Mirror of Dreams - Chapter 9

9

“What happened to you? You look terrible!” Ian gushed in shock a few moments later when he came looking for me.

“Nathan found out that I was cheating on him and called off our engagement!” I wailed pathetically.

Ian frowned. “You're serious? But you are usually so honest about your playing around. How did he not know?”

“Right?!” I asked, feeling validated. “I thought he did, but apparently since it mostly happened when he was sleeping, even though I wasn't keeping it a secret, he never really heard about it. Maybe everyone else was keeping it a secret?”

As I thought about this, I remembered the time that Lord Antony was trying to stop Nathan from walking in on me and Sir Barrett. At the time, I just thought that Lord Antony was trying to save me from being interrupted, but now, I realized that maybe he thought he was protecting a secret. It's certainly true that not many members of the Royal Court were prone to bragging about their sex lives. Only Lady Sophia was likely to walk into a room and tell everyone that she had just spent the afternoon with an incredible new lover.

Ian pulled me into a hug and rested my head on his shoulder. “Tell me all about it.”

I did, and as I talked, we snuggled up in his bed. After I finished explaining everything, he gave me some good advice to think about. Mostly, he told me to give it some time and then have a really in-depth conversation with Nathan. This was too sensible to argue with.

“This calls for a comedy!” Ian announced, handing me the large bowl of popcorn he had prepared. I moaned at the organic buttery and salty goodness as he browsed the new releases on Netflix. Nothing looked good.

“How about: “I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry?”” Ian asked.

“I love that movie!” I gushed, feeling a little more cheerful already.

We watched a couple of good movies – eating a ton of popcorn and ice cream – before falling asleep. The next day, Ian reminded me to change into my light pink dress before we went to my house. The house was festive as my mother had the caterer over to cook up samples for us to try.

Ian kissed my mom on the cheek before offering to help out as needed. She accepted his offer so fast I felt dizzy, pressing him into calling potential guests to confirm whether or not they planned to come.

“Andrew's mother insists that we have the wedding at her place,” my mother informed me, gesturing to her laptop.

“Good morning, dear,” Andrew's mother greeted me via Skype. “Andrew is such an impulsive man!” She sighed in a way that let me know that she didn't really mind this even though she was complaining. “I mean really! He hasn't even properly introduced us yet! Oh well, it is what it is. Rest assured that I plan to make your wedding as beautiful as possible.”

“Thank you,” I murmured with a smile. I was so thankful that I had taken the time to shower this morning since I had woken up with strong evidence of crying on my face. Now, I looked as beautiful as a bride to be should.

“What theme would you like? Pink? Yellow? Blue?”

“Actually, do you know those roses that are yellow edged in red?” I asked my future mother-in-law.

“Yes, that could be quite lovely,” she murmured, already planning it out.

“I want my bouquet to be at least two dozen of those roses,” I stated.

She nodded with a smile. “I've sent Andrew out on a good dozen errands today – buying a good pavilion and making sure he has a suitable tux – so I'm sorry if you don't get to see him. Hopefully, he'll remember to call you at some point.”

I held up my phone. “Or I can text him.” I promptly sent him a text that said: Try to have fun today, love you.

Barely a minute passed before I received a response. I'll try! Don't let our mothers run you ragged! Love you too.

The rest of the day passed in a blur as I tasted things and chose patterns and thanked guests who promised to attend my wedding. Ian eventually kissed me on the cheek and left so that he could finish planning out my bachelorette party. So far, he had confirmation that all my friends from school planned to attend.

I fell into bed exhausted in a way that I associated with the mirror world. It felt so good to sleep! I woke up feeling glorious, and stretched lazily.

So... the morning he asked me counted as the first of four days. I'd bought my dress and hung out with my best friend. Yesterday was the second day, and I'd been busy with wedding plans. This counted as the third day, and so meant it was Friday.

It was important for me to figure this out in my mind because I so often spent weeks in the mirror world between each day here and found it a bit hard to keep track. To be extra sure, I pulled out my cellphone and checked the date. Just as I thought!

To my surprise, I had a message regarding my dress. It would be ready for a final fitting by 2PM. Squealing in delight, I jumped out of bed and rushed to take a shower. After I was clean and my hair was braided, I stared at myself in the mirror. Thankfully, Ian had brought it back at some point after I'd realized that I'd forgotten it. The sizzling in my blood spiked for a moment before settling back down to a dull bubbling.

