Lightning-Dono: Okay, some answers to my purdy reviews. =D
A harvest moon fan - That's okay, I could tell it was you because of that chicken thing. Uh...Rick wants a miracle to happen, there aren't any miracles going on. But I suppose he will have a brilliant stroke of luck...somehow. I don't generally update every single day, but I try.
EM - Nothing's perfect...But I want the wedding to be happy, so maybe there will only be a few mess ups or something that's not exactly pleasant to one person. I don't know.
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I woke up fresh the next morning.
"Hurry it up, Rick!" Popuri rushed, gawking at me enviously. I didn't know what there was to be jealous of as the suit was absolutely strangling me around the neck. "Four hours until the wedding!"
Four hours? Then what was the rush? I had to comb my hair, at any rate. I could be a part of the wedding just sloppily wearing a suit with hair that looked as though I had stuck my finger into an electrical socket.
"Sure," I mumbled back at her. She vanished into her room and reappeared wearing a stunningly white dress. It didn't exactly look right against her bright pink hair, but I decided not to comment.
"Oh, Rick, I'm so happy for you!" She exploded, wrapping her arms around me in a very tight embrace. It was more like I was marrying her rather than Karen.
"Thanks." I tried to comb my hair down. "You can let go of me now."
"Yes." She flushed a brilliant shade of red. "I-I don't know what I was thinking." Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs, hitching up her dress in a lady-like way. I doubted that Karen could even bear to do that for a second.
Moments later, we were walking as a very fashionable group down the road, father constantly pulling at his bow tie in distress.
"This is so tight!" He gasped, glancing in the direction of his wife for consoling.
"That's the way it should be! You wouldn't want it to slip down to your waist, now, would you?" She said for the hundredth time. He looked slightly offended, but his complaining stopped.
"Rick!" May screamed, prancing up to us, waving her basket around wildly. Flower petals scattered around her. "Oops," she mumbled. Stu jumped up behind her and gaped numbly at the mess of petals infront of him. I was staring at the mess in blatant horror at first.
"Never mind it. We have plenty of time to get more flower petals at the church," I said quickly to the young girl who was quickly losing self-confidence.
"Okay!" She replied, recovering from the shock. Mother nodded approvingly and we continued on with added members to our party.
We walked by Saibara's place. My only hope was that Gray didn't come out right then. Well, everything would've gone perfectly if May hadn't been wearing a bright red kimono and Stu and dark blue suit with a large, yellow polka-dotted bow tie to accompany it. Gray popped out from the open door.
"So, where are you all going on a day like this?" He asked in a falsely cheerful voice.
"We, uh, we're going to my wedding?" I turned back to my parents, the forces of authority. They didn't do anything to defend me.
"Why didn't you invite me?" He demanded in a hurtful voice. There was a brief pause as I thought about this. I couldn't find a single reason why I hadn't, except that I had completely forgotten.
"I don't know," I replied at last, my voice cracking. Gray's look bore through me like a vaccination needle.
"Oh, so you don't know?" He said slowly, shaking his head and re-adjusting his cap. I raised my hands up to try and halt him from walking back into his shop. "No, no, it's okay," he said simply, his voice an octave higher and thinning. "I just thought I'd see if I could come." Without even looking back at me, he stepped into the shop and slammed the door in my face, casting me an evil look before doing so. Popuri waited until we were out of hearing range from Gray when she rounded on me.
"That was so tactless!" She breathed angrily, standing infront of me defiantly.
"What was?"
"You didn't even bother to invite him to the wedding! That was !" Popuri looked ready to tear me to bits. So was the revelation about Kai over? What did she do; jump on the 'I-love-quiet-guys' bandwagon and start worshipping Gray?
"What did you want me to do?" I said, not even bothering to look at her.
"That-,"
Someone stepped between us. Father.
"Enough, kids," he said firmly. Atleast he had gained some sense after Popuri had lost hers. Popuri moved to the back of the group and sulked their for the rest of the walk.
