"Okay, where are we going to next?" I questioned my mother sitting in the passenger seat of the car. My mother was driving us to the next store she wanted to stop at before we headed home. We had gone to a floral shop, a bakery to taste yummy cakes, and a catering restaurant to figure out the meals. So far the cakes were my favorite. Flowers just seemed stressful and honestly dinner wasn't my thing. I was heading straight for deserts on the day of the wedding.

My mother turned to smile at me, her glasses propped up on her head. I hadn't noticed she was aging until just now, my mother had always been youthful and stunning, though she was still stunning she didn't look as youthful anymore. Work must really be dragging on her. Her dark brown hair was slowly graying near her temples and she had smile lines from a life well lived. I loved my mother more than anything and I was glad to be able to spend this time with her.

"I have a surprise for you." She focused back onto the road. It'd been way too long since my mother and I had last hung out. Our schedules usually didn't match up very well whether it be with her at work or me at school.

"What is it?" I gleamed. The music in the car was playing low but the beat was catchy. I couldn't help but sway with it as my mother continued to speed down the road. As the song came to an end my mother pulled into the parking lot of a few shopping outlets. I looked around confused at where she was taking me, none of these places were really wedding related stores.

"You won't figure it out by looking at the buildings." She mumbled grabbing her wallet from by my feet. I shot her a look waiting for her to tell me any info about what we were about to do. I grabbed the car door handle quickly jumping out into the warm sun.

"Oh come on momma please tell me." I pretended to gripe still searching the shops around us. There was nothing but a small dress shop in the corner of the rustic brick buildings.

"When we get inside." My mother wrapped her arm around mine leading me towards the dress shop I had spotted. This shop didn't have bridal dresses so what would we be doing here? The warm summer sun beat down on my mother and I. I loved this time of year and I had hoped if I was getting married it would be in the summer months. I glanced around out of habit searching my surroundings for anything green. I hadn't seen him since leaving him at home after school but that didn't mean he wasn't around. Ailis was sneaky and it wouldn't shock me if he showed up.

We entered the dress shop as fancy outfits lined the walls in all different colors, styles, and sizes. I was so excited and I didn't even know what we were doing here yet. I had a feeling I could guess though.

"Hi, I have an appointment for Emerson Delano." My mother tells the lady behind the desk. I shot her a look of confusion, why did I have an appointment? I've never even been to this place. "We are looking for maid of honour dresses today, and in any color she wants, there is no price range."

My jaw dropped once more.

"Mother, you really don't need to do this--"

"Shush." She placed her finger on my lips to stop me from saying anything more. Rolling her eyes, she dropped her hand back to her side. "I just want a long flowy dress, I don't care what color or neckline, just a long flowy skirt sweetie."

"Are you serious right now?" I was beaming as I looked around the shop, any dress I wanted for any price.

"Yes, now let's get shopping." My mother was the first to reach for a rack as she began pulling dresses she thought would look good on me. I began doing the same digging through the size 3 racks.

"What color do you want?" My mother asks me as she held seven or so dresses in her hands.

"Purple?" It was my favorite color anyways.

"Of course." My mother placed all the dresses that weren't purple back on the shelf. We continued digging through the racks for a few more minutes before finally having enough to start trying them on.

After what felt like trying on a million failed attempts I finally felt comfortable enough in one of the dresses to want to show my mother. Honestly I had fallen in love with the dress and I wasn't ready to take it off. I was searching for any reason to keep it on longer than needed. I stood in the lavender A-line dress staring at my reflection. I finally felt good in something. The dress was stunning. If everything was as pretty as this dress, this was going to be the most wonderful wedding. I could feel the excitement growing in my chest as I twirled in the hi-low material. The princess neckline flattering my body perfectly.

"Yer luk stunnin' mis." Ailis shimmied from under the door, quickly hiding in the corner of the room. He held a bright blue box with tiny little characters on it, noticeably the Rice Krispies packaging.

"Where did you get those?" I chuckled as he munched away on what looked to be his second treat. He shrugged his shoulder holding the snack that was nearly the size of his entire torso, using both hands to keep it steady. "Also how did you eat so much of that?" I watched as he took another bite, his mouth barely fitting over the entire thing.

