Second Time Around

"Oh Mom, I am so happy for you.  You truly deserve this joy and spotlight perhaps?"

She lightly laughed and said,

"Yes, I do suppose spotlight."

"You are so beautiful in your gown.  Of course, you are always beautiful."

She faintly sighed in disagreement with her daughter but replied,

"Thank you so much, my love.  Such kind words.  Nonetheless though, I've never really felt entirely beautiful..."

"Oh Mom, you are too hard on yourself."

"I suppose I can be, but in all honesty, I never thought I would look beautiful and in a wedding gown even.  I did not have enough money to afford a dress when I married your father, just a simple skirt and blouse.

"As the story has always gone and well aware to you especially, I was pregnant with you, so I naturally assumed the marriage would last and I would never need to buy a wedding gown...even if we were to celebrate a marriage milestone.  After your twin brothers were born, I definitely didn't get a chance to dress up and look beautiful.  The three of you kept me so busy, hectic, and at times quite frazzled..."

Her daughter lightly laughed because she and her brothers did cause frustration and raucous when they were very young and especially when the boys were teenagers.

"I am being serious, dear."

"I know, Mom.  I'm sorry.  Go on."

"Anyway, I never felt pretty and even feminine.  I know, I know..."

She anticipated her daughter's response before her daughter said anything.

"...After your father and I divorced, I felt horrible.  I thought I was in love but was left heartbroken and devastated.  If I was not meant to be married to your father, I felt like I was not meant for marriage at all.  Before I met Thomas, I was content to just have you and your brothers in my life.  Yet now, Thomas has shown me what love truly is."

She wiped away a tear no longer of sorrow, but of renewed happiness.

"That is a sweet sentiment, Mom.  I will always love Dad because he is my father.  Thomas, though, is the perfect find for you.  The two of you make sense together...far more than you and Dad did at least as we saw you.  I am so, so happy for you.  Thomas is the lucky one."

"Well, he may be the lucky one, but I am even more lucky.  Thomas is generously paying for my real wedding gown in a real bridal salon - luxury to boot..."

The two laughed happily.

"...I am wearing my dream dress by favorite designer and I finally feel beautiful.  I am so happy for me.  Yea to me!"

Mother and daughter laughed in pure joy and happiness.

"Your second time around, Mom.  How do you feel?"

"I feel great.  Let's keep going with the wedding plans!"

They clinked crystal flute glasses and sipped on champagne as she admired herself in the mirror until just before the salon closed.

The wedding plans were certain to be expensive in her second time around.