Free Firefighter Daddy by Lee McKenzie

show you.” Rhoda disappeared into an office and emerged half a minute later with two pale pink imitation breasts, one in each hand. “They’re comfortable and natural-looking—”
    “And they are not getting stuffed in here,” Jess said, using her two index fingers to indicate where the fake breasts weren’t going.
    Maria’s dark eyes sparkled. “A little extra boobage can’t hurt.”
    Jess glared at her.
    Rory finally gave in and laughed out loud. The seamstress looked disappointed, but she handed the inserts to Nicola and slid her measuring tape off her neck. “All right, then. Arms up and out to the side so I can take this measurement.”
    Jess complied, then craned her neck in an attempt to see what the woman was writing on her clipboard.
    Rory’s 34B seemed to do the job quite nicely. She didn’t know what Jess’s bra size was, and until now she hadn’t known her friend was so sensitive about it. Jess had always been the tomboy of the group, and the oversize men’s dress shirts she usually wore did an admirable job of hiding her modest assets.
    “This blue is perfect for you blondes and redheads,” the seamstress said. Rory wasn’t sure anyone else would agree. What Nic had described as periwinkle had turned out to be a startlingly bright electric blue, and the shiny taffeta fabric seemed to grab every particle of light in the room and reflect it back at ten times its original amplitude. If light rays had amplitude, she thought absently. Whatever they had, these were the bluest dresses she had ever seen.
    And Jess had been right about the poofiness, an effect created by big tucks and gathers that Rhoda referred to as ruching. Rory didn’t know what Nicola saw when she looked at these dresses—maybe in her soon-to-be-wedded bliss she was seeing them through rose-colored glasses—but Rory knew someone who would fall completely in love with hers.
    Miranda. After this wedding, they would have three dress-up options.
    While the seamstress took measurements and marked the dress where alterations were needed, Rory’s mind drifted back over the things Betsy had said. Mitch’s marriage had been very traditional, and his wife had been a full-time mom. Had she played dress-up with their daughter?
    “Rory?” Nicola asked.
    “Hm?”
    “I was agreeing that this is a great color for the two of you.”
    “Sorry. I must’ve been daydreaming.”
    “Now that I see the two of you in your dresses, I think you should both wear your hair down. Do you mind?” she asked, reaching for Jess’s ponytail.
    Jess made a face but otherwise didn’t object. She never wore her hair down, but since this would be Nic’s day, she could call the shots. “We can pull your hair back off your face, like this,” she said, demonstrating what she had in mind, “and have a cascade of curls down your back. Maria? Paige? What do you think?”
    “They’re tall and thin and gorgeous,” Maria said. “Like a pair of supermodels.”
    Paige took off her glasses and wiped them with the bottom edge of her sweater. “I think I should have tried to lose weight before the wedding.”
    “Nonsense,” Maria said. “You’re gorgeous, too. All soft curves and voluptuous. Lots of men love that. I will admit, though, that when I was a teenager, I would have given just about anything to look like these two. Now all I want is a waistline.”
    “I’ve never seen a more radiant mother-to-be,” Paige said. “In a few months you’ll have a waistline and a beautiful baby. If it’s a girl, she’ll be a raven-haired beauty like her mom.”
    “Your time will come,” Maria assured her.
    Paige pouted. “Not at the rate I’m going.”
    “After the baby’s born, I’ll let you babysit. You can invite Dan over to talk, he’ll take one look at you with a baby in your arms, and he’ll change his mind.”
    Seriously? Rory thought looking after a baby might be the best birth control ever invented.
    The seamstress knelt to check the length of