"Hazel I'm leaving!" I call out to her from the kitchen's side door which opens into the back of the bungalow which is a huge field. Hazel is watching dad water his plants.

She says goodbye to him and runs inside to join me. Daniel has a headache so he's sleeping it off and Sebastian is asleep with him.

Hazel buckles herself into the car seat as I back the car out of the driveway.

"Are you excited to see what the dress looks like?" I ask Hazel, looking at her in the rear view mirror. Tess told her over lunch yesterday about her getting to be a flower girl.

Hazel nods in reply to my question as she looks out of her window at the foreign sights.

I know the dress store where Tess is having her dress made. It's a local boutique in the heart of Bern. We used to visit the crafts store next door often with mom so I know the route without having to use a map.

"Mom! Ducks!" Hazel points out as we drive past a pond.

"I used to come here with grandma and grandpa every Sunday morning to feed the ducks." I tell Hazel.

"Will they still remember you?" Hazel asks, making me laugh.

"We can stop on our way back and as them." I say, making her laugh too.

It's a short drive to the boutique. I find a parking space a few stores away and park the car. When Hazel hops out of the car, she at once swivels around with pleading eyes.

"Can I please get cake?" She asks, pointing towards the bakery we're in front of. And right there in the display window is a chocolate cake.

"Okay." I tell her and she hops in glee.

We go into the store and I buy her a slice of cake and a bottle of water. As I'm making the payment, Hazel opens the box, sticks the disposable spoon into the cake and takes a bite.

"Mhmm." Hazel nods in approval, making me and the lady at the cash register laugh.

"Do we have a cake lover in store today?" She smiles at Hazel and Hazel sheepishly nods.

The lady hands back my credit card without swiping it, "The cake's on the house."

"Oh no, please I insist." I shake my head, holding out the card again.

"When my daughter was little she used to love cake. I used to bake so much for her that I decided to turn it into a business!" The lady sighs and from the look on her face I can tell that they are happy memories for her.

"What is your daughter doing nowadays?" I ask her.

"She works for a firm, PERKINS + WILLIS." The lady tells me.

"I work for them too!" I exclaim.

"Really? My daughter is at their Los Angeles office." She tells me.

I'm surprised at the coincidence, "Really? I overlook all operations in California. What's her name?"

"Lina Accola." She tells me and then asks, "Wow! You're her boss?"

I laugh at her observation, "Well, not exactly her boss. But boss of a boss, you could say."

"It was an honor to serve Lina's boss." She says, shaking my hand.

"It's a small world. I'll surely ask for her when I get back to America. And my name is Emma Aaron, please ask her to reach out to me if she ever needs my assistance." I tell the lady.

"Thank you so much." She smiles at me and then looks over the counter at Hazel who has gobbled down half the cake slice by now.

"Thank you for the cake." I tell her and once Hazel's thanked her too we step out of the bakery and head for the boutique.

The crafts store is still there and I promise to show Hazel the inside once we're done with the dress fitting.

We get there before Phil's sister, Lily and her daughter, Sophia but Tess is already in the store chatting with the designer.

"Finally!" She says, walking over to us.

"Sorry, we had to make a detour." I point at the almost empty box in Hazel's hand.

"Come on, I'll show you my dress!" Tess excitedly takes my arm and drags into a backroom and there on a plush couch is a gorgeous white dress spread out.

"Tess! It's beautiful!" I say, a hand on my heart.

"So pretty." I hear Hazel say from where she's standing beside me.

"Thank you, both of you." Tess claps her hands in glee. "Okay, we have to go back outside because I don't want anyone from Phil's family to see it yet. I'll have my fitting at the end once everyone leaves. But you'll be with me, right?"

"Of course I will." I tell Tess and give her a quick hug. Then we return to the main store.

"Can I see my dress?" Hazel asks Tess as we sit down in chairs to wait for her bridesmaids, school friends and Lily and Sophia to arrive.

"Oooh! Yes! Let's start with your dresses!" Tess squeals.

She asks one of the shop ladies to bring out the flower girl dresses and the lady returns with them a minute later.

Tess takes one of the garment bags to reveal a breathtaking little light pink knee length dress. It has a white satin bodice and lace and net forms the skirt, puffing out a little.

"It's a princess dress." I hear Hazel say, making Tess and me laugh.

"This is Hazel's size." Tess says reading off a tag on the garment bag.

"What color are the bride's maid dresses?" I ask her.

"The same as this and all the groomsmen will wear bow ties the same shade of pink as this." Tess tells me.

I know that Tess's maid of honor is her childhood best friend. So I ask, "Who is Phil's best man?"

"A friend from school in London." She replies just as her friends, the bride's maids, arrive.

"Hazel! You're so big!" "Hazel, you're so cute!" "Hazel is exactly like the pictures Tess showed us." Her friends gush over Hazel, who leans into my side as they finally stop hovering over Hazel and move onto questions about the wedding.

While Tess is showing her five friends their dresses, amidst all the squeals and laughs, Lily and Sophia arrive.

