Chapter Seventeen

Mary Ann turned around in the dress. She clicked her tongue a couple of times.

"You can't see it, can you?" She asked. The woman at the dress shop shook her head.

"No. It's like you never even had a bump before. I mean, if anyone knew you were..." she cleared her throat. "With child, they'd know it was there. But to anyone who doesn't know, it's just really flowy in the front. It's a pretty dress."

"It is, isn't it?" the brunette asked quietly. It all seemed to be happening so fast, it was making her head spin. She knew this dress was it. It was a subtle V-neck cut in the front that went down to her collarbones, sleeveless with thick straps. It was white, yes, but so was every wedding dress. Besides, what her family didn't know wouldn't hurt them. The top half of the dress—the sleeves down to the top her curves—was satin, and then after that was a mesh type material that was seen on a lot on prom dresses or the skirt part of the ballerina tutus. Simple and plain. Not too bedazzled, not too plain for her tastes. To Mary Ann, it was a lot like her. Plain and simple, but equally beautiful.

...

"You got the dress? Without ME?"

"I'm sorry!" the farm girl laughed. She could already see Ginger shaking her head.

"When are you gonna learn I need to be there with you?" Mary Ann could hear the laughter in the movie star's voice.

"Well, the wedding's a week away. I needed to get one without waiting for you to fly in." She joked. Ginger laughed.

"Well, Roy and I will be there soon. You just be patient. The Howells should be coming not too long after us."

"Actually, I spoke to Mrs. Howell the other day; they should be here in a few days. They're packing right now. Mr. Howell needs to finish packing up his suitcase full of money."

"You mean his wallet?" Ginger laughed. Mary Ann laughed with her.

"I guess you could say that."

"Anyway... How's the baby?"

"She's fine."

"She? You mean you're having a girl?"

"No, I just like to hope it's a girl is all. I don't care either way, I just want a healthy baby, but it'd be nice to have a girl. Dress her up and put her hair in little bows, and..." she smiled at the thought.

"Well, for you, I hope it's a girl. But if it's a boy, what're you going to do?"

"Simple. I'll just dress him up in a small red shirt and jeans, white sneakers and a white hat, and we can have a Mini Gilligan."

"Oh God!" Ginger laughed again. "A Mini Gilligan, that's what we all need."

"Right?" Mary Ann laughed as well. "That's a good point."

"It'd be awful cute though." There was a pause."Huh? Oh! Okay! Yeah just a second. I'm sorry, Mary Ann, I have to go. I'm on set."

"Oh, okay. Well that's fine."

"I'll talk to you soon, honey. Bye!"

"Bye." She put the phone back up and sighed, a hand resting on her bump. One week. One week from today she'd be married, married to a man she actually loved. It was enough to set her nerves on fire. She grinned and leaned on the wall, feeling like a teenage girl. A teenage girl who just went on the most amazing date with the cutest guy in high school. She glanced up at the clock and bit her lip. Gilligan would be home in an hour or so. She felt like getting dinner ready, but she didn't also want to move from the spot. Getting up was starting to be a chore, but it wasn't very bad. Not yet at least. But that was definitely one day she wasn't looking forward to. Feeling bloated and looking like a whale. It was bad enough she was bloated about a week out of every month; she didn't want to feel like that for two or three months straight. That would just be plain torture. But she was told that it would be worth it after holding that little one in her arms, and she knew that was true. She just didn't to have to go through everything to be able to hold her child. Mary Ann figured there were a lot of compromises in life and that was just one of them. You had to go through nine months of hell just to hold a precious little baby. But it was worth it.

Slowly, she stood and walked into the kitchen, beginning to get everything prepared for dinner.