I lazily slide my finger across the screen to answer my phone. "Hello?"

"Oh Z, it's terrible!" I quickly recognize Vanessa's voice.

I sit straight up. "What's wrong V? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm a spoiled brat! An ugly spoiled brat!" She whimpers in response.

I bring my knees to my chest. "No, you aren't! Why do you even think that?"

"It's my dress, I hate it!" She speaks between sobs.

"You don't like your wedding dress anymore?"

"No, I look like a peacock!"

I laugh a little. "Okay, it's okay. We'll get you a new one."

"The wedding is in a few days, it's impossible to get a dress this late."

"Nope, we're not being negative! We still have a few days, we just need one dress."

I hear her crying stop. "You think we can?"

"Absolutely!" I try to sound positive although I have my doubts. However, we don't have an option, we have to get her a dress she loves, it's her wedding day. "Get ready right now and we'll start our journey!"

"Okay, I'll get in the shower now."

I lean against the headrest. "Good girl, I'll see you in an hour."

"I love you!" She squeals.

"Love you too! Now go get ready, I'm hanging up." I say and promptly hang up the phone.

I stand up and feel a hand around my wrist stopping me.

"Where are you going?" Grant says as he rubs his eyes.

I sit on the edge of the bed. "Vanessa needs a new wedding dress."

He nods. "Take my wallet and be careful."

I kiss him. "Thank you! I'm going to get in the shower."

His eyes light up. "You mean we're going to get in the shower."

I laugh. "How'd you know? Just remember I only have an hour though."

He jumps up, smiling. Right as we're about to enter the bathroom we hear a little voice. "Grrr?"

We look at each other. "Did he just growl at us?" I whisper.

Grant smirks. "That's what the little guy calls me since he can't say Grant."

He runs out to Prince's crib. "Hi little man!"

Prince smiles and raises his arms for Grant to carry him. Grant looks over at me and sighs. "I'm still getting used to having him around, I feel like I'm doing a terrible job."

I walk over to him, watching the way he and Prince are looking at each other. "You're not."

"Hey little man how would you feel about spending time with Grayson?" He pleads with Prince.

Prince giggles. "My Son?"

Grant and I laugh. "Yeah, baby Grayson!"

Prince starts trying to climb out of his crib. Grant grabs him before he can fall. He places him gently on the ground and takes his hand. I watch him clumsily walk with Grant to the door.

"How old is Prince?" I ask Grant curiously.

Grant shrugs, "They aren't sure yet. They're still looking into his background."

"Poor guy doesn't even know his birthday." I smile at Prince, apologetically.

"I know." Grant sighs.

Prince tugs at Grant's arm. "Son!"

"Grayson, come get your kid!" Grant yells.

A few minutes later Grayson emerges looking exhausted. "What?"

Prince starts trying to get to Grayson. "Hi!"

Grayson looks down at him, rubbing his eyes. "Hi!"

"Play cars?" Prince asks him with a serious expression.

"Sure, come on." Grayson takes his hand and goes out to Prince's toy cars.

"Don't kill him Grayson!" Grant yells.

"Don't kill her Grant!" Grayson yells back.

I shake my head. "As if you could hurt me."

Grant throws me over his shoulder. "Shower time!"

I laugh as he carries me into the bathroom.

An hour later we emerge in towels wearing huge smiles.

"We need more alone time." Grant whispers in my ear.

I giggle. "A lot more alone time." I turn to face Grant who is only breaths away from my face.

As I inch a little closer to him we hear a knock on the door. "Hey, some girl is here for you Zeph."

The new nickname Grayson has given me takes me by surprise at first then I smile. "I'll be right out Ray!"

"Ray?" I hear Grayson mumble as he walks away.

I face Grant. "I'm am going to need you to stay six feet away from me so I can actually get ready."

Grant smirks. "What if I say no?" He moves closer, playing with the top of my towel.

I swat his hand. "You're on Prince's diaper duty as long as he's with us."

He makes a face. "Well, I'm going to need you to keep kissing me or you're on Grayson diaper duty as long as he's with us."

I laugh and move away from him, attempting to get dressed. Grant grabs my bra and runs across the room.

"Grant, stop!" I chase him, while hugging my towel tightly against my chest.

Grant continues running. "Make me towel girl!"

