Yes to the Dress

I know I've been gone for a long time, but I finally have free time to write!

Also unedited

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Dominic and I only got a few private moments to ourselves before passing out from exhaustion. The next day wasn't any better. Dominic woke up much earlier than I did but wrote me a note explaining he needed to get work done to make the tasting this evening. I thought I would have the day to relax, but I contacted my entire famiglia to explain what was happening in the next few days.

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"Mama, I didn't call you to hear about your garden. Dominic and I are flying down tomorrow for my dress fitting. I need you ready to join me around noon."

I sat outside in the rose garden to make my many phone calls. Mama has been telling me about rabbits invading her garden again for the past twenty minutes. She barely gave me time to explain why I called.

"Yes, yes, I know. Dominic already told me." Mama snapped.

"Why are you and Dominic still conversing? It's very odd."

"He makes sure to call me every day, unlike some people."

"Mama, I have no time for your sarcasm. I have too much on my plate."

"Is speaking to your papa one of those things on your plate? I am tired of living like this, Alessandra! He is your father, and you are his daughter. How can I be excited to plan a wedding that my husband knows nothing about?" Mama accused.

I sighed heavily. Roberto talked to him, and I didn't hear anything back. Ultimately, it's not his burden to speak to papa; it's mine.

"Mama, this conversation isn't going to be easy. I know I have to talk to him, but there's a lot that papa has done that makes reuniting all the more difficult."

"Difficult or not, he is your papa. You won't feel complete if you walk down that aisle without him."

"I'll talk to him after my fitting."

"Perfect! Thank you, amore."

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In a flash, the day went by with all the work I had to do. I had to confirm many appointments and call back so many friends and famiglia because they forgot to RSVP. Everyone has officially confirmed to come to my wedding. By the time I got a chance to sit on the couch in the living room, Dominic had come storming in, announcing the food was set up in the dining room.

The entire dining table was filled with covered trays with fancy labels on the trays. Everything was arranged according to food groups. There were two large papers on the center of the table with two fancy feathered pens dipped into an ink cartridge. On the paper, it read Ratings in fancy cursive letters. Wow, Sophia sure is extra!

"This is a sampling? Why are the trays so big?" I cried out as I looked over the crazy amounts of food.

"My thoughts exactly. Whatever isn't eaten, we'll leave the rest for the staff."

Dominic and I sat in the middle of the dining table and started off with the appetizer. Keeping in mind my fitting for tomorrow, I made sure my portions were small even though the food was heavenly.

It was hard making a decision because I wanted to say yes to everything. Dominic, however, was beyond picky about the food. The bruschetta was too bland, the risotto was too wet, the carbonara was too hard, the lamb was too chewy...I had to beg Dominic to keep an open mind. There were no complaints about the desserts, however. Dominic devoured the cannoli, cupcakes, cake samples, and three cups of tiramisu. It was a long, filling night, but we decided on a menu of Pan-fried Scamorza with Arugula Salad, Wedding soup, Wagyu steak with spring vegetables, and Zuppa Inglese for dessert. During the transition to the reception, we decided to have the caters bring out trays of bruschetta, meatballs, and quiches while the guest waited. As for the sweet table, we decided to have everything the caterers brought in a part of the lovely table.

"I'm so full!" I whined as I dropped my fork onto my plate.

"Which cake flavour did you like?" Dominic asked as he continued to eat the red velvet cake slice.

"I love the red velvet, but I also loved the vanilla with strawberry pieces. Could we do both and make it a four-layer?"

"As long as the red velvet makes the cut, we can do whatever your heart desires." Dominic smiles.

"Leave some for the staff. You've devoured the entire table! Don't you have a fitting tomorrow?" I nagged.

"No love, you have a fitting. But I do have a lot of errands to run in Milan."

"What errands?"

"That's a surprise, love. Come, let's get ready for bed."

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Dominic and I had a long night packing and finalizing plans before we headed to our flight early this morning. It was a wild ride to the airport. We had to make sure that Bambina and Julianna were in Milan before we left and had to make sure that Raphael would bring Cassia down to Milan later today for her fitting. Once we were seated on the jet, I took a much-needed nap while Dominic did work on his laptop.

As the plane touched the ground, we were instantly rushed into large black cars by Dominic's guards.

"So, what's the game plan today?" I wondered as I napped lightly on Dominic's shoulder.

"We are going to our rental home to drop our luggage off. Then Draco will drive you to your Mama's and then to your appointment. I'm going to stay at the rental for a bit and run some errands. I should be back home when you're done with your appointment."

"You're really not going to tell me what your errands are?" I asked.

"Nope," Dominic laughed softly.

It must be wedding-related if he's not willing to tell me.

As planned, we stopped at the rental home very close to Mama's house. Dominic let me stay in the car as he and the guards put the luggage in the home. Before Draco got back into the driver's side, it took a while to drive me to my next destination. I had Draco stop to get Juliana and Bambina before picking my Mama and nonna up from their home.

My dress appointment was held at Alessandra Rinuado private designing studio in the city. As Draco pulled up to the main doors, my nerves were getting out of control. Standing outside is the gorgeous Alessandra Rinuado with a small army of women behind her.