"I'm glad to see you all today! Smiling...happy..." Carter caught a glimpse of Popuri's moody expression. He gave her a Look. "Yes. Now, if you would all kindly step inside the church, it'll begin in two hours and thirty minutes. Please use this time to prepare for the wedding reception." We all nodded in unison. Looking around, I saw that Karen hadn't arrived yet. So to pass the time, I guided May over to a corner, plucking flower petals from the hanging bouquets cautiously as I went.
"Here," I said quietly, pouring the petals into her basket with the remaining ones. "Don't lose these, okay?" May smiled and shook her head.
Mom was busy handing Stu the ring mounted on top of what looked like a pillow.
"Balance it on here, okay?" I heard her saying, handing the pillow to Stu so he could practice.
Moments later, Karen made her grand entrance to the church.
"The bride has arrived!" She announced loudly, twirling her dress around like a dancer. Everyone turned to see her come in, not exactly the greeting she had been expecting. "What?" She said irritably to the numerous pairs of eyes that had suddenly averted their gazes to meet hers.
"Here comes the bride, fair fat and wide," Stu said in a singsong voice. If he had been any older, Karen would've unleashed her fury upon him. Instead, she watched me expectantly. In reply, I walked up to her and tried to guide her gracefully around the pews towards the wall. It looked more like I was dragging a wagon behind me.
"Here." I let her sit. She looked more stimulated than ever. Her face was a bright pink and her teeth were a dazzling white.
"Oh, Rick, this is SO awesome!" She expressed, pulling stray strands of hair up into the bun that was perched neatly on her head. I nodded in agreement as I sat down next to her, pulling on my collar in an attempt to widen it.
"It'd be even better if my collar wasn't so...tight!" I choked. Glancing at my throat, she noticed what was wrong right away.
"You don't need this buttoned up all the way, right?" She said, unbuttoning the top-most one. I let out a relaxed breath.
"Thanks," I sighed, removing my glasses and cleaning them.
"Aren't you excited?" Karen asked testily, watching me breath slowly onto the lenses of my glasses and rubbing them with my sleeve.
"Of course I am!" I replied exuberantly. "How can you expect me not to be? I mean...This is just...Wow."
Karen smiled understandingly. "But I'm scared," she confided once more.
"What now?"
"I already told you this before...But...I don't want to have a baby. You're not expecting that are you?" She gripped my shoulder painfully.
"No. I just want you to be happy."
Karen's joy leaked from her grin. "Okay, then it's all good. I'm ready..." She leaned her head on my shoulder and her golden curtain of hair fell from the bun on her head. "Drat." She sat straight up again and re-assembled her hair.
The clock struck twelve in the afternoon.
"This is it," I whispered, almost jumping off the pew.
"Okay, we have to go over there...right?" Karen led me in a confused beeline to our places. Jack burst in noisily through the doors at the last moment and collapsed on a pew towards the front. Carter frowned at him, but launched into a lengthy speech. If I hadn't been quite so excited it might have plunged me into a deep stupor, but it soon ended and lightly played wedding music began. I was too surprised by this sudden movement that I nearly stumbled into Karen, who was standing infront of me.
"Watch it!" She whispered sternly. I nodded nervously. This had to be the strangest set-up in the world. Carter and Rod had decided to make things look prettier and more attractive.
Jeff ushered Karen in the isle with me following. He handed her a neat bouquet of flowers. I got on the other side of Karen where there was actually space and she clutched my hand tightly. But as I looked at her, it appeared that she was enjoying this very much, even if her grip was steadily tightening. She smiled serenely up at me and I did the same to her, even though I had a hidden urge to burst out laughing at my foolish attempts to stay calm.
May followed behind us, tossing the flower petals into the air with a little hop every so often to accompany her walking. The petals that were shades of pink, red, and light violet showered gently over us and floated over to the audience.
