Two Weeks Later, Nisha and Dwight get married .. June 14 -2015

Joe and Stacie spent their night at their Consummation Campsite, got up to watch the sunrise, for the first time as a married couple, then packed up and went on their way to their honeymoon. It was a cruise, and Stacie had always wanted to go on one, but had never made the time until then. They planned their wedding not only to be able to have an outdoor celebration, but so that she wouldn't be in college for long enough to actually enjoy the trip.

Dwight's birthday party was scheduled for her to be able to just fly in to Tennessee for the party, and now, it was gonna be a wedding! Stacie enjoyed her honeymoon, for sure and she certainly was enjoying the sexual aspects. She went in full throttle with everything that she read about, learned, and studied on that first night, then took it easy after that. That way - she didn't feel obligated to just do it all, every time, and whenever she would do some of that in the future… He would remember and appreciate it. She didn't know for sure. Joe seemed… more analytical about sex than she would have imagined. She knew it was so that he could know how she felt about his performance and grow or dial back where necessary, but she preferred to not have to talk about it a lot. One thing about their heavy conversations and so forth… They had not extended into sex, because that seemed inappropriate to discuss before marriage and they thought it wouldn't matter, by the time they got married, because of the overflow of other compatible areas…

In those two weeks, while they were connecting sexually, Dwight and Nisha went through some changes of their own. First of all, Dwight told Tanisha that he finally got all of the paperwork completed that he needed to officially adopt Jake. He had wanted to do this for a while now. He'd always felt bad that Jake's father wasn't around and that Jake essentially didn't have any father figure in his world; but after his close friendship and living with Stevie and Stacie, Dwight claimed that even if he wasn't with Tanisha, it was something that he would think about and with Jake and Nisha's approval, put things in motion. It wrapped up around the time that they got engaged, signifying for Dwight "a sign."

Jake thought he'd noticed some signs, too. For one thing - on the event page, when it's name changed from Dwight Evans Down South Weekend Birthday Bash to Dwight Evans Is Getting Married Weekend, comments were a range of confusion about who he was marrying… despite that he had been listed as in a relationship with Tanisha P. (Crossley) for like two years. Some of them flat out asked, "Did you and that woman break up?" And some went in for the every so charming laugh emoji. Several people suddenly couldn't make it, and plenty of them asked to be messaged. Tanisha wasn't looking at the page. Jake figured she was treating all of this the same way that she treated Dwight's past and just pretending that it didn't exist.

She even had a rule that she didn't want to hear any details about "that stuff," a rule Jake found out about whenever he asked her how she felt about some of his things. "We had discussions about some of his life beforehand and honestly, at this point, I just don't need any old information tainting how I feel presently."

Whenever Dwight and Jake were in the same room, Jake would find a reason to leave it. "Jake?" Dwight called. He turned around. "I know that you told me that you'd try to just focus on your mom being happy and I get that you don't really trust me, but could you just maybe, pretend for the weekend? She's already stressed out enough."

"I hope you had this same conversation with the rednecks that she's going to have to be surrounded by all weekend," Jake said and left the room. Dwight sighed.

.

Whenever this began, Jake didn't take it seriously. So, he encouraged his mother to enjoy her life and have fun. Some part of him just thought she needed her bodily needs met and he wasn't too childish that he would pretend that her sleeping with someone was uncalled for. At least it wasn't his father.

But then, a couple of months after getting her groove back, as she had described it to Jake, Dwight convinced her to quit her job and move in with him. She never made much money and he had been doing well for a few years, so he thought that would be a gesture to show that he was serious about her. Jake had given her a similar offer whenever he came into his small fame fortune and she resisted. But, for Dwight, she was willing not to work. She said it was because her son shouldn't be taking care of her, especially considering that she had not been great at providing for him, but Jake saw that she was just tired of always being broke and not having. So, he didn't raise too much of a fuss when she moved in with this man that she had not been knowing or seeing for very long.

Next, he took her to Tennessee for some reunion and she spent the entire time subjected to microaggressions that he either didn't notice or didn't feel like were a big deal, instigating one of their first big arguments. Tanisha spent some time at Cheri's with Jake, and the relationship seemed over.

