A/N: Thanks for your reviews; I know some of you are waiting for the Christmas story and I promise I'll get back to it. I've been super stressed lately and it's taking a toll on my writing…so when this chapter wanted out, I jumped at the chance to at least get this story updated. Bear with me; I'm trying really hard to get chapters written; and I will get them written!

Chapter 74- And So it Begins

"Alright, I'm here," Johanna said late Saturday morning as she approached her mother's kitchen table; her wedding planning notebook clutched against her chest.

Naomi smiled. "I'm glad I didn't have to hunt you down; you wouldn't have enjoyed that."

"She's not so sure she's going to enjoy this," Frank commented as he read the paper, his mug of coffee within reach.

"She'll be fine," Naomi stated; "Why don't you go watch television?"

"Because I have a feeling the real show will be in here," he replied; "Besides; it'll be time for lunch before long."

"You'll be making your own lunch; I'm not going to stop in the middle of this to make you a sandwich you're capable of making yourself," Naomi remarked.

"But when you make it, it tastes better."

"You'll survive."

Johanna pulled out a chair and sat down; wishing she was off somewhere contemplating lunch. She had been dreading this all week but there was no getting away from it. It had to be done…even if it cost her a little bit of sanity.

"Alright, dear; are you ready?" Naomi asked; pulling forward the tablet of paper and pen she had lying on the table.

"I suppose."

"Try not to act so enthusiastic about the happiest day of your life," she remarked.

Johanna smirked at her. "I just hate the process of wedding planning."

"You've never been married; how can you hate the process?"

"Because I get dragged into everyone else's wedding," she replied.

"Yes," Frank said; "Let's not forget the year of Colleen."

"I wish I could forget," Johanna muttered.

"Don't we all," her father agreed.

"Hush, both of you," Naomi stated; "Colleen's process wasn't any worse than any other bride's. It might've helped if some people had been more cooperative about certain things."

Johanna rolled her eyes. "It would've helped if Colleen had taste too."

"And hadn't picked a weasel to marry," Frank added.

"Paul is a nice young man," Naomi said firmly; "I don't want to hear another word about it. This is Johanna's wedding and its past time for the planning to begin. Now, dear; we talked about dates but you had no back ups; so what dates are we looking at?"

"August 18th is the date we want," Johanna said; "But if necessary; we'll settle for the following weekend."

Naomi eyed her. "I told you that you needed more than one back up date."

"Okay; the main date is the 18th; the backups are the weekend before or the weekend after."

Naomi blew out a breath and shook her head as she jotted down the dates. "You won't consider September as a possibility?

"No, I won't," Johanna replied. "Jim and I picked August; I told you that."

"I know, dear," she sighed; "But early September could be just as nice. It's still considered summer."

"Yeah; technically it's summer…the end of summer; but as soon as people hear September they think fall because fall starts the third week of the month. I don't want fall colors at my wedding; they're hideous."

"It's different," her mother replied.

"No; it's hideous. Sharon had a fall wedding and the colors were dull and ugly."

"Alright, Bambina; we'll do our best to make this happen in August," Naomi stated. "Now, do you have your wedding party set?"

"Yes; it's finally nailed down."

"Well, let's hear it."

"Okay, Jim has his best friend Jeff as his best man, his brother Andrew, Frankie, and our friend Zach. I have Maggie as my maid of honor; Valerie, Colleen and Sharon."

Naomi glanced up from her writings. "Johanna, you should've asked someone from Jim's family to be in your bridal party."

"I did, she declined."

"Why?" her mother demanded to know.

"For the same reason Jim's older brother refused him…they're afraid of Elizabeth."

"Oh for God's sake," Naomi muttered. "That's a silly reason to turn someone down."

"Oh they gave a laundry list of reasons but Elizabeth's unhappiness over our impending marriage was the number one reason."

"I guess there's nothing we can do about that…although I do look forward to my next meeting with her," Naomi said, an edge to her tone.

"But that won't be anytime soon."

"Don't worry, dear; I'm not going to send you screaming into the night by even attempting a dinner yet," Naomi remarked. "What about ring bearer and flower girl?"

"Greg is the ring bearer as you know and since Jim's brother and sister-in-law are afraid of Elizabeth, it's unlikely that his nieces will be allowed to participate…so I called Morgan and asked her if Jackie can do it, she said yes. Now if Angie and Alicia are allowed to join, I'll just have three because I'm not going to take it away from Jackie after giving it to her."

"That's reasonable," her mother replied as she wrote her notes. "Now; do you have any ideas of where you want this wedding to take place?"

"In a church," Johanna replied. "Jim's not Catholic but I told him that it's tradition in our family to at least have a Catholic priest perform the ceremony and he's fine with that…so if we could get our church…you have free reign to pick the priest you like the best."

Naomi smiled. "I don't think we'll have any trouble getting the Church. I think we should ask Father O'Hara to perform the service; he's known you since you were a little girl."

She smiled a little. "That would be good; he's a nice man."

"We could go over there today and see about reserving the church and having him do the ceremony," Naomi remarked.

"Walked right into that one," Frank said with a laugh from behind his paper.

"It has to be done, Frank," Naomi stated.

"Alright, Mom; we can go see about that today," Johanna said; figuring if she gave in on small things to show she was willing to accomplish things she could keep things from getting hectic.

"Good," Naomi said with a smile. "We'll need to find a place for the reception…any ideas of what kind of reception you'd like?"

Johanna shrugged. "I like an indoor option for the eating portion, but I'd kind of like to be outdoors for the dancing, drinking and pictures and things like that."

Her mother wrinkled her nose. "I think that may be hard to accomplish, Johanna. People have one or the other…and I recommend indoors; it's going to be August; who wants to be outside?"

"Me," she replied. "I love being outside in August."

"You'll be in wedding dress, dear."

"I thought after the traditional dances, I could change into another dress that would be easier to dance in."

"If you're going to spend money on a beautiful gown; you should wear it until you're ready to leave," Naomi remarked. "Why would you want to change?"

"So nothing gets spilled on my dress," Johanna remarked. "I'm not saying I'm taking it off as soon as the ceremony is over; I'm saying once we've had the first dances and the pictures; I'd like to change into another dress…a white dress of course, something nice…but easier and cooler to have on."

"It makes sense to me," Naomi," Frank stated. "Why should brides have to wear those gowns the whole time? We've been to a lot of weddings and I can't count the number of times a bride's dress has been stepped on, gotten dirty from traipsing one place to another or had something spilled on it once the drinks were flowing. She'll have it on for the parts that matter; after that let her wear what she wants."

"We'll discuss it further when we begin dress shopping," Naomi stated as she wrote down dress shopping on her list. "When would you like to start looking for dresses? Do you want to start today after we go to the church?"

She groaned internally. "Not really."

"Why not!" her mother exclaimed.

"I'm just not in a dress shopping mood today."

"Weddings don't wait on your moods to align, Johanna," Naomi remarked. "Why aren't you in the mood today? Give me a reason."

"Maybe she's got lady problems," Frank stated.

Johanna nodded. "That's what it is; I have lady problems."

"You do not; you're only saying it because your father threw it out there before you could think of it."

"You can't prove that I don't…I mean you wouldn't want to force me to try on dresses when I'm on my period, would you? We wouldn't get an accurate fit; you know everyone gets a little bloated on their period…and you know sometimes you run over those pads and then there'd be a stain on the dress and I'd end up buying some ruined dress I didn't want. No; we can't go today."

Naomi eyed her. "Okay; we won't go today…but I'm going to start keeping a tally of how many times you plead a case of period…so do you want to stick with the period excuse today or reserve it for when you're actually having one?"

"What makes you think I'm not having one?"

"Johanna; I know you," her mother stated; "I love you but you're very bitchy when you're on your period and so far you've been fine…so would you like to reserve this excuse?"

She glanced to her father who shrugged. "Hey, I put the cards on the table," Frank said; "I didn't promise they were playable."

"I appreciate it just the same," she replied. "I would like to reserve this excuse."

"That's better," Naomi said; "Now we have no reason not to stop at least one shop just to look."

Johanna sighed. "Fine, Mom; one shop…one…only one."

Her mother nodded. "Alright, dear; just one."

"That translates into five," Frank remarked.

"It better not."

"It won't," Naomi replied as she patted her hand.

"I'm going to hold you to it," Johanna said; "So are we good for today, planning wise? Do some more another day?"

"No!" her mother exclaimed. "We've barely done anything."

"I don't think there's much we can do at this point."

"There's plenty we can do; we need to discuss colors."

"Jim and I have discussed that a little," Johanna said as she flipped pages in her notebook.

"And what decision did you make?"

"Well we didn't decide on an exact color…picking dress colors isn't exactly Jim's thing," she quipped. "We did decide unanimously that we don't want any orange or yellow…and if the bridesmaids dresses end up being pink; the ties for the men will absolutely not be that color. I'm thinking the men should just do black ties anyway…Jim's so handsome in black," she said with a smile as she jotted a note in her notebook.

"It's nice to have the men coordinate with the colors of the wedding though, dear," Naomi commented.

"Black ties," Johanna said; "I know Jim would prefer it that way and since it is his wedding too, black ties it will be."

