"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." Mary repeated the old phrase.
Bonnie, Mimi, Emily, Heather and Mary all sat together in the Green's living room. The coffee table and much of the floor surrounding the furniture was covered in wedding decoration supplies, silk flowers, boxes wrapped up with ribbons and tiny gift bags. There were also several plates of finger foods including vegetables, tiny sandwiches and Emily's latest batch of experimental cookies. On the couch, Heather sat on one side of the bride-to-be and Mimi's soon-to-be sister-in-law, Bonnie, on the other side. Mary and Emily sat in the recliners on the other side of the table. Soft music a portable CD player echoed across the room. Right now it was playing sultry soft jazz that suited the mood.
"And a silver sixpence in her shoe," Heather added.
"I don't remember that part," Emily said.
Mary smiled. "I think many people have forgotten that part."
"What's a sixpence?" Bonnie asked.
Heather was always amazed how well Bonnie spoke as well as followed conversations through lip-reading, though Heather always tried to make the effort to articulate her words more clearly when Bonnie was around. Heather held up the small box she was holding. Being mindful to let Bonnie read her lips, Heather answered. "It's a British coin. They no longer use them, but fortunately, Gail had one from her own wedding."
Afraid she was sounding like a book-worm as usual, Heather handed the box to Mimi, who opened it and pulled out the small silver sixpence. Gail had asked Heather to give it to Mimi, choosing to leave their little bachelorette party to the younger women. She had gone over to a friend's house for the evening after asking them to keep the party down to a low roar tonight.
Mimi asked, holding up the coin. "I have to wear this in my shoe? The entire time?"
"That's the tradition," Mary answered. "Left shoe, for wealth and fortune."
"I'm marrying a farmer. I don't think wealth is going to be part of it." Mimi said with a half-laugh.
Mary responded with a knowing nod, smiling. "You have a farm with lots of food. You are now considered rich, trust me on that."
Heather handed another small box to Mimi. "And from me, something old."
Mimi opened the box revealing two ivory hair combs.
"They belonged to my grandmother who wore them on her wedding day and my mom wore them on hers." Heather explained. She had gone over to her house to retrieve them and find her other present for Mimi. The Owen family was still living in her house and Mr. Owen had even been fixing it up while staying there. Fortunately, everything in her bedroom had remained mostly untouched, including the combs that she had kept out on her dresser to keep the ivory from yellowing. The other present she was giving Mimi had taken some time to find in an old box in her closet.
"They are lovely, thank you. " Mimi said then whispered to Heather. "I'll give them back to you after the wedding."
"Is that making them the borrowed one?" Emily asked.
"No, you've got the something borrowed. Besides, it's good luck to have things that fit multiple qualifications." Mary replied. "Now for something new."
Mary handed a small gift bag to Mimi. Inside, Mimi found a box of perfume. Chance by Chanel the label read. Heather wasn't sure if it was expensive or not, but Mimi's face lit up like a Christmas tree as she saw it. "Oh God, I love this stuff! I had a bottle of this back in D.C. Pricey too. Where in the world did you get it?"
The perfume was still in the plastic wrapping. Mary had told her that she had gotten it to settle a tab at the tavern and had never had the chance to open it. They all had to be creative in their gifts and part of the bride tradition, seeing as they couldn't just go out shopping for them. Trading for goods and services was still common about town, though most people were running out of things to trade.
"My secret." Mary smiled mysteriously. "You're up, Emily."
"Something borrowed," Emily said, standing up to hand Mimi a long, black jewelry case.
Mimi carefully opened it. Inside was a beautiful pearl necklace and matching earrings. "These are real?"
Emily nodded. "I was supposed to wear them on-" she paused a second. "At my wedding. I think they will be perfect with your dress."
Heather glanced over at the wedding dress that was hanging up on the door frame going into the dining room. Mimi had brought it over and tried it on for them. It was a lovely dress made of organza and lace. Several of the women in town had made the dress for Mimi and helped adjust the bridesmaid dresses they had obtained in exchange for vegetables and fruit from the farm.
"Thank you, Emily," Mimi said. "I wasn't sure what I was going to wear, as I didn't bring much jewelry with me when I came here to Jericho. These will be perfect."
