if you have anything back there that fits her likings that… exceeds it… just let me know?"

Jordan understood her loud and clear, and she headed off to find her client. Maya sat back into the couch with a hum. Of all the times this moment might have played through her head, she really could not predict it would play out this way, and the fact that it did… Well, it was pretty good, she couldn't lie.

The first dress had given way to a handful more, and while Maya was glad to see that the 'first dress, big shock' theory proved true, it did not spare her from getting emotional more than once as she watched Riley parade through in her next options. She really didn't know what it was about seeing your friends in wedding dresses that triggered this deluge of feelings, but whatever it was, she was feeling it big time. After the strong start of the first dress, the next few had gotten a six, and then a seven, and then a three, and a five…The lower scores looked like they might have started to bring down Riley's spirits, but then as she'd gone back to the dressing room after the five, Jordan had caught Maya's eye and given her a nod. The next ones were taking on the requested budget nudge. Whether they'd make for higher scores or not…

"Hey, there's that smile," Maya grinned, seeing the look on Riley's face when she next returned. "Better?"

"So much," Riley nodded. "I'm thinking maybe an eight again?"

"Hey, hey, I'm the one with the paddles here," Maya 'scolded' her. "Your sparkles were not stuck on with stick glue." Riley tipped her head, 'relenting,' before looking to her friend in wait of a score. Maya took a deep breath, observing her. "I should have made half-point paddles," she finally hummed. "I'm going to say 8.5."

"Is that just so you don't say eight?" Riley gave her a look.

"No, no, this one is definitely a hair better than the first one," Maya told her. "Anyway, it's clearly not a ten yet, so you have to go back. Go, go."

The next one was a ten. It might have been an eleven, a twelve. The difference was clear as soon as Riley walked back out from the changing room. She walked swifter, a new bounce in her step. And if that wasn't enough, well, Maya had such a reaction to seeing her that she'd just pulled a couple of tissues from the box at once.

"Riley… You look magical…" she breathed, attempting to clear her vision of the blur of tears.

"I think… Is it…" Riley turned from the mirror to look at her, nervous optimism in her eyes. Is this a ten? Is this The Dress or am I making things up?

"Can you get her hair up, all the other…" Maya looked to Jordan, who moved at once, knowing exactly what to do next. "Riley, keep your eyes closed, okay?"

"Yes, Mrs. Friar," she intoned, like a student in class.

"Ha, funny," Maya smiled. Did she take the opportunity to wipe tears from her face? Okay, yes.

Maya tried not to look either as Jordan did her part. She wanted to see the finished product in one go, same as Riley would. She was made to open her eyes again by a tap of the salesgirl's hand on her shoulder, and she covered her mouth at once to hold down the gasp as she stood from the couch, swiping up her 10 paddle at the ready. Riley was made to turn toward the mirror, carefully so she would not trip on the dress as she went, and finally she could open her eyes, too.

"Maya…" she breathed, and her best friend came up with the tissues. "This is it, isn't it?"

"I don't know, but if you don't get this one I might not be your matron of honor anymore, because I clearly would have failed you."

When Riley asked and was told the price, she paused for a moment before turning her head back to Maya, who immediately gave her a confident tip of the head that said 'you're fine, don't worry about it, I got you.' She looked ready to cry again, reaching to hug her best friend and matron of honor.

"Love you, sis," Maya whispered at her ear.

They couldn't just up and leave with the dress that day, but by the time they left the shop, everything was set so that, when it was ready, the dress would be delivered to Austin.

"I think I need to lie down for a while…" Riley declared as she and Maya walked back out on to the street, breathing deep.

"Good thing we're headed back to our sleepover then," Maya smiled, locking her arm with her best friend's. "We just need to make one more stop on the way back." Riley looked at her, not following. "Well, I told them there was going to be a surprise, didn't I? I've got just the thing, it's all set for pick up."

"When did you…"

"Well I had to do something while I was waiting for you to change. It was either that or walk around and end up pulling a hundred dresses down for you to try." Riley laughed. "I'm really glad you decided to do it like this," Maya told her. "I'm going to remember this for a long time."

"So will I," Riley echoed the feeling.

"You're going to need to get that look off your face before we get back to the house, otherwise your secret will definitely not stay one for very long." Riley almost whined, as though now that she was back in her regular clothes she missed the dress. "Yeah, that doesn't go away," Maya gestured at her face.

"It doesn't?"

"Oh, definitely not. I may have pulled my dress back on a few times since last summer… That stays between us," Maya pointed. Riley nodded at once.

"Sister secret."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners