*Thank-you for all the reviews on chapter 20. You guys are the best. Thank-you.
"Mother, I just need your help. I don't need you to control the entire wedding," said Alex. She was sitting at her kitchen table with her mom working on wedding plans.
"Alexandra, Okay. Let's just start with the invitations first. How many people are you inviting?"
"I don't know. I'm waiting for Dave to give me his list. He's been gone for a week. He said he was going to work on it while he was away."
"Okay. So we can come back to how many invitations you're going to need. Did you decide on the invitations you want?"
"No again I am waiting for Dave."
"When is Dave coming home?" asked Sylvia.
"He should be home with in the next hour or two."
"So we'll come back to that too. How many people are on your list?"
"Here, Mother. You can look over it," said Alex as she handed her mom her invite list.
Sylvia looked over it and counted the names as she went. "So you have 50 people on your list. I thought you guys were only doing family and close friends?"
"We are but I can't help our family is humongous."
"That's true. Who all are you having in your wedding?"
"My maid of honor is Mel hands down. Dave's daughter Keilani and Rosalia will be the bridesmaids. Dave's best man is going to be his best friend Imani. The ushers/groomsmen are going to be John and Randy. I was thinking of Athena being a flower girl but I don't know. I think she's a little old. I don't know. I don't know many kids."
"Well, we don't have many little girls in our family. We have hardly any girls in our family so if you think Athena can be a flower girl then make her a flower girl."
"Mother, she'll be 10."
"All right. Well make her a junior bridesmaid and find someone a little younger to be a flower girl."
"Here's an idea. How about I scratch the flower girl and not have one at all. I have no idea where I'm going to find a flower girl."
"Doesn't Dave know anyone in the company with a young girl that can be a flower girl?"
"Actually he might. I can ask him. I know Stephanie has a daughter but I'm not sure how old she is. Oh my God. I don't know why I never thought about this. Dave's friend Mark has two little girls that are 3 and 6."
"Alexandra, please don't take God's name in vain."
"I'm sorry, Mother. Let's not worry about the bridal party right now. I am having a dilemma with the colors," said Alex as she pulled out a couple bridal books.
"Okay, Alexandra, what's the dilemma?"
"I don't know what colors I want to use. I think I should use summer colors like orange and greens but I really like this color pink. It's called Guava. I am in love with it. I don't know what I want to do." She said showing her mom the picture of the color Guava in the bridal catalogue.
Sylvia looked at the book and said, "I like that color better than any orange or any green. That color has Alexandra written all over it."
"Really?"
"Yes. It's bright but not too bright. It's just a really pretty color and you're getting married in a garden right?"
"Yes."
"That's the perfect color for a garden wedding."
"Okay. I'll run it by Dave when he gets home and then we'll have a final decision made on the colors. And hopefully we'll have the invitations picked out not to mention the entire list of people being invited."
"Let me just ask is Dave as excited about this wedding as you are or is he just more worried about what's going to happen after the wedding?" asked Sylvia.
"Probably everything that's going to happen after we're married."
"Typical male," said Sylvia.
"Mother."
"Okay. I will be nice," she said.
"Thank-you."
"Now. Let's get back to the Bridal party. You need another groomsman, a flower girl and a ring bearer yet."
"Dave is working on the ring bearer and I'm about to put him in charge of the flower girl. He's also in charge of the groomsmen."
"Well, all this traveling isn't helping get anything done,' said Sylvia.
"Mother, he works to make money. He can't just say he wants time off. He would lose a lot of money if he did."
"How much money is he making?"
"Enough," said Alex. She didn't want to tell her mom how much he made because then her mom would see dollar signs. Alex was different than her mom. Her mom was all about money while Alex could care less. "We're here to discuss wedding plans not how much my fiancée makes."
"Well, you know you and me can only do so much. Dave is going to have contribute eventually like when it comes to the flavor cake, the meal served at the reception and all that kind of thing."
"He's trying mother he just isn't about this big wedding thing. This is the first time he's done a big wedding. I mean if it's so much trouble Dave and me could get married the way he did the last two times."
"I still think it's crazy you're willing to be his 3rd wife. His first 2 marriages didn't work out for a reason."
"I know what happened with both of his marriages. He had his reasons. I'm not worried about being his 3rd wife."
"Well, at least I know when it comes to planning a baby shower the plans will go a lot faster because it will be all me planning it."
"Ugh, Mother," said Alex as she took her thumb and index finger and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"What?"
Alex lifted her head and took a deep breath and said, "let's focus on one thing at a time okay? Right now it's the wedding. Just forget about grandchildren and pregnancy. I'm not even close to traveling down that road so let's just focus on the wedding."
