Chapter 49: Final Countdown

POV: Gabby / Zac

December 10, 2008

Shawn picked me up at the too early time of 8 am and we grabbed breakfast and then headed to the dress shop. He seemed nervous about visiting this place and I wondered why but he was here and that was what mattered. Elaine met us and he waited in the front while I went to the back and got changed. Elaine had my body suit as well and I put it on with the dress itself and I still loved it. I’d even brought my shoes so the final length could be taken.

Shawn was sitting there waiting, staring at his phone when I stepped in front of him. He seemed to follow the dress up to my face, taking in details and maybe memorizing how I looked.

“Well, what do you think big brother?”

“I think you are the most beautiful woman in the entire world.”

“Don’t make me cry it’s way too early for that.”

He smiled. “I really like it and I think Zac will love it.”

“Is there anything that you see that needs to be altered?”

He got up and did a circle around me. “I don’t, but I will trust this lovely lady to make the final call.”

Elaine smiled. “I’m glad you like it, she wasn’t entirely sure. Are you sure now?”

“I made the right call. Do you have a veil? Zac informed me he wanted one but I’m not sure why.”

“I do, I think a small simple one would look good.”

“I do too.” Shawn said.

She left to go find one and we stood there waiting on her to return.

“I spoke to Julian the other day, she came to the hospital actually.”

“Is she okay?”

“She is okay, her current husband fell and they feared he’d broken his arm. He was fine, just a little swelling and bruising. She asked me if I knew where you were.”

I looked at him. “What did you tell her?”

“I told her we had reconnected, that you were married and with a great guy. I just wasn’t sure how you’d feel about her knowing much else.”

I shrugged. “Julian wasn’t really bad, just how she didn’t know what that bastard was doing is beyond me.”

“He hid it well Ella. She uh… wants to see you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Ella, come on. You were there ten years before you left, just because Jacob was an asshole doesn’t mean she didn’t care or love us.”

“She didn’t bother to find either of us Shawn.”

“She found me Ella, I just wouldn’t come back.”

“She never bothered to try with me. I knew she looked for you, didn’t know she found you.”

“She did try, she just couldn’t find you. You were far better at hiding but it was because you were out of the state too.”

I shrugged again. “I don’t see why I need to see her. It’s been a long time since I’ve bothered.”

“You can’t deny that you love her, maybe not as a mother or anything but you do. I saw it when you were there.”

“I’ll admit to that Shawn, but I don’t know that I want to meet her now. I understand she claims to not know what her husband was doing but it didn’t excuse the fact she didn’t pick up on any signs.”

“I told her I wasn’t sure what you’d want to do, but if you want to see her then I will take you.”

I nodded and Elaine came back with a simple veil that worked really well. Shawn did take pictures but he promised not to share them with anyone until after the wedding. She did the final pins and then I changed back into my street clothes for the day. The girls were 30 minutes out so he went ahead and left me here with Elaine, Ruby was also here I’d seen her earlier. I was just texting with Zac when she came over.

“Gabriella?”

I glanced up from the phone. “Yes?”

“I thought it was you, but um..I just want to apologize to you for the way I acted when you came in.”

I just sat here and stared at her, wasn’t really sure what I should say. She’d made most of that day miserable.

“I was jealous that you married him and I only got one night and I’m not sure he really enjoyed anything. Probably why he never called back. I just let my emotions take over and I’m sorry for making your day harder than it should have been. I’m here to make brides happy and I just screwed up with you.”

“You did, pretty much to the point of me walking away. It had been years since he was with you, why did you think that behavior was okay?”

“I didn’t think about it honestly. But, I’m glad he’s happy. I saw some photos that were posted and you guys look really good together. I’m sorry and I wish I had been more supportive.”

“Accepted.”

She smiled and walked away, maybe she had seen the fan I attacked? Who knew. Abigail was the first to arrive and she sat down beside me.

“I heard from Max finally, he told me what happen and that he knew Simon and everything. He then told me you broke his nose and Shawn broke the setting and his arm…”

“No idea what you’re talking about but I don’t care to hear anything he had to say.”

“Makes two of us, I told him he deserved a lot more for thinking he could control you for Simon, for not telling you about the men. I’m sure you would have left and went to Zac, which would have been better. I can’t believe he let you get hurt like that. He’s not the same man I fell in love with.”

“He’s not the same one I did either, but no more Max talk. I’m done with him and I don’t care to hear anymore.”

“Deal. So, where is your dress?”

“Shawn came with me, my appointment was at nine. It really didn’t need much adjustment just for my shoes.”

“I’m sure it’ll be perfect, those mermaid styles always are. Did Shawn like it?”

“He did. He said Julian wanted to see me.”

She turned. “Julian?”

