Finding a New Kind of Love

The Perfect Dress

    Lanie and Darry headed back over to Darry's place where Anita and Cindy both were laughing and cutting up. It was nice to see them both smiling again. The house smelled like burnt toast. My mother never was a good cook but Lanie's mom, Anita, was amazing. She always had dinner on the table every night when her husband came home from work.

 "Cindy, would you like me to make the food?" asked Anita.

    "Yes, please. I don't know what I'm doing." laughed Cindy.

     After the food was finished, we all sat down at the dining room table to have lunch. It was delicious. "Would you like to go check out wedding dresses today Lanie? Cindy, you are more than welcome to tag along," asked Anita. "Oh my gosh! I would love to! What about Darry?" said Lanie. "Oh, he can come to, there is a section for men and he can look for a tuxedo," said Anita.

     Anita, Cindy, Darry, and Lanie all loaded up in Anita's Escalade, and they headed into the city to go wedding gown and tuxedo shopping. There was this store called Bridal Gowns & Tux's by Michelle & Roger. They were a family-owned business, our family had been going there for years. For all kinds of things, like, proms, school dances, and other weddings within the family.

     We all got out of the car, as we stood there on the sidewalk, Lanie's face lit up just like it did the night when I asked her to the fair. Her smile could melt anyone's heart. There were some beautiful gowns in the window, and to think, Lanie was going to be in one of them.

     We all walked inside the store, both Roger and Michelle were there to greet us. "Welcome to Bridal Gowns and Tux's how can we assist you today?" said Michelle. "Yes, my daughter and I are looking for wedding dresses, while Mrs. Cindy here and her son Darry are shopping for Tuxedos," said Anita.

"I believe we could help you, follow us," said Michelle. As we headed down the isles, you could see dresses and Tuxs of all different styles and colors. It was amazing. Lanie couldn't help but run her hands down every dress that she saw. Cindy and Darry, took off in one direction with Roger to look at Tuxesdeos, while Lanie and Anita took off in the other direction with Michelle.

     Darry would be easy to find a tux for, as long as it fits. He just wanted Lanie to be happy. But he knew that he couldn't see her in her dress before the wedding, as it would be bad luck. At least, that's what he had always been taught. Lanie and Anita got back to where the dresses were and they started looking around. "Please, pick out some dresses that you would like to try on and then we can take you back to the dressing area and let you see what you like," said Michelle. Lanie was back there for a while. She tried on about 13 dresses. She wasn't picky, but she wanted to make sure that the dress that she tried on was going to be the one. Wedding dresses weren't cheap. Through each dress she tried on, there was something wrong with them. They were too short, too fluffy, too plain, or too ugly. Lanie was starting to get frustrated. "All of these dresses are beautiful, but they aren't me," she said. After hours of not being able to find anything, they decided that they were going to leave. On the way out the door, Lanie noticed a dress in the corner of the room, it hanging on the wall above them, the jewels around the middle of the dress, shined so beautifully. The top part of the dress was pearl-colored and was spaghetti-strapped, a little lowcut in the middle, didn't show too much, and had a beautiful see-through light red shaw that draped around the shoulders. The bottom of the dress was big and fluffy and had a bit of red in it as well. "That one, can I try it on?" she asked. She looked at the price tag. "Three thousand dollars?" she yelled. Everyone started looking at her. The store was rather busy. Lanie was embarrassed. "It doesn't matter what the price tag is, if you love that dress, I want you to try it on," said Anita.

     Michelle grabbed a ladder and took the dress off the wall. It just so happened to be Lanie's size. Darry, although he saw the dress, knew he wouldn't be able to see her in the dress, so he relied on Lanie, Anita, and his mother to make that decision. Lanie took a walk with Michelle back into the dressing room where she tried on the dress. Everyone could hear Lanie when she walked out and took a look in the mirror. "Oh my gosh! It's perfect. This is the one." she said excitedly.

     While Lanie was trying on the dress with her mother, Cindy knew that it was the dress that Lanie was going to get, she could tell by how excited she got when she saw it hanging on the wall. Cindy went ahead and paid for her dress and Darry's tuxedo. He chose a slick black tuxedo with a red sash around the middle with a pair of black dress shoes. It was nothing fancy, but it would look amazing with Lanie's dress.

     The only thing that was left was to find something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, she didn't have to worry about shoes as she had a pair of beautiful white heels that would be perfect for the dress at home. "I have an idea, lets go to the thrift store. They usually have some great stuff in there, you may be able to find something," said Darry. Darry and Lanie would hang out at the video game store beside the thrift store sometimes, and would often visit the thrift store. "Sure, let's go," said Lanie. They all piled up back into the SUV and headed a few streets over. Lanie and Darry ran into the store and walked over to the jewelry section upfront. Some old pearls caught Lanie's eye. She picked them up and Darry put them around her neck. Lanie took a look in the mirror. "They are beautiful, just like you," said Darry. Lanie just kept the pearls on as they continued to walk around the store checking things out. After a while, they all were starting to get tired and decided to head home.

     They all got back to Anita's house and Anita called Lanie upstairs to her bedroom. "Lanie, would you come up here for a minute. I have something for you," she said. Lanie got up to her mother's room, and Anita handed Lanie a beautiful blue ring that fit her hand perfectly. This was your great, great grandmother's. If she could be here, she wouldn't want anyone else to wear it.

     Lanie hugged Anita tightly. "I love you, mom. Thank you for being here for me. I know that dad is busy with his job. But having both of you approve of me marrying Darry means the world to me. You are the best mom in the world. I can't thank you enough, for taking me to pick out my perfect dress." she said.