"Fine, Alexandra. So do you want Nonno to walk you down the aisle with your dad?"
"Only since I was 10," said Alex. "You know how much I love Nonno!"
A few minutes later Dave walked into the apartment and said, "Baby, I'm home and I have champagne and I'm ready to.." he stopped himself as he saw his future mother-in-law sitting at the table. "Hello, Mrs. Brooks."
"Dave," she said raising an eyebrow at him as he walked over to the table.
He kissed Alex's lips quickly and looked at the table that was covered in bridal magazines. "Wedding planning?"
"Yeah, Baby. Do you have your invite list?" asked Alex.
"Yeah. It's in my bag let me get it," he said as he walked over to his bag. He pulled it out and walked back to the table. He handed it to Alex to look over.
Alex read over the names. "Melina? I know you're joking right."
"Yeah. It's just a joke cross her off," he said.
Alex wasted no time and crossed her name off the list. She read over it some more. "Okay," she said, "here mother. This is the final list."
Alex's mother looked over the list and counted the names. "He has about 50 people too," she said. "I thought this was going to be a small event?"
"He has a big family too, Mother."
"So we need about 100 invitations?"
"Yes," answered Alex.
"This is crazy 100 guests including the bridal party. Are you two sure you want it this big?"
Alex and Dave looked at each other. Dave nodded to Alex. "Yes, mother. We do."
"Okay. Pick out the invitations you would like," said Sylvia.
Dave and Alex looked through samples of invitations. They chose three samples that they really liked. "I really like this one," said Dave as he pointed to one with the two names in bold cursive print and the wedding information in grey behind it.
"I like it too. It really caught my eye. I like the idea of Alexandra and David being bold and the rest in grey. It looks good. Is this the one you want to use?" asked Alex.
"Yeah if it's what you want," said Dave.
"It's my favorite out of all of them. I want this to be the invitation."
"All right," said Dave. "Mrs. Brooks, we need 100 of these. Just tell me how much money you need for them and I will spare no expense for them."
"Okay," said Sylvia. She looked over the cost and said, "They're 118.95 plus tax for 100 of them."
"All right," said Dave as he pulled out his wallet. "Do you think this will cover it?" he asked as he handed Sylvia the money.
Sylvia counted it and said, "$125 should cover it. If there's any left over I'll give you it back."
"No just keep it," he said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Thank-you."
"No problem," said Dave.
"So Dave, I think I picked a color for the wedding."
"All right. What's the color?"
Alex took out the book and showed him. "It's called Guava. What do you think?"
"That's a really pretty color. I like it."
"So you're using Guava?" asked Sylvia.
"Yeah, Mother."
"Okay. I think we've done enough planning today. We'll talk more about it another time and hopefully by then you'll have your bridal party complete."
"Okay, Mother," said Alex.
"And when you have time look at some wedding dresses to get an idea of what you want so we can go get you fitted and order a dress," she said.
"Okay, Mother," said Alex. She felt like she couldn't get her out of the apartment fast enough.
"I'm leaving now. I love you and I will call you tomorrow. Ciao," she said as she hugged her Alex.
"I love you too, Ciao."
Alex opened the door for her mom and as her mom walked out she turned around and said, "Non mi fanno una nonna."
Alex rolled her eyes and said, "Per quanto mi sa volete che non sta andando accadere per una davvero molto tempo. Io vi amo e hanno una buona notte. Ciao." She shut the door and walked into the kitchen to pick up the magazines spread out on the table.
"How was wedding planning today?"
"It wasn't as bad as I thought. She gave me a little trouble at first but then she allowed me to make the decisions," she said as she put the magazines in a pile on the table. "Just to let you know we need a flower girl, a ring bearer and another groomsman."
"About the ring bearer my friend Imani's son is going to be the ring bearer. And I thought Athena was going to be the flower girl."
"No because she'll be ten. I think she'll be too old. We need someone younger so Athena is going to be a junior bridesmaid."
"Okay, Baby. And what did your mom say to you in Italian?"
Alex laughed and said, "Oh. She told me not to make her a grandma which I responded to by saying that's a long way off and that I loved her. I told her to have a good night. I just wanted her out of here. WE spent too much time planning today and she gets so impatient because things aren't moving fast enough. We have a little over a year. She needs to calm down and the scary thing is I think she's already planning my baby shower."
"You're not even pregnant yet," said Dave.
"I know and I won't be for a long long long time," she said, "she just likes to jump the gun a little bit. I guess it's because I'm her only daughter so my wedding is the only one she can help plan and my baby shower is the only one she can plan. I don't know but she really needs to calm down and take it easy. Oh and she told me I need to go on a diet and watch what I eat from now until the wedding."