"Do I get to wear a black tie?" Frank asked.

"Yes; unless you don't want to," Johanna replied; "In which case you can wear whatever color tie you want."

"Black is good for me," Frank stated. "I like black."

Johanna nodded. "You do look nice in black, Dad; very distinguished."

"I think so too," Frank quipped.

"Don't go giving him a big head," Naomi stated. "It's big enough on its own. We'll do the standard black tie affair for the men."

"Good; I know Jim will be glad about that."

"So am I," Frank remarked; "That goddamn yellow for Colleen's wedding was hideous."

"Enough about Colleen's wedding," Naomi exclaimed. "She had a very nice wedding."

"The open bar was nice," Frank quipped.

"I'm surprised you remember it," his wife retorted; "You passed out on the couch as soon as I got us home."

"I was celebrating," he said with a shrug. "Johanna's the one that left early."

"That's because I wanted to get drunk at home so I wouldn't have to worry about getting there," Johanna remarked. "And believe me, I did get drunk at home that day…the hangover was epic…which seemed fitting for the torture we all endured."

"Amen," her father stated.

"Enough," Naomi stated. "Now, dear; what colors are you considering?"

Johanna shrugged. "I don't know…I haven't really thought much about it. I haven't talked to Maggie about it either. I don't want to pick a color my maid of honor dislikes…she doesn't like certain shades of green so we'll stay away from green…Sharon did green anyway…no green."

"How about blue?" her mother asked.

"No; Valerie did blue."

"So?"

"So, I want a color that friends and relatives haven't done in the last five years," Johanna remarked. "It made sense for Valerie to do blue since they got married in March and blue is a cool color and March is somewhat cold. I'm getting married in August…so I want something soft but pretty. I'll consider shades of pink or peach or shades of purple...I like red but that feels too bold for the dresses."

"Definitely no red," Naomi said; "Even if you wanted it I'd say no."

Johanna rolled her eyes. "It's not the 1940s anymore, Mom; red isn't considered the color of whores anymore."

"Maybe not but that's what people think," her mother replied. "Have you thought about what color flowers you want?"

"No."

Naomi sighed deeply. "Johanna, have you thought about anything at all for this wedding?"

"Yes; the honeymoon," she remarked; "Jim and I have figured that out."

"You need a wedding before a honeymoon," Naomi stated. "That should be the last thing you're thinking about."

"It's the first thing we thought about," Johanna replied.

"That's probably because you have those damn pills so you two don't feel like you need to exercise any self control."

"We have plenty of self control; we're just looking at the honeymoon as the reward for getting through the wedding planning. Where did you and Dad go for your honeymoon?"

"Well, the war had only been over for two years so overseas options were out because those places were still rebuilding and getting back on their feet," Naomi replied. "I would've loved to have gone to Paris."

"Not me," Frank stated; "I'm not eating any damn snails. I offered to take her to Mexico but she didn't like that idea."

"I had no desire to go to Mexico," Naomi stated; "We ended up going to Virginia Beach."

"I thought you said that's where you were when you had the accident that became me," Johanna replied.

"You were not an accident!" her mother exclaimed. "I didn't plan it to happen that week but I very much wanted a little girl and so did your father. That was the trip your father won at a convention…we were happy with the prize because that's where we spent our honeymoon and we were glad to go back there."

Johanna glanced at her father. "Were you happy to have won that trip once the pregnancy test came back?"

Frank shrugged. "I had a good time."

"Apparently so," his daughter quipped.

He smiled a little as he glanced at Naomi. "You want to go back to Virginia Beach this summer?"

"We can't go on vacation this summer!" she exclaimed. "I have a wedding to plan!"

"You could take off for a few days," Johanna replied. "Jim and I might go away for a weekend at some point."

"You don't need to be going away when you have a wedding to plan."

"I didn't say I was going away tomorrow," she replied. "I said we might go away for a weekend at some point…and believe me, if we want to go, we will. We do what we want."

Frank nodded. "When Johanna goes away, we can go away for a weekend…have some fun but without the happy accidents," he said with a laugh.

"Nobody's going anywhere," Naomi declared. "We've got plenty to do and not a lot of time to do it in. We have to find a florist, pick the music, dress shop, find a place for the reception, plan the meal, do the invitations…speaking of that, you and Jim need to get your guest list under way."

"Already!?" she exclaimed.

"Yes, Johanna! You've got to get the list under way so we have an idea of how many people we're going to be expecting; that's important when picking a venue for the reception so you two need to get to work on that this week…it would be nice if you had a rough draft we can go over by next weekend."

"I hope this isn't going to end up being the big deal it was the last time I had to make a list for you," she replied.

"You got away with canceling the party; you won't get away with canceling the wedding."

"I could elope if necessary," Johanna stated; "I'm a lawyer; I know plenty of judges who would be just fine with marrying Jim and I in their chambers at the end of a work day. Keep that in mind."

"Keep in mind that I would hurt you," Naomi replied.

"You'll have to wait until I get back from my honeymoon for that."

Frank glanced at her. "You didn't say where you and Jim are going."

"We're keeping that under wraps for now," Johanna replied. "We don't want anyone thinking it's a good idea and popping up there on vacation while we're there. We'll tell you once we have it all set…no offense."

"None taken," he replied. "It's probably a smart idea."

"And you wonder why I say you don't include people in your life," Naomi remarked. "It sounds like you and Jim are only looking forward to the honeymoon to get away from people."

"That is a plus," Johanna said with a nod; "But mostly we're looking forward to it so we can be alone…no work…no visitors…no phone calls…nothing but us. Surely you can't blame us for wanting to be left alone on our honeymoon."

"Of course not," Naomi stated; "It just seems like it's more about getting away from people."

"Yes; getting away so we can be alone together…that's whole point. You had a honeymoon; didn't you look forward to it?"

Naomi avoided her gaze making Johanna's brow arch. "You didn't look forward to your honeymoon?"

"I looked forward to my wedding as it should be for all brides," her mother stated.

"I'm looking forward to my wedding…I'm just also looking forward to my honeymoon; most people do. You didn't look forward to it at all?"

"I looked forward to it," Frank quipped with a grin.

"Why didn't you, Mom?"

"Because…I found it worrisome," Naomi replied.

"Why?" she laughed. "It basically just a vacation; what is there to worry about?"

"It doesn't matter why."

"I want to know," Johanna said as her father raised his newspaper higher which only piqued her interest.

Naomi's lips pressed into a firm line of annoyance. "Because unlike some people, I was a virgin on my wedding night like God intended."

Johanna nodded. "Ohh…and Grandma didn't tell you much about sex either; you had to find out the hard way like I did, right?"

"I prepared you!" Naomi exclaimed.

"No, you didn't! You gave me romance novels and said if I had any questions to come and ask you…I didn't ask…and you didn't tell…and those books had me convinced that the first time was some mind blowing experience…it wasn't. It was a rude awakening to say the least."

"You gave them romance novels!" Frank exclaimed.

"I didn't know how else to tell them!" Naomi replied. "Do you really think I believe that you had a long talk to Frankie about it like you said you did?"

"I did," Frank replied; "I told him the damn truth and then took him to the drugstore and told him what to buy so he didn't make you a grandmother before you were ready to be one. I guess I should've told the girls since you chickened out."

"Well maybe you should have," Naomi stated; "Then they would've been horrified and they both could've worried about their wedding nights like I did instead of figuring it's just another night at the love shack!"

"This has taken an ugly turn," Johanna remarked. "I think I should go so you two can discuss those areas where you went wrong with us. I'll call you later."

"Sit down, you're not going anywhere," Naomi exclaimed.

"Nice try," Frank told her.

"It was worth a shot," she said with a shrug. "So now that honeymoon talk and the disappointment of not raising bridal virgins is off the table; what now?"

Her mother huffed a little. "I say we go to the church."

"You're not going to make me go to confession are you?" Johanna asked.

"No, but you're probably long overdue," Naomi remarked.

"I'm not worried."

"What about my lunch!" Frank exclaimed.

"I told you'd have to make it yourself," Naomi replied.

"But I like when you make it!"

"Mom, make him a sandwich," Johanna said; "It's not like it's going to take you long…you know he gets cranky when he doesn't get fed right."

"Listen to her," Frank said. "I'll be very unhappy…because I know you're going to drag her into ten dress shops after the church."

"Alright!" Naomi exclaimed. "I'll make the sandwich so you'll be happy and so your daughter will feel like she's bought herself some more time to get away with not doing anything for this wedding."

"I do things for the wedding!" Johanna exclaimed. "I put the damn wedding party together; I discussed with Jim what colors we hate. We picked a date and a honeymoon…what more do you want?"

"All of it," Naomi declared; "And don't forget you need to do a rough draft of the guest list this week."

"I'm sure you wouldn't let me forget even if I wanted to."

"You got that right."

Johanna sighed a little as she met her father's eye, shared commiseration between them. It was a long way to August.


After they had made the arrangements at the church, Johanna and Naomi headed for the first bridal shop that Naomi had in mind.

"What kind of dress do you want, dear?" Naomi asked as her daughter searched for a place to park.

