Is this destiny?

"Hurry up!", JoAnna urged Sarah. "You are staring at yourself for too long."

"I can\'t help it. I\'m just too pretty.", Sarah stuck her tongue out at JoAnna before returning her gaze to the full-size mirror in front of her. 

Sarah is joking with JoAnna, but in truth, she loves the image mirror is showing her. She turned a bit to the left… then a bit to the right… and admired herself from every angle in the most perfect dress she ever wore.

Her hair, makeup, the dress, jewelry… Sarah never saw herself this well put together. She is glowing.

Sarah used to think that wedding dresses and all the glitz which goes with it is ridiculous, unnecessary, but now that she is wearing one, she can\'t stop staring.

Ellie\'s face was beaming while admiring Sarah in the gown she made. "This is my best work so far."

Sarah is wearing snowy-white matte satin fit-and-flare gown which fits her perfectly. The bodice and sweetheart neckline are decorated with floral lace which creates gorgeous straps and frames her back. Sarah smiled while moving and enjoying the effect of the lace changing color from white to faint tea green in the light. Cathedral train adorned with lace at the bottom makes her look like a fairy. Her legs appear longer than they are, her narrow waist looks just right, the bodice is lifting her breasts slightly, making them fuller… Aiden will like it.

Of course, Aiden will like it. He is the one who worked with Ellie on the dress. 

Sarah loves how the lace at her upper back is not only looking pretty, but it\'s also covering up the faint scars Sarah has from her surgeries. Aiden thinks of everything. 

The \'V\' shaped necklace with green diamonds which Aiden gave Sarah on the meadow covers Sarah\'s skin below her neck and ends two inches above the fine fabric of the dress (and the plump cleavage). It shows that Aiden thought about pairing up the dress with the necklace as well. 

"Thank you.", Sarah told Ellie. "The dress is perfect."

Ellie grinned, happy to see that Sarah approves. 

"Do we have everything?", Sophia asked while adjusting Sarah\'s necklace so that it\'s centered.

The earrings, the necklace and the butterfly ring have green diamonds which are matching with the shimmer of the lace on Sarah\'s dress, and Sarah\'s eyes as well. Everything is perfect, even the white open toe high-heeled shoes which are hidden under the skirt of Sarah\'s wedding dress. 

"Oh…", Sarah remembered that she is missing one thing... "Out of four necessities, I have things which are old and new and blue, but I need something borrowed. Aiden said that one of you will give me something." Sarah\'s eyes darted between JoAnna and Sophia.

JoAnna lifted her index finger to get Sarah\'s attention and reached under the skirt of her tea green bridesmaids dress. A second later, she slid a white lacy garter embellished in crystals from her leg and handed it to Sarah. "Here…"

Sarah stifled a laugh while holding the garter between her index finger and thumb awkwardly, away from her body like it\'s dirty. "I was thinking more on the line of a… hairclip."

"Stop complaining and put it on.", Sophia reminded her.

Reluctantly, Sarah put the garter around her left thigh. 

"You think you got everything?", Sophia asked.

"What else am I missing?", Sarah responded with an answer.

Sophia gave Sarah a knowing look before saying: "The wedding rhyme goes: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in your shoe."

Sarah\'s face fell. She is not much into all this good luck traditions, but it can\'t hurt. She has four out of five… how come she never heard about this fifth requirement? And why is the list of things she needs constantly increasing?

"What is a \'sixpence\'?", Sarah asked weakly.

"Hehe…", Sophia giggled and extended her hand toward Sarah. "I\'ve got you covered."

Sarah observed the coin in her palm. It does say \'sixpence\' on one side. "This is?"

"A British coin. Sixpence. It has a value of six pennies.", Sophia explained and gestured to Sarah to take it.

Sarah slipped the coin inside her shoe. Well, now she has everything. Scratch that! Sarah saw Ellie approaching her with the veil. The white veil is super-thin and delicate and on the edges has a lace which is matching the one on the dress. Perfect. 

Bridgette got inside and asked Sarah: "Ready?"

Sarah was not sure how to respond to Bridgette\'s question. Every time Sarah thinks she is ready, something else pops up.

"I am done here…", Ellie said when she attached the veil to Sarah\'s hair at the back. 

"I want your photo for my upcoming catalog…", Ellie requested.

Sarah nodded in agreement but still wanted to confirm: "With Aiden?"

"Of course! See you outside." Ellie waved happily and exited the tent.

Sarah looked at JoAnna, Sophia and Bridgette, wearing matching tea green dresses and smiled.

Aiden arranged all this as a surprise, but the more Sarah observes, the more she notices that he did it based on the discussions they had over time. She clearly remembers that they spoke about the bridesmaids and she told him that she wants Bridgette as her maid of honor and her sisters.

"If I add anyone else, it will turn out to be everyone.", Sarah told Aiden and explained: "I can\'t add Emma without Penny feeling neglected. And Ellie is right there with them as well. And if I think who is close to me, Oni and Nala come to my mind, and then we have Masika, Imani and Zula and I\'m not saying that they can\'t be my bridesmaids but if I include everyone, it will be too much."

"So… only Bridgette, Anna and Sophia?", Aiden asked.