"What? You're a twig already. I could bend you and you'd snap like a rubber band. You don't have to watch what you eat and you don't' have to go on a diet. I won't allow it. Does she want you to be 90 lbs?"
"I don't know."
"Well, your body is perfectly fine to me," he said looking her over, "PERFECTLY fine."
"Thanks," she said wrapping her arms around his waist, "and your body is perfectly fine to me."
"I try," he said.
"You're such an ass," she said as she hit him playfully.
"So you're going to Wrestlemania with me right?"
"When is it?"
"The last weekend of March."
"Yeah. I guess. I mines well go. My last day of school will just be sooner than I thought," she replied.
"I don't know why you're still going."
"I don't know either. I guess I'm trying to get my parents' money's worth. They paid in full for this semester they won't be refunded back for it so I feel I should go until I move."
"That makes sense. Anyway, if you're going to Wrestlemania you have to get a dress for the Hall of Fame ceremony."
"What kind of dress?"
"Any dress that is dressy enough. I don't know I don't know about dresses. I just know the divas go all out for Hall of Fame and wear really elegant dresses."
"Will you go dress shopping with me?" she asked.
"Alex, how about I just give you my credit card and you and Mel go together. I'm not the dress shopping kind of guy," he said.
"But Dave, you know what kind of dress I should get so I think it would be better if you came with me and helped me pick out the dress for Hall of Fame."
"I'm not going to win this am I?" he asked.
"Probably not," she said.
"Well, I'm not going to waste my breath just to lose. Let's go dress shopping and then out to eat for dinner," he said.
"Okay, Baby," she said slipping her sneakers on and grabbing her jacket. He opened the door for her and followed behind her to his car.
They went to about 5 different places to look at dresses but none of them had the right dress for her. She tried on so many dresses Dave had lost count. Either they were too big, too small, she didn't have big enough boobs for it or didn't have the body to fill it out. Dave was growing restless, tired and hungry. He just wanted her to pick a dress so they could get something to eat and then go back to the apartment, watch a little TV and then go to bed. They were in the last place they could go to find a dress. Alex was in the fitting room trying on dresses. She had taken at least 5 off the rack back with her. Dave sat on a chair outside the fitting room resting his chin on his hand. He started texting Randy because he was so bored and he was tired of waiting for Alex. At the rate she was going their trip would be unsuccessful and a waste of time. Alex came out of the fitting room in a charcoal grey halter dress with beadwork on the neckline halter straps. Dave removed his chin from his hand and looked at her. "How about this dress?" she asked.
"I like it. Are you ready to go?" he asked, "I don't care how much it is I'll buy it anyway."
"I like it too but I don't think I have the boobs for this dress."
"Oh my God, Alex, you have the boobs for it. I think it looks great on you. I think you should get it," he said trying to hurry her along.
"I don't know," she said looking at herself. "I think I'm going to try on another one."
Dave sighed and said, "Fine. Take your time."
"Okay," said Alex, "I'll be right back in the next dress," as she walked back into the fitting room. A few minutes later she came out in a white tank styled dress with jeweled accents on the sleeves and below the bust line. "How about this one?"
Dave looked up and said, "Perfect. Is that the one you want?"
"I don't know. I don't think I have the boobs for this one either," she said.
"You know how about I just pay for you to have a boob job that way you'll have the boobs for any dress and we won't have to take so much time picking out a dress?"
"And then I don't know if I want to wear white. I'll be wearing white for the wedding. I don't know. I don't think this is the one. Let me try another one," she said as she walked back into the fitting room.
Dave sighed and said to himself, "women."
After a few minutes Alex came back out with a black one shoulder dress with a small cut out side and the dress went down to the floor. "Dave, how about this one?" she asked.
Dave looked at her and said, "It's beautiful. I like it. I think you should get it."
"That's what you said about the last two. Can you be honest for one minute?"
"Okay," he said looking at her in the dress.
"Do you like this one better on me or the first one I came out in?"
"Turn around," he said. Her back was pretty much exposed minus a little black strip going diagonal on her back connecting the dress's one shoulder sleeve to the other side of the dress. "I don't like how much back is exposed but it's better than the grey one. I think you should get this one. Plus you have the boobs for it."
"Really?"
"Yes, I like it. I think you should get it."
"Okay. This is the one I want," she said as she looked at herself, "Plus I think I look hot in this dress."
"Aren't we a little conceited?"
"Nope. I'm just aware of how sexy I am."
"Alex, I don't know about you sometimes," he said.
"Say it, Dave. You know you want to."
"Fine. You're hot," he said, "now can we go?"
