The Day Every Little Girl Dreams Of

Anna's fingers drummed on the counter. Two months pregnant and not even married yet. She and Skyler had planned on getting married this winter, but now that had become her due date and Anna did not want to walk down the aisle looking like a bloated cow, but at the same time she knew she wanted to be married before the baby arrived.

She had such plans for their wedding too. Egypt had always been one of her favourite places to time travel to and she wanted to have an Egyptian themed wedding. Gold altar, long ivory curtains, she had it all figured out.

And now it wouldn't happen. All because she had gotten eager and convinced Skyler that waiting until they were engaged to make love was just as good as waiting until they were married. Skyler wanted to wait for this very reason too. Too many people in his life had kids too early. She knew his brother had a kid before he got married, but now she knew that Sydney had too.

Skyler was in shock when he first heard the news of Anna's pregnancy to say the least. Even so he had reacted better and gotten over it quicker than Joe had. All Anna had to do to let Skyler recover from the news was give him some space and allow him time to adjust. It didn't take long for Skyler to warm up to the idea of having a kid. He loved kids after all. Sydney was still struggling to get Joe to not try to strangle Skyler every time they saw each other.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and Anna looked up to see Skyler walk into their home, which used to be Skyler and Sydney's place. Sydney had the place paid for several years still, so she gave it to Skyler when she moved out. They would have to move out eventually, but until then they planned on enjoying the ritzy penthouse.

Skyler had a sheen of sweat lining his forehead and his stage make-up was faded. Anna actually liked when Skyler got all done up for a show. He was a rare guy who could wear eyeliner well. Anna thought it always made him look like a sexy pirate. Her sexy pirate.

With Sydney being pregnant, Skyler had to take on a little more work in their dance and performance business. Sydney was still able to dance and was still performing eight times a week in Chicago, but this week was her last. At four months pregnant, she was showing too much to fit in with the show.

Skyler's eyes lit up like they always did when he saw Anna. He walked over and gave her a quick peck on her temple. "How was your night, gorgeous?" He mumbled into her hair.

Anna giggled. "Great. And then you showed up and ruined it."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "Good. I'd hate for you to be happy." Skyler moved to leave, but Anna grabbed his hand and held on.

"What? Usually you're begging me to shower after a show. Or does all this sweat and stage make-up turn you on?" Skyler teasingly winked at her.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Hardly. I just wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"When do you want to elope?"

Skyler tilted his head. "Elope? I thought you wanted to have a fancy wedding?" Skyler gently brushed Anna's hair away from her face. "Whatever happened to our Egyptian wedding under the stars?"

Anna sighed. "I got pregnant. That's what happened."

Skyler continued to trace his thumb along Anna's cheekbone. "So? You can still have your dream wedding."

"You expect me to walk down the aisle with a baby in my arms?"

Skyler laughed and shook his head. "No, but we don't have to get married this winter. We'll just push the date back." Skyler lightly brushed his lips against Anna's. "I'm willing to wait a year if it means marrying an incredible girl like you."

Anna leaned into Skyler's touch. "I know we could, but I'd rather be married before the baby comes."

Skyler shrugged. "Then we'll move up the date. How does late summer sound? Around August?"

"But wouldn't it be easier to elope?" Anna studied him curiously.

"Probably. But if my fiancé wants to have the wedding she always dreamed of, then she's going to get the wedding she always dreamed of. I don't care when or how we get married. All I know is that I want you to be at your happiest when we do it."

Anna felt her eyes start to brim with tears. She quickly wiped them away. "Stupid pregnancy hormones."

"I hope those are tears of joy." Skyler offered her a small smile.

Anna nodded. "You're really willing to move up the wedding?"

Skyler grinned. "Of course. Anything for you."

"August it is then."

Anna could barely contain her laughter. "But that's not even the funniest thing! We went to Coney Island with dad when we were little and all day Joe was whining about how he wanted to ride the Wonder Wheel. So we finally get to ride it, and they're loading people on so our car gets stopped at the top. Immediately, Joe starts balling and screaming that he wants to get off. I was four and I was fine with being that high up! So dad waves down to the people and we get off, but because Joe was so upset we had to go home early. I made fun of him for it for years!"