"Never underestimate a leprechaun." Ailis winked placing the now empty wrapper back into the box. At least he cleaned up after himself. After tidying up his mess his tiny body dropped to where he was sitting against the wall. He puffed out his stomach rubbing it with his now empty hands. "Whew dat wus a damn gran' mayle."

"You are absolutely ridiculous." I turned back to look at the dress once more. My mother was probably wondering where I was. I turned back to Ailis. "Stay here for a moment, I'll be back."

I took the few steps into the open area where my mother and a strange man were sitting. I stood in front of them, neither noticing I was there. After a few more moments I cleared my throat alerting them to me. My mother's eyes opened wide as soon as she saw me.

"Oh, dear this is the best one yet!" She beamed jumping from her seat. She rushed over to my side to give me a quick hug. I never took my eyes off of the man who sat still in his seat. Who was that? "Emerson, you need to meet Miles." Quickly my mother rushed back over to the man who was still just sitting there. Did he ever move?

"Hello." He finally stood extending his hand out for me to shake it. "I'm Miles Wilson." I graciously shook his hand in response. I thought today was supposed to be just my mother and I though. I looked back at my mother as she stared at this man with hearts in her eyes.

"Momma, what do you think of the dress?" I tried to bring her attention back to me. I wanted her to notice me and not just Miles. Anyways, when did he even get here? I turned to step onto the pedestal. My mother was silent for a few moments, her eyes going back and forth between the dress and Miles. Jesus, she was acting like a twelve year old in their first relationship.

"I love it!" She finally shouted. Grabbing at some of the material she lifted it up to inspect it closely. "It's the perfect color too." After fiddling with the material for a few more seconds she took a step back landing herself in Miles arms. He was taller than her forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him.

"Don't you think this will be perfect for our big day?" She asks as if she is looking for his approval.

"Of course sweetie." He said kissing her on the forehead. I hadn't realized how weird it would be to watch my mother with another man, a man other than my father. Honestly I had never pictured my mother with anyone else, she had never really seemed interested in dating and for the longest time I didn't know she was. It was such a shock when she came home with those roses announcing that she had met somebody. She never introduced him to me though to protect me from the heartbreak if things ended up not working out.

"Alright, this is weird so I'm going to just go change." I pointed back towards the dressing room before heading in the direction. Neither of them said anything. I was disappointed that neither of them had anything to say to me, nothing they wanted to acknowledge. When I was back in the safety of the dressing room with Ailis, I took a seat on the floor looking at the leprechaun.

"Are ye okay?" His voice was soft, his accent still very noticeable, but his words were filled with concern. His body was still slumped in the same corner I had left him in. Ailis looked like he was melting into the floor and if he didn't move soon he would be stuck there permanently.

"At least one person pays attention." I mumbled. I immediately wanted to take it back. My mother and I had done so many things today together, it's alright if she is excited about a new love. I knew I would be the same way if things ever went far enough with a boy for me to have a boyfriend. My thoughts drifted to Nathan for a quick moment before the sound of Ailis's voice brought me back.

"Nade anythin'?" I looked over at the still pregnant looking creature.

"I just miss my father, I sometimes wish things would go back to the way they were when he was still around. At least I would know where he was. Right now I have no clue." I grabbed at my clothes that were on the floor. The more I thought about it the more I actually did miss my father. Sure Miles was a good man for my mother and I wanted her to be happy but I wished she could be happy with my father. I had wondered where he disappeared to, maybe he had an entirely new family off in some far away land. Watching the way my mother acted with Miles made me wonder about how she used to act with my father. As a little kid I used to always idolize the two of them together, but being so young I had no clue if I remembered things correctly.

My father used to make sure to take me to the park every saturday afternoon, mother would make a special dinner and my father and I would go play. The park was just around the corner from our house so when my mother texted him we would rush back to the house, racing to see who could get there first.

"Oi 'av an idea jist give me a couple av 'ours ter git it done." With that Ailis disappeared to whatever that little guy did in his free time leaving me with a simple box of Rice Krispie treats. Honestly I was too caught up in my own world to wonder where he was going, all I knew was, I wasn't sure how I was going to explain the treats to my mother.

Maybe she wouldn't notice.