Mimi gave Emily a warm hug. Heather knew it was a little awkward between the two since Mimi had asked Mary and Heather rather than Stanley's childhood friend Emily to be bridesmaids. Bonnie was to be the maid-of-honor. Mimi had insisted on having her own friends as bridesmaids and left Stanley to choose his own groomsmen. Heather had a feeling it was because she, Jake, Eric and Mary were often out at the farm helping them on the farm. Emily rarely came out to the farm to help, though Heather knew she spent most her time at the military outpost and with Lt. Williams. Emily also helped with the school workshops, keeping them organized as well as helping with the cooking experiments they did. But they had invited Emily to this party, glad to have anther female friend along. Heather hadn't seen Emily all the much since she had gotten back from New Bern, especially since she had started dating Jake. Emily had only wished her and Jake the best when she had heard the news and seen Heather at one of the school workshops. Heather missed her friendship at times, but her new friendships with Mimi, Bonnie and Mary were making up for it.
"And now for something blue," Bonnie said, reaching down beside her to pull out another small gift box, this one slim and white.
Opening it, Mimi pulled out a garter belt made of blue satin ribbon and lace. Mimi ran her fingers down the satin ribbon. "Oh wow, this is beautiful."
"I made it for you," Bonnie said, smiling proudly. "Think Stanley will like it?"
"Whenever he does get to finally see it!" Mary teased and Mimi actually blushed. Mimi signed what Mary said to Bonnie and Bonnie laughed.
"Thank you, ladies. All of you. These are great." Mimi said, taking both Heather and Bonnie's hands and squeezing them and smiling at Mary and Emily.
Heather smiled at her new friend. They had spent the past couple of weeks planning for this wedding, including figuring out who would give the gifts for the wedding traditions. They were trying to keep this wedding as normal as possible, despite the lack of outside resources. It was challenging, but everyone was pitching in and doing their best.
The CD stopped playing.
"Ok, it's my turn to choose the music," Mary declared, jumping up. She went through the pile of CD's Heather had put out and selected one of Heather's old dance mix CD's she had made back in high school. 'Crazy on You' from Heart started playing from the stereo.
"Think I heard this song in a strip joint once. Don't ask!" Mimi asked, arching an eyebrow. She stared at Mary. "You didn't get a stripper did you? Some of those soldiers are mighty cute. Wouldn't mind seeing some of them out of uniform."
"Hah!" Mary said. "We're telling Stanley you said that."
"Where did we find a working stereo anyway?" Emily asked. "The only music I've heard in months is from your jukebox."
Mimi answered, winking at Heather. "Heather probably fixed it. She also fixed Stanley's old Kenwood stereo so we'll have music to dance to at the wedding."
"And she fixed Gail's VCR," Mary bragged for Heather, nodding at the VCR sitting on top of the Green's old television, then looked at her. "You know, you could probably go into business fixing DVD players right now."
"I have more than enough to do, thanks," Heather said with a laugh. She had had several requests to fix things once the rumor mill got the news that she was good with electronics, but Jake had turned them away saying she was too busy which was true. Instead, she referred many of them to Ted and some of the new friends that he had made that were fairly good with electronics, even better than she was since she was a bit behind on the newer technologies. Ted's crew had been able to put together some working electronics, mostly older televisions and a few VCRs and DVD players and other small appliances, including video games. They were also working on putting together working computers and other electronics out of all the broken ones. City Hall had gotten the first working computers to use for tracking town resources and for writing up the town charter and its system of measurements to be used for tracking services and trade goods. But she had gotten Jake's old CD player working a few weeks ago and they all took turns using it to listen to music while home. It was odd being able to hear music again after the many months without working electronics. They had all taken it for granted, like many other things.
Emily gave Mimi a curious look. "I thought you had a string quartet coming?"
There had been several former musicians that had also offered their services for the wedding. It still amazed Heather how many talented people lived in Jericho. People were often having to draw on their own talents and abilities to provide little things in life, in an attempt to maintain some semblance of normalcy since the bombs. Then again, the exchange of services for food from the Richmond farm made a lot of people come out of the woodwork being willing to help or just wanting to attend the wedding. They had had to keep the guest list pretty small for the wedding. They had already started receiving small gifts and offers to help on the farm regardless. Stanley was pretty well-liked in town, especially because he often stood up for the farmers in the town hall meetings. Mimi and Bonnie both also participated in the workshops at the high school.
"For the wedding yes, but I'd like some good ole rock and roll to dance to." Mimi stated.
"Making wind turbines, fixing electronics, making soap, is there anything you can't do Heather?" Emily half teased.
"Hah, I'm terrible at cooking and couldn't tell you the difference between Gucci and Prada or what colors to decorate your bedroom with." Heather answered honestly, wondering if she had mis-pronounced Prada. She didn't like all this attention all of a sudden. She just used what skills she had to help others, like many others were doing as well.
