Title: 'Smooth sailing...or is it?' [Chapter 12]
Sequel to 'Boy was I wrong'
Chapter 12
"Because my wife and youngest daughter will be there." The First Lady and Zoey?
"What? How would that be possible?" I ask.
"Exactly. With all the problems with security, I couldn't have the party elsewhere. How could have CJ manage to....unless the party is............."
"In the White House itself." Danny ends Sam's sentence.
Hmm...Interesting. The party is in the White House. I'm breathing a little easier. I doubt strippers would have proper security clearance to come here.
"Is it in the residence?" Leo asks the President.
"Well, if it is...you didn't hear it from me." The President says in his don't-mess-with-me voice.
We all nod at him.
I had the most amazing nap. I was knocked out for a solid five hours. I didn't realize how much I needed the sleep until I woke up.
CJ told me to come back to the White House and then she'll take me to the party. I was really curious where she was dragging me by the hand to. Anyway, we ended up in the residence and I was so surprised to see the First Lady and Zoey with everyone else. It was an incredibly pleasant surprise of course.
All the assistance, Jane, and even Kimmy were there. It's so obvious that Kimmy and Jane were overwhelmed by being in the White House residence, let alone with the First Lady and her daughter.
I got rather interesting bridal shower gifts, from lingerie to kinky play things which totally embarrassed me in front of Mrs. Bartlet but she was a good sport and joined the fun.
I spent the night at CJ's place. We returned from the party just past midnight. Josh tried to call me several times but CJ was screening my cell phone calls. She still is. Apparently she's made up a rule that the bridegroom cannot even speak to the bride on their wedding day. Josh called CJ's house only to get yelled at by CJ to leave me alone. I know better than to argue with CJ. But I don't think this is sitting well with Josh. While at first I was annoyed with CJ as well, but now I think it's kind of sweet of her to do that as now I actually really miss him and am even more eager to see him.
I'm currently waiting for my niece, Franny and my brother-in-law, Nate, to arrive. I know it's quite silly for the bride to be picking people up from the airport on her wedding day but I just had to see Franny. I figured this would be the best time to catch up. I'm just driving them to the hotel and having breakfast with them. I've got everything scheduled out to the very second.
"Aunt Donna!!" I see Franny running towards me.
"Franny!" I bend down and she jumps into my arms.
"Oh, you've gotten so big. I could barely recognize you, darling!" It feels so wonderful holding her. I didn't realize I missed her this much.
"Hello Donna." Oh, I forgot all about Nate! I slowly release Franny and stand up.
"Hi Nate! It's so wonderful to see you both!" I hug Nate and he gives me a kiss on the cheek.
It has been great catching up with both Franny and Nate. Nate gave me a bracelet from my sister as my 'something borrowed'. It had round cut diamonds set on alternate links of yellow and white gold. She wore it for her wedding reception. It almost made me cry and the fact that she's not going to share this day with me is kind of getting to me now. But she did give me a call earlier in the morning.
I had breakfast with my parents, Franny and Nate at their hotel. After that, I made phone calls to make sure everything for the wedding was reconfirmed. Then, I went to pick up some of the flowers that are not going to be delivered and also the bridesmaid's dresses.
I don't know how the day went by so fast but the girls and I are now in the hotel suite with the make-up and hair stylists. Josh and I booked two hotel suites for the night. One for the guys to get ready and another for the girls. Actually, the guy's room is not really a suite. Hey, why would they need a big room anyway? They just need to put on their tuxes and gel their hair.
"Hi guys! The ceremony area and gazebo are all set! It's so beautiful!" Margaret comes in the room all jumpily. Wow, I don't think I've ever seen her smile this much.
She's been in charge of the ceremony decorations. She told me roughly how it's all going to be and I had seen some pictures but I don't have a full image of it.
"Really? Oh, I so want to see it!" I say excitedly.
"You should. Before your make up is put on." I think Margaret's right. She was the first to get her make-up and hair done as she wanted to be there when the decorators were finishing their work.
"Yeah, I'll follow you guys as well." CJ says. CJ's also just had her hair and makeup done.
