CHAPTER 139
Stephanie's POV
Yippee! I'm married to Carlos! I, Stephanie Michelle Plum, am now married to Ricardo Carlos Mañoso, Jr.! He's my husband and I'm his wife! It's really happened. Thank God I'm a member of the Mañoso family now! I'm so happy! I'm deliriously happy! Carlos and I are finally married! Omigod! Omigod!
These were the thoughts racing through my mind as Carlos and I proceeded to walk down the aisle toward the open back doors of the chapel. The organist was playing our very traditional recessional song, Beethoven's 'Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,' for all it was worth. People were applauding and snapping photographs and cheering and smiling and I knew we were smiling back at them. I was so ecstatic I practically floated beside my new husband. In fact, I think it was only my Superman's super strength that kept me from floating up and away into the rafters of the church.
I could hardly wait for Carlos and me to make our escape and have some 'quality time' alone before the reception. Although I'm glad I followed Father Brady's advice and convinced Carlos to abstain from sleeping with me for the last three days prior to our wedding, my body was screaming for the release only Carlos could give me. As we drew nearer to the chapel doors, all I could think about was how we should be able to consummate our marriage between now and arriving at the reception. I was giddy at the thought of making it happen in the back of the limousine on our way over to Rosa's. My mood fell slightly, though, when I noticed one of our official photographers snapping away with his camera and realized we were far from being done here at the chapel. Ugh!
One of the not-so-great things about our early morning wedding was that there wasn't enough time prior to the ceremony to take any of the 'staged' photographs for the wedding album. Sure, the multimedia photography team Carlos had hired to record our special day for all posterity had been able to take candid shots of Carlos and me getting ready – separately, of course – and they had videotaped the entire wedding ceremony, but they hadn't been able to take any of the 'official' photos. Now that the wedding ceremony was over, it was time for everyone to smile prettily for the camera in the various family group poses, and poses with just the bridesmaids, and poses with just the groomsmen, and so on.
The plan was for everyone in the wedding party to exit through the back of the church after the recessional and then loop around to the side entrance of the chapel and re-enter the building for the staged photos. This would also allow all of our guests to file out of the chapel and congregate along the outside steps of the church building to wait for Carlos and me to re-exit through the traditional military saber arch on our way to the limo, which would then ferry us to the reception. It was a good plan when we discussed it, but it just didn't work out that way. Go figure!
As soon as our sweet little ring bearer, Ricky, got outside, he decided it would be fun to pick a booger out of his cute little nose and chase the flower girls around the grassy lawn yelling, "The Boogie Man's gonna get you!" over and over until his mother scooped him up, wiped off his finger with a tissue and gave his cute little bottom a few swift whacks with the open palm of her hand. Of course, this set off a fit of tears and wailing. Then Alex took Ricky around the corner for a little man-to-man talk while the photographers snapped away. The good news was that by the time Ricky was calm and he and all the girls looked presentable enough for their close-ups, the majority of the staged photos were done.
Naturally, my mother complained about how long it was taking and she kept checking her cell phone for messages, but I ignored her whininess. Daddy, Valerie and I all remembered the excruciatingly long photo sessions from our first weddings. Mom had insisted we hire her best friend from high school's son, Elroy Maschewicz, as our photographer back then and he was the world's slowest man. I swear, every request he made was in slow motion and he made you just want to reach into his throat and pull the words out faster. In comparison, today's photo shoot was a breeze.
The only time I had let go of my new husband's hand was when the photographers needed us to be in separate photo shots. After they finished taking all of the photo poses we had requested, they left us to set up for Carlos' and my final descent from the cathedral stairs. All of the men who were dressed in uniforms also left us to get into position for the military arch of sabers. Carlos tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow. Then we stood behind the closed doors of the chapel and waited for the signal to come out and greet all our family and friends. Before we exited the chapel, though, Carlos kissed me so hard I had to wipe my shimmery lipstick off of his lips.
"Oh, God, I needed that!" I exclaimed and I took a deep breath to calm myself.
"You're looking a little wild-eyed there, Mrs. Mañoso," he grinned down at me and my heart fluttered at him calling me 'Mrs. Mañoso.' Then he blew it when he teased, "How are those three days of abstinence feeling now?"
I merely glared at him and asked, "Is there any lipstick left on my lips?" And I used the pad of my thumb to get the last speck of my Estée Lauder "Tiramisu" color off of the corner of his mouth.
He playfully nipped at my thumb and replied, "Babe, you look fine. You look better than fine. In fact, you look so fine, I'm going to have to take you someplace private and ravish you before we get to the reception." And he kissed the palm of my hand.
My knees went weak, but I giggled, "Here's a newsflash, Superman: There are a bajillion well-wishers outside those chapel doors. The only privacy we're likely to have is in the limo from here to the restaurant."
Carlos shook his head. "No, Babe, not even there."
"What do mean?" I asked. "Is someone riding with us?"
"Nope," he grinned slyly. "What I mean is that we don't actually have a limo this morning."
"No limo?" I gasped in horror. "What happened?"
"I reserved a … different mode of transportation for us," he replied. "And, unfortunately, there's no privacy. You'll see."