Sydney threw her head back with laughter. "And I will be sure to bring that up at dinner tonight. That reminds me of this time when Skyler was ten and we were working on combat training. Out of nowhere he just starts this high pitched screaming and refuses to continue. I start looking around to see what's wrong when he points to this spot on the floor and tries to run away. At first I don't see anything, but then I looked closer and I see this tiny little spider on the ground. The thing was the size of a thumbtack, but Skyler refused to continue until it was dead and gone. I thought the guy was going to start hyperventilating on me."

"Skyler's scared of spiders?"

"Terrified."

Anna continued to laugh. "Then maybe I should buy fake ones and place them randomly throughout the house."

"Please record it for me."

The girls fell into a fit of giggles. The wedding was a week away and they were treating themselves to a mani-pedi and bonding over sharing stories about the men in their lives. Anna had always been good friends with Sydney but with them both being pregnant together, both with twins no less, they had really gotten close. Sydney had been telling Anna what to expect with the pregnancy and what raising a kid was really like. She also helped soothed any of Anna's worries. She had said Skyler was great with kids too. With all the bonding they had been doing, Anna felt like to two girls had practically become sisters. If anyone overheard their conversations, they would assume they were your typical college girls who gossiped about boys and wild parties. It was nice to have a close girl friend for once.

Since they had moved the wedding up, Anna only had a few months to prepare everything. Luckily, everything had worked out and she would get her dream wedding after all. They decided to keep it small, close family only, but her Egyptian wedding would be grand nonetheless.

Anna sighed in content and leaned back in the massage chair as the nail artist drew Egyptian hieroglyphics on her toes. Her hand drifted over her protruding stomach. Four months pregnant with twins. She was showing a little more than she wanted to be for the wedding, but the dress she had picked out hid it well. Anna could barely contain her excitement. In one week she would be married to a man that was perfect for her. They wouldn't get a honeymoon for another year or two, but Anna was okay with that. Any time she got to spend with Skyler was amazing.

"Sydney?" Anna turned her head and saw Sydney leaning back in a similar position to Anna, eyes closed and hand slowly massaging her stomach.

"Hmm?"

"How does marriage change your relationship?"

"Getting cold feet already?" Sydney chuckled and peeled one eye open to look at Anna. "I don't know. It's weird because the only difference between your relationship before and after a wedding is a piece of paper. But something changes. Your relationship feels… deeper, and there's also a lot more dependency on each other. It's a little frightening to think about and not every day will be great, but if you stick it out through the stormy parts, the good parts seem all the brighter. It's a lot like motherhood actually."

Anna paused and thought for a moment, not quite sure what to say. She knew without a doubt that she loved Skyler. But the idea of being locked into a relationship was a little frightening.

"It's the best decision I've ever made." Sydney was smiling at Anna, as if she could read her thoughts.

The words soothed Anna and she grinned. "I feel the same way."

"So tell me, how did Sky's mom react when she heard the good news?"

Anna couldn't help the groan that came out of her, causing Sydney to laugh.

"That bad, huh? You're still alive though. That's a good sign. I've told you, when she first met me she tried to poison me. I think she really does like you."

"I think the only reason I'm not dead is because I'm carrying her grandchildren." Anna let out a frustrated sigh. "And of course she blames it all on me. Skyler had nothing to do with it."

"He's fifty percent of it." Sydney shook her head. "Sky's mom is just very protective of Skyler. She'll learn to love you eventually."

"I hope so. The last thing I want is for her to ruin my wedding."

"She won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because it's Skyler's wedding too. And she'd never do anything to hurt her precious baby boy."

August 24th, 2019

Anna finished zipping up her dress. She stood in the mirror and took herself in. Maybe it was just the dress, but Anna couldn't believe how mature she looked. There was no trace of the little girl she used to be. Her face had narrowed and about a year ago Anna had decided to chop all of her hair off into a pixie cut. Now her hair always had a stylish mess appearance to it with her thick bangs covering most of her forehead. She had even dyed parts of it pink.

Her dress glittered underneath the lights in her temporary dressing room. She felt like an Egyptian queen. Her bridal gown was traditional white but it was decorated with gold designs from the hem all the way to her neck. The bodice was tight, but the bottom flared out and had a short train in the back.

She wore matching gold jewelry. Her earrings were long and tickled when they brushed against her neck. The bracelets she wore were fitted and covered about three inches of her arms above her wrists. She even had a gold head band in that sat on top of her hair with short strings hanging down over her forehead. She had no necklace on, but the dress didn't need it because of the gold designs that already covered her neckline.