I know I'd said that I'd be gone for a while, but I was really anxious to see how everyone was doing in my absence. By my reckoning, I'd been gone a night, a day, and a night, so... about 7 days? By tonight, it'd be a full 10. My heart hurt just a little bit as I thought about time passing there without me.

Without giving it as much thought as I probably should have, I kissed my mirror and then looked around my Royal Bedroom. It was night here. A soft snoring informed me that Nathan was sound asleep. I walked over to the bed and waited for my eyes to adjust.

Aww! Getting to my knees, I rested my arms on the bed and watched him snuggle with his stuffed dog. Nathan was such an amazing combination of innocent youth and wise old man. He looked and acted the same age as me for the most part, but then managed to surprise me with his astonishing insight. Despite his quick temper, he had the patience one could only cultivate by living a hundred years.

I watched him sleep for a long time, maybe even an entire hour, before I decided to go home. But first, it occurred to me that my tiara would be the perfect adornment for my hair and veil. I went to the large standing chest full of select Royal jewels and took my tiara from the velvet lined drawer at the top.

Turning around, I noticed my journal open on the table next to a pot of tea. It was my magic pot, so I poured a bit into a cup that Nathan had apparently been drinking out of. This blend was not the one to encourage sleep, but still tasted herbal and delicious.

Sitting down to enjoy the tea, I curiously read what Nathan must have read before bedtime. Nathan never fails to make my toes curl. I look forward to going to bed with him each night because I know that he will make my blood sing and my heart pound. I sincerely hope that he feels the same way about me...

Smiling at his sleeping face, I couldn't help but wonder if he had masturbated to thoughts of me. Turning to a fresh page, I had an urge to write down what I was feeling now.

It was shocking how angry Nathan got after reading my journal. I honestly never expected that! I never wanted to hurt him, and my heart feels tight when I think about how he must have felt learning about everything I had done. Worse! It wasn't just one or two things, but an entire year of cheating betrayal. I do wish that I had realized that he didn't know what I was doing sooner so that I could have explained it to him before it got so far out of hand.

Even Ian was surprised that I had been so irresponsible, and if my best friend is confused by my lack of candor, then you know I did something terrible! I clearly remember when Andrew and I had a talk about infidelity and Polyamory. We agreed that our marriage would be an open one so that if beautiful actresses throw themselves at him, and I hook-up with handsome men in clubs, neither of us would be upset. Why did I never have such a talk with Nathan?

I really wish I had...

Anyway, as painful as it was to deal with the aftermath of Nathan reading my journal, I'm glad he did. Now I know that he knows what happens. It won't be some terrible secret that I didn't even realize I was keeping from him. Maybe he'll even come to understand and accept that I am a cheater – as he would call it.

If he can't, I will let him go. It'll totally suck and hurt more than anything I've ever felt, but I won't try to guilt him into staying with me. More than anything, he deserves happiness.

As for today, I'm going to be super busy in the real world. I'm sure my mom has a few errands for me to run before I go to my final fitting. I can't believe that I'm really going to get married in the dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in Sabrina! I really got lucky that it was hidden with the fabulously expensive dresses waiting for a girl like me who would cherish it forever.

Then I have my bachelorette party tonight, complete with strippers – Ian assures me. I plan to get so drunk that I pass out! A bride isn't truly a bride unless she is hungover as she walks down the aisle, lol!

Tomorrow night, Andrew will probably bring me to a posh hotel room for our wedding night, and then we're going to fly out to our new house a couple of days later. I'll be super busy furnishing it while he works on his new TV show, so we probably won't have time for a honeymoon for a couple of months. That's okay though, it just means that we will have time to plan out the perfect holiday. I wonder if he would prefer Hawaii or Jamaica?

My stomach just growled, reminding me that I haven't eaten breakfast yet. My mother has more than likely asked the caterer to create a delicious breakfast bonanza. As much as I would love to sit here and watch Nathan sleep all night, I've got too much to do and don't want to be tired while I do it.

Sleep well Nathan...

I flipped the page back to the one he had it open to so that I could read it again and smirk. Then I finished off my tea, stood, collected my tiara, and went to the mirror. A kiss later and I was home.