Just then, the chapel doors began to swing open and there was no more time for me to interrogate my Man of Mystery. I smiled widely as I stepped over the threshold beside Carlos. Two rows of uniform-clad men stood facing each other immediately in front of us, with Tank being the closest to Carlos and Diego Rivera was directly across from him, closest to me. The guys looked so handsome in their dress uniforms, but they also looked so somber and serious. Carlos had explained this part of the ceremony to me so that I would know when to pause in order for the photographers to get all their shots.
"Draw … Sabers!" Tank's deep voice startled me when he barked out his orders.
The sleek sound of the metal sabers being drawn out of their scabbards was so cool!
I was somewhat more prepared when Tank called out, "Arch … Sabers!"
All of the soldiers lifted their sabers first toward their faces and then upward toward each other to create the arch of sabers under which Carlos and I would walk. We entered the arch slowly and I made a special effort to look into the face of each man as we passed through. But before we could exit the arch, Bobby and Lester, who were the last two men, dropped their sabers into a position that prevented us from going any further.
Behind us, Tank announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our distinct honor to present to you Captain and Mrs. Ricardo Carlos Mañoso!"
Everyone gathered on and around the stairs applauded. I could hear the whirring and clicking of many cameras and several of our guests whistled quite loudly. I almost forgot what was supposed to happen next.
"You know the price, sir," Lester said solemnly, but with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
"Indeed I do," Carlos replied. Then he turned to me, lifted my chin and kissed me.
The assembled crowd cheered even louder while we kissed. Then Lester and Bobby lifted their sabers into an arch once more and we moved forward toward the stairs. Suddenly, I felt something hit my ass and I realized Bobby had gently swatted me with the flat side of his saber.
When I turned to glare at him, he grinned and exclaimed, "Welcome to the Army, Ma'am!" Then he winked and nodded at Carlos, who was barely containing his own grin, and he lifted his saber back into its raised position.
Apparently, as Carlos later explained to me, this "spanking" was a long-standing tradition of the military saber arch at weddings. While the arch itself symbolized a couple's safe transition into their new life together, the "saber swat" was a gentle reminder of the probable hardships the bride would face in the future. A lovely thought. Not!
As we descended the steps of the church, our guests blew jillions of bubbles at us. The young kids loved it and were having fun running in front of us and blowing as many bubbles at us as they could, while the adults enjoyed a more sedate approach, standing on the sidelines and letting their bubbles drift our way. Carlos popped as many as he could while I tried to catch as many as possible without popping them. It was so much fun! I was having such a good time swatting at the clear orbs floating all around us; I didn't realize our transportation had arrived. And no, it wasn't a limousine. Carlos had arranged for something I never would've expected – an open, horse-drawn carriage, just like the ones in Central Park!
"Omigod!" I exclaimed when Carlos led me to the carriage. "When you said we didn't have a limo, I was thinking you got us a vintage convertible or something, but this…"
"This is something different, romantic," Carlos murmured into my ear. "I thought you'd like it."
"Like it?" I exclaimed. "I love it!"
Carlos winked at the liveried driver, who grinned back at us. He held the carriage door open while Carlos helped me into the open back seat of the carriage and then hopped in beside me. The man bowed graciously toward us and then closed the door behind us after we were settled on the velvet-covered seat. Our guests continued to cheer and blow bubbles at us. Carlos kissed me again before giving the driver the signal to take off. The beautiful white horses trotted through the streets of Newark and then into a park, where they slowed down to a walk so that we could meander for a while and enjoy the scenery. This was my Prince Charming fairytale come true!
As we rode along, Carlos explained to me that our ride would last for thirty minutes while our wedding party and guests traveled to Rosa's for the reception. Once there, our military groomsmen and ushers would change out of their uniforms and into standard black tuxedos. Carlos also would change into his tuxedo as soon as we arrived at the restaurant. Tina would help me adjust the train of my gown by fastening the extra material onto a row of small buttons, which were cleverly disguised among the beadwork. Then I would be able to move around freely without the constant danger of tripping on the hem of the lovely gown.
A thought occurred to me and I suddenly sat up and asked, "Carlos, where's our luggage?"
"What luggage?" he replied and the arm he had wrapped around my shoulder gently pulled me in closer to him.
A terrible feeling crept over me and I said, "The luggage for our honeymoon! I put it all in the trunk of the limo that drove me and my bridal party to the church this morning. Omigod! If that limo driver has gone back to his company already, we might never get our bags back! I have all my honeymoon clothes and makeup and … and my charm bracelet!" I wailed, beginning to hyperventilate a little.
Carlos sighed and began to stroke my bare shoulder. "Relax, Babe. I'm sure everything's been taken care of so that we'll be able to get ready for the cruise before we leave."
"How sure?" I pulled back and asked skeptically.
"Very sure," he chuckled. "Remember, we had to have all of our stuff out of the church so that the next wedding party could get in there, but my men and I still needed a place to change into our tuxes before the reception. Because of this, my mother ordered Alex to give up one of the storage rooms at the restaurant so that Celia and Pilar could set it up as a changing room for everyone. Abuela Rosa borrowed a rolling garment rack from Dawson, who also provided a free-standing mirror and a padded bench from your office building for our use today. Lena and Maria's husbands already took most of our luggage over to Rosa's before the ceremony even started."
"Oh, that's so nice!" I exclaimed. "I love your family. They've taken care of so many details for this day."
