Saturday arrived quicker than Annabeth had anticipated and of course, she slept through her alarm. She rushed around her townhouse with her hair wrapped in a towel and a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth. Her phone rang inside her purse and she almost tripped over a pair of her boots and broke her neck in her haste to answer it. She took a deep breath and pulled it out of her purse.
"Hey Piper, what's up?"
Piper began ranting on the other end about her mother-in-law and Annabeth finished her toast. She poured a second cup of coffee into a to-go cup and slipped her shoes on.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. We're going to have a fun day and you're going to find your wedding dress and then we're going to have too many martinis with lunch. And Hera can't do anything to ruin that."
With Piper soothed, Annabeth threw her phone back in her purse, dried her hair, and put some product in it. She made it to the bridal salon with five minutes to spare and took a deep breath before she got out of the car. She'd told Piper things would be fine but honestly, she wasn't so sure. Hera and Aphrodite on their own probably would have been manageable. But both of them? Annabeth had a feeling they would all be needing too many martinis at lunch.
Piper was looking uncomfortable standing outside the door with her mother and Reyna. Hera apparently hadn't arrived yet.
"Oh thank god. I mean, look, Annabeth's here!"
Reyna smothered a laugh as Annabeth approached and Aphrodite sighed.
"I don't know why you find spending time with me so unbearable, Piper," Aphrodite said shaking her head.
Piper rolled her eyes and Annabeth squeezed her hand.
"I don't, Mom. It's just that Annabeth is in charge of the reservation and I want to get started."
"Well we can't very well get started without Hera," Aphrodite said with obvious distaste.
Piper had told Annabeth the day before at school how much her mother hated the idea of her future mother-in-law coming to the appointment. It was obvious that she felt threatened, but from what Jason had told her, Hera hadn't been any better at mothering him than Aphrodite had been at mothering Piper.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon. In the meantime, let's go inside and get checked in."
The women followed Annabeth inside and waited for her to check in with the woman at the desk. She caught Aphrodite nodding approvingly and smiled to herself. That's one mom pleased, anyway.
The owner, Silena, came out looking pretty as ever and Annabeth had to remind herself that they weren't kids anymore and there was no reason to be jealous.
"Annabeth!"
She smiled and clasped the woman's outstretched hands. "Hello, Silena."
Annabeth introduced her friends and checked her watch- Hera was now officially late. Annabeth refrained from saying anything but Reyna gave her a pointed look that she knew was about Piper's mother-in-law.
"I thought you said there were five of you," Silena said furrowing her brow.
Aphrodite snorted and Piper bit her lip.
"Piper's mother-in-law is supposed to be here. She just seems to be, uh, running a little late."
Silena didn't show it if she was annoyed and Annabeth was grateful for Piper's sake.
"Well, how about we get you settled and talk about what you're looking for while we wait. No sense in you all standing by the door."
Annabeth ushered Piper and Aphrodite forward, knowing no matter how much Piper complained about her mother, she was happy to have her there. And sure enough, Piper looped her arm through her mother's as they made their way to the viewing area.
They were just sitting down when there was a commotion up at the front of the store. Only moments later, Hera swanned in with a peacock colored scarf trailing behind her. Annabeth was pretty sure she'd never seen another woman like her.
Aphrodite was beautiful, yes, but her clothes were understated and simple and she reminded Annabeth a little of the actresses from the 50's. She was a little intimidating but not unapproachable and Annabeth knew she was really excited to watch her daughter try on wedding dresses.
Hera was beautiful too, but everything about her was intimidating. She had a regal looking face and a cold expression. She reminded Annabeth of those women from the housewives shows. Although, she probably wasn't too far off considering how Jason grew up.
"I'm so sorry I'm late. I thought I had the wrong place when I didn't see you all out front."
"Well we didn't want to keep Silena here waiting, especially after how fabulous she was about changing our reservation," Aphrodite said sweetly.
The two women had a silent standoff, sickly sweet (and totally fake) smiles never leaving their faces. Annabeth could've cut the tension with a spoon.
"Well, everyone's here now!" Annabeth said standing quickly. "Let's get started."
Silena shook off her surprise and clapped her hands together. "Yes, let's. Piper, what did you have in mind?"
"Well," Piper said, finally smiling, "I don't want anything flashy or extravagant. Just something simple."
Aphrodite nodded decisively and smiled. Hera, on the other hand, clucked her tongue and shook her head. "You don't want a simple dress, dear. It's your wedding day- don't you want to look like a princess?"
Piper shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Piper has never been the princess type. Besides, true beauty is about feeling good in your own skin, not sequins and big skirts," Aphrodite said with conviction. Piper smiled at her mother gratefully and Annabeth was surprised to see her take her mother's hand in her's.
"Nonsense, every girl wants to feel like a beautiful princess on her wedding day."
Annabeth had to grit her teeth to stop herself from speaking up.
"I think Piper will look beautiful no matter what she wears," Reyna said casually. Annabeth admired the other girl's ability to keep her cool.
Hera pursed her lips but didn't say anything else.
"How about," Silena said pulling Piper to her feet, "we try on a few different styles? That way, you can get a feel for how they look and how you feel."
"That sounds perfect," Annabeth said, shooting Silena a grateful look.
Silena began to lead Piper away, but Piper stopped and turned back. "Er, mom? Would you come with me?"
