Gentle Reader,
Couple quick notes, sorry for the length of the author's note.
Thank you for the well wishes for my recovery-it's going quite well, and I just missed needing surgery. Woo!
To the commenter who asked about the purpose of the tense shifts-I'm my own editor, and tense shifts are truly my Achilles' Heel (I'm also not the best speller, but I'm good at commas and apostrophies).
I also wanted to tell you that the research for this chapter has really messed with my internet ads, which is extra fun.
For any of you that like classic books and podcasts, I have a podcast called Crooked Classics where I discuss literature with friends; not telling you which one I am, but we're doing Pride and Prejudice in a few episodes! We're on Spotify and YouTube, also Twitter . That's the end of my shameless plug.
Last, I'm hoping to finish this story over the next few months, only four chapters to go! Please peer pressure me into actually doing this.
Thanks for sticking with me. Love,
RobinDesBois
A Bottle of White
Darcy tried not to bounce as he waited anxiously at the end of the aisle, the scent of candles and roses filling the air around him. He felt Gigi grasp his hand and squeeze gently, and he squeezed back like he had a thousand other times. There was a sudden change in the music, the sound of all the guests standing to watch the bride come down the aisle. As soon as the doors opened to reveal Lizzie in a silky sheath dress. She smiled as she met his eyes, and as she walked through the door the light refracted on the skirt of her glittering ballgown. She began to walk towards him, the flowers brushing softly against the lace of her mermaid dress as her father patted the hand she rested on her elbow. Finally, they reached him at the front, and her father shook his hand and kissed his daughter on the cheek. She passed her bouquet to Jane and lifted the skirts of her gauzy a-line gown before reaching for his hand to pull her up the last step to him….
The blare of the alarm pulled Darcy back into reality, but since reality involved the woman of his literal dreams sleeping on his chest in his old t-shirt, he found little to complain about. He turned off the alarm and gently stroked Lizzie's arm until she opened her eyes.
"Morning," she slurred, nuzzling her face into his chest.
"Morning, sweetheart. I had a dream about our wedding," he whispered against her hair.
"Did it involve me wearing pajamas because I couldn't be bothered to get up and go to my dress shopping appointment? Because I think you might be onto something."
"Au contriare, my solemnent fiancee, it involved you in every wedding dress my imagination could conjure," William whispered while pressing kisses to her neck. He pulled her legs up over his hips and felt her automatically lock her ankles around him. "I can't wait to make you my wife, Lizzie Bennet." Lizzie, finally fully awake, pulled him into a forceful kiss…when the phone rang. Her mother was almost there.
Lizzie took a deep breath as they walked into the dress shop and her mother made a beeline for the ball gowns. Jane gently took her hand and guided her towards the reception desk, while Lydia rolled her eyes and followed their mother and attempted to redirect her. Gigi and Charlotte began examining a rack of satin dresses.
"Hello, I'm Gloria, are you here for a dress appointment?"
"Yes, my name is Lizzie Bennett."
"Happy to meet you! Let's head on in," Gloria motioned Lizzie and Jane to follow her, and the rest of the woman (Lydia only had to pull Mrs. Bennett a little bit) followed her into a back room with a dressing booth and a plush couch.
"Alright, ladies, let's get started!" Gloria pulled out a bottle of Ayala Brut Majeur and some glasses. "First, Miss Bennett, could you tell me who we've brought with us today?"
"Please, call me Lizzie. This is my mother, my sister and maid of honor, my sister and bridesmaid, my best friend and bridesmaid, and my soon-to-be sister-in-law and my fiance's best woman," Lizzie explained, pointing to Mrs. Bennett, Jane, Lydia, Charlotte, and Gigi in turn as Gloria handed out the champagne flutes.
"Well, it's wonderful to meet all of you. Do we have any idea what we're looking for today?"
Lizzie opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Bennett interjected with, "Oh, I would just love to see my baby girl in a ballgown. She would look so lovely in it, with a lot of sparkle and some lace!"
"I was thinking of something a little simpler. I want to be able to move around comfortably."Lizzie managed to say without rolling her eyes at her mother. Jane squeezed her hand empathetically.
"Ok, so how about to start, we have each of you pick a dress you want Lizzie to try on, and we can see what we do and don't want to keep looking for." The group dispersed, Mrs. Bennett predictably going back to the rack of ballgowns.
"So, where is the wedding taking place?" Gloria inquired.
"The Julia Morgan Ballroom," Lizzie replied.
"Wow, that's quite a venue. When is it taking place?"
"October 3rd, I can hardly wait the next eight months."
"Oh, they'll fly by, don't worry. When my wife and I got married, I swear it was only five minutes between when she proposed to me and when I was saying my vows."
