“I don’t get it.” Peter spoke quietly, “Rick gave her that surefire remedy.” He looked over to Brian.

“Go on in, C.C.,” Brian encouraged her. “Maybe she won’t hit you.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” C.C. muttered, then turned back to the door, opening it slowly and peeking in. “You okay, Sis?”

Brian and Peter stood behind C.C., trying their best to see how Brooke was doing. Their eyes fell on a dark-haired woman sitting curled up in a ball, her face a ghostly pale shade of her real color.

“No.” Brooke raised her eyes to C.C. as she wrapped her arms around her legs, holding her knees close to her chest. “God, Chase…make it go away…puhleease.” The drummer closed her eyes and let her forehead come to rest on her knees.

“Good gods,” Brian gasped. “You look like Randi when she gets that first bout of morning sickness the minute that she’s pregnant.” The man quipped and gave a little laugh. Seeing Brooke’s pained look as she slowly turned her head in his direction and the fire in her steely blue eyes, he immediately stopped.

Before he could say another word, Brooke’s arm moved with a fluid motion, sending the shampoo bottle hurtling toward the door. Brian’s quick reflexes enabled him to grab the doorknob and yank it shut as C.C. just barely ducked out of the way. With a thud, the bottle hit and shattered, letting the gooey liquid to slowly ooze down the door.

“Jeez, Brooke,” C.C. straightened back up. “You could have ruined my outfit. You know, I didn’t get to bring my whole closet to pick and choose from.” She looked back down to her sister and a thought came to her mind. “Brooke,” She knelt down beside her and spoke softly. “You didn’t do anything…ah…stupid last night, did you?”

“Stupid? Like what?” She muttered, as she became tucked back into a ball again. “You mean other than being stupid enough to let every male in this family get me shit-faced?” Brooke lifted her head and shot a mean-eyed glance at C.C. “No.”

C.C. let out a sigh, “Whew…that’s a relief.”

“What did you think I did?” The arched eyebrow made its appearance making her face even harsher looking than before.

“Never mind, let’s just get you up and presentable.” C.C. tried to move on to another subject.

Brooke saw the lip biting of her sister and threatened her. “Tell me C.C., or so help me God, I’ll throw up on you right now.”

The brunette took in a breath. “Well, you know how guys are. I thought maybe that they got you one of those cake things…ah…with a sleepover or something. Or that maybe you…ah…sorta tried something that you knew you wouldn’t get, after today.” C.C. cringed as the flames of hell seemed to take up residence in Brooke’s gaze. “Not that you would have. I know better, but with the booze and all…”

“NO! NEVER!” Brooke started to rise to one knee, “How could you even think…” her speech was interrupted by the need of her body to expel both the contents of her stomach and the thought from her mind. She turned to the toilet and clung onto the ceramic bowl as she sang her praises to the porcelain god.

“Open mouth, insert foot,” C.C. muttered to herself as she helped her sister by holding back her long hair. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and presentable.

The woman moved away from the bowl, taking the tissue that was handed to her and wiped her mouth. “Ugh.” She looked at it, then threw it into the mess as she reached for the handle to flush it away. Slipping back down and laying on the floor, Brooke wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Why do I have to feel like shit on my wedding day?”

“Seriously Sis,” the brunette sat down on the edge of the tub. “I think you would have been sick, no matter what day this was, after the party you had last night. I saw all those empty liquor bottles outside of the room when I came in.”

“C.C.?”

“Yeah?”

“What if she gets tired of me?” Brooke furrowed her brow even more. “What is she decides that she doesn’t love me anymore? Then what do I do?”

The brunette could not help but laugh. “Tired of you? Is that what all this is about?” C.C. slapped her own leg as she shook her head. “Never, Sis. It’s never going to happen. She loves you more than life itself.”

Brooke closed her eyes in prayer that her youngest sister was correct. Wanting the support and the closeness that she needed from C.C., Brooke slowly raised her upper torso off the floor and crawled over to her sister.

