Chapter 1: You are Cordially Invited…

Mr. and Mrs. Moshe S. Cohen

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton B. Hardy

Cordially invite you to share in our joy

when our children

Phillip Aaron

and

Franklin Lewis

are united in marriage on

Saturday, the twenty-eighth of May,

at nine o'clock in the evening.

Beachwood Manor

1869 Shore Road

Bayport, NY

Dinner and Dancing to follow after the Ceremony.

Twenty-three year old Joe Hardy sighed contentedly as he read the crisp, white parchment's wording. He laid the rest of the mail, mostly bills, on the kitchen counter. There were a few other non-statement shaped envelopes in the pile as well in various shades of pink and other pastels. Joe gathered them in his hands and walked down the hallway to the freshly painted pink bedroom which was decorated with hand-painted picket fences and flowers in all the colors of the rainbow.

There he found the love of his life and wife, Vanessa, gliding sleepily in the chair that his own mother had lulled he and his brother Frank to sleep in when they were newborns. His wife's head was tilted to the left toward her shoulder. Nuzzled securely between her cheek and shoulder was the downy head of a tiny, pink newborn. They both must have dozed off after a feeding and just stayed that way after a successful burp. As badly as he hated to disturb Vanessa or their little Ashleigh, Joe was just itching to get his hands on the little bundle of joy.

"Van?" he whispered. Her eyes shot open and she seemed disoriented for only a moment, smiling when her eyes landed on Joe and she realized Ashleigh was still asleep. Joe held up the handful of mail and raised an eyebrow toward their daughter.

"Trade ya?" He whispered. After a little strategic maneuvering not to wake the sleeping infant Joe finally had her in his arms. Was it really possible to love someone so tiny so much? Sleepless nights, dirty, stinky diapers, spit-up, and ear piercing wails that would wake the dead… They were nothing compared to the way his heart absolutely melted when he held this little, squirmy baby in his arms.

Joe settled himself on the foot rest of the glider while Vanessa opened the "Congratulations on Your New Baby!" greeting cards. Where Joe would have just read them and tossed them, Vanessa was holding on to them for Mémé Andrea (as she now referred to herself) who was determined to use them for some sort of art collage she was working on for the nursery.

"Oh look! Here's the invitation for Frank's wedding!" Vanessa said excitedly. But just as quickly her face fell.

"Whazamatter Baby?" He asked when he noticed her scowl.

"The wedding is in eight weeks!"

"Well, yeah… of course. We've known since they booked the manor back in what, September, that the wedding was going to be Memorial Day weekend? We've got plenty of time to find a sitter."

"Maman's offered to watch Ashleigh. That's not the issue."

"Okay then, help me out Hon…"

"Look at me!" Vanessa hissed quietly as she stood up from the glider. Her ashe-blonde hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail with strands sticking out here and there. She was wearing one of Joe's old t-shirts, which was stretched tight across her post-pregnancy bust-line, and she was sporting a pair of her old, knit maternity pants which had a suspicious looking stain on the right leg.

"Honey, you're beautiful, and you just had a baby a week ago. A week ago! Don't be so hard on yourself… Just think about all the fun you'll have. Remember fun? Dancing? A few sips of champagne? And do you recall what a few sips of champagne does to you?" Joe waggled and eyebrow but his attempts at humor and sexiness were not appreciated.

"I'm a hot mess! Look at my boobs! They're huge! None of my pretty dresses fit anymore, my feet got wider and my shoes don't fit, and look at my gut!" She grabbed at the deflated and loose skin of her midsection. "How are Frank and Phil still going want me to be an attendant?"

"Frank and Phil want you as an attendant because they love you and want you to a part of their wedding. And besides, our cousin Melissa is going to be an attendant too and she had twins three months ago!" Vanessa turned on her heel and glared at Joe

.

"Don't bring up Little Mrs. Perfect in front of me! The woman has five kids now and when she came to the baby shower last month she was back in a size four! Who does that?" Vanessa was loud enough just then that Ashleigh stirred in Joe's arms and her face scrunched in a look that threatened to turn into a full-blown scream. Vanessa quickly grabbed a pacifier from the table by the glider and popped it into Ashleigh's mouth. Joe patted her bottom and made quiet shushing sounds until the newborn was resting again. When he looked up from his daughter Joe saw that Vanessa was gone. The sound of the bathroom fan and the shower running clued Joe in that Vanessa was finally getting the only shower she'd probably had all day, and maybe even a good cry.

"I think Momma needs a nap." Joe whispered to the sleeping Ashleigh as he settled back in the seat of the glider.

Author's Note:

If anyone's read my most recent profile update, then you're aware of why it's taking me a while to get my head into this story. Please understand that the promptness my chapter updates in this new story will be grossly slower than in "Some Nights" and "Moon River". But I want to make it a story worth reading, and I'm still healing emotionally as well.

I said in my profile that I've decided this story will be somewhat lighter in nature, and I'll save the heavier and darker things for the one after.

So, enough of my moping…

I believe you ladies and gents just received a wedding invitation. Well now, best to see where they're registered and decide what you're wearing to the wedding. Let's see, a nine o'clock wedding, so that means it's formal…