The three of us head downstairs and I'm very exited to see the setting.
I just finished getting my hair styled. I decided to let it loose with defined waves. A small bunch of my hair at the top are pinned back so I can put my veil on. It's not a big veil covering my head or face. The veil is really simple, short and champagne colored to match my dress. At the top of the veil, the stylists plan to put little red rose buds. Which I think will go perfectly with my simple bouquet of red flowers that I'll be carrying down the isle.
The bouquet has big bloomed deep red roses, smaller sized carnations, laurel berries and some greenery. It ended up looking a whole lot more beautiful than the display on the catalogue. CJ and the bridesmaids will be carrying just a few peony long stem roses each. I think it would look absolutely elegant with their Matte Taffeta A-line metallic maroon gown. The gowns have pleated silhouettes with square necklines. They are sleeveless with thin firm straps. The ladies will be having one bloomed peony rose tucked behind one ear. I think they'll all look incredibly gorgeous.
"Oh my...!!" CJ exclaims and I look up.
"Wow! Margaret this is a whole lot more beautiful than I ever imagined." It is indeed!
The pool is semi-circular, facing the attendance. It's all lit up with spot lights at about every five feet. The isle has a very dark red carpet and is completely filled with bright, deep red rose petals. I don't think I've seen this many rose petals ever! It's amazing! The floor of the isle is tiled with red bricks. It can be seen at the sides of carpet.
"Margaret, I'm so impressed! This archway is beautiful!"
CJ is absolutely right. The archway of the entrance gate has a bunch of white roses at the top and some pink ones at the sides, with greenery on it. It looks more natural than artificially decorated.
"I know! I can't imagine how much more gorgeous this place would look when it's dark." It's still bright out here and the ceremony will start only at 7pm.
"Oh, I absolutely can't wait for it to be dark!" Margaret is still all jumpy and I think I am too.
The three of us walk towards the front of the isle, all walking on the bricks and between the chairs. The sides of the isle is decorated with small fashionable candle holders every two feet. The candle holders are sheer white, where we can see the whole candle placed in each one. With this, the candle light would also emerge inside the holder. Each holder is surrounded by big bloomed red roses and leaves.
"These holders are like nothing I've ever seen!" CJ says and I nod.
"Wow, this gazebo is so alluring!" I say enthusiastically.
It was incredible! The outline is square-ish and has red roses all over. White lights are placed between the flowers and Margaret turned it on for us to see. There are some long candle sticks at the top of the gazebo, also placed in between the flowers. I don't know how they're staying in place, but I'm not going to question that.
"I'm imagining how it would look like with the candlesticks all lit up!" I say looking up at the top of the gazebo.
"Margaret, you completely outdid yourself! Are you sure you don't want to be a decorator instead of putting in countless hours being Leo's assistant?" We laugh at what CJ suggests. I actually think it's not a bad idea!
"Okay ladies, I know you all would love to keep staring at the miracle I made possible but it's time to get all dolled up!" Margaret orders. We follow her although I would have loved to just stay where we were.
"You know, I'm glad you saw it, Donna. I doubt you'll be paying any attention to Josh, if you saw the place for the first time when you were walking down the isle."
"I know, CJ. I don't think I would be looking at Josh at all even when we're saying the vows." I giggle.
Josh and I decided to write our own vows. I actually have no idea what he's saying. We never discussed it after deciding that we will be writing it ourselves. I worked on it for a long time, ever since we decided to write it. Until now, I haven't really gotten the exact words, so I'm going to wing it! I know, it's crazy but I thought it would be even worse if I had memorized it and forgot the words. So this way, I'll only say what comes out from my heart. Hopefully it'll turn out alright.
We enter the room and the girls are all dressed up.
"You girls look gorgeous!!" I say and hug each of them. CJ and I explain how the ceremony area was and we got everyone else excited. So excited that all of them decided to go down to have a look at it with Margaret after she put on her dress.
The stylist is now putting on my makeup while CJ is dressing up.
"Jane looks so beautiful, doesn't she? I would love to see Sam's face when he sees her!" CJ says.
