Wedding Belles

by Beth Albright

  I placed my hands, fingers splayed, over his back and pulled him into me. We kissed in the slow morning light that was now streaming through the bay window of his bedroom, and then fell asleep wrapped in the comfort and security of each other’s arms.

  It was the single best night of my life.

  42

  The day of the wedding came at last. I’m not sure any of us could really believe it was finally happening.

  “Y’all come on down for breakfast,” Arthur called from the kitchen. “Gonna be a big day round here.”

  I had already been awake for a few minutes when I heard Arthur announce breakfast. The bacon had reached my nose long before his sweet voice reached my ears. Sunlight danced across the wood floor and reached across my cream-colored duvet. I turned over, stretching, and saw Vivi at my bedside, hands on hips, poofs of red hair bouncing under the whir of the ceiling fan.

  “Well, well,” she said. “Mornin’, Miss Priss. We gonna sleep all day?”

  I smiled and sat up. “Good morning, yourself. Are you ready to become Mrs. Heart?” The irony stuck in my throat—she’d be celebrating her new name, while I would soon be giving up that moniker.

  “Blake, honey, I’ve been ready for years.” Vivi held her hand out and pulled me from the bed. I grabbed my satin baby-blue robe, and Vivi and I headed downstairs, giggling like a couple of giddy, love-struck teenagers. “Mornin’, Arthur,” we chirped.

  “Mornin’, you two. We have us a big day ahead, and we best getta goin’.”

  “Not before we eat some of this breakfast. Smells fantastic!” Vivi said. “Probably better than Waffle House.”

  “Ain’t no probably to it,” Arthur shot back with a grin. “Come on now, eat up. I got me a weddin’ bash to cook for.”

  “Arthur, oh, my, you have totally outdone yourself,” I said. “Biscuits ’n gravy, bacon ’n eggs, hash browns ’n waffles. Vivi, you better be careful or we won’t be able to zip you up.”

  “Now, now. Don’t you get her worried about all that, Blake. Today is all about celebratin’, and the best way to do that is with some good ol’ food,” Arthur said as he kept the feast coming. “Plus,” he added with a wink, “I took all the calories out ’fore I put the spread on the table.”

  Arthur knew how to make you feel good. He set the cast-iron skillet between us. It was full of scrumptious cinnamon rolls, the icing still sizzling and melting into a spoonable goo on the bottom.

  “Now, y’all be careful you don’t go a-touchin’ that while it’s hot,” Arthur said, taking care of us as usual.

  “Lord have mercy, Arthur, it’s just me and Vivi,” I said. “You could feed an army with all this.”

  “I’m gonna sit right down with you here directly and I’m not the only one,” he said, laughing. “Miss Kitty done called. She and Miss Meridee are on their way right now.” He was smiling and running around the kitchen. Excitement was thick in the air.

  The wedding ceremony was planned for that evening at sunset, but today was also the big season kickoff game—the beginning of the new Crimson Tide quest for the national championship.

  Everyone knew exactly where they would be at game time: either at the game or in front of a radio or television. Game time was one o’clock, but would last at least four hours once you included playing time, extra time for broadcasting with commercials, and the inevitable time-outs. This meant that everything football-wise should be finished just about 5:00 p.m. The Fru Fru boys had set the ceremony to begin at precisely 6:30 p.m. That still gave Lewis an hour and a half to leave the game, get ready and be waiting for Vivi at the altar right on time.

  A knock on the door had Arthur walking around the kitchen table to hold the screen door open. “Well, well, y’all come on in here, beautiful ladies.”

  “Smells absolutely divine, Arthur.” Kitty leaned in and kissed his cheek, her oversized charm bracelets jangling.

  “Y’all have a seat. We have plenty of food, so help yourself to whatever strikes your fancy.”

  Both Kitty and Meridee moved around the table to the empty chairs and slid in—Meridee next to me and Kitty next to Vivi—and began passing the grits and gravy.

  Arthur, having finally gotten it all on the table, including fresh orange juice and peach preserves, took his seat at the end. He had lots of help down at his restaurant for the wedding feast, so he was at his leisure to sit and enjoy this moment with us.

