Chapter Two

 

Mae

 

“Mae,” Bella whispered as I walked from the changing room and stood on the elevated plinth opposite my friends and sisters. The mirror was behind me, but I did not yet dare look at my reflection. I glanced at Bella sat beside Ruth, her mother-in-law and Rider’s mama. Her eyes were filling with tears as she stared at me. Her hands were in front of her mouth.

“Do you like it?” I ran my hand over my pronounced stomach.

Bella nodded. “You are perfect,” she whispered. Ruth nodded in agreement.

I looked at Maddie. “Madds?”

She smiled warmly. “You are beautiful, Mae, this dress only enhances that. But this gown could not suit you more if you tried.”

“Styx will love it,” Lilah said and held Grace tighter on her lap.

“You look like a Disney princess,” Grace said.

A hand came down on my arm. I turned to see Beauty behind me. “You ever gonna look in the mirror, darlin’?” She smiled. This boutique belonged to a friend of Beauty’s, and Beauty had practically organized my wedding for me. I was clueless where to even begin.

“You look good, Mae.” I smiled at Letti as she sat uncomfortably on the couch. She had told me she was here to support me, but she had no opinion in such matters as wedding dress shopping. Or anything girly, she’d said affectionately.

“Turn, honey,” Lilah said and I nodded my head. I had no idea why I was so nervous. I knew that Styx loved me and I loved him. I felt as though I had been waiting for this day my whole life. That I had been waiting for the day I finally cemented him as mine. Forever mine, and me forever his.

Closing my eyes, I turned, allowing Beauty to guide me. “You ready?” she whispered. I pulled up the image of Styx in my mind. Me in his arms as we lay in bed. His large tattooed arms holding me close as we spoke. His voice gruff and deep. Then I pictured us laughing. The infamous Hangmen Mute of the Hades Hangmen, so different with me than with anybody else. To others he was aloof, silent, and menacing. But to me, he was loving, caring, and the most beautiful soul in the world.

The other half of my heart.

“I just want it to be perfect,” I said quietly, confessing the words more to myself than to anyone else.

“Then you will be pleased beyond measure,” Bella said.

I smiled as my sister’s comforting words sailed into my ears. I took in a deep breath then slowly opened my eyes and looked at the woman staring back at me. I quietly gasped as I saw her, blue eyes bright, black hair pulled back off her face. Radiant white material almost heavenly against her pale skin.

“Well?” Beauty stood beside me. I wanted to meet her eyes, but I could not remove my gaze from the girl in the mirror. “It is perfect,” I whispered and ran my eyes over my reflection from head to toe. The dress ran, like a waterfall of silk and lace, to the floor. The pristine material hugged every inch of my body. My hands smoothed over the roundness of my stomach. “I like this,” I said and had to fight back the tears in my eyes. “I like that my little girl or boy will be present as I wed their father. I like that people will see the product of our love at the altar along with our spoken, eternal promises.” Then my eyes continued their journey. The bodice ended above my breasts, leaving my arms free. They were covered in the finest lace, which fell off my shoulders.

I next looked at my hair, which was swept off my face. Delicate diamond leaf clips sat against my black hair like stars glittering in the night sky. Diamond earrings sparkled in my ears.

“One last thing.” Beauty stood behind me. I watched through the mirror as she placed a floor-length lace veil in my hair. Beauty fanned the material around my shoulders, and I had to wipe a stray tear from my cheek.

“I could not have asked for anything more,” I whispered and turned to face my sisters, Letti and Ruth.

Bella, Lilah, and Maddie were crying too. I stared down at my sisters with unrivalled relief that they were here. Bella rose from the couch and stood before me. She took my hands. My fingers ran over her wedding band. She must have seen the happy smile on my face because she smiled too. “It will give you a kind of peace you could never imagine,” she said and lowered her eyes. I knew in that moment she was picturing Rider. And she was right. I had witnessed them together. They fit, each the perfect complement of the other.

At peace.

“I know you have that with Styx already. And some would argue that a marriage could not strengthen what was already a solid foundation to begin with.” She shrugged and met my eyes. “But something will shift in your heart, a spiritual embrace in your soul. And it will change you. Forever.”

“It is true,” Maddie said and came to stand beside Bella. My shy, reserved sister blushed. “Having them vow to love you forever will change you irreversibly. Both of you. Styx too, as it did Flame.”

Lastly Lilah came to stand on Bella’s other side. “After everything we have experienced, it will simply fill you with calmness. Such a heady calmness, Mae. Such beautiful serenity.”

I had vowed to wed Styx only when my sisters were safe. And here they were, all happy and free before me. “I cannot wait.” I had to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall. “Now,” I said and released Bella’s hands. “We must see you in your bridesmaid’s dresses.”

Grace stood beside Lilah, and I stroked her face. “And you in your flower-girl dress, little miss.”

“Yes!” Grace said and followed Beauty to the changing rooms. My sisters followed, and I watched them go. Maddie, Lilah, and Grace would be my bridesmaids. Bella would be my maid of honor.

I turned and studied my reflection again. I wondered what Styx would think the moment he saw me at the end of the aisle. I wondered what would be going though his head.

Then my smile fell when I thought about him of late. Thought about how he was signing more, even when it was just the two of us. Shutting down and sitting alone on our porch. Troubled. Styx was troubled. But I did not know about what.

I prayed it was not the wedding . . . that it was not me . . .

“Heads up, Mae,” Letti said from the couch.

My sisters and Grace were coming from the changing room. I could not help but smile widely when I saw them. All of them were wearing identical ice-blue dresses. I had wanted to pick Styx’s favorite color: the color of my eyes. Their hair was down, and delicate white flower garlands crowned their heads. Grace was dressed in white, a basket in her hands. On the wedding day it would be filled with petals. My sisters gathered around me on the plinth, and we all stared into the mirror.

“Your father will be very proud to walk you down the aisle, Mae,” Ruth said. I turned to face her on the couch, my heart swelling at the thought of Stephen giving me away to Styx. We had all become very close to Stephen and Ruth of late—Bella, Maddie and even Lilah and Grace. Ruth was affectionate and considerate. Stephen was kind and gentle. And he was very proud of the women we had become. I knew by the teary expression on Ruth’s face, that Stephen was just excited about this day as me.

Turning back to the mirror, I looked at all of us in our dresses. I took a deep breath, letting happiness fill my lungs. “I adore it,” I said and my sisters’ faces lit up. “It is exactly as I always dreamed.”

“As is your groom,” Bella said and I caught her eye. “Your dream. The boy you met behind the fence.”

“Yes,” I said and smiled.

The boy who gave me my very first kiss.