As we stepped onto the first step towards Carter, we turned to face the audience, only slightly sideways. Popuri watched me with excitement and envy. At this time, Ann crawled slowly out of her seat (despite her dress), and went over to where Jack was sitting. Jack looked surprised for a second, but he wasn't stupid; he knew what was going on right away. He glanced up towards me and gave me a huge smile.
May walked towards the side and sprayed the members of the spectators towards the front with what was left of the flower petals in her basket.
Carter started to talk about the importance of dedication to one's partner of marriage and such. This was Stu's cue to start walking slowly towards the front. Stu, who always took everything to the extreme, appeared to be walking in slow motion. Everyone glanced at him with amused looks. Carter looked down at Stu, who was still halfway there and decided to extend his already irksome speech. Karen let out a barely noticeable groan.
Eventually, Stu arrived towards the front. I lifted the ring from its cushion. The audience held it's collective breath. Carter began talking about something else that I didn't have the heart to listen to. I was captivated by the kind look Karen was giving me and the audience that apparently seemed as energized as I was. It felt like a magical moment where everything is just hanging and everyone waits for something to happen. Trying to breathe normally, I slipped the ring onto Karen's awaiting finger. The pastor was thrilled and he started to say something. Once again, the audience held its breath, to my annoyance. But it served as a hint that we should be doing something now. The organ stopped playing the merry tune that it once had been. An uncomfortable silence followed.
"This is it," Karen whispered for my ears only. I nodded. I tilted my head the way I was supposed to and closed my eyes. I felt something make contact with my lips and felt like spitting something out, but I didn't. Everyone cheered loudly, Ann absent-mindedly ruffling Jack's hair; Popuri jumping up and down and yelling something; Jeff, Sasha, my mom and dad clapping loudly; Carter smiling his usual smile; and Karen and I stuck in one pose. I moved myself and we ended the kiss that seemed to last longer than necessary. Nevertheless, it felt good to get it over with and it also felt good to know that Karen and I weren't going to apart again.
"Wait up, folks!" She shouted above the din of everyone talking at once. The members of the reception turned. "I'm going to throw the bouquet!" She stepped towards the audience and threw it into the air. For a second, I thought the whole thing was going to fall apart, but the flowers stayed bound together. The bouquet dropped and Ann caught it.
"I caught it! I caught it!" She shouted, jumping up and down like a lunatic.
While this happened, Karen teetered unstably from the steps and I helped her down.
"I hate these high-heels," she grimaced, limping towards the reception table, only to be plowed over by family members launching hugs upon us.
Popuri let out a wail that sounded happy. "That was great! I can't wait to get married, now!" She exclaimed, throwing herself onto me. Jack seemed to have forgotten that we were just friends and not formal acquaintances. "Congratulations," he told me solemnly, shaking my hand.
"Come on, Rick!" Karen hauled me away mid-shake towards the reception tables. "Before they eat everything!"
We managed to come out alive from the noisy crown with some cake. We sat down at one of the long tables that had been set out and Karen got a very mistrustful look.
"Hey, Rick, over there!" She screeched. I turned my head towards where she was pointing and she smashed me into my cake. At first I was enraged until I remembered that it was all part of the fun. Laughing, I wiped the white substance off of my face onto a napkin.
"Nice one," I grinned, still wiping off the frosting.
"Thanks. Oh, I'll get you other slice of cake," she added guiltily, looking at the remains of my cake.
"That's okay, I can get one myself." I got up slowly, feeling slightly disorientated. Karen grabbed her purse and whacked me with it.
"Oh, come on! I'll get it for you! It's my fault." With that, Karen stormed off. I hope that I hadn't just spurred another fight.
"After-wedding fights, eh, Rick?" Said a voice from behind me. I whipped around, alarmed. It was only my father, drinking something.
"Well, she smashed my face into my cake," I said.
"She's a pretty fast gal. I like that. Rick, would you listen to me if I told you this?"
"Tell me what?"
"I'm sorry about doing those awful things to you," he apologized. "I guess I wasn't the best father in the world right then. I lived without children for so long that I treated you more like you were my age." He rubbed his hands together hopefully. I nodded for him to go on. "And...you know...Now I can't make it all up to you." He sighed depressingly and took a swig of the thing inside the bottle he was drinking. I had a strong suspicion that it was beer.
