The little embroidered crystals shone as the dress moved. My eyes roamed across the length of the dress following the intricate design. It was such a beautiful dress.

A sincere smile played on my lips as my eyes locked with Marie's. Her brown eyes shone excitedly as she grinned back. My eyes turned to the flower bouquet by the window; I walked to it and softly brushed one of the white rose's petals.

Absentmindedly, I watched as the guests were gathering and milling around in the garden. Large flower arrangements were strategically set to form an aisle. Searching through the crowd, I spotted Dad talking to Nate. They were both looking great but my heart soared for Nathan.

He was wearing a grey Armani suit. We'd bought it together. A small white flower was pinned on his jacket. A silver tie complemented the elegant suit. His hair was longer. It was messily arranged giving him an out-of-bed hairstyle.

An instant smile formed on my lips as I looked at him. He was smiling and I was sure he was joking around with my father.

Things had changed so much. Nate was kind of a son to Dad. They trusted each other. And well, that had been key for when we moved to New York together. Dad wasn't truly keen on the idea but he trusted Nate. He just made him promise that he wasn't going to be a Grandfather soon. He even started the bees and flowers talk completely embarrassing myself; thankfully, Marie had been there and intervened. Talk about an awkward moment.

I rolled my eyes as Dad laughed at something that Nate said. A wide smile formed on my lips. Excitement and happiness ran through me as I glanced at the beautiful ring on my hand, it sparkled and changed colors with the light.

"You look great," Marie said softly as she walked to me. Her eyes glanced at the window as well. I smiled and was about to complement her when someone sauntered through the door. "What are you guys doing? The groom is not supposed to see the bride!" Farah interjected from the door.

We both turned her way. It had been a while since I'd seen her and I missed her terribly. She had lost the thick glasses and was now wearing contact lenses. Her blonde hair was long and wavy and had a small orchid pinning one of the sides. A short beige dress accentuated her curves. She looked great.

"Farah!" I reached out for her, "when did you arrive?"

"Just now!" she chirped in. She had moved to California to go to Berkley. We'd last seen each other almost a year ago.

She kissed Marie on the cheek, too before turning my way. Her blue eyes shone excited as she grabbed my arm "Did I hear all right? Are you tying the knot?"

I giggled like a little girl and showed her my engagement ring. Her eyes sparkled excitedly as she held my hand. "Wow. That is one big rock!"

I smiled at her. A grey haired woman peeked through the door. "It's time for the bride to come downstairs!"

Marie took a deep breath, she held my hand for a moment and gave me a teary smile before walking out the door. We followed close behind her. I was after all, her maid of honor.

The whole country house had white flower bouquets all over the place. It was a dream location to have a wedding. The ceremony was going to be held outside and in another part of the property the reception was going to be held.

"Have you seen Chris?" Farah asked me surreptitiously as she glanced to the sides.

My lips twitched, "What happened to the blond God?"

Farah and Chris had broken up after prom. They were going to be living on different parts of the country and they didn't want to do the long-distance relationship thing. In all honesty, I think they were both into each other but they were both too proud and stubborn to admit it.

She had met someone in California. Her accurate description of the guy was that he looked like a Greek God and even made me stalk his Facebook page for a week. He wasn't that handsome. I still pinned after Chris, though. They went out for a couple of dates but she had stopped talking about him a while ago.

"Pfft" she gestured with her hand dismissively as we took our designated places on the aisle. Nate was looking my way from the front row. My heart fluttered as our eyes locked. "He was plain and boring," she murmured indifferently.

It was a shame that Chris hadn't make it to the wedding.

He was working back in Cambridge in an experimental movie as a special-effects technician. Turns out that he was really good at it and even in college they had offered him a job at a large company.

Since Cambridge was just an hour away, I was pretty sure that Farah was totally going there after the wedding. And even if she wasn't, Chris knew that she was here and promised to try to make it to the reception. I just hoped that they didn't miss each other. Because there was something there, I knew it.

She glanced at me and suppressed a smile, "should I start calling you Mrs. Rivers now?"

"Sounds great, huh?" I murmured breathlessly still looking at my boyfriend.

"Well," she rolled her eyes, "it's just a formality, anyway. You've been living together for the last year, anyway." She leaned on me, "I got a question, though. Are you guys still having sex every day?" my eyes widened as I looked to the sides expecting everyone to be hearing us, "because, I mean, doesn't it ever get boring? You're like stuck with the same guy over and over and over again. "

"Farah, would you shut the hell up?" I hissed as she smiled smugly.

"You so are!" she snickered, "you're blushing like crazy!"

The wedding music started as I glared at her. "You are sharing the details on how he proposed, ok?" she raised an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath murmuring, "Jesus."