"Some of us don't care what color the bedroom is, just as long as it has a comfy bed," Mary said suggestively.
Fortunately, Mimi jumped in to change the topic. "All right, so thank you for all the little gifts for the wedding. I"m really getting excited about all this now. I can't believe it's only a week away."
"Oh, we're not done yet!" Emily said with a big smile.
Heather said. "We each got you a little something."
"You really didn't have to. It's not like you can go out shopping." Mimi began to protest.
"I'll start." Heather said and handed Mimi a gift bag containing several small satchels that she and Gail had made of dried flowers and herbs that smelled wonderful. The bag also had a book she had had to search through boxes in her closet for. 'A Farm Wife's Handbook' was the title. Her mother had received it as a gift from her grandparents, having not grown up on a farm, her mother had had to learn the hard way how to help out on her grandparent's farm. Heather had skimmed through it and knew it had little tidbits of knowledge, like animal care, cooking, cleaning and gardening. Mimi pulled all of the contents out of the bag, smelling the satchels appreciatively.
"This will come in handy!" Mimi said, thumbing through the book and stopping on a page. "How to butcher and clean a chicken. I could have used this months ago!"
Bonnie had dropped off her gift for Mimi a week ago and went upstairs to retrieve it from Gail's office. When she returned, she was carrying a big package that had been carefully wrapped up in old muslin cloth. She set it carefully on the coffee table in front of Mimi. It looked to be large and soft.
"What's this?" Mimi eyed Bonnie suspiciously.
"Just open it." Bonnie looked a bit nervous.
Mimi carefully unwrapped it, revealing a beautiful old quilt. Mimi stared at it in awe as she ran a hand over it, tracing a line of hand-stitched quilting. It reminded Heather of her own grandmother's quilt.
Bonnie explained her gift. "This belonged to my great-great-grandmother. My mother used to have it on her bed. Now, I would like you to have it for your and Stanley's bed."
"Bonnie!" Mimi looked overwhelmed. "Are you sure you want me to have this? It must mean a lot to you."
"I want you to have it, for making Stanley so happy. He will be happy to have it on his bed as well." Bonnie replied.
"Thank you." Mimi started crying, She gave Bonnie a great big hug, wiping tears from her eyes. Heather had heard from Stanley that it had taken a long time for Bonnie to accept Mimi and for the two of them to finally get along. Stanley's being away in New Bern had brought the two of them closer together. Mimi had also got Stanley to accept Bonnie's relationship with Sean Henthorn, which was still ongoing as the young man was still staying and helping out at the Richmond farm.
"And I brought you a little something too." Emily handed Mimi a normal sized apparel gift box. She gave Mimi a mysterious smile. "Something I haven't had a chance to use as I was saving it for my wedding night. I think you can find a better use for it."
Opening the box, being careful to not break the ribbon on it, Mimi pulled out a very sexy, skimpy red satin negligee. All of the women oohed and aahed with a few devilish laughs thrown in. Heather felt herself blushing, imagining what it would feel like to wear something like that, to have the man you loved staring at you wearing it. She thought of Jake and wondered what his face would look like if he saw her wearing something like that.
"Try it on!" Mary teased.
"And give a show to whoever walks by?" Mimi nodded at the bay window behind them. It was dark outside now. She winked at Mary and carefully returned the garment to its box. "It's very beautiful, but I think I'll just save this for Stanley."
"And my present," Mary said, "is for all of us."
Mary reached next to the armchair she was sitting at and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of a brown paper bag. There were cheers all around.
"Where in the world did you find real booze? I thought you were out months ago?" Emily asked. "Have you been holding out on us?"
"I kept a few bottles in reserve, for special occasions." Mary replied. "Actually, Eric and I had a coin toss to see who got to have it and I won."
"Those poor guys, having to drink that terrible homemade stuff of yours." Mimi laughed.
"I'll get some glasses," Heather jumped up and headed to the kitchen. She was looking forward to have a little alcohol for once. She never drank much before, but this much girl talk and attention was getting to her. She needed to unwind.
"I wonder what they are doing right now." She heard Emily say as she left the room.
"Oh no, that was Glen Sanders. Danny Craig was the one that got caught mooning the entire school." Jake said, trying to contain his laughter.
"Sixth grade, I remembered that. Big white ass." Stanley added. "I think Principal White paddled him on that bare ass until it was red after that."
Eric, Jake and Stanley sat around the living room of Eric and Mary's apartment over the tavern. They could hear the pounding music from downstairs. They always cranked up the jukebox downstairs on the weekends.
