Bursting at the Seams

by Chloe Taylor

  Zoey couldn’t believe it. More secrets! But she was delighted her father would be leading the cere­mony. It made it even more special. And she was getting used to the idea of him dating. Sort of.

  Finally, it was time. Marcus began to play “Here Comes the Sun,” and first, Zoey and then Sybil headed down the aisle. Zoey held Buttons’s leash, and she looked quite stylish with her ring bearer pillow. Just before the ceremony, John had carefully placed the wedding bands into the little pocket on top, buttoned it, and gave Zoey—and Buttons—a hug.

  Then Lulu appeared, looking like the most beautiful bride Zoey had ever seen. Zoey hadn’t planned on crying at the wedding, but she couldn’t help it. Lulu looked so happy, and so in love. She practically glowed.

  Lulu glided down the aisle toward John. Marcus finished playing his song and put down his guitar, taking his place beside the best man. Mr. Webber welcomed everyone and began the ceremony.

  Soon it was time for the rings. Zoey reached down to retrieve them from the pillow’s pocket, but she could only find Lulu’s and not John’s. Zoey dug around with her fingers, then began searching the ground with her eyes, frantic.

  Mr. Webber leaned over and whispered to Zoey, “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s missing,” she confessed, looking guiltily at Lulu and John, even though she had seen John put both rings into the pillow not fifteen minutes before. How could one have fallen out? “John’s ring is gone! What are we going to do?”

  Zoey’s dad didn’t miss a beat. “No matter—for now let’s use mine, okay, John? Lulu?” Mr. Webber asked, slipping off the wedding ring he still wore on his right hand, despite having been a widower for so many years. “We’ll search for the other one later.”

  Lulu clasped his hand gratefully and then took the ring her own sister had put on her husband’s hand years ago.

  The ceremony continued without incident, and finally, it was time to kiss the bride. Everyone cheered, with Zoey and Marcus cheering the loudest of all.

  “Time to party!” Marcus said as the guests were led to their tables, which had been decorated with beautiful pink, orange, and red flowers. The food was from a local Thai restaurant, where John and Lulu had their first date, and everything was delicious. Zoey was seated at the bride’s table, with her grandparents and her father and brother.

  For the first time, Zoey noticed Gabe walking around, taking pictures. He’d been taking them the whole time, she supposed, but had been doing such a great job blending in with the guests and not being obvious. And, to her surprise, she knew his assistant, as well.

  But it wasn’t Josie.

  “Libby!” Zoey hopped up to hug Libby, who was carrying some of Gabe’s equipment, as well as gently reminding guests to please use the disposable cameras on the table. “I can’t believe you’re here! How did this happen?”

  “Gabe asked me to be his assistant because we always talk about photography in our computer class.” Libby beamed. “I was glad to, especially when I found out why you’ve been so busy lately. How did you make that wedding gown, Zoey? It’s gorgeous! And your dress, too.”

  Zoey shrugged. “Thanks, Libby! I don’t know, really, how I got the wedding dress done. It was such a blur! But Sean made my dress, actually, since I ran out of time. I’m just so glad Aunt Lulu is happy.”

  For their first dance as a married couple, the bride and groom danced the tango, as they’d planned, and Zoey couldn’t help feeling proud of the gown she’d made. It showed off Lulu’s beauty and moved very well on the dance floor.

  “I’m going to go dance!” Zoey told Libby when it was time for others to join on the dance floor. “You come too, okay?”

  “In a bit,” Libby promised. “I’m working, you know!”

  Zoey headed to the dance floor and danced her heart out. Most of the guests were dancing as well, so at times the dance floor was crowded, and there was some jostling and laughing as people bumped into one another. At one point Zoey found herself doing the twist next to her aunt, who was going down very low.

  With a gasp, Zoey noticed that Lulu’s dress actually had a seam that was opening up on one side. Zoey must have forgotten to use a lock stitch there, or had basted the seam but never properly sewn it.

  Horrified by her mistake, Zoey grabbed Lulu’s arm and whispered in her ear. She then led Lulu off the dance floor, through the grass, and toward the house. But the grass was still damp and slippery, and Zoey slid in her kitten heel, one toe landing on the hem of Lulu’s dress and tearing it so that the bottom of the dress began to rip horizontally.