  I held this precious moment in my heart. In a few hours, things would change—for the better, of course, but change just the same. I loved the idea of Vivi getting married and, in these minutes of prewedding, early-morning laughter and good food with people I loved, I felt safe and happy, on the precipice of something exciting.

  Once breakfast was finished, the table was cleared and everyone pitched in to clean up the feast. With hugs goodbye and the promise of the evening’s big event on our minds, we all went our separate ways to get ready.

  “Talk to you in a few, daaaahlin’,” Vivi said, mimicking an old movie star. “I must get in my beauty soak before I see my prince. Ta-ta.” She shut the bathroom door.

  A thrill went through me as I realized I would be dancing with my own prince tonight. Sonny was my prince and Vivi had her own, even if he wasn’t arriving by stagecoach this evening...unless somehow that might get him through the game traffic any faster.

  43

  “Come on, Vivi, we’re gonna be late!” I yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “We need to give Miss Sweetie-Pie some time to work with the dress in case it doesn’t fit right.” The final fitting for the dress was in a couple of hours—everything dress-related had to be last-minute, since Vivi’s pregnancy meant her size was changing all the time. We wanted that dress to fit perfectly, which meant Vivi had to try it on now, just in case baby Tallulah had decided to grow some more at the last minute.

  “I’m looking for my tweezers!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, my heavens. Are we having an eyebrow emergency?”

  “Actually...I am,” Vivi said nervously, almost tripping down the stairs. Why in the world she already had her sunglasses on in the house was beyond me—till she pulled them off to reveal a nearly missing eyebrow.

  “Well...let’s not panic,” I began, knowing this was about to turn into a full-scale catastrophe if I didn’t manage it right.

  Her eyes teared up and I could tell she was about to pitch a bridal hissy fit—which is much worse than your average hissy fit, almost indistinguishable from a full-on conniption. “I was trying to even out my brows for tonight and I guess my nerves took over and I was thinking about all the stuff I have to get through today and, before I knew it, I plucked out the entire thing.”

  “First of all I don’t think we need to find those tweezers. I think you’ve plucked enough for now.”

  “I wanted to see if you could try to even them up for me.”

  “Sugar, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that left brow would need to be almost completely removed if we’re gonna even things up.”

  I should’ve known better. That pricked the dam and she began sobbing.

  “I look like an idiot,” she said, crying. “Blake, I am so stupid. Why was I allowed to have tweezers, today of all days?”

  I held Vivi and gave her a minute to let out the anxiety. I knew she really wasn’t thinking if she thought everyone would be staring at her eyebrows instead of her six-month baby bump. But I just held her and never said a word about it.

  “You will be beautiful, honey. I know you will. You always are. Every minute of every day, you are beautiful.” I smiled in encouragement. “Besides, I am a cosmetic queen’s granddaughter and the official queen herself will be here tonight. We will get you all fixed up and you will sparkle like the star you are.”

  “Blake, what would I do without you?” Vivi sa
id with a sniffle. “You are too good. I just don’t want to look perpetually surprised in all my wedding photos, you know?”

  “I understand. Now dry up those tears, so we can get over to Sweetie’s. She’s got your dress waitin’.”

  Vivi dried her eyes with a tissue from her purse and blew her nose as we walked through the kitchen and out the screened door. We stopped on the back porch to glance over at the rose gardens. Arthur was out there directing the traffic and the hubbub of the prewedding activities. He was handling things till the Fru Frus got there.

  We were awestruck.

  The tents were beautiful, with a swish of blush-pink overlaying everything in sight. Little fairy lights twinkled from tree limb to tree limb to the wraparound front porch. Pink lights were even underneath the yards of pink tulle, sweeping over everything, giving a magical feel to the entire yard. The flowers looked like poofs of cotton candy, and the cream-colored tablecloths reflected the rosy hues.