I continue laughing and chasing Grant around the room until I hear another knock on the door. "Grant, if you're in there let her out before I come in and kick your naked a**!" I hear Vanessa's voice clear as day through the door. I cover my mouth to stifle my laugh.

Grant walks to the door and cracks it open. "You are cruel, you know that?"

She rolls her eyes. "You're in a towel too? Crap, we're never leaving!" She yanks him out the door and yells to me, "Now you can get ready! Here's your bra." She rips my bra out of Grant's hands and tosses it in the door to me.

"Thanks!" I yell back, closing the door.

"Don't thank her! I'm out here naked!" Grant scolds me.

Vanessa chimes in. "Ew, Grant no one cares! Leave your towel on and change when she gets out!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vanessa sits next to me, drumming her fingers anxiously. "This is the fourth place we've tried, if they don't have the perfect dress there might not be one."

I lay my head against her shoulder. "There is and we won't stop until we find it!"

She smiles. "Thank you for being here, especially with all the crap happening with you and Grant. Like you're literally raising a child together and he's still keeping secrets from you!"

I told Vanessa about what's been happening between Grant and I, she could tell I was a little off and wouldn't let it go until I talked about it. She is still the queen of gossip, nothing gets past her. The thing I love about Vanessa is she always sees both sides of an argument, she has been telling me Grant's perspective, but at the same time understanding mine and not making me feel crazy.

"I mean between him keeping a stolen child from me, to a mysterious second Grant and family trauma, I'm going to explode." I breathe. "I mean I love him so much that I'm not able to keep things from him, but he has no problem keeping literally everything from me!"

"His partying all the time with his racing buddy is annoying too. I mean he's young and stuff but I'm starting to think his hotshot friend is a bad influence on him."

I shake my head. "Oh my gosh, no! Grayson is so sweet, he's just lonely I think."

"Mhmm." Vanessa looks away, unconvinced.

"Vanessa?" A pretty young lady approaches us with curls and a black mini dress. "Are you ready to try on some dresses?"

Vanessa lights up. "Oh my gosh, so ready! Let's go!"

As we walk, Vanessa whispers to me. "Girl, at this point all gloves are off, if he doesn't open up to you, it's impossible to have a relationship. Whatever he's keeping must be really bad, which is concerning for you as the girlfriend. I love Grant and I love you guys together, so I would just give him a little time, but not too much. If he is still unable to open up to you by the wedding, I hate to say it, but he might never. It sucks but you can't force him to tell you anything, you know?"

I nod. "I know, you're right. I just don't want to give up on us, I've never been so happy. It feels so right when we're together. Sometimes I think if I just give him a little push in the right direction...."

She shakes her head. "You can't."

The girl who brought us back comes out with dresses covering her arms. "Let's start here!" She says cheerfully.

I nudge Vanessa. "Go on, I'm so excited to see you try these on!"

I sit down on the bench outside the dressing room, feeling happy and stressed. I am so honored to be here with Vanessa during such an important time in her and Alec's lives, but I am unsure of how to handle Grant.

Vanessa emerges in the most gorgeous dress I've ever seen. It's lowcut and sleek on the top, and lace mermaid on the bottom, showcasing her stunning figure.

I stand up and walk over to her. "That was fast."

She smiles as she turns to me. "Well, I had help."

"I mean, finding your perfect dress, this is the one." I tear up looking at her.

She blushes. "I was really hoping you'd say that because I love it!"

"You look incredible, you're literally glowing!" The tears start to fall down my cheek.

"Don't cry! If you cry, I'm going to cry!" She wipes my tears as her lip quivers.

I smile. "I can't help it, my best friend is all grown up! I'm just so happy for you!" I can't still remember her tormenting all the boys on the playground, wearing little pigtails.

She pulls me into a hug, and I squeeze her tightly. "Thank you for being here Z! You've been my rock! I can't wait until I get to do this for you!"

"I love you!" I cry into her shoulder. Everything I was upset about washes away when I see my best friend looking like the most beautiful bride ever. I can't explain it and it won't make sense unless you've experienced it, but seeing someone you care about so much, so happy is the best feeling in world. She has been through a lot to get to this moment and seeing her thriving makes my heart swell. It's crazy to think that her prince charming was right beside her this whole time being a great friend to her. I'm so happy our friend group decided to take a chance on love. Vanessa and I have really benefited from it. 

"I'm guessing this is your dress?" The worker comes up behind us grinning.

Vanessa releases me. "Yes! This is the one!"