Landeguin

The sun rays of an early Colorado morning peak through the blinds as the dreaded alarm sound rings from Ivy’s phone. As much as she despised waking up early, today was not as awful as usual; it was her wedding day. Today, Ivy Camille Pierce was finally going to marry the man of her dreams.

Nathan had appeared in Ivy’s life one random day in pre-school in Mrs. Sutton’s class. He clung to his mother’s leg as Mrs. Sutton peeled him off by enticing him with dinosaur figurines. Four-year-old Ivy saw him sitting at the table all alone, just staring at the T-Rex.

“You don’t have to play with dinosaurs.” She told him softly. “There are lots more toys over here.”

The blonde boy said nothing still but instead looked at her with bright blue eyes filled with fear.

“Don’t be scared!” Ivy assured him. “Mrs. Sutton is the nicest teacher ever. She always helps us make things out of our snacks after lunch. Yesterday, we made snowmen out of marshmallows and pretzel sticks.”

Mrs. Sutton took notice of Ivy trying to soothe the new student. “Ivy,” the teacher said gently. “This is Nathan. He’s really nervous about starting school. Do you remember how frightened you were the first time your mommy dropped you off?”

Ivy nodded her head quickly, her dark pigtails bouncing as she did so. “My mommy came back though. Your mommy won’t leave you here, Nathan.” she explained to him, though Ivy did struggle with her ‘H’ sounds, so his name sounded more like “Nay-ten.”

“That’s right.” Mrs. Sutton smiled happily. “Everyone’s grown-ups will be here before we know it, so we need to have all the fun we can now. Ivy, do you want to show Nathan where we put our things away in the cubbies and then head to the arts and crafts table?”

The little girl smiled proudly before offering her hand to Nathan, who cautiously took it. As the pair placed Nathan’s Superman backpack into his wooden cubby, Mrs. Sutton looked on in admiration. “If only she could see us now.” Ivy thought to herself as she prepped the coffee pot for a fresh brew.

While waiting for the coffee to be ready, Ivy thought it would be a good idea to go and do a wake-up call for the few members of the bridal party who stayed the night. Morgan, Ivy’s first cousin - though she felt more like a sister, was coming out of the ensuite bathroom as Ivy interred the guest room, a toothbrush hanging from her mouth.

“Today’s the day!” She squealed with excitement. “How are you feeling, Mrs. MacKinnon?”

“I’m not Mrs. MacKinnon yet.” Ivy shook her head, yet grinning from ear to ear. “But I am excited.”

“Oh, please. All this is legalities.” Morgan playfully rolled her eyes. “You two have basically been married since you moved to Denver.”

Morgan was not the only one who felt this way; in fact, almost all of Ivy and Nathan’s close friends and family shared that same mindset. The couple had lived together since they were 18 years old. The first apartment they had was located a couple of blocks from downtown Denver, which meant plenty of drunken nights at the bar with Gabe, Erik, and whatever blonde had decided to hang off their arm that night - even if she nor Nate were legally old enough to drink in the states. (Thank God for bouncers and club owners who were Avalanche fans.)

Ivy left her cousin alone to finish getting ready before the remainder of the bridal party started arriving for brunch. Moving swiftly across the hallway, Ivy tightened her robe around her frame, shivering from the cold air of the house. Her body temperature was never constant, especially if she was indoors. Normally, Nate would be waiting for her back in their king-sized bed, offering his body heat willingly. However, he was awaking at Gabe’s house instead; Ivy was really starting to regret following traditions.

Opening the bedroom door tenderly, a sleeping teenager lay curled under the floral print comforter. Ivy took a moment to admire her baby sister who had just turned thirteen a few weeks ago. She still remembered when Stella was born along with Stella’s twin brother Brody. Ivy was thirteen herself and more than thrilled to finally have not one but two babies to show off as her siblings. She also recalled how much flack her mother caught for having the twins; her family made comments on how traumatizing that it would be for Ivy and how the babies would suffer due to the large age gap between them and their big sister. Those doubters were proved wrong rather quietly as everyone observed and commented on how attentive and protective Ivy was of Brody and Stella. Besides, having new twins sibling was the least traumatic thing to come.

Sitting down on the side of the bed, Ivy reached up and stroked Stella’s long, soft hair; it was the same honey color and soft texture as their mother’s. Immediately feeling a presence, Stella began to stir but not panicked because she knew it was only Ivy.

“Good morning, beautiful.” The older sister greeted lovingly. “It’s time to get up. The other girls will be here soon, and then it’ll be time for hair and makeup.”

“Is Kathy coming?” Stella asks groggily, sitting up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. “Nana Kathy? Yeah, she’s going to meet us-”

“No.” Stella cuts her off. “Sid’s Kathy.”

Breaking out into a smile, Ivy nods her head. “Yeah, Kathy will be here soon too.”

Walking back into the kitchen, the smell of the exotic Columbian filled the room. The special blend was an engagement gift from Sidney and Kathy themselves who were more than thrilled at the news of Ivy and Nate finally tying the knot. Sid’s partner was even more ecstatic when she was asked to be a part of the bridal party. The front door opened, and there Kathy appeared, punctual as usual.

