5. Five

Ifinally feel as though I"ve had enough rest from yesterday"s flight. After leaving the airport, we got into our rental car and came straight to the hotel. Or at least attempted to.

First, we got a flat tire. Which took much longer than needed to get it fixed. Someone ended up driving us out a new rental to replace the one that broke down. Maelie was fussy the entire time and Aria and Emsley started to fight over who knows what.

Nolan was the only thing keeping me sane. Once we got back on the road, Aria threw up all over the back seat. I"m talking her entire breakfast everywhere. This is where I had to return the favor to keep Nol sane who swore he had no idea Aria got car sick. Which, she might have just been exhausted from all the travel but regardless, I felt bad for her. I felt bad for everyone. It was our first time traveling as a big family like this and I"m sure everyone was just cranky and tired. Once we finally arrived the hotel last night, I don"t think anyone even took their shoes off. We hit whatever surface we could reach and crashed out.

I woke up this morning to fresh coffee and three very happy and calm kids, all due to Nolan being Nolan.

"Are you sure you"re fine by yourself for a little while?" I ask as he creeps up behind me to wrap his hands around my waist.

I"m getting ready in the bathroom after Sterling texted me and asked to meet up for a mini dress try-on. And also, so we could catch up. But I worried about leaving Nolan and the girls especially after all of the drama the happened yesterday. It"s not that I don"t trust Nol to handle things, I just know that he"s had issues with Aria"s mom taking advantage of his willingness before and I want to ensure he knows that that"s not what I"m doing.

"Of course," he whispers into my hair. His lips graze the side of my cheek as I close the lid to my mascara, and I find myself blushing so hard it hurts. "You won"t be far and it"s only for a couple hours. I was thinking about taking the girls to the ice cream shop down in the shopping center."

"They would love that." I turn around to face him and wrap my arms around his neck. "Thank you for everything by the way. Yesterday was chaotic."

"To say the least," he adds and we both chuckle.

"I"m lucky to have you," I tell him and he simply presses his nose to mine and smiles against my lips.

"I'm the lucky one, D. Now go before you're late. I got this." He kisses me before letting go.

"Okay." I turn to grab my phone off the counter. "Call if you need anything." I rush out of the bathroom and head toward to girls to give them kisses goodbye before heading out the door.

"Thank you, Gerald," I say as I exit the car Sterling sent for me.

"Of course, Mrs. Steele. So nice to see you again," he tells me and I catch his mistake. I turn to correct him, but he's already back in his car.

I do notice the little flip my tummy did when he said the formality tied to Nolan's last name. But I know we talked about marriage not being super important right now. Though walking into the wedding venue and seeing it lit up with twinkle lights, all of the white and red roses galore, and all of the gold and wood accents, I almost forget that I said that to him.

This is what dreams are made of. The whole venue is naturally lit with big, beautiful windows and only accented with the twinkles of the string lights on the ceiling beams. There are flowers everywhere, which I'm surprised they'll last the next few days, but they look heavenly as they hang from every possible surface. All of the centerpieces are placed perfectly in the center of the all the tables, and I hate that I don't get to look much further before I hear Sterling hollering a greeting at me, echoing from the other side of the large space I'm standing in.

"Dakota!" I turn to see her smiling as if I'm the best part of her day. I worry that she's stressed, and I immediately jog toward her to accept the hug she's reaching for. "God, I missed you," she says as she squeezes me tight.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, leaning her back and holding her by her shoulders.

"Is everything okay?" She gives me a funny look.

Sterling hasn't changed a bit. I mean appearance wise of course. Her hair is still curly and blonde, eyes bluer than ever. Her skin is glowing, and her smile is just as warm as I know her to be. Though I can sense a change in personality. Her growth is showing. Callan really has had an effect on her. She seems…happy. And that makes me smile.