“Kaitlynn!” My mother called out, probably from the kitchen. “If you're awake, hurry up and come eat breakfast! We have to bring some things over to Andrew's house!”

“Coming!” I called out in return.

I was kept so busy, that it seemed like a strange mix of eons and minutes before it was time to go to my fitting. I kissed my mother goodbye, and then rushed to the dress shop. To my disappointment, the Audrey dress was not ready. However, the small adjustments to my other dress were done and it fit me perfectly.

I brought it to Andrew's, where his mother had an entire room set up for me to get ready in tomorrow morning. I showed off my dress to everyone but Andrew – who was home but busy making sure the early arriving guests were settling in.

“Oh, it's gorgeous!” My mother praised, hugging me. “I'm so proud of you!”

I returned her hug and then gave one to my grandmother and Andrew's mother. He had two aunts that insisted on getting a hug too, and then my mom's cousin and best friend both pretended to be offended until I gave them hugs as well.

Time passed surprisingly fast. I'd swear that the second hand on the clock was spinning in circles three times faster than normal! I started to feel like a chicken with its head cut off!

Loud shouting suddenly caught my attention, prompting me to rush to find out what was going on. A man was calling Andrew all kinds of bad names and pushing him around. Even though I was wearing a knee-length emerald green summer dress – with a fashionably wide strap covering each shoulder – I ran to get between them.

The man didn't seem to realize I was the bride, and took a swing at me that was actually intended for Andrew. I blocked it easily and kicked his legs out from under him. He leapt to his feet – calling me a bitch for interfering – and tried to punch me again. I deflected his fist and sent several punches into his abdomen before pushing him to the ground again.

“Whoa!” Andrew exclaimed, pulling me into his arms. “That was amazing!”

Learning how to fight with a sword wasn't all about fighting with a sword after all. I also needed to know how to defend myself if someone attacked me while I was unarmed. Not that I had needed to defend myself before this.

I released all the tension in my body by exhaling. “What about you? Are you okay?” I asked in concern.

“Yeah, although I might have a bruise on my cheek,” Andrew stated with an uncaring shrug. “Kaitlynn, meet my best friend, Chris.” He indicated the man who was still groaning on the ground. Even though there currently were plenty of people around watching us – including my mother and grandmother who stared at me in astonishment – no one bothered to help him up.

“This is your best friend?!” I blurted out incredulously, unable to picture Ian ever trying to punch me.

“Yep,” Andrew confirmed with a goofy grin. “He's the best friend I could ever have!”

“Then why was he fighting with you?” I asked, definitely confused.

“He's just worried that I'm getting married too soon and not thinking things through. He thinks I'm being an idiot!” Andrew explained. With a smile, he held out his hand to help Chris up.

“Ow!” Chris groaned, holding a hand to his ribs.

“Oh...” I murmured, feeling slightly embarrassed now. “Well, he's probably right then.”

“Riiight?!” Andrew agreed with a sexy drawl. He grinned and put an arm around my shoulders.

“Sorry,” I apologized to Chris while snuggling into Andrew.

“No problem,” Chris muttered, smiling at the way Andrew and I looked together. “You have some power behind those punches of yours!”

“Thank you,” I replied shyly, burying my face in Andrew's chest.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Chris asked, clearly impressed.

“Uh...” I hesitated. Do I outright lie, or do I tell the truth but make it sound like a joke? I decided to lie since no one would believe the truth anyway. “My best friend has learned a little bit of this and that over the years and he's taught me stuff so he'd have someone to practice with.” Which was technically true even though fighting hadn't been part of his repertoire.

“You should see them spin in a giant hula hoop!” Andrew stated with a grin, kissing me on the temple.

“Cyr wheel,” I corrected him.

“Cool...” Chris murmured, obviously having no idea what a cyr wheel was.

“Well,” I said, grasping for something to say. “Uh... Why don't I let you two finish your conversation?”

“Good idea,” Andrew agreed, kissing me before nudging me to go on.

Checking my phone as I walked away, I realized that it was almost time to go to my party. I burst out with an evil laugh. “Buwahahahaha! Party time!”

Andrew heard me and laughed. “Have fun!”

“You too!” I called over my shoulder.

Ian had outdone himself! To the delight of my girl friends and I, he had bought a ton of alcohol for us to get wasted with. He had also hired one female stripper and four males strippers who also doubled as prostitutes to entertain us. It was incredibly fun to watch them, but even better, we were allowed to touch them too.

