The reflection staring back at me had my stomach turning into knots. This couldn't be the dress I was getting married in. Looking back down at the silky white material, the tacky silver beading that hung down from the neckline made me want to vomit.
"Oh, it looks fabulous!" Melissa's voice broke in with a loud cackle of a laugh. Maybe she was a witch, if you broke her nose she'd look like a witch. Why was I suddenly thinking all these awful thoughts about my wedding planner? Oh, right because Madison had began to fill my head with all these thoughts that she was trying to steal Fulton away from me. No, I really needed to stop thinking like this or I was going to go insane. My wedding was in two days. I didn't need to go insane. Looking back at the mirror, my face kept turning green in anticipation of the half of a muffin I had managed to choke down that morning returning from my turning stomach. Eve's threatening comments hadn't affected me but I still hadn't been that hungry, thinking about coming here to finally get my wedding dress. Now to get here and be standing in this awful creation, I felt my blood begin to boil.
"No." I whispered sternly, moving to take the dress off.
"But…Tammy…that's all I brought." Okay, she was really pushing my last nerve.
"What do you mean this is all you brought?" I asked, looking incredibly confused. At that moment Connie, Julie and Madison entered from the front of the store.
"Did you find one?" Connie's excited voice broke the conversation. I looked down, violently biting my lip to stop myself yelling out and firing Melissa at that very moment.
"No." I said before moving to the dressing room to change back into my clothes. I sighed heavily in defeat. I would not let this be the end. I would not let this ruin my wedding. I moved from the dressing room, practically throwing the dress in Melissa's face before moving to the rack of dresses in the front of the store. Shifting through the dresses, I stayed quiet to everyone's questions, looking for something, anything that would do. Finally moving to the back of the rack, I saw a hint of white silk. Pulling back the dresses in front of it, my eyes laid on a plain white silk dress. Little straps to hold it up and a criss-cross back. It wasn't fancy, it was on sale in fact but it would do, I thought grabbing from its rack and placing it on the counter.
"Oh, Tammy. I'm so sorry." Melissa's voice rang in my ear as I held up my hand to her and handed my credit card to the older woman behind the counter.
"I really don't want to hear it right now." I said softly but with a stern backing to show I wasn't kidding. She immediately shut up, placing the dress I had thrown at her, back on the rack. I paid for the dress that was wrapped and we left the store, no one saying anything.
Returning home that afternoon, I entered the front door, the light box tucked neatly under my right arm to allow my left arm to unlock the door. Eve sat on the couch, remote in hand watching daytime television.
"Everything went well, I assume…" A smile was playing on her face. Why did I have a distinct feeling that she knew I was going to be unsuccessful in finding a dress that morning?
"Yes, everything went fine. I got a dress." I remarked, bring the box up to my chest.
"Some trashy piece of nightwear no doubt." She barked with disdain before turning back to the television. Feeling like my head was going to explode if I stayed here one more minute, I dropped the dress on the chair in the hall and ran for the back door, right past the kitchen where Scott and Fulton were feeding our houseguests.
"Go after her, I got this." Scott assured him, giving him a slight tap on the back.
"Thanks." Fulton mumbled moving from behind the counter to follow me out our back door.
Meanwhile in the living room Madison had been directly behind me walking in the front door. She glared at Eve, a look of repulsion marking her face.
"You don't have to speak to her like that!" She reminded Eve, stepping into the living room, her hand on her overgrown stomach.
"I'll speak to her any way I want! She wants to be part of my family, she's got to deal with me."
"You know, you remind me of my own mother." Madison commented, keeping her hand on her hip. Eve's ears seemed to perk up at the random sentence and she placed the remote control on the table to stand up in front of the smaller girl.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, seeming curious to know whether it was a compliment or an insult. Madison's eyes narrowed, staring at the woman in front of her.
"She's always got to have things her own way." Eve's face hardened back against her bones,
"Figures you're her best friend, you two must share a brain or something." Eve's remark only proved to make Madison's face light up into a smile.
"The only good thing about Tammy is, she hadn't managed to get herself knocked up to keep my son with her." Eve's eyes darted down to where Madison's hand rested. Looking down for a moment, Madison felt her blood begin to boil. Eve stood her ground, staring down at her, unknowing that Madison was about to blow a gasket.
"What, no come back?" Eve nagged a little when Madison turned to walk away before she did something she'd regret later. She stopped, turning on her heels to face the taller woman dead in the eyes.
