Finding Truth Behind Legends
by Wizardtho
Chapter 47:
Avory arrives nearly 15 minutes before Sinopa. Just as I start to worry, she rushes through the door, apologizing, “Sorry I’m late.”
I shake my head and ask as I whisk a batch of cake ingredients together, “Are you alright? I was starting to worry. You aren’t sick again, are you?”
She chuckles, “Oh, no… come to find out, these last several days of NOT getting sick every 10 minutes? Well, I couldn’t find any shorts that fit. I had to finally break out the maternity clothes I’ve been waiting to wear.”
I drop the whisk in the bowl and quickly hug her, “Oh, Sinopa. That’s such good news! I’m so happy the tea is helping.”
She nods, her eyes watery, “I can’t wait to surprise Kimbal when he gets here. I’ve just been wearing my regular stretchy lounge clothes at home, and he was already patrolling when I got dressed this morning.”
Avory comes into the room, kisses Sinopa’s cheek, gently rubs her tummy with a smile, then looks at me, “Time to dust yourself off, Lovey. Your dress awaits.”
I hug Sinopa one more time, then hurry to wash my hands and take off my apron.
In my room, Avory has gone all out. My dress is hanging on a mannequin, and it looks incredible. My eyes tear up as I look at it, so it takes me a second to look at Avory. When I do, he says, “No need for words, Darling. The look on your face right now is all I need. Let’s see how I did, alright?”
He carefully removes my dress from the mannequin as I strip down to my bra and panties. He helps me into the dress as he notes, “You’ll need a backless bra or pasties, Lovey. This bra won’t work.”
I nod, “I know. I have a nude bra with clear tape sides. I’ll show it to you after you get me into this masterpiece. It fits the same as the one I have on, so this one should give us a good idea.”
When he steps back and tells me to look into my full-length mirror, I gasp in shock. Yes, it’s simple, and it’s not a traditional wedding gown, but the dress Avory has made me is stunning in its simplicity. The color is more beautiful than I could have imagined, and it fits like a dream.
I twist and turn a bit to see how it moves with me. I find that even with it being nearly completely backless, it stays put at the sides, and I barely even feel the fabric against my skin. Avory grins, “I think that’s a win, Lovey. No sticky tape for you. Are you happy with everything? Length, fit, how it drapes?”
I take one more look in the mirror, then turn back to Avory. I take both his hands, then promise, “Even though you weren’t put into a time crunch by us marrying this weekend, I’m still going to talk to Taha about us springing for a weekend away for you and Nova. You created perfection, Avory. I told you what I wanted, and you created the perfect dress for me. It’s so much more beautiful in person, and there is not one thing that needs to change.”
His whole face lights up, and he whispers as his hand goes to his chest, “Really?”
I laugh and promise, “Really truly,” before pulling him into a tight hug.
As he helps me back out of the dress, I ask, “Speaking of… how is it going with you two? How is the situation with your parents?”
He stops with the dress draped over his arms, looks at me with the saddest look I’ve ever seen, then I can see and hear his breathing hitch as he tries to speak. He shakes his head, clears his throat, then says softly, “My father hasn’t answered his cell phone the last 4 times I’ve called him. If he comes in the room while I’m on the phone with Mama, she just suddenly hangs up on me.”
I completely disregard my dress in his arms as I pull Avory into a tight hug. After a minute, I whisper, “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. You know you have a built-in family in us, right? No matter what, there is no judgment, no disappointment, and no acting like you don’t exist… not in this house. You have a voice in this house. Always.”
His arms tighten considerably around me, then he nods into my neck while choking out, “Thank you, Bella. I needed that today.”
Pulling back, I cup his face in my hands, then ask seriously as I touch his forehead, then his chest over his heart, “Forget everything up here for a minute. I want to know what’s in here. Do you want to be with Nova? Fully be his partner? Is there an actual situation where you can see yourself NOT loving him?”
His eyes go wide, but he blurts out, “Of course, I love him,” then he actually stops to think before shaking his head at my last question, “I don’t think I could ever be with anyone but him.”
