Chapter 14

"Hold still," Amanda said as she tried to do Nicole's hair.

"Ouch," Nicole said as Amanda worked to get her hair up into a bow.

"Oh come on, sweetpea," Amanda said. "I think you're worse than Kayla."

Amanda was just glad Nicole's hair was finally getting long enough to do
things with.

"There, we're done," Amanda said. "Tell me what you think."

Nicole couldn't believe it when she looked in the mirror. She looked
nice, fancy even.

She grinned.

"Thanks, mom," she said.

"Let me take a look at you," Amanda said. "Turn around."

Nicole twirled.

Amanda looked at Amber and Kayla.

"The three of you look so adorable," Amanda said, admiring her work.

Her three girls wore identical dresses. They wore the same bows.
Although Amber and Kayla's hair was a little longer, their hair was done
the same.

It was family portrait time. The girls wore dresses that matched
Amanda's. The portrait would replace the one hanging in the living room
with just Amber and Kayla in the photo with Amanda.

"Well, let's get going," Amanda said. "Our appointment at the portrait
studio is 3:30."

They got into the car with instructions not to get anything on their
clothes. Nicole looked up to the rearview mirror.

"Who in the world taught you how to primp?" Amanda said.

"I've watched you a few times," Nicole giggled.

But it really just came naturally.

'We have an appointment with Jolene," Amanda said when they arrived at
the studio.

"Mandy, so this is the whole crew?" a young woman said from behind a
curtain where she was doing some photography.

"This young lady must be Nikki!" she said. "I'm glad I get a chance to
shoot the whole family."

She tried different poses, with the girls surrounding Amanda. They tried
different props. Each girl held stuffed animals. They held baskets.

Jolene the photographer took several photos. Nicole admitted it was a
little fun.

"It will be a week before I get the proofs back," she told Amanda. "I
know we've got some very good ones to choose from."

"That will be nice," Amanda said.

In addition to the family portrait, she usually sent copies to family
members and friends. One photo was with a Christmas setting to be sent
out as Christmas cards.

She also gave a special portrait to her mother.

After the photo shoot, they drove to the jewelry store.

"Why are we stopping here, momma," Kayla asked.

"I had a bracelet redone," Amanda said.

It was waiting for her. She had a bracelet with three girls heads on it.
She showed it to Nicole, whose head was placed first in line with her
first, middle and last name and birth date, matching heads for Amber and
Kayla.

"It's my 'mother's' bracelet," Amanda said. "I've got my three girls all
in a row."

She bought the bracelet shortly after Amber was born. She made an
addition with Kayla. She had already planned for an addition when she
first got custody of Nicole. Fortunatley, she waited, so she didn't have
to remove one with Nicholas' name printed on it.

*****

Settling things in court seemed to turn Nicole's life completely around.
The nightmares came to an end. Amanda noticed Nicole really blossom.

Part of the transformation meant remodeling of Nicole's room. Amanda and
Amber helped paint the walls of her room her "signature" purple. She put
posters on the wall of ballerinas, her favorite musicians and actors,
including her favorite, Orlando Bloom.

She helped Amanda pack up the clothes she wore as Nicholas.

"What are we going to do with them, mom?" she asked as they taped up the
box.

"We're going to give them to the Salvation Army as soon as your
grandmother gets here to watch Kayla," Amanda said.

Amanda was amazed how much her mother accepted Nicole as one of her
granddaughters. They got along really well.

"Grandma's here, grandma's here," shouted Kayla as Amanda and Nicole
carried the boxes of Nicholas' clothes downstairs.

"Those are some nice clothes, I'm sure they will appreciate them,"
Amanda's mother said.

"I'm sure they will," Amanda said. "I know they'll put them to good use
for kids who don't have a whole lot."

She also thought giving the clothes away taught the girls a good lesson
about being charitable.

"The All American Girl forms are in my purse, Mandy." Amanda's mother
said.