"One that is elegant and tasteful," Johanna remarked. "I definitely don't anything like the monstrosity Colleen had."

"Your sister's dress was beautiful."

Disgust flicked across her face. "You couldn't even tell she had a body under that mess. She looked like a big ball of puff. It was way over the top and just too much…and don't even get me started on that hat she wanted to wear."

"Your sister is just unique," Naomi remarked. "You shouldn't have her that she looked like she belonged on Little House on the Prairie with that hat."

"I'm her sister; it's my job to tell her when she looks stupid. I'm sparing her some embarrassment…not to mention sparing the family the embarrassment."

"Yes, well, I'm your mother and I find your answering machine stupid and I feel I should tell you that."

"Yes, I know," Johanna said as she pulled into a parking spot. "I have a whole tape of messages of you telling me what you thought."

"Well it isn't necessary," her mother replied. "You use it to avoid calls."

"No, I'm not. If people leave messages then I know who called while I wasn't home. Now we have wedding stuff going on, what if a caterer called? They could leave a message and I'll call back."

"We're giving everyone my phone number," Naomi remarked. "I actually answer my phone and I'm not leaving things to chance. What if that machine of yours malfunctions and erases your message? Then you have no idea they called."

"I wouldn't have any idea they called without the machine either if I'm not home," Johanna stated.

"You're missing the point! You can't expect people to talk on some machine."

"Mom, I have an answering machine at work; a lot of businesses do. A lot of people have them at home now too; look at Rockford Files; he's got one!"

"You're not Rockford," Naomi stated as they got out of the car.

"You'll have to get used to it, Mama. This is the 70s; things are changing all the time."

"Sometimes I think they're changing too much too fast," Naomi replied.

"You can't slow down time, Mama."

"I know…if I could, you'd still be four."

"Your mother probably thought times were changing too fast when you were in your twenties too."

"The 40s didn't have such loose morals."

"Sure they did; they were just better at hiding it back then," Johanna replied. "People today don't care to hide what they're doing…unless it's illegal."

"Exactly my point; people today just don't care about much anymore," Naomi said as she opened the door of the shop.

"I wouldn't say it like that…it's more like people don't care what other people think of what they're doing for the most part."

"Well maybe they should."

Johanna sighed a little and followed her mother into the shop, cringing a little at the wedding dress on display in the window; a poofy lacy concoction that made her skin itch just looking at it.

"Are you starting to feel excited?" Naomi asked, her eyes dancing at the prospect of wading through wedding gowns once again.

"Not really," she answered as she took in the sight of the racks full of dresses and the mannequins wearing selected styles.

"Oh for God's sake, Johanna," Naomi huffed. "I don't even know why you're getting married; you're not interested at all."

"I'm getting married because I love Jim and want to be with him forever. I don't need to bounce around like an airhead to prove anything."

"You could at least put forth some effort."

Johanna glanced at her. "Mom, don't start."

Naomi walked toward a dress on a mannequin. "How about this dress; what do you think of it?"

"No," Johanna said with a shake of her head. "Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Look at it!" she exclaimed; "The neckline is clear up under the chin! I want a dress, not a turtleneck."

"Well you don't want something too low cut…you don't need to be showing off your assets," Naomi stated.

"Grandma says if you got it flaunt it."

"That's because your grandmother is losing her mind."

"I'm telling her you said that," Johanna replied. "You're going to be in so much trouble."

"I'll tell her you're lying; she'll believe me."

"No, I don't think she will."

"How about this dress?" Naomi asked, pointing at another option.

"God no," she said; "That's just as bad as the last one…that high neckline and look at those god awful sleeves."

"That's one of our best sellers," a salesgirl said haughtily.

Johanna's brow rose as she studied it. "You'd have to pay me to even try it on."

"Johanna," Naomi admonished.

"It's the truth."

"There are other dresses, dear; let's look over here," she said steering Johanna to a rack.

Johanna looked through the racking, hating each gown more than the one before. "No, no, no," she said. "God no. These are all so ugly."

"There are some very beautiful dresses here," Naomi said, pulling one from the rack to show her. "What about this one?"

"It's too plain," she replied. "It's a column of white…no beading, no lace, no nothing…and it's got those terrible puff sleeves, I hate those!"

Naomi sighed deeply. "I can tell you're not going to make this easy."

"It's not me; it's the hideous wedding fashions of this decade. You had the glamorous forties…I get this hippy dippy bullshit."

"Johanna!" her mother admonished once more. "Watch your mouth."

"Well it's the truth!"

"Let's go look in another store," Naomi stated.

"You said we were only going to look in one," Johanna retorted.

Her mother smiled. "Darling, we both knew I was lying…now let's go to the one down the street. It's not too terribly cold, we can walk and leave the car where it is…and then there's one across the street we can look at too and then I promise, no more for today."

She felt like screaming but suppressed the desire, telling herself to just go along with it. "Alright…but you promise we're done for today after the next two?"

"Yes, dear, I promise."

"Fine, let's go."


The McKenzie women made their way down the street to the second bridal shop and slipped inside, shivering slightly as a cool wind blew. There was yet another poofy wedding gown on display in the middle of the shop and Johanna feared this was just going to be a repeat of the previous store. She followed her mother around dutifully, feeling very uninspired with each dress she was shown…they just weren't her. They were either too much or not enough…or downright ugly.

"What do you think of this one?" Naomi asked; showing her another dress.

"No, Mom," she said with a shake of her head. "I do not like those high necklines; it's hideous. I am not wearing a wedding gown with a high neckline like that."

"Alright, dear," Naomi replied; seeing that her daughter really did hate the necklines she was showing her instead of just fussing to get out of looking. "Let's look in a different area of the store, maybe they have something else."

She followed her across the store to another rack of dresses. "These necklines are different," Naomi said as she pulled a dress off the rack.

Johanna shook her head. "I'm not crazy about those square shaped necklines either."

"Well, Johanna, what kind of neckline do you want?" her mother asked.

"I like strapless dresses the best," she replied.

A salesgirl neared them. "Strapless is out of style."

Johanna glanced at her. "How can that be when I've bought and wore strapless dresses for other events?"

"They're out of style for weddings," she said snottily. "Haven't you been reading the latest bridal magazines?"

"Yes, I have," she said; her tone carrying an edge. "The dresses in those are just as horrifying as the ones I'm seeing here."

"Then you're not going to find anything to your liking in here, Miss."

Johanna smiled. "You're right, I'm not. Come on, Mom; let's go to that other store you mentioned."

"We haven't looked at everything in this one."

"I've seen plenty and I'm not impressed," she said, casting a casual glance at the salesgirl.

Naomi nodded. "Alright; we'll go to the other store but we're staying there longer and I mean it."

"I promise," Johanna said.

They headed back out into the cold and hurried through the busy street as they crossed to walk down the other side walk to Naomi's third shop on her list. "Hopefully this one will have something more to your liking that can give us an idea," her mother stated.

She wished that would be true but she didn't hold out much hope; after all between Sharon and Colleen, she'd been in nearly every bridal store in the city she could think of and in all the time of watching them try on dresses, she hadn't seen a single one that stood out to her as a dress she'd want for herself. She sighed a little…she just wanted something like her mother had worn; that gorgeous strapless silk and beaded lace gown; the bodice fitted in the mermaid fashion of the 1940s, the waist tiny and the beautiful skirt flaring out at the hips and down to the floor in Dior's new look ballgown fashion. Her mother's gown had Hollywood glamour written all over it…she just wanted something like it.

"This dress doesn't have that high neckline," Naomi said as she pointed to one on display.

Johanna's nose wrinkled. "It's too flowy…too hippie like…and again, long sleeves."

"Darling, long sleeves seem to be the fashion this decade."

"I hate it," she exclaimed. "I don't want sleeves on my wedding dress!"

"You might not have a choice."

"Oh I will have a choice," Johanna said firmly. "There has to be a dress somewhere that's strapless."

"Honey, she said strapless wedding gowns are out of sale."

"I don't care," she said in frustration. "I'm not having sleeves."

"Don't lose hope already," Naomi gently consoled. "Maybe we can find a sleeveless dress, let's keep looking."

They moved through the store, Johanna becoming more horrified with each find. "God, it's like good taste has gone out the window," she complained.

"We will find you a dress, Bambina," her mother stated. "Just relax."

"Mom," she sighed. "They're so ugly…I'm not seeing anything that screams, this is the one."

"Well, honey, that's why we start looking now…we're going to have to go to a lot of places and look at a lot of dresses. We'll find it. Here's a sleeveless dress, do you like anything about it?"

She shook her head. "No; it's too flowly…I like a fitted dress."

"You're looking for a wedding gown not a cocktail dress."

"Maybe I'll wear a cocktail dress, at least I like those," she retorted.

"No, you won't!" her mother replied as she selected another dress. "What about this one?"

"No, it's all wrong," Johanna said as she touched the fabric. "It doesn't even feel like silk or satin...it's cotton…who wants that for a wedding dress?"

"Besides the material, is there anything about it you like?"

"No," she said honestly. "It doesn't have any shape to it. I don't like this loose flowing thing…I may as well wear a nightgown…in fact, I have better looking silk nightgowns."