"It's our family now, Stephanie, and you made it easy for them," he replied with a casual shrug. "Especially after you gave me the three-ring binder in which you'd been gathering all your wedding ideas and plans together. As you know, I committed the entire book to memory, handed it off to my mother, and she took over from there. Of course, Mama kept me informed of every decision along the way, and I assure you, everything has worked out better than any military operation I've ever been a part of. In fact, I think my mother would have made a very good Army General."
"Remind me to recruit her for my next corporate luncheon," I quipped.
Carlos laughed. "I understand your feelings, but I think my father would be offended if you did that. He is, after all the professional caterer in the family."
"Yikes! How could I forget that?" I said as I shuddered. "I certainly wouldn't want to cause any friction between your parents."
"They'll be fine, Babe," he murmured against my skin. "You gotta learn to keep the faith." And he continued to nuzzle my neck.
"That's easy for you to say; your parents aren't going through a divorce," I retorted, but soon I felt my body melting under Carlos' heated kisses along my jaw until he reached my lips. "Oh, God, yes!" I gasped as I felt his free hand sliding up my leg.
"Hmm… what's this?" he asked as his fingers plucked at the satin-and-lace-covered elastic band around my thigh.
Blushing, I said, "Oh, that's just my garter. Mary Lou gave it to me at my bridal shower. She picked it out with you in mind. It's blue and it's got your Superman logo all over it. She didn't know you were going to give me all these magnificent blue diamonds." And she gently caressed the diamond pendant resting above her décolleté.
"Now I can't wait to see it," he said as he playfully snapped the garter against my sensitive skin and I felt a tiny jolt of excitement whiz through my entire body.
"Hey!" I protested. "Be careful with that thing. You'll see it right before you have to toss it at your groomsmen during that part of the reception."
His grin was wicked before he started kissing me again. "I am … being careful," he murmured between kisses. "See, Querida? I'm carefully … making my way … up to your … damn!" His quiet exclamation was in response to the resistance of the delicate fabric of my wedding gown.
"What's … the … matter?" I panted between his steamy kisses.
"This dress," Carlos grumbled. "The way it hugs your curves is amazing, Babe, but it fits too closely for me to go any further than this." Then his fingers tickled a sensitive point on my inner thigh and I yelped in surprise. "At least, not while you're in a seated position."
When I sighed and looked away, I made eye contact with a young boy in the park as we passed by him and he pointed at us. A woman who looked like she was probably the boy's mother smiled and urged her son to wave at us. She was holding the boy's hand and in her other hand a little white puppy strained at its leash to chase the carriage. It was then that I realized how truly open the carriage was. For that reason only, it was a good thing Carlos couldn't get his hand all the way up my dress, but we needed to find some privacy – fast!
In frustration, Carlos withdrew his hand from beneath my gown and consoled himself with more kisses. We settled into a rhythm of kissing for a while, then we enjoyed the scenery in the park before we kissed some more. By the time our ride was over, though, I was so horny I thought I'd die if I didn't get some of Carlos' good lovin' real soon.
Carlos' POV
Dios! I'm finally married to Stephanie! She is mine and I am hers – forever and ever – amen! I've just got to hold it together until I can find a nice secluded spot to get naked with my Babe. We need to consummate this marriage as soon as possible. Now! Before I explode! Where the hell is that dressing room my mother promised would be ready for us?
These were the thoughts coursing through my mind as Stephanie and I hopped out of the horse-drawn carriage when it arrived at the front entrance of Rosa's. Many of our guests, including a large number of my nieces and nephews had gathered there to blow more bubbles at us while we hurried inside to get to the storage room we'd be using as a changing room. I knew it looked like I was dragging my new bride through the place, but that was just too damn bad. We needed privacy – ASAP!
Thankfully, no one was in the hallway outside of the makeshift changing room, so we charged right in. Stephanie ran into my back when I came to an abrupt halt. The entire room was draped with white sheets and decorated with white twinkle lights wrapped around garlands of silk ivy. There was a sheet-covered bench on one side of the room and a wood-framed, full-length mirror in a corner next to some wooden chairs. A garment rack already held several hangers of military uniforms, as well as the tuxedo I'd be wearing momentarily and the more casual outfits Stephanie and I planned to change into before we left the reception. My sisters truly had outdone themselves.
Standing in front of the mirror were Javier and Miguel, who were just pinning their boutonnieres onto their tuxedo lapels. After making a quick assessment of the number of uniforms already hanging on the garment rack, I figured they must have been the last ones to change into their tuxedos. I didn't want to be too obvious, but I needed them to leave the room, whether they were ready or not.
Miguel turned and grinned at us. "Hey, Superman, it's great to see you and your lovely bride looking so happy. How was the carriage ri-?" But I cut him off.
"Later!" I growled and I began to usher him and Javier out of the room.
"But, wait, there's something we need to tell you before-" Javier began, but I cut him off, too, almost shouting, "Leave us! Now!"
I was being rude to my friends, but at that precise moment, I just didn't care. Somehow, though, I think they had an idea of what was going to happen next because Javier merely smirked and said, "Our news can wait. We'll stand guard." Then they hurried out of the room. Although I could hear their soft chuckles and knew they weren't really offended by me throwing them out of the room, I also knew I'd end up apologizing to them later.