"It's okay," I said simply, not knowing what else to say to comfort him. Karen came back with a slice of cake balanced on a plate.
"Here you are," she said sweetly, slipping it on the table.
"Thanks," I replied.
Father continued, "But...What happened to my chickens?" he asked in a low voice.
"They weren't your chickens," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "I don't care. What happened to them?"
"I...uh...gave them to Jack. I didn't want you to kill them anymore, dad! It's not fair!" I remembered the horrified clucking, the silence after he cranked the handle, the head of a defenseless animal rolling onto the ground...It was unbearable.
"Yes, yes, I understand. Well, have fun!" He waved to me and went off to talk to the other men attending the reception. The Mayor was exceptionally fat for only eating some cake, but it was soon revealed that he had been hiding some of it in his pockets that were inside of his jacket.
"Hey, Rick," Karen voice said from behind me with an unusually dreamy quality to it. I caught the scent of beer and turned.
"I thought I didn't want you to drink that stuff anymore," I said reproachfully. Karen shrugged.
"We're having fun, remember?" She downed the rest of the contents and thrust the bottle onto the table. "Who doesn't like the taste of beer?"
I chose not to answer that question, as I had never thought to drink beer. Although I did remember when I was younger I had wanted to and after tasting the bitter liquid I had fought to stay away from it.
When we left, it was three in the afternoon, and we were all exhausted.
"We have to make arrangements of where to live," Karen explained to me as we left the church, showered by flower petals that everyone had ripped off of the flowers on the wall.
"Phteah," I spat as a flower petal landed in my mouth as I opened it to speak.
"What was that?" Karen asked sharply.
"Something got in my mouth. Anyway, we'll have to talk about it later."
The crowd behind us rushed out and threw stuff such as seeds and grains of rice.
"Oh, fun," Karen said good-naturedly, catching some and throwing them back. Jack ran up playfully and attached a 'Just Married' sign to our backs. We left it there, although it was quite uncomfortable to walk with.
But the sign displayed the truth, we were newly-weds, and proud.
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I'm sorry if that was so bad! It took me 2 days to write because I had to plan everything out. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!
A harvest moon fan - That's okay, I could tell it was you because of that chicken thing. Uh...Rick wants a miracle to happen, there aren't any miracles going on. But I suppose he will have a brilliant stroke of luck...somehow. I don't generally update every single day, but I try.
EM - Nothing's perfect...But I want the wedding to be happy, so maybe there will only be a few mess ups or something that's not exactly pleasant to one person. I don't know.
-----
I woke up fresh the next morning.
"Hurry it up, Rick!" Popuri rushed, gawking at me enviously. I didn't know what there was to be jealous of as the suit was absolutely strangling me around the neck. "Four hours until the wedding!"
Four hours? Then what was the rush? I had to comb my hair, at any rate. I could be a part of the wedding just sloppily wearing a suit with hair that looked as though I had stuck my finger into an electrical socket.
"Sure," I mumbled back at her. She vanished into her room and reappeared wearing a stunningly white dress. It didn't exactly look right against her bright pink hair, but I decided not to comment.
"Oh, Rick, I'm so happy for you!" She exploded, wrapping her arms around me in a very tight embrace. It was more like I was marrying her rather than Karen.
"Thanks." I tried to comb my hair down. "You can let go of me now."
"Yes." She flushed a brilliant shade of red. "I-I don't know what I was thinking." Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs, hitching up her dress in a lady-like way. I doubted that Karen could even bear to do that for a second.
Moments later, we were walking as a very fashionable group down the road, father constantly pulling at his bow tie in distress.
"This is so tight!" He gasped, glancing in the direction of his wife for consoling.
"That's the way it should be! You wouldn't want it to slip down to your waist, now, would you?" She said for the hundredth time. He looked slightly offended, but his complaining stopped.