Ian had a blast acting as a fifth male stripper, which made all my friends squeal. They thought he was super hot, and I couldn't particularly disagree. We all got more or less naked as we danced. The best part was that there were no neighbors close enough to be disturbed by our loud music.

In the morning, a look through my cellphone proved that we had taken far too many embarrassing selfies! With a blush, I tried to remember every silly game we had played. Some of them were fuzzier than others.

Groaning, I clutched my head. My noise of pain prompted others to groan too. A look around showed me that we were all passed out on the floor. Except for Ian, who was nowhere to be found.

He emerged from the kitchen just as I was preparing to call out for him. He chuckled as he saw me, wordlessly handing me a glass of water and some Advil. I swallowed it gratefully and let him help me to my feet.

“You're a God!” I informed him, kissing his cheek.

“I know,” he stated with a smirk. “I figured that you'd want me to make you some breakfast and get your butt moving so that you're not late to your own wedding.”

“Good call!” I cheerfully agreed.

As I ate, my friends slowly woke up and joined me. The smell of freshly cooked bacon – uncured bacon from pasture raised pigs – was powerful enough to wake even the heaviest sleeper. Coffee was passed around, but I opted for tea since I hated coffee.

After we'd all ate, I thanked the strippers and gave them each hugs and kisses as they were leaving. They all congratulated me both on having the best party in a while and on getting married. Most of my friends drooled over them, thanking Ian yet again for hiring strippers who also specialized in performing sexual favors.

My friend Brittany was currently kissing Ian in a corner, reminding me that he had liked her enough to consider making her his girlfriend. As far as I knew, they hadn't decided on anything official. They did look good together though.

He looked over and noticed me watching him. “Hey, am I wearing a tux or a dress as your Maid of Honor?”

He was teasing. Sort of. He well knew that even though I was calling him my Maid of Honor, he was more like my Best Man. I decided to tease him back.

“A dress, of course!”

“Good thing I bought one then!” He responded with a laugh.

An alarm on my phone went off. “Oh! It's time to go to our nail appointment!”

My friends all squealed happily – aside from Ian – and rushed to get ready to go. Grinning, I patted myself on the back. I had thought ahead and had a limo big enough for all of us waiting.

At the nail shop, Ian got a basic manicure – no polish but a good buffing – while the rest of us got matching french manicures. Next, we went to a salon and got our hair and makeup done. My hair was so long, it was actually hard to decide on a good style for it. If we were in my palace, my maids would have been delighted to braid it up intricately and decorate it with a bunch of jewels, but here, I felt like that would be sort of old-fashioned.

Instead, I decided on a cascade of curls. The stylist even suggested adding temporary, subtly multicolored highlights to my hair, which made everything at least three times better. Looking at myself in the mirror when they were done made me want to kiss it so that I could show off for Lady Sophia and Lady Leeza – who still liked fashion even though she was a fairly cold woman.

My friends all looked beautiful too. We all agreed that it was so much fun to primp as a group. Ian rolled his eyes at us and shook his head. He looked like an Asian male supermodel.

Finally, the limo brought us to Andrew's. His mother greeted us with a gracious smile, and led the way to the room where we were going to get ready. My girl friends all had bags with them to protect their dresses, which the limo driver handed off to a servant assigned to help us. As for Ian, he smirked at me mysteriously.

“What?” I asked.

“I went tux shopping with Andrew,” Ian informed me. “So I'm going to go get ready with him.”

“When did you have time to do that?!” I asked incredulously. Biting my lip in thought, I decided that it had to be sometime yesterday, since that was the only time that Ian wasn't practically attached to my hip. But then I'm not sure Andrew had left the house yesterday...

“Wouldn't you like to know!” Ian smirked, kissed my cheek, and then left the room.

“God I just love him!” Three of my friends – including Brittany – exclaimed after he'd left.

“Really?” I asked with interest.

“He's so gorgeous! Why ever aren't you marrying him?!”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I have a thing for blonds!”

My mother, grandmother, and a whole bunch of other women arrived to help and hinder me as I got into my dress. Soon enough, I was ready to go. My mother fussed with my tiara and veil, her eyes definitely full of unshed tears.