  The side yard under the magnolias was a blur of organized chaos, everyone moving in a frenzy, all seeming to have a job to do. More white tents were going up on the side yard just past the rose gardens, under the ancient pecan trees. Stargazer lilies and baby pink hydrangeas were being delivered in creamy white ceramic pitchers and placed in the center of each table. Musicians had set up their stands and violins made their way out of the leather cases. Everything looked soft, warm and inviting. Come evening, the little lights would cast a rosy glow over the yard and magnify the colors of the sunset.

  We stood still, admiring the incredible work that A Fru Fru Affair had done.

  Vivi smiled. “Would you look at that? It’s really happening. Today is my wedding day and it’s as magical as I ever dreamed.”

  “Yes, sweetie, it is, and I cannot tell you how special it is for me to be here with you.”

  She reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze. We both breathed in the intoxicating fragrance of hundreds of stargazer lilies, then I helped the little mother down the back steps and into her powder-blue convertible. We were off to get the dress.

  44

  Sweetie-Pie was waiting on the front porch, and inside was the much-anticipated, one-of-a-kind, Sweetie-Pie Jones’s original wedding gown.

  Sweetie-Pie was an original, herself. She designed prom and pageant dresses for every girl in the county and became so well-known that she was even creating the gowns for the Miss Alabama contestants to Miss America! She did the dresses, while Meridee did the makeup. Sweetie was a few years younger than my grandmother, but they graduated from the same high school. Since Miss Sweetie-Pie was always at Meridee’s house, the command center during pageants, they spent a lot of time together. That’s how they became such good friends. All the fittings and makeup for local events were done at Meridee’s, with Miss Sweetie-Pie there to make sure the dresses were perfect. I have known Sweetie-Pie my whole life. She even designed my wedding dress when I married Harry. Today, it was Vivi’s turn.

  “Hey there, you two gorgeous girls, get on over here and give us a hug,” she called from the porch.

  “You look beautiful as ever, Miss Sweetie-Pie,” Vivi said.

  “Thank you, sugar. I’m fighting back the wrinkles with that special—” Miss Sweetie stopped midthought. “Where the hell is your other eyebrow, Miss Vivi? It’s plumb near disappeared.” She looked up at Vivi, squinting.

  I stood there violently shaking my head no, trying to let Miss Sweetie-Pie know she shouldn’t say any more.

  “Vivi had a slight mishap with the tweezers this mornin’,” I said, trying to put off a new hissy fit. “Miss Meridee’s gonna fix her right up in just a few.”

  “Oh, well of course she is! You couldn’t be in better hands than Miss Meridee’s, and I know that for a fact. Now, y’all ready to see this creation? I hope you love it, Miss Vivi. You should feel like a princess on your special day.”

  Sweetie-Pie guided us inside, then slipped to her studio in the side room and reappeared with a cloud of layers and layers of tulle in white, cream and a hint of blush. Sequins and pearls shimmered and sparkled in the light.

  Oh, the gown was a thing of fairy tales. The bodice, in white taffeta, fitted to an empire waist, leaving plenty of room for baby. A thick blush-pink satin sash ran just above her belly and tied in a long bow at the back, the ribbon flowing all the way to the floor. The strapless neckline was in a sweetheart design that would show off her strand of pearls and new ample cleavage just perfectly.

  Vivi started to tear up, moving in slow motion, arm outstretched gently, as if she might ruin it with one touch or dispel the ethereal vision into mist. “Sweetie, you are a genius. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

  “Now, don’t you go a-cryin’, Vivi McFadden, or your eyes will be all puffy and that will throw off the lines of my dress.”

  We all laughed.

  “Now go try it on and let’s see if I guessed right about how big that baby of yours was gonna be.”

  Vivi took the dress in her arms, a look of unexpected joy on her face, like she had just won the pageant and couldn’t believe it. We all walked into the studio, Vivi shaking her head in amazement.

  “I can’t believe I will be wearing this tonight.” She laid the dress on the bed. “I never even thought I would be having a wedding, much less wearing white.”

  We both burst out laughing. “White is fine, Vivi. You can wear any damn thing you want. It’s your wedding, last I checked.”

  The dress was perfect for her. Yep, I’m a pregnant bride and I’m wearing white, so there. It was just so Vivi.

