The party planning is in full motion as mom prepares for the big party. Anderson Records and Co. is the host of the party so it has to be extravagant. The PR team has already booked reporters to come and cover the event as well as sent out invitations to multiple celebrities and businesses. My parents want to make this the most talked about event since they will formally announcing all of us even though my brothers a known by most already, especially Jaxon. The whole town knows him from all of the "scandals" he's been in. Grayson and Huxley have been seen some but not as much. If they want to party, they fly to Vegas or somewhere that hasn't seen them much.
Looking out of my window, I see the team of designers get out of their cars that are lined up. There are 3 black Mercedes lined behind a all white Lincoln. A driver gets out of the Lincoln and walks to the back door to open it. A stilettoed foot steps out and my Aunt Gracie stands up out of the back seat. With a smile on my face, I turn around to check on Tucker. He is sitting in the middle of my bed while he tries to figure out how to work the remote to restart Iron Man.
"Hey Tuck, guess who is here?" I ask him as I step away from the window.
"Uncle Hux?" He asks with excitement.
"He will be here soon, but no. Who have you not seen in a while that always brings you that candy you like so much?" I ask with a chuckle.
His eyes light up as he jumps off the bed. "AUNT GRACIE!" he yells out as he takes off out into the hallway.
Shaking my head, I make my way out of the room to go see my aunt. The sound of Tuckers laughter reaches me as I get closer to the staircase makes me smile even more. As soon as I get to the staircase, Tucker cheers and I see Aunt Gracie hand a piece of candy to Tucker and the bag to Shannon so she can put it up. I am not to worried about the candy since it's sugar free and is actually made with healthy ingredients.
"Thank you Aunt Gracie," Tucker says and kisses her cheek.
"You are very welcome Tuckster," she says before he runs off. She turns to look at Draco, who just walked out of the security room, and stops him with a flirty tone. "Where is Natalia, my good man?"
Draco looks at her with a blank face, not only because he is trained to do that while on duty, but because he is used to my Aunt so she doesn't bother him at all. Pointing up the stairs to where I am, he replies "She just got to the top of the stairs, Ms. Gracie." She pays his arm and he walks off shaking his head.
"Why must you always mess with him?" I chuckle out.
"When you get my age, you have to find a way to make life interesting," she states as she climbs the stairs. As soon as she reaches me, I am pulled into a tight embrace that I return with as much force but also trying not to break her. Gracie Anderson has always been the relative I have been close to outside of my immediate family. With looks that make you think she's in her early forties instead of late fifties, she looks great for her age without having work done. She actually played a big part in helping me get back to myself as I picked myself back up.
"I hope to look as young as you do at your age," I tell her before noticing how many people she brought with her. "Did you really need this many people for a mock-up?"
"Oh, my dear. This isn't a mock-up appointment. We already have your dress and accessories finished. We are here to make the final adjustments and see how it all looks together," Aunt Gracie says as she waves for the team to come upstairs. Before I can say a word, I am being dragged down the hallway to my room. Some of the design team breaks off to go to my parents for their fitting.
After being pushed into the door, the team of women follow us in and the men stay outside. One of the ladies hangs a garment bag on the door as others place boxes on the bed and dresser. Aunt Gracie goes over to the bag, unzips it, and takes out the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. The dress is floor length that looks like it's to long for me. It's a beautiful teal blue with white lace covering the bodice and white lace draped sleeves. The bodice has a sweetheart neckline that has a 'A' in diamonds in the center. Diamonds are strategically placed though out the top as the bottom flows out.
"Aunt Gracie... this is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen," I saw as I look at her in awe.
"I thought you would since you helped me design it," she states with a proud smile as she hangs it on the hook by the changing screen her team put up.
I look at her confused at her remark. "I don't remember designing a dress."
Aunt Gracie walks over to me and grabs my hands while looking me in the eyes. "A long time ago, you were hanging out with me in my studio and decided to draw 'the perfect dress' that you wanted to have one day. I kept it in my sketchbook so I could always have you there to inspire me. Years later, I asked you what dress you wanted for your announcement as the heir to the Anderson family fortune. You looked in my book and chose your sketch. Granted that you were 8 when you drew it, I tweaked it a bit and that is what I made for you to wear."
I look at the dress then back at her with tears in my eyes. I forgot that she let me draw a design in her book all those years ago. The fact that she kept it all these years and made my dress warms my heart so much. I don't even have the stuff I drew for art class in high school anymore.
"Are you ready to try it on?" She asks as she wipes a stray tear away. I nod my head and we start to get me into the dress.
When the back is zipped, the guys on the team come in as they start to help with accessories. One guy comes over with silver heels that are thankfully a height that's comfortable and also manageable. I finally get the last piece of jewelry on and I'm pulled over to my full length mirror that they covered so I wouldn't peek.
"3...2...1..." Aunt Gracie counts down before she pulls the cloth away. I am stunned by the person looking back at me. The dress hugs my sides perfectly to show off my figure. The draped lace sleeves and sweetheart neckline make my shoulders look elegant but strong. I honestly didn't want to take it off. "We need to fix only the length by the looks of it. Will you stand on the stool please?"
Very carefully, I step up onto the stool that was placed in front of me so they could hem up the bottom of the dress. The process doesn't take as long as you would think. Ten minutes later, I am back into my normal clothes as we head down to see Aunt Gracie's team off.
"So, my dear, in three days your life will change. Are you nervous?" Aunt Gracie asks as we take a seat in the living room.
"I'm not nervous. I have been preparing for this day a long time. I'm just glad it's finally here," I tell her as Shannon bring us in some glasses of tea.
"I thought it would never get here, if I'm being honest. What with the marriage and stuff," Aunt Gracie states before she takes a drink of her tea. "The only good thing that came out of that is Tucker," I say looking at my glass.