"Yes. Small and simple.", Sarah confirmed, unaware that Aiden is taking mental notes of her every word.

Back to present…

Now that she thinks about it, bit by bit, Aiden was collecting information about everything. And he made it happen. She knows that he did it like this because of her tendency to stress and worry about things. If they agreed to get married a month ago, she would be worrying for the whole month. And like this, he took care of it… he thought about her so much that he even made her a \'Panic box\'. He is amazing like that.

Edward peeked into tent. "Can I come in?"

Sophia, JoAnna and Bridgette gave Sarah quick hugs and went out, leaving Edward and Sarah behind.

They don\'t have a wedding planner and formal schedule. Everything is just how Sarah likes it, relaxed and no one is looking at the time.

"You are beautiful.", Edward told Sarah.

"Thanks, dad."

Edward glanced around the tent, to confirm its just the two of them before leaning closer to Sarah and half-whispering: "You don\'t need to do this. No one will blame you if you back out of it and I will make sure that rascal never gets close to you. Your old room in our house is always waiting for you no matter what…"

Sarah laughed and said with a whiny voice: "Daaaad!"

"Are you trying to spoil this wedding?", Stella grumbled from the entrance to the tent.

Edward waved his hands defensively. "I only want to make sure my baby girl does not feel cornered. If things don\'t work out, she can come back to us."

Stella smiled at her silly husband. "She is not going anywhere. Aiden is joining our family. Officially."

Edward snorted. 

Sarah looked at Edward. "Dad… I know that you didn\'t have the best start with Aiden, but you know that he is treating me well. Right?"

Edward pursed his lips. "If I don\'t know that he would walk through the fire for you, I would not allow this wedding to happen."

"Pft! Like you have the power to stop it.", Stella said teasingly. "Keep going with your unreasonable behavior and you will push Sarah away from us, again."

Edward understood that Stella is talking about the fight when Edward found out that Sarah is dating Aiden and Sarah didn\'t come home for more than two months.

Edward narrowed his eyes. "She got that from her mother."

"Ah?", Stella put her hand over her chest dramatically. "What does that mean?"

Edward shrugged and said coolly: "I don\'t know… Members of my side of the family do not run away when they disagree on something."

Stella understood that Edward is talking about her breaking up relationship with Lebedevs when they disapproved of Stella (aka Milena) marrying Edward (aka the useless outsider).

Stella narrowed her eyes at Edward. "You know I did that for you, right?"

Sarah pinched the roof of her nose. Why are her parents bickering like kids? "And you two know that I am about to get married… right?"

Stella and Edward paused and laughed.

"We know, honey…", Stella responded. "I guess we are all a bit nervous. You are our baby girl and you always will be no matter how many birthdays you celebrated. Let me see you…" Stella took a step back and observed Sarah. The dress, the veil, the jewelry… everything is amazing, but the most dazzling is Sarah\'s expression which is showing how happy she is.

Stella nodded in approval. She gave a side-glance to Edward and said. "I will not tell you to leave Aiden, but if you ever need help, any kind of help… please, don\'t hesitate to reach out to us. Keep in mind that we are available, but I hope that you will not find yourself in a situation where you need our help because I wish that you and Aiden spend your lifetimes in happiness, loving each other… without any external interference."

Sarah hugged Stella. "Thanks, mom."

Stella planted a gentle kiss on Sarah\'s cheek and walked out of the tent.

Edward looked at Sarah and sighed. "I agree with your mother. Count on us and… Do you remember the phone number I gave you?"

It didn\'t take more than a second for Sarah to understand what Edward is talking about. How can she forget THAT phone number? "SP3CT3R?"

Edward smiled and nodded. "Don\'t hesitate to call him if you need any kind of help."

Sarah wanted to ask, why is Edward so keen on her contacting the most famous hacker in the world? How is SP3CT3R connected with Edward? Are they really so close that the mystery hacker will help her out unconditionally? Does that mean that Edward knows SP3CT3R? 

But those were fleeting questions. 

She is about to get married to the man she adores, and she was unable to focus on anything else at this time.

She smiled and assured her father that she heard him. "OK."

Edward exhaled loudly and asked: "Ready?"

"Can you help me with the veil?", Sarah bowed slightly so that Edward can see to reach for the sheer fabric.

Edward pulled the veil over Sarah\'s head and smiled. She is beautiful. His baby girl is all grown up and about to get married. He remembers her being no bigger than a loaf of bread. As the youngest child, she got the most love and pampering and everyone in the family was catering to her every need. And now she is getting married. His baby girl is not a baby anymore.

"Are you going to cry?", Sarah asked in half-panic when she saw that Edward\'s eyes are turning red.

Edward pursed his lips and denied the obvious. "No."

He reached to the side and picked up the bouquet of roses and wildflowers which Bridgette prepared for Sarah and handed it to her. "Let\'s not forget this."

Sarah looked at the flowers neatly tied up in a white satin ribbon and wondered if this is everything, or is there something else she needs… well, it does not matter. She is going to meet the man of her dreams and start their forever journey together. Officially.

After adjusting the lapels of his jacket, Edward extended his arm for Sarah and she took it.

They both took a deep breath at the same time and walked out of the tent.

It is happening!

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