"I have to get shoes to match," she said.
"Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me? We just spent all this time looking for the right dress and we finally find one and now you want to spend more time trying to find shoes to match it?"
"Well, I know I need black or silver shoes. So it shouldn't take that long."
"Alex, do you know how many black or silver shoes there are in the world. You can't make a decision to save your life. It will take you another 5 hours to find the right shoes," he said.
"I made the decision to marry you didn't I?"
"That's different."
"Maybe I should have spent a little more time deciding if I wanted to marry you. In fact I think I spent more time trying to find the right dress than I did in deciding if it was the right thing to marry you."
"Alex, you know it was the right decision."
"I don't know, Dave, I can't make a decision to save my life," she said as she stormed back into the fitting room to change into her street clothes. Dave knew what he said was wrong but he didn't think it would upset her as much as it did. It came out wrong and he was upset with himself for saying it like that.
When she came out of the fitting room she handed him the dress she decided on without saying a word. She walked over to the shoes and started looking for the right pair of shoes. Dave looked at the price tag and saw the dress cost $298.00 and he decided it would be best if he didn't say anything at all about the cost. He didn't want to spend another 5 hours looking for a dress and not to mention he had to agree with Alex she did look hot in the dress. He followed her over to the shoes without saying a word and watched her look at the shoes carefully trying to find the right pair. She finally decided on silver high heeled shoes with a 3 ¼ inch heel, they were opened toed with rhinestone detail. "Alex, I like them. Are you sure those are the ones you want?"
"I'm sure. I don't want to take too long making a decision," she said as she picked out her size. She took the box and said, "I'm ready to go now," as she walked to the register. Dave laid the dress down and got out his wallet. The lady rang everything up and stated the total it was well over $350. Dave took his card and slid it through the pin pad. He signed his signature as the lady put the dress in a bag and put the shoes in a separate bag. Dave took the dress and the shoes and carried them to the car. "Thank-you, Dave," said Alex.
"You're welcome," he said.
"I'm sorry it was so much money," she said.
"It doesn't matter. You're worth it," he said.
"It matters to me. Let me pay you back," she said.
"No, Alex, it's a gift. Don't worry about it. I bought it because I love you. You don't have to pay me back. It's fine."
"Are you sure because I can stop at an ATM on the way home."
"I'm sure. Don't worry about it."
"Thank-you, Baby," she said getting into the car.
"No problem and just so you know, your ring sparkles a lot more when you're wearing the dress. It makes it stand out. You're going to be the best dressed woman there and you're all mine," he said as he started the car.
On the way home they stopped at a Chinese restaurant for take out and then headed back to the apartment. When they got to the apartment they sat and watched TV while they ate. "You know my mom would have a fit if she saw me eating this stuff," said Alex.
"Why because it will add some meat to your bones?"
"Yeah. She always wanted me to be skinny and in shape. I don't think growing up I ever had cookies or cake for a snack. She always made me eat fruit and vegetables."
"Kids are supposed to have cookies. It's part of childhood."
"I know but my mom didn't want me getting fat."
"That's crazy!"
"I know," she said.
"Like I said, you have a great body so I wouldn't worry about what your mom thinks. And I better not find you ever trying to starve yourself because you think you're fat. You're no where near fat and I personally think you're too skinny."
"Me starve myself?" she asked looking at him like he had 2 heads.
"Oh yeah. I forgot who I was talking to for a second there. It's crazy how you eat. I have never seen a woman eat so much in my life and never show it. I'm sure a lot of women would like to know your secret."
"Fast metabolism and working out everyday."
"Speaking of working out. I get my work out buddy back when you start traveling with me."
"You told me I distract you when you're working out..so how can I be your work out buddy?"
"Well, maybe it's just the view that makes working out with you so great. I don't know."
"Do you always have to talk like such a guy?"
"Pretty much," he said as he kissed her cheek.
"Dave, I love you."
"I love you too," he said. "And I'm sorry about what I said back at the dress shop. I think it's cute that you can't make a decision. It just shows that you're not careless and that you want the best. And the fact it didn't take you long to decide to marry me tells me you love me that much and you already thought I was the best."
"Well, yeah. You are the best and I love you so much that I want to be with you forever."
"I want to be with you forever too," he said as he kissed her lips.
*A/N: so..I still think this wedding planning is going to explode. I don't know how long Alex can stand her mother. And How about Dave thinking about inviting Melina to the wedding..WTF is that lol...he should know you don't invite the woman you cheat on your fiancee with to your wedding..it's just not right..and I can't believe he hasn't come clean yet about cheating. So tell me what you think..please review.
*Chapter 22: Wrestlemania weekend and Alex starts her new job!