"You mean, why is everything okay? I think that's the problem. Everything seems to be going so smoothly. There was a hiccup that Callan took care of but other than that, nothing is wrong and that worries me." She crosses her arms across her chest and gives a confused smile as she looks around as if something will jump out at her.

"Well, I'd say no problem is a good problem to have right now, Sterls." I nudge her and she laughs.

"You're right. But when has my life never not fallen apart?" Her shoulders tense up as she shrugs then realizes she's being silly, shaking off her forced doubt. She allows herself to relax a bit before pulling me with her toward a different room.

"Your dress was delivered last night and I need you try it on, make sure nothing is wrong with it please. Sara tried on her dress this morning and-"

"And I looked like a model," a new voice squeaks up from behind us, interrupting Sterling.

I turn to see the source and I recognize the not-so-little-anymore-girl that Sterling used to babysit.

"Sara?" I question and she just smiles with sass.

"In the flesh," she responds, and I can see that her little attitude has not changed. But she looks so grown up and I almost gasp because I didn't think I'd been gone that long. Then again, I have a whole ass three-month-old right now.

"Trust me, it doesn't get better," Sterling quips hinting to my future journey with three girls.

"As long as they don't grow up as fast as that one, I think I can manage," I joke, and Sterling and I laugh.

Sara exits the room and Sterling starts in conversation about all of the small talk that we don't get to enjoy as much these days. It feels like no times has passed between us but we hardly know each other anymore all at the same time. Once we talk each other's ears off, she proceeds to push me to try on my dress. I know it'll fit, I had my last fitting a few weeks after the baby and I haven't lost much more of the baby weight since then, but I think I'm more self-conscious of my new body more than anything which is why I hesitate slightly. But despite my silent protest, I know I have to do this for my best friend, so I try on the dress.

Sterling looks it over for any imperfections in the form of loose threads or uneven length. She decides it looks perfect on me and has me change back out of it. She then zips it back up into a garment back and reaches for two glasses of champaign that have been waiting for us on the side cart.

"Are you nervous?" I ask her as we sit in two chairs nearby, feeling a bit nervous myself for some reason.

"Nervous? No. Unless you call shitting your pants nervous," she snorts, and I smile a cheesy grin.

"But enough about me, my big day is soon. What about you? What's new? Any idea when you and Nolan will get married? I can't wait to meet him by the way. Oh, and the baby!" Sterling talks with so much excitement that it kind of scares me.

I know people ask when we're going to get married, but I guess I never felt more pressure than I have when the question comes from my best friend who is literally about to walk down the aisle in a few days.

I quickly gulp down the fizzy liquid and swallow hard.

"You'll meet Maelie tomorrow, she's a gem. Most of the time," I deadpan. "And honestly, I'm not sure about all this. I mean, we talked about getting married and having a wedding at one point and decided we didn't' need to jump into all that right now. We had just gotten out of toxic relationships, and he's already been married once. But I'm…" I trail off when I hear footsteps approach from behind us, echoing through the main room and getting closer. I sigh in relief and annoyance because I'm glad I don't have to talk about the topic anymore but at the same time, I know it's healthy to speak my thoughts out loud.

"Sterling, you're needed in the kitchen." Someone who looks likes they might be staff announces. Sterling finishes her drink and smiles at me.

"Sorry, bestie. Bride duties call. But I'll see you at the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night?" she asks, and I nod at her.

We stand up and Sterling wraps her arms around me. I return the hug with a big squeeze.

"I'm really proud of you," I tell her before she lets go. "You're going to look stunning."

"I really am so happy, Dakota. It's surreal but I'm so happy. And I know one day, when the time is right, you'll get to experience this too. In your own way of course. I'm also really proud of you," she tells me before bracing me one more time for another hug and then heads off toward the kitchen.

"Gerald is waiting out front for you," she hollers as she walks away.

"That was fast," I mention realizing that I've actually been here for two hours.

"We gave him a raise." She winks at me and then disappears.