As soon as the door was closed, I jammed a chair against its handle to prevent any unwanted interruptions. I didn't give Stephanie a chance to say anything; I just held her close and kissed her deeply. While my tongue danced with her tongue, I carefully untied the laces on the back of her dress and pushed the loosened material down her body until she could step out of the pool of fabric at her feet. When I looked down at her, I was stunned.
"Well," she said as she tilted her head to one side in a provocative manner. "Do you like what you see? I sure hope so, 'cause it's all yours now."
There she was – my wife – standing before me with barely anything on. Sure, there was some sort of a lacy corset-looking thing up top, which was almost entirely see-through. And there was a skimpy white garter belt holding up Stephanie's sheer white silk stockings. Also, there was the Superman garter, just as I had felt it, a few inches above her knee. Of course, she was still wearing her silver and blue high-heeled sandals and all of the blue diamond jewelry I had given her, including her new wedding band. But there were no panties – nothing was covering her pretty little ass, nada - not even my personal favorite thong-type of panties, which wouldn't really have covered her ass anyway. Dios! My Babe had gone through our entire wedding ceremony, as well as the carriage ride, commando. That realization nearly short-circuited my brain.
"Like it?" I replied before I whistled low. "Damn, Babe, you know I love it!"
It only took me a few seconds to shed my uniform and then I was kissing Stephanie again. My lips never left hers as I picked her up, carried her over to the bench seat, which was not quite big enough for both of us to be comfortable, and positioned myself over her beautiful, partially-clad body. I was so turned on, there was barely enough time for me to cover myself with a condom before I slid inside of her welcoming warmth.
"Oh, Carlos," she moaned. "Omigod! Yes! Yes! Yessssss!"
I swallowed Stephanie's moans with deep kisses before she became too loud. Coming so hard and fast like this wasn't exactly how I'd wanted our first time as a married couple to go, but there was no stopping it. My need for her had overwhelmed my ability to think straight and all I knew was that I had to be joined with her before I went insane.
It took a few moments for my heart to settle down. All the while, I kept kissing and caressing my Babe, waiting for her to open her eyes. When she finally looked at me with her sapphire gaze, it took my breath away. Stephanie Plum was mine, totally mine now, my wife. As she shifted under me and winced, I realized my full weight was pressing her down uncomfortably and I slightly lifted my body off of hers.
"Are you okay, Babe?"
"Mmm hmm," she nodded and licked her lips. It was such a sexy move; I had to kiss her again. When I lifted my head to gaze down at her, she grinned up at me and murmured, "There goes my lipstick again."
I laughed and reluctantly got up before my body mutinied. If I stayed on top of Stephanie for a single moment more, we would never make it out to the reception. Soon, our guests would begin to wonder where we were. Remembering that we would be by ourselves aboard a cruise ship by the end of the day, I forced myself to regain control. Then I grasped my lovely bride's hand and pulled her to her feet. She was not very steady.
"Whoa! I think I just felt the earth move," Stephanie said as she swayed unsteadily. In our frenzy to consummate our marriage, she hadn't even taken off her high-heeled sandals. When she saw her reflection in the mirror, she groaned. "Omigod! I'm a total mess! It's gonna take me forever to put myself back together."
She was, of course, the most beautiful woman in the world to me, and as my eyes scanned her body from bottom to top, all I could say in response was, "Babe!"
I quickly picked up my discarded clothes and neatly hung them on the garment rack. Stephanie readjusted her lacy undergarments and then staggered over to one of her suitcases to dig out whatever she needed in order to put herself back together. Sadly, the first thing she did was put on a pair of white lace thong panties before she stepped back into her wedding gown. In no time at all, I was dressed in my tuxedo trousers and white shirt. While I was lacing up Stephanie's wedding gown, I could hear the muffled sounds of an argument in Spanish happening outside the storage room door. Obviously, our private time was over and someone from my family had found us. There was a soft knock at the door and I opened it slightly to peek out.
Javier had a pained expression on his face and he whispered, "Lo siento mucho, Carlos, pero tu Abuela era muy insistente." ["I'm very sorry, Carlos, but your Grandmother was very insistent."]
Suddenly, there she was – my Abuela Rosa – pushing past Javier and nudging the door open. The expression on her face was a cross between annoyed and amused. I opened my mouth to ask her to give Stephanie and me a few moments, but she merely pushed her way inside of the makeshift dressing room and closed the door behind her.
She glanced at Stephanie and then grinned slyly at me before saying, "Ah, veo que has hecho tu novia muy feliz ya hoy. Buen chico!" And she lovingly patted the side of my face, just as she had done so many times when I was growing up. ["Ah, I see you've made your bride very happy already today. Good boy!"]
I didn't know what to say. I'm sure the scent of our recent lovemaking must have lingered in the air of the small room, but I couldn't do anything about it. And I still remembered the horror of seeing my grandmother's face out the window of the rented Porsche as she watched my Babe and me having car sex before I left for my mission.
"No te preocupe, mi Carlito. Estoy aquí para ayudarte." Abuela Rosa continued in Spanish, "Y estoy aquí para pedir tu ayuda a cambio del favor." ["Do not worry, my dear Carlos. I am here to help you." "And I am here to request your help in return for the favor."]
Then she smiled warmly at Stephanie and said, in slightly-accented English, "My dear, it is time."