Oh, it totally slipped my mind to tell her about who I saw sucking faces!
"CJ, I completely forgot to tell you! During the rehearsal dinner, I saw the two of them making out at the doorway to the restroom! They didn't see me though." I say. Unfortunately, I can't see CJ's face as my eye makeup is being put on.
"No way!! You didn't tell me this earlier?"
"Sorry, there were just soo many things going on at the same time, I totally forgot. Anyway, I thought we could have some fun with them, since they don't know that we know." I can't see CJ but I can feel her scheming smile coming up.
"I think we could handle that." CJ sounds really set on it.
I tried to call Donna last night but CJ refused to let me speak to her. Apparently she's created a whole new superstition. I know I didn't have anything important to inform Donna but I missed her voice. I still do. But I guess like CJ said, I need to stop being a big egoistical baby.
I met up with Nate, Franny, Donna's parents and my mom for lunch today. Both Franny and Nate seem really nice. Franny actually reminded me of Donna. She is really cute with long blond hair. I think she was a little taken by me. I never knew I wasn't a complete idiot when it came to kids. Makes me believe that I won't be a total klutz as a dad.
Somehow the day went by faster than I imagined. Sam, Charlie, Toby and I are in the hotel room getting dressed up. I still have my tux just laid out on the bed. The last thing I need is to crumple the suit or spill something on it.
Before I forget, I should get this over with. "Hey, guys. I got you all something...you know, as those traditional groomsmen gifts or whatever. It wasn't my idea...Donna said it was customary."
This is so embarrassing. The three of them are looking at me all funny. I knew I should have refused when Donna forced me!
"Well, anyway.......Toby. This is for you. Go ahead, open it."
Toby looks at me skeptically. How else would he look at me?
"It's a card set. The Yankees induction card. There's Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Rizzuto, Reggie Jackson, Berra and some others." I explain while he opens the small box.
Toby starts examining it. "Wow, I don't know what to say......Thanks.....it's....great." Ha! I rendered Toby speechless! I rendered the President's speech writer speechless....Wait a minute, that can't be good.
"That's soo cool. Now I'm dying to know what I got. Cough it up." Sam sticks out his hand towards me.
I dig my bag and hand over the gift I got Sam. He opens it hurriedly like a child.
"Josh! A tidal clock! A porthole styled brass type nonetheless! How did you know I needed one of these?" Oh, that's a windfall.
"I didn't. I just know it's designed for salt-water sailors, which is all I know about your sailing. I guess I lucked out. Apparently it shows the deviation from peak tides and the hours until one." I say, proud of the effort I put into find out details of this gift.
"Yes Josh. That's what a tidal clock is made for." I sense a hint of sarcasm in Sam's voice.
"Anyway, Charlie, this is for you." I yank out a big box.
"What? His box is huge! Ours was tiny Josh." Sam whines but I just smile him.
"Josh! It's signed by him! How did you get this?" Charlie exclaims.
"I work directly for the President of the United States, Charlie, you think I can't get a Shaquille O' Neil autographed basketball?"
"You do know that my sister, Deanna is going to steal it away from me anyway, right?" He asks me.
"Yeah, so you better enjoy it while you can." I say.
Charlie gives me a very grateful look. This guy is quite something. He can convey everything just by the look on his face.
Okay, maybe it was slightly fun getting them gifts. Sure, I just got them over the net but I actually did want them to have something special and not typical groomsmen gifts like cufflinks or a shirt. I guess this is a good enough excuse to actually get them something. It's not a token of appreciation for just their involvement in my wedding, it's more than that.
"Someone's at the door." Toby says and heads towards the door. I barely heard a knock at the door.
"Uncle Josh!!" What the.....Oh, it's Franny. Woah, she just ran like the wind and leaps into my arms. Thank god my reflexes are working as I spontaneously pick her up.
"Hey, Franny! Don't you look very pretty! Whatcha doing here, sweetheart?" I ask her.
"Grandpa wanted to see you." I turn my head to see Thomas standing next to Toby. I greet him and introduce both of them to the guys.
"If you all wouldn't mind, I'll like a word with Josh alone. Just a short while." Donna's dad says. Gulp!
