I’m wearing an ivory dress, even though I’m not a virgin. Butterflies are camped out in my stomach. Is this really the future that I want?

I look at Danny, who is sitting in the corner of the dressing room. He’s playing with a pink bear. He’s not old enough for someone to take it away from him.

The sight helps settle my stomach. It will be one of the greatest honors of my life to be Danny’s stepmother.

“Let me fix your tiara,” Kelly says. She and Camilla are my bridesmaids. I couldn’t choose a maid of honor, but they’ve been taking care of everything that needed to happen.

I thought that we’d just go to a courthouse and get a justice of the peace to pronounce us man and wife, but Jeff insisted on a real wedding. I thought anything legal would count as a real wedding, but we’ve invited a bunch of his business associates and my friends to attend. Cost isn’t an issue, so it’s pretty much a huge party with an open bar. The ceremony will take a very short time. It’s all about the party that we’re having tonight.

I can hear the band starting up. It means that he’s getting ready to walk.

“How do I look?” I ask them.

“You look fabulous,” Kelly says, wiping a tiny smudge of lipstick from the corner of my mouth. “You’ll knock them dead.”

“Remember to breathe,” Camilla says.

I’m dressed in the sort of white dress that little girls dream about. It’s fluffy and the bodice is covered in tiny seed pearls. One shoulder is bare. My veil barely covers my face and attaches to my very small tiara.

“Here we go,” they tell me. My dad still isn’t back from China yet, so my uncle is giving me away. He’s waiting outside the door. He’s taken all of this in stride, not asking a bunch of questions about the hasty circumstances. I think that he thinks that I’m pregnant, but I’m really not sure. I don’t know if it matters.

“Ready, kid?”

“Yep,” I tell him. “All set.”

He walks slowly in consideration for the heels I’m wearing. They are dream shoes, even if I know my feet are going to screaming at the end of the day.

There are gasps when I appear in the doorway, Camilla and Kelly helping carrying my train. I’m happy, looking at all the beaming faces. Nobody seems unhappy or upset about everything. They’d only had a day’s worth of notice, but people had come for their lunch break.

I walk up the aisle, going straight for Jeff. He looks extraordinarily handsome in a tuxedo. When we get to the end, my uncle pats my hand and goes to sit down with my aunt. Jeff lifts my veil and flips it over my head.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here…” the officiant starts, and I look at Jeff. Most ministers don’t do hasty weddings like this, so I suspect that Jeff bribed somebody to make it happen. I don’t know if I should be exasperated or happy.

I can’t even hear while I’m up there. I’m trying not to cry happy tears and ruin my makeup, but this is as close to a fairytale as I’m going to get. Other girls wait and agonize for a year to taste different cake samples and think about the exact shade of the tablecloths. Jeff just asked around for wedding planners with cancelled weddings and slid right into a slot with a runaway bride who jilted her groom with one day to go. With him around, everything was easier.

The priest asks me to say “I do”. Then he asks Jeff. Now we’re man and wife.

Jeff kisses me softly on the lips and I can hear happy sighs in the crowd.

Then we turn to the audience. I am blinded by flashes, but I keep a smile on my face. No matter what the future brings, I will never forget the happiness of this moment. Danny’s asleep in a carrier in the front row next to my aunt.

* * *

Five hours later, my feet are screaming and my stomach is full. I’ve been kissed by Jeff so many times my mouth has swollen to twice the normal size. And still people are clinking their forks against their glasses.

“You want to get out of here?” Jeff asks as he watches me surreptitiously rub my feet.

“Yes,” I say gratefully. I look out at the room. “But the party’s in full swing.”

“They won’t even notice.” Jeff takes my hand and kisses my new wedding band. “Let’s sneak out. I’ll tell the DJ to make an announcement that the free bar is open until 5 AM.”

He goes to the DJ and tells him what to say. As soon as the DJ announces it, there’s a stampede for the bar that only free booze can create.

Jeff and I sneak out through a side door.

“That was crazy,” I say, the cold air hitting my face.

“Let’s go home,” Jeff says. Danny is staying with my aunt and uncle tonight. I shiver at the tone of Jeff’s voice.