A/N: Okay I'll brief you… Raimundo and Kimiko have an adoptive child named Mario. I decided it would be fun for them to have a kid! And Omi isn't in the story because… well to be quite frank I don't really like his character… or him for a matter of fact. This chapter is told in Keiko and Clay's P.O.V and the next one will be told in Eden and Kimiko's P.O.V. I hope you like it:)
Keiko
"So, I need to know…what color is the cake?" Hayden plops down on the couch to my right. The girls are here at Kimiko's house discussing the final wedding plans. Hayden is here because…
Well, he's Hayden.
"The cake! We forgot the cake! Oh I knew something would go wrong-" Kimiko sinks her face in her hands in despair and wails. Her wedding is on Saturday-three days from now- so it's understandable that she's freaking out right now.
Good thing she's got such a good wedding planner. (Me! Also the Maid of Honor. Natalie said she'd let me do it, because I was bossier. So now Kimiko actually has two Maids of Honor.)
"Kimiko. RELAX. We did not forget the cake; I ordered it from Entenmann's weeks ago. Remember, you picked out the topper?"
"Oh," she sighs. "Right."
I exchange a smile with Natalie. It's funny to see the usually calm, collected Kimiko freak out over a pastry product. Considering the number of monsters and horrors we've faced before, I mean. It's probably a good thing Clay and I can't get married. "Hey, Hayden…why do you need to know?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, because Eden and I are renting tuxes today, and I need to know what color," he explains, as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.
He rolls his eyes at our blank stares. Kimiko even raises her head from her hands to stare at him. "Well," he starts. "If there's a white cake, you sure as hell don't want a black tux because if you accidentally get some on you, it'll show up, whereas with a white tux it's less noticeable in pictures. However, if it's a chocolate cake, the white cake is not a good option."
There is a silence while this is considered.
"I think I might have been here too long, but Hayden's ideas are actually starting to make sense." Natalie says with some astonishment in her voice.
"Except the cake is a marble one," I say reluctantly. Hayden looks confused.
"Um, Keek? Won't that kind of…break people's teeth?"
I sigh and roll my eyes. "Not the hard kind of marble, idiot. It's a word for chocolate and vanilla combined. It was a compromise, since Raimundo is a chocolate junkie and Kimiko's favorite is vanilla. And don't call me Keek."
"Oh." I can see the wheels in Hayden's head turning. So, unfortunately, can Kimiko.
"Hayden." She says in a dangerous voice. "I swear, if you wear a zebra-skinned tux to my wedding, it will be the last thing you ever do."
"Relax, relax…don't get your panties in a bunch," he says sullenly, crossing his arms. A shriek is heard from the other room, announcing the waking of Mario from his nap.
"It must be a flying insect." Kimiko mutters, rising lithely from the chair and making her way into the bedroom. Since Natalie's moved out, Raimundo moved into Kimiko's room, giving Mario a room of his own.
He has a real fear of those. Flying insects, I mean. If it crawls, he can handle it with no problem (believe it or not, I've seen him try to catch 4 inch spiders with his hands), but if a fly buzzes in his ear, boy does he freak. Usually he claps his hands over his ears, ducks his head, and hollers.
"Here he is…" Kimiko comes out holding Mario, even though he's almost four. "Usually he's not so tired, but he and Raimundo had a Bob-the-Builder marathon last night, so…"
And even though she rolls her eyes as she says this and tries to look annoyed, I know the black-haired girl well enough to know that she thought it was the cutest thing in the world. And it was. Raimundo's a great dad already, and a sweet fiancé to Kimiko. And however tough she may try to act, Kimiko adores kids, and is crazy-in-love with Raimundo.
The whole thing is just so perfect it makes me want to either sigh or throw up.
As if on cue, Raimundo opens the front door. His brown hair is tousled from the autumn wind, and his green eyes light up when he sees Kimiko standing there. "Hey," he breathes. "Miss me?"
"Always," Kimiko says with a grin.
"Oh, please. It's been like an hour." Hayden mutters.
"Hush." I say with a glare. "It's cute."
"Cute, my ass."
"Your ass is not cute."
Hayden is saved from having to think of a comeback because Kimiko hands him Mario. Hayden is actually surprisingly good with kids (well, maybe not so surprising-they do have the same mental capacity.) Raimundo kisses Kimiko now that her hands are free.
"Hi, Raimundo, nice to see you too." I say in a gently teasing way.
"Oh, hey Keiko," he says unashamedly. "Hey Nat. And Hayden." He pretends to look around. "And let me see…who did I forget?"
"Me!" Mario giggles in delight.
Raimundo pretends not to hear him. "I know there was someone…where could he be?"
"Here!" Mario yells and jumps up and down "Mario is here, Daddy!"
There you are!" Raimundo smacks his own head in astonishment, making Mario squeal in amusement. Then he picks the little boy up and swings him. "How's my boy today?"
After Mario is done describing a particularly violent game of toy soldiers and goes off to watch Barney, Raimundo sits down. "Hey, guys, what's the good word?"
"There is none. The Temple was booked for the weekend, so the wedding is off." Hayden says with a perfectly straight face. And it is funny to see Raimundo's eyes go really wide and hear his gasp.
"He's joking." Kimiko hurries to assure him. "But the response is gratifying."
