The knock on the door startled Hannah. She was busy going over the numbers. In about seven months, she’d be a mother. In two weeks, she’d turn twenty-nine. And in less than thirty minutes, she’d be Hannah Power.

She still got a chill thinking about it. Her sleeveless dress made that clear as goosebumps appeared down her arms. She’d dreamed about her wedding day when she was little. As she got older, it seemed silly to think about horse-drawn carriages and a big white dress with glass slippers. Oh yeah, she went all fairytale princess when she thought about what it would be like. The carriage was even in the shape of a pumpkin.

It’d been at least fifteen years since she thought about the dream, but she kept referring back to it in the days leading up to her big day. There weren’t going to be birds carrying her veil behind her as she walked down an aisle, but her prince would definitely be waiting for her at the end.

“Are you decent? I need a break from dealing with the flower catastrophe going on out here.”

Nina didn’t wait to walk into the bedroom after the knock and the announcement. Hannah was stressed enough and trying to think happy thoughts that she hadn’t even considered her response to someone joining her. Hearing what Nina had to say, she should’ve considered locking the door.

“What are you talking about? We didn’t mess around with flowers on such short notice. I was lucky to find a dress that fit in the time we actually planned this out.”

Hannah was in her dress, standing in the middle of her bedroom. She had no idea where Curtis was since he’d been very strict about not seeing her before the big event. He hadn’t even slept in the same room the night before.

Too afraid to sit and wrinkle her dress, Hannah had stood as still as a cake topper bride as she let a million thoughts run through her head. It probably wasn’t the best use of her time, but she didn’t have any fancy makeup or hair she had planned to do, so she’d just thrown her dress on and waited for her dad to come get her.

“That’s exactly the catastrophe I’m talking about. You’re only getting married once, Hans, if I have anything to say about it and everything has to be perfect.”

Nina stopped and looked Hannah up and down. Her mouth twisted from side to side as she did.

“Can you twirl for me real quick?”

She motioned with her finger, just in case Hannah couldn’t understand her words. Hannah wasn’t sure how possible a twirl would be, but she went ahead and gave it a shot. She’d been fine not going the traditional huge white gown route, but Curtis had glared her into submission.

When he’d proposed, she made the mistake of telling him a few of her childhood ideas about her wedding, and the dress was one he didn’t think she should miss out on. The problem was finding the perfect one that didn’t need to be altered for her skinny body.

“Is there a reason your stomach should be poofing out like that?”

Hannah looked down over the heart-shaped bodice squeezing things in to try to figure out what Nina was talking about. She pushed her hands along her stomach and didn’t feel any particular bumps. She still had at least a month or two before the baby would make its presence known.

“My stomach isn’t poofing out.”

Her lip sort of did when she pouted after her words. She’d invited Nina because she’d shown she was changing who she was and was capable of being a real human, but that had to be questioned when she basically told Hannah she looked fat in her wedding dress.

“But I have a feeling it will be soon.”

Hannah scowled. She wasn’t sure whether Nina was predicting a wild honeymoon or if she was fishing for something.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not saying you’re getting married because you’re pregnant, but you can’t tell me you’re not. I’ve known you for about twenty years and you have never liked onions on anything, let alone the smell of them, and you had a steak smothered in them the other night for dinner. I didn’t say anything then because I was trying to get back in your good graces, but I can’t keep my excitement in anymore. You’re pregnant with Hottie McHotpants’ baby, aren’t you?”

It was impossible not to laugh at the moniker. It was even funnier since it was Nina saying it without a load of snark behind it. Whoever Dr. Barnes was, he or she was a miracle worker.

“Maybe I’ve just grown out of that phase. Isn’t there some saying about tastes changing every seven years?”

Hannah tried to sell the explanation, but she did so without making eye contact. She didn’t trust what her eyes would relay on the subject, which didn’t do her any favors with someone who knew her as well as Nina did.

“They also talk about a seven-year itch, but I highly doubt you’ll run into that either. You’re either keeping the news from me because you’re afraid I’ll do something crazy or you guys aren’t telling anyone yet. I’m guessing the odds are split pretty much fifty-fifty. So, how soon before you start telling people?”

Knowing what to say was tough. Hannah supposed there was a little of both reasons holding her back from saying anything in the affirmative. Nina’s original reaction to the idea of Hannah being pregnant was enough to want to keep the news from her forever.

“Ask me again in a month and we’ll see if the answer changes any.”

“I get it, but you have to tell me if I’m the first person to guess.”

Hannah smiled as she shrugged and moved her jaw around while she considered the answer. It technically wasn’t giving anything away to tell the truth.

“You would be the first person to guess and actually be serious. Others have heard about the wedding and playfully decided we’re rushing things because we’re having a baby.”

“You’ve only been together, what, four or five months? You can’t blame them for wondering. I’m not a relationship person, but even I know people usually wait at least a year.”

Nina moved from her post across the room and ushered Hannah into the bathroom. Even with her mood and cadence seeming like a normal human, Hannah wasn’t about to question the look on her face. It told her if she didn’t move, she was about to be moved.

“We were going to wait until summer, but he proposed months ago and thought we might as well get it over with since he has some free time. I thought a summer wedding would give him a chance to realize what he was marrying. I mean, you just called him Hottie McHotpants, so I’m pretty sure most people will notice that he’s at least a twelve and I’m closer to a five.

Hannah jumped when a hand made it through the layers of material and collided with her rump. It was probably a hard hit, but said layers dampened the blow. Hannah just hadn’t expected it.

“You’re an eight, at least, so don’t sell yourself short. If it makes you feel better, I’m about to make you into that twelve. Where do you keep your makeup and hair stuff?”