Stephanie nibbled on her lower lip as she adjusted the bodice of her dress and whispered, "Are you sure?"
My Abuela nodded her head and replied, "Quite sure. But only for the sake of your marriage."
I grinned and said, "Let me guess, Abuela; you can understand and speak English, can't you?"
"Shhh, not so loud," my grandmother hushed me. Then she walked over to Stephanie and plucked the hairbrush out of her hand. "Here, allow me to fix your hair while we explain it to him. Speak softly, though, because this information is for Carlos' ears only."
And with that, my devious grandmother and my complicit wife told me a fantastical tale of listening at doors and peeking around large potted plants and exchanging mysterious letters and packages. Abuela Rosa told me about their meetings at the Books/Plum office and Stephanie described the cooking lessons, which occurred after the discovery of my father's idiotic deceptions. Their stories came out rather jumbled, but I was able to understand the bottom line. What I had suspected all along was true: Abuela Rosa not only understood English, but she could speak the language fluently. As soon as Stephanie's hair looked like it had before we'd made love, she thanked my grandmother and began to reapply her makeup.
Abuela Rosa turned to look at me, with her hands clasped in front of her, and said, "Your loyal wife does not wish to lie to you and my patient husband has grown tired of this charade, therefore, when no one else is around us, we all may speak English. However, when we are with the rest of our family, I will continue to appear to only understand Spanish. Understood? I'm sure you have questions and I'll do my best to answer them. I only request that you safeguard my secret until I decide otherwise."
"How long?" I asked. It was the first question that popped into my mind. "How long have you known English?"
"Since before you were born," she replied; her sly grin sent a chill down my spine. "And I kept my knowledge of English a very deep secret until I met Estefania. After you went away on your mission, I knew she needed a trustworthy ally in this crazy family of ours, especially when I saw the way your father was behaving."
"Dios!" I wondered about the numerous conversations my grandmother must have overheard throughout the years, especially the ones between my siblings and me. And then I thought about seeing her in the hallway outside of my father's office after the terrible arguments between my father, Alex, Mateo, and me when I changed my Will. The implications of this revelation were frightening as I realized my grandmother was better at espionage than many of the spies I had encountered during my military career.
Abuela Rosa nodded slowly and said, "Indeed." Now I wondered if she could read my mind, too.
"Why?" I asked.
She shrugged and admitted, "Because I wanted to – no, I needed to. After Celia and Alejandro were born, and your parents decided to raise them and any other children they had to be bilingual, I knew I had to learn English, too. I did not want to be stuck in the ways of the Old Country. Unfortunately, your grandfather disagreed and told me I'd never be able to learn another language. Silly old fool! I knew he only wanted to keep me ignorant and dependent upon him. Neither he nor Ricardo ever figured out that I could understand what they were saying when they tried to keep things hidden from me."
I shook my head, trying to fathom the extent of her clever deception. "Oh, Abuela Rosa, you are a sneaky one," I chided.
"I know I am," she admitted. "Now, there are probably only a few moments before the Maid of Honor arrives to help Estefania with her dress, so we'll have to be quick. Do you swear never to reveal my secret to the rest of the family?"
I nodded. "Yes, Abuela, I swear it. Your secret is safe with me."
"And me!" Stephanie chimed in enthusiastically.
We both hugged my grandmother and she winked at us as she slipped out of the room. Stephanie hurriedly spritzed some of her cologne on her neck and wrists and then into the air of the room for good measure. I just shook my head and gathered her into my arms.
"I can't believe you've been in league with my sneaky grandmother all this time," I said before I kissed her lips.
Stephanie's bright eyes searched my face. "Are you angry?"
"Not really," I said after a moment. "I just never expected such a thing. Of course, I knew something was going on between the two of you, but I dismissed my suspicions, because you and I had agreed to always tell each other the truth."
"I've never not told you the truth, Carlos," she said. "You just never asked if I knew whether or not your grandmother could speak English."
I shook my head. "Babe."
At least Stephanie had the decency to look remorseful as she continued to defend her actions, "I'm sorry, but it wasn't my secret to tell. When Rosa explained her situation to me, I completely understood. I think we're all – you, me, Rosa – kindred spirits that way. I mean, we know what it's like to not have members of our own families believe in us. And I actually think it's really cool how she's pulled the wool over your eyes for so long." Her impish grin drew my lips to her again.
I only ended the kiss when there was a loud knock on the door.
"Stephanie? Carlos?" Tina's voice sounded through the door loud and clear. "Are you in there?"
Then we heard Santos' even louder voice. "Hell, yeah, they're in there! C'mon you two; we've got to get this show on the road! Superman's father is bitching and moaning about the food being ready and the guests being hungry and he's right. I'm fucking starving out here and you guys are just, well, fucking."
Stephanie's lovely face turned beet red and I fought hard not to laugh. Instead, I opened the door to let Tina and Santos inside. Santos merely raised one of his eyebrows and smirked at me. He knew better than to say another word. Tina rushed over to Stephanie, turned her around and began working on fastening the train of the wedding gown to the buttons that would raise the hem of the dress above the floor. I finished putting on the final touches of my tuxedo, including the formal bowtie and the boutonniere. Then the four of us left the room and made our way to the front of the restaurant to join the receiving line. It was time for the reception to begin.