"Your club's putting that on again this year?"

"We always do," she said. "And I want my grandgirls to be in it again
this year."

"What's All American Girl?" Nicole asked.

"It's a beauty pageant," Amber said. "It's always so much fun."

"I see you already filled them out," Amanda said.

"All they need is your signature," her mother said.

"Here is one for Amber Gayle Meggs," Amanda said as she pulled it out of
her purse. "One for Kayla Anne Meggs and one for Nicole Taylor Meggs."

Nicole's face lit up.

"I'm looking forward to seeing my oldest grandgirl in it this year,"
Amanda's mother said.

"So what is it like?" Nicole asked.

"Well, there is a talent competition," her grandmother said. "There is a
knowledge competition. Then there is an evening gown competition where
you will be judged on your poise and grace. They have competition in
different age groups. Kayla's in the preschool competition, Amber's in
the older elementary competition and you'll be competing in the preteen
competition."

"Oh my gosh, it is a lot of fun!" Amber said.

"I'm looking forward to taking my grandgirls shopping to buy their
dresses for the pageant," Amanda's mother said.

"You won't be a stranger," Amanda told Nicole. "Meredith's grandmother
is in the same club as your grandmother. She's in it every year."

"You mean she wins it every year," Amber said.

*****

"Nicole, you're not spotting dear." Madame Ruth shouted as they were
doing chaine turns during ballet class.

Nicole tried to do everything right. She stayed on demipoint. She turned
in time with the music. But she forgot to spot.

It caused her to zig zag a little. It also caused her to become dizzy.
She then found a poster on the wall to concentrate on. She did her best
to finish strong.

"Very nice finish Nicole, don't forget your arms," Madame Ruth said.

Sara and Meredith were impressed with how far their friend had come in
such a short time.

"You are far ahead of us when we were only in our first year," Sara
said, trying to give her friend some encourage.

"Oh, yeah, you are," Meredith said. "I'm impressed."

"You guys are just saying that," Nicole said.

"Girls, stop talking and concentrate on your dancing!" Madame Ruth
shouted.

Taking class from Madame Ruth was fun, but she was so very proper,
Nicole thought.

They ended class with their reverance. All of the girls in class did
perfect curtsies.

"The cast list for the Nutcracker is on the wall," their teacher said
after class was over.

They rushed up to the bulliten board to see what parts they managed to
land. Nicole really didn't expect to be on the list since she was only
in her first year of classes.

"Oh wow! Sara, you get to be Clara!" Meredith said. "She's going to be
the star of the show!"

Meredith then elbowed Nicole.

"We're going to be party girls together," she said. "And we're also
going to be daisies together."

"Daisies?" Nicole asked.

"Yup, both of you will be dancing in the waltz of the flowers with some
of the girls in the company," Sara said.

"We will post rehearsal times next week." Madame Ruth said as she passed
out notes to each one of her pupils. "Your parents need to read this
note. It will tell them when you need to be fitted for your costumes. It
also lists the days of our performances."

Nicole couldn't believe she was going to be in the performance.

"We're going to have so much fun together," Meredith said.

Nicole couldn't wait to tell Amanda she landed two parts. Amber also
landed two parts in the performance. She was going to be one of the
mice. She was also going to be one of the sheep in the second act."

"I can't wait to see both of my girls dance," Amanda said.

"Oh Nikki, I heard we're going to be in the All American Girl pageant
together," Meredith said.

'"Yup, my grandmother signed me up," Nicole said.

"What are you going to do for your talent?" Meredith asked. "I'm going
to do ballet. Maybe we can practice together."

"That would be great!" Nicole replied.

*****

Sara passed Nicole a note in English class. Nicole blushed.

"Can't wait to see you in the All America Girl pageant," the note said.
"You'll be prettiest one there. Nikki, would you be my date to the
Halloween costume dance? Love Sam."

"What does it say?" a curious Sara asked.