Charlie instantly takes Franny out of my arms.
"Hey Franny. You want to join us outside just for a while? We can get to know each other a little better." Charlie asks her.
"Why not?" I smile at Franny's response.
"We'll right be outside." Toby says and the four of them leave the room. This can't be good.
The two of us take a seat at the coffee table.
"So Josh. I know I probably don't really have the right to give the 'father of the bride' talk. Lord knows I haven't been there for Donna all the time. I barely spent much time with her when she was growing up." He says.
Donna has mentioned that actually. When we went to New York City and slow danced, she said her dad never goes to the father-daughter events when she was in school and the only time he did, it was just for one song.
"I'm sure you did the best you could." I do mean that.
"Yes, well....I barely knew what is it that she does in the White House. And you know, one might say that she should have told us...But, the truth is, I think I should have asked her, which I didn't. Sometimes I think I may have failed as a father, especially when it comes to Donna. But anyway, like I said, I may not have the right to say this but I'm going to anyway." Oh god, what is he getting at?
"Sure, go ahead." I wish I felt as confident as I sound.
"Okay....If you hurt my little girl even the slightest bit, I don't give a damn who you work for, I will break your knee caps and send you off as far away as Siberia!" I think my eyes just popped out and I've lost all my ability to speak.
"Err...Umm...I...I promise sir. I'll take care of her and give her the life she deserves for the rest of my life. You can't even begin to imagine how much it is that I love and need your daughter. I know how special she is." Wow, I had no idea I could get that out of my mouth.
"Good. Now that we've cleared things up, I also wanted to say....Welcome to the family, son." He sticks out his hand. This man is crazy but I'm not about to tell him that. I shake his hand.
It takes me more than few minutes to come back to reality after Franny and Thomas left.
"Oh shit!! Oh no......Oh no..." What's Sam going on about?
"What is it?" Toby asks Sam and the three of us look at him.
"Oh...umm...nothing." Sam definitely has the worst poker face, not me!
"What is it Sam?" I ask sternly. I'm certain something has gone wrong.
TBC.............................................................
Sequel to 'Boy was I wrong'
Chapter 12
"Because my wife and youngest daughter will be there." The First Lady and Zoey?
"What? How would that be possible?" I ask.
"Exactly. With all the problems with security, I couldn't have the party elsewhere. How could have CJ manage to....unless the party is............."
"In the White House itself." Danny ends Sam's sentence.
Hmm...Interesting. The party is in the White House. I'm breathing a little easier. I doubt strippers would have proper security clearance to come here.
"Is it in the residence?" Leo asks the President.
"Well, if it is...you didn't hear it from me." The President says in his don't-mess-with-me voice.
We all nod at him.
I had the most amazing nap. I was knocked out for a solid five hours. I didn't realize how much I needed the sleep until I woke up.
CJ told me to come back to the White House and then she'll take me to the party. I was really curious where she was dragging me by the hand to. Anyway, we ended up in the residence and I was so surprised to see the First Lady and Zoey with everyone else. It was an incredibly pleasant surprise of course.
All the assistance, Jane, and even Kimmy were there. It's so obvious that Kimmy and Jane were overwhelmed by being in the White House residence, let alone with the First Lady and her daughter.
I got rather interesting bridal shower gifts, from lingerie to kinky play things which totally embarrassed me in front of Mrs. Bartlet but she was a good sport and joined the fun.
I spent the night at CJ's place. We returned from the party just past midnight. Josh tried to call me several times but CJ was screening my cell phone calls. She still is. Apparently she's made up a rule that the bridegroom cannot even speak to the bride on their wedding day. Josh called CJ's house only to get yelled at by CJ to leave me alone. I know better than to argue with CJ. But I don't think this is sitting well with Josh. While at first I was annoyed with CJ as well, but now I think it's kind of sweet of her to do that as now I actually really miss him and am even more eager to see him.
I'm currently waiting for my niece, Franny and my brother-in-law, Nate, to arrive. I know it's quite silly for the bride to be picking people up from the airport on her wedding day but I just had to see Franny. I figured this would be the best time to catch up. I'm just driving them to the hotel and having breakfast with them. I've got everything scheduled out to the very second.
