Chapter 19:
Daphne's room had never been particularly messy. Today, though, as she rummaged through her closet wildly, and as Velma sat on her bed, sorting everything into piles according to Daphne's dictation, the room's floor seemed to hold more random paraphernalia than the closet initially looked as though it could hold. Somewhere in the pile of random belongings sat Daphne's suitcase, supposedly to start packing for the honeymoon, but other than the swimsuit and spare toothbrush (which she had never unpacked from her last vacation), absolutely nothing had been placed inside.
Seeing as the wedding was just a week away, Daphne was a nervous wreck. Still, she at least was in a cheerful mood, mainly because Velma had restrained her early-bird tendencies and instead suggested packing later in the afternoon.
"Something old, something old... Aaaaah!"
"How about this?" Velma suggested, holding up a necklace Daphne had thrown out moments earlier. "Didn't you wear this to our middle-school 'graduation'?"
Daphne looked at the necklace, a simple strand of pearls. Come to think of it, she was right. Where had that been all these years?
"Okay, one out of four... something old... something new... ouch, I don't really have anything new, unless you count my dress, and everyone's dress is, for the most part." Jeepers, Daphne realized to herself. What's wrong with me? I haven't been shopping lately! "I guess we can go to the mall later..."
"Sounds fun," Velma responded. "For something borrowed, I've got a hairclip that I think can kill two birds with one stone, since it happens to be blue."
"Thanks."
"Now we can move on to actually packing." Velma stood up from her perch and walked over to Daphne's closet. All Daphne's maternity clothes were at the very front; everything else, including her favorite purple dress, had been pushed to the back. Now almost six months along, Daphne didn't fit into most of her older outfits anymore.
Velma watched Daphne gently run her hands over some of her fashionable, outgrown clothing, remembering. She thought she heard a sigh.
Suddenly, Daphne pulled four or five dresses down from the back of the closet and tossed them to Velma. "Here," she told her. "You can have them." Velma stared at her. "They might not fit you perfectly, but they'll sure fit you better than they fit me anymore."
"I... well... thanks," Velma stuttered. "If you're--"
"I'm sure," Daphne said with a smile. "Face it, this baby is going to kill my figure. Unless either A-- I could get it back by some miracle, or B-- you were planning on having a kid anytime soon, there's really no point in me keeping any of it."
"I see," Velma answered. "Thank you." She left momentarily to hang them up in her own closet, then returned. She helped Daphne pack her suitcase, which went rather fast once they just buckled down and started putting things inside.
"Great," Daphne breathed, relieved to have gotten that out of the way. A thought crossed her mind. "I might be drafting you to help after I get back and move into Fred's house. Have fun with this place until the end of the month." They had paid their rent up until August 31st, after which Velma would be moving into an apartment. Fortunately, her salvation of the mistranslated document had earned her a raise and she was now much more ahead on her student loans; thus, she could afford to live on her own.
"Oh, I will," Velma told Daphne, a jokingly mischievous expression on her face. Laughing, the two friends left for the promised shopping trip, neither even caring that the room was left in disarray.