“Yeah, he saw her at the hospital her new husband thought he broke his arm. I just…I don’t know if I want to see her.”

“Talk with Zac, he’ll help you make the right decision. He’s impartial. I say meet her because she loved you, she always made sure you were taken care of. Even if she was ignorant on what Jacob did. I mean come on, she didn’t know about the girls in the neighborhood either.”

“Neither did I. I thought I was the only one.”

Nicole came in next and Stella was on her heels. Taylor had done awesome with her engagement ring, nice heart shaped with diamonds inside. It was perfect for her. Sierra was the last one to arrive and in true fashion she stood out quite a bit. I got Elaine who got their dresses and they got changes and came out.

They looked amazing on them, the ivory color was perfect and they would look nice next to the guys too. Stella and Nicole were totally in love with the dresses but Abby seemed indifferent and Sierra looked irritated.

“Talk to me.” I said.

“I like the color but this mesh thing near my neck is just irritating. But, I think it’s a good style and it’s just me that doesn’t like things around my neck.” Abby said.

“It’s a dress and it’s not black.” Sierra said.

“Sierra, I wasn’t going to do black in any dress style.”

“I was hoping for leather and lace or something.”

Stella and Nicole seemed a little bummed that neither of them liked the dress they chose. But, I loved them. They were clean and simple, worked well with their chest sizes which ranged and was long enough.

“I just don’t like the dress at all. It’s just not what I would want to wear.” Sierra said.

“We could change them.” Stella said.

“No. We’re not changing anything. It’s too late to reorder the dresses. Sierra, come on. You knew the bridesmaid dress wasn’t going to be leather and lace, you knew it wasn’t going to be your normal attire. You only have to wear the dress for an hour, so deal with it. Abby doesn’t like the neck but she’s not bitching about it. So shut up, tell Elaine if it needs to be altered, and deal.”

The other three took a step back and she stood there looking at me. “I can change once the main ceremony is over?”

“Yes. You can wear whatever you want after the ceremony and pictures are done.”

She sighed. “Can I wear black shoes?”

“No, light colors.”

“Can they be any style?”

“I don’t care what the shoes look like as long they are light colors.”

“Okay. I’ll deal with this dress for you, but only you.”

“Well, you ever get married I won’t bitch about what you chose. Zac might, but I won’t.”

She finally smiled and they discussed with Elaine any needed changes. The biggest change was the length, because they were too long for them all. Once they had the right measurements and everyone was changed we headed to lunch. Which ironically went very well, considering that none of them had really spent any real time around each other, except Stella and Nicole who already knew one another.

“So, Zac’s picking you up at the bookstore.” Stella said.

“Why there?”

“Well, the cake shop is near the bookstore, he said he’d meet us there.”

“That’s right it is, makes sense. Everyone else is the opposite direction.”

She smiled and we kept our conversation on the wedding itself, plans that they were working on, and just nice and normal things. We headed our separate ways at two, Stella and I heading to the bookstore.

“You know about my adopted parents, Shawn said Julian wanted to meet with me.”

“Is that why you’ve been so quiet?”

“Yeah. I don’t know whether I should or not.”

“Well, why would she want too?”

“Spent ten years with her and she really wasn’t that bad. Just…her ex-husband.”

“Do you feel like she knew what he was doing?”

“Honestly, I don’t think she did. I feel like she should have known but I don’t think she did. Shawn has mentioned that she was shocked when she found out what he was doing.”

“Did you ever tell her what he was doing?”

“No. He told me they’d send me away if I did. I didn’t want to leave Shawn.”

“I would say she probably wants to know you’re okay. I don’t see why you shouldn’t meet with her. I’d definitely take Zac and even talk with him about it.”

“He wouldn’t let me go alone.”

“I wouldn’t, just in case.”

We arrived at the bookstore and Zac was waiting on us. He thanked her and then we headed to the cake shop, it was within walking distance so it was a short trip. I’d provided a drawing and they showed us an example, one tier to make sure they got the details right. It was perfect so we ordered the correct size and paid for the cake while we were here. We then headed back to the car.

“What is next?” I asked.

“Well, we have several hours and we should probably get some shopping done. Decorations are up and everything.”

“Yay for shopping.”

He smiled. “You know you love to shop.”

“Not always! But, didn’t we cover some people already?”

“Yeah, but we have several left.”

“I guess we shop then.”

He headed to the shopping area across town, it had a lot of variety in the shops so it would help cover more people.

“Shawn said that Julian wanted to meet with me.”

“Isn’t she the one that adopted you and Shawn?”

“Yes. Shawn saw her at the hospital and she asked about me. Said she wanted to see me.”

“Do you want to see her?”

“I really don’t know.”

