"What are you kids up to today?" Helen asked as they sat down for breakfast the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
"Us girls are heading to pick out our dresses for the wedding," Sarah informed the older woman, "Since I have both my bridesmaids and my flower girl all here, we should get that taken care of. If I give you the keys to my car, would you mind going with us and bringing Alexandra back after she tries on her dress? I'm afraid she might get bored waiting on us to figure out what Ellie and Carina will be wearing."
"No problem at all," Helen assured her before turning to her son, "What will you be doing while the ladies are out?"
"Probably catch whatever football game's on," John grunted with a shrug.
"I'll probably join him or bounce between that and working on my Masters' thesis," Chuck added in.
Sarah looked up at the clock and turned to Ellie, "We should be going soon if we're going to make our appointment, I'm going to go wake Carina up so we can get going."
"No need, baby sister," Carina sauntered in, heading straight to the coffee pot and pouring a cup, then headed over to the table, picking up a few slices of cantaloupe and slowly eating them before licking the juice from her fingers, "I'm ready to go."
Sarah rolled her eyes, "At least wash your hands so you don't get the interior of John's rental all sticky."
"You never know, Johnny might just like me getting all sticky in his rental," Carina waggled her eyebrows at the Marine, earning herself a growl from John and an eye roll from her sister.
"Can you not turn everything into an innuendo for once?" Sarah complained.
"Nope," Carina smirked, "It's just part of my charm."
Luckily, Ellie had stepped away to get Alexandra washed up and ready to go when Sarah had mentioned their immanent departure and had missed most of Carina's antics. "Are we good to go?"
"As soon as Carina washes her hands," Sarah gave her sister a sharp look, which earned her a huff as Carina walked over to the kitchen sink and washed her hands.
"Happy?" Carina asked facetiously while drying her hands.
"Ecstatic," Sarah deadpanned handing her keys to Hellen as Ellie claimed the rental's keys from John so the ladies could make their way to the boutique.
The women threw around ideas for dress styles for the bridesmaids and flower girl as they made their way into San Francisco, where the dress shop was located. Ellie quickly maneuvered the vehicle into the small parking lot behind the boutique and the ladies got out.
"Alright, remember what we talked about?" Ellie asked Alexandra as she unbuckled the harness on the girl's car seat.
"Yep, I gotta stay with you, Nanna, or Miss Sarah, and hold your hand when we are walking so, I don't get lost," Alexandra repeated the instructions both Ellie and her daddy and told her while they got ready for their trip.
"That's right, Doodlebug," Ellie kissed her cheek and pulled her out of the SUV, setting her on the ground while she and Helen worked on transferring the girl's car seat between the two vehicles. Once that was done, Ellie locked and armed the vehicle. Soon enough, she had the girl's hand in her own and they were joined by Sarah and Carina walking into the bridal boutique.
"Welcome to Bella Bridal, do you have an appointment?" A perky blonde greeted them when they entered.
"Yes, it's under Sarah Walker," Sarah informed her.
The blonde checked the binder in her hand and nodded, "Yes, I see you here; if you want to take a seat on the sofa over there," She nodded toward a plush white sofa, "Melany will be with you shortly."
Sarah nodded and the ladies took their seats, Ellie putting Alexandra on her lap, so the girl wasn't tempted to run around hiding among the racks of dresses. Before long a woman in her early 30's approached, she was not quite as tall as Sarah, Ellie, and Carina, wore a simple sheath dress with a simple pendant, and had brunette hair that had been swept up in a French twist.
"Good morning, ladies," She greeted them warmly, "My name is Melany, and may I ask with whom I'll be working?"
"My name is Sarah, I'm the bride," Sarah replied then nodded to the women and girl with her as she introduced them, "Carina is my older sister and maid of honor, Ellie is my fiancé's sister and is a bridesmaid, and Alexandra will be my flower girl. Helen here is Alexandra's grandma."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Melany smiled, "What are we looking for today?"
"I already chose my dress, so we're just here to find dresses for these three," Sarah nodded toward her entourage. Sarah then proceeded to describe the color scheme for the wedding and the styles the ladies had discussed that might work for both of her attendants and some ideas for Alexandra's dress as well. "We should probably start with the flower girl, so that she doesn't get too bored."
Melany nodded her understanding and, enlisting the help of a couple assistants, began to pull together some samples for the women and Alexandra to try on. While Melany and her team set about their tasks, Ellie began to casually peruse some of the dresses that were on display and hung on the nearby racks. Sarah noticed her eyes lingering on a few of the bridal gowns and made her way over.
"See anything you like?" She gave Ellie a small smile.
