Breakfast the next day was also awkward. Sam met my eyes when we walked into the room, but Zed's frown made him look away quickly. Sitting on another table would have been a safe option, but Rowan waved us over so we headed to the 'Hollister Table' out of politeness.

'So Sky, who's this?' Rowan purred, eyeing up Zed.

He smiled. 'I'm Zed, Sky's fiance.'

'Fiance?! Oooh!' She flicked her long hair off of her shoulders. 'When's the big day?'

'We haven't arranged a date yet.' I replied with a smile.

'But we are getting married sometime this year.' Zed added.

'Oooh how exciting!' Rowan grinned, twirling her spoon around in her coffee.

'Very.' Sam said, and I wasn't sure if I meant it or not. I frowned. He was supposed to be my friend, what the hell was his problem?

'It's so romantic you turned up to surprise Sky last night.' Rowan drawled, ending her sentence with a deep sigh. 'I wish I had that. No offence, Sam, last night was incredible.'

My eyebrows shot up in the air and I looked over at Sam, who had an unusual smirk on his face. Gross. I didn't want to know what they had been up to last night. Zed passed me the sugar and I added a teaspoon of sugar to my cup of tea.

'What time is the car coming for us?' Sam asked, directing the question at Rowan.

'Twelve I think.'

'I've booked us a taxi.' Zed told Sky. 'And I managed to get on your flight, I just don't know if we'll be sat together.'

'That's okay.' I smiled. 'The flight isn't too long.'

'I did think that if we checked in together, we might be able to sort something out.'

'Okay.' I replied with a nodd.

He squeezed my hand. 'Everything okay?'

'Yeah, this weekend just hasn't been quite how I imagined it.'

'I'm sure the photos look great, I can't wait to see them.'

I didn't want him to see them, although I pushed the thought out of my mind before he could see it.

I was so pleased to see Phoenix when she arrived on January 10th. I met her at the airport, after my afternoon lecture, and embraced her in the best hug I could do when she was eight months pregnant. Her luggage only just fit into my car and I wished Zed was home to help me carry it up to the apartment. I'd set up our sofa bed for Phee, as she had turned down the offer of our real bed. We sat cross-legged on the guest duvet, in front of the burning fire, as she showed me the latest baby scan.

'Do you know what it is?'

She grinned up at me, answering my question. 'It's a girl!'

'A girl? Yves will be outnumbered!'

'I know.' She smiled, her eyes watering. 'But we're so happy, Sky. Things are so perfect.'

I squeezed her hand and smiled. 'I am so happy for you both.'

'And I'm happy for you. When's the wedding?!'

I laughed at her enthusiasm. 'No idea.'

'You've not even thought about it? I thought you were getting married this year.'

'We are.'

'Then you'd better get started!' She started rummaging about in her bag. 'These things don't come together easily.'

'Yours did.' I reminded her. 'I just want it simple.'

'Simple, maybe, but looking back I would have loved to have spent more time thinking about it. I wasn't much of a girly girl back then, but being pregnant makes me think of flowers and cake testing and colour schemes!' She pulled out a few bridal magazines and a blank wedding planner. 'No better time to get started than the present.'

Three hours later and we were eating cookie dough ice cream, ripping out potential wedding decor. A pastel theme was looking like a winner, and I was finding plenty of items to match the lilac and baby blue colour-scheme; a pastel wedding cake with a cream layer and lilac layer, decorated with edible pearls and light blue flowers, pastel-coloured macarons, bridesmaid dresses in every pastel colour imaginable, cream and pink rose bouquets, bunting, bird cages and cute signs about love. These were all being glued into relevant sections in my wedding planner when Zed walked through the girls.

'Hey ladies, I brought ice-cream!' He looked up from his grocery bag and frowned as he saw Phee licking her spoon. 'Huh, guess I'm too late.'

'How was work?' I asked with a smile.

'Oh, you know, same old.' He placed down the groceries and walked over to the sofa bed we were perched on. 'Looks like you're hard at work too.'

I blushed crimson and he planted a kiss on my forehead.

'She needed to get started if you're ever going to get married this year!' Phee laughed, placing her spoon bag in the ice cream tub.