I nod, then ask just as seriously, “If Nova makes you happy -if he is your set future- how long are you going to fight for a past that isn’t accepting you for who you truly are inside? You need to ask yourself if you’re willing to live in the shadow of your parents’ inability to love the real you, which automatically puts Nova in the shadows with you... or if you’re okay with telling them goodbye, because you have an incredible future in front of you that you aren’t willing to let go. Granted, sexuality is slightly different from turning into another species, and you know how much I love my dad… but if he couldn’t accept my coyote, that means he couldn’t accept who I am, and he would never except my mate. It would be incredibly hard, but I have to be more important than a prejudice or lack of wanting to understand, especially coming from someone who was meant to love me unconditionally. I hate seeing you upset, Avory. I'm not telling you to make any decisions right now. I just want you to really think about what you can and can't live without. When you have those answers in yourself, you'll know what to do.”
He stares at me for a long moment, but just when I start to think I’ve put my foot in my mouth, he kisses both my cheeks and whispers, “I will… and thank you again. You seem to be telling me everything I need to hear today.”
He places the dress in a gown bag, hangs it in my closet, then comes back into the bedroom to find me fully dressed. I spy a box on the bed, so I ask, “What’s this?”
He grins, “That, Miss Swan, is your wolf’s shirt. Since Nova and Taha are the same size, I used Nova as my model. Here, open it.”
I do, then grin widely at the sage green color of the button-down shirt. The color will contrast perfectly with the pink of my dress. I exclaim as I look closely at the details, “This is a definite home-run. I love it.”
He smiles, saying, “Good. I wasn’t sure you would like the shade, but it looks amazing against your dress, plus I wanted it to be a surprise. I’ll hang it now, then arrive a bit early on Saturday to steam any wrinkles from both.”
When he returns to the bedroom, I hold my hand out to him, offering, “The other girls and I have tons of cupcakes and filling to make. Wanna taste test?”
He rolls his eyes and grins, “Took you long enough to ask, Lovey. I was beginning to think you were going to let me starve. The smells coming from your kitchen are divine!”
Avory arrives nearly 15 minutes before Sinopa. Just as I start to worry, she rushes through the door, apologizing, “Sorry I’m late.”
I shake my head and ask as I whisk a batch of cake ingredients together, “Are you alright? I was starting to worry. You aren’t sick again, are you?”
She chuckles, “Oh, no… come to find out, these last several days of NOT getting sick every 10 minutes? Well, I couldn’t find any shorts that fit. I had to finally break out the maternity clothes I’ve been waiting to wear.”
I drop the whisk in the bowl and quickly hug her, “Oh, Sinopa. That’s such good news! I’m so happy the tea is helping.”
She nods, her eyes watery, “I can’t wait to surprise Kimbal when he gets here. I’ve just been wearing my regular stretchy lounge clothes at home, and he was already patrolling when I got dressed this morning.”
Avory comes into the room, kisses Sinopa’s cheek, gently rubs her tummy with a smile, then looks at me, “Time to dust yourself off, Lovey. Your dress awaits.”
I hug Sinopa one more time, then hurry to wash my hands and take off my apron.
In my room, Avory has gone all out. My dress is hanging on a mannequin, and it looks incredible. My eyes tear up as I look at it, so it takes me a second to look at Avory. When I do, he says, “No need for words, Darling. The look on your face right now is all I need. Let’s see how I did, alright?”
He carefully removes my dress from the mannequin as I strip down to my bra and panties. He helps me into the dress as he notes, “You’ll need a backless bra or pasties, Lovey. This bra won’t work.”
I nod, “I know. I have a nude bra with clear tape sides. I’ll show it to you after you get me into this masterpiece. It fits the same as the one I have on, so this one should give us a good idea.”
When he steps back and tells me to look into my full-length mirror, I gasp in shock. Yes, it’s simple, and it’s not a traditional wedding gown, but the dress Avory has made me is stunning in its simplicity. The color is more beautiful than I could have imagined, and it fits like a dream.