Natalie and I leave, dragging Dillon, agreeing to meet in Athens tomorrow. We're all going there for the weekend. The bachelor/bachlorette parties are tomorrow night, with the rehearsal dinner Friday, and then finally the big day Saturday.
"Something's bound to go wrong…" Natalie says.
"Oh, stop it." I reply. "It'll all work out smoothly."
"Please. Keiko." Dillon interrupts, rolling his eyes. "This is Raimundo and Kimiko we're talking about here. When has anything ever worked out smoothly?"
Clay
Athens is gorgeous and festive. It's warm, with a breeze that carries the scent of freshly baked bread. The marketplace is bustling, packed with people who are laughing or ageing, having fun, or in a hurry to get home.
"The whole thing is so perfect, it just makes you want to hurl, doesn't it?" the ever-eloquent Kimiko puts in.
Keiko sighs happily and snakes an arm around my waist. "It is sort of wonderful isn't it?"
I press my lips against her hair. "You have no idea."
"Where's Hayden?" Raimundo asks, looking around.
"Oh he's probably off somewhere-" Kimiko starts, but she's interrupted but a rather loud clatter behind us and yelling is a familiar voice. "Causing trouble," she finishes, looking like she wishes she hadn't started. We all turn slowly around and there's Hayden, running as fast as he can towards us, with two big dogs chasing him. Their owner is obviously the angry vendor of the pile of brass pans and pots that Hayden has managed to knock over.
Suddenly, the two hounds, which are admittedly pretty large, stop and seem to perk up their ears in another direction. Natalie's come to greet us. Hayden sprints and hides behind her as the dogs trot up to sniff her curiously.
"Glad to see you can defend yourself, Hay." Ethan claps his old friend on the shoulder. "Chase and his cats are no problem but these dogs were scary…"
"Shut up, Raimundo." Dillon says, now bright red. "They should put up a sign or something, like a warning: 'Disturb the brass, we bite your-'"
"Welcome to Athens," Natalie says quickly. "Want to see your rooms?"
Eden appears next to her, arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. It's kind of startling to see him just pop up like that, but Natalie seems used to it.
He smiles, though, and his blue eyes twinkle the same way. "My Natalie's worked so hard on these rooms- I swear it was royalty coming instead of just you lot."
Natalie blushes and whacks him. "This is SPECIAL! Raimundo and Kimiko don't get married every DAY-"
"Ouch! Have you been taking lessons from Keiko?" Eden squeezes her good-naturedly. Keiko makes a scoffing noise, but I kiss her head again to let her know that I think her hitting is cute. Except when directed at me. Eden knows Raimundo and Kimiko's wedding better than anyone-probably even Keiko- because Raimundo asked him to be best man.
Raimundo and Kimiko's room is first. Natalie was going to be old-fashioned and make them both have separate rooms, but Raimundo convinced her that having one bedroom would really just be easier.
The room has one big bed, which is circle shaped with fluffy pillows. The carpet is lavender, and so soft to walk on that you feel like you're sinking. The walls are light blue, with incredibly realistic clouds painted on them. Upon closer inspection, I see that the clouds are actually moving, as if the bedroom actually is in the sky. There is a collective ooooh-ahhhh from the girls, and even Eden looks impressed. There's a dresser in the corner, with a large television and special hooks marked "Bride" and "Groom". On the dresser is a framed picture of Raimundo and Kimiko together, then a smaller one of Mario. It's a cute picture, one obviously taken when they weren't looking. They're sitting by the creek next to a mountain, Kimiko leaning between his legs, his arms around her. She's obviously laughing at something that he's just said, and he's grinning slightly foolishly at her.
Kimiko looks dangerously close to tears and throws her arms around Natalie, who is her Maid of Honor. I think Keiko said there were two (don't ask me why…guys don't find this a very big deal). Mario wanders over to look at his picture, wrinkling his little nose and making Keiko laugh hard.
The place a few doors down is Sean and Laura's room. It looks rather like their room at home, I suspect because Natalie didn't want to shock Laura too badly. Soft, gray carpet and a queen size bed with a black wire headboard. Mario's room is tiny and adjoining, with a race car comforter and what looks like every toy imaginable. His adoptive grandparents have agreed to watch him for the weekend.
Finally, it's just me and Keiko who need a room. Natalie smiles at Keiko's impatient bouncing. "And finally you two…viola!"
"Oh, man…" Keiko breaths. The room looks like a honeymoon suite. The walls are gold; the bed is large and fluffy, with heart-shaped pillows. "Clay…" Her eyes scan the room, a disbelieving look plastered on her features.
The bachelor/bachelorette parties are tonight, rehearsal dinner tomorrow, and the Big Event Saturday. Keiko has pretty much gotten this whole thing planned down to how many cups of ale Hayden is allowed to drink.
When Natalie finally leaves, I corner Keiko with a grin. "So you requested this room, eh?"
"No!" she cries. "I didn't!" She buries her face in my chest.
"Keiko…" I try to coax her up. "Come on, aren't you going to look at me?"
"No."
I'm about to say something about how far we've come, but I kiss her hair instead. Her head flies up.
"Okay. You got me." She says, and drags my lips down to hers. "Do you think-" kiss "that this wedding" kiss "will go as planned?"
"I think," I say warmly "that you've planned it beautifully. It is, however, Raimundo and Kimiko we're talking about here."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" She says glaring
Oops…