Chapter 14

Creak

That was the sound the door made as it was slowly creaked open and a pater of a small set of feet echoed inside the room, waking Niles up. It didn't take long for him to feel a small, warm presence climbing onto the bed and snuggling against his side. He couldn't help the smile spreading across his lips as he wrapped his arms around his daughter.

"Good morning, Daddy!" Amelia said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Daddy... he could swear the word was magical...

"Good morning to you, too, Little One," he replied, giving her a sleepy grin, and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Did you sleep okay?"

Amelia nodded, "Mm-hm. But I was hungry, so I got up."

"Oh, you want some breakfast?" he rubbed her arm, and she nodded in return. He slowly began to rise into a sitting position. "Well, I can certainly fix that. How about some scrambled eggs?"

"Sounds perfect," answered a voice from the other side of the bed with a stretch.

Niles smirked. In his state of half-sleep, he hadn't realised his fiancée wasn't awake yet. C.C. rolled over, and stuck her tongue out. He pretended to look unimpressed, and Amelia clambered over him to hug her mother.

"Morning, Mommy!"

"Good morning, sweetie," C.C. carefully sat up, and kissed her daughter's cheek. "You excited to go dress shopping today?"

"Yeah!" Amelia beamed. "Your dress is gonna look super pretty!"

"You think so?" C.C. raised an eyebrow and held her daughter's hands. "Let's hope it does. They cost lots of money. I'm counting on you to help me pick a nice one."

"Of course I'll help, Mommy," Amelia nodded, before looking quickly at Niles and then back at her again. "Is Daddy coming, too?"

C.C. frowned a little and shook her head, "No, sorry, honey. Daddy can't come. It's a rule; he's not allowed to see me in my dress until the day we get married."

"Why?" Amelia asked climbing back onto her father's lap, using her hands to brush a few curls away from her eyes.

"Because it's bad luck!" C.C. replied, propping a few pillows behind her back and lying back against them. "And we wouldn't want to be unlucky, now would be?"

"Nope!" Amelia smiled and jumped out of bed, her stomach growling. Her father followed her (not before giving C.C. a good morning kiss, of course) and helped her into her robe and to put on her slippers – it was chilly downstairs, and he didn't want Amelia to catch a cold. "I want it to be the best day ever!"

"And I am sure it will be," Niles said as she ushered Amelia towards the door. "But if we want to get to that day, we need to eat. So, chop-chop, off we go!"

Amelia giggled and ran to the kitchen, skidding to an abrupt halt and nearly bumping against the fridge in her excitement.

The next few weeks were going to be filled with excitement for the young girl. Not only would they be getting her mother's wedding dress and her own dress for the ceremony, but also both she and her Mommy were planning a very special gift for her Daddy as a belated Father's day present.

She'd couldn't wait to give it to her Daddy, but they still had to wait a few days. Amelia allowed Niles to help her put on an apron as she was lost in her thoughts, and then they began cooking their breakfast. She even prepared C.C.'s coffee and Niles' tea before helping her Daddy put everything on a tray so they could take their breakfast upstairs.

After their tummies were filled, Niles took care of washing the cutlery while Amelia and C.C. got ready to head out.

Now that Amelia was seven years old, she was more independent, and one of the ways she showed her new found "independence" was by choosing the clothes she'd wear that day on her own. She didn't require C.C.'s or Niles' help to get dressed, except when it came to tying her shoelaces, but she was learning to do that on her own, too. That day she'd chosen to wear a pair of white jeans, a baby-pink cashmere sweater with a matching scarf and her favourite boots.

She looked beautiful...

Or at least that's what both of her parents thought as she climbed down the stairs and scurried towards the car.

"Someone is eager, it seems," Niles joked, curling an arm around C.C.'s waist.

"She's not the only one, I can assure you," the blonde replied.

Niles chuckled, and held her tighter briefly, "I suppose that makes the three of us then, doesn't it? I can't wait until I can officially call you my wife."

"It does have a nice sound to it, doesn't it?" C.C. leaned into his embrace, putting her arms around his middle. "A nice feel..."

"Indeed it does," he agreed. "And everything we're doing to lead up to it is causing all kinds of excitement. Especially in our little one."

C.C. turned her eyes back to their daughter, waiting patiently over by the car, apparently bouncing on her heels.

"She's never been to a wedding before, and never been a bridesmaid," C.C. stared after their daughter, pride in her eyes. "She wants it to be the best experience."

"And it will be," Niles said. "We wouldn't make it anything less."

"And this is just the start of the final stretch," C.C. turned her gaze to him, some sort of teasing spark in her eyes. "So let's hope it continues as well as it has been going. Can you imagine if we didn't find the right one? Our daughter's memory of our wedding day being marred by seeing her mother walk down the aisle in something that looks like a pile of old drapes?"

