Clare then quietly sat in her seat, and our eyes met. Everyone else in the room disappeared.
“Thank you for walking into that exam room, and for being brave enough to take on two redheads for a lifetime. I love you.”
The small amount of space that separated us was suddenly too much. I reached out, wrapping my hand around the back of her head and pulled
gently until our foreheads touched. Her brilliant green eyed gaze bore into me, seeing the deepest parts of my soul.
“I love you, Clare.”
I closed the gap, kissing the lips of the angel who would soon become mine in every way.
Clare
“I look like a peacock,” I said, staring at the scary reflection of myself in the hotel salon.
“A very cute peacock,” Leah amended, before asking, “What exactly did you tell the woman to do?”
“I told her I wanted an updo. Something classy.”
“Well…I’m not sure I’d say it’s classy, but it’s sure something.” I could see her trying to hold back a laugh.
Just about the time I was about to disown her as my best friend and maid of honor for laughing at me in my hour of need, Maddie came bouncing
over. She’d just had her hair done, and of course, her hair was gorgeous. A pile of perfectly curled red ringlets flowed down her back. It was
pinned at the sides with tiny sparkly pins that matched her coral colored dress.
“Mommy! Look how pretty I am!” she exclaimed.
“Oh baby! You look beautiful!” She twirled around and both Leah and I clapped and “oohed” and “ahhed” at the right times. She loved every
minute of it.
After a few minutes of undivided attention, where she showed us her perfect hair, sparkly pins and every single detail of her dress and
matching shoes, she looked up and paused.
“Mommy! Your hair! You look just like that lady on TV!”
Confused, I asked, “What lady?”
“The one who sings those songs that Aunt Leah loves that you won’t let me sing?”
Trying to think back and remember the many inappropriate songs Leah listened to, I remembered a conversation I’d had with her a few weeks ago,
when Leah and I were watching the MTV Music Video awards.
“Lady Gaga?” I asked.
“Yep! That lady has hair just like you!”
I gave Leah a panicked look and the laugh that she’d been previously holding back suddenly burst out of her like a volcano and she doubled
over.
“Hey baby, why don’t you go find Grammy and see what her hair looks like?” I suggested, giving Leah a sideways evil glare.
“Okay, Mommy!” she said, skipping off in search of my mom.
“Oh my God. First, I’m going to kill you, and then I’m going to find someone to fix this bird’s nest on top of my hair. No…scratch that.
First, you’re going to find someone to fix this…and then I’m going to kill you.”
“Calm down, Clare-bear. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to go find the manager, and we’ll get this crazy disco stick disaster fixed and
you’ll be back to looking like you.”
One hour, two hair stylists and several mimosas later…I had a brand new do. It was stunning. Leah had talked me out of an updo and we instead
went with something more natural. Loose curls cascaded down my back and were pinned with small antique pearl clips that framed my face
perfectly.
“You are a miracle worker, Leah.” I said, staring at my own shocked expression in the mirror.
“Does this mean I’ve been forgiven?” she asked.
“What? Oh, yes. Definitely. You are redeemed. For another day.”
“Well, good. Now, let’s get you back to the bridal suite. We have a wedding dress to put on!” she practically squealed.
We all made our way back up to the suite, and it was my turn to laugh when Leah, having had one too many mimosas, pretended to be my own wacky
version of secret service, jumping ahead to check around corners, and clear hallways to protect her “asset” from the men. She was taking her
maid of honor role very seriously and we managed to arrive upstairs without being seen by anyone.
As we entered the suite, we were greeted by my mother and Cece, who had an exuberant Maddie in her arms. She was telling her soon-to-be
grandmother all about her adventures in the salon, and Cece was hanging on every word like it was the most important conversation in the world.
Ella was in the corner rocking her little one, humming a soft lullaby. Her hair was curled and pinned to the side, just below her ear.
“Oh my, Sweetheart! You are a vision,” my mother said.
“Mommy! What happened to your other hair?” Maddie asked, which caused us all to laugh.
“Well,” I started, leaning down in front of her, “I decided I wasn’t cool enough to have that hairdo, so we thought this might be more my
style.”