  “Aunt Lulu, I’m so terribly sorry!” she shrieked. “I can’t believe I just did that! And on your most important day.” Zoey was near tears as she looked over the ragged hole in the dress, the rip in the seam, and the mud-covered hem. There was no way she could quickly stitch it all up, as she’d planned to do with the loose seam.

  Aunt Lulu looked down at the rip and shrugged. “You know, Zoey, I know it’s not perfect anymore, but this dress has done its duty, and it’s not like I’ll be wearing it again, right?” Aunt Lulu winked.

  “Right!” Zoey said. “But what if it keeps ripping?”

  “I have an idea,” Lulu said. “But it’s a little drastic.”

  “Okay,” Zoey said. “You’re the bride! Do what you need to do!”

  With that, Lulu quickly tore at the fabric horizontally with her hands, bringing the hem of the dress to just below her knees.

  “There,” she said, with a nod. “Now I can really dance. And don’t worry, Zoey—I’m having the time of my life, and I adore this dress. We are going to have fun all night long, and we’re not going to worry about anything, okay?”

  Zoey nodded, amazed by her aunt’s ability to turn lemons into lemonade. The two of them returned to the dance floor to show off Aunt Lulu’s new “reception dress.” The group cheered, and Zoey couldn’t help cheering along with them. What a woman her aunt was.

  When it was time for the desserts to be brought out, Zoey overheard Aunt Lulu joking to someone about the Halloween cupcakes. Zoey couldn’t wait to see her face when the real desserts appeared.

  Priti, Kate, and their moms came out, all wearing professional white aprons, provided by Mrs. Holbrooke, and began delivering the beautiful molten chocolate cakes to each seat. They’d even made a special large one, shaped like a heart, which had “Lulu and John” written with gold edible glitter in the pink frosting.

  Lulu was so surprised and delighted, she burst into tears and hugged each of Zoey’s friends, thanking them for stepping in at the last moment to help. Zoey hugged them also, and she was grateful she knew so many amazing and talented people.

  The cakes were delicious! All the guests loved them, and Zoey knew they’d be a hit at the party. Zoey would definitely need to thank Mrs. Holmes on Monday for teaching them such a delicious recipe.

  When the wedding was finally over, and the guests had left, Zoey, Marcus, and Mr. Webber got ready to leave. They packed up their things and kissed the bride good-bye.

  “Thank you for all you did for us today,” John said. “Lulu and I will never forget it.”

  “We won’t either!” Marcus assured him. “What a day! What a party!”

  “Have a wonderful honeymoon, Aunt Lulu and Uncle John,” Zoey said with a giggle. “I hope it goes smoother than the wedding planning!”

  “I don’t,” John said knowingly. “Sometimes the sweetest moments are found in the middle of the biggest messes.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” said Mr. Webber. “I’d say that’s family in a nutshell. Welcome to ours, John.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Back to Reality!

  I can’t believe it’s over. I really can’t! Yesterday my favorite aunt got married (yes, that’s right! It wasn’t an engagement party—it was a surprise wedding. Did any of you guess?), and she wore the wedding gown I’ve posted here. I’d been sewing it for about three weeks straight to get it ready in time. And even though I thought I’d done my
best, I managed to leave a seam in the skirt unsewn (it was basted, but not properly sewn up), and the skirt ended up ripping on the dance floor. Then there was a separate mishap, and Lulu ended up having to tear off the bottom part of the skirt and rock it as a knee-length reception dress! Luckily, she’s so awesome, she made it look cool, but as the designer (and niece and junior bridesmaid), I can’t help feeling like I let her down. It’s not a very good feeling. . . . But I know she loved the dress, so I’m happy!

  And—get this!—my new uncle John’s wedding ring is missing! It fell out the ring pillow somewhere in the backyard, and we searched and searched, but we still can’t find it. Superstitious readers—that doesn’t mean anything, does it?