Tanisha began to do her comedy tours and she'd make many jokes about when she had to be the only black person at one of Dwight's gatherings and the response back from the fanbase was eruptive. Many of them were very along the lines of "If my woman was being bothered by my friends and family, there would have to be a backyard brawl!" She felt validated, by these strangers, while Dwight was apologizing on a daily basis and seemingly not even knowing that he was doing the thing that she was accusing him of. Dwight made promises to be more aware and make sure that he didn't downplay anything that she was feeling, and while in grown up land, that seemed like a good place to forgive, Jake didn't believe him.

After that, Dwight bought some land in Tennessee and began building a house there! Tanisha was "in Tennessee" a lot for shows, and they rarely were at his Ohio house for a while. Every time Jake saw her, she looked older. She said it was because she had gone from not working at all to working all the time and always being on the road. It made sense. Jake just felt like all of these different things sounded like excuses.

Whenever Dwight invited him to their "Tennessee house," Jake was honestly over it. He came down for a weekend and wondered, "What is happening? Are you two like… getting married or something?" And Tanisha burst into a loud roar of laughter. She had been trying to get a divorce from his dad now for almost a year! Instead, Dwight wanted to adopt him…

"And that way, whenever we have everything else lined up, that divorce, our… thing… We'll officially all be family." Dwight had said. Tanisha didn't refute, even though she had just laughed at Jake's suggestion that they were getting married - but it still sounded like an "eventually," to him.

"Do whatever you want," he had said. He certainly didn't blame Jake for how he felt. They had many conversations about why he didn't approve.

But, the two weeks between Stacie and Joe's wedding and Tanisha and Dwight's, Jake realized that it was now too late to try to plead the case that he had mentally been building up.

Instead, he decided to be his mom's best man in the best way - a bachelorette party at a strip club. Marley set everything up. Jake was basically the designated sober. Cheri, Mercedes, Marley, Maybelle (Mary Evans' twin sister, uncomfortably enough. Jake insisted that she not invite her, but Marley said that Tanisha told her TO invite her and she was always trying to be on her good side. That decision would blow up in her face), and a few other Tennessee women and Ohio women that Tanisha knew were at their table.

Cheri gave her a veil with assorted dicks glued to it and devil horns, and a huge flashing button that read, "Last Chance for My Last Dance." Everyone was taking shots and men's glistening bodies were everywhere while Jake played on his phone, posting photos every now and then and checking in with Stevie at his dad's bachelor party - which was just hanging out with some of his old buddies. "Burning crosses?" Jake had messaged. Stevie left it on read.

.

She was trying to contour her make up and do something with her hair, all the while feeling like her head was spinning. Dwight knocked on the bathroom door and she asked, "Who's here?" arming herself with the curling iron.

"It's me… Are you okay?"-

"Yup," she lied.

"I mean, I know you're not okay, but… are you okay?"

"I don't know what that means, but I am trying to do my hair and makeup, so… what are you talking about?" He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "You can't come in here! That's bad luck!"

"That's not real. Stacie and Joe spent their entire wedding day right in each other's faces!"

"Just because they want to test fate doesn't mean I'm going to. What are you doing here? Your birthday party is outside!"

"Well, you drunk called me and told me you were gonna let me do all these things to you that we haven't had the time to do and then when I rushed over, I barely had a chance to touch you before you passed out and stayed sleep.

"What?" She hissed as she cracked the door open and let him see her unmade face, but nothing else. On the other hand, he was already done up, looking like a whole Southern cuisine. He came closer to her and she could smell him.. God. "Well, that can't happen again. So, while the guests aren't around, lets just make this vow between us that if one of us falls to sleep or passes out or anything else, the other one has limitless permission to do as they please with their body. Unless, of course you don't want to agree to that because it makes you uncomfortable that I would proceed with your cock after you've called it a night."

"That doesn't bother me at, all, but what will bother me is if I am not awakened to consciousness by the feel of you," he said, "Soooo… Can I like… Have something right now?"

"You can go have a seat, at your party!" He poked his lip out and frowned and she leaned ever so slightly out to kiss him. It lasted longer than she had planned. They were there for a while before someone cleared their throat.

They looked up to see their sons.

Stevie complained, "I couldn't even see a toenail from Cheri when we got married, and you're in here making out on this day!"

Dwight reminded everybody again, "Stacie and Joe spent the entire day right up in each other's faces!"

Stevie reminded him, "Joe is a weirdo."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Mama T… We need to get this rascal out of your hair?"

"Need to get him out of her mouth," Stevie joked. "At any rate, Stacie and Joe are here, so, you know… There goes the neighborhood." Jake looked sour, and was quiet.