“Kyle's here,” she informed me, referring to my big brother. “I told him that he was walking you down the aisle today or I would – ”

“Cut him out of the will!” I interrupted her with a laugh.

“Exactly,” she stated with a smug smile. “And it worked. He arrived about 20 minutes ago and is currently getting ready.”

“I'm glad,” I purred with a smile. It just wouldn't have been a perfect day without him.

A glance at the clock assured me that it was less than 10 minutes until I was supposed to be walking down the aisle. My posse of friends and relatives suddenly disappeared to find a good spot to sit, which left me alone with my mother and grandmother.

“You remind me of me on my wedding day,” grandma informed me. She was my father's mother – sort of – and so since I had inherited his looks, I had also inherited hers. I hugged her tight and kissed her on her cheek.

A minute later, Kyle knocked on the door and poked his head in. “I'm told it's time to come get you... Wow! You look amazing!”

“Thanks!” I purred, rushing to hug him. “I haven't seen you in forever!” Which was true no matter which world you were counting the time from.

“I'm sorry,” he apologized with a sheepish grin. “I've just been so busy at college.”

“Partying, no doubt!” I stated, playfully pushing on his nose with a finger.

“Yeah yeah,” he agreed with a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes. He offered me his arm and led me to where I would wait for the music to start.

“I'm glad you came,” I whispered as we watched people rushing to their seats. Andrew's mom's house was practically a palace compared to ours. Which was really saying something since we lived in a mansion. It had the feel of an old southern plantation even though we lived in the north.

“I wouldn't miss it for the world, threats or not!” Kyle promised, kissing my cheek.

“Looks like they decided that Chris and Ian would just wait up at the front with Andrew. Wouldn't it have been adorable if Chris and Ian had walked down the aisle before us?” I asked with a giggle.

“Hey, uh...” Kyle stammered nervously. “Is Ian, uh... still available?” He looked away from me to hide a blush.

“Oh really?” I asked with interest. He shrugged but didn't say anything. “Well, I'm not sure. He may have just gotten a girlfriend. I'll ask him for you and set you up on a date, if you want.”

“Nah, I just wanted to spend some time with him before I go back to school,” Kyle explained, trying to make it sound like he wasn't interested after all.

“I still love you, no matter what!” I informed him, emphasizing it with a kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks, little sis, but I don't really know anything for sure yet.” He wiped the back of his neck a bit nervously. “I'm still so damn confused about everything!”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered, but before he could ask me what I meant, the music started playing and it was time for him to escort me down the aisle. At the end, he handed me over to Andrew and then sat down next to our mother.

“Wow!” Andrew exclaimed when I placed my hand in his. His look left no doubt that he liked what he saw.

The ceremony was quick and simple, which we had both insisted on. In practically no time at all, I was officially Mrs. Andrew Sandagger! He placed his hands on the back of my neck and kissed me until my toes curled and I felt like swooning.

The crowd roared in congratulations, clapping and cheering as they wished us well. We went back up the aisle, hugging and kissing everyone. After that, a full band stood ready to play music for us to dance to.

Many hours later, Andrew and I were exhausted as we climbed into a limo waiting to bring us to a hotel room. As we snuggled in the back of the limo, we discussed our plans for the immediate future.

“In the morning, we need to return to our houses and start packing,” Andrew reminded me.

“Anything in particular I'll need?” I wondered.

“Not really, you can buy everything new if you want,” Andrew said. “But I plan to bring my baseball stuff and my sword collection.”

“You have a sword collection?” I asked in surprise.

“Yep,” Andrew replied with a grin. “I hope to one day be cast as a sword wielding character. I would have loved to be in Spartacus!”

“Ooo...” I drooled, kissing him. “I would have loved that too!”

The limo stopped in front of the hotel, and the driver held the door open for us. A couple minutes later, Andrew swept me off my feet and carried me into the posh suite he'd rented. I squeaked and giggled, holding onto my tiara so that it didn't fall.

We undressed each other, and then fell into bed, laughing as we wrestled playfully. Andrew put a condom on and then focused on kissing me for a long time. When we felt the time was right, he entered me for the first time as my husband.

I'd love to say that we spent all night making love and used up a whole box of condoms, but unfortunately, we were just too tired for that. Instead, we had a powerful quickie that left us both gasping for breath. I cuddled up to him when we were done, purring happily.

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