"More scotch?" Eric offered, holding up the bottle. Eric had been two years behind Jake and Stanley in school, but he still knew many of their old stories as well as had a few of his own.
"Where the hell did you get this stuff anyway, Jake?" Stanley asked as Eric poured him another tall glass full.
They had already almost finished the first bottle and Jake had brought two of them. Jake had confiscated them in one of the recent gang raids. Occasionally, the military would let him keep a few items from the raids, as long as it was minor. When he had mentioned his best friend's upcoming wedding, they had let him keep a couple of the bottles. He grinned mysteriously at his friend. "I have my resources."
"That's Jake for 'I'm not gonna tell you chumps,'" Stanley said. "The perpetual Man of Mystery."
"Just don't let those downstairs see or hear we have this or we'll have a mutiny on our hands." Eric laughed.
Sean Henthorn and Stanley's cousin had also been invited to this party, but the two were both too young to legally drink yet, though they had debated whether they really needed to stick to every single old law out there right now. So they had agreed to let the boys have a glass each before the two disappeared downstairs to play pool. They were an unlikely duo, with Stanley's cousin Richie being a quiet, hardworking farm boy and Sean the town juvenile delinquent. Yet Jake had noticed Sean settling down and growing up since he had been staying at Stanley's house and dating his sister Bonnie and hadn't heard that he was hanging out with Jonah Prowse anymore, especially since Mitchell Cafferty had disappeared. The boy was still irritating however. He wondered if he had been that cocky and annoying when he had been that age.
Jake was definitely buzzed and was working on getting drunk, much like his brother and Stanley. Eric and Stanley were comfortably stretched out on the sofa as Jake sat in the armchair. Eric poured another round of drinks, finishing the first bottle. He was glad he had brought two. Jake stopped them from drinking however.
"A toast, my friends," Jake said, struggling to get to his feet. He wavered a bit, nearly spilling his drink. Holding up his glass, he held it up and out toward Stanley.
"To my best friend, Stanley. Wishing him the best of times in the years ahead as he finally leaves the single life behind and gets tied down by the ball and chain-"
Stanley threw a cushion at him.
"And to years of great sex, at least until you're fifty!" Jake continued, winking suggestively at his friend.
"Fifty?" Stanley objected. "To hell with that, I'm going to be alive and kicking and making out with my wife until seventy at least, if not longer!"
"Assuming you can still get it up." Jake teased his friend.
"Maybe we'll have a better version of Viagra by then." Eric suggested.
"Or at least drugs in general," Jake added with a sad sigh. They still had had no medicine from the government.
"The more, the better!" Stanley exclaimed.
"And..." Jake continued just as Stanley and Eric were about to drink. They stopped. "To no more IRS, at least unless they bring us more beautiful women!"
"Hear hear!" Eric and Stanley shouted a bit loudly. They clinked their glasses together and all drank deeply.
"Hey, best man!" Stanley said after a minute. "Aren't you supposed to bring a stripper to these things?"
"I"ll get right on that." Jake laughed. Though the thought had occurred to him, they had no strippers that he knew of in Jericho. He didn't want to think about that either, not sure what Heather would have thought if he had actually found one. He decided on the next best thing... gossip. "Remember Marcie Winters? She moved to Vegas and became a stripper."
"You're kidding?" Eric said. "Miss Prim and Proper?"
Jake remembered the girl. Silky long brown hair, never wore make up. She had always dressed conservatively, often wearing sweaters and long skirts that hid her figure. He and every other guy in school had wondered what she looked like under those clothes. He had heard from Emily that she had a great body. He took another big drink. "Yeah. Ricky in the border patrol said he saw her the last time he went on a gambling trip. Even went out with her a few times. Pretty hot."
"My blood runs cold..." Eric began to sing.
"My memory has just been sold," Stanley joined in.
"My angel is the centerfold. Angel is the centerfold." They sang together, a bit out of tune. Stanley still couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.
"J. Geils Band," Jake said. He had always had a knack for songs and artists. "Thought I had forgotten that song,"
"Wow, who woulda thunk it? Marcie Winters." Stanley said, his speech slurring and he was slouching more in his seat. "I asked her out once, on a dare."
"And how did that go?" Jake had never heard this story.
"Crashed and burned, hard," Stanley peered down at his glass, looking forlorn.