He wanted to say that she could never look hideous, and that she could walk down the aisle in an old potato sack and still look like the most sublime creature on Earth, but she'd accuse him of being an old sap and then the zingers would start and no one would get anywhere. Instead, he just chuckled.

"It's going to look marvellous," he squeezed her hip affectionately. "I can't wait to see you in it."

Checking that Amelia was out of earshot, C.C. smirked back at him, "You can't wait to see me out of it."

Niles considered for a moment, before flashing his lopsided grin at her, "Well, that too. But to get to that part, the wedding actually has to happen, doesn't it?"

C.C. pursed her lips, pretending to think, "Not necessarily."

He laughed again, and pecked her on the lips, "Go on, now. Our daughter is waiting for you to take her dress shopping."

C.C. pretended to look disappointed, but unwound her arms from around his middle and began to make her way down to where Amelia was waiting, "Alright. We'll be back later. I'll call and let you know if we're having lunch out, in case shopping takes longer than we previously thought."

"Alright, love," he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him so he could give him one last kiss. She giggled and swatted at his hands, but accepted the kiss nonetheless.

She gave him a kiss of her own and climbed onto the driver's seat. Mother and daughter waved at the butler before C.C. turned on the engine and pulled out of the driveway. C.C. had an appointment at one of the most exclusive wedding dress stores in New York, courtesy of her mother, who had phoned a few of her friends and gotten C.C. first in the waiting list.

She knew they were rigorous about keeping the appointments to the hour, and walk-ins were strictly prohibited. It was lucky that her mother had such a prominent surname such as Babcock!

When C.C. finally managed to find a parking space, she helped her daughter out of her seat and both mother and daughter walked into the bridal shop, hand in hand.

"Hello, how might I help you?" a middle-aged bridal dress consultant said.

"Hello, I am C.C. Babcock, I believe I have an appointment at 11 o' clock?" the blonde said.

The saleswoman's eyes widened – it wasn't every day that a Babcock walked into the store! Clients like C.C. were the most valuable ones, not only because they couldn't care less about the price of the dress, but also because they had a number of equally rich friends who could need dresses too. The better the service, the greater the possibility of being recommended.

"And I am Amelia Babcock!" the child exclaimed, waving at the older woman. "I am the bridesmaid!"

C.C. chuckled. The pride with which her daughter spoke was absolutely endearing to her.

The saleswoman smiled, humouring the girl, "How do you do, Miss? Are you ready to find your bridesmaid's dress today as well?"

"Yes," Amelia nodded, and leaned against her mother as C.C. slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"Excellent. I'm sure we have something to suit the pair of you," the saleswoman folded her hands in front of her. "My name is Madeleine, and if you ladies would care to follow me to the back, I believe a selection may have already been prepared by the person who made the reservation."

She turned on her heel, and began to head towards the back of the luxurious looking store. Growing excited, mother and daughter followed.

C.C. realised that she probably should have guessed her mother would have most likely reserved at least half a dozen dresses for the pair of them to try out.

Madeleine led them into a back room – a dressing room, of a sort. At least, that's what it would be called if it were smaller. It just seemed to be another part of the store, simply separated by a door. There were several rooms off the main area, and each seemed to be stocked with dresses – both for brides and their bridesmaids. The main area had some comfortable seating, and several mirrors, so dresses could be examined from different angles.

Madeleine gestured towards one of the smaller rooms in the far corner, which C.C. could see was filled with dresses, ready and waiting on their hangars, "Everything in that room there has been reserved for your approval."

"Thank you very much," C.C. said as both she and Amelia crossed the dressing room in a few quick strides.

The small room was stacked with different kinds of dresses, and seeing as it would be far easier to choose a dress for Amelia first, C.C. encouraged her child to go into the room and go over the different dresses.

The little girl nodded and closed the door behind her. C.C. could soon hear the sound of fabric rustling and of zippers being lowered.

"Which one should I get, Mommy? There are too many!" Amelia cried out. "Granny chose, like, seven dresses!"

C.C. stifled a laugh. Her mother had a tendency to go overboard, but the fact her mother's excitement was caused by her impending wedding instead of by her own selfish motivations was somewhat... endearing… to the former producer. "Just choose the three dresses you like the most and try them on! We'll pick out the prettiest."

"Okay, Mommy," came Amelia's reply.

Moments later, Amelia emerged from the changing room wearing a crème-coloured dress with an empire waistline. It was made of satin and reached her knee caps. The off-shoulder neckline was embroidered with pearls and so was the lace at the bottom end of the dress.

It wasn't ugly, by any means, but it wasn't quite... right, either. It was pretty, but it didn't enchant her.

And it didn't enchant Amelia, either. At least that's what she suspected judging by the way she grimaced when she looked at herself in the mirror.

"You don't like it?" C.C. asked.