"Aunt Donna!!" I see Franny running towards me.
"Franny!" I bend down and she jumps into my arms.
"Oh, you've gotten so big. I could barely recognize you, darling!" It feels so wonderful holding her. I didn't realize I missed her this much.
"Hello Donna." Oh, I forgot all about Nate! I slowly release Franny and stand up.
"Hi Nate! It's so wonderful to see you both!" I hug Nate and he gives me a kiss on the cheek.
It has been great catching up with both Franny and Nate. Nate gave me a bracelet from my sister as my 'something borrowed'. It had round cut diamonds set on alternate links of yellow and white gold. She wore it for her wedding reception. It almost made me cry and the fact that she's not going to share this day with me is kind of getting to me now. But she did give me a call earlier in the morning.
I had breakfast with my parents, Franny and Nate at their hotel. After that, I made phone calls to make sure everything for the wedding was reconfirmed. Then, I went to pick up some of the flowers that are not going to be delivered and also the bridesmaid's dresses.
I don't know how the day went by so fast but the girls and I are now in the hotel suite with the make-up and hair stylists. Josh and I booked two hotel suites for the night. One for the guys to get ready and another for the girls. Actually, the guy's room is not really a suite. Hey, why would they need a big room anyway? They just need to put on their tuxes and gel their hair.
"Hi guys! The ceremony area and gazebo are all set! It's so beautiful!" Margaret comes in the room all jumpily. Wow, I don't think I've ever seen her smile this much.
She's been in charge of the ceremony decorations. She told me roughly how it's all going to be and I had seen some pictures but I don't have a full image of it.
"Really? Oh, I so want to see it!" I say excitedly.
"You should. Before your make up is put on." I think Margaret's right. She was the first to get her make-up and hair done as she wanted to be there when the decorators were finishing their work.
"Yeah, I'll follow you guys as well." CJ says. CJ's also just had her hair and makeup done.
The three of us head downstairs and I'm very exited to see the setting.
I just finished getting my hair styled. I decided to let it loose with defined waves. A small bunch of my hair at the top are pinned back so I can put my veil on. It's not a big veil covering my head or face. The veil is really simple, short and champagne colored to match my dress. At the top of the veil, the stylists plan to put little red rose buds. Which I think will go perfectly with my simple bouquet of red flowers that I'll be carrying down the isle.
The bouquet has big bloomed deep red roses, smaller sized carnations, laurel berries and some greenery. It ended up looking a whole lot more beautiful than the display on the catalogue. CJ and the bridesmaids will be carrying just a few peony long stem roses each. I think it would look absolutely elegant with their Matte Taffeta A-line metallic maroon gown. The gowns have pleated silhouettes with square necklines. They are sleeveless with thin firm straps. The ladies will be having one bloomed peony rose tucked behind one ear. I think they'll all look incredibly gorgeous.
"Oh my...!!" CJ exclaims and I look up.
"Wow! Margaret this is a whole lot more beautiful than I ever imagined." It is indeed!
The pool is semi-circular, facing the attendance. It's all lit up with spot lights at about every five feet. The isle has a very dark red carpet and is completely filled with bright, deep red rose petals. I don't think I've seen this many rose petals ever! It's amazing! The floor of the isle is tiled with red bricks. It can be seen at the sides of carpet.
"Margaret, I'm so impressed! This archway is beautiful!"
CJ is absolutely right. The archway of the entrance gate has a bunch of white roses at the top and some pink ones at the sides, with greenery on it. It looks more natural than artificially decorated.
"I know! I can't imagine how much more gorgeous this place would look when it's dark." It's still bright out here and the ceremony will start only at 7pm.
"Oh, I absolutely can't wait for it to be dark!" Margaret is still all jumpy and I think I am too.
The three of us walk towards the front of the isle, all walking on the bricks and between the chairs. The sides of the isle is decorated with small fashionable candle holders every two feet. The candle holders are sheer white, where we can see the whole candle placed in each one. With this, the candle light would also emerge inside the holder. Each holder is surrounded by big bloomed red roses and leaves.