Frank's POV
Thank you, God! My Stephanie's finally married to Carlos Mañoso! She looks so happy! And Valerie's finally dating a nice man, a decent man. I really like Alberto Guarino and he's good with my granddaughters, too. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll finally end up with two sons-in-law that are worth a damn. These men are so much better than the jerks my girls married first, only because their mother said they should do so and we all foolishly listened to her. I just wish Ellen would be happy for our girls. We're all adults now. At least she should try to be civil toward them and respect their choices. Oh, well, we shall see.
These were the thoughts drifting through my mind as I walked around groups of wedding guests to find my assigned table. While Stephanie and her new husband, her Matron and Maid of Honor and his two Best Men formed the receiving line and greeted all their guests, I had wandered around, talking to various friends and family members. Unfortunately, I got trapped into a long conversation with one of my least favorite cousins, Vincent Plum. Stephanie had invited most of our family members only out of politeness, thinking that the majority of them wouldn't want to get up so early on a Saturday morning and travel up to Newark for this wedding, and she was mostly right.
My cousin Vinnie was a major-league sleazeball, though, who never passed up the opportunity for a free meal. He ran his own bail bonds company in Trenton and he was barely more legitimate than the majority of his clients. He was several years younger than me and I could hardly stand him, but he was family so I had to talk to him. Lucky me.
Vinnie was going on and on about a criminal who had recently been recaptured after he'd skipped bail, "So I says to this guy, 'You gotta put your money where your mouth is, asshole,' and he proceeded to bend over and show me his a-"
"Pardon me, Vinnie," I interrupted his crude story. I just couldn't stand it anymore. "I gotta go talk to Ellen for a minute." Imagine that! I actually used Ellen as an excuse to get away from Vinnie.
Vinnie merely shrugged and headed back to the table filled with delicious appetizers. I think he already had eaten four platefuls of meat pies, fried potato balls and little ham sandwiches. I just hoped Carlos' father had plenty of food to put out, because the Plum family definitely could eat.
"Hey, Ellen," I called out to my soon-to-be-ex-wife. "May I have a word with you?"
She scowled at me and said, "Make it quick. I'm waiting for JJ to show up."
I stopped in my tracks. "Joe Juniak? I didn't see his name on the guest list."
"He's coming as my guest, Frank," she replied, sounding annoyed at me.
"Does Stephanie know you planned to bring Juniak?" I asked warily, certain I already knew the answer to that question.
"I might have forgotten to mention it to her," Ellen sniffed. "Honestly, Frank, you didn't think I'd want to sit with you or dance with you at this wedding, did you? We're practically divorced." She said 'wedding' as though it was an ugly word.
Grinding my teeth together in frustration, I also bit my tongue to prevent myself from saying something I might later regret. I didn't want to cause a nasty scene, especially in front of Stephanie's new in-laws. No way was I going to embarrass my daughter like that. Instead, I firmly held on to Ellen's elbow and guided her through a gaggle of guests and out of the restaurant.
As soon as we were standing in the parking lot, Ellen wrenched away from me and hissed, "What is your problem, Frank?"
"We need to lay down some ground rules here," I growled back at her. "This is Stephanie's special day and although I already warned you about misbehavin' at the church ceremony, I'm warnin' you again. Don't you dare do something or say anything to cause grief for Stephanie and Carlos at this reception. Do you understand me?"
Ellen lifted her chin and glared at me. "I understand that you're not in charge of me anymore. I can do-"
She abruptly cut off her sentence and then her face brightened as she waved at someone behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see my 'replacement' walking toward us. Joe Juniak grasped both of Ellen's hands in his and they just gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment. Despite everything that had happened, it was difficult for me to be angry at the man because he was genuinely a nice guy – and a great cop. Too bad he couldn't see how crazy Ellen had become. Thankfully, he didn't extend his hand to me. Instead, he respectfully inclined his head to me and greeted me by name.
"Congratulations, Frank," he said. "I'm sorry I missed the wedding, but I'm sure your daughter was a beautiful bride. I bet Stephanie looks just like her mother did when she was that age."
"Hmph! When her mother was the same age, she'd already given birth to our two girls," I grumbled. "But yeah, you're right; Ellen was beautiful at that age, too," I added grudgingly. There was no need for me to be rude to Juniak. My issues with Ellen weren't his fault.
"Are you finished with your work for the day?" Ellen jumped in, changing the subject.
A shadow crossed over Juniak's face and he shook his head sorrowfully. "I only came by to let you know in person that I can't stay for the reception. I'm real sorry to stand you up like this, Ellen, because it looks like it's going to be a great party, but this new case is a rough one. One of my former men was murdered this morning. I just informed his family. It's a real tragedy."
"Oh, my God! How awful for you!" Ellen exclaimed and gently laid her hand on his forearm.
"I really wish I could stay here with you, Ellen," Juniak genuinely looked sad. "But I'm on my way to the City to talk to the police commissioner there because the alleged killer is one of his men. It turns out the shooter belongs to the NYPD and he was supposedly working on an undercover sting operation. We've got him locked up down in Trenton, but he lawyered-up real quick and isn't talking to anyone."
"That sounds complicated," I said.
"You have no idea," Juniak replied. Then he glanced around the parking lot, saw that we were alone and said, "You know the Morelli family, right? Oh yeah, of course you do. Well, it's one of their boys, Joseph. He used to work for me. Now he's dead."
