"What are you studying so intently?" Alec asked, coming into the kitchen. Rose was sitting at the table with her laptop in front of her and baby John sitting on her lap.
"I'm going over the playlist for the wedding. We need to pick a first dance song," she said, looking up at him.
"We danced to Etta James' 'At Last' when Tess and I got married," he said, taking the seat next to her at the table.
"Well that one is definitely out then, for several reasons. We're definitely not going to recycle the song you used at your first wedding. And besides, ieveryone/i plays 'At Last' at weddings. It's a nice song, but it's completely played out," Rose answered back.
"Suppose you're right. Did you have anything in mind?" he asked her.
"What about Bright Eyes 'First Day of my Life'?" she suggested.
Alec wrinkled his nose. "Isn't he that really emo singer? I'm not a huge fan."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay then, what's your suggestion?"
"What about 'Tonight, Tonight' by the Smashing Pumpkins?" he posited.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "The Smashing Pumpkins? Really?"
"What's wrong with the Smashing Pumpkins?" he asked.
"Nothing. I'm just surprised an old man like you even knows who they are," she replied, her tongue poking its way between her teeth.
"Oi! I was twelve years old when the Smashing Pumpkins formed. Believe it or not, I haven't always been an 'old man', as you put it. I was a teenager, once upon a time," he shot back.
"God, you are just too easy to wind up sometimes," she laughed, bouncing the baby on her knee.
"Alright fine, so no on the Smashing Pumpkins I'm guessing. What about Dave Matthews Band's 'Two Step'?" he offered.
"Yeah, no. I mean, it's a nice song and all, but it's over six minutes long. Besides, I'm not really big on Dave Matthews Band. I know that most everyone my age is obsessed with them, but I just never really got into them. I don't particularly care for his voice," she replied.
"Alright well, what do you like? Because so far, you've shot down every suggestion I've had," he said sulkily.
"There's nothing wrong with any of the songs you've suggested. I'll put them on the playlist, I just don't know that they're necessarily right for a first dance, that's all," she said, her tone conciliatory. "How about the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Hard to Concentrate'? Anthony Kiedis wrote it for Flea when he got married."
"I'd never take you for a Chili Peppers fan. Anyway, I don't want to use someone else's wedding song."
"Fair enough. Any other ideas?"
"Okay, what do you think about 'I Can't Help Falling in Love with You'? There's an Elvis version and a UB40 version," he offered.
"Ugh, that stupid, corny movie with Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek has kind of ruined that song for me," she replied.
"Rose, you're killing me here," he said, throwing his hands up. "Take my suggestions, or make one yourself."
"Alright, alright. What about 'Hoppipola' by Sigur Ros?" she proposed.
His eyebrows furrowed. "Aren't they that Icelandic band from Reykjavík?"
"Yeah, that's the one," she replied.
"Why do you want to dance to a song in another language? No one will get it," he said.
"Well the lyrics aren't necessarily important in this case. It's more about the feel of the music. It feels like a love song," she countered.
"Vetoed. I want to be able to understand the first song we dance to as a married couple. Got anything else?" he asked.
"Ooookay," she said, drawing the word out. "How would you feel about the Smiths 'There is A Light That Never Goes out'?"
"The Smiths are even more emo than Bright Eyes. Too depressing. Half the song is about the people getting hit by a double decker bus."
"They don't get actually get hit by a bus. He's just saying if he ihad to/i get hit by a bus, he'd want that person by his side."
"Still, something a little more uplifting and less morbid, I think," he said. "How about Jim Croce's 'Time in A Bottle'?"
She shook her head vehemently. "No way. That song reminds me of John. Besides, the lyrics might not be sad, but the melody kind of is."
"Alright, then what?" he asked, frustrated. "This shouldn't be so hard. We usually agree on almost everything."
"Okay, how about 'Home' by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes?" she suggested.
His brow furrowed again. "I'm not sure I know that one."
"Hold on," she said, getting up from the table. "Let me put John in his playpen and I'll be right back." She disappeared into the living room and returned a moment later. She leaned over her laptop and typed something in. Music began to play from the speakers. She held her hand out to him. "May I have this dance?"
He took her hand and got up from the table. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he let his hands come to rest on her waist as they began to sway slowly around the kitchen. "Hot and heavy pumpkin pie?" he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Just shut up and listen to the rest of the lyrics," she whispered in his ear as they continued to move together around the kitchen. He took her instruction, and remained quiet for the duration of the song. Towards the end, she began to sing softly along with the band.
i"Home, let me come home,
Home is wherever I'm with you
Our home, yes, I am home,
Home is when I'm alone with you…
Alabama, Arkansas
I do love my Ma and Pa
Moats and boats, and waterfalls,
Alleyways, and payphone calls
Home is when I'm alone with you!
Home is when I'm alone with you…"/i
Even when the music had stopped, they were still wrapped up tight in each other. "Alright," he relented. "That is definitely a perfect first dance song."
She reached up and brushed a lock of hair away from his forehead. "I figured you'd come around. Besides...home really is wherever I'm with you. We could live in a fort made of cardboard boxes, and I'd still feel like the luckiest woman in the world if you were there with me."
He tilted his head down to kiss her. "And I'm the luckiest man in the world for having you by my side."