I twist and turn a bit to see how it moves with me. I find that even with it being nearly completely backless, it stays put at the sides, and I barely even feel the fabric against my skin. Avory grins, “I think that’s a win, Lovey. No sticky tape for you. Are you happy with everything? Length, fit, how it drapes?”
I take one more look in the mirror, then turn back to Avory. I take both his hands, then promise, “Even though you weren’t put into a time crunch by us marrying this weekend, I’m still going to talk to Taha about us springing for a weekend away for you and Nova. You created perfection, Avory. I told you what I wanted, and you created the perfect dress for me. It’s so much more beautiful in person, and there is not one thing that needs to change.”
His whole face lights up, and he whispers as his hand goes to his chest, “Really?”
I laugh and promise, “Really truly,” before pulling him into a tight hug.
As he helps me back out of the dress, I ask, “Speaking of… how is it going with you two? How is the situation with your parents?”
He stops with the dress draped over his arms, looks at me with the saddest look I’ve ever seen, then I can see and hear his breathing hitch as he tries to speak. He shakes his head, clears his throat, then says softly, “My father hasn’t answered his cell phone the last 4 times I’ve called him. If he comes in the room while I’m on the phone with Mama, she just suddenly hangs up on me.”
I completely disregard my dress in his arms as I pull Avory into a tight hug. After a minute, I whisper, “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. You know you have a built-in family in us, right? No matter what, there is no judgment, no disappointment, and no acting like you don’t exist… not in this house. You have a voice in this house. Always.”
His arms tighten considerably around me, then he nods into my neck while choking out, “Thank you, Bella. I needed that today.”
Pulling back, I cup his face in my hands, then ask seriously as I touch his forehead, then his chest over his heart, “Forget everything up here for a minute. I want to know what’s in here. Do you want to be with Nova? Fully be his partner? Is there an actual situation where you can see yourself NOT loving him?”
His eyes go wide, but he blurts out, “Of course, I love him,” then he actually stops to think before shaking his head at my last question, “I don’t think I could ever be with anyone but him.”
I nod, then ask just as seriously, “If Nova makes you happy -if he is your set future- how long are you going to fight for a past that isn’t accepting you for who you truly are inside? You need to ask yourself if you’re willing to live in the shadow of your parents’ inability to love the real you, which automatically puts Nova in the shadows with you... or if you’re okay with telling them goodbye, because you have an incredible future in front of you that you aren’t willing to let go. Granted, sexuality is slightly different from turning into another species, and you know how much I love my dad… but if he couldn’t accept my coyote, that means he couldn’t accept who I am, and he would never except my mate. It would be incredibly hard, but I have to be more important than a prejudice or lack of wanting to understand, especially coming from someone who was meant to love me unconditionally. I hate seeing you upset, Avory. I'm not telling you to make any decisions right now. I just want you to really think about what you can and can't live without. When you have those answers in yourself, you'll know what to do.”
He stares at me for a long moment, but just when I start to think I’ve put my foot in my mouth, he kisses both my cheeks and whispers, “I will… and thank you again. You seem to be telling me everything I need to hear today.”
He places the dress in a gown bag, hangs it in my closet, then comes back into the bedroom to find me fully dressed. I spy a box on the bed, so I ask, “What’s this?”
He grins, “That, Miss Swan, is your wolf’s shirt. Since Nova and Taha are the same size, I used Nova as my model. Here, open it.”
I do, then grin widely at the sage green color of the button-down shirt. The color will contrast perfectly with the pink of my dress. I exclaim as I look closely at the details, “This is a definite home-run. I love it.”
He smiles, saying, “Good. I wasn’t sure you would like the shade, but it looks amazing against your dress, plus I wanted it to be a surprise. I’ll hang it now, then arrive a bit early on Saturday to steam any wrinkles from both.”
When he returns to the bedroom, I hold my hand out to him, offering, “The other girls and I have tons of cupcakes and filling to make. Wanna taste test?”
He rolls his eyes and grins, “Took you long enough to ask, Lovey. I was beginning to think you were going to let me starve. The smells coming from your kitchen are divine!”