  Monday morning felt very ordinary to Zoey, with no wedding dress to work on or wedding to help plan. She packed her lunch and headed off to school, like always. As she was getting books from her locker, she heard her phone beep and then saw the following text:

  Having the most marvelous time on our honeymoon. Thank you for my dreamy dress and for being a dream of a niece! Xoxoxo

  There was also a picture of Lulu and John in front of a palm tree, holding hands. Zoey couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear as she tucked her phone into her backpack and headed off toward home ec class. Yes, she’d made a mistake on her aunt’s dress, but Lulu was happy, and that was the most important thing. And, truthfully, Zoey had learned a very important lesson from the experience, which was to always triple-check her seams!

  When Zoey arrived in class and plopped down next to Priti, she realized with a start that it was the day of the apron innovation contest. Zoey had completely forgotten! She’d meant to bring her apron home over the weekend and work on it Sunday, after the wedding, but she’d been so excited Friday that she hadn’t put it in her bag, and never gave it a second thought.

  “Oh my gosh, I completely forgot the apron contest,” she whispered to Priti.

  Priti had her apron out and ready, and it was starched and pressed. “Well, it’s no wonder,” she said. “You’ve been a little bit busy! Don’t worry—I’m sure yours is great.”

  Zoey wasn’t so sure. She hurriedly grabbed it from her cubby in the room and shook it out over her table to examine it. Looking at it critically for the first time, Zoey was embarrassed to see how sloppy the hem was, and some obvious chalk marks from marking it were showing. She had added some minor innovation, by using snaps in the back instead of making it a tie, because Zoey always had trouble tying things behind her own back. But it was nowhere near as good as it should have been. It wasn’t what other students would expect from her, and it wasn’t what she expected of herself.

  “I really messed up,” she confessed to Priti. “I kind of thought I was such an experienced sewer that I could just throw this together, and maybe even win, but I was too distracted and I never put in any effort. And it shows.”

  She sighed heavily. It felt awful to have to show something she wasn’t proud of. Especially when everyone in the class expected her to have something really neat. Zoey felt like she was learning another big lesson—to give everything her best effort every time and that nothing is guaranteed.

  “Don’t worry, Zoey,” Priti said kindly. “Some kids didn’t even finish theirs. And you were busy working on an actual wedding gown! It’s not like you were goofing off.”

  “Still,” said Zoey, “I could have done better.”

  One by one the kids in home ec got up to present their aprons. Zoey gamely tried to present hers, showing the snaps and whatnot, but she noticed Mrs. Holmes look slightly disappointed.

  When Sean got up to show his apron, Zoey couldn’t help being impressed. His apron was really well made and was definitely innovative. He’d taken wax and covered the cotton all over, so that the fabric would be somewhat spill proof, and he’d also added a five-by-seven inch pocket for recipe cards and made the sides extra wide, so that they would wrap around to the back and cover more of the wearer’s clothes. The neck and waist straps were extra wide too, which made the apron look more comfortable to wear. It was a really neat-looking design.

  Zoey clapped loudly for Sean when he was done presenting, as did the rest of the class, even Carter. Some of the kids may have initially thought it was odd that Sean was so good at sewing, but he’d turned out to be so good at it, they’d forgotten they ever thought it was weird and now just seemed impressed.

  When Sean won the award for best apron, Zoey got up and went over to congratulate him.

  “Great job, Sean,” she said. “You really made a cool apron! And I love the wax trick. I might try that myself.”

  Sean looked flattered and pleased by all the attention. “Thanks, Zoey,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”

  “I hope we can start that club together,” Zoey said. She couldn’t believe now that she’d ever felt threatened by Sean. He’d helped her make her beautiful junior bridesmaid’s dress, and now she had a new friend who loved to do the same thing she did. She didn’t need to feel envious of him! If anything, a little friendly competition in home ec class might make it more fun. She hadn’t done well in the apron contest, but she would definitely bring it on the next project. Sew Zoey would show everyone her true colors!

  “Too bad your little snaps didn’t help your apron win,” Ivy said on her way back to her desk. “Your hem was uneven, by the way.” She and Bree snickered to each other, their unimaginative but well-sewn aprons folded over their arms.