Naomi sighed. "You don't want sleeves, you don't want a loose fit…what else don't you want?"

"I don't want these cheap feeling fabrics. I want the silk or the satin…I want soft, elegant lace that's done tastefully…not a mountain of it. I want some beading that will sparkle in the light and look pretty."

"We're not going to find that on this rack," Naomi declared.

"I don't think we're going to find it anywhere."

"We will," her mother promised. "We'll find it somewhere."

"What if we don't?" she asked softly.

"That's not an option," her mother replied; "But, honey, you may have to lower your standards a bit…maybe even settle in some way if we get too close to the summer without finding exactly what you want."

"I'm not going to just settle," Johanna replied. "It's the only wedding I'm going to have…I'm not just going to settle for something I don't love."

"Then we'll just have to keep searching, dear…even if it means going to New Jersey or Connecticut to look in those stores."

"I'm not trying to be difficult…I just know what I don't like," she said softly.

"I know, Bambina," Naomi said, rubbing her hand against her back. "It'll be alright; we'll find you something that you'll love, I promise. We've looked at just about everything in here, let's go…no need for you to get upset just yet. We've got time…maybe next weekend we can go to a few more stores…you can even invite your friend if you want to."

"Which friend?" Johanna asked.

"The one who is your maid of honor," Naomi replied.

"Maggie."

"Yes; you can bring her if you want…or we can do this first round just the two of us for idea gathering…what do you think?"

"Maybe for this first, just browsing round, we'll just do it together…and then when we're into the trying on phase, I'll bring Maggie…and of course we'll bring her when we're looking for the bridesmaids dresses."

Naomi smiled. "That sounds like a good idea…and I'll be happy to have the browsing with just you before I share you with your wedding party."

She gave her mother a smile. "Me too."

"I'm going kind of easy on you with the dress shopping for now," Naomi commented as they crossed the street; "But you do have to get to work on a rough draft of the guest list."

"I know, you told me."

"I don't want you to forget…I know you're busy with work…I know you're in a little love bubble right now with Jim…but you have to do this."

"I will, Mom," she said firmly. "But before I write down a single name; how many friends am I allowed to invite this time?"

"As many as you want," Naomi replied; "But make sure you don't forget the family."

"I'm not going to forget the family. I'd never do that. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to be a problem if I have more than four friends on the list."

"No, it isn't going to be a problem. It's your wedding, you should have your friends there…I learned my lesson."

"I'm glad to hear that," Johanna remarked as they neared the car. "I didn't want to have that fight again."

"Me neither," her mother replied. "You're like your father when you're mad and that isn't fun."

"Oh like you're a ray of sunshine when you're pissed off," Johanna said as she unlocked the passenger door for her mother.

"No comment," Naomi replied; "Let's just hope we won't have anymore fights during this process."

"We can hope," Johanna stated as she shut the door for her; but she didn't think it was likely.


When Johanna got home, her TV was on and Jim's shoes were near the door but he wasn't in sight. She moved to the closet and shrugged out of her coat, hanging it up and then pulled her notebook from her handbag before she hung it up as well. She closed the door and headed for the kitchen; spotting her fiancé at the table; his work spread out in front of him. "Hey," she said softly so she wouldn't startle him.

"Hey," Jim replied, glancing up at her for a moment before dropping his gaze back to his papers.

"Working hard on a Saturday?" she asked while laying her notebook on the counter.

"Let's just say that I now know why Phil asked for this case to be reassigned," Jim replied. "It's a damn mess and Phil didn't do anything to untangle it; and by the looks of it, he didn't even bother to follow up on anything either."

"That's not really a surprise," Johanna said as she grabbed a soda from the fridge. "You know how Phil is; he likes the big money cases but only if they don't require him to think a lot."

"That's the truth. I figure he doesn't want to be bothered with going to Baltimore either."

"Are you going to have to go to Baltimore?"

"Yes; there are a lot of things that need done and a lot of that is in Baltimore…including the trial."

"Sounds like it's going to require more than just one person, honey."

"Yeah, it is…how do you feel about Baltimore?"

Johanna took a sip of her drink. "I was just dragged into three bridal shops…I'm all for a trip to Baltimore."

He smiled. "Good; I'll clear it Monday. I would like to have you on this; there are a lot of women to be talked to and they might feel more comfortable talking to a woman than me."

"What is this case about?"

"It's a class action lawsuit against a hotel chain for discrimination, working conditions and wage disputes, harassment…pretty much one of those you name it and it's in here kind of cases. The parent company of the hotel chain is based here in New York but the issues are all stemming from Baltimore locations. The people in this lawsuit say they've filed complaints with the parent company but they've done nothing about the problems."

"Is that why they hired a New York firm?" Johanna asked; "Because of the parent company being based here?"

"Yes; they sent a representative to New York thinking it would be best to have representation from here since this is where the parent company's defense is coming from. They were also under the impression that the case would be moved to New York for the hearing but it isn't; it's staying in Baltimore."

Johanna nodded. "I see. I don't have a problem working on this case if you get it cleared; any idea when the court date is yet?"

"Mid-April; I'll get you the exact date when we're back in the office. There's a lot to do and not much time to do it in. I won't have to go to Baltimore right away; I can start with the New York end first…but I'll probably have to head to Maryland the first week of March; early second week the latest. Are you going to be able to work it into your schedule?"

"I should be able to; I don't think I have much on my calendar for the first week of March yet; no court dates yet. I can reschedule meetings…if it's cleared I will need the trial dates as soon as possible, I do know I have court dates in April but I can put in continuances if this trial is going on at the same time as one of them."

"As soon as I have it cleared for you to be on the case; I'll get the exact dates to you," Jim promised. "I'll make sure you have time to get your schedule situated."

"We'll make it work," Johanna replied. "What do you want for dinner?"

"I already ordered food; it should be on its way," he answered. "I didn't know how long your mother was going to hold you hostage and I didn't want to starve."

She smirked at him. "What did you order?"

"Burgers and fries; don't worry; I made them repeat it back to me, there will be no cheese on your burger; it will have lettuce and pickles and ketchup and mustard as you require so that you taste very little of the actual burger…which is still a bit odd but I love you anyway"

"Good to know; did you get extra fries?"

"Of course I did; I got us pie for dessert too."

"Sounds good; I'm glad you ordered food. I have a little bit of a headache."

Jim glanced at her as she rubbed her fingers across her forehead. "What did your mother do to you?"

"Harassed me all day," she quipped.

"Do you want to sue?" he laughed.

"Yes; how much do you think you can get for me?"

"I don't know but we could try to find out."

"It would probably just be another headache," she said with a laugh.

"So what happened?" he asked.

"It can wait until your finished with you work; I don't want to distract you. I'll go change and wait on our food to arrive."

"I'm going to finish looking at this page and then put it away," Jim replied. "I've been working on it since you left. I'll look over some more things tomorrow."

She moved toward him and brushed a kiss against his temple. "I'm going to go change clothes."

"Alright. I promise as soon as I'm done this page, I'm yours for the rest of the day."

"Just the way I like it," she quipped. "I have some things to look over tomorrow too…it's too bad we don't have an office at home."

"We'll put that on our someday list," Jim replied with a smile. "Maybe one day when we're ready to buy a house we'll make sure it has a room we can turn into an office."

"We'll make it a requirement," Johanna agreed; warmth spreading through her at the thought of them having a house one day. She liked the thought of that…of having someplace that belonged just to them that she could make a home for them. It would be awhile before they had that but it was nice to think about…which only went to prove that her mother was wrong; she was looking forward to being married.


A short while later, Jim's work had been cleared off the table and their food was spread out in its place. "So," he said; "What did you accomplish with your mother?"

"Annoying her; I accomplished a lot of that," Johanna remarked. "We got the church though for the date we want…and we have a back up date there if it would be needed if we can't get a place for the reception for the eighteenth but we'll hope it works out because that's the date we wanted."

"We'll find a way to make it work out," Jim replied; "But the church is taken care of?"

"Yes; you're going to hate this but closer to the wedding we have to go in for a meeting with the priest."

"About what?"

"Well…it's really kind of like a counseling session," she replied; "It's just a one time thing, nothing to worry about."

"Counseling; for what!?"

"To make sure we're ready to get married but don't worry; it's not going to change anything. It'll be fine, I promise."

Jim swallowed a bite of his burger. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. What else?"

"I got dragged into three dress shops when she promised we'd only look at one…I hated every dress I looked at so that's going to be fun as the weeks go by."

He smiled. "Wedding fashion hasn't improved since your sister's wedding?"

"God no; it hasn't improved since Sharon's either. The wedding dresses I saw today were so plain and hideous…and the ones that weren't plain were still hideous."

"Don't worry, sweetheart; your dress is out there somewhere."

She scoffed. "I'm not so sure…I just really hate the stuff that's out right now in the wedding dress scheme of things. When I think of the perfect wedding dress, I think of old Hollywood glamour…the dresses were so pretty back then. If my dress is out there; it's probably in some vintage store I'll never find. Of course even if I found it I'd be accused of being out of style."

"If it's what you like then it shouldn't matter," Jim stated. "Maybe you can have a dress made to meet what you want."

