Sweet Caroline

#73 Wedding bells

Warning: this is the last chapter! There will be epilogues as well, giving insight into Caroline's life years later, but the real story is over. Make sure to keep the story in your library  and to follow me so you'll get notified when I decide to add another epilogue or something. And... enjoy the final chapter! Thank you for reading this story!

I hold my breath as Shaughna zips up my dress, praying that it still fits. When the zipper is up and my boobs are still firmly tucked inside, I let out a sigh of relief. A glance in the mirror tells me that I look just the way I wanted to. Like a sexy angel.

"You're gorgeous," Tiffany assures me, sipping champagne as she sits cross-legged on the bed watching me. She's in a pretty blue dress, but she doesn't look very ladylike as she sits there, her underwear on display because her skirt is bunched up.

"Honey," Hillary says, pointing at her girlfriend's panties with a smile. "A little more modestly, please."

Embarrassed, she covers herself back up, blushing fiercely. Hillary kisses her softly before moving over to me to fix my hair. My hair is loose on Nathan's request, carefully curled but otherwise unembellished. I've got no jewelry on, letting the dress speak for itself. It's a strapless pure white gown with a sweetheart neckline. It's more fitted than I thought I'd like, showing off my curves. It flairs out a little at the bottom. Not quite a mermaid gown, but still the best of both words: fitted and flowy.

Nathan hasn't seen me in it yet. We've already done so many things in a non-traditional way that we figured we could at least keep one tradition alive. Sean suggested we should sleep in different houses or at the very least in different rooms the night before the wedding, but we just laughed in his face. That tradition didn't make any sense to us. Instead, we stayed up for hours, talking and making love.

"Do you have your something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?" Shaughna asks as she fixes her own hair in the mirror.

"Well, Nathan is pretty old," I joke, "so that's taken care of. "Our love is still pretty new, since we only met a nine months ago. And my entire life feels like I borrowed it from someone much older and saner than I am. As for something blue..."

"Your eyes," Tiffany says, smiling up at me from the bed. "They're blue."

"Then I guess you're ready," Shaughna decides, clapping her hands. "Stay here, I'm gonna see if everything is set." She leaves with Tiffany and Hillary in tow, leaving me alone for a moment.

"Breathe," I tell myself, meeting my own gaze in the mirror. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Nathan and I are perfect for each other, anyone with eyes can see that. Hell, even people without eyes would agree. Still, I can't help but feel I rushed him into this. He wanted to go slow, to not make the same mistakes he did with Elise, yet here we are, getting married before we've even known each other a full year. Technically, he never even really asked me to marry him. It was just sort of implied and I know that he wants this as much as I do, but still... what if he regrets giving me his grandmother's ring? What is he gets cold feet and takes off?

A knock sounds on the door, startling me out of my worries. I call out for Shaughna to come back in, but instead, a male voice sounds from the other side of the door. A voice I know almost as well as my own.

"Can I come in?" Nathan asks, that familiar edge to his dark voice. "I know we agreed that I wouldn't see you in your dress, but I need to talk to you."

"O-okay," I reply. This can't be good.

"Oh wow," he breathes when he steps in, taking me in from head to toe. "Oh, Caroline, you're beautiful. And sexy. Fuck, I didn't think you'd look this sexy. Is a wedding dress supposed to be sexy?"