“Good morning!” she chirped happily, squeezing Ivy’s shoulder from behind. “How are you feeling? Any nerves?”

“Morning, Kath.” Ivy smiles. “I’m good! No cold feet here; he’s stuck with me for life after this.”

The blonde lets out her contagious laugh before placing the bottles of champagne she brought into the fridge. Grabbing two coffee mugs from the cabinet, Ivy pours the piping hot beverage into each one. As much as she wants to start the day off with a mimosa, the bride knows how nauseous she will become if she ingests the alcoholic drink before having breakfast.

“You know the drill; make yourself at home,” Ivy tells Kathy as she hands her the mug. “A certain someone is looking forward to seeing you, though. You just might be her perfect motivation to get out of bed and join the festivities. I’m going to go shower.”

Padding back to the master bedroom, Ivy could hear her phone start to ring, signaling an incoming call. Unplugging it from the charger, she saw it was the one and only, Nathan MacKinnon.

“Hello?” Ivy answers, a smile already plastered across her lips.

“Yeah, can I speak to Mrs. Ivy MacKinnon?” His familiar voice asks on the other end of the phone. She can picture exactly what his facial feature look like right now.

“Hm, I don’t think she’s available at the moment.” Ivy teases her fiance. “She should be able to connect with you in a few hours. Did you want to keep your appointment with her at the altar?”

“Oh, yeah, that’d be great! Is there any way I can move the meeting to an earlier time?” “I’m sorry, sir, but she will be booked until the allotted time. We do hope you understand.”

Nate let his boisterous laugh flow through the speaker, unable to keep up the banter anymore. “I hated not waking up to you this morning,” he admitted.

“Same here, Mac.” Ivy pouted, using one of her many pet names for him. “I bet Izzy doesn’t too much mind it, though. She always enjoys her sleepovers with Nana and Papa.”

She just knew Nate’s entire face lit up at the mere mention of their precious little girl.

Izzy Katherine MacKinnon made her grand entrance into the world on February 9, 2020. Her first name, which everyone thought was a little odd at first, came to be randomly, and also to everyone’s surprise was not short for Isabelle. On a particularly chilly November evening, Ivy settled down with Stella in the master bedroom for a girl’s night - which consisted of takeout food, the best bakery cupcakes, and all the romcoms the two could handle - while Nate and Brody headed out to Top Golf with Gabe and Cale. It was Ivy’s turn to pick a movie, and she decided to choose a classic favorite of hers: Legally Blondes. The spin-off of the cult classic that featured Reese Witherspoon was not winning any Oscars by any means, but Ivy was thirteen when she saw the movie, and it quickly became a core memory ingrained into her brain forever.

As the introductory credits came into frame, Ivy truly wasn’t paying the movie too much attention, but neither was Stella; both of them were mindlessly scrolling on their respective screens, though doing two different things. The younger female was chatting with her friends and laughing out loud at the silly TikToks they shared in their group chat, but Ivy was doing something far more important. Her due date was quickly approaching, and baby girl MacKinnon still did not have a set name yet. Both Ivy and Nate had names they each liked, but they just couldn’t agree on one. All of a sudden, a name overheard on the television piqued the woman’s attention.

And then, she heard it again. Izzy.

“That’s it!” Ivy realized, excitedly, turning to look at Stella.

“What?” Stella asked, dumbfounded. “What’s it? What are you talking about?”

“The baby! That’s her name! Izzy.”

“How do you know? Don’t you kinda need to talk about it with Nate first?”

As soon as the words left Stella’s lips, Ivy felt the baby move around in her rounded belly. She placed her hands on her stomach out of instinct to feel the shifting of her daughter.

“I think she likes it.” Ivy beamed.

The family was thrilled Ivy was expecting a baby and even more so when the gender was confirmed to be a little girl. Ivy thought Nate would be slightly disappointed that he wasn’t getting a son for his firstborn but that couldn’t have been further from the truth; the star athlete had always (secretly) hoped his first child would be a tiny baby girl who his world revolved around. Sure enough, Izzy had the 6’0” center wrapped around her teeny finger since the day she was born.

Soon enough, all six members of Ivy’s crew had arrived and gathered in the dining room to quickly eat a beautifully prepared brunch and sip mimosas before the makeup artists and hair stylists started arriving to begin the beautifying. Morgan was the maid-of-honor, and Stella had her role as the junior bridesmaid; her four bridesmaids were Gabe’s wife, Mel, Sid’s long-term partner, Kathy, Nate’s older sister, Sarah, and finally, Ashley - the wife of former Avalance center, Nazem Kadri.

Of course, there would be several other friends and family members in attendance from both Nate’s and Ivy’s respective parties, some of which neither of them had seen recently. Ivy couldn’t help but feel a sharp emotional blow in her chest, though, as there would be one person missing from today’s lovely celebrations.

One very important person.

Ivy’s mom.

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