"Where are you going?" Stephanie sat on the couch, looking up as Paul went from his bedroom to the kitchen, "why are you dressed so early?"
"I have to go to Walmart." He put a sweatshirt on and zipped it up, "need anything?" He pulled one sleeve up and checked his watch, "I have to be back by ten though."
"Can I go? What do you need there?" She stood up and put her hands on her waist, "I'm dressed, just let me get Madison in her shoes." She went over to the crib and picked her daughter up, "I don't even know what I'm gonna wear today."
He nodded and put his arms down, "I need a pair of black pants and a button-up shirt. My mom's gonna expect me to be wearing a tux you know." He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying not to look at Stephanie's backside as she put shoes on Madison's feet.
"So I'll look for a dress. But, at Walmart I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna find a nice 'white' dress. I don't see why I have to wear white anyway. I mean, I have a baby, technically that disqualifies me from wearing white."
"I don't care what you wear. I'm sure you have a dress or something, it doesn't matter what color it is." He looked at his watch again, "come on, we have to go or we'll be late."
"Paul, our wedding isn't until like, six. It's only eight in the morning. What are you talking about we're gonna be late?" She put Madison in her carseat and buckled her in, "alright, let's go then."
He opened the garage door and pushed the unlock button on the keypad, "the Mercedes is low on gas, we're taking the truck today." He opened the garage door, "you need that platform thing out of the car don't you? The thing that her carseat sit on top of."
"Yeah." She opened the door and bent over to get it out of the Mercedes, "I have a navy blue dress I could wear, I just need some shoes to go with it. Do we have to go to Walmart? Why don't we go to like, the mall or something?" She closed the truck door after buckling the carseat in.
He grumbled, "the closest mall is in San Fernando, that's like, over an hour away. Walmart is only like, 45 minutes from here." He looked at his watch again.
"I'm not gonna find shoes at Walmart." She looked down at his wrist, "stop looking at your watch. We are not going to be late. Just calm down."
"Stop arguing with me and get in the car then." He sighed as she walked around the back of the truck, "fine, we'll go to the mall. But I don't know why you need shoes. I'm pretty sure you have a pair in the five boxes I helped you put in the house." He jumped in his seat and slammed the door, "if you have a blue dress, why wouldn't you have shoes to go with it?" He started the truck and turned the AC on, then reached up to the visor for his glasses. He frustratedly put them on and stared in the rear-view mirror to back the truck out of the garage.
"Because I bought it for something, and didn't end up wearing it. I think it might still have the tags on it. I hope it still fits me." She glanced up at him for second, "wait, you wear glasses? Since when? Are you like, that blind?"
"No, I'm not that blind. I just have to wear them when I drive, cause, the signs are a problem sometimes. Go ahead, make fun of me for wearing glasses, Shawn did when I first got them, and as a matter of fact, he still does." He pushed the button to close the garage door and drive away from his house, "they aren't that bad though."
"I've seen people who look bad with glasses. And you aren't one of them." She refrained from saying he looked 'good'. She stared up at him out of the corner of her eye, he looked more than good, he was hot with glasses on, "are you gonna eventually need glasses all the time?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, "I have reading glasses, I just choose not to wear them because I don't like them." He adjusted his glasses and turned the radio on, "why are you looking at me?"
She widened her eyes, "what? How'd you know I was looking at you?" She ratted herself out, "I wasn't looking at you, I was looking at your glasses." She covered her mouth and looked out her window.
"I always know when you're looking at me. I get a weird vibe when you look at me." He turned around and changed lanes on the freeway, "its like I can feel you staring."
She smiled, "you can 'feel' it huh?" She watched out the window as they flew past cars, "are you nervous? My stomach feels like it has butterflies."
He shook his head, "not really. I feel like I should be more worried about this than I actually am." He looked at his speed on the dash, "all you need is shoes right? Nothing else?"
"Maybe. Unless I find something I like better. I'm not even sure the dress I have even fits, cause I bought it when I was pregnant with Madison and was just barely starting to show. It might, because I'm still kinda fat."
He glanced over at her, "you aren't fat. Shut up. You were fatter before you had Madison." He bit his tongue, "don't take that in a bad way. I probably shouldn't have said it like that."
"Thanks." She laughed, "no, I know I was kinda bigger before. And since I've had her, I've worked out a little bit more and lost more than just the baby weight." She looked over at him, his stomach was a little big, but she wouldn't call him fat or anything.
"So you need to look for a dress now? And shoes. You need a whole outfit, like me." He sighed, "so tonight, we have to be at this place like, two hours in advance. If we leave any later than 3:45, I'll be pissed. That's all I'm gonna say about that." He reached forward and turned the AC up another notch.
She rolled her eyes and nodded, "oh my God, I just thought about this." She covered her mouth and pretended to gag, "I have to kiss you in front of our families." She groaned, "its gonna be like, a little tiny kiss on the lips, that's it. Don't expect anything more than that."
"Oh, I won't be, you can trust me on that one." He scrunched his nose up, "ugh." He looked back at the road and they sat in an awkward silence.
"Should I dress Madison up for tomorrow? I'm thinking I want to, but I don't want it to be all weird." She looked in the backseat, "maybe I'll look for something at the mall. I should be able to find something, you think?"
"Sure." He moved his head up, "so this is what's gonna happen, we get married at Malibu Bluffs, then, our reception is at the Malibu Country Inn. I can't even believe we're spending all this money for a fake wedding."
"Just shut up about it. This only has to be for a few months. Then, after I finish my paperwork and see what Immigration says, then, we'll get divorced, and it'll all be done with." She looked out the window again, "plus, its not just all your money, its mine too you know."
"I know, its just, weird to me. Like, I can't believe we're telling all these lies and spending so much money for a huge lie so you can stay here. I'm sorry but, all this is making me a little bit uncomfortable."
Her eyes burned through him, "don't even say you're getting cold feet about this. I swear to God, after all the planning we've done and all the people we've told, don't you dare say you don't want to get married. You don't even know what I will do to you if you say that."
He backed himself against his door, "no, I wasn't going to say that. All I said is it was making me uncomfortable, I'm not gonna back out, don't worry." He pulled off the freeway and slowed down, "jeez, you think I would do that? I think you have some serious trust issues. I said I would marry you for Madison, it would make me a shitty person to just walk out on you like that." He glanced at her a few time, "wait, you threatened me. What would you do to me?"
"I said you don't want to know. And how are you just gonna say I have trust issues? I don't have trust issues, I'm totally fine."
"Okay." He pulled into a parking stall and shut the truck off, "we're here. Do you need me to come with you? Cause I have my own things to do, like I planned to do at Walmart." He got out and closed the door, "you're used to carrying a baby around, you don't need me."
They walked in through the same door, "I'll call you if I need anything." She went one way and he turned in the opposite direction, walking away from her.