"It would cost a fortune to have a custom made dress," Johanna replied. "As much as I'd love to design my own dress, I'm not going to wipe out one of my accounts for it."

"Aren't your parents supposed to buy your dress? I mean they paid for your sister's wedding, didn't they?"

"Yeah; but money hasn't been mentioned so I'm assuming that I'm buying it," she answered. "I'm not going to ask them to do it if they don't bring it up."

Jim took another bite of his burger figuring he didn't want to wade too deep into those waters; he didn't want to add to the stress she was starting to feel. "You'll find your dress; it'll all work out."

"I hope so," she murmured.

"It will; I'm sure of it."

She smiled and then turned serious. "You're going to hate this too…."

"Hate what?"

"When I tell you that we have to have a rough draft of the guest list by next weekend."

"What!?" he exclaimed. "Why?!"

"Because we need to have an idea of how many people we're going to have there because we need to have that in mind when it's time to find a venue for the reception…so we have to get started on that. It's just a rough draft for now…believe me, my mother will tell us who to cut…she's good at that."

"Yeah; that's why we didn't have the engagement party your aunt wanted to give us."

"I know…but there's not getting away from this list, honey."

He sighed deeply. "Alright; we'll get started on it."

"You should, um, go over to your parents tomorrow and see who they might want on the list," she suggested.

He cringed. "Do I have to?"

She nodded. "Yeah…at least get an idea if you can. I know it won't be easy because of how your mother feels about all of this but there might be a few people they'd want there so we should know about that."

Jim sighed a little. "Can't we just go to Vegas?"

Johanna laughed as she dipped a fry into ketchup. "That's plan B. If this wedding thing starts falling apart; we'll just head to Nevada after work on a Friday."

"It's always good to have a backup plan…you should let me know on a Thursday so I can book our flight the next morning."

"Oh believe me, you'll know," she laughed.

"I'll see what I can accomplish for my family's portion of the list tomorrow," he replied. "What can we work on together?"

"I guess our friends…and you can be with me as I start on my side; Mom will throw in who she wants once she sees it if that person isn't on there…I just thought of something."

"What?"

"We should have a list of people we don't want there that we won't budge on."

"Now that's a good idea," Jim praised. "I don't want my psycho aunt Theresa there."

"I don't want my bitchy cousin Cecelia there."

"We're not inviting Stanley either."

"Or Melanie and Charles."

"I can't believe they're not divorced yet," Jim remarked.

"Me neither; but it probably won't be long."

"Most likely true; I've already heard rumors of them stepping out on each other."

"Big surprise," she said sarcastically; "But keep in mind if I ever hear that rumor about you when we're married; you'll have exactly five minutes to prove it's false and if you don't…you'll be very sorry."

"You don't have to worry about me, sweetheart; you're the only woman I want. But just for the record; no lunch dates for you unless they're me…or women."

She smiled. "You don't have to worry. I did have lunch with Jeff yesterday though; you're still okay with that right?"

"Of course; he knows I'd kill him. I was in the office and so was Maggie; perfectly acceptable for you to eat lunch with him since you were both in court…he's a safe man you can eat with and he'll keep the unsafe ones away from you while I'm unavailable."

Johanna nodded, amusement on her face. "So really he was my chaperone instead of just a friend I had lunch with."

"He can be both; Jeff's flexible like that."

"Now that we've gotten that cleared away," she said with a laugh.

"Are you going to your mother's for dinner tomorrow?"

"No; they're going to my Aunt Margaret's for dinner."

Jim glanced at her. "Do you want to go with me to my mother's?"

"Honey, I love you but no. I know one day I will have to but tomorrow is not that day…especially to eat."

"Good point; she needs to prove herself trustworthy where food is involved."

"Yeah; and that's going to take awhile. Anyway I feel like even though it's been several weeks since you dropped your Christmas gift on her about our engagement, I should just lay low where she's concerned."

"As much as I hate to say it; that might be a good idea."

"And if Robert is getting in on the picking, I'm definitely staying away," Johanna remarked.

"Hell, now I don't want to go."

"But you have to," she told him with an encouraging smile.

"Are your sure about that?"

"Yes…but I can promise to save some of whatever I make for dinner…and offer to console you for your trouble afterwards," she told him suggestively.

Jim smiled. "I can't refuse an offer like that. I'll go."

"I thought you would. Thanks for ordering food tonight…I'm glad we decided to stay in for the most part this weekend."

"It's not a problem…I have that case to pick at and I know you were tired last night and didn't really want to go out…especially knowing you needed to be on you're A game for wedding planning with your mother today."

"Yeah; I didn't want to show up tired and with a headache from an extra glass of wine," she replied. "That wouldn't have gone well."

"Agreed; besides, sometimes it's nice to stay home."

"It is," Johanna said with a nod as she popped another fry into her mouth; especially when staying home meant being with him.


"Where do we want to start?" Johanna asked as she settled down next to Jim on the couch with her notebook in hand that evening.

"I'm going to need context for that question," he replied as he flipped channels.

"With the guest list; you said we could start tonight. I figure the sooner we do get started the faster we'll get done with it…and let's not fight about it like we did with the last list we had to make."

Jim nodded; fighting was the last thing he wanted to do. "Alright, let's start with the people we don't want to invite and won't budge on."

"That's a good idea," she said, uncapping her pen and opening her notebook. She found a clean page and wrote 'Never Going to Be Invited' at the top of the page.

"Your mother will love that," Jim laughed.

"I'm sure it will bring her special joy," Johanna quipped. "First name on the list, Cecilia McKenzie Bryant…the snotty bitch."

"Are you going to write the full description?"

"No; just the name…I'll vocalize the description when the time comes."

"Good; don't forget that we've vetoed my crazy Aunt Theresa."

Johanna wrote Theresa's name on the second line. "We also outlawed Melanie and Charles."

"And Stanley and Steve."

"No Callie and Jillian either."

"None of my sister's married boyfriends," Jim declared. "We've got enough drama with our own families, we don't need someone's irate wife busting in."

Johanna made a note of Madelyn's boyfriend and then glanced at Jim. "So you know she's been seeing a married man?"

"I know she's seen more than one," he replied. "How did you know?"

"That's why she was ticked off about all of us being at the cabin; she was going to take her married man up there for the weekend."

"Nice," Jim said with a nod. "Real nice."

"How did you find out?"

"Andrew saw her out with one of his married colleagues and he asked her about it. She didn't even try to deny it."

"Does your mother know?"

"No; I'm saving that bombshell for just the right moment when I might need it."

"Smart idea…but what is with Madelyn and going for married men? I'm sure she could find a single man if she wanted to."

"I think she likes the thrill of an affair…I don't know why but I can't think of what else it might be that makes her want to live her life as someone's mistress. God help her when Mom does find out."

"Yeah…that could wipe us out of Elizabeth's mind."

"Why do you think I'm holding on to this bombshell?"

She smiled. "Good point. Back to our No list…anyone other than Colleen and Paul that has the last name Weston. It's bad enough I have to invite Paul."

"At least your sister didn't pick a married man."

"No, she just picked one with a stick up his ass and that's nearly as bad," she commented. "Who else?"

"I'd like to say my brother William," he replied.

"I don't think you can get away with that one."

"Probably not; he's not going to come anyway but you know…"

"I know; but for the sake of our sanity and to spare your mother a stroke we'll have to invite him anyway."

"I know."

"Anyone else we can think of for our no list?"

"No, not at the moment, what about you?"

"Just the rest of Colin's kids," she said, jotting down two more names. "I can't stand them. We can add more as they come to us. Let's do the friends part of the list now."

"Are we allowed to have friends this time?" he asked.

"Yeah; I had that cleared," she laughed.

"Good to know," he smiled. "Let's start with the usual suspects."

"Alright, Jeff and Maggie are a given because they're in our wedding. Sharon and Phil. Zach and Claudia. Sally and Sam. Antonio and Isabel. Frances and her husband. Karen and her fiancé. Barbara…who else?"

"Adam, Mark and Cathy…probably Neal and his girlfriend since he arranges our vacations. My friend Leo…my friend Carl and his wife…oh, a friend Jeff and I had in college, Dennis and his wife."

"Okay," Johanna said writing down the names. "I have a few school friends I want to invite too she said as she wrote down the names.

"Do we invite Roche?" Jim asked. "He is our boss but I don't know how this works in the boss scheme of things."

"I feel like we probably should invite him and his wife…and he's probably expecting to be invited too. He did make the comment that he likes seeing his people get married."

He nodded. "Better put him on the list."

"Yeah; we don't want to bite the hand that's going to be doling out the time for our honeymoon."

"Damn straight," he replied. "That's all I can think of from the work/friend angle for the moment."

"That's okay; this is just a rough draft, we can add to it as needed. Let's try to do some of the families and then tomorrow you can ask your parents if there's anyone they want there."

"Okay; you start," Jim stated.

"Mom and Dad obviously," she said as she flipped to another page and quickly wrote family at the top of the page. "Frankie, Valerie, Greg, Colleen, Paul, Grandma, Aunt Rita, Uncle Tony, Francesca, Elena, Bridget and William, Margaret and Hugh, Colin and Audrey…I'd rather have them on the no list but I'll invite them out of respect to Dad. I don't think Colin will come but I wish I could snub him just the same."

