Page 24 of Mom-Com
She rolled her eyes, but a smile played across her mouth. “All right, all right. I do like a good Disney princess movie. Count me in.”
Lily-Marie helped Milly climb off my lap and they left to find ball gowns to try on. The boys came out with more outfit choices, most of which we decided were a “no.” Turns out having Clark there was just as helpful as Lily-Marie. He kept Stein away from his more ridiculous choices. My poor kid just had no fashion sense whatsoever. His sense of self-preservation in the social scene of pre-pubescent boys was clearly missing.
As the boys grabbed the few items we wanted to purchase, I decided to pump intel from Clark to help me get to know Lily-Marie better. “So, Clark, what’s this I hear about the women in your family loving princess movies?”
He rolled his eyes. Like mother, like son. “It’s mostly Mom. I mean, Milly likes them too, but Mom is a nut for all things Disney princesses. She watches them all the time. Knows all the songs by heart. I swear, she’s single because she’s looking for Prince Charming. I keep telling her it’s just a movie. It doesn’t happen for real.”
He and Stein put their items on the counter and while the clerk rang them up, I let his words roll around in my head. So, she wanted a Prince Charming, huh? What did he have that I didn’t? Besides the fact he was a fictional cartoon character. Sadly, I hadn’t watched too many of those princess movies growing up or as an adult. I’d have to do some research to figure out the characteristics of Lily-Marie’s perfect man.
“Guys?”
The woman who wouldn’t stop running through my mind was right behind us, dresses hanging over her arm and nearly grazing the floor. Milly was grinning from ear to ear and tugging on her mother’s purse. Lily-Marie looked a little frazzled with her flushed cheeks barely showing above the huge stack of clothing.
“Wow, you trying on the whole store, Mom?” Clark asked, laughing.
“These aren’t all for me!” she defended herself.
I grinned, the very idea of seeing her in any of those dresses all that could penetrate my thoughts. “Why don’t you and Milly get started and I’ll meet you in there?”
“But I need to pay for Clark’s things.” She looked like she was attempting to shift the dresses, which everyone but her could see would be a disaster.
“No, no! We’ll settle up at dinner.”
“Dinner?” She froze.
“Yeah. Dinner. All this shopping has made us hungry.” I hadn’t actually asked the boys if they were hungry.
“We’re starved!” Stein nearly shouted.
Pre-teen boys. Of course they were hungry.
“Go. I got the boys.” I waved her off and she finally relented, probably because Milly looked like she either had to pee or she was about to burst from her excitement about the dresses.
I finished paying for the boys’ clothes and then found them some chairs in the shoe department to sit in while they waited for the ladies. They were under strict orders not to move from those chairs and to keep the noise down. Their innocent upturned faces didn’t fool me. If I didn’t have a page over the intercom asking for their parents to come get them before the night was out, I’d be surprised.
I hustled to make it back to the dressing room. I wanted to see every single dress Lily-Marie tried on. Thankfully, we were still the only shoppers in this particular fitting room. I could see Lily-Marie’s wedges from beneath the stall door.
“Got one on?” I called.
A tiny giggle and then an awed “wow” came from behind the closed door. My heart was beating superfast and it suddenly felt imperative to see Lily-Marie in a fancy ball gown.
“Let me see,” I called again impatiently.
The door cracked open with a groan. My breath caught in my chest and out stepped the most gorgeous five-year-old princess I’d ever seen. Milly looked up at me with a shy smile, twisting back and forth where she stood in a soft pink satin dress. A big bow was tied behind her and the skirt portion of the dress had some sort of glittery stuff on it that danced in the overhead lights. Feeling like what I said in that moment could make or break a young girl’s heart, I chose my words carefully, making sure they would come out right this time.
“You forgot one thing, beautiful girl.”
She tilted her head.
“Where’s your crown, Princess?”
A grin took over her face and she launched herself at me, wrapping her little arms around my legs in the smallest of bear hugs. I patted her back and silently promised her all sorts of things that weren’t my place to promise. Like a man to protect her and watch over her always. Someone to beat away the boys and show her exactly what she was worth.
The door groaned again, interrupting my train of thought and the rush of emotion pulling me under from a little girl’s hug. Had I not been blindsided by the small bundle still attached to my legs, I would have remembered the whole point of coming in here and suggesting ball gowns was to see Lily-Marie in one.
As it was, I startled when she pulled the door fully open and smiled down at Milly, her eyes misting over. I understood the tears: her daughter was absolutely adorable. What I couldn’t seem to comprehend was the blast of desire I felt seeing Lily-Marie in a turquoise floor-length dress. If the wall hadn’t been behind me, I would have fallen backward from the blow.
The material clung to her like a second skin, showing off her tiny waist, before flaring out and falling to the ground in a wave of silk. Thin straps held the top up, but not before pressing her breasts up and together, nearly spilling them over the neckline like a wave cresting.