"Jake, can you please readjust your face? You've been putting a lot of pressure on me and I just want to get this over with and start the rest of my life with Dwight!" Sam and Stevie's eyes widened and they both turned to leave the room. Dwight put his head down. Tanisha went over and cupped Jake's face, "Baby… You know that you are my world. All I want and need is for you to be happy with me, okay?"

"I thought that I was doing that," Jake said. "But, I guess that I could have been more relaxed. It's just… You see all the time these people on the news, and on social media and in the world who have been attacked by partners and there is this total "NObody would have guessed it!" But, they'll have an entire expose of racist shit in their past and everybody just moved along with life and I don't know how to be comfortable with that possibility!"

"Don't be. I can't tell you how to feel. But, could you try to act like… Just… choke it down, for me - for today?"

Jake sighed and pulled something out of his pocket, "It's the adoption papers…" He handed them to Dwight. "I'm not as tough or mean as your boys, but IF EVER something does happen..."

"Take me out, Son. I'd deserve it," Dwight said, and gave Jake a smile.

.

Of course, after Dwight saw her, she wasn't chancing shit, so she completely changed her dress, to a short white party dress that she had not worn yet, pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and even changed her makeup. Jake was outside her door complaining, "You're gonna have these people thinking black people really don't start stuff on time…"

"We don't," she said and came out. "Eh? Eh?"

"Yes. I think this is excellent. Dwight's gonna love it."

"He does love me, you know that, right? He is good to me. He makes me happy and he takes care of me. At my age, with my baggage, that is a lot, Jake. And that's not to say that either of us are settling, but I lucked out…"

"No, you didn't. He lucked out, AND he knows it. That's why he is good to you and takes care of you. And, I can't be mad at that. I'm sorry I made you feel bad. I never want to do that to you, of all people. However, I'm not sorry that I filmed you call Stevie's aunt "Backwoods Meryl Streep."

"That was tacky. She is totally Backwoods Farrah Fawcett."

"She's dead, right?"

"Yep, and Dwight's little sister-in-law is walking around looking like his wife's corpse."

"This is SO RUDE!" He said, filming her.

"WERE YOU DOING THAT AGAIN?" She fussed. Then, she said, "Remind me to give Marley a piece of my mind for inviting her."

"She said you told her to!"

"She's a publicist. She should know better!"

.

Whenever the music finally started for Tanisha to arrive, and Jake escorted her down, there were these wild yells and she jumped at the sound, at first. Fuckin' rednecks… Jake gave her away and Dwight gave him a big hug and thanked him. Stevie, Sam and Stacie were right by him and Jake stayed by his mother, with Joe. They didn't need a whole crowd for her "party."

Dwight pulled out some damn reading glasses and his sheet of paper, and she almost started laughing. This was going into her routine. Old ass. He began reading, "When I met you, I could tell you couldn't stand me." She cackled and nodded her head. "It was a rough time for both of our families, and here you were, stuck with a bunch of strangers and having no outlet for fun."

She was going to remind him that the first time she met him, she had thought he was Cheri's sugar daddy, because he introduced himself as Cheri's… then paused trying to figure out what to call himself, and decided on "Cowboy's grandad… on the other side…"

"But, when we were in that space, whether or not you wanted to be there, and whether or not you liked us, you showed us humanity and spent time making people laugh and feel better. Then, when we weren't trapped together, for some reason, you went ahead and kept doing that, making me feel better, every time that I saw you, even if you were giving me a hard time. I can't believe that there ever was a time that I didn't love you.

I know it happened. I remember it. I can recall things as clearly as a man my age can about my life before you, but all of that seems imaginary and surreal, like it was a dream sequence and I wasn't awake… Hell, I wasn't even alive, until you came to me and with a few laughs and the most beautiful eyes got right into my soul and reorganized everything that I thought I was, and you made me feel like a complete person. I didn't even know I wasn't that way. I just assumed everybody was like I was… Just… Surviving. Then, your love gave me life.

I think that for the first time, ever in my life, I'm clear about everything in my life. I was an idiot. I was a terrible person. I was abusive and toxic and honestly - evil. I was all of that and I'd never discredit that. But, I've become a better person and with you, I have never felt more right, more human, or more in love. I am with you until I don't have a single breath to breathe. May God never make me have to ever live a moment without you."

She started crying and whimpered, "Oh Fuck." Several people laughed, some hooted. She blew out wind and threw her head back, "We said light!"