"Understood."

Johanna wrote down the names of cousins and then glanced to Jim. "Your turn."

"Mom and Dad," he said; "Although if I was smart, Mom would be on the no list unless she came with tape over her mouth."

"Jim!" she laughed as she wrote Robert and Elizabeth's name on the list.

"I know," he said before continuing on; "I suppose even though they've treated us poorly recently; Michael, Natalie, Mikey, Angie, Danny and Alicia. William because I have no choice. Andrew, Madelyn, Grandma, Aunt Vivien and her husband, Aunt Linda and her husband, Uncle Harry and his wife. I guess Mom will insist on my grandfather being invited, just a warning, he's a bit of a bastard so don't take it personally if he shows up and hates everything including us."

"Sounds fun," she said as she jotted down the name. "Who else?"

Jim listed the names of cousins and then faltered. "I guess leave my part at that until I talk to my parents about who else they think should be invited."

"Okay," Johanna replied; "I think we have a good start so far."

"So are we done for tonight?" he asked.

"Yes; unless you want to discuss wedding colors."

"I thought we already did that; we said no yellow and no orange."

"Yeah; but we didn't exactly pick colors we're willing to work with…or are there any other colors we don't want?"

"I'm thinking no green," Jim replied. "Seemed like Sharon and Phil used a lot of green and I didn't really like it."

"I'm glad to hear that because I already vetoed that as a color for bridesmaids dresses," Johanna said as she turned to her page about wedding colors. "Oh, and I already made it official that the guys can do the standard black tie, you don't have to worry about matching the wedding colors in that respect."

Jim smiled. "Thanks, sweetheart; no offense but I'm glad to hear that."

"I knew you would be that's why I went ahead and put my foot down on that."

He leaned close and pressed a kiss against her lips. "Already putting your foot down, are you?"

"Yes; especially when it's something as simple as the color of a tie. It's your wedding too and I want you to be comfortable."

"I appreciate it," he replied before nodding at her notebook. "What else?"

"Any other colors we're against?"

"Brown."

"That was never even an option," Johanna laughed.

He laughed with her. "Then I think that's all I have for the time being."

"Okay. I'm kind of thinking about warm colors…like peach, it's warm but it's soft at the same time. It could be a nice color for dresses."

"You have to have a color to go with it though, don't you?"

"Yeah; but we can use cream or white…or we can go in a different direction and pick a different color. Is there a color you want?"

Jim glanced at her with an amused expression. "I don't really care what color it is, sweetheart. I don't mean that in a bad way…just…"

"In a man way," she laughed.

"Yeah; I'm fine with whatever color you're happy with. Knowing I don't have to wear some girly color for a tie is all I really needed. Maggie might be more help on the color subject than I am. For all I care you can dress them in pink and have matching napkins in the same shade, doesn't matter to me."

Johanna laughed. "I'm glad my mother isn't here; we would once again be accused of not taking this seriously."

"People who take it too seriously don't have any fun and we don't like to be uptight when we don't have to be."

"That's true…eventually my mother will have invitation samples and you'll have to help me pick one."

"That doesn't sound too hard."

"Let's hope it isn't."

"When do we send out the invitations?"

"We'll probably send them out sometime in June, that way people have time to plan if they're going to come. The invitations will be ordered in May most likely because I don't know how long it will take for them to get done."

"Anything else on tonight's agenda?" Jim asked.

"No, I think we're fine for now. We've got time to discuss other things…but we do need to find somewhere to have the reception…that has to be done sooner rather than later so we can get it reserved."

"Alright; I can ask Andrew if he knows any places we could use…those type of places are probably in his realm of knowledge given his work with resorts and all that. He might have an idea for us."

"That would be great; if he has any idea we could make a list and go look at them one weekend."

"I'll see if he's going to be at Mom's tomorrow, I can ask him them and do the guest list thing all at once."

"And my mother thinks we're not accomplishing anything," Johanna quipped.

"Hey, my father was on the bandwagon too; don't forget that."

"I can't forget; he's the reason we weren't in L.A. being warm for my birthday."

"I'm still a little mad about that too," Jim remarked. "And before he even asks, I fully intend to go to a travel agent this week and get brochures and prices for our honeymoon so we can get that reserved as soon as possible."

"Good…I was thinking earlier…"

"You changed your mind about Hawaii?"

"God no!" Johanna exclaimed; "I was just thinking that we might not be able to fly out the same day of the wedding; we might have to wait until the next morning."

Jim nodded, getting where she was going. "Don't worry; if that's the case I'll book us one of the best rooms in one of the best hotels in the city for our wedding night."

She smiled. "That sounds nice."

"I'll make sure it's taken care of…as soon as we know what our arrangements are going to be for Hawaii."

"I'm not worried," she said, stealing a kiss.

"I know that you have faith in my ability; it's other people who think we don't know what the hell we're doing."

"Well, we'll just prove them wrong."

He patted her knee. "That's what we'll do; we'll get through this."

Johanna smiled and closed her notebook, tossing it and her pen onto the table. "I think that's enough wedding planning for tonight."

Jim smiled and wrapped his arm around her. "Good; let's practice for the honeymoon."

"I'm not digging out a bikini," Johanna laughed.

"No bikini required, sweetheart; what you have on is fine and you won't even need it for long."

"If only I had a dollar for every time you've told me that," she quipped.

"You'd be a very wealthy woman," he teased, his lips brushing against her neck.

"Yes, I would be…because you never stop, do you?" she teased.

"Lucky for you I don't," Jim laughed.

She smiled, accepting his kisses as he gently laid her down; allowing him to scatter her thoughts as his hands moved over her, her fingertips digging into his shoulder. The phone rang and she sighed deeply.

"The machine can get it," Jim remarked, his mouth moving over her ear.

A smile crossed her lips once more. "Another reason why it was a smart purchase."

"That's the truth," he murmured against her skin.

The machine clicked on, the message playing before the beep sounded. "Johanna Elizabeth!" her mother exclaimed. "Don't make me talk on this damn machine again; you know I hate it!"

"Yeah, we know," Johanna muttered; "She drove home that point the other day on the first message she left."

Jim nodded. "It was made clear."

"Johanna, I'm serious!" her mother exclaimed on the machine. 'I wanted to talk about the guest list for just a moment."

"Definitely not answering," she said softly as Jim slid the thin strap of her nightgown off her shoulder and pressed kisses against her skin.

"Agreed, we done closed the book on that topic tonight."

"That's right."

"I know you're there, Johanna!" her mother exclaimed. "I'm not talking on this machine!"

"Yeah, you kind of are," she muttered.

"She's probably out, it's Saturday night," Frank's voice yelled in the background.

"No, she's just ignoring me!" Naomi exclaimed before the machine cut her off.

Jim pulled away from Johanna. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I think we should move into the bedroom," he replied. "She's probably going to call back and you can ignore her better in the other room with the door shut."

"We can turn on the radio too," she agreed as she took his hand. "We'll drown it out."

"Even better," Jim said as he took her hand and led her to the bedroom as the phone rang once more; "Because I'm going to need happy memories of tonight to think about while at my parents tomorrow."

Johanna laughed as they closed the door behind them and he unplugged the phone in the bedroom. "Really? You're going to be thinking about this at your mother's table?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," he quipped; "Besides; a fond memory will make me sit there and smile while she's having a fit."

"Then she'll start yelling 'what are you smiling about James Robert!" she said, imitating his mother's voice.

Jim shuddered. "Don't do that, I just got chills…now you definitely have to give me good memories tonight."

She turned on the radio and captured his lips in a kiss. "I think I can handle the job."

He smiled, his thumb sweeping across her cheek. "No doubt in my mind."


Ever since Jim had walked into his parents house late Sunday afternoon, tension had filled the air. His mother had so far blatantly ignored him by staying in the kitchen to watch food that didn't even need watching since it was safe and sound in the oven and she had the timer set. He said nothing though, figuring if she wanted to be that way so be it. Things had even felt tense between him and his father…small talk was awkward and he could tell the older man wanted to say things but he was holding back. Jim sighed quietly, he could tell that Andrew was feeling the tension as well and he hoped it would ease as they were called to the dinner table.

Dinner was served beneath a cloud of oppressive silence with the exception of murmured thank yous and the scrape of forks until finally Elizabeth Beckett raised her head and glanced at her third born son. "So, where's your little tramp?" she asked. "I thought you only lived to be at her beck and call now."

"My fiancé is at home," he stated firmly; "And I'm not at her beck and call. I haven't been around here because of how you've been acting since I told you about my engagement. I was hoping you were over it by now."

"Well I'm not," Elizabeth declared. "You're making the biggest mistake of your life."

"No, I'm not…but even if I was, it's my mistake to make."

"Don't you think you're rushing into this?" his mother asked sharply. "You haven't even dated her all that long."

"I've dated her long enough…we've known each other nearly four years. We don't need to wait any longer."

"You mean she doesn't want to wait."

"Mother, I am the one who proposed. Johanna never asked me to marry her, she never even hinted at it. I proposed because I love her and I want her to be my wife. She accepted because she loves me. She didn't pressure me to set a date; we discussed it together and chose August; it's that simple. This marriage is going to happen so you may as well accept it, Mom. You can't stop us."