Tess is on the other side of the store with her friends where the try rooms are so I stand up from my chair to meet the two latecomers.

"Hi Emma! I'm so sorry that we kept you waiting." Lily says, walking up to me.

"It's okay. Tess is busy with the bride's maids and Hazel is just loving all the gowns and dresses." I point towards her where she's sifting through a rack of wedding dresses.

"Sophia! See! Dresses are nice!" She harshly tugs on her daughter's hand, making the little girl, about the same age as Hazel, stumble.

"You don't like dresses, Sophia?" I ask the little girl, who gives me a scared nod.

I smile at her and kneel down in front of her, "That's okay. I sometimes hate dresses too. But at times like a wedding, they're very fun to wear. And everyone will be wearing a dress!"

"Me too?" Sophia finally finds her voice.

"Of course, you too!" I smile and then call out to Hazel who runs back over to me.

"Hazel, why don't you show Sophia your matching dresses?" I say. "Aunty Tess has them."

While Hazel leads Sophia to Tess, I turn back to Lily who shakes her head and sighs, "That's what I get for having a girl and two older boys."

"It's fine. Every child has their own phases and preferences." I tell her.

"Hi Lily!" Tess calls out, walking over to us.

"Hello Tess." Lily says, giving Tess a hug.

I feel a pang of emotion in my chest that I was discussed with Daniel after the dinner with Phil's family in Toulouse. Watching Hazel with Phil's family reminds me that soon we won't be her only family and I won't be her only sister. She'll have two more sisters from Phil's side and of course, six more nieces and nephews too.

"I'm going to check on Hazel." I excuse myself and find Hazel with Sophia near a rack of purple gowns

When Sophia sees me she runs back to her mother and I sit down in a chair with my back to everyone, some distance away as I look out the store window at the street outside while Hazel continues looking at the dresses on display.

A moment later I pull out my phone and dial Daniel's number.

"Hey!" He says, answering the call.

"Hi. Did I wake you up?" I ask him.

"No, no. I've been awake for a while now. Sebastian and I were helping your father set up a BBQ for lunch." He replies, making me smile.

"I don't know what came over me." I sigh into the phone.

"Is something wrong?" I can hear the frown in his voice.

"Remember our conversation about Tess gaining a new family?" I ask him.

Daniel is silent for a moment before he says, "Seeing Tess with Phil's sister brought back those emotions, huh?"

I smile despite myself because Daniel knows me too well. "Yes."

"Emma, she's your biological sister. She's just their sister by law." He reminds me.

I sigh, "I know but I didn't realize it would be this hard to accept it."

"I wish I could give you a hug right now." Daniel says, making me smile.

"I could really use one right now." I say back.

"Emma!" Tess calls out from behind me and I hold up a hand.

"Tess needs me. I'm going to go." I tell Daniel.

"Just have fun at the fitting, okay? Tess is YOUR sister." Daniel firmly tells me.

"This is why I love you." I sigh, smiling at the floor.

"Because I helped with the BBQ setup?" He asks, making me laugh.

"Well that and this talk. Thank you." I smile and I know he can tell through the phone.

"I love you two." Daniel says back.

"Are you done with your mushy love bird talk?" Tess asks, walking over. Daniel must've heard over the phone because he begins to laugh, "You sure she isn't your sister?"

"She's definitely my sister." I laugh back and then say goodbye before ending the call. That's something she would never say to someone from Phil's family.

With Daniel's words of encouragement and Tess's latest reality check, I join her at the try rooms where Sophia is already in a booth with Lily.

I take Hazel's dress out of the garment bag and tell her to go into a booth and change into the dress. A few minutes later Hazel opens the door and turns her back to me so that I button up the back.

"Bunny! You look gorgeous!" I clap in delight as Hazel does a little spin for me and Tess and her friends clap too and exclaim how beautiful she looks. I take a picture of Hazel and then one of Tess's friends takes a picture of the two of us before Tess joins us and the three of us have a picture taken.

A moment later Sophia steps out in an identical dress and she looks stunning too which everyone lets her know. When she sees Hazel wearing the same as her, I see her gain some confidence and when I offer to take a picture of the two of them, she eagerly nods.

Then with Tess wearing her regular clothes in the middle, her friends on either side in their bride's maids dresses and Hazel and Sophia in their flower girl dresses, at the front, they all pose for a final picture before everyone changes back into their normal clothes and leave with their dresses for the wedding day.

While I help a store helper carefully repack Hazel's dress back into the garment bag, Tess goes into the backroom to try on her wedding dress.

Ten minutes later, Hazel and I are allowed into the room and Tess looks angelic in the white dress. With her hair and makeup done on the actual day, she'll be ethereal.

We both have tears in our eyes as I hug Tess tightly and then pose for a picture, then take one of Tess and Hazel before Tess approves the dress and makes arrangements to have it sent home.

Long chapter! The next is the wedding chapter and it will be even longer than this! ;)

-T