"If I didn't have my baby to worry about, I'd kick your old wrinkly… oww…" Madison cried out, gripping her stomach with both hands. Eve stared at her for a moment in contemplation of if she was faking it or not.
"You really don't expect me to believe you…" Eve wondered out loud, still staring at the young woman as she began to kneel on the floor.
"I don't care what you believe, just call for help." Madison groaned, crying out again in pain. Eve's face was one of disbelief until her snide expression faded and her skin began to turn ghostly white.
"You're not joking are you?" She asked her, trying to kneel next to her.
"Jeez, does it look like I'm joking?" Madison tried to chuckle but got another pain shooting back into her spine.
"Okay, okay. I'll get someone. I'll get Dean…" Eve went to get up to rush from the room.
"No, don't leave me. This isn't supposed to be happening. I'm only 6 months." The strain in her voice told Eve just how much pain and fear Madison felt at that very moment. She reached out her hand and took Madison's into a firm grip.
"Okay, it will be okay. Help!" She yelled out into the hall hoping for someone to hear. They waited a couple of seconds.
"Jeez, you'd think with the amount of houseguests we have, someone would hear us." Eve tried to joke causing Madison to grip her stomach more,
"Don't joke." She warned, turning her face up to her, "And don't breathe on me again. You smell like onions and old hag perfume." Eve didn't take it as an insult coming from the weakened girl seated on the floor.
"Okay, it will be okay." She soothed. "Help!" She yelled out again finally getting the attention of Scott in the kitchen.
"What is all the noise in here?" He asked flinging the fork he'd been cooking with around in the air.
"Oh my god!" He shrieked, dropping the item before crawling down on the floor.
"Madison, what's going on?" Her face was red with anguish.
"I don't know but I need to get to the hospital." She gritted through her clenched teeth.
"Okay…okay…let me get Fulton and we'll take his truck. Oh gosh!" Scott whined jumping from the floor to race down the hall and out the back door.
"It's just everything. I'll be fine." I assured my husband to be just as the back door flew open and Scott stood there, his face looking flush.
"Guys, I think Madison's gone into labor!" He moaned, returning to the house quickly and letting the screen door slam shut.
What?" Fulton and I both said in unison looking to the other for an ounce of clarity. We quickly moved for the door, banging into each other as we did to get in the door. By the time we made it through our mass of houseguests to the living room, Dean was there, gripping Madison against his body. She cried out in pain again, tightening her grip on Eve's hand, which was stretched out to her. I was a little confused at the situation but nonetheless, pushed by the rest of the people standing around.
"Right. Scott and Fulton, you stay here and take care of the guests. Eve, Dean help get her up into my car." I ordered looking around for complaints. No-one gave any as Dean boosted Madison to her feet with a little help from Eve. I swung open the front door, watching them move her though it.
"Are you going to be alright?" Fulton asked, I leaned over and kissed him, wordlessly nodding before following them out into the snow.
"I'll call you." I promised, reaching the car to pile in.
Three hours and four coffees later, I sat in the waiting room with Eve, staring at the wall. She didn't even look at me, just stared straight ahead. Dean had gone in with Madison to find out what was going on, leaving me alone with my future mother-in-law. The air was stiff and I could feel the tension building in the air. The silence was enough to make a sane person go nuts. Glancing at the raven-haired woman seated two plastic chairs over I decided to make conversation rather than stay quiet a moment longer.
"So, what happened?" I asked trying not to sound accusing. Her eyes darted to me in surprise that I had uttered a word to her.
"I don't know." She finally sighed, resting her head in her hands. "I said a few things and she got angry with me and started having pains." Eve looked at the wall again, silently kicking herself that she might have caused this.
"Were you fighting about me?" I asked cautiously. When she didn't answer I knew what the answer to my question would be. I nodded slightly, Madison had probably been trying to defend me from Eve's incessant bashing and then Eve had jumped on her. Madison was very hot tempered as it was, she didn't need a reason to get angry.
"Eve, why do you hate me?" I asked, suddenly feeling a bit of confidence to attack this situation head on. Her eyes began to scan the floor, almost looking for an answer to my lingering question. She finally looked up,
"I don't hate you. It's been Fulton and I for a very long time and then Phil came into our lives and everything was okay again. I just feel like I'll lose that sense of completeness when he'd on his own, doing his own thing." She stood quickly to avoid eye contact with me and stood at the window. It had begun to rain outside as the tiny droplets fell down the glass pane she was standing next to. I watched her for a moment in contemplation.