"That was the light version," he told her. "I was saving the other stuff for…" He blushed.

She pulled out her little scroll and read, trying not to cry and failing, "As far as which one of us does well with words, I have some wit and am known to be funny, but whenever it's about you, some portion of me is always serious. Because, I look at you and you calm me. You make me feel grounded. Being around you has always made it so easy to laugh and speak freely and just be myself, because despite everything that everybody always has to say about you, I've only ever known you to be open-minded, accepting, non-judgmental. I feel sometimes like I am living a dream, and I'm going to wake up and they'll tell me that I've been in a coma, and you'll be this hot country doctor who's just been being nice to me while I atrophy in the hospital after my child's father abandoned me and my son gave up coming to see me.."

"Damn," Jake said. Stacie's eyes were wide and her face confused.

"Yes, I am off topic. You know how easy it is for me to get off topic. But, you also know how to bring me back down. Nobody has ever made me feel the way that you do and if I can feel like this for the rest of my life, show me that dotted line. My heart has already signed it."

Stevie, Stacie and Jake leaned in towards each other simultaneously and each spoke.

Stacie: This is not light.

Stevie: How is this light?

Jake: Opposite of light.

Then, they stood straight again, having heard all three of their comments spoken at the same time. Joe and Sam snickered at their little connection.

.

Tanisha wasn't a planner of events, so Marley took care of this rush job wedding and repurposing Stacie's things for Tanisha's wedding. She also made sure that Dwight got ice cream, as Tanisha was very insistent that he wanted it, because this was originally his birthday party and she took it over and she wanted him to be able to have ice cream with his birthday cake that they were going to pretend was a groom's cake!

She had to smooth things over with Maybelle… who at extremely short notice was the one who she'd commissioned for the wedding cake and wedding cupcakes! Marley was exhausted and frustrated at the end of the ceremony, but was glad that it was over and honestly ready to quit even trying to make Jake's mom happy. She bumped into her before the garter throwing and Tanisha cheered, "Hey! Thank you for everything! I couldn't have ever thrown all of this together without you, with Stacie having been gone. You're a good worker and a good person, You made today possible for me. I'll always be thankful." Marley started crying and nodded her head. Tanisha looked shocked and told her, "We're about to throw this into the hands of some sweaty hillbilly."

"It's okay, they dodge those," Marley reminded her.

And whenever she threw her simple, store bought fake bouquet, Marley caught it and held it to her heart. Stevie cackled and patted Jake on the shoulder. "That's not…" Jake shook his head, but smiled at Marley.

.

Dwight hugged Nisha tightly as they danced and whimpered in her ear, "I can't wait to get you out of this dress…"

"I was hoping that I could relive our first date and you just fuck me upskirt, with my panties pulled to the side…"

"I certainly can and certainly will. Now, it's even harder for me to wait to unwrap my birthday present!"

"Your birthday present is gonna unwrap itself if you keep talking like this. I know you don't want JoeBob seeing my gushy, so reigh it in. Also, in those pants, everybody will be able to see that erection."

"You gotta stay up on me, then." Then were smiling at each other and talking and he looked around and said, "I wonder if people know that we're over here talking about sex plans."

"Probably Stevie. Stevie has a problem, I should probably stop encouraging it," they looked over at him, smiling accusingly. Tanisha pointed the middle finger at him and he laughed.

"I've been trying to tell you not to encourage him for years!"

"Because you don't realize how cute it is to see you blush!" She teased.

"I'm not cute! I'm a manly handsome man!" He joked.

"Speaking of, guess what my manly handsome man is getting for his honeymoon?"

"His face ridden a lot, I hope," he said.

She smiled brightly, "In addition to that DUH answer, I have a lumberjack's retreat planned. It's sort of like Stacie and Joe's little camping thing, but this is not only camping, but hunting, fishing, and hiking - just the two of us. AND, upon coming back, with whatever we get… I will let you teach me how to grill, like you've been wanting to."

His face brightened up with childlike wonder and she squinched her own face as she smiled. "That is the reaction that I could only hope for.

"That's a perfect honeymoon for me!"

"I know. You told me whenever we first discussed your ex that you wanted to do this stuff with her and she turned you down. You said, 'She wouldn't even do it for our honeymoon.'

"I know what I said, I just didn't expect you to remember that!"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I can be good at stuff at times."

"You're perfect at stuff all of the time. God, I love you. Always will."