Jake knew that Stanley had never had a lot of luck with girls. Stanley had been skinny and shy in high school, not getting his growth spurt until after they graduated, though he had always been easy-going and friendly. He had never had time for sports or hanging out much as his parents had him busy on the farm most of the time. And then his parents had died leaving him with the farm and Bonnie to take care of. It was a lot of responsibility.
"You sure you want to go through with this, man?" Jake asked Stanley while his friend was still able to somewhat think. Jake had had his own reckoning with responsibility lately, needing to take care of his mom and Heather as well as Jericho now that his father was gone.
"Yeah, I do. I never felt like something was so right before in my life," Stanley replied, his voice strong and sincere.
"No regrets?" Jake asked. "No second thoughts?"
"Nope. Happily married ever after is my goal." With that, Stanley raised his glass and they all silently toasted before drinking again.
In one week, Stanley would be married. As if a farm to run and kid sister hadn't been enough, now he would have Mimi to look after. But they would also have each other, Jake reminded himself, and he had never remembered seeing his friend as happy as he was now. He hadn't know that such happiness existed until he had met and gotten together with Heather. Now he understood. He wondered what Heather was doing right now at their party. He had been a bit worried at putting her and Emily together, knowing the two of them had grown apart as friends and there was due to be friction because of him.
"Wonder what our girls are doing right now," Eric said as if reading Jake's mind.
"Probably having tea and cookies." Jake suggested, trying to stifle a laugh at that thought. Eric had said that Mary had taken a bottle of whiskey with her to the party.
They all looked at one another before saying and laughing together. "Nah!"
"So, my first time was in the back of my boyfriend's parents mini van," Mimi said. She had reclined back against the cushions of the couch. Bonnie had curled up on the far side of the couch, while Heather had sat back on her own side, propping a leg up on the coffee table. Gifts and empty food plates covered the table along with the silk flower arrangements and party favors they had put together before they started drinking too much to work on them any more. The conversation had gone from talking about town gossip, to sexy Hollywood stars and then to sex. A sultry song about love played on the CD player, adding to the mood.
The five of them had polished off two thirds of the bottle of whiskey Mary had brought, while limiting the amount that Bonnie had. It only took the young girl one glass before she was buzzed. Heather had noticed that Bonnie also slurred her sign language a bit, both Mimi and Emily teasing her larger than normal gestures when she tried to talk. Heather had kept her drinking down to a minimum, especially after the last time she had gotten drunk trying to cheer Emily up on her scheduled wedding day. The guys at the plant still teased her about how out of it she had been that day after a couple of guys had found her at Bailey's and spread the story She wasn't sure what she would say, especially if she got drunk. Losing inhibitions didn't come easily to her, despite the closeness she felt with Mary and Mimi. Emily being here made her feel uncomfortable, much like the direction their conversation was heading.
"Ugh, mini vans. Terrible suspension." Mary stated. Mary had both of her legs draped over an arm of the recliner she sat in, her back and shoulders against the other side. Her bare feet swung free from over the arm of the chair.
"Yeah, you're telling me. And those stupid seat dividers. I think I had bruise marks all down my back and the backs of my legs." Mimi said. "Try explaining that to your mom."
"How about a hay wagon, with straw sticking you in the back and getting stuck all over you when you're sweaty." Mary said. "Any time I see straw nowadays, I think of that night."
"With who?" Emily asked. Heather knew that both Emily and Mary had known each other from school and growing up in Jericho. Emily had her feet up on the foot rest of the recliner and looked well on her way to being drunk.
Mary gave a revealing smile. "Howard Herbert."
Emily gave a squeal of surprise, kicking her feet with delight against the footrest. "You're kidding? Farm boy? The quiet tall guy? I didn't even think he knew how to talk!"
"Oh, he knew how to talk all right, the language of love. He was something else in bed, I'll give him that." Mary closed her eyes, running her hands up and down her body in a mock gesture of sexual caressing. "After a hay ride, everyone else had left and he was going to put the wagon away on his parents farm and I had nearly fallen asleep on the wagon. I woke up to find him kissing me gently and his hand down my pants. He was a very good kisser and definitely knew how to use those hands of his."
There were a few giggles and cat calls around the room. Heather blushed, growing more uncomfortable as the topic continued. She felt terribly inexperienced next to all these women talking casually about their first times and other boyfriends as they had for the past while. Even Bonnie had admitted that her first time was pretty good with Sean. God, even Bonnie, a sixteen year old, had more experience with sex than she did. She and Jake had gotten fairly passionate when making out, but never passed second base, as Jake called it. Then again, she hadn't been comfortable with going too fast. The memories of what had happened in New Bern still haunted her though the strong passion between her and Jake were slowly making those memories fade at last.