'Weddings aren't that tough, are they?' He shook his head in disbelief, squinting to look at the page of cake designs I had open in my planner.

'Ha!' I laughed. 'This is just inspiration and it's taken three hours.'

'Be careful what you say, Benedict, or you'll be left to go on Don't Tell the Bride.' Phee grinned wickedly, rubbing her belly. She winced.

'Everything okay?' I asked, widening my eyes.

'She's just kicking away.'

'She?' Zed's eyes brightened. 'I'm going to have a niece?!'

'Yes you are!' She smiled.

'Excellent news.' He awkwardly embraced Phoenix, before picking up the grocery bag and retreating to the kitchen.

'I wonder if you'll have any girls.' She said, dreamily.

'Before that we have to survive our wedding day!' I laughed. And it didn't look like that was going to be particularly easy.

Being back at college was a shock to the system, especially when the first assignment came along. Dana had given up on calling me, which was something I was pleased about; I wanted nothing to do with the sorority that had caused Zed and I so much hurt. When I wasn't at college, Phee and I hung out at the apartment, resting her swollen ankles and discussing wedding ideas. The day before she was set to fly home, I woke to find Phee and Jenni sat in the living room of my apartment. Zed had gone off to work, as we weren't due in college, so I was left with two friends grinning at me like cheshire cats.

'What's going on?' I asked, eyeballing them both with confusion.

'We're taking you wedding dress shopping!'

Never had I imagined just how challenging wedding dress shopping was, especially when the prices of most dresses made me want to cry. I knew my modelling pay would soon make its way to my bank account, but until then, my minimum wage working as a Sales Assistant was enough to make me die inside.

The second wedding dress shop was more affordable and left me with enough hope to try on a few dresses.

'What are you looking for?' The friendly brunette manager asked with a smile as Phee arranged herself on a plush, red velvet sofa, spreading out her swollen ankles in front of her. Jenni giggled as she slipped off her feet.

'I'm not really sure.' I replied, honestly.

'That's okay.' She smiled. 'I'm Leanne. When you find some to try on, just let me know. In the meantime, I'll get you ladies some champagne and orange juice.'

As she disappeared to the back of the store, Phee let out a groan. 'I want a glass of champagne.'

'In a month and a half.' I told her. 'At least you'll be able to get pissed on my hen night!'

'Hen night?' Jenni frowned.

'Bachelorette party. We call them hen nights in England.' Phee explained.

I walked over to a rack of dresses, feeling the chiffon, lace and tulle fabrics. Each dress was unique and beautiful in its own way. I'd seen lots of wedding dresses in the magazine, but I had no idea which shape I wanted. I chose three different dresses to try on, each completely different from each other, and then I headed behind the red velvet curtains into the dressing room.

The first dress I tried on made me feel like a princess, like I had just stepped out of a fairytale. The dress was off-white, strapless and had a sweetheart neckline. The bodice was covered with delicate lace, down to a diamante detail around the waist. After the waist, the dress fell out in an A-line tulle skirt. The dress tied at the back with ribbons, which Leanne helped me to tie. I stepped out of the dressing room and Phee started to cry, whilst Jenni clapped her hands together in delight.

'Such a beautiful dress!' Jenni grinned.

'You look like a princess.' Phee sniffed from beside her.

I stood on the podium and looked at the dress in all of the mirror angles. It was really beautiful. It stopped me looking too small and I could imagine myself spinning around the dancefloor in Zed's arms as we had our first dance. I looked out of the window and noticed the silhouette of a man stood under a tree in the park across the road. As I looked at him, he walked off and my stomach lurched. Creepy.

'Time for the next one!' Jenni beamed, interrupting my thoughts. I shrugged it off and returned to the dressing room.

Dress two was another A-line dress. It had a lace bodice with lace detail straps and scooped down to my lower back. On the front, there was diamante detailing around the waist, which merged into a small silver bow on the back. The chiffon skirt fell in an A-line shape, except this had less volume than the princess dress, and fell loosely. It was a dream dress for any lover of vintage. I stepped out of the dressing room and onto the podium.

'Very classy.' Phee sniffed, her eyes watering over again.