"Eve, why does it have to be me breaking apart your family. Why can't it be me adding to your family?" I asked as her eyes met mine. The door behind us flew open, smacking against the wall hard, causing the question to go unanswered.
"She's okay. The baby's doing okay. It was just stress cramping, the doctor said." Dean Portman's face lit up with excitement.
"It's a girl." I smiled for him as he looked the most happy I think I'd ever seen him.
"So everything's going to be alright?" I asked, coming to stand next to him.
"Perfect. They're just going to keep her overnight for observation and to make sure everything's okay with the baby." I nodded in agreement.
"Okay, that's good." Eve nodded too, stepping back from the window to grab her jacket from the chair.
"We're going to head back to the house. If anything changes or they let her go early, just give me a call." I reassured him. He nodded feverously; I could tell he was anxious to get back to Madison and his unborn daughter. I smiled, giving him a quick hug before he bolted back into the swinging doors, leaving Eve and I alone again.
"Let's go." I said softly, the conversation would have to continue at a later time.
The house was still full with guests when we returned; the car ride had been almost silent with little conversation exchanged between Eve and myself. To tell you the truth, I thought Eve was probably beating herself up for what happened with Madison. It had been a tough day and the sun was already setting. I guess that family brunch was off. Fulton and Scott sat on the front porch; jackets zipped up, gloves on and hands clasped against the cold air. I stepped out of the car, quickly making my way up the steps before embracing Fulton.
"Is everything okay?" Fulton asked looking between Eve and myself.
"Yeah, Madison will be fine, they're just keeping her overnight for observation. She'll be fine to go on Sunday." I reassured myself more than him.
"What happened?" Scott asked, coming to stand next to us. I glanced back at Eve to see what her reaction was going to be. Our eyes meet for a moment and I turned back to the two men waiting for us.
"Nothing really, just stress, you know…" Okay, so it was a new development for me to cover for Eve but at that moment when I looked back at her, I realized that the whole tough act was just that, an act. Somewhere deep down inside, Eve just wanted to protect Fulton the way he had all those years with his Father.
"Okay, let's get inside. We've got angry house guests, looking for dinner." We moved to enter the house, Eve hanging behind.
"Are you coming in?" I asked, hopeful that we could continue the conversation we had started in the hospital. She nodded slightly,
"In a minute. I just need a breath." She whispered. I nodded, following Fulton and Scott and closing the door.
Eve moved to lean against the railing on the front porch with a sigh, she never meant for everything to get this far. Tammy had really sounded sincere at the hospital when they had talked. Her thoughts were interrupted with a crack of a branch from the nearby woods. Eve turned quickly with a small jump before seeing who it was.
"You scared me to death." Eve breathed in a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, I've been out here forever waiting for you." Melissa's Brooklyn accent sounded softly in the night air.
"Look, Melissa. I think we should just stop all this while we're ahead." She looked confused at Eve's comments,
"Eve, what do you mean? You're not actually considering letting that beauty queen contestant marry your son?" Melissa asked, coming to stand at the bottom of the porch stairs. Eve moved to look down at her.
"Melissa, they're in love. I never thought I'd say this but maybe I need to let Fulton go." She said softly. Melissa looked shocked at first before a smile spread across her face.
"Oh, you almost had me there, Eve…good joke. Hey, did you hear about what I did this morning? The dresses I gave her were horrible. Although she did buy this simple little number, not what I would have picked out." Melissa laughed slightly but Eve didn't move a muscle to laugh, she leaned against the railing again, looking away from the younger girl.
"Eve, you can't be serious! We've only got two days left!"
"Look, Melissa. It's over, just go home." Eve said, moving to enter the house. Melissa watched her go, still shocked at the change in Eve's attitude.
"Oh, Eve, you have no idea who you're messing with." Melissa promised, huffing with contempt and turning to leave the vacant yard.
Well, almost to the end, just 3 more chapters left...I think.. it may go longer than that but i'm not counting on it...I guess we'll have to wait and see...Anyways, please review and I'll get the chapters up faster! I'm going to have this fully written by the time i go back to school on the 5th so i'll just have to get them to my beta and get them up. so really the faster you reveiw the faster i'll update!