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“Do you want me to go get you a pregnancy test?” Skylar asked.
“Would you?”
“Of course.” Skylar took off faster than a lightning bolt.
“What am I going to do about my dress?” Merritt’s chin quivered.
“One crisis at a time.” Adelia handed her another tissue and took the one she’d been gripping, which was now crushed in a tight ball.
“I wouldn’t call being pregnant a crisis,” Merritt said. “We want a family. Maybe it’s a little sooner than we expected, but if this is happening, I’m not upset about it. I’m just surprised.”
Adelia’s mouth spread into a smile. “You and Gus are going to have such cute babies.”
Merritt’s eyes sparkled with happy tears. “I know.” She dabbed her eyes again.
“Can you believe last year at this time, you were on your way to my Christmas party when you first met Gus?”
“I almost killed him with my car. That’s a little hard to forget.”
They laughed as the door to the bridal room opened, and in walked Genevieve and her mom, Ida.
“Skylar says you need a seamstress,” Genevieve said.
Adelia noticed Ida was carrying a travel-size sewing kit as she approached the bride.
“What can I help you with, sweetie?” Ida asked.
“I think it needs to be taken out a little,” Merritt replied.
Ida gripped the back and tugged the sides together. “It sure does.” She looked at Genevieve. “I need cream-colored ribbon.”
“I’m on it.” Genevieve took off on a mission.
Merritt definitely looked more worried about her dress than the possible pregnancy, and Adelia lay a hand on her arm. “It’s going to be fine.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
Several minutes later, Genevieve returned with a white ribbon instead.
“It’s all I could find,” she said. “I stole it from a couple of the flower arrangements.”
“Okay, we’re going to fix you right up,” Ida said, “but first I need your dress.”
Merritt slipped the dress off and handed it over to Ida.
“It won’t be perfect, but I’ll do my best.”
“I don’t care as long as it stays on.”
They watched as Ida worked some kind of crazy magic, making loops with ribbon, and sewing them into the dress as quickly as her hands would allow.
The door opened soon after, and Skylar entered with a small paper bag in her hand.
Merritt looked from Skylar to Adelia and back. “I think I need to use the bathroom. Sky, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Skylar followed Merritt into the attached bathroom, and they closed the door.
Adelia felt a wave of excitement. Merritt and Gus’s life might be about to change forever with the results of that test. She let herself imagine what it would be like to take a test of her own someday, and if it would be with Oliver.