"My first time," Emily began. Her hair was mussed and she looked entirely at ease.
She had always envied how beautiful and confident Emily was. Heather held her breath, wondering if this was going to go where she thought it was. Sure enough, it did.
"Me and Jake in the back of his car out by the old covered bridge," Emily said, closing her eyes as if lost in remembering, then opening them quickly, stifling a laugh. "We both had no idea what were doing. Jake was so nervous, he had a little trouble figuring out which hole it goes in."Mimi and Mary laughed and Heather was embarrassed, but wasn't sure if it was for herself or Jake. She had often heard that first times could be rough, especially for teenagers with so much bad information out there on sex. She tried not to let it bother her. Jake and Emily had known each other a very long time before she ever came along. Of course, they were going to have many experiences and "first times" together.
"He got better after that. Much better. H-O-T, I tell ya, hot!" Emily exclaimed, fanning herself with a hand. She leaned forward to take a big drink from her glass. Heather tried to look anywhere, the floor, the ceiling, whatever it took to not look at Emily, though out of the corner of her eye she saw Emily watching her. She reached down and took another big swallow from her drink and felt the comforting haze of alcohol making the room start to spin slightly. She began to take another big drink.
"What about you, Heather?" Mary gave her a curious stare.
"What about me?" Heather coughed on her swallow of liquor, not sure at first what Mary was asking. She couldn't be really asking her...?
"Your first time, come on." Mary reminded her. "We've all shared our stories."
"I-uh' Heather stammered, blushing. Did she really want to admit the truth? Yeah, twenty seven years old and never had sex.
"She's still a virgin, unless Jake or someone else has fixed that in the past couple of months." Emily blurted out for her as she sat back in her chair, looking triumphant.
There were several glances of surprise around the room. Even Bonnie gave Heather a skeptical look.
Heather still didn't answer, too embarrassed. She knew she was blushing deeply. Her silence answered the question for them.
"I didn't think those still existed," Mimi said as she leaned forward to pick up her drink.
"Maybe Jake's got cold feet," Mary suggested.
No one else knew what had happened to her in New Bern, not even Mary as far as she knew. And she wasn't going to bring that up now. Nor the fact that she and Jake seemed okay with taking things slow. But still, she had her doubts. What it Jake just wasn't as attracted to her as she thought?
"Oh, he never took long to jump into bed with girls before," Emily giggled, her voice higher pitched the more drunk she was. "So I don't think that's what the problem is."
Bonnie gave Mimi a look and signed something quickly at her. Heather knew a little sign language but not well enough to follow what she said. Mimi started to cough as she laid back against the cushions, taking a sip from her glass to cover a laugh. Emily had definitely noticed, however.
"I wouldn't call that a problem," Mary piped up, giving Heather a comforting smile. "Sounds rather sweet to me."
"Did she just sign the word bleach to you?" Emily asked, giving Mimi an accusatory stare. "Or was that something else?"
"Nothing, um," Mimi started. "Bonnie just remembered that I meant to ask Heather if Gail had any bleach left here. We need some out at the farm."
Emily raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"There's nothing wrong with waiting, Heather," Mimi said, turning to look at Heather and lay a reassuring hand on her knee. "I sure as hell wish I had."
"All right, enough about my sex life, or lack there of. I'm just going to take these dishes to the kitchen." Heather exclaimed, grabbing some of the plates off the table as she struggled to her feet. She needed to get out of the room. She felt a little dizzy from the alcohol but kept her balance. "Does anyone else need anything while I'm up?"
"Nah, I'm good," Mary said, sitting up to refill her cup.
Heather saw Emily passing her own cup to Mary to refill as she left the living room.
Heather nearly dropped the dishes into the sink, her hands were shaking from a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Her pulse was racing and she felt her cheeks, feeling the heat that was still there, but she wasn't sure if it was from blushing or the alcohol.
"Here, I brought more dishes," a voice said from behind her. Mimi set two empty platters on the counter next to Heather. "Don't let her get to you, Heather."
"Who, Emily?" Heather tried to act like nothing had just happened, not wanting to show how much Emily had hurt her, reminding her that she and Jake had yet to go very far in their relationship, at least in regards to sex. Emily and Jake had been together for years, a fact she tried to forget.
"She's just jealous, a little green-eyed monster." Mimi stated, sounding irritated at Emily as well. "Stanley has noticed how different Jake is since you two got together. He said he has never seen Jake so relaxed and content before, even when he was dating Emily. And remember, the two of them dated for nearly ten years and nothing ever came of it."