  Before Zoey could reply, Sean cut in. “Zoey was a little busy the past few weeks designing and sewing a custom-made wedding gown,” he said. “And by the way, whenever you guys talk badly about her, you just make yourselves look jealous and catty.”

  “That’s what you think,” Ivy snapped, but she and Bree moved on quickly, without further comment.

  Zoey looked at Sean gratefully. “Thanks,” she said.

  “Friends?” he said, as if it were a question. He put out his fist, which she quickly bumped with hers.

  “Friends,” she answered.

  A week flew by, and before Zoey knew it, her grandparents had flown back to Arizona, and Aunt Lulu and Uncle John had returned from their honeymoon. They invited Zoey and her friends, and their moms who had helped with the wedding, over to their house for brunch, to thank them all for pitching in at the last minute and making the event a success.

  Zoey couldn’t wait to see her aunt and uncle. She still wasn’t used to thinking of Lulu and John as her “aunt and uncle” yet! But she felt sure that it would become a habit very quickly. John had proven himself to be almost as wonderful as Lulu during all the hectic wedding planning and crises.

  John and Lulu had arranged the brunch—which included delicious frittata, fruit, and bacon—out on their back patio. The Webbers arrived first, and Zoey couldn’t believe how tan and happy Lulu and John looked.

  “Zoey!” Lulu cried, giving her an enormous hug. “Can you believe it’s all over? Just a few weeks ago, I took you for cupcakes and told you the news. And now I’m a happily married woman.” She smiled dazzlingly over at John, who returned the look.

  “I can’t believe it,” Zoey said. “It feels like it was only a few days ago, but so much has happened!”

  The guests arrived almost all at once, as the Holbrookes had given Sean a ride, Gabe’s parents had picked up Libby, and the Mackeys lived close-by. Zoey was happy to see all her friends on a Sunday morning and happier still that she didn’t have to lie to them anymore.

  As the kids were all sitting together in a circle, with the adults off to the side in their own circle, Zoey said, “You guys don’t know what a relief it is to have the wedding over and not have to hide the wedding gown from you anymore!”

  Kate laughed uncharacteristically loudly for her. “You don’t know what a relief it is to not have to hear your ridiculous excuses anymore!”

  Libby quickly nodded and chimed in, “Seriously! You were doing ‘engagement dresses,’ then ‘Etsy orders,’ then you were doing the wedding dress
‘early, in case Lulu changed her mind’. . .”

  Priti and Gabe started laughing as well. “You were a mess, Zoey,” Priti said. “You even flubbed your apron project in home ec. But,” she said, stressing the word, “I don’t know another person in the world who would work so hard to help their aunt throw her dream wedding in her dream dress in just a few weeks. You are one terrific friend, Zoey Webber.” And she held up her glass of orange juice to toast her.

  Zoey’s other friends did the same, and they clinked glasses and cheered. Zoey couldn’t help blushing and feeling like she really didn’t deserve quite so much praise. After all, Sean had sewn her junior bridesmaid’s dress for her, and the wedding gown had ripped! But the wedding had been a success, and the whole family was happy, so maybe that was enough. Maybe the perfect wedding never really is perfect.

  “Oh my gosh!” Priti cried. She leaned down and picked up something beside her chair. “Look at this!”

  Everyone looked over, and when Lulu saw what was in Priti’s hand, she yelled “Eureka!”

  John jumped up, ran over to Priti, and took the object from her hand. “I can’t thank you enough,” he said, clasping Priti’s hand.

  It was his wedding ring. Somehow it had slipped out of the pillow pocket, or Buttons had jiggled it out, and it had been sitting on the muddy lawn—half buried—since the wedding.

  “Don’t thank me!” Priti said, somewhat embarrassed. “If I were better at sewing, it might have stayed in the pocket.”

  John shook his head. “But then we wouldn’t have this wonderful story to tell for the rest of our lives.” He beamed at Zoey and her friends. “I’m sure it’s not your fault, but, you know, it’s the mistakes, and the mishaps, that make our lives full and funny and interesting.”

  Zoey couldn’t help giggling. “Then my life is very full and very interesting!”

  All her friends laughed. “It sure is,” Libby agreed. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”