Chapter 22
Lexi stared absently at the racks of wedding gowns and sighed. She'd put this off for as long as she could and with the wedding now a month away, she could no longer put it off.
"Oh for Christ sake, Alexandra, don't look so terrified," her mother scolded. "They're just dresses."
"They're not just dresses, mom," Lexi replied and looked to her future mother-in-law for help. Roman's mom simply smiled and patted her on the shoulder. Yep, no help there. Then she turned and glanced over her shoulder at Roman's sister Alyssa who also grinned, but remained quite.
Her mother had been a little upset when she learned that Lexi turned over control of the wedding to her future mother-in-law. In order to appease her, Lexi promised to include her in wedding dress shopping. With just a little over three months until the baby was due, she was really showing and no dress was going to look right.
On a sigh Lexi stepped into the store and prepared for an afternoon of frustration and confrontation.
An hour into their bid to find the perfect dress, Lexi stepped out of the dressing room and frowned even as her mother clasped her hands together in glee. "Oh, Alexandra, it's beautiful."
"It is," Lexi sighed as she turned one way and then the other, assessing it in the mirror. "If I wasn't going to be two and a half months away from giving birth and I was having a big formal wedding."
Her mother's smile faded. "You've rejected every dress I've picked out."
"Mom, please understand, you're pushing me toward long sleeve, big formal gowns when we're having a garden wedding in spring. I want something summerish and light weight. Something that will flow and compliment my baby bump."
Alyssa stood. "Do you have your heart set on pure white?"
Lexi snorted. "Not really. Why?"
"Because I saw a dress that might be perfect." Excitement danced in her eyes. "Let me go get it and I'll meet you in the dressing room."
Figuring she had nothing to lose, Lexi agreed then headed back to the dressing room. She'd just closed the door when a powerful and unexpected pain had her doubling over. She grasped her belly and gasped. The pain faded nearly as quickly as it came, but it didn't erase the shock or apparently the stunned expression on her face. Alyssa walked into the room with the dress, stopped and frowned. "What's wrong?"
Lexi shook her head as she experimentally toyed with the idea of trying to stand up straight. "I'm not sure. I don't know that anything is wrong."
"But?" Alyssa prompted and Lexi watched with some interest as her future sister-in-law slid from friend mode into nurse mode.
"I took a pain." Lexi rubbed at the spot on her belly.
"What kind of pain?" Alyssa asked even as she took Lexi by the hand and led her to the bench to sit. "Did it feel like a fist gripping your belly?"
Lexi shook her head. "It felt more like a quick stab. It was localized and gone nearly as quick as it came."
Alyssa's brow knit as her lips thinned. "Have you experienced it before?"
"No," Lexi replied. "This is a first."
"Hmmm… It could be nothing more than the baby giving you a good kick. From what I've heard from other expectant moms the little ones can really get some good punches in."
"So I shouldn't be worried?"
"I'm not sure," Alyssa replied. "I don't think it's anything to worry about just yet, but if the pain persists then you need to have it checked out."
Lexi nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Alyssa."
Alyssa squeezed her hand. "What are sisters for." She pointed to the dress she brought in. "You feel like trying on that?"
Lexi studied the flowing white gown, noted the black halter straps, black band just below the breasts and the black beading at the bottom and grinned. "Absolutely, but I guarantee my mother is going to hate it."
Later, Lexi sat in the restaurant with her mother and soon to be in-laws, discussing the wedding. She'd had another of those pains in the car, but it also went away quickly and she hadn't wanted to ruin their day by bringing up something that might be nothing.
"So," her mother began. "You're really not going to find out what you're having?"
Lexi frowned as she stared down into her glass of sprite. She'd already had this argument with her mother and really didn't feel like rehashing it again. "We've already established that I'm having a baby."
Her mother nearly sneered. "Don't you get smart with me young lady."
"Well that's what you get for hounding me," Lexi shot back. "We've been over this already."
"Yes, yes...I know." Her mother waved hand in the air. "But I can't believe you would deny your family the right of knowing. After all, you have the technology available to find out and it will make life much easier if we don't have to guess." She turned to look at Alyssa. "You work in her doctor's office, don't you know?"
Alyssa held up her hands in defense. "Even if I did know, which I don't, due to patient privacy issues I can't tell."
Lexi's mother huffed. "This is ridiculous. Back when I was pregnant with you and your siblings technology wasn't was it is today. The doctors couldn't always tell and when they did many times they were wrong. I just don't understand why you wouldn't want to know."
Lexi slapped the table, drawing attention to them. "Enough, mom. Roman and I decided we wanted to be surprised. This might be the only child we get and I'm already being denied the birthing experience because of concerns my doctor has. I won't let you take this away from us too." She pushed up from the table. "Get over it already."
"Alexandra," her mother called as Lexi walked away. "Where are you going?"
"To the bathroom if you must know," she called over her shoulder, then quickly made her way to the ladies room. She slipped inside an empty stall, closed the door and leaned back against it. This was why she'd dreaded the idea of going dress shopping. It seemed that her mother never quite knew when enough was enough.
Deciding to take the time to relieve herself before she returned to the table, Lexi turned and pulled down her maternity pants and her heart nearly stopped the moment she spotted the blood stain. Oh God!