"Ah, Ciao Bella! You must be the beautiful bride!" Alessandra greeted me with open arms as I climbed out of the car.

"Ciao, Miss Rinuado. Thank you for designing my dress! You don't know how much this means to me." I chirped.

"It's my pleasure! Come come, let's get you inside to try on some dresses."

Alessandra led me to an open space with racks and dresses placed near a small lit pedestal. There is a wall-size mirror in front of the pedestal and a seating area close by for my friends and Mama.

"From my conversation with your planner, it seems that you're still deciding what you want your dress to be?" Alessandra asked out as she rummaged through the dresses on the rack.

"Not really. I'm torn between the ball gown and a mermaid."

"No problem, dear. I got a very cute message from your husband-to-be. He a charming hat you were probably going to be indecisive between which dress you wanted so Dominic paid for you to have two dresses, One for the ceremony and one for the reception."

I gasped loudly. Dominic did what?

"Yay, Now you can get both!" Juliana shrieked.

"I can't believe he did that," I murmured to myself.

"Believe it, babe! Your man has money to waste!" Bambina smiled at me.

"Hush now; you're wasting time! Let's go find some dresses!" Mama growled at us.

I sat on the couch and watched my famiglia savagely go through the racks. A total of 8 dresses were picked out of the bunch and handed to the assistants to put into the dressing room. They each picked out one dress that was a mermaid and one dress that was a ball gown.

I tried on the ball gowns first. The first dress I tried on was an absolute beauty. It was more simple in design and very modest. I knew this was Nonna's choice. Although I wasn't in love with the dress, wearing this dress helped me decide that I wanted a ball gown for the ceremony. I never felt more like a princess than I do in this dress.

I modelled the dress out for everyone's comments. The moment the curtains opened, Mama and nonna were already crying.

"Oh, this is what I picked! It's so pretty!" Nonna said excitedly.

"My beautiful figlia! You are so beautiful!" Mama cried loudly.

"Thank you, Mama. This isn't my pick, but I think I want a ball gown to be my ceremony dress." I announced happily.

"I agree, babes; you look so beautiful!" Bambina spoke out.

"Truly radiant!" Juliana agreed.

"Okay, I'm gonna try on the rest."

I tried on the other 3 options, but it wasn't until I got to the last ball gown dress where I started to cry. The dress was way too big inside the dressing room, and usually, something this extravagant wouldn't be my taste. Still, this dress....it's beyond words! A bejewelled sweetheart neckline with an invisible lace on my body to show just the right amount of skin. The jewels led down my torso onto the beautiful skirt that overflowed around me. The gems were perfect, the dress was puffy and elegant, the lace was sexy and smart...I love it!

I came out with tears running down my face. One look to my famiglia, they knew it was the one.

"THIS IS THE ONE!" Mama screamed in joy!

"Look at my beautiful grandbaby!" Nonna cried out.

"THIS WAS MY PICK!" Bambina screamed out!"

"Damn, that's a sexy dress!" Juliana commented.

"I love it. This is my dress!" I cried out happily!

"You love it?" Alessandra confirmed with a smile on her face.

"This is my dress."

Alessandra wrote some notes down and took my picture with a Polaroid camera before sending me back to the dressing room. The assistant helping me change took the dress away before helping me change into the mermaid dress. Instead of falling in love with the last dress, I fell in love with the first mermaid dress I tried on. The dress is another sweetheart neckline with lace completely covering the back. The entire dress had floral lace with tiny diamonds beads all over the clothing. The dress was quite sexy, so I think this is Juliana's or Bambina's pick.

When I came out, Mama and nonna jumped up and down.

"Yes! This is our pick!" Mama laughed happily.

"Really?" I said shockingly. I would never expect my Mama to be okay with this, let alone my nonna. It seems too modern for her taste.

"Sei Bella." Nonna ran over to me to kiss me on the cheeks.

"This is your dress, love! I can't deny it." Juliana sighed happily.

"I don't think you should try on any other dresses; this is perfect," Bambina announced.

"I love it!"

"Perfecta! Let me take some photos of you in the dress, and we'll get you out for your bridesmaid appointment."

We were out of Alessandra's studio within a half hour with my dresses picked, the changes I wanted in the dress and when my dress should be ready by. Mama and Nonna wanted to go home to spread the news of finding my dress, so we dropped them off before picking up Cassia from their hotel.

As expected, Cassia was waiting outside the hotel with Raphael close behind her. Draco stepped out to address Raphael before Cassia entered the car.

We waited for Draco to pull away before speaking to Cassia.

"How was the flight over here?" I asked Cassia as she started to relax into her seat.

"Stressful. Biting my tongue is getting too hard! I feel like he's purposely provoking me to fight with him."

"Why do you say that?" Bambina questions.

"He would say the most disrespectful things to me and watch for my response. When I don't give it to him, he gets annoyed and then smiles. It's the most confusing and infuriating thing I've ever dealt with."

"Yep, that's what these men like to do," Juliana growled.

"Well, you're with us for the day. Let's go for the fitting, and then we can go for drinks."

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