"It's beautiful," she told her sister Shonna who sat before the mirror fixing her make up.
"Much better than the last two times, I'm sure," Shonna replied laughing.
Before Diana could reply, their mother, Karen, walked into the room with a border collie trailing behind her. The dog hops on the bed while Karen walks over towards her daughters.
Shonna, "Any words of advice?"
Karen plants a hand on each of Shonna's shoulders and declares, "First time, I had advice. Second time, I struggled to find something to say. This time, you're on your own."
"Thanks, Mom."
Karen moves over to Diana and puts an arm around her younger daughter and declares, "You and I are the lucky ones."
"Mother!" Shonna exclaims shocked.
"It's true," Karen insists. "Better to be widowed than divorced."
Shonna stops fixing her make up and turns to glare at her mother.
"Diana knows what I mean," insists Karen. "There's no shame in being a widow."
"Way to go, Mom," Shonna says shaking her head, "you've managed to insult both your daughters."
Karen looks over at Diana for support but notices that Diana is purposefully avoiding looking at her and instead focuses on calling the dog over.
"What? I didn't mean anything," insists Karen.
Shonna rolls her eyes and returns to fixing her make up while Diana bends down to pet the dog.
The dog looks around and then walks over to Shonna irritating Karen.
"You're going to get dog hair all over your wedding dress!" snaps Karen.
"It's okay, Mom," Diana says, still not looking at her mother.
The dog rears back and places his front paws in Shonna's lap. She fluffs his hair while her mother stands groaning and tsk-tsking. Then the dog sneezes.
"That's it!"
Karen grabs the dog by the collar and pulls it across the room. She pushed it out into the hall with her foot and then closes the door.
"Isn't it good luck if a dog sneezes on your wedding day? Or is that a cat?" Diana wonders.
"Regardless," says Karen lighting a cigarette, "I doubt if it's good luck for the dog to sneeze on the bride."
Karen notices how both of her daughters are ignoring her. She takes a puff and waits for one of them to say something. She takes another puff. Nothing.
"I'll go check on your kids," she says to Shonna and walks out of the room.
"It's got to be the new medication," Diana whispers.