Nina finished guiding Hannah and indicated she should sit on the edge of the corner tub. Hannah looked at her skeptically, thinking of what could happen to her dress. There wasn’t only the wrinkle factor to consider. The huge skirt made the thought of sitting somehow feel painful.

Her friend’s foot tapped and her arms crossed over her deep purple dress, taking a stance that usually sent people running from the room. Nina never did any official countdown, but Hannah figured if she stood like that for ten seconds, a bomb would explode.

“By now I think he knows what he’s getting, Nina. I don’t think adding a little bit of makeup will help. If anything, he’d probably want me to start wearing it more, and we both know I’m hopeless when it comes to putting it on.”

Hannah hadn’t tried since they were in the eighth grade, maybe it was even before that. Sure, she was just a kid then, but she’d never been great at drawing straight lines and the raccoon look she gave herself made that perfectly clear. Unlike other things she didn’t succeed at on the first time, makeup hadn’t been one she revisited.

“All the more reason to get you looking like a princess. Other people probably don’t know it, but I do know what your dream wedding consists of. Some of the things are a little impossible, but you gliding in there like a princess walking down the aisle towards her prince is something we can do.”

Nina pointed again towards the tub and turned around to search the vanity for any beautification products Hannah owned. If it was up to Hannah, there wouldn’t be anything to find. She’d never bought a single eyeshadow or lipstick in her life. That didn’t mean she lacked a healthy supply of makeup she had no idea how to put on.

Her mother had bought her a few of the items over the years, thinking she didn’t wear anything because she didn’t have any. The vast majority of the collection came from Nina herself, so when she found the drawer it was hidden in, the oohs and aahs were more her approving her own selections than anything else.

“I can’t believe you have this stash and none of it’s been open. Don’t you sit up alone at nights and wonder what could be?”

It sounded like a rhetorical question, so Hannah let it hang in the air until Nina continued. She’d pulled out a few bottles of something and at least six of the little eyeshadow things. Hannah hoped she wasn’t planning on using everything she’d ever bought her. Her skin wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“Of course you don’t. You’re probably too tired from Hottie McHotpants screwing you all night long. He’s a sex machine, right? I knew he would be in high school, but I didn’t think he’d bloomed yet. I kind of thought I’d help him out in that department, but we had a little disagreement.”

Hannah scoffed and finally took a seat on the tub. Her butt barely rested on the edge and her dress puffed out around her as she did, enough so that she had to beat it down, which wasn’t exactly easy when only a half an inch of her butt was keeping her from falling on the floor.

“A little disagreement? He told you he liked me and you blackmailed him to make sure he never spoke to me. I think that’s a bit more than a little disagreement.”

“Tomato tomato.”

Not rolling one’s eyes when Nina used that phrase is impossible. She said both words the exact same, even though she knew one of them was meant to be spoken differently. According to her, there is only one way to say it, so why butcher it for an expression.

“Listen, I know it’s cocky and I’m supposed to be working on being more self-aware of my word choices, but if I wouldn’t have come between you back then, this day never would have happened. Curtis spent two years in some dinky town in Texas during his minor days, while you were in college here. Can you imagine what that would have been like for you? Not knowing whether he was sleeping with the whole town. There’s got to be at least twenty pretty women in that town, right? I mean it’s small, but it’s not the whole state of Delaware small, is it?”

Hannah had to briefly think about how she’d lived for months without having statements like that in her life. Curtis played minors in San Antonio, which didn’t exactly go with the word dinky. She was impressed that Nina actually knew where he played, even if she knew nothing about the city.

“I’m pretty sure that dinky town is one of the biggest cities in the country. It’s not as big as New York, but I imagine it’s in the top ten.”

“So that just proves my point even more. There were probably at least a hundred women down there trying to get his attention. A different girl for him each night and you back home studying for your midterms.”

It wasn’t like Hannah wanted to disprove the point, because she actually thought it had merit, but she had tried to imagine what it would’ve been like if Curtis had asked her out in high school. Would she have been more outgoing with someone like him showing her attention? Would her and Nina have fallen out sooner as personalities clashed?

There were so many what-if questions that Hannah had stopped thinking about it. Curtis would probably always be pissed off, but as long as he could sit in a room and not kill Nina, that seemed like progress.

“You don’t have to spell it all out for me. I’m not going to pat you on your back for seeing into the future and stopping Curtis from asking me out. When it really comes down to it, you could have screwed up both of our lives. If he was anyone else, he probably would have moved on from the idea and settled down years ago with some puck bunny who flashed her tits after a game.”

Hannah wasn’t done, but Nina interrupted. She’d picked up a bottle and was making her way over to Hannah.

“A puck bunny? I have an idea from the rest of the description what you’re getting at, but you do know how funny an image of those words together is, right? I mean, is it a puck with a fluffy tail and big ears or just a puck with lots of fur all over it?”

“I can’t comment on the fur levels, but I’ve yet to see a tail or ears. Usually there’s a whole lot of cleavage, and really, what else is there to look at?

Nina laughed and shook her head. With a sponge, she started dapping a tannish liquid on Hannah’s face.

“And just think. Curtis is pretty good at what he does, so you’ll have to deal with them busty women for at least another five years. Imagine if you had to do it for ten. I bailed you out big time.”

They were going to have to agree to disagree on Nina wanting acknowledgment for potentially saving Hannah some heartache. Hannah just hoped Nina wouldn’t use that against her and put on some clown makeup for the wedding. Thankfully, white face paint was never something included in Nina’s little gift bags.