"Because Jake left." Heather reminded her. She began rinsing the plates she had put in the sink, needing something to do to calm herself down.
"But did he ever call or write to her while he was gone? Hmmm?"
"I don't know." She hadn't heard Jake ever mention that he talked to anyone here at home while he was gone except for his mother.
"If they were so passionately in love, he wouldn't have been gone so long or at least sent her a postcard or called her to say 'Hi, I miss and love you' or something." Mimi commented.
"Well, her brother had died and they had had big fight. Jake still feels guilty about that to this day." Heather said. She did recall that Jake had shared much about his time away with her, as well as his feelings, things he had never shared with anyone before, not even Emily.
"If he really cared that much, he would have come home or called to make sure she was okay or at least say that he was sorry. Everyone says Jake changed while he was away and he's changed even more since he did come home. Both Jake and Emily are different people now. First loves don't always work out to be forever, despite all the Hollywood movies and romance novels. Trust me on that. So don't let her bother you. We all know how wonderful you are."
"Thanks, Mimi." Heather felt a bit better.
"Don't mention it." Mimi lay a comforting hand on her arm. "Just think about how Jake is going to flip when he sees you in that dress."
Heather smiled back as she dried her hands off on a towel. The bridesmaid dresses had been leftovers from another woman's wedding that never happened, though Heather wondered what kind of wedding that woman had been having. Her dress was more revealing than anything she had ever worn before, with a halter top that barely covered her essentials in front and left her entire back bare all the way to the top of her butt. They had had to take Heather's dress in quite a bit due to her slim figure, as well as hemming the tea-length skirt. But Mimi, Mary and Gail had just stared at her in amazement when she tried on the dress, carrying on about how Jake's eyes were going to pop out of his head when he saw her.
"Mimi, why did Bonnie sign bleach to you in there?" Heather asked, reaching down to open the door to the cupboard under the sink. "Do you really need bleach? We might have a little left."
Mimi smiled mysteriously. "Inside joke. One day when we were working at the clinic washing sheets, I told Bonnie I needed some bleach. This was before I knew sign language and she kept trying to read my lips and thought I was saying 'bitch' instead."
"So Bonnie was calling Emily a-" Heather cut herself off. She rarely swore, even if Emily did probably deserve the name tonight. She tried to think it was just due to the alcohol.
"Bitch? Yeah. If the shoe fits..." Mimi laughed. "But keep that between us."
"Hey, don't let us drink all this booze on our own!" Mary called from the living room.
"Help us, please! Bonnie's gonna drink it all!" Emily threatened loudly.
"We better get back in there." Heather said, tossing the towel on the counter. She started walking out of the kitchen.
"Now go have some more to drink and don't worry about Emily. I got your backside." Mimi told her, following Heather back toward the living room. She whistled appreciatively at Heather's butt. "And it's such a cute backside too."
The bright light woke him up. Jake blinked as he tried to open his eyes and to avoid looking at the overhead light in the living room. He felt disoriented, still feeling drunk and not quite remembering where he was. They had turned down the lights as it grew later and they drank more. Only the soft end table lamp had still been on. But someone had turned on that blasted bright overhead light. Jake glanced up, finally recalling that he was in Eric and Mary's living room. He saw Mary's familiar figure entering the room.
"Tsk tsk," Mary said, glancing at the sleeping forms of Eric and Stanley sprawled out across the sofa. Eric was softly snoring, half curled up on half of the sofa. Stanley had his head back against the back of the couch, drooling with his mouth hanging open, his feet still propped up on the coffee table. Mary smiled at Jake when she saw that he was awake.
Jake stared at her through slitted eyes. He couldn't quite open his eyes fully yet. The light was pounding into his skull.
"I take it ya'll had a good time?" Mary asked. She picked up one of the empty liquor bottles and looked at him questioningly.
"Heh, you could say that," Jake replied. His mouth felt like it was full of cobwebs. He nodded at his brother. "But that boy of yours still can't hold his liquor."
"Never could," Mary said, setting the bottle back down. The slight sound echoed in his brain.
He stared at Mary trying to wake himself. He wanted to go back to sleep.
"What time is it?" Jake inquired. He couldn't remember where the clocks were here, not that he could make much out with his blurry vision.
"Just a little after three."
"Thought you all were spending the night there?" That had been the plan, as Jake had had a feeling that alcohol was probably going to be involved, either there or at this party and made sure they planned ahead.