All of the color drained from Ellen's face and she whispered, "What … what happened?"
Juniak shook his head and said, "Long story short, he was in bed with the wrong woman at the wrong time and he got shot. The funny thing is, Morelli shouldn't have even been back in this part of the country. Several months ago, he asked for a transfer out to Montana and he's been out there ever since. I'd heard he was adjusting to his new assignment pretty well, but I guess not."
"Oh, my God. Poor Angela!" Ellen said as she slumped against a car.
"Yeah. It was … pretty rough this morning." Juniak sounded very sad as he continued, "Angela kept screaming 'Why? Why?' until her mother-in-law, Old Bella, gave her some sort of sedative tea. All I could tell her was that it seems her son came back into town to see his old girlfriend, Terry Gilman – you know, Vito Grizolli's goddaughter – and her current boyfriend, or at least the undercover cop who was posing as her current boyfriend, caught them in bed together. It looks like the man went crazy and shot Morelli three times: once in the forehead, once in the heart, and once in the … ah, private parts. Like I said, it's a tragedy and it's turning into a big mess, too. That's why I'm going to the City now to try to get some answers."
I stared at my shoes and sighed. Even though I couldn't stand the Morelli boy, especially after the despicable way he had treated both of my daughters, I felt sorry for his poor mother and grandmother. Angela Morelli had had more than her fair share of grief in this life. Of course, Bella was a crazy old hag, but no one deserved to have to bury a child or grandchild. I didn't even want to imagine the pain that family was going through right now.
Juniak thrust his fingers through his thick mane of salt-and-pepper hair and said, "Listen, the Grizolli family has been under surveillance for years and everyone in Trenton knows the Gilman girl has been her uncle's 'bagman' forever. I don't know why our friends across the river decided to try to catch her in the act, but I guess those guys had studied Gilman and knew that she favored a certain type of man for her romantic encounters, because this other cop even looks somewhat like Morelli. Still, the NYPD should have cleared it with me first. Now everything's all gone to crap and most of the leads we had on Grizolli have run to ground. Years of work are down the drain."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "You and your men have done a good job of cleanin' up our area of Trenton."
"Thanks," he said. "The mob has mostly moved on to greener pastures these days. I just wish I knew why Morelli was in the area in the first place. When I called out to Montana to inform his current boss of his death, the sheriff wasn't even aware that Morelli had left the state. Helluva day. Damn, I'd better get going. See you later, Ellen." Then he quickly kissed Ellen on her cheek and walked toward his car.
After Juniak drove away, we returned to the restaurant. I glanced at Ellen and said, "I'll bet Juniak didn't even know he wasn't invited to today's events."
Ellen refused to look at me. Instead, she wove through groups of guests to get to her assigned table. She would be sitting with Edna and Valerie and their dates, as well as some other friends from Trenton. Thankfully, Stephanie had placed me at a table with some of Carlos' family members. She'd told me she hoped I would take the opportunity to get to know some of her in-laws a bit better during the festive occasion.
"For God's sake, Ellen," I ground out between my clenched teeth as soon as I caught up with her. "The man has no idea that he wouldn't have been welcome here, does he?"
"He would have been welcome – as my guest," she insisted and she gracefully sat in the chair in front of her place card. "Look at this place; there's more than enough room for everyone. Anyway, it's obvious that half of the people Stephanie invited from our families didn't even come." She glanced around with a look of disdain in her once-beautiful eyes and she didn't seem to notice or appreciate the elegant blue and white décor of the table settings.
"That's beside the point – and you know it," I spat out in a harsh tone of voice. "I can't believe you'd do something like this." I was still trying to keep my voice low so that no one would notice we were arguing.
Ellen shook her head in shocked disbelief. "I can't believe Joseph Morelli is … dead. I just don't understand. Why would he have gone to see that horrible Grizolli girl when he was supposed to come here to the chapel to save Stephanie from making the biggest mistake of her life?"
My blood ran cold. "What did you just say?" I asked carefully.
A single tear rolled down Ellen's face and she said, "I told him it was his last chance. If he wanted to be with Stephanie, he would have to come to the chapel and oppose the union when the priest asked the congregation for any objections. I couldn't do it for him, of course; not after the way you threatened me. Joseph was supposed to be there, but he never showed up. And now he'll never show up." Two more tears rolled down her face and I wondered if she was crying because the Morelli boy was dead or if she was crying because he hadn't made it to the church to ruin our daughter's wedding.
"From what Juniak just told us, that boy was probably already dead this morning," I said. And then the full impact of Ellen's latest scheme slammed into my conscience and I softly exclaimed, "Oh, my God, Ellen! What have you done?"
She glared up at me and said, "What do you mean by that? I haven't done anything wrong. If anything, Stephanie's the one who chose to marry the wrong man. I was just trying to help her come to her senses. If Joseph Morelli had driven directly to the chapel, instead of stopping off to see some floozy, he would have been able to stop the wedding and Stephanie would have had another chance to marry a nice young man from the 'Burg and settle down where she belongs."
I was about to blast Ellen for her continued stupidity, but at that moment, Valerie and Alberto arrived at the table. From the way my older daughter's jaw was hanging open, it was obvious she had heard the tail end of what Ellen had just said.