"I can try to talk some damn sense into you!" she exclaimed.

"I have sense…why don't you use yours and realize that you have no control over who I love and marry."

"Yeah, Mom," Andrew chimed in. "Johanna's a great girl; he'll have a wonderful wife, you should be happy."

"I don't like her!" she yelled.

"Doesn't matter," Andrew stated; "You're not the one sleeping with her."

"Andrew David Beckett, I won't stand for such talk at my table."

"Okay, I'll stand in the doorway next time," he quipped with a grin.

"You're not cute," his mother replied.

"That's not what a lovely senorita in Mexico told me," he said lightly.

"Probably right before you blew all your money on her," Elizabeth retorted. "Speaking of blowing money, did you take your little mistake to California like you wanted, Jimmy?"

Jim glanced down the table at his father. "Really, Dad; you had to tell her that I was thinking of taking Johanna away for her birthday."

"Husbands and wives talk, Jimmy. Of course I told her I saw you. I didn't realize your vacation was a secret although I haven't changed my mind about it being foolish this early in the year and with a honeymoon to pay for. You two don't need a vacation in February."

"Well, that's our business," Jim replied; "But we didn't go…and we wish we had. It's not like we need your permission to spend our money and take a few days off."

"No, you don't need my permission but it's foolish from a financial standpoint when you have a big trip coming up in August. Honeymoons aren't cheap, Jimmy…neither are weddings; is Johanna's family paying for the wedding?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug; "We're not that far into things yet to discuss the money involved."

"That's another thing," his father stated; "You two want to get married in August and yet you've done wasted all of January and you're working on wasting February in a planning sense."

"What do you care?" Jim asked; "It's not like you have to plan it."

"I care because I don't want frantic phone calls in August about everything being delayed and a catastrophe because you two couldn't get your heads out of the clouds. I know you're in love and the two of you just want to romp around the country with no care but now isn't the time…you'll have time for that after you're married. Right now it's time to be serious."

"We are serious," he retorted; "We're not out 'romping across America' as you seem to think. Christ, I wanted to take her away for a few days for her birthday and to celebrate our engagement; it was just a gift to ourselves but you made me doubt it so we didn't go. We have been planning things, we're just doing a little at a time so Johanna doesn't get overwhelmed and crazy like other brides do…she does have a day job to focus on and so do I. We've chosen our date, she and her mother reserved the church yesterday…"

"What church?" Elizabeth asked.

"Saint Mary's," he replied.

"That's a Catholic Church!" his mother exclaimed.

"Yes, I know…Johanna is Catholic. I explained all that before. She asked me if I minded if we were married by a Catholic priest and I told her it was fine with me. It's her family's tradition so I'm not going to ask her to break it."

"And you expect me to go into a Catholic Church and watch you make this mistake!?" she yelled.

"It's either that or stay home," Jim replied.

"Maybe I will!"

"That will be your choice," he said calmly. "I hope you will be there; you are my mother and despite what you think, I do love you…but the choice will be yours."

"Why did you even come around here today if you were just going to insist on talking about this doomed marriage you're signing up for," Elizabeth huffed as she picked up a forkful of casserole.

"I came because I felt like it and because…"

"Uh huh," his mother crowed. "I knew there was a reason."

"What's on your mind, Jimmy?" Robert asked.

"We're working on our guest list…more proof that we're not just screwing around," he stated; "And we want to know if there's anyone the two of you wanted to invite so we can put them on the list."

"Oh no," Elizabeth stated. "I'm not helping with this damn wedding."

Jim rolled his eyes. "All I wanted was to know if there were any specific people you wanted invited…not like a horde of your friends but maybe some select ones…any family I might've forgotten about that you don't want snubbed which will result in snippy Christmas letters…you know…I just need names; I'm not really asking you do anything other than speak."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't want my friends there witnessing this disaster…seeing the piece of baggage my son picked up. Everyone would be talking about me."

"They probably talk about you and everyone else they know anyway," Jim remarked; "But it's fine, we won't invite any of your friends. Is there anyone on your side of the family that you want invited that I may have forgotten about?"

"I told you I'm not doing a single thing for this wedding," Elizabeth said firmly.

"That's fine, Mom," he replied; "But just remember that I did ask you when someone you're close to bitches that they weren't invited. I don't want to hear it when that happens because it's on."

"They can go to your next wedding," his mother retorted; "Because I'm positive you'll have another one down the road. You and that tramp aren't going to make it six months and you'll be divorced."

"That's not true," Jim said through gritted teeth. "We're going to be together for the rest of our lives whether you like it or not."

"We'll see," Elizabeth said with a smirk.

"Yeah, we will," he stated before turning his gaze to his father. "Dad, anyone you want on the list?"

"Why are you doing the guest list, Jimmy? That's the bride's job," Robert stated.

He sighed; why did they have to make this difficult? "Johanna is doing the guest list but she asked me to ask my parents if there was anyone they wanted to invite. She knows she's not welcome here so obviously she isn't going to bring her notebook and come over here and ask and so she asked me to do it…and what's wrong with that?"

"It's just how things are done, son; wedding planning is the woman's business. The man's job is to plan the honeymoon."

"The wedding is for both of us," Jim stated; "And if my fiancée asks me to give input or to help her in some way, I will. She didn't ask me to do the whole list; she asked for the very small favor of me asking my parents if they had anyone they wanted to invite…now do you have anyone or not?"

Robert pondered the idea. "Well, you should invite your Godparents; George and Meryl…."

Jim pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and a pen and quickly jotted down the names. "Anyone else?"

"Martin and Sheila," Robert stated. "And Ed and Diane."

"Alright," Jim replied; "Any family?"

"Do you have my siblings and their spouses?"

"Yes."

"Your cousins?"

"Yes; and Grandma of course."

Robert nodded. "What about your grandmother's brother and sister?"

"No, I forgot about them."

"You have to invite Oliver and Fran, they love family weddings and all that; Violet and Vince will want to be here too. Your grandmother would be happy to have her siblings there."

"We'll invite them; I didn't mean to forget them."

"You better invite Violet's daughter Missy and Oliver's son Travis."

"Alright. Anyone else?"

"Do you have your mother's sisters?"

"Yes," he said; not bothering to mention that Theresa had been vetoed.

"Your grandfather?"

"Yeah."

"Your cousins on that side of the family?"

"Yes."

"Your mother's favorite aunt Caroline?"

"I don't have Caroline," he said as he wrote down the name.

"Don't forget Caroline's daughter Christine."

"I won't," Jim replied as he added the name. "Anyone else?"

"Not at the moment; those are just off the top of my head."

"Alright," Jim said; "If you think of others during the week, call and let me know. Jo and her mother are just trying to get a rough draft of the guest list so they can ballpark how many people there may be at the wedding."

Robert gave a nod. "I'll let you know if anyone else comes to mind."

Jim glanced across the table at his younger brother who had been listening intently as he ate. "Andrew?"

"Yeah?"

"I told Johanna I'd ask you if you know any places that are good for a reception."

Robert sighed a little. "Jimmy; that's something Johanna and her mother should be dealing with. It's her job."

"And she's doing her job," Jim said, an edge in his tone. "She didn't ask me to find a place; all she said was that we needed to find one now that the church is reserved. I told her I'd ask Andrew if he had any ideas that we could check into. This isn't the 1940s anymore, Dad; it isn't all just 'woman work' anymore."

"It just seems like you're the one planning this thing," his father commented.

"I'm not! Johanna and I have discussed things together, we chose our wedding party together and yesterday she spent most of the day with her mother laying the ground work for the planning. I told her I could ask for ideas about places for receptions; she has some ideas too from helping her friend plan a wedding not too long ago. Stop making a big deal out of this; you're the one who always told us to help a woman whenever we could."

"In your father's world, that only lasts until you put the ring on her finger, then she's on her own," Elizabeth remarked.

"That's not true, Lizzie."

"Yes, it is; you hardly help me do anything…and you sure as hell didn't help me with the wedding!"

"That's because it was your job and your mother's job!"

As his parents bickered, Jim gave his attention to his brother. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I do have a few," Andrew said; "But let me talk to one of my colleagues tomorrow; he may know even more because that's one of his areas. I'll get back to you either tomorrow night or sometime Tuesday if that's alright?"

"That would be great," he replied. "I appreciate it."

"No problem, anything for you and Jo…because once you're married; I'm stopping by for dinner at least once or twice a month," Andrew said with a grin.

"That's fine with me," he laughed.

"Oh yes, how lovely," Elizabeth remarked; "Maybe the floozy has a sister for Andrew."

"Jo's sister is married," Jim stated; "But if she ever gets divorced I'll let Andrew know so he can check out the situation…but just know going in that from what I understand, she can't cook like Jo."

"Deals off then," Andrew replied. "I'll have to keep looking."

"Try having higher standards," Elizabeth stated; "Something I had hoped all my children would be trained to have but evidence shows I've failed in two cases…don't be a third, Andrew."

"But, Mom," Andrew said; "I was so looking forward to being another one of your disappointments. It's one of the things I live for."