“Have you ever thought about going to find her?”

“I have once or twice, but not in a long time.”

“Did she do anything that made you think she knew what he was doing? Any reason why you feel like she wouldn’t be a good person or influence?”

“I don’t think she knew but I’m not sure. Beyond what her husband did, she has given me no reason to think she was in on it or that she was evil or bad. She did try to ask a few times but I just wouldn’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t think she’d believe me because Jacob told me she wouldn’t and he said they’d send me away. I’m just not sure that I trust her or that I want to see her.”

“Didn’t she remarry?”

“She divorced Jacob and remarried, yeah. I don’t know who and Shawn didn’t tell me who. I’m just not sure.”

“I think you should be sure and maybe this month isn’t the right one.”

“Probably not.”

“Are you okay? You haven’t said anything since the other day.”

I’d cried all day on the official due date, I couldn’t help it and there had been many moments since the first where I just couldn’t stop myself from falling apart.

“We just need to avoid those areas at the mall.”

I felt his hand get mine. “It’ll be okay. Concerning Julian I think you should wait. There is enough emotional things going on this month and the wedding too. It’ll be better if we wait to see her. I know she may want to be there but really, it’s not a good time to talk with her.”

“I could invite her but I’d rather see her first.”

“I think it’ll be okay.”

He parked and we went inside, the number of gifts we needed was pretty large and included family and friends. We stayed well away from the maternity and baby aisles, mostly because neither of us could really handle it. We’d actually asked Isaac and Taylor to acquire gifts for the younger members of the family. We finished as many as we could before it got late and we headed to the apartment. Once we were there we unloaded the car and started dinner.

“Do you want a car of your own?” He asked.

It was a random question, kind of out of the blue actually, since he’d never really asked me that.

“I haven’t really thought about it.”

“I know you can drive and you are a good driver, but I didn’t know if you wanted a car or if you’d just been avoiding it because you weren’t sure.”

“Well, we usually go to the same places and at the same time so I really don’t see a need for a second car. Is there some define reason why I might?”

“I can’t think of anything, but I mean it’s always possible.”

“I think we’re fine with one and if for some reason we get to a point where one becomes impractical then we can see about a replacement or a second one.”

“See, you make all kinds of smart decisions.”

“I just don’t see a reason why.”

We finished up dinner and ate at the table, keeping conversation light on good subjects. After dinner I was cleaning up and he sat at the counter.

“No messages or calls from Simon or Damien?”

“No. I mean they know where the disk is, my guess is there pedaling fast to get themselves out of hot water. The detectives have the codes and we’ve sent them the names of everyone already. If they don’t pedal fast, they are stupid.”

“Just hoping they’ve decided you can’t help them anymore. I know we have a kind of down year coming but we are planning a tour and I would like for you to be able to walk and attend events without them being a factor.”

“I agree. No messages, e-mails, nothing. Max hasn’t sent anything either and that’s good too.”

“I can’t believe the asshole spent all that time telling you how horrible I was, when his objective was to keep you for Simon. That’s bullshit.”

“He thought Abby would agree with him, he was mistaken. He spent all that time telling me I was better, telling me leaving him was a good thing, and even got me the job with you and then acted like it was a crime when I could make decisions. I think he got tired of babysitting and thought you guys could do a good job for him.”

He smiled. “Oh I did a great job babysitting you. I’ve kept you safe and happy and well taken care of. I guess I kind of kidnapped you though.”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“I’m not going to complain.”

I finished cleaning up the kitchen and we sat down to wrap what we got. We were making decent progress when I caught him fingering the ribbon in his hand, it was kind of weird and I wondered what he was thinking, but he didn’t leave me wondering for long.

“I should just wrap you up in this ribbon.” He said.

I looked up from the box I was wrapping. “Wrap me up in ribbon?”

“It’s pretty strong, I doubt you would get away.”

“You think I’d want too? You should know better.”

“We should finish wrapping though…”

I raised an eyebrow. “Considering that the pants you have on are a bit tighter, I don’t think wrapping that box is what you really want to do.”

“Not like you want to finish either, you haven’t really bothered to finish that corner.”

I pushed the box to the side and moved toward him, crawling my way up and sliding the box to the side along with the ribbon.

“I can’t wrap you in ribbon without the ribbon.”

I just nudged him on back and crawled up his body. “I did buy you handcuffs last year, pretty sure you don’t need the ribbon.”

“We can wrap this later..we have 15 days before it has to be wrapped.”

“I kind of like the way you think. You want me in anything this time?”

“Why would I want you in anything? It’s no fun if you’re dressed.”

I kissed him and got up, I really didn’t mind that distraction, knew he wouldn’t mind either and we even made it to bed at a somewhat decent time.