"Just looking," Ellie shrugged, "Things are going good with John, and we know we're 'it' for each other, but I don't think we're quite there yet. I mean, John hasn't really given me any indication that he's ready to take that next step, and I just found out I got into the pediatric neurology fellowship I was hoping to get into in San Diego…"
"Who says they're mutually exclusive?" Sarah challenged, "San Diego is not that far away, really, maybe an hour or so in traffic? And yeah, I know the fellowship will be time consuming, but it's only for a short time. Besides, John has his own life and a daughter to raise, and in the little time I've gotten to know him, I bet he'd be proud of you getting into the program."
"He is," Ellie smiled, recalling the night they'd spent 'celebrating' a couple weeks before when she'd shown him the acceptance letter. "He said we'd make it work, that I'm worth waiting for, fighting for."
"See?" Sarah grinned, "And who says you have to have a ring on your finger to try on a few dresses? At the very least, it can help you narrow down what styles you like best so that when John finally gets around to making things officially official with you, you'll have an idea about what to look for."
"I guess," Ellie shrugged, "But only if we have enough time after finding what we need for you wedding."
"Deal," Sarah nodded as one of Melany's assistants approached and informed them that they were ready for Alexandra to try on some dresses. The women all sat on the couch while Helen volunteered to help Alexandra in the changing room. A rack of small, mostly white, dresses was rolled over to the changing room and a few were removed from the rack and taken in for the girl to try.
Before long, they found an adorable dress for Alexandra. It was white with a tank top bodice and rounded neckline. There was a sash in a dark purple around the waist and a fabric flower of the same color attached to the sash. Around the hemline of the dress there were fabric flower petals sewn into the skirt in the same color. Melany notated the dress in her binder and informed Ellie and Carina that they would be next while Helen took Alexandra back into the dressing room to change back into the jeans and sweatshirt she'd been wearing on their outing.
Once Alexandra was dressed, she wanted to see Ellie and Carina try on their dresses. With a shrug, Helen settled the girl on her lap next to Sarah. After 15 minutes of trying on dresses, some which looked better on the hanger than on Ellie or Carina or both, Carina swanned out in a one shouldered light purple dress with a long skirt.
"Sarah, this one is it; I'm telling you!" She exclaimed, going over to the mirror and checking herself out using all the angles at her disposal. "It so sexy and check out this slit! You know me, I gotta show a little leg."
"Or a lot of leg," Sarah teased her back. "Let's see how Ellie looks before we go placing orders."
As if on cue, Ellie stepped out in a similar dress, but in a dark purple that matched the sash on Alexandra's dress "I have to agree, Sarah," She smiled, "I like this one the best."
"So, we're agreed?" Carina asked.
Sarah was evaluating the women when Alexandra chimed in. "Ellie, you look beautiful, like a princess!"
"Thank you, Sweetie," Ellie gave the girl a warm smile.
"I agree, you both look great," Sarah nodded, "Go get changed and we'll add your dresses to the order."
With a nod, the two women returned to their dressing rooms to get dressed in their normal clothes. Sarah turned to Helen with a smile, "This might take a bit, we were going to go to lunch at the wharf, if you and Alexandra want to go ahead and hold our table, we'll join you as soon as we can."
"We can do that." Helen agreed and, after getting the name of the restaurant and directions, called Alexandra over to her so that she could head out.
Once Alexandra and Helen had left, Sarah turned and impish smile on Ellie, "Where do you think you're going, Ellie? You still have more dresses to try on."
Ellie groaned at the younger woman, "I thought you were kidding."
"Nope," Sarah smirked, "Go try on some dresses."
With a huff, Ellie turned around and went back into the dressing room while Melany's team brought over a rack of bridal gowns. One of the assistants joined Ellie in the dressing room to help her into the gowns and make any adjustments that needed to be made to simulate any alterations that might need done to make the dresses fit her body.
Ellie came out in her first dress, it was a full ballgown with a sweetheart neckline and layers upon layers of crinoline. Sarah and Carina instantly grimaced at it, which matched the look on Ellie's face when she exited the dressing room.
"Yeah, this is not me at all," Ellie agreed and returned to the dressing room. She tried on a few more dresses, all of which were rejected for one reason or another. Melany had been listening to the critiques from the group and made a last-minute dash to the back room.
"Okay, just one more, this is one we aren't putting out just yet, but I think it would work for what you are looking for," She smiled, hanging the dress in the changing room and helping Ellie to strip out of the latest rejection and into the dress that she'd just brought out.
"Oh. My. GOD!" Sarah cried, "That's it, I don't care how much it costs, I'm buying you that dress. I'll keep it at my place until you have need of it, but seriously, Elle, that is your dress!"
"You think?" Ellie asked, turning back to the mirrors to give herself another look.