'The back is very sexy and sophisticated.' Jenni added, sipping on her champagne.

The final dress was a mermaid fit. The whole dress was covered in lace from the strapless sweetheart neckline to the lace-covered train. The dress was figure-hugging to the top of the thighs and then it fell out gently. There was no sparkle on the dress, but I didn't mind. It was sexy, sophisticated and beautiful. I walked through the curtains onto the podium.

'That's the dress!' Phee cried out.

'Would you like to try on a veil?' Leanne asked.

I nodded, admiring the beautiful dress in the mirrors. Jenni sat crying now, her champagne glass empty beside her. Leanne appeared with a simple white veil and she clipped it into the back of my hair. Suddenly it all sunk in; I was going to get married this year. The girl with the bright blue bambi eyes staring back at me was going to be wearing a white wedding dress and saying 'I do' to her soulfinder.

'Oh my god!'

My eyes snapped to Phee's attention as clear liquid fell onto the floor. No, her waters couldn't be breaking. She had another month to go.

'We need to call an ambulance!' Jenni cried out, grabbing her mobile.

'Here, use the phone.' Leanne handed the bridal shop phone to her, worry etched on her face.

'Can you get me out of this dress?' I asked her. 'We need to get to the hospital.'

The ambulance came quickly and Phee's contractions already seemed to be getting closer together. I thanked Leanne for her kindness and jumped into the back of the ambulance. Jenni promised to drop by the apartment, get Zed and pick up Phee's hospital bag, which she had brought with her just incase.

'We have to get hold of Yves!' Phee cried out as another contraction took over. 'Oh my god, why is she coming already?!'

I took Phee's in mine and squeezed it with reassurance.

I'm on the way. Zed's voice said in my mind. Yves isn't picking up but I've called mom and we'll keep on trying.

Thank you.

Phee looked at me, her eyes filled with worry. 'Any luck?'

'Not yet.' I replied, honestly.

'It's all going to be okay.' The paramedic said with a smile. 'We're nearly at the hospital and we'll take you right to the delivery suite.'

'THE DELIVERY SUITE?!' She squeezed my hand a little too tightly and I winced. 'BUT MY HUSBAND ISN'T HERE! HE NEEDS TO BE HERE!'

'I'm sorry Phoenix, but that may not be possible. Your baby wants to come now.' The paramedic smiled, sympathetically.

'I can hold her in, can't I? I don't have to push?' She screwed up her face and winced, holding her stomach. She wasn't going to be able to hold it. Her baby girl wanted to come out, whether she liked it or not.

We were met with a wheelchair and quickly whisked away to the nearest delivery suite.

'Are you the partner?' A midwife asked me as I rushed along after Phee.

'No, no, she's my best friend. We can't get hold of her partner.'

'Are you going to be with her for the birth?'

'YES!' Phee cried out before I could answer. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I wasn't sure I wanted to see a baby being brought into the world.

'Good, because we don't have long.' The midwife explained. 'Because the baby is premature, there might be some complications.'

My eyes softened and I looked over to Phee, who was being put onto a bed. 'What complications?'

'From Phoenix's notes I can see the baby was still quite small at the last scan. This may mean she has not finished developing physically and this may cause some complications. We have an incubator standing by in intensive care should we need it, but we are hoping for the best. We are going to have to ask you to put on some scrubs and gloves I'm afraid.'

I followed the midwife's instructions and before I knew what was happening, Phee was pushing. She was hot and sweaty and I knew she was in pain, but I tried to focus on her face and encouraging her, instead of the gory parts. She squeezed my hand until it was numb and possibly broken.

'We have a head.' A midwife called out. 'Keep pushing, Phoenix.'

'I can't.' She cried out, looking exhausted.

'You're nearly there, Phee. Come on, you can do it.' I smiled, encouragingly, whilst praying everything was going to be okay.

'Just one more push Phoenix.' The midlife instructed. 'You're nearly there.'

Phee cried out and groaned as she pushed as hard as she could. I chose that moment to look over and I saw the baby as the cord was cut and she was wrapped in a towel. But she wasn't crying. Phee registered this too, meeting my eyes and then looking in the direction of her baby.

'Why isn't she crying?!'