"Rick!" May screamed, prancing up to us, waving her basket around wildly. Flower petals scattered around her. "Oops," she mumbled. Stu jumped up behind her and gaped numbly at the mess of petals infront of him. I was staring at the mess in blatant horror at first.
"Never mind it. We have plenty of time to get more flower petals at the church," I said quickly to the young girl who was quickly losing self-confidence.
"Okay!" She replied, recovering from the shock. Mother nodded approvingly and we continued on with added members to our party.
We walked by Saibara's place. My only hope was that Gray didn't come out right then. Well, everything would've gone perfectly if May hadn't been wearing a bright red kimono and Stu and dark blue suit with a large, yellow polka-dotted bow tie to accompany it. Gray popped out from the open door.
"So, where are you all going on a day like this?" He asked in a falsely cheerful voice.
"We, uh, we're going to my wedding?" I turned back to my parents, the forces of authority. They didn't do anything to defend me.
"Why didn't you invite me?" He demanded in a hurtful voice. There was a brief pause as I thought about this. I couldn't find a single reason why I hadn't, except that I had completely forgotten.
"I don't know," I replied at last, my voice cracking. Gray's look bore through me like a vaccination needle.
"Oh, so you don't know?" He said slowly, shaking his head and re-adjusting his cap. I raised my hands up to try and halt him from walking back into his shop. "No, no, it's okay," he said simply, his voice an octave higher and thinning. "I just thought I'd see if I could come." Without even looking back at me, he stepped into the shop and slammed the door in my face, casting me an evil look before doing so. Popuri waited until we were out of hearing range from Gray when she rounded on me.
"That was so tactless!" She breathed angrily, standing infront of me defiantly.
"What was?"
"You didn't even bother to invite him to the wedding! That was !" Popuri looked ready to tear me to bits. So was the revelation about Kai over? What did she do; jump on the 'I-love-quiet-guys' bandwagon and start worshipping Gray?
"What did you want me to do?" I said, not even bothering to look at her.
"That-,"
Someone stepped between us. Father.
"Enough, kids," he said firmly. Atleast he had gained some sense after Popuri had lost hers. Popuri moved to the back of the group and sulked their for the rest of the walk.
"I'm glad to see you all today! Smiling...happy..." Carter caught a glimpse of Popuri's moody expression. He gave her a Look. "Yes. Now, if you would all kindly step inside the church, it'll begin in two hours and thirty minutes. Please use this time to prepare for the wedding reception." We all nodded in unison. Looking around, I saw that Karen hadn't arrived yet. So to pass the time, I guided May over to a corner, plucking flower petals from the hanging bouquets cautiously as I went.
"Here," I said quietly, pouring the petals into her basket with the remaining ones. "Don't lose these, okay?" May smiled and shook her head.
Mom was busy handing Stu the ring mounted on top of what looked like a pillow.
"Balance it on here, okay?" I heard her saying, handing the pillow to Stu so he could practice.
Moments later, Karen made her grand entrance to the church.
"The bride has arrived!" She announced loudly, twirling her dress around like a dancer. Everyone turned to see her come in, not exactly the greeting she had been expecting. "What?" She said irritably to the numerous pairs of eyes that had suddenly averted their gazes to meet hers.
"Here comes the bride, fair fat and wide," Stu said in a singsong voice. If he had been any older, Karen would've unleashed her fury upon him. Instead, she watched me expectantly. In reply, I walked up to her and tried to guide her gracefully around the pews towards the wall. It looked more like I was dragging a wagon behind me.
"Here." I let her sit. She looked more stimulated than ever. Her face was a bright pink and her teeth were a dazzling white.
"Oh, Rick, this is SO awesome!" She expressed, pulling stray strands of hair up into the bun that was perched neatly on her head. I nodded in agreement as I sat down next to her, pulling on my collar in an attempt to widen it.
"It'd be even better if my collar wasn't so...tight!" I choked. Glancing at my throat, she noticed what was wrong right away.