"Oh, Lizzie, honey," Mrs. Bennet returned. "I've found the most darlin' thing. I know you said you wanted something simpler, but isn't this just lovely?" She pulled in a large ball gown so covered with glitter that Lizzie had to blink a few times. The bodice had a sunburst pattern of large, metallic crystals; the waist line had even larger crystals forming a V down to a skirt covered in lace with even more crystals and glitter sprinkled across it.
"And look how beautiful!" she exclaimed, turning to show the back. A corset and a circle of lace applique stitched to the back under a long, sheer cape.
"It's certainly an option, Mom. Why don't you give it to Gloria to put in the dressing room?" Lizzie said, unable to take her eyes off the bodice. Gloria silently moved the dress to the back while Jane and Charlotte returned, each with their own selections, which were passed to the back. They sipped on champagne and started discussing bridesmaid dress ideas while waiting for Gigi and Lydia, who returned a few minutes later with a suspicious amount of giggling.
"Oh, God, what did you two do?" Lizzie asked.
"Nothing, we did nothing," Lyda smiled, handing a garment bag to Gloria.
"We did nothing in that I was not involved," Gigi clarified, handing off her own bag.
"How comforting." Lizzie side-eyed her sister.
"Lizzie, are you ready to try on some dresses?" Gloria asked, opening the dressing room door.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Can we please start with Mom's pick? I want to get that one done and out of the way."
"I could tell that wasn't your style the second you walked in, but Mom always has to have her moment. The trick to these ballgowns is that you have to have someone essentially build it around you, so if you sort of crouch here, I can toss the skirt over your head, then I'm going to have you crawl up through the bust, ok?"
"Sounds simple enough." Lizzie crouched in the center of the dressing room and watched the layers upon layers of lace and tulle fall around her as Gloria encompassed her in the dress. Lizzie found the top of the skirt and pulled herself up through the bodice. Gloria began lacing up the corset back as Lizzie tried to find a way to hold her arms that wouldn't dig the large rhinestones into her arms.
"Now, I know this probably isn't the one for you, but I do want to let you know the cape comes off . Shall we go show them?"
"Sure, this might as well happen," Lizzie answered with resignation.
Gloria opened the door and Lizzie squeezed out into the waiting area with as much grace as she could while trying not to let the strapless gown fall and not let her skirts get stuck in the doorframe.
"Oh, my little baby is all grown up and lookin' as lovely as a magnolia in May. Jane, honey, don't you think that nice young man that your sister's marryin' would love it?" Lizzie looked pleadingly at Jane, silently begging her to use her inherent diplomacy skills to get her out of the dress as quickly as possible.
"I think it's a lovely dress, Mom, but I'm not sure it's really Lizzie. Charlotte?"
"Wait, Lizzie," Charlotte pulled out her phone and flipped on the flashlight. "Go on, give us a spin!" The girls couldn't resist laughing as Lizzie clumsily turned and they watched the reflections of the crystals bounce along the walls.
"I think Jane's right, Mom, this is not really for me," Lizzie said. "It's…nice, but I don't think I can walk in this for an entire day. It's so heavy, and the crystals are digging into my sides, and it's so close to falling down." Lizzie looked down and noticed a tag hanging out of the waistband. "Also, it's $20,000, and–with all due respect, Gloria–I would never spend that on a single article of clothing."
"I think that's reasonable, especially if you don't think it's the one for you. Let's try on the next one."
"Wait, Char, take a picture, I want to be able to look at them all later."
Five minutes later, Gloria helped Lizzie crawl back out of the ballgown, and laughed a little at the dramatic sigh of relief Lizzie emitted as she was finally free of the weight of the dress.
"Alright, this is your friend's choice." Gloria unbagged a solid satin mermaid style dress with a cowl neck and spaghetti straps.
"Oh, God bless Charlotte, she knows me so well," Lizzie sighed in relief as she stepped into the soft, light gown and Gloria began to button it up.
Lizzie stepped out of the dressing room and turned in front of everyone (much more efficiently, this time) before looking at herself in the mirror.
"I like this one a lot better," she said, angling to see the back, "I really like how it shows my figure off, but it doesn't feel entirely…bridal, you know? It looks like me, but on, like, a really nice date, not me getting married. Maybe if we added a belt?"
"We could add a belt, but with the buttons down the back, it's not going to sit right on you, so I would not recommend it. What feels right and what feels wrong to you?"
"I love how it flatters my figure without being inappropriate for a family event, and I love the buttons down the back. I also really like how light it is, but the cut does make it harder to move my knees. I also think maybe I want thicker shoulder straps, and something that looks just more…bridal. Don't get me wrong, Char, I look amazing."
"No, I know what you mean. I just really wanted to see you in it," Charlotte smiled and took the next photo.
