Page 99 of If We Never Met

"That's amazing," Hannah said as she hugged Chelsea. The rest of the women followed, and she was the last.

"I'm so happy for you," she said. "This is great news."

"Brodie and I are thrilled. He's already buying baby stuff. I keep telling him we have plenty of time. We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet. And the doctor said I should wait three months to say anything, but I was starting to worry that the dress might not fit and I'd have to give you an excuse, like I ate too many donuts."

She smiled. "The dress looks lovely, but I can let it out if you want."

"I think I'm good. I only have a week to go."

"Well, let me make a small adjustment," she said, eyeing the dress once more. "I'll make the alterations in the morning, and you can try it on tomorrow afternoon."

"I hate to give you more work."

"For a baby, I would remake the entire dress," she said with a laugh, feeling very emotional. She looked over at Lizzie, who was dabbing at her eyes. "You're going to be an aunt."

"I know. I'm so glad Chelsea told you, because I was having trouble keeping it in."

"Is this why you keep changing your wedding plans?" she asked.

"Partly. I do want Chelsea to be in the wedding, so Justin and I are now thinking after she has the baby would be good."

"Whatever you want, Lizzie. I'll waddle down the aisle in a maternity dress for you," Chelsea proclaimed. "Hey, Keira, how are you at designing maternity clothes?"

"Honestly, I've never tried."

"It could be a new market for you," Chelsea said.

"Considering how many of my friends are coupling up, I think you're right." She felt a twinge of what could only be considered more selfish yearning that she hadn’t found her love and wasn't anywhere close to a wedding or a baby. Although it was possible she had found her man, he just wasn't someone she could keep.

"Let's have a toast," Gianna said. She stopped abruptly. "Now, I know why you didn't want any wine earlier, Chelsea."

"Let's wait on the toast until we go to dinner," Chelsea said. "I can toast with sparkling water. But now I'm going to get out of this dress and then Hannah will try on hers. Because that's why we're here."

"Don't worry," Hannah said, giving Chelsea a pointed look. "You're not stealing my thunder."

"Well, still. Let me change."

As Chelsea got out of her gown, Keira helped Hannah on with her wedding dress and then led her to the pedestal in front of the big mirror. She hadn't changed a lot on the dress, but she had altered enough that it felt like a different gown than the one Hannah had seen before. She watched Hannah's expression in the mirror, feeling joy at the happy gleam that lit up her face.

"Wow, I look incredible," Hannah said.

Her bridesmaids agreed with a stunning array of adjectives: beautiful, gorgeous, and sexy.

Hannah turned around, meeting her gaze. "I thought it was pretty before, Keira—the first and second time I tried it on—but now it's perfect. What did you do?"

"I basically got rid of everything I did last time. And I accentuated your boobs," she added with a laugh.

"Thank God for that. Seriously, Keira. You outdid yourself, and I didn't even think that was possible. What was the breakthrough?"

"I was putting a lot of things on your dress that weren't about your dress at all."

"Well, that's cryptic." Hannah gave her a searching gaze.

"It's not important. All that matters is that you're happy and that you're going to be a beautiful bride."

"It's exactly what I wanted. I knew you were the right woman for this job."

"I'm glad you're happy. Jake's eyes are going to pop out when he sees you in that."

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