“What if I screw up, C.C.?” Brooke cast her eyes to the floor. “I don’t know how to be married.”

“I know that it’s scary, Brooke.” The brunette gently guided her sister’s head down onto her lap and stroked the long dark hair. “Trust me, I know that she loves you.” C.C. smiled then gave a little chuckle. “You know that Sam couldn’t stop talking about you all night?” She felt Brooke’s head turn to look up at her as she continued. “Even when she was blitzed, you were all that she talked about.”

“Really?” Brooke gulped, looking up for reassurance.

“Really.” C.C. nodded and smiled as she met her sister’s gaze. “Brooke, if you ask me, you’ve been married to her ever since you started dating her.”

There was a moment of silence while C.C.’s words sank in, then the subtle upturn came to Brooke’s lips when she had to agree that her sister was right.

Seeing the hint of color coming back into Brooke’s cheeks, C.C. gave her a comforting rub to her back. “Now what do you say we pull you together and get you to your own wedding.” C.C. bent over enough to make eye contact with Brooke. “Hmm…?”

“Maybe…” Brooke looked down at herself. “Maybe I should take another shower,” she stated. “and my teeth…God knows, I have to brush my teeth.”

The brunette raised her nose to sniff the air, then made a terrible looking face. “Yeah, that might not be such a bad idea if you plan on getting next to someone for the rest of your life.”

The young woman leaned into the mirror. She was amazed at the lack of any ill effects from the party the night before. Even her eyes showed no dark circles from the evening of drinking. In fact, if the truth was to be known, Sam felt pretty well rested at that. No one would have believed that she’d been throwing up until the wee hours of the morning.

Sam smiled when she heard the door open and Randi stuck her head in. Catching the lawyer’s eye, she motioned for her to come in.

“Thanks,” Randi gave her a little wave, then slipped into the room. “So, Sam, you ready for the ceremony?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Nervous but ready. Hey, Randi…” Sam watched as the tall woman’s eyes came to gaze in her direction. “Tell whomever it was, “thanks” from me, for getting me something other than that ski outfit to wear.”

“Sure,” the lawyer stood behind Sam and smiled. “So, Sam, do you have everything that you need for today…I mean…do you have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue?

The blonde stared at the reflection of her outfit in the mirror. “God, I’m not sure. Do blue jeans count for both the old and blue?”

Randi laughed. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo. I…uh…I kind of took care of the new for you.”

“Huh?” Sam spun around and looked at the tall woman rather confused.

“Well…I don’t know,” the lawyer tugged at her earlobe. “I just thought that maybe…you know, later on down the road when your kids are looking at your wedding photos that you would want to… “

“Randi,” Sam smiled. “Kids, huh? I see that Julie’s been working on you about this, too.” She laughed at the lawyer’s slight tinge of blush that was growing up her face.

“I dunno…We thought that maybe you might like to have a dress instead of jeans. So, Thursday night before we went home after work, Brian and I met up and bought you this.” Randi went over to the closet in the room and retrieved the article of clothing. Turning, she presented it to Sam. “It’s not much, really, but we talked about it and just wanted to do something to let you know that…”

Sam watched as the older woman brought the dress closer to her. “Oh my God, it’s gorgeous.” The blonde reached out and felt the delicate material of one of the sheer sleeves. “Randi, you and Brian shouldn’t have…”

The smile stretched across Randi’s face, once she saw Sam’s reaction. “Well, I guess I wanted you to know that I’m sorry I was such a bitch with Brooke about you in the beginning. You’re the best thing that could’ve ever come her way. I can see that now.” The lawyer shrugged, “And well…it’s our way of saying, ‘Welcome to the family’ kiddo.”

Sam reached up and gave the tall woman a hug, kissing her softly on the cheek. “No apology necessary, Randi. I know that you were only protecting Brooke like you’d do for any of your sisters.”