"Well aren't you the most darlin' girl, Charlotte," Mrs. Bennett interjected. " I agree with Lizzie, it's just not enough. It needs more sparkle!"
"I'm not sure it needs that, Mom. Maybe we should try on Gigi's next." Gigi clapped her hands in excitement.
Gloria got Lizzie out of the soft silk and sipped her into an off-white light, breezy chiffon dress with small fabric flowers stitched to the bodice and trailing out down the skirt.
"Ok, this one definitely feels more bridal," Lizzie announced as she stepped out of the dressing room. "I feel like I'm actually getting married in this one."
"Don't spare my feelings, we need a pro-con list!" Gigi announced.
"I actually really like this lace, and I like that it flows so I can actually walk, but I still don't like the spaghetti straps. I also think," Lizzie gestured to the gaps between the flowers on the bodice, "that it's a little weird to wear something see through in front of my closest family and friends." Gigi nodded, Charlotte took another picture.
"Mine next!"Lydia squealed.
"I feel I should be more anxious than I am about yours, Lydia."
"I feel you should have more fun." Lydia stuck out her tongue, and Lizzie blew a raspberry over her shoulder while returning to the dressing room.
"So…this is the one your sister picked out. You just said you didn't like transparent, do you still want to put this on?" Lizzie sighed and took in the sheer body con wedding dress her sister had dug up.
"You know what? She'll never let it go if we don't. But could you maybe get my mother to look at veils? It's just a zipper, I think I can do it."
"Smart choice. Call one of your bridesmaids if you get stuck, I'll give you about five minutes."
"Thank you." Lizzie slid the barely-there lace over her head and zipped up the back. She was forced to admit that William would absolutely love this dress, but would be exactly as uncomfortable as she would be in front of their families. She took a deep breath before reopening the door and showing the girls, all of whom immediately started catcalling her.
"Lydia Josephine Bennett, I'm going to kill you," Lizzie announced.
"Wait until after William sees the photo of you in this one, she may have done you a favor," Charlotte laughed, taking the requisite picture.
"William's sister is right here, in case anyone has forgotten," Gigi reminded them.
"Jane, will you help me out of this thing? Mom's going to be back any second."
"Of course, let's get you out of that." Jane unzipped the dress, hung it back up, and put it back in it's bag on the rack with the trained efficiency of a New York fashion designer and slipped out of the room as Gloria slipped back in.
"Ok, so the only one left is the one your maid of honor picked out." Gloria slipped a sheath gown with a tulle skirt over Lizzie's head, and buttoned it up as Lizzie admired the soft lace of the bodice.
"This one has thicker straps, so we're seeing a real departure from the spaghetti straps and strapless. It's a bit more traditional without being old fashioned or overboard. Are you ready to see?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," Lizzie stepped out of the dressing room, and there was an audible gasp from the group. Lizzie didn't notice, she was too busy staring at her reflection in the mirror.
"Oh, my God," she whispered. The skirt was a simple, unadorned, flowing chiffon that swished around her legs when she walked. The bodice was covered with simple lace, topped with a scalloped edge in a v shaped neckline. The back had small white buttons and a V back and a continuation of the scalloped edging. "Oh, my God, I'm getting married."
"Is there anything you don't like about it?" Jane asked.
"Nothing at all," Lizzie said without looking away from her reflection.
"Lizzie, it fits like a dream," Charlotte added.
"Gigi, are you crying?" Lydia asked.
"No," Gigi sniffled.
"Hey, I'm her only sister, she's allowed to cry!" Lizzie finally looked away from the mirror to smile at Gigi over her shoulder. Gigi wiped her eyes and smiled back.
"Joke's on you, Gigi, you don't get one sister. We're a buy one, get two free deal. You're getting three." Lizzie watched Lydia hug Gigi and turned to her mother.
"Mom, what do you think?"
"Lizzie, darlin', you look so beautiful, but there's no sparkle to this one," said Mrs. Bennett.
"What if we 'jack her up' with some accessories and a veil?" Gloria asked.
"Yes, please!" replied Lizzie. She turned back to the mirror and started swishing in front of the mirror while Gloria asked Jane to help her select some accessories. They returned in a few minutes with a pair of heels, a silver hair clip studded with pearls, a veil, and necklace.
"Lizzie, close your eyes," Jane said. Lizzie felt the comb, then the clip slide into her hair. She balanced on someone's hand–she thought it was Charlotte–and Jane slipped the heels onto her feet. She felt the familiar touch of her mother clasping the necklace around her throat.
"Ok, Lizzie," Jane said. Lizzie opened her eyes and gasped again. She looked ready for her wedding. She looked ready to marry William.
"Lizzie, baby, you were right, this is the dress," her mother said, dabbing at her teary eyes.