"You don't need this buttoned up all the way, right?" She said, unbuttoning the top-most one. I let out a relaxed breath.
"Thanks," I sighed, removing my glasses and cleaning them.
"Aren't you excited?" Karen asked testily, watching me breath slowly onto the lenses of my glasses and rubbing them with my sleeve.
"Of course I am!" I replied exuberantly. "How can you expect me not to be? I mean...This is just...Wow."
Karen smiled understandingly. "But I'm scared," she confided once more.
"What now?"
"I already told you this before...But...I don't want to have a baby. You're not expecting that are you?" She gripped my shoulder painfully.
"No. I just want you to be happy."
Karen's joy leaked from her grin. "Okay, then it's all good. I'm ready..." She leaned her head on my shoulder and her golden curtain of hair fell from the bun on her head. "Drat." She sat straight up again and re-assembled her hair.
The clock struck twelve in the afternoon.
"This is it," I whispered, almost jumping off the pew.
"Okay, we have to go over there...right?" Karen led me in a confused beeline to our places. Jack burst in noisily through the doors at the last moment and collapsed on a pew towards the front. Carter frowned at him, but launched into a lengthy speech. If I hadn't been quite so excited it might have plunged me into a deep stupor, but it soon ended and lightly played wedding music began. I was too surprised by this sudden movement that I nearly stumbled into Karen, who was standing infront of me.
"Watch it!" She whispered sternly. I nodded nervously. This had to be the strangest set-up in the world. Carter and Rod had decided to make things look prettier and more attractive.
Jeff ushered Karen in the isle with me following. He handed her a neat bouquet of flowers. I got on the other side of Karen where there was actually space and she clutched my hand tightly. But as I looked at her, it appeared that she was enjoying this very much, even if her grip was steadily tightening. She smiled serenely up at me and I did the same to her, even though I had a hidden urge to burst out laughing at my foolish attempts to stay calm.
May followed behind us, tossing the flower petals into the air with a little hop every so often to accompany her walking. The petals that were shades of pink, red, and light violet showered gently over us and floated over to the audience.
As we stepped onto the first step towards Carter, we turned to face the audience, only slightly sideways. Popuri watched me with excitement and envy. At this time, Ann crawled slowly out of her seat (despite her dress), and went over to where Jack was sitting. Jack looked surprised for a second, but he wasn't stupid; he knew what was going on right away. He glanced up towards me and gave me a huge smile.
May walked towards the side and sprayed the members of the spectators towards the front with what was left of the flower petals in her basket.
Carter started to talk about the importance of dedication to one's partner of marriage and such. This was Stu's cue to start walking slowly towards the front. Stu, who always took everything to the extreme, appeared to be walking in slow motion. Everyone glanced at him with amused looks. Carter looked down at Stu, who was still halfway there and decided to extend his already irksome speech. Karen let out a barely noticeable groan.
Eventually, Stu arrived towards the front. I lifted the ring from its cushion. The audience held it's collective breath. Carter began talking about something else that I didn't have the heart to listen to. I was captivated by the kind look Karen was giving me and the audience that apparently seemed as energized as I was. It felt like a magical moment where everything is just hanging and everyone waits for something to happen. Trying to breathe normally, I slipped the ring onto Karen's awaiting finger. The pastor was thrilled and he started to say something. Once again, the audience held its breath, to my annoyance. But it served as a hint that we should be doing something now. The organ stopped playing the merry tune that it once had been. An uncomfortable silence followed.
"This is it," Karen whispered for my ears only. I nodded. I tilted my head the way I was supposed to and closed my eyes. I felt something make contact with my lips and felt like spitting something out, but I didn't. Everyone cheered loudly, Ann absent-mindedly ruffling Jack's hair; Popuri jumping up and down and yelling something; Jeff, Sasha, my mom and dad clapping loudly; Carter smiling his usual smile; and Karen and I stuck in one pose. I moved myself and we ended the kiss that seemed to last longer than necessary. Nevertheless, it felt good to get it