My mother snuggled up next to my father and smiled when he whispered something in her ear. I was so happy my family was here. Walker and Liza would be taking a separate car since they had Nickolas and didn’t want to arrive as early as we had to.
I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I watched Jackson and Jennifer. The two of them had grown close over the last year. Both insisting they were only friends, but I could see the way they looked at each other. I knew Jennifer struggled with the fact that Jackson was so in love with her sister. If only she would try to open her heart to the idea. I could see Jackson was tearing himself up by fighting his feelings for Jennifer.
Turning to look out the window, I decided to do something about the two of them once we got back to the states.
Turning to ask Ryder if he remembered my Tic Tacs, my latest pregnancy craving, I noticed Lucy. She was staring at me.
“Are you okay, Lucy?”
She smiled sweetly. “Very much okay. I just want to say one thing while everyone is in the car.”
I squeezed Ryder’s hand.
Nate threw up his hands and said, “I swear it wasn’t me who had sex with that model in the bar last night.”
Everyone turned to look at Nate. “Oh, was that not what you were going to talk about?”
Nate Sr. shook his head, “Jesus H. Christ. And this is what I spawned.”
Covering my mouth to hide my smile, I peeked up at Ryder who was shooting Nate a dirty look.
Lucy cleared her throat. “No, but thank you for clearing that up for us, darling.”
Nate smiled and nodded his head as Jennifer punched him in the arm while Jackson and Dani laughed.
“What I wanted to say was thank you to Ava. Since you came into our world in a whirlwind flash, nothing has been the same. Because of you, we are about to see our beloved Kate’s dreams come true. But I don’t want this to just be about Kate, because you, my sweet girl, should be so proud to have two of your own designs in this show. I can’t express enough how proud we all are of you, Ava. It warms my heart to see you be able to follow your dreams, and I know if Kate was here she’d be saying the same thing.”
Oh dear. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. Dani handed me a tissue and I dabbed the corner of each eye while my mother reached over and took my hand.
“Thank you, Lucy, so much.”
Ryder reached over and rubbed my stomach. “Kate is here. Tucked away and enjoying every moment.”
“She is!” Jennifer said with a huge smile.
When we found out I was having a girl, there wasn’t a second thought to what her name would be.
Kate.
“We’re here,” Ryder said.
While Ryder and everyone went to their seats, I made my way backstage. Any last minute adjustments, I wanted to be a part of.
“There she is!” Renee said as she walked up and hugged me. “How are you feeling?”
“Amazing! Tired! Nervous … scared … I may puke.”
“You can blame that all on the little one,” Renee said with a laugh while rubbing my stomach.
By the time the show started, something kicked in and I was running on adrenaline and excitement.
I cried when each of Kate’s designs went out. Peeking out, I watched Ryder and his family do the same. I even saw Nate quickly wipe a tear away. Jackson sat with a huge smile on his face. I couldn’t help but notice when he reached for Jennifer’s hand and held it.
Kate’s wedding gowns would be in the Barcelona wedding show along with three of my own. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fly in for that because it was a week before my due date. I was holding out hope though. Even though Ryder had already said no.
Michael was introduced after the show and walked out on stage. Renee came up and stood next to me as I looked over the two models in front of me. “You both look beautiful,” I said with a huge smile.
They both wore dresses I had designed that were a throwback to the early nineteen thirties. One was called the Lizzy and the other Kathleen. Named after the two women who inspired the designs.
I reached up and adjusted the pin holding the pill cap hat on the one model. “The black lace looks amazing up against your blue eyes,” I told the model.
“Thank you, Ms. Montgomery.”
“Ava, please call me Ava.”
“This is it!” Renee called out.
Michael was introducing a sneak preview of the spring line of Ava Grace. My heart raced as the first model walked out. Renee took my hand and squeezed it and said, “Welcome to the party!”
Laughing, I adjusted the hat one more time before ushering the next model out. Taking a few deep breaths, I turned to Renee. “What if I fall?”
Shaking her head, she simply said, “Don’t. A pregnant woman falling on a runway will not look sexy at all.”