Jim grinned at his brother, knowing that he was inciting their mother to get the heat off of him for a little while. Thank God he had one loyal brother.


Johanna smiled softly as Jim slipped through her door that evening. "You made it back," she said lightly.

"Of course I did," he replied with a grin. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Well, I admit, I did wonder if your mother might try to tie you to a chair and hold you hostage so she could brainwash you into not marrying me," she quipped.

Jim laughed as he carried his jacket to the closet. "I made sure I didn't get too close and I escaped before anyone could come at me with a rope."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said as she began to gather up the files and papers she had strewn across the coffee table.

"Did you get your work done?" Jim asked as he headed toward the sofa.

"All that I can get done," she replied. "I have people to interview tomorrow for this case…but I should be free for lunch around noon if your schedule allows for a lunch date."

Jim mentally reviewed his schedule. "I'm in court at ten; we should probably break for lunch at noon. Will you be in the office or out somewhere?"

"I'll be out," she replied. "I'll be at one of Mr. Harrison's businesses. "A disgruntled employee has a filed a suit against the company…I need to get witness statements and do some digging about this employee."

"So what are we going to do about lunch?" he asked.

"I don't know; I'm not going to have a way to contact you…so let's just say we'll meet at our favorite diner at noon…if one of us can't get there, we'll leave a message at the office as soon as possible so the other person knows everything is fine and we won't get mad about someone not showing up."

Jim nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."

"Now that that's settled," Johanna replied; "There's leftover lasagna in the fridge if you need more dinner."

"Mom made a casserole, she does those pretty well," he told her as he grabbed the remote from the stand and flipped channels while she put her work in her briefcase.

"So she didn't send you home hungry this time," she said lightly. "I'm surprised she fed you at all."

"Me too; she ignored me for a good while when I got there."

"She's still mad about Christmas?"

"Mainly she's still mad about us."

"Well that's nothing new; what did she call me today?"

"The usual," Jim replied.

"Slut?"

"Tramp."

"Slight improvement," she said with a nod as she carried her briefcase to its place near the door.

Jim grinned at her. "She also called you my little mistake."

Johanna laughed. "No offense, but with as unhappy as she is with you, you'd think she'd call you her little mistake."

"No offense taken," he chuckled; "I'm sure she'll get around to calling me that to my face."

"So how did it go?" she asked as she settled down with him.

Jim sighed. "Well, like I said, Mom ignored me for awhile…then asked where you were and why I wasn't with you since I live to be at your beck and call…"

Johanna rolled her eyes. "Since when?"

"It was news to me too," he replied. "We do plenty of things without each other. I go do things with Jeff and Zach and Andrew. You go shopping with Maggie or your sister or sister-in-law. You go to your mother's…we don't even always have lunch together."

"Yeah; it's not like we just lock ourselves in the apartment and only come out for work."

"Sometimes I'd like for us to be locked away for a few days," he said lightly.

She smiled. "Me too…but the point is we're not. I went and babysat Greg the other night while you were at your place. You go to your brother's once in awhile…not lately but you did before they got snippy."

"And I visit Grandma," Jim stated. "I do my best to get over there at least for an hour once a week."

Johanna nodded. "I visited my grandmother last Monday after work and I talk to her on the phone a good bit."

"That's true; I'd say we're still very connected to the people we always have been. I haven't talked to Mom much but that's because of how she's been acting…it's not because I want to be distant…it's just that I feel like she doesn't give me a choice at times."

"I understand that…I took a break from my parents after my grandfather died. It wasn't something I liked doing…but it felt like I needed to."

"I know…but they sure do know how to make you feel guilty for it."

"That's the truth. How were things with your father?"

He breathed deeply. "Not like they usually are. It was a little tense…and of course he told Mom about seeing me at the bank so that incident was brought up."

"What did you say?"

"I told them the truth; we didn't go on our mini vacation but that we wish we had. Dad then gave his 'you didn't need to go anyway' lecture."

"Did you ask about the guest list?"

"Yeah," he said, pulling the folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Mom refused to cooperate of course, saying she's not doing anything for this wedding, not even giving names. She also said she doesn't want her friends there witnessing how wrong she went with me."

"Nice," Johanna said flatly as she grabbed her notebook from the stand.

"Dad named some friends though and some family I missed."

She nodded as she accepted the list. "I added some people to my list too and I called my mother back since I didn't answer last night. She had some people she wanted me to write down while she was thinking about it. I'm sure Dad will probably have a few to add too; I'll have to ask him if Mom doesn't beat me to it."

"Dad thinks you're making me do all the wedding planning," Jim said with a laugh as Johanna carefully tucked his list inside her notebook.

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah; he says guest list things are the bride's job and I shouldn't be doing it."

Johanna eyed him. "He really said that?"

"Yes! You can even ask Andrew, he heard him. Dad says wedding planning is women's work and I shouldn't be doing it."

"How does he expect me to know who your family is?"

"That's pretty much what I said. I told him if you ask me to help with something, I'm going to do it. Then I asked Andrew about places for the reception and he was even more convinced that I'm doing the wedding planning. He said all of it is your job…and your mother's too. I told him things are different these days."

Johanna closed the notebook, a small nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Why does everybody think I'm not interested?" she asked. "No, I don't like how crazy planning gets and it makes me dread certain aspects of the planning phase but not the wedding itself."

"Hey," Jim said gently; "I know you're interested. You've been doing planning you've just been taking it slow and I don't blame you a bit for that. Don't let people get to you…our parents are from a different time, Jo; they just don't get that we do things differently."

"I thought your father liked me…it kind of feels like that's changing lately."

"Don't worry about him; he's just in a mood," he replied. "I told you, Mom probably bestowed some nocturnal goodwill on him so he's over on the dark side for awhile; he'll come back once she closes the border again."

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood but it didn't have the desired affect. "I'm going to cause problems between you and your family, Jim…hell, I already have."

"No, you haven't."

"Yes, I have. Your mother barely speaks to you; she doesn't even want people she knows at our wedding. Your father thinks I'm pulling your strings like a puppet, making you take me on vacations and plan the wedding. Your brother and sister-in-law refused to be a part of our day because your mother doesn't like me…and things have been weird with them ever since we all ended up at the cabin. Natalie made it clear I had no business being there. The kids weren't allowed in the wedding. Madelyn can't seem to make up her mind about me. I'm coming between you and your family."

He moved closer to her, dropping his arm around her. "No, you haven't done anything," he told her. "You've been nothing but kind and patient with my family. You only ever strike back when Mom provokes you. Michael and Natalie are always looking for an excuse not to do something…and they had no right to horn in on our vacation over the summer so in my mind, they're the ones who had no right to be there. I told you Madelyn is like a ping pong ball with multiple personalities, that's on her. Mom would be treating any woman I brought home this way so don't go thinking it's just you. She's treated Natalie badly; she ran off Andrew's one girlfriend. I don't know what's up Dad's ass lately but whatever it is, we didn't do it. The trouble is of their making, Jo; not ours. I love you; I want you to be my wife; that's all the matters."

"I love you too," she said, tears pricking her eyes; "But I worry that one day they might want you to choose…and I don't want to be the reason you lose your family."

"Sweetheart, they're not going anywhere…and if they make the choice to go, then that's on them not me or you. You're my family too. You don't need to worry though…things will settle down on my side of the family and everything will be just fine, you'll see."

"I hope so," Johanna murmured as she leaned into his embrace; but deep inside, she had this feeling that before long, something would come to a head with Jim's family…she just hoped she'd still be standing when it was over.

"Hey," Jim said quietly, his lips grazing her temple in a soft kiss. "Don't go thinking dark thoughts. We're getting married, we're happy…we're going to Hawaii…remember Hawaii?"

A small smile touched her lips. "Yeah, I remember," she said softly.

"Just keep thinking about Hawaii…we'll be far away from all family then…but for the record, Andrew loves you and so does my Grandmother."

"It's just the rest of your family that hates me," Johanna replied.

"They don't hate you. Dad likes you; I told you he's just in a mood. He's probably secretly drinking in the garage again, that could be a cause too…he's not always a happy drinker. As for Mom…that's just how she is…but I think in time she'll get used to things and she'll warm up to you."

"I'm not so sure about that. I didn't mind so much when I thought the rest of your family was okay with us being together…now it feels like the majority have turned."

"It'll be fine, I promise," he assured. "The planning might be a little bumpy, sweetheart; but at the end of the planning we'll be married and we'll be on a plane flying far away…for two whole weeks."

Another smile graced her lips as she stole a kiss. "Maybe you should help me think those happy thoughts."

His brow rose, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "That sounds like you're open to more honeymoon practice."

"I am," she said, cupping his jaw and drawing him close for a kiss. "I need all the happy thoughts."

"Then happy thoughts you shall have, sweetheart," he said as he took her hand and rose from the sofa. "It's all going to be alright…just trust me…and think those happy thoughts."

Happy thoughts, Johanna repeated to herself…she just had to keep happy thoughts and the goal in mind, to be happily married and on a plane to Hawaii come mid August…the rest would have to take care of itself.

A/N: And so the planning has begun…let the drama roll ;)