Annabeth watched Aphrodite's face light up as she got to her feet to follow her daughter.
The wait was almost agonizing with Hera making her patronizing comments on all the merchandise they could see and slipping in the odd dig at Piper and her mother. Annabeth pulled her phone out at one point and sent a text to Percy.
Help, her passive aggressive majesty won't shut up about how inappropriate short wedding dresses are
her passive aggressive majesty? do i know this woman? i didn't know short wedding dresses were a thing
Annabeth snorted.
Jason's step-mom, Hera, queen of all things annoying.
And of course short wedding dresses are a thing. Do you live under a rock?
aah yes, he's mentioned her a few times.
no i don't live under a rock, i just haven't been to a wedding since i was twelve. and it was my mom's wedding and she wore a blue dress.
Aphrodite reemerged, looking almost blissful, and took her seat again.
"Silena is going to help Piper get into the first dress. She really is a lovely girl, Annabeth. How do you know her again?"
"We went to high school together. She was two years ahead of me, but we were on the soccer team together."
A blue wedding dress? Is everything in your life blue?
pretty much. especially the food. you should taste my blue chocolate chip pancakes.
Before Annabeth could respond (partly because the idea of Percy making her breakfast was doing strange things to her stomach) Silena emerged with Piper trailing behind her. Annabeth almost started crying right there. The dress wasn't Piper at all, all beads and tulle and crinoline, but she was wearing a wedding dress. It was the first time it really hit Annabeth that her best friend was getting married.
"So, I liked this one much better on the hanger," Piper said with a laugh as she examined her reflection.
"Yeah, it's not really you is it?" Reyna said through pursed lips.
"I think it's more cake topper meets cotton ball," Annabeth said with a snort.
The rest of the appointment went like this, lots of derisive snorts from Annabeth and pursed lips from Hera. And lots of Piper looking absolutely gorgeous in dresses that were absolutely horrendous.
The seventh dress, though, was different. It was simple, just like Piper wanted, and they were all teary eyed when Silena pulled a flower hair clip from the accessories department and stuck it in Piper's hair. Even Hera took a break from pursing her lips and smiled.
"You look perfect, sweetheart," Aphrodite said dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
Piper's smile was watery and she couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror. An hour later when they were sitting down to lunch, she was still talking about how amazing the dress was.
"Aye mami," Leo said with a whistle when the girls showed him the picture Annabeth had taken on her phone.
Piper punched him in the arm. "Just get our food out here, Valdez. I'm starving."
Leo winked and disappeared back into the kitchen.
"I assume you know that boy?" Hera asked. Annabeth could hear the disdain in her voice.
"Leo is my oldest friend. We grew up together," Piper said defensively.
"He's quite good friends with Jason and our whole group, actually," Annabeth put in.
Hera said nothing but took a sip of her champagne. She changed her tune when she took a bite of her duck.
"Piper, you must tell your friend that he is an excellent chef," she said finishing off her champagne.
"You haven't lived until you've eaten Leo's tofu tacos," Piper said.
"She's right, they're incredible," Reyna added.
"For the bride," Leo said appearing at Piper's shoulder once they had all finished. He placed a chocolate looking thing in front of her and Annabeth watched as Piper's eyes practically turned to hearts.
"Gateau au Chocolat for my favorite girl," Leo said with a big smile. Piper twisted around in her seat and hugged him.
"So do the rest of us lesser girls get dessert?" Reyna asked?
Leo winked at her and produced four more plates from his cart.
"Well you're definitely my favorite guy today, Leo," Annabeth said tucking in.
"Thank you, Leo," Aphrodite said with a sweet smile. Annabeth snorted into her gateau as Leo's eyes turned into hearts.
"This is excellent, young man," Hera added after a small bite.
Leo looked stunned for a moment before he grinned. "I'm also available for small parties and events."
Hera merely raised her eyebrows and Annabeth shook her head. Her dessert was too good to tell Leo to stuff it.
They spent far too long in Le Bordeaux and Annabeth almost wept in relief when Aphrodite offered to pay the bill. (Actually, she and Hera ended up splitting it after one of the most passive aggressive arguments Annabeth had ever seen but either way, it saved Annabeth from having to live without running water for a month.)
"Annabeth, everything was absolutely wonderful," Aphrodite said graciously.
"Yeah it was. Thanks, Annabeth," Piper said hugging her tightly.
"If I ever get married, you're definitely going to be my maid of honor," Reyna said as they hugged.
"If you need help with anything shower-wise, just let me know," Aphrodite said.
"Yes, the same goes for me," Hera said, finally looking up from her cell. Aphrodite didn't look too pleased about this, but Annabeth just smiled.
"Thank you both. I'll keep that in mind."
Annabeth offered to drop Piper off at her place since it was on her way and the two of them blared some Taylor Swift on the ride.
"Have fun with your dad," Piper said as they sat in front of her apartment building.
Annabeth snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Piper frowned. "Give him a chance. I mean, look at me and my mom."
"I guess you're right," Annabeth conceded grudgingly. "I really am happy you had such a good day."
Piper smiled. "The best. You're the best maid of honor ever."
Annabeth hugged her again and watched her practically skip up the walk. When the door was firmly shut, Annabeth took a deep breath and put the car in gear. She thought about calling her dad and faking sick, but she squashed that train of thought quickly. She had to face him sometime. No use prolonging the inevitable.