"These holders are like nothing I've ever seen!" CJ says and I nod.
"Wow, this gazebo is so alluring!" I say enthusiastically.
It was incredible! The outline is square-ish and has red roses all over. White lights are placed between the flowers and Margaret turned it on for us to see. There are some long candle sticks at the top of the gazebo, also placed in between the flowers. I don't know how they're staying in place, but I'm not going to question that.
"I'm imagining how it would look like with the candlesticks all lit up!" I say looking up at the top of the gazebo.
"Margaret, you completely outdid yourself! Are you sure you don't want to be a decorator instead of putting in countless hours being Leo's assistant?" We laugh at what CJ suggests. I actually think it's not a bad idea!
"Okay ladies, I know you all would love to keep staring at the miracle I made possible but it's time to get all dolled up!" Margaret orders. We follow her although I would have loved to just stay where we were.
"You know, I'm glad you saw it, Donna. I doubt you'll be paying any attention to Josh, if you saw the place for the first time when you were walking down the isle."
"I know, CJ. I don't think I would be looking at Josh at all even when we're saying the vows." I giggle.
Josh and I decided to write our own vows. I actually have no idea what he's saying. We never discussed it after deciding that we will be writing it ourselves. I worked on it for a long time, ever since we decided to write it. Until now, I haven't really gotten the exact words, so I'm going to wing it! I know, it's crazy but I thought it would be even worse if I had memorized it and forgot the words. So this way, I'll only say what comes out from my heart. Hopefully it'll turn out alright.
We enter the room and the girls are all dressed up.
"You girls look gorgeous!!" I say and hug each of them. CJ and I explain how the ceremony area was and we got everyone else excited. So excited that all of them decided to go down to have a look at it with Margaret after she put on her dress.
The stylist is now putting on my makeup while CJ is dressing up.
"Jane looks so beautiful, doesn't she? I would love to see Sam's face when he sees her!" CJ says.
Oh, it totally slipped my mind to tell her about who I saw sucking faces!
"CJ, I completely forgot to tell you! During the rehearsal dinner, I saw the two of them making out at the doorway to the restroom! They didn't see me though." I say. Unfortunately, I can't see CJ's face as my eye makeup is being put on.
"No way!! You didn't tell me this earlier?"
"Sorry, there were just soo many things going on at the same time, I totally forgot. Anyway, I thought we could have some fun with them, since they don't know that we know." I can't see CJ but I can feel her scheming smile coming up.
"I think we could handle that." CJ sounds really set on it.
I tried to call Donna last night but CJ refused to let me speak to her. Apparently she's created a whole new superstition. I know I didn't have anything important to inform Donna but I missed her voice. I still do. But I guess like CJ said, I need to stop being a big egoistical baby.
I met up with Nate, Franny, Donna's parents and my mom for lunch today. Both Franny and Nate seem really nice. Franny actually reminded me of Donna. She is really cute with long blond hair. I think she was a little taken by me. I never knew I wasn't a complete idiot when it came to kids. Makes me believe that I won't be a total klutz as a dad.
Somehow the day went by faster than I imagined. Sam, Charlie, Toby and I are in the hotel room getting dressed up. I still have my tux just laid out on the bed. The last thing I need is to crumple the suit or spill something on it.
Before I forget, I should get this over with. "Hey, guys. I got you all something...you know, as those traditional groomsmen gifts or whatever. It wasn't my idea...Donna said it was customary."
This is so embarrassing. The three of them are looking at me all funny. I knew I should have refused when Donna forced me!
"Well, anyway.......Toby. This is for you. Go ahead, open it."
Toby looks at me skeptically. How else would he look at me?
"It's a card set. The Yankees induction card. There's Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Rizzuto, Reggie Jackson, Berra and some others." I explain while he opens the small box.
Toby starts examining it. "Wow, I don't know what to say......Thanks.....it's....great." Ha! I rendered Toby speechless! I rendered the President's speech writer speechless....Wait a minute, that can't be good.
"That's soo cool. Now I'm dying to know what I got. Cough it up." Sam sticks out his hand towards me.