"Oh you probably already read it," Nicole said.

"No I haven't, honest," Sara said. "Would I do that to my best friend in
the whole world."

"Well, maybe not," Nicole whispered back. "Sam wants me to go to the
Halloween costume dance with him."

"So are you going to go?" Sara asked.

Nicole smiled, blushed and tried to be coy. She then nodded her head
yes.

She then wrote Sam a note.

"Dearest Sam. Can't wait for you to see me in the All America Girl
pageant. It will be fun, I can't wait. I would love to go to the
Halloween costume dance with you. What should we wear? XOXO, Nikki."

Nicole decided to pass the note on to him on the way to P.E. He always
waited for her and Sara to pass down the sidewalk before going to class.

He smiled when she handed him the note. She blew him a kiss when she saw
that no one was looking,

He was very sweet.

P.E. proved to be a big challenge as always. Her coach passed out knee
pads to every one. She then went over the rules of volleyball before
dividing her squad into two teams. She and Sara were again inseperable.

"So are you going to the Halloween costume dance?" she whispered to
Sara.

"Yeah, but since it is only for students at the school, I can't go with
Daniel," she said. "I'm going with a friend of Sam's who is kind of
geeky."

"Who? Who? Please tell me," Nicole teased. "I told you I was going with
Sam!"

"Mark Porter," Sara said.

"They play video games all the time together," Nicole said. "But you
know, he is cute in a nerdy kind of way."

"Thanks a lot," Sara giggled as the volleyball landed right between them
on the ground.

"Girls, pay attention!" their coach shouted.

Nicole and Sara laughed.

"Oops, we sort of let that one slip by us," Sara said.

"Guess we have to do a better job next time," Nicole said as she gazed
over at the boys playing basketball.

She noticed that Sam kept staring at them.

"Guess Sam better start paying attention, too," Nicole said.

Nicole had a little hard time concentrating the rest of the day. She
tried to think of famous couples they could go as.

She thought of Romeo and Juliet. She thought of Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie, but she couldn't figure out how they could dress up as them. They
could also go as something spooky, like Frankenstein and the Bride of
Frankenstein.

She looked forward to picking out costumes. It was something she and Sam
could do together.

*****

Nicole was a little surprised that her grandmother let Sam and Sara go
with them to pick out dresses for the All America Girl pageant. She was
also a bit surprised that her grandmother picked out a pretty hip place
to buy the dress.

"You didn't think I kept up with the latest fashions, did you?" her
grandmother asked as they walked into the store.

"Nope, I didn't," Nicole said. "You know grandma, you can be so cool
sometimes!"

"Sometimes?" her grandmother asked, teasing her. "Not all of the time?"

"You know what I mean, grandma," Nicole laughed.

First up was Kayla. There wasn't much decision making there. Their
grandmother picked out a dress she felt her granddaughter would look
cute in.

That wasn't hard, Nicole thought. Her little sister looked cute in just
about anything.

Next up was Amber. She was a little more selective.

She finally made her choice with a little assurance from Nicole, Sam and
Sara that she was going to look cool.

Finally, it was Nicole's turn. At her grandmother's insistence, she
tried on several dresses.

She acted like a runway model, modeling dresses for her grandmother,
Amber, Sara and Sam.

"That dress is really you!" Sara said when they finally picked up what
Nicole thought was the best one.

"I'd like to thank the Academy for this award," Nicole said, playing
like she was accepting and Academy Award. "I'd like to thank all of the
little people..."

"I can't believe my grandgirl is such a ham," her grandmother said. "You
shouldn't have any problem at all in the pageant."

They then put on shoes. She made Sam put the shoes on her feet.

"I want you to be Prince Charming," she said. "I feel like Cinderella."

"Too bad we don't have any glass slippers," Sam laughed.

"That's okay," Nicole said. "This pair will do."

They day shopping made Nicole feel special. She did really feel like
Cinderella.