Page 123 of The Bad Girl
Epilogue
Nadine
Five months later…
Allison adjusts my veil, trying not to let tears spill from her eyes.
I pull her into a hug, her giant bump against the ever-expanding curve of my own.
“You look so beautiful!” she gasps, fanning her face.
“Thanks!” I smile, turning back to the mirror to glimpse myself one last time before I walk down the aisle to Maxwell—the good boy of my dreams!
The dress hides the bump well, though when I smooth out the fabric, it becomes rather obvious.
“I need to get a couple of shots of you!” Allison pulls out her camera. “They’ll be worth a lot when I’m a single mom and struggling to make ends meet.”
I grin, posing exactly how she instructs. While it’s true Allison will be a single mom, which is her choice, she has plenty of work lined up and now shoots for some of the world’s most prestigious fashion magazines, thanks to Maizey who was integral in the rebranding of Allison’s shoot and interview.
The piece went from modern-day marriages to choosing to be a single mom, and it was a hit. She was featured holding a camera alongside Maxwell on the cover, beaming in a sexy dress that accentuated her baby bump.
“It’s not fair that you’re measuring so much smaller than me. When I was five months, I was as big as a house.”
“That’s a lie! And it wouldn’t have been so bad if you just didn’t try to hide it.”
“It’s time!” Jenna calls from behind.
Jenna and Stacey had been acting as my wedding planners, but Stacey, in true Stacey fashion, got herself arrested this morning. It’s only been the fifth time this has happened since I’ve met her.
I look in the mirror one last time at single and safe Ms. Winters. I’m terrified, but I’m also the over-the-moon type of happy that you only read about in storybooks.
“Let’s do this,” I say without a doubt in my mind.
When it’s finally time to walk down the aisle, it’s Harry by my side.
He looks amazing in his suit, and in the last couple months, he’s made headlines for his business prowess. He’s fully stepped out of the shadow of his family’s legacy and is in the process of becoming his own man. And I’m thrilled that he’ll be my child’s god father.
He really is like family.
I look over at my father who looks on at me with pride and devotion. I still haven’t forgiven him for what he put my mother through—which was far more than she originally let on. He’s still my dad, but someone who treats their wife like that isn’t going to walk me down the aisle.
When I asked Prince Harry to step in, he graciously—and rather smugly—accepted, and my father was placed in the second pew and forbidden from bringing a date.
My mother, on the other hand, brought the owner of the expanding beanery ImPressed as her plus-one. He’s a handsome man that likes to travel, and my mother has had a wild three months.
Good for her.
Maxwell’s mother and sister declined their invites, but his pews are full of cousins and uncles, each of whom have welcomed me with open arms.
Lady Elaine is seated with a younger gentleman as her plus-one, which makes me grin so hard my cheeks hurt. She is a bad, bad girl, and God bless her for it!
I walk on shaky feet towards Maxwell, who looks dapper as hell in his suit.
Oh my GOD—I love this man!
When we went public, he insisted on complete transparency, driving his legal team to near insanity, but to their surprise, the public responded to us well, and there are already three made-for-tv movies eerily similar to our story in the works.
Of course, the Akinyi Adebayo situation had to be reconfigured, but it was so good for gossip that everyone came out on top, so no one got mad. They made it out to be that their coupling was really performance art in anticipation for a joint venture, and now there is a line of scents for him and her in the works that people are going mad over. The proceeds will be donated to a charity of her choice for her troubles.