I dig my bag and hand over the gift I got Sam. He opens it hurriedly like a child.
"Josh! A tidal clock! A porthole styled brass type nonetheless! How did you know I needed one of these?" Oh, that's a windfall.
"I didn't. I just know it's designed for salt-water sailors, which is all I know about your sailing. I guess I lucked out. Apparently it shows the deviation from peak tides and the hours until one." I say, proud of the effort I put into find out details of this gift.
"Yes Josh. That's what a tidal clock is made for." I sense a hint of sarcasm in Sam's voice.
"Anyway, Charlie, this is for you." I yank out a big box.
"What? His box is huge! Ours was tiny Josh." Sam whines but I just smile him.
"Josh! It's signed by him! How did you get this?" Charlie exclaims.
"I work directly for the President of the United States, Charlie, you think I can't get a Shaquille O' Neil autographed basketball?"
"You do know that my sister, Deanna is going to steal it away from me anyway, right?" He asks me.
"Yeah, so you better enjoy it while you can." I say.
Charlie gives me a very grateful look. This guy is quite something. He can convey everything just by the look on his face.
Okay, maybe it was slightly fun getting them gifts. Sure, I just got them over the net but I actually did want them to have something special and not typical groomsmen gifts like cufflinks or a shirt. I guess this is a good enough excuse to actually get them something. It's not a token of appreciation for just their involvement in my wedding, it's more than that.
"Someone's at the door." Toby says and heads towards the door. I barely heard a knock at the door.
"Uncle Josh!!" What the.....Oh, it's Franny. Woah, she just ran like the wind and leaps into my arms. Thank god my reflexes are working as I spontaneously pick her up.
"Hey, Franny! Don't you look very pretty! Whatcha doing here, sweetheart?" I ask her.
"Grandpa wanted to see you." I turn my head to see Thomas standing next to Toby. I greet him and introduce both of them to the guys.
"If you all wouldn't mind, I'll like a word with Josh alone. Just a short while." Donna's dad says. Gulp!
Charlie instantly takes Franny out of my arms.
"Hey Franny. You want to join us outside just for a while? We can get to know each other a little better." Charlie asks her.
"Why not?" I smile at Franny's response.
"We'll right be outside." Toby says and the four of them leave the room. This can't be good.
The two of us take a seat at the coffee table.
"So Josh. I know I probably don't really have the right to give the 'father of the bride' talk. Lord knows I haven't been there for Donna all the time. I barely spent much time with her when she was growing up." He says.
Donna has mentioned that actually. When we went to New York City and slow danced, she said her dad never goes to the father-daughter events when she was in school and the only time he did, it was just for one song.
"I'm sure you did the best you could." I do mean that.
"Yes, well....I barely knew what is it that she does in the White House. And you know, one might say that she should have told us...But, the truth is, I think I should have asked her, which I didn't. Sometimes I think I may have failed as a father, especially when it comes to Donna. But anyway, like I said, I may not have the right to say this but I'm going to anyway." Oh god, what is he getting at?
"Sure, go ahead." I wish I felt as confident as I sound.
"Okay....If you hurt my little girl even the slightest bit, I don't give a damn who you work for, I will break your knee caps and send you off as far away as Siberia!" I think my eyes just popped out and I've lost all my ability to speak.
"Err...Umm...I...I promise sir. I'll take care of her and give her the life she deserves for the rest of my life. You can't even begin to imagine how much it is that I love and need your daughter. I know how special she is." Wow, I had no idea I could get that out of my mouth.
"Good. Now that we've cleared things up, I also wanted to say....Welcome to the family, son." He sticks out his hand. This man is crazy but I'm not about to tell him that. I shake his hand.
It takes me more than few minutes to come back to reality after Franny and Thomas left.
"Oh shit!! Oh no......Oh no..." What's Sam going on about?
"What is it?" Toby asks Sam and the three of us look at him.
"Oh...umm...nothing." Sam definitely has the worst poker face, not me!
"What is it Sam?" I ask sternly. I'm certain something has gone wrong.
TBC.............................................................