Thrive

It took a couple more days for my mom to feel better and now, we’re set to go out dress shopping. I’m picking my mom and her friend up with Scarlett while Miranda and Luca are going to meet us at the bridal shop. When I pulled out front of my mom and Tyler’s house, I honked the horn and waited for her to come out. It was less than a minute when I saw her walk out as happy as I’ve ever seen her; it warmed my heart.

“Hey Mom.” I said as she got into the car.

“Hey honey.”

“You look really happy.”

“I'm over the moon. I never thought I’d get the opportunity to do this.”

"Well, you're going to enjoy this. I know I did. Anyway, where does this friend of yours live?"

She ended up living just five minutes from where my mom and Tyler live.

“Shirley, this is my daughter, Abigail and her daughter, Scarlett.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” she said.

“Pleasure to meet you, too. How old is she? She is absolutely adorable.”

“Only a month.”

I looked behind the cutie pie sitting behind my mom. Ten minutes later, we were at the same bridal shop I went to only a year ago.

We picked up the girls and my mom at the airport and sooner rather than later, we were at a bridal shop. I was in awe as I saw some of the dresses; I get to wear one of those...

“How may I help you?” the woman at the front desk.

“Hi. I have an appointment to try on wedding gowns.”

“Name?”

“Abigail Shaw.”

She looked at the computer and found my name quickly.

“Ms. Shaw, come with me.”

I toned down my smile and followed her. Less than ten minutes, I was trying on my first gown. It was gorgeous; there were so many sequins on the top part and the bottom part was long and flowed like the wind.

“What do you think?” I asked everybody while looking in the mirror.

“It’s gorgeous and fits you so well.” Miranda said.

“You look stunning, sweetie.” my mom said.

I got similar responses from Kendra and Brielle. It wasn’t the one since it had so much sparkle, but I really liked it. I tried on a couple more that were incredibly lacy with one of them showing a lot of cleavage. The fourth dress was incredibly simple, but it was so beautiful and made me smile. I walked out and everyone was in awe.

“So?”

“It’s you.” my mom said.

I really began to tear up.

“You look like a princess.”

I was speechless as I spun around like a ballerina.

“Wanna try on the veil?” the attendant asked.

I nodded.

“It’s the one.” I said smiling.

Everyone came over and hugged me. I couldn’t believe I found my wedding gown.

“I love this. I absolutely love this dress.” I said a moment later.

Part of me was hoping that Alex was gonna love me in this dress, but the other part already knew that he was going to and I couldn’t wait to see that look on his face when I walk down the aisle. That’s one thing I can’t stop thinking about; it’s always there.

“Hey. I know we can’t post a picture of you in your dress today, but how about after you change, we all take a selfie?” Kendra asked.

My mouth dropped open.

“I love that! I’ll go change!” I said jumping up.

Once I changed into my regular clothes, the five of us gathered where they were seated and took a selfie.

“Perfect.” I said, looking at it on my phone.

“Let me see.” Miranda said.

She had the same reaction.

“Abby, I heard this is the bridal shop you bought your wedding gown from.” Shirley stated.

We had just pulled into the parking lot, next to Miranda’s car. She was in the middle of transferring Luca from his car seat to his stroller.

“Yeah. That was such a great day. It didn’t take long to find the perfect one.”

“I’d love for that to be the case with me.” my mom said.

I had no doubts about that. When I got out of the car and shut the door, I was immediately bombarded with a hug.

“Hi hun.” I said.

“Hey. How are you?”

“Wonderful. You?”

“Great. I’m so excited for your mom.”

“Miranda!” my mom said walking over.

I’m surprised she didn’t wake the sleeping boy in his stroller.

“Carol!”

While my mom and my best friend greeted each other and my mom introduced her best friend to Miranda, I walked over to the opposite side of my car to get my daughter out of her seat.

“Hey sweetie pie. You ready to look at some pretty dresses?”

She giggled. I knew she didn’t understand what I was talking about, but I loved her reaction nonetheless.

“So am I. Grandma is gonna look at some too!”

Within just a few minutes, I transferred Scarlett to her own stroller and I shut the door.

“Ready girls?” I asked.

I got echoes of yes and absolutely as I walked over to everyone else with a cutie in tow. My feelings of nostalgia came streaming through; I wanted the same experience for my mom. When she stepped through the shop, her eyes lit up; it was like she was a kid in a candy store.

