Page 60 of Breathtaking

“You’re going to be better. You’re going to be you.” She smiles and signals for the check. “Now let’s go find you a wedding dress.”

* * *

Everly Wilder is one of the premier wedding dress designers in the country, and luckily for me, she’s Grace’s twin sister. Maddox’s sister also happens to be one of her designers, which means Everly has promised she’ll do whatever it takes to get me in a dress fit for a princess in four weeks.

“Okay, these are the samples I pulled,” Caitlin announces as Everly circles me in the center of the room. She looks from me to the ballroom-style gowns Caitlin pulled but shakes her head.

“I think we should go with formfitting,” Everly announces, but I can tell Grace isn’t sure.

“What if she pops?” Grace asks. “She’s right around that twenty-week point. It’s going to happen any day now.”

“I looked like a cow by then,” Caitlin announces. “Lucky bitch.”

“Oh please. I’ve carried twins and triplets. Talk to me when you’ve basically had a hockey team skating on your bladder.”

“I want her to pop,” Everly announces, and I raise my hand up.

“Umm... could someone explainpoppingto me, please?”

All three women swing their heads my way, like I just asked the stupidest question in the world. Maybe I have.

“You know... popped.” Grace motions with her hand in front of her stomach. “Right now, you’re stomach is still flat, but soon, you’re going to look like you’ve got a beach ball hidden under your skin.”

“And it’s going to feel like you’re carrying the weight of a bowling ball,” Caitlin agrees.

“Oh...” I say quietly, feeling fairly dumb.

Maybe I should get a book. I should have known that, shouldn’t I?

My mom and I didn’t have the closest relationship. It was nothing like Grace and her mom or Caitlin and Amelia. But it was ours, and I feel like, in this moment, I can’t help but miss her more than usual.

“Listen,” Everly says as she walks over to a display on the far side of the room and pulls down a gorgeous, white, silk formfitting dress with long, lace bell sleeves. “The world is going to know you’re pregnant soon enough. Celebrate it. Don’t try to hide it. You’re beautiful. You have a stunning figure and tits and an ass I’d die to have again. Flaunt them. Drive Madman wild.”

Her last statement has me blushing furiously.

It’s easy to forget how close they all are with Maddox.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to grow up like that.

With a group of friends so close, you consider them family. But for as long as I’ve known Grace, that’s always how she’s looked at her friends.As family.Most of my family doesn’t even feel that safe to me. But these women... this group of people... they’ve always been that safe place to land... to fall around each other.

Everly holds the dress in front of me and points me to the dressing room. “Come on, Merida. Let’s try this one on.”

“Merida?” I cock a brow.

“You know... the Disney princess with the crazy red hair.”

“I never really watched Disney movies,” I admit, and the ladies gasp. “I mean, if you think about it, I was already living my own version. Mine just wasn’t supposed to have a happy ending.” I duck my head down and let my hair fall in front of my face, covering my bruise, and walk into the dressing room.

Five minutes later, Everly has me standing on a dais, pinned to within an inch of my life. “Oh, you are stunning.”

She turns me to face the mirror, and I fight the urge to cry.

It’s beautiful

“Oh God. You hate it.” She looks horrified.

“No.” I shake my head. “It’s beautiful. I just wish my mom were here. Or that my family could be here. It’s just the hormones. Ignore me, please... I’m so sorry,” I tell her as the tears fall.

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