"I think the grin on your face says it all," Sarah laughed. "Get the dress, then when John is ready, you will be too."
Ellie rolled her eyes, "Okay, fine, but I'm paying you back."
"Nope, this will be our wedding gift to you," Sarah insisted.
"Fine," Ellie huffed, then went back into the changing room to get changed into her jeans and button-down shirt she'd borrowed from John that morning. She took note of the price take and made a mental note to give Sarah and her brother a check for the amount as a wedding gift.
"So, lunch?" Carina asked once everything had been purchased.
"Yes please," Sarah nodded, "Let's go."
They all piled into the SUV and headed toward the wharf to wrap up their girl's day out.
Sunday morning, after one last breakfast with Ellie's brother and soon to be sister-in-law, John loaded his family up in the SUV to head to the airport for their return flight home. Alexandra was still a little nervous about flying, but Ellie helped to keep her distracted and calm during their journey, and by early afternoon, they were touching down at the San Diego Airport. Not wanting to cook after their long weekend and the flight home, they stopped at a family-owned pizza place that Ellie had suggested in Oceanside for dinner before dropping Ellie off at her apartment.
"John, would you come inside a moment when we get to my condo?" His mother requested when he got back in the car after walking Ellie to her door and kissing her goodbye.
He took a quick glance at his daughter in the back seat and quickly judged that she wasn't overtired and after devouring two slices of pizza had a full tummy. John figured she'd be good for a short stop at Nanna's before heading home. He grunted his agreement as he pulled away from curb and headed back to the street.
Luckily there wasn't a lot of traffic at the condo complex that evening, so it wasn't hard to find a visitor's space available near Hellen's home. Helen led a skipping Alexandra up to the condo while John followed carrying her suitcase. She got Alexandra settled, watching a cartoon on the TV before indicating for her son to follow her into the bedroom.
"There's something I think you should have," Hellen stated simply, pulling open a drawer in her jewelry box.
John rolled his eyes, "I doubt you're going anywhere soon that requires you to start dividing up your earthly possessions."
"Johnny, please keep your comments to yourself for a moment," She chided him before handing him a small velvet box. "This was your grandmother's ring. She wanted me to give it to you when it was time for you to have it."
John arched an eyebrow and grunted but said nothing further.
"When you proposed to Kathleen, it took us all by surprise, otherwise we likely would have had this conversation back then," Hellen explained. "That being said; it's a wonderful thing finding the person you love enough to want to spend your life with. It's even rarer to find it twice in a lifetime." She smiled up at John, "I know you both think that you need to achieve certain goals before taking that next step. However, that is complete bull pucky, and you know it. I'm not saying do it tomorrow, but keep this with you for when the moment presents itself." She handed him the box and waited while he opened it, his eyes widening as they shot back to her.
"Mom... I... It's too soon." He stammered.
"Nonsense, you and Alexandra love Ellie, and she loves you," Hellen insisted, "You and I both know you are going to marry that girl someday, why waste time?"
"Daddy, who are you gonna marry? Is it Ellie?" The adults turned at the sound of the little girl's voice. Alexandra was leaning shyly against the door frame of her nanna's bedroom.
John looked dumbfounded at his daughter then shot a pleading look at his mother.
"Your call, John," Helen shrugged.
He thought about it a moment then crouched down to look Alex in the eyes. "Would you be okay with it if I did?" He asked gently.
"I love Ellie," Alex nodded, "Almost as much as I love Mommy. If you marry her, would she be my new mommy?"
"Yes," John admitted, "She'd love you like a mommy does. She'd help me raise you and take care of you, and she'd be the mommy to any brothers or sisters you might have."
He paused to let his daughter process what he'd said before continuing, "That doesn't mean we want you to forget your mom, Kathleen will always be your mom. Your mom loved you so much, and we don't want you to forget that. If I were to marry Ellie, she wouldn't replace your mom, she would be helping your mom and me to help you to be a wonderful little girl that grows up to be an amazing woman like your mom was and Ellie is."
"So, I'd have two mommies?" Alex asked after a moment.
"Yes, your mom in Heaven, and then Ellie would be your mom here." John nodded.
"Can I wear a princess dress at your wedding?" She asked eagerly.
John couldn't help but chuckle at the little girl, "Sure, Kid, whatever you want."
"Yay!" Alexandra cheered.
"But I have to ask her first," John told her, "Until then, we have to keep this a secret between you, me, and Nanna, okay?"
"Okay," Alex nodded then turned to her nanna, "Ellie's gonna be my new mommy!"
"I heard, Bug," Helen smiled down at her granddaughter.
"But shhhh, we gotsta keep it a secret until Daddy asks," Alex added in her version of a whisper, which really wasn't all that quiet, not that her grownups minded.