“Yeah,” Randi handed her the dress. “Well, now I have you to think about, too.” She winked, then chuckled as she continued, “So if you ever need anything…”

“Thank you.” Sam took the dress in one hand as she gave the lawyer a hug with the other. Holding the dress up for both of them to admire, the blonde looked down to her own body. “Now, what can we do to replace these sneakers?” Sam laughed as she saw another woman’s reflection in the mirror.

“I’ve got that covered, Sis.” Sarah held up a pair of matching shoes as she ducked her head into the open door. “Here you go. Your ex-roomie said that you might want to be a little comfortable today. You know, like having a pair that are already broken in.” The teen came closer to the mirror. “She had me grab them out of your closet before we took off.” The teen looked over to Randi and smiled. “I think that she put the bug in C.C.’s ear.”

“Thanks, both of you.” Sam looked at Randi first, and then reached out to embrace Sarah. “God, I love having such thoughtful sisters.” The blonde straightened up, taking the shoes from Sarah and placed them on the floor. “Well, I guess that’s something old and something new,” she giggled.

“No,” Terri stood at the door of the room smirking. “You’ll get the old once you marry my sister.” The pediatrician laughed as she tossed her hands up in the air. “Hey, C.C.’s not here and I finally got a chance to get one in. That’s kid’s too quick for me anymore.”

Sam heard the knock on the door and hastily handed Randi the dress before heading out of the bedroom. “Well, at least she’s not the something borrowed.” Sam smiled devilishly, as she walked past Terri and entered the other room of the suite. “‘Cause I’m not giving her back.”

“I wonder who that could be?” Randi said after hearing the persistent knocking at the door. Within seconds, her brain engaged in thought with panic settling in her being. The lawyer’s eyes grew big as she pointed toward the door. “Stop her, Terri. God, that could be Brooke.”

The pediatrician turned to the door, but it was too late. Sam had too big of a lead on her to even attempt to stop her.

Hearing Brooke’s name being mentioned was all that it took to speed Sam to the door. With her heart beating anxiously in her chest, she grabbed onto the doorknob and flung open the door. “Brooke…” Sam looked up to see a familiar looking face on the other side of the doorway.

“Oh, sorry. I was…I was expecting someone else, Mrs. Humphreys.”

“Well, my, my, my, Ms. Moleson…” Janet cocked her head to one side, “…or should I say Mrs. Gordon?”

“I…I…I’m not sure,” Sam was surprised by the question. “Ah…Come in.” Sam stepped back to allow her to enter.

“Thank you.” Janet entered, watching as the blonde stuck her head out into the hallway, looking first to the left then to the right. “Ah…Sam?”

“Yes Mrs. Humphreys?” the young woman reluctantly entered the room again, closing the door.

“When we’re not in class, you can call me Janet. That just seems too weird having your oldest friend’s spouse call you by such a formal title.”

Green eyes sparkled with the giddiness of a schoolgirl. “Yeah, I guess so.” The shy smile couldn’t stop the hint of a blush that came to her face.

“So, are you gonna try that dress on or do we all have to use our imaginations?” The professor pointed to the dress still in Randi’s hand.

“You know, Sam, it’s getting close to the time we have to leave.” Terri looked to her watch.

“Just give me a minute or two to change,” Sam moved toward the bedroom when she heard a snapping sound come from behind her. Turning, she impulsively put her hand in front of her face and caught the blue blur that was coming at her.

“Don’t forget that. You’ll be needing it.” Janet called out with a smile.

“Hey, what is it.” Sam held it up to look at the article. “A garter…well, that’s something blue.” The blonde beamed back a gracious smile. “Thanks, Janet,” she made it a point to use the woman’s first name this time, then took the dress from Randi’s hand and pulled Sarah into the bedroom to help her. “Come on, Sarah, give me a hand. I’ll be out in a minute,” she promised the rest of the women, then closed the door.