The assistant spread out the dress’ train. “There. Now, how’s that?”
Elsie looked at her reflection.
She saw a woman in a wedding dress unlike any other. Her neck and entire bodice were encased in liquid silver filigree with white silk backing. The full skirt and train were white Spanish lace with silver silk inserts, interspersed with faceted silver beads and small crystals.
“Oh!” She covered her mouth with her hands. Is that me? Is that really me? She has my frizzy black hair, but…
The assistant arched her penciled-in eyebrow. “Silence, huh? I sure hope that’s a good sign. I put a lot of work into altering this dress for you.”
“It’s beautiful. It makes me look beautiful.”
The assistant grinned. “That’s all the encouragement I want to hear. Come! Let’s show the finished product to your mother.”
As she stepped off the pedestal and followed the assistant, Elsie’s heart soared. It’s so perfect. I can’t wait to see Hildreth’s reaction.
I can’t wait to marry him.
***
Hildreth opened the silver trimmed envelope. “And it is….” His gaze went straight down to the check off box at the bottom of the invitation. “Yes! We’ve got another guest!” He pumped his fist in the air. “And they’re bringing their two and a half kids.” He frowned. “Two and a half? What does that even mean? Is a baby considered a half kid? That’s just weird. I’ll have to ask Elsie when she comes back. She’ll know.”
Elsie breezed into Hildreth’s house with a rush of cold air and warm happiness.
He looked up. “Hey. We got another acceptance.”
She took off her coat and scarf and dropped them next to him on the couch. “Oh, Hildreth. Wait till you see it.” She came over to him and quick kissed him. “It’s so beautiful. I feel like a warrior princess in it.”
He laughed. “A warrior princess? Huh. Interesting. I’m imagining you in Xena’s cute little mini-dress.”
She laughed. “No, it’s a lot more formal than that. Oh, Hildreth. When I saw my reflection, I realized that this is real. This is really happening. After all of the hurt and confusion, I am going to be your bride. I’m just so happy.”
Happiness and love filled his mind, but got caught up in his throat. “Elsie. My Elsie.”
ambroseandelsie 
Why is it I always get worried in these happy moments? 😉 by the way, I like the time jump. In these last couple parts I’ve been sitting here going, but what about Ambrose? 😉 These type of jumps do a great job of keeping the reader in suspense!
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I think I’ve made you paranoid. 😆 which is a good thing. It means you’re emotionally invested on my charactets. Which mskes me happy. So, yay for paranoia?
Anyway! Doing the time jump seemed like the right thing to do. I didn’t want them to find him too soon. (Poor Ambrose)
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Me thinks you like torturing the poor guy, lol.
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Hahaha! Maybe. 😆
But on the bright side, it will make what I have planned for the ending all that much sweeter. 🙂
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So sweet to see a moment of happiness for Elsie and Hildreth. Makes me a little nervous that more time has passed and I can only assume Ambrose hasn’t been rescued or broken free yet.
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I love giving them these sweet, peaceful moments, especially after all of the frustrations they’ve gone through. It makes me happy. 🙂
And, if it’s any consolation, this is still in the same six months as the previous chapter. It isn’t an additional six months later. And yes. He’s still stuck with Mark Caten and Olessa. 😦
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Okay, after the following chapter, I started wondering if we might still be in the same six month period. Otherwise poor Ambrose really was kind of forgotten about in his torture chamber by Barbara and Sammy.
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Ugh! That would be awful! Poor Ambrose is going to be traumatized enough from being with them for only six months. If he were with them for six months longer than that, he would need to be hospitalized or something. 😦
On a complete side note: I had a lot of fun coming up with a wedding dress for Elsie. I knew that I wanted it to be a warrior’s wedding dress — beautiful but suitable for someone as fierce as Elsie. So, a lot of metal and silver accents.
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