"Mother!" Valerie exclaimed. "Please tell me you didn't just say what you just said."
"What?" Ellen sounded surprised.
"Ugh! About Joseph Morelli. That man is a boil on the butt of humanity!" Valerie cried. "After the way he treated both Stephanie and me, I still can't believe you'd want her to have anything to do with him!"
Ellen made the Sign of the Cross and scolded, "Valerie! You shouldn't speak ill of the dead!"
Now all the color drained from Val's face. "What? Omigod! Is Joseph Morelli … dead?" She whispered the word 'dead' as she slumped into her assigned seat at the table.
"Who's dead?" Edna inquired as she and Wilbur walked up behind me. "Is it somebody we know?"
Ellen's voice broke when she replied, "It's Joseph Morelli. Poor, poor Joseph." And she swiped away a few more tears.
I shook my head in disgust and before things could get out of hand, I quickly explained the situation, "We just talked to Joe Juniak. He informed us of Joseph Morelli's untimely demise. Apparently, Ellen here invited the Morelli boy to come back from Montana and interrupt Stephanie's big day, but he made a detour to an old girlfriend's house instead, where a jealous boyfriend allegedly shot him to death. That's the story – in a nutshell."
"Oh, I need more details than that," Edna protested before asking in rapid succession, "Does Angela Morelli know yet? How many times was Joseph shot? Do you know whether they'll be able to have an open casket when they have the funeral?"
"Mother! Give it a rest!" Ellen exclaimed. "How can you ask such questions at a time like this? The news is bad enough without you having to dig for all the details."
"What?" Edna sounded surprised.
"Stop it! All of you!" I growled. I'd had enough of this. Now some of the other guests had begun to take notice of our unhappy little group. "Listen, the details are pretty gruesome, so we're not gonna discuss them any further at this time." I looked pointedly at Edna and for once she had the good sense to leave it alone and not press for more details. Then I glared at the woman I used to love with all my heart and said, "Ellen, if you can't pull yourself together, I suggest you make your excuses and leave now, before the party really gets under way. This is Stephanie's special day and no one's gonna ruin it for her with this sordid news."
Ellen stood up and faced me. "Are you … are you throwing me out, Frank?"
I crossed my arms over my chest and considered the bitter look on her face before I replied, "If that's how you want to look at it, Ellen, then yeah, I guess I am throwing you out. I warned you not to try to mess up Stephanie's wedding or her reception, but you seem determined to do so. I can't – I won't – allow it. You'll have to leave."
"Well, we'll just see about that!" Then she pushed past me and stormed toward Stephanie, who was following Carlos to their place at the head table.
"Ellen, don't!" I ordered to no avail and hurried to catch up to her. I could feel the others following close behind me.
Ellen called out to Stephanie, who turned around to face her. At first she was smiling, but when she saw the expression on her mother's face, she began to frown. Then Carlos turned around and noticed the two women staring at each other. He instinctively wrapped his arm around Stephanie's shoulder to protect her from her mother.
"Joseph Morelli is dead!" Ellen blurted out just as I reached for her arm to pull her away. She angrily shook off my grip and continued, sounding like a madwoman, "It's your fault for getting married so soon to this man we hardly know. If only you had waited, like I asked you to do, Joseph would have had another chance with you and he'd still be alive!"
"Morelli's dead?" Stephanie gasped.
I noticed Carlos exchange a curious look with some of his Army buddies before he said in a low voice, "Mrs. Plum, please calm down. You're making a spectacle of yourself."
I'm not exactly sure what caused it – maybe it was the guilt, maybe it was just her usual idiocy – but Ellen lost whatever final shred of sanity she'd possessed. Her voice was shrill when she said, "How dare you speak to me like that? I'm not making a spectacle of myself; I'm … I'm grieving! You don't understand – you can't understand. A good man is dead and you're having a party! It's not right, I tell you. It's not right!"
I sighed heavily and did what I promised I'd do. I made eye contact with Carlos and tilted my head toward the front of the restaurant, and he nodded once. Without another word, I walked up behind Ellen, wrapped my arms around her body, lifted her up and carried her out of the restaurant. She struggled against me the entire time until I set her down next to her car, which was, mercifully, parked very close to Rosa's entrance.
"Go home, Ellen," I ordered. "If all you're gonna do is grieve over the loss of Joseph Morelli, then go do it on your own time. I warned you before and now you'll just have to deal with the consequences. May God have mercy on your soul for the part you've played in today's tragedy. I seriously doubt Angela Morelli ever will. And you'll be very lucky if Joe Juniak forgives you once he finds out what you did."
My soon-to-be-ex-wife glared at me and snarled, "You'd better not tell them or else I'll-"
"Or else you'll what?" I scoffed. "Don't worry, Ellen. I'm sure I won't hafta say a word. The truth always comes out sooner or later on its own. Now, I don't wanna miss anymore of the reception, so please … just go home. I'm not gonna ask you nicely anymore."
For a moment, it looked like Ellen would continue arguing with me. Instead, she angrily opened her car door, sat down and pulled her long dress inside of the car. She gave me one more glaring look, slammed the door and drove away. After a few moments I heaved a sigh of relief and walked back inside the beautifully decorated restaurant. Now that Ellen was gone, I truly intended to enjoy myself at the reception. Let the party begin!
TBC
