"I mean, I'm just saying."

Lovina pulled the bodice of her dark purple dress up, adjusting the straps as Bella finished zipping up the back. "I'm not going to talk to him, Bells. It's been over a month and we haven't had any contact since the night we decided to take a break. It'll be awkward."

"More awkward than if you end up running into him on the street or on the subway or something?" The blonde woman gave her friend a look as the seamstress adjusted her long skirt. "All I'm saying is that you should text him. Just once."

Katyusha smiled from where she stood by a mirror, watching Felicia fix her hair. "I agree. But don't do it if you don't want to. I mean, no one likes being forced into things. Maybe he'll be at the wedding in two weeks! You could talk to him there!"

Felicia's face split into a wide smile and she nodded vigorously, turning to look at her sister. "They're right, sorella. Elizaveta did give him an invitation back in October. You could dance with him."

Lovina let out a groan, rolling her eyes and sitting down carefully on the white lounge. "Or we can stop talking about this and focus on the fact that Lizzie is getting married in two weeks and this is our last dress fitting."

"I think you should try to talk to him. I'm just saying."

"Well can you not just say, then?! I don't want to fucking hear it anymore, okay? I'm sick of hearing about him! I can't go anywhere without people talking about Antonio!"

Felicia's smile fell off her face. She dropped her hands to her sides, licking her lips and watching the floor. Her voice went quiet. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"None of us did," Katyusha chimed in, wringing her hands.

Bella shook her head from where she stood, the seamstress pulling a few pins out of her hemline. "I have a better idea. Lizzie's bachelorette party, right? Why don't we find you a man. Just for a night, you know. You and Katy, we'll get you both guys and you can go have a little fun. The rest of us can go home hammered and we'll have fun with our guys."

Katyusha made a face, brushing a short strand of hair behind her ear. "As great as that sounds, I don't want to disappoint Ivan. He has to take care of little Natalia while I'm out, I have to be home for him. He's only eighteen, I'm sure he doesn't want to be taking care of his fourteen year old sister the entire night."

Bella shrugged, placing her hands on her hips and sighing. "We could still get Lovina a date. C'mon, what do you say? It'll be fun!"

Lovina groaned and grabbed a throw pillow to bury her face in. "You know what, fine," she mumbled after a moment, muffled by the pillow, "but only if he's seriously hot enough to have a one night stand with. I'm done with actual relationships."

Felicia giggled and flounced over, leaning over Lovina's shoulders to lower the pillow away from her face. "We're going over to the Lake Club, aren't we? That's where Bella met Francis!"

Bella stifled a laugh, pressing a hand to her mouth. "God, they have got some really fine men that frequent there. I mean, I love Francis, I do, but damn. I'd love to just sit there and watch some of them for a while."

The other three women laughed, and the seamstress stood, folding up her tape measure and placing the pins back in their box. "I'll be checking with the bride's team now, if that's alright. Your dress is hemmed for two inch heels."

Bella nodded, giving her a smile. Once she walked out of the room, Bella hopped off the podium and bustled over to the others. "Okay, girls. We're going to the Club on Tuesday, right? And then Wednesday, Lizzie is staying at Lovina's while Roderich and the boys are out for the bachelor party. I talked to Vash and he's agreed not to let Gilbert and Vladmir keep Roderich out too late, so he'll be ready bright and early for the wedding. I didn't really think we had to worry about Ludwig. Pretty sure he'll help Vash keep the other two in line."

Felicia clapped her hands together, smiling wide. "The plan is perfect! And all Lizzie knows is she's staying with Lovina. So we've got to get her to go with Katyusha on Tuesday, and we'll meet them at the park and take her to the Club."

Katyusha beamed and nodded. "This is all so exciting."

"What's so exciting?"

Elizaveta's voice came from the doorway, where she wass standing in a simple white gown. The strapless dress curved up onto her chest and stopped there, hugging her form until it hit her hips, where it folded out with gentle ruffles beneath a lilac sash. The four women in the large dressing room gasped slowly, moving forward to meet her.

"Lizzie, you look gorgeous!"

Lovina allowed the others to compliment Elizaveta before she gave her a tentative smile. "Careful, Liz. That dress may be a little too good on you for Roddy to handle. He might faint at the altar."

Elizaveta laughed, swaying the skirt a bit with a wide smile. "I feel amazing, girls. And….. a little under two weeks! I am going to be a married woman in just under two weeks."

Bella shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "First you, Felicia next. Pretty soon it'll be the rest of us! It's strange. We've known each other since highschool and college and now…. Gosh, now we're all getting married."

A seamstress walked into the room, a tape measure looped around her neck. "Miss Elizaveta? We have the dressing bag for your gown if you'd like to come take it off, and you can take it home today. Your bridesmaids are free to take theirs as well."