Mary answered, reaching down to affectionately ruffle Eric's hair as he slept. "I never can fall asleep in a strange bed and decided to come home to sleep in my own."
"Did you girls have a good time?" Jake asked, trying to mentally shake himself more awake. He probably should head home to make sure everything was okay. A year ago, he wouldn't have worried about leaving the women home alone in his house, especially after a night of drinking, but the world had changed.
"Yeah." Mary replied with a sly smile. "But I see we weren't the only ones with a few drinks."
Eric had told him that Mary had taken a bottle of whiskey with her. He tried to imagine Heather drunk, as there was a rumor about her getting drunk once and he had missed it. He was going to have to get her drunk one day just to see what she was like. He had a feeling she would be a happy or silly drunk.
"So where'd did you get the booze? Did Eric find my Top Secret stash?" Mary asked, nodding at the empty scotch bottle on the table.
Jake shook his head. "Nah, I brought it. But don't tell anyone. My mom thinks I quit drinking."
"Your secret's safe with me, Batman," Mary laughed, holding up the other empty bottle which had been sitting on the end table right next to Jake. "Two?"
Jake started working on standing up, not an easy job since he was still partially drunk. He needed more to drink, he told himself, hair of the dog that bit him.
"Whoa there, cowboy, I'm not sure you should be driving." Mary teased him, moving to help keep him upright. Her shoulder was strong and soft beneath his arm. He noticed that Mary was taller than Heather.
"I should get home," Jake mumbled. "Did my mom come home?"
"Yeah, Gail got home in time to see all of us totally sloshed, threatening us if we didn't clean the place up, then making fun of us before going up to bed."
That sounded just like his mom. Shrugging away Mary's offer of support, Jake made a wavering line toward the door, feeling more awake. He was going to have a killer hangover in the morning.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of Sleepy and Snore-y here." Mary nodded at Stanley and Eric. "Oh and Jake?"
Jake paused in the doorway leading to the stairs to look back at her. He saw two Mary's with his double-vision. "Yeah?"
"Emily crashed in your bed. Bonnie is with Heather and Mimi's on the couch. So not sure where you're going to sleep."
"I'll find somewhere." Jake replied. Though the floor was sounding mighty tempting right now. There was a cot in the spare room that his parents used to use as an office, but he was pretty sure that the room was a mess due to the projects his mom and Heather had been working on lately. Gail had told Heather to let Emily sleep on the couch, have Mimi and Bonnie sleep in Heather's bed and Heather and Mary sleep in his bed. Heather and his mom had cleaned the house in preparation for the party, including putting clean sheets on the beds. He wondered why Emily had ended up in his bed, however. He had been a little worried about having Emily and Heather alone together and wondered if anything had happened or if alcohol had just changed their plans.
As Jake walked home, he was a bit unsteady in his gait. It was still chilly this morning, an early Sunday morning in June. The nearly full moon was starting to set in the west. Next week at this time, Stanley would be a married man. He wondered what it would feel, waking up in the morning and feeling your wife next to you knowing that she would always be there for you.
When he arrived home, Jake walked around the house as he usually did, checking out the place for any signs of problems. Unlocking the front door, he found a sleeping Mimi passed out on the sofa. The living room was indeed a mess, with empty glasses and an empty whiskey bottle on its side, party favors and silk flowers and other pieces of paper and gift boxes covering the coffee table and floor. Mimi was snoring softly, making Jake chuckle. He saw the plastic covered wedding gown hanging in the doorway to the dining room and it made him pause and reflect for a moment.
Going upstairs, he saw that his mother's bedroom door was shut then checked on Emily and found her curled up in his bed, hugging his pillow as she slept on her stomach as she always used to, her blond hair fanned across the pillow. He shook his head, wondering what Emily had been thinking by choosing to sleep in his bed. Then again, he had given up long ago trying to figure out women. Closing the door behind him, he checked on Heather and found her curled up in her usual pose on her left side as she slept. Moonlight streamed in from the windows and across the bed, making her skin look luminous and soft. He wanted to touch and explore that beautiful skin, but Bonnie was asleep on the other half of the bed. Walking up to Heather, he settled for kissing her softly on the forehead. Pulling off his shoes, he quietly pulled up the nearby armchair next to bed and sat down, propping up his feet on the bed next to Heather. His Heather, he reminded himself, staring at her sleeping peacefully next to him. He picked up her hand and laid it on his thigh, covering it with his hand. Leaning his head against the back of the chair and closing his eyes, an instant later he was asleep.
(To be continued...)