"Not really..." Amelia replied. "I mean, I don't like when I have it on."

"I don't like it either," C.C. agreed. "Try the other ones!"

And so Amelia went back inside the changing room, and after a few minutes she came back out again. The dress was similar to the first one, only it was baby-pink and it reached her ankles. It also had a bateau neckline, and it didn't really suit Amelia.

Having discarded the second option, Amelia went back into the changing room.

C.C. waited, eventually hearing the rustling of more fabric. It felt like this might take a while, and she hoped that Amelia had found a dress that she really liked. She didn't think B.B. would be upset if she didn't like any of the choices, but C.C. was concerned that getting more appointments in different places might be difficult, even with the family name, and the closer they left it to the wedding date, the less time they had...

Eventually the door opened again.

C.C. looked up, having been staring at the carpet, and what she saw, in her mind, was perfect.

The burgundy dress came below Amelia's knees, ending about mid-way down her calf, and as C.C. stood up to take a closer look, she realised the bodice had a lace covering that extended into three-quarter-length sleeves, in a delicate floral pattern. It was tied at the waist with a ribbon the same colour as the dress.

"How does it look, Mommy?" Mia asked, spinning to show her the bow on the back of the dress. "I think it's really pretty!"

"It's beautiful!" C.C. exclaimed, clasping her hands together and jolting to her feet. She walked around Amelia, just taking in every detail of both her beautiful daughter and the beautiful dress. She crouched down and hugged her baby girl.

She had grown an awful lot these past two years and now she reached her hips. Time was flying past, and sometimes she wished she could stop it.

"You are beautiful," C.C. said and she gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Mommy!" Amelia hugged her back. "I think I found my dress."

"I think so, too," C.C. said and she got back to her feet. "I think it's time that I try and find my own, don't you think?"

Amelia nodded enthusiastically.

"Very well. Put your clothes back on so I can go into the changing room myself," C.C. said and Amelia obeyed.

A few minutes later, C.C. was perusing the different dresses that her mother had selected for her. She had to admit they were all tasteful, beautiful and elegant; they all counted with a Basque waistline, although the necklines were different.

However, unlike what had happened with Amelia, when C.C.'s eyes rested on the fifth dress her mother had chosen, she simply knew it was the one.

That had to be her dress.

Porcelain white, with an open back and the bateau neckline sweeping up and over to join underneath the ribbon belt at the back, and a long but not overly extended train...

She knew. The second she saw, she knew.

She slipped it on, leaving her clothes neatly folded on the chair they provided in the room, and opened the door a crack.

"Okay, Mia, I'm coming out," she called.

She wanted her daughter to see her as she came in. Amelia's approval was everything, and even though she knew in her heart that she wanted this dress, she felt that her little girl could probably change her mind with just one awkward look.

Taking in another breath to calm herself, she opened the door fully, and stepped into the other room.

Mia's face broke into the widest smile as she took in her mother's form.

"You look amazing, Mommy!" she leapt off the seat and rushed over to examine every detail. "Like a real princess!"

"Oh, thank you, sweetie!" C.C. looked down at herself, the dress feeling just as right on her as it had looked when it was with the others. "Do you think this should be the dress I get married in?"

"Yes! I love the dress!" Amelia said, running her hand over the train. It was soft... so very soft. And very, very beautiful, too.

"So are we sure these are the ones we are taking?" C.C. gestured between her dress and Amelia's, which she had left neatly folded on one of the many seats in the dressing room.

The girl nodded, wandering over to where her dress was and taking it in her arms. She wanted to put it back on already, but she knew her Mommy had explained that she couldn't let Niles see her or her Mommy's dress before the ceremony.

"Okay," C.C. walked back into the changing room and closed the door behind her. "I'll just take this off and we'll get going."

After C.C. had changed back into her day clothes, she called for the assistant and handed her the two dresses so they could be folded and packed.

Mother and daughter then made their way back to the front desk so C.C. could pay for the two dresses.

That was, until the sales assistant mentioned that they had already been paid for.

"What do you mean?" C.C. asked. "Who paid for them?"

"According to our records, Mrs Barbara Beatrice Babcock paid for them in advance."

"Oh..." C.C. said softly, touched by her mother's gesture. Knowing B.B., this was one of the clearest signs that she completely accepted her marriage to Niles.

Well... as the saying goes, never look a gift horse in the mouth!

"Then I suppose everything is settled," C.C. said as she was given the bags containing her and Amelia's dresses.

Mother and daughter then said their goodbyes to the staff and left the store, back to their Butler Boy and to their happy home.

AN: Hey there! We wanted to give you two chapters in a row because H is finally going back home to the UK after spending a year abroad in California, so it might be a bit difficult to upload in the next few days. We'll try to upload a few more chapters before she travels, though.

As always, we hope you've liked ther chapter and we'd love your reviews!

H&L