"Thank you, Shauna, I'll be there in a moment."

After the seamstress walked out, Elizaveta pulled the four women in a tight hug. "Thanks for being my bridesmaids, girls. It's been fun."

Another few minutes later, Lovina and Felicia were changed back into their street clothes. They walked out of the bridal shop together, Lovina with the garment bags slung over her shoulders and Felicia carrying both their purses. They managed to get to the parking garage with little trouble, apart from Felicia nearly tripping on the curb, and Lovina carefully loaded the dresses into the backseat of her sister's car.

"Alright, Feli, where are we headed now?"

The younger of the Italian twins slid into her seat, closing her door and buckling her seatbelt. "I thought we could go out for dinner."

"You thought? That's a first," Lovina mumbled, climbing into the passenger seat and leaning against the window after she closed it. "How come?"

"Well…." Felicia trailed off, biting her lip and staring at the steering wheel. "Nonno and Marcella are in town. And since tomorrow is our birthday…. Nonno wanted to take us out. He wants us to meet them at the restaurant over on Fifth Avenue."

Lovina shrugged, reaching into the backseat to grab her purse and pull out her phone. "What's the problem with it?"

"O-oh…. Well, nothing. Nothing at all. Luddy and I went last week, they have very good food, you'll like it. But we can stop at your apartment to drop off your dress first. And you can change if you want, wear something other than jeans and that sweatshirt."

"What's wrong with my sweatshirt?"

"Nothing, sorella," Felicia replied easily, backing out of her parking spot. " It's just… Well, it's one of Toni's, isn't it?"

Lovina's face hardened. "So what if it is? They're comfortable, and the damn idiot never asked for them back."

Felicia smiled uneasily as she pressed the brake and shifted into drive. "You never told Nonno or Marcella about breaking up. They might be a little confused about the sweatshirt."

"Mm… good point," the older mumbled, swiping at her phone screen for a few moments. "Swing by the apartment. You can come in, too. If I'm going to change, I'm at least going to get your advice on what to wear. You're the one who knows the territory."

Felicia giggled, shaking her head. "It's not fancy, sorella. But it will be nice to see them, won't it? It's been so long."

"It's been four months."

"Almost five, we last saw them at Christmas. And that was all the way out in Chicago."

"I suppose seeing Marcella will be nice. I wonder how she got enough time off school to come with Nonno."

"Oh, she isn't that young, Vina. She's twenty, she could have been left behind if she wanted. I bet she isn't even doing much in her classes anyway, it's college and she isn't taking finals."

Lovina rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to laugh. "Feli, you forget that you and I had very different college experiences."

Her sister smiled easily, flicking on her blinker and turning right. It didn't take long to get to Lovina's apartment complex, where Felicia parked and got her sister's dress from the backseat. Lovina led them into the building, where Lee held the door open.

"Good evening, Misses Vargas."

Lovina waved, a smile coming easily to her lips. Of all the people she hated in the world, it had to be an elderly doorman that she made friends with. "Ciao, Lee. Having a nice night?"

"Same old, same old, Lovina. Excited for tomorrow?"

Felicia shook her head with a laugh. "Sorella is never excited for our birthday, Lee. She always complains about getting old."

The doorman grinned, chuckling. "I'd give it another thirty or forty years, miss. Then you'll be getting old and have a right to complain. You've still got your golden years ahead of you. Keep your head up, miss."

The Italian women laughed, waving to him once more before climbing into the elevator. Lovina pressed the button and began fumbling in her pocket for her key. "I need to sit him down one day when he's got the day off and just talk."

Felicia gave her sister a soft smile, adjusting the garment bag. "I don't understand you sometimes, Vina. He's a very sweet old man, but you've gone off making friends with him instead of people our age."

"I like him. He reminds me of Papa. It's nice to have a bit of Papa in my life. He died when we were so young. And poor Marcella, she doesn't even remember him."

"Nonno never did like him, did he? I remember him always telling Mama that she'd run off and married a madman. But Papa was just so sweet. Sometimes I miss him more than I miss Mama. I think it's because none of us look like Papa, but we get to see Mama all the time in each other."

"Don't get all philosophical on me," Lovina grumbled as the doors opened, "I'll get enough of that from Marcella tonight, with her philosophy major and all. You just stick to art, okay?"

Felicia hummed, her eyes scrunched up in silent laughter. "I do have my job at the diner, you know. I'll stick to art if you stick to design like you used to. You were so good at it and you gave it up for a desk job at the office. You don't even like being in Customer Service."

"No. But I like it a whole hell of a lot better than being unemployed."