Farah winked, "you missed me!"

Ignoring her, I started to walk down the aisle with a shy smile on my face. Nate was suppressing a laugh. I guess he'd seen me all flushed and had a pretty good idea what Farah had been on to.

As the music continued and I came closer to him, his grey eyes darkened and stared piercingly through me. My lips parted as I reached him. My heart was racing like crazy as he held my hand. There was so much intensity in his eyes, so much love. I stared at him in awe for a moment before the justice of piece judge started to talk.

I glanced at Dad. His lips were tightly pressed together listening intently to the judge. He was holding Marie's hand. As if he sensed me looking at him, he turned to me and a small smile played on his face. With teary eyes, I smiled back at him.

I was happy for him. He deserved to be happy.

Still, a pang played in my chest as I glanced at the judge again. I still missed Mom. And even though I was fine with them being together, an emptiness that was etched in my heart touched a chord. Nate intertwined our hands. His thumb brushing slightly on my ring. I love you, his eyes said as he looked at me. I stared at him completely mesmerized, remembering how he'd proposed that morning.

He woke me up caressing my arm with something cold. My eyes had fluttered open as my lips tugged up. "Wake up sleepy head," he murmured trailing kisses on my arm. His lips tugged up as goose bumps formed on my skin.

"Five more minutes" I shifted pulling the blanket over me with a smugly smile on my face, "muffin-top." He hated that nickname and I teased him with it all the time.

I was pretty sure he narrowed his eyes and pulled the blanket away from me as I laughed. "That's it!" he straddled me and grabbed both hands in one of his hands. With a tight hold, he placed them above my head as I wriggled under him laughing. His grey eyes bored into me for a moment, stopping my laugh altogether. Deliberately slow, he placed his fingers on my abdomen, where my tank top had rolled up. He brushed them over my bellybutton and started to go up as my lips parted. He leaned closer and brushed his lips on mine while his hand travelled up. My breath was caught in my chest as he kissed me softly before pulling away. A mischievous glint played on his eyes before he started tickling me like crazy.

"Stop it!" I managed to say in between laughs.

"That's what you get for calling me that!" When my stomach started to hurt from laughing so much, Nate finally loosened the grip on my hands. I pulled my tank top down while still laughing. Smiling, he got up. "Close your eyes, baby, I have a surprise for you."

"Did you make breakfast?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically as he glared at me.

"Close your eyes if you don't want a repeat of that." He raised an eyebrow.

Playfully rolling my eyes, I close them. The truth was that Nate was still awful in the kitchen. Every time he'd tried to cook, something got burnt. Whether it was the bread or the toasting machine. After that incident, he was banned from the kitchen.

A small tray was placed on me. "I know that today is going to be a day with mixed emotions, Cass," I opened my eyes and stared at him as his eyes bored into me, "but I just want to tell you that you are the most amazing and brave person I've ever met." I swallowed hard, "I love you and you've showed me what true love is like. I was lost before. You made me found myself. It's because of you that I talk to my mother and with your example, it's because of you that I've come to terms with Leah." His eyes shone as he grabbed my hand, "You've given my life meaning and I want to be a better person because of you." My own eyes brimmed with tears as he looked at me for a long moment. "I know we're young and that we have all the time in the world but I also know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you." My lips parted once again as my heart raced. He looked down at the tray and I mimicked him.

He'd spelled marry me with cheerios on the tray and on the bottom of the white bowl laid a diamond ring.

My heart skipped a beat as I clasped a hand on my mouth. The tray shifted. "Don't move baby, it took me forever to arrange the cheerios that way." He rearranged the few that had moved with a smile on his face.

With teary eyes and a trembling hand, I grabbed the ring. "I love you, Nathan Rivers."

His smile was wide as he slid the ring on my finger, "I love you too, Cassie."

A deep voice announced "You may kiss the bride," bringing me back to my father's wedding. Dad kissed Marie and they turned around to the guests as we all applauded to them. Dad's blue eyes glanced at me briefly before they walked down the aisle. My eyes brimmed with tears as they walked off.

"How are you?" Nate whispered by my ear.

I glanced at him, taking his chiseled features and beautiful grey eyes, "never been better."

I meant it.

Life had made a complete turnaround.

I was no longer the shy, anguished girl I was. My life had changed completely.

I was now proud of who I was and was no longer shy to share my works to others. Every day, I wanted to be better and make my parents proud of me.

I wished Mom was there with me but I knew that in a way she was. Great things had been happening in my life and I felt like Mom was behind them.

She was taking care of me.

She was part of who I was and every day I wanted to honor her and make her feel proud of me. I knew she wanted me to be happy.

One thing I learned is that, it's never too late to be sorry if you have the courage to.

I'll always love you, Mom.