"Skyler is going to be the happiest man alive."

Anna spun around to find Sydney waiting in the doorway and immediately ran up to embrace her. While Anna's dress hid her small stomach well, Sydney was too big to hide it. It felt awkward to hug her now, with both their bellies getting in the way, but Anna held her tight nonetheless.

"You ready? I was told to come get you." Sydney held her out at arm's length and straightened Anna's head band.

Anna nodded, a huge grin on her face. "I've been ready since the day I met Skyler." She looped her arm through Sydney's and together they strode down the hall. Sydney gave her a final hug and wished her good luck before stepping away to go sit down.

The place they had rented out had a large open room that was perfect for Anna's vision. She stepped inside and was delighted to see everything was just how see pictured it.

Long ivory drapes hung from the ceiling and pooled on the floor. The ceiling was black but glowing orbs hung down and sparkled like stars providing romantic lighting for the entire room. Silver, gold, and white pillows littered the ground for the guests to sit on. Candles lined either side of the aisle leading to the altar. The altar was under a large gold pyramid and waiting inside was the man of her dreams.

She tightened her grip on her bouquet composed of sacred blue lilies of the Nile. Skyler had never looked better in her eyes. He was wearing a traditional black tux, but underneath he wore a gold vest and a matching gold bowtie. His hair was flawlessly styled as usual. It was one of her favourite quirks about Skyler. He spent more time on his hair than she did. The thought of it made her giggle as she walked down the aisle.

Anna had no idea what her audience was doing and she didn't care. She only had eyes for Skyler and she knew without a doubt that he only had eyes for her.

Skyler's eyes had widened the moment Anna had stepped in the room. His dark brown eyes that she had stared into so many times were lit up and warm with love for her. Anna had to force herself to walk at a normal pace and not run up to the altar and pull Skyler in for a kiss.

Time slowed down for Anna as she finally reached the altar and grasped Skyler's hands. It was all she could do to not jump into his arms when he squeezed her hands and threw her a wink.

She didn't hear a word their officiant said. She had more important things to focus on. We are gathered here today… blah blah… Though these vows are spoken in a matter of minutes, they are promises that will last a lifetime… blah blah blah… May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken.

That caught Anna's attention. She and Skyler momentarily broke eye contact to pull out the rings they had gotten for each other. Skyler lifted Anna's hand and slipped the ring on her finger. It took Anna several moments to take it in. She had never seen a more perfect ring in her life. The band was rose gold and the top bent outward in various directions forming the shape of a flower. The center of the flower held a large diamond that glittered under the lights.

Anna almost forgot to breathe. Skyler gently squeezed her hands again and she came back to the present. She gave him his ring. It didn't dazzle like hers, but she thought it was still nice. It was a simple band made of silver and gold. The outer ring was silver and the middle part was gold. The date was engraved on the inside, not that either of them could ever forget this day.

"Do you Skyler Maka take Anna Arthur, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to share your life openly, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?"

"I do." There was no hesitation in Skyler's answer and Anna's heart fluttered.

"Do you Anna Arthur take Skyler Maka, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to share your life openly, standing with him in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?"

"I do." Like Skyler, Anna did not hesitate with her response.

"Throughout this ceremony, Anna Arthur and Skyler Maka have vowed, in our presence, to be loyal and loving towards each other. They have formalized the existence of the bond between them with words spoken and with the giving and receiving of rings. Therefore, it is my pleasure to now pronounce them husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!"

Anna and Skyler had kissed a thousand times, maybe more. But today the feeling was new. No longer simply boyfriend and girlfriend, they had become husband and wife and were now sealing the agreement with a kiss. Today, their kiss was a promise.

Anna could feel her heart melting in her chest as Skyler cupped her face to deepen their kiss. She dimly heard the sound of applause and couldn't stop the smile that spread over her cheeks. When they finally broke apart, she saw that Skyler was grinning as well.

"I love you, Anna."

"I love you too, Skyler."

They held hands and together they turned to their families.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Skyler and Anna Maka!"

The last thing Anna thought before heading back down the aisle, hand in hand with her new husband, was how nice her new name sounded.

A/N - Just a little announcement that I am leaving soon for a short vacation, but I will try to get a few more chapters out before I leave.

Say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Maka! ;) Let me know what you thought about this chapter by leaving a review! Thanks for reading!