“This is a dream.” my mom said coming out of her dressing room.

She spun around like a ballerina which caused us to laugh. She was wearing a dress with a long train and a lot of lace.

“You look absolutely beautiful, Mom.”

“I do?”

“Definitely.”

“Carol. You are stunning.” Shirley said.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Miranda added.

She was beaming.

“I’m gonna try on a few more though. I’m not 100% sure.”

The next couple dresses were mermaid style with a shorter train, the following two showed plenty of cleavage, then the last one was perfect, at least it was to me.

“This is the one. I’m sure of it.”

She had on a dress with sheer three-quarter sleeves, a slight amount of cleavage and was flowy with the perfect train. I stood up and hugged her; she was in tears.

“Oh Mom...”

Everyone stood up and hugged her.

“You are a queen.”

She had the veil put on and that was the icing on top of a delicious and beautiful cake. She looked like perfect and had never looked happier; it was such a great feeling knowing she was going to get the ending so she desperately deserved and earned.

“How about we celebrate by having a nice lunch?” I asked.

Everyone was in agreement. I was wanting to tell Alex right away about what happened, but I knew they had already started playing, so I would have to wait till the concert was over. It’d be a couple hours till that was even possible.

“Where were you thinking?” my mom asked.

I smirked.

“Where I work.”

“I have no complaints.”

And neither did anyone else. It was the first time I had been there since I left on maternity and it was certainly an odd feeling.

“So, Abby, I heard this is where you had your first date with your husband.” Shirley said.

She already knew I work here.

“Yeah. I couldn’t believe I even met him and that I’d ever eat here. It was such a great date; he was the epitome of charming.”

“I’d love to meet him, my daughter Olivia too. Where is he anyway?”

Her sixteen year old daughter is a huge All Time Low fan.

“Europe. He’s coming home next week, maybe you can meet him then. I’m sure he would wanna meet you guys too.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“Of course. He and my mom are close, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t want to meet you.”

She smiled as she was over the moon. My coworkers were overjoyed to see me as I saw Jayla coming over to our table.

“Abby! It’s so good to see you.”

“You too! It’s been too long.”

“You can say that again. So, how’s Alex? Scarlett?”

“He’s great and so is this cutie pie over here.”

She couldn’t help but fuss over her and Scarlett was a complete ham.

“You’ve already met my mom. I’d like to introduce you to my mom’s bestie, Shirley. Shirley, this is Jayla. She’s one of my closest friends.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Jayla greeted.

“You too.”

Lunch turned out to be great and by the end of it, I was tired and needed a nap like the princess.

“Looks like you’re on the verge of sleep. So am I.” Miranda said.

“I am and so are the little ones.”

She looked from one child to the other and agreed.

“Well, I had a great time today. It was a day I will never forget.” my mom said.

A half hour had passed and Shirley was dropped off and I was in front of my mom and Tyler’s house.

“You can say that again. I had a lot of fun. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Tell Alex I said hi next time you speak to him.”

“Will do. See ya later, Mom.”

“You too. See ya later, Abby and Scarlett.”

We hugged really quickly and she was out of my car. Once she was in the house, I pulled away and finished my drive home. It was one o’clock and I figured I could get in a nap before calling Alex.

“I never thought I’d be this happy to take a nap.” I said lying down.

An hour or so later, I texted Alex to tell him that I had great news. Only five minutes passed when I saw that he wanted to FaceTime.

Accept.

“Hi.” I said sitting up in bed.

“Hi. What’s this great news you wanted to tell me?”

“My mom found her dress. She was in tears.”

“So glad to hear that, babe.”

“I have never seen her that happy.”

“Aside from your stepdad proposing, I’d say it would’ve been the day you were born.”

He had me tearing up and smiling at the same time.

“Could you stop being so sweet?” I said wiping my eyes.

“I can’t help myself. You know that.”

“I know. Hey, I also met my mom’s best friend. She's awesome and has a sixteen year old daughter. She wants to meet you actually.... her daughter too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. She heard all about you and we also ate lunch at where I work aka where we had our first date.”

“You talk about that date, then? I assume.”

“Of course. I spoke about how charming you were and still are.”

I was feeling like I did during that first date.

“I remember you broke a cardinal rule and kissed me at the end of the night.”

“And I wanna do that so badly right now.”

“Just another week.”

“Just another week.”

Notes