  “C’mon, honey. Let’s get you in it,” I said, smiling and excited.

  Vivi put her purse down on a table and began to undress. She had on a creamy lace strapless bra and matching panties. Her burgeoning tummy was a spectacular thing of beauty. She took lacy flats out of her bag.

  “No heels. I have enough trouble balancing right now as it is,” Vivi explained at Miss Sweetie’s look of surprise. That woman lived for glamorous dresses and stilettos, so this was close to blasphemy as far as her fashion sense was concerned. “I’ve always been more of a barefoot girl anyway.” Sweetie knew better than to argue with the bride on her wedding day, so she smiled and stepped out of the room while I helped Vivi into her dress.

  “You look stunning, Vivi, and you’re not even dressed. Now, Sweetie-Pie said she made this an easy one zip, in case she needs to let it out a bit,” I said.

  I steadied Vivi as she stepped in and pulled up the dress. Her frizzy red hair was poofed out in crazy curls, not having been tamed for the day yet. She looked like an ice cream cone with a vibrant cherry on top. I zipped her in and she turned around.

  “How do I look?” she asked.

  My mouthed dropped. She was perfect. A vision of a princess—granted, an extremely pregnant one, but still very much a princess.

  “Well?” she begged. “C’mon now. I need to hear the truth.”

  “Vivi, the truth is that I have never, ever seen you more beautiful than right this second. Not in a pageant dress, not as my maid of honor, not ever. You’re just perfect.”

  I couldn’t hold back the tears. I clutched my fists to my heart, staring at my dearest friend in the world, in her wedding dress. It was a moment for sure.

  About that time, Miss Sweetie knocked and came on in. “Miss Vivi, you look fabulous, if I do say so myself. How’s it feel?”

  Vivi turned to face the full-length wooden mirror in the corner of the room. At the first glance of herself, she just stood there motionless, speechless.

  “I can’t believe that’s me,” she whispered. “The dress feels wonderful, Sweetie. No pullin’ or tuggin’. It’s easy to move in, too, so I can dance the night away with Lewis,” Vivi said.

  With that, she spun around to give her skirt a twirl, and knocked over the
table that held her purse and shoes. A lamp hit the floor and a vase of fresh gardenias from Sweetie’s garden crashed to the floor, leaving a puddle of water and petals on the carpet.

  “Land sakes, Miss Vivi, you gone take out my house.” Sweetie and I hurriedly cleaned up the vase before Vivi could pirouette backward and cut her heel. Next thing you’d know, we’d be at the E.R. and she’d miss her own wedding. “If you hold on a minute, I’ll show you how to turn it into a dancin’ dress.”

  “A dancin’ dress?” Vivi asked.

  Once we’d collected the last shards, Miss Sweetie made her way back to Vivi. “Yeah, looka here, you just unzip this, and the whole skirt comes off. You got ya’self a little cotton eyelet skirt attached to that beautiful bodice. See?”

  Sweetie zipped off the tulle and revealed the pretty skirt underneath. Eyelet hearts cut into stark white, tea-length fabric. The skirt was very classy.

  “That’s amazing, Miss Sweetie!” Vivi was happy. “I love it!”

  “Okay, let’s get you outta this so Meridee can get you all made up. Tell her no skimpin’. She needs to do justice to my dress.”

  We all laughed.

  “Thank you so much,” Vivi said, then smiled. “You really are a genius. You made me a beauty, too, and that’s no easy feat.”

  Miss Sweetie laughed. “Go on, girl, you always been purty. You’re the best kind of purty, too—the kind that don’t know it.”

  Vivi kissed Miss Sweetie on the cheek, then shut the door behind her. I heard her talking in the other room, probably to Harold. I had set the lamp upright along with the table, and picked up Vivi’s purse and shoes, now wet with vase water. Meanwhile, Vivi was a bull in a china shop with all of her excitement.

  I thought we were done with the accidents, but then she began trying to unzip the bodice down the side, but the zipper wouldn’t budge. She tugged and pulled at it but her belly was in the way.

  “Here, sugar, let me get that. You have a baby between you and freedom.”