Aunt Gracie sets her glass down before grabbing my hand. "Just because some jealous woman decided that he should have been her doesn't mean that it was all a waste. You loved him and I know you secretly still do. There is also the fact that you have an amazing little boy running around here that came from that happiness," she tells me.
I nod my head with the realization that she is right. Honestly, I don't know what type of love I have for Christopher but I do know that he gave me an amazing son. Only time will tell which it is.
Megan walks into the room with Emily, supporting evil smirks. "We all have been thinking, with all the stress of the event Friday, we need a night to have fun. So," Megan says and looks at Emily.
"We have decided that we are going to go to 'Wanna B's' and you're coming. No buts just go get dressed gorgeous," Emily finishes Megan's sentence.
"Guys, I really wish I could. The thing is I don't have anyone to watch Tucker for the night," I start to decline their offer when Megan cuts me off.
"I have already arranged that. We added Izzy in on the plan and she is more than happy to watch him. She already planned to have a camp out in the game room and watch movies. Now go upstairs and get ready before I drag you myself," Megan states as she eyes me as if I am going to come up with another excuse to not go.
"Well, I think it is a great idea. This will help you all relax and get your minds off things," Aunt Gracie says as she gets up from her seat. "I am going to go annoy my brother before I head to my townhouse to do your alterations." She walks out of the room, yelling my dads name. What makes it better is the "NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN" come from the direction of the office.
The next thing I know, I am dragged from my seat and up the stairs to my room. Emily makes me sit down in the chair as she works on my hair and makeup while Megan is going through my closet. She isn't in there for a full minute before I see my clothes start to flying out.
"I hope you know that you are going to put all of that back," I state as Emily braids my hair.
Megan peeps out from my closet with an innocent smile before disappearing back into the closet before more clothes decide that my floor was the better place to be. "FOUND IT!" Megan yells as she walks out holding a see through black top, a white tank top, and my torn jeans. "These with those new black boots you bought the other day would be perfect."
Knowing that she won't take no as an answer, I give her a thumbs up as Emily puts a liquid lipstick on me. Unlike these two makeup fanatic's, makeup isn't really my thing. I know some stuff to get by if I need to wear it but I don't just put it on everyday. Emily gets done with what she was doing to my face and they both shove me into my bathroom to change.
Coming out of the bathroom, I hear two whistles sound from the direction of my door. Megan and Emily are looking at me like I am food. "Why are you two looking at me like that?"
"Because you look hot, little momma! If I wasn't married to your brother..." Megan says and trails off. If I didn't know that she was joking, mostly, then I would be wondering if she swings both ways.
A knock sounds at the door as Grayson's voice carries through the wood. "Are you ladies ready to go?"
Megan looks back at the door with a smile. "Give us a moment to get dressed from our threesome."
A gagging sound reaches our ears as I hear "kinky" sound out from further back. I immediately recognize the voice as Adam. Opening the door I see all three of my brothers as well as Adam and Everett. Adam has been best friends with my brothers since we were kids. His parents are good friends with ours so we hung out a lot. Everett is dating Adam and they have been together for 8 years now.
"Of course you would find it kinky," I say to Adam with a wink.
"Like I told you last time, if you need a camera man I'm your guy," he tells me as he bows slightly to be dramatic.
Grayson still looks like he wants to throw up from Megan's comment so I pay him on the back. "Come on bro. She was just kidding. Let's go have some fun."
We make our way to Broadway street, which is the spot to go. It's loaded with attractions, bars, restaurants, and more. Tourist flock to Broadway because of all the things to do.
After we park, we make our way inside to find a table. Everyone orders their drinks after we sit down. The guys get a beer each, Megan gets a Tequila Sunrise, Emily orders a margarita, and I order a Dr. Pepper since I don't drink much. Ever since I had Tucker, alcohol hasn't had that appeal to me anymore.
Emily leans over and whispers something to Megan, who nods to whatever she said to her. They disappear only for us to see them again on stage.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our next karaoke singers. They will be singing 'She's Country' by Jason Aldean. Let's give a hand to Megan and Emily," the DJ announced.
Through the song, they kept pointing at me while dancing. I could t help but laugh at the two goofballs who I call my best friends. As the song ends, Emily steps over and says something to the DJ before sending me an evil smirk. Uh oh.
"Can we now have Natalia come to the stage for her song?" The DJ says to the crowd. I actually might murder those two tonight. I am the person behind the albums and artists. The person doing the behind the scenes work. Not the one who is singing or performing the songs.
"Go on up there Nat," Huxley encourages me.
Slowly I get up and make my way to the stage where the two women are smiling victoriously. Megan hands me the microphone and my heart beats hard against my chest.
"Let's all give it up for Natalia who will be singing 'According To You' by Orianthi," he states as the crowd claps.
Looking at the girls, they give me a thumbs up and I just start the song. As the song builds, I start to get into the performance and act like I'm giving my own concert. Halfway through the song, I look at the bar to see familiar faces. George Quade, Christopher's best friend, was standing at the edge as he stares at me on the stage. If he's here then that means that Christopher is too.
When the song ends, the crowd erupts in cheers as I hand the microphone back before I head back to our table as my brothers are grinning at me from ear to ear.
"Damn girl! I didn't know you could sing like that," Adam says as I get to the table.
"I'm not much of a singer. Plus there is also the fact that I'm scared to sing in front of crowds," I tell him as I take a drink of my soda.
"Well you could have fooled me with that performance," Everett says with a lift of his eyebrows.
"The reason I was able to do it tonight was because I was put on the spot. I wouldn't have went willingly if Megan didn't sign me up," I tell him before I flip him off. "However, I have to tell you guys something." I look at my brothers and say the two words they don't want to hear. "He's here."