"Maybe you could start designing again, as a sort of hobby, and you could sell your designs to small companies or something."

Lovina pushed open the door to her apartment, holding it for her sister as she pulled the key out of the lock. She closed the door, and as she passed the living room, she tossed the keys to the coffee table. "How fancy is the restaurant, exactly?"

"You never answered my question," Felicia muttered, taking the dress to the closet and rifling through the clothes. "It isn't too fancy. Not for Nonno's standards, at least. Ooooohhhh, when did you get this?"

Lovina peeked in the doorway of her bedroom, hardly glancing at the red sweater before shrugging and walking away. "December. I was planning to wear it for a party at work, I think, and then I decided against going. It was overrated, anyway."

Felicia held it up against her chest, raising her voice instead of following Lovina around the apartment. "It's pretty. The dark red will go really good with your hair. Do you have dress pants or pumps to go with it?"

In the kitchen, Lovina made a small, horrified choking noise. "Ew, no! Sorella, have I taught you nothing? Black pencil skirt, yes. Get the black nylons, as well, but the red pumps. That sweater is highly selective, you have to pair it right or it'll turn on you."

"I'm not wearing it, you are."

"Then I'm definitely going with my option, not yours."

"This is why you need to get back into design," Felicia laughed, "your fashion sense overrides your practicality sometimes."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever, little sister."

"Only by two minutes, Vina, you've really got to stop lording it over me."

"No."

Lovina strode back into the bedroom with her arms crossed, a small glass of water in one hand. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, taking a drink before talking. "What are you wearing?"

Felicia shrugged, moving away from the turtle tank. "I didn't really think about it. I'm already wearing a dress. I guess Nonno will be okay with it."

Her older sister raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Nonno, sure, because you're the prize child. Me, no way. I'll get you a sweater and a different pair of shoes. Your hair is fine, though."

Felicia gave her a wide smile, resisting the urge to run across the room and hug her. "Grazie! I'll bring them back the day after tomorrow, I promise!"

"I don't care when you bring them back, just wear them," Lovina muttered, tossing a white sweater at her sister. "And get out of my room so I can change. I'll bring the shoes out when I'm done."

"Alright, alright, I'll be in the kitchen when you're done."

Felicia gave her a wink and bounced out of the room and down the hall. Lovina struggled not to roll her eyes, but wiggled her way out of her jeans and sweatshirt. She swapped her sports bra for one that was lacy and strapless before pulling on the red cashmere sweater. She pulled her hair out of the back of it and sat down on the bed to worm her legs into the black pantyhose. Once her feet were both covered comfortably, the Italian woman stood again and pulled the thin material up, stretching it over her legs and up to her hips, where the tight waistband held it in place under her sweater and under the waist of the pencil skirt she tugged up around her hips afterwards. She slipped out of her bedroom with her shoes in one hand and clutch purse in the other.

Before going to the kitchen to fetch Felicia, she paused in the bathroom to pull her curls into an acceptable position and apply lipstick. As she padded down the hallway, her sister's voice wafted out of the kitchen towards her.

"Sì, nonno. Stiamo lasciando presto, lo prometto. Lovina si sta vestendo, saremo sulla nostra strada in un attimo. No, non ci vorrà molto per raggiungere il ristorante. Sì, nonno. Glielo dirò. Sì. Ti amo anch'io. Ci vediamo presto. Arrivederci."

Lovina paused in the doorway, biting the inside of her cheek and rubbing her right foot along the back of her left leg. "Is he upset?"

Felicia startled and nearly dropped her cell phone before she could put it back in her purse. She gave a nervous laugh. "No, no, of course not, sorella. Just anxious. You know how he is."

"He's fucking stubborn, that's what he is."

"Oh, Vina, don't say such things," Felicia sighs, pressing a hand to her chest. "We should go, though. I'll drive."

Lovina bent to place her shoes on the floor, eyeing her twin sister as she did so. "He was speaking Italian."

"Yes," Felicia answered, rather dismissively, as she pulled her sister's white sweater over her shoulders, "it is his first language."

"He speaks English fine," Lovina muttered, straightening back up and slipping her feet into the pumps, adding about three inches to her height. "He doesn't speak Italian much anymore unless he's angry."

"Sorella, you're being ridiculous, and that's my job, so you'd better cut it out. He's not angry, he's not upset. He just wants to spend time as a family on our birthday. So come on, let's go. And please don't lose your temper with him. Marcella is there with him, and you know how upset it makes her when you argue with Nonno."

Lovina sighed, leading the way out of her apartment and locking the door behind them. She never replied to Felicia, but as they stood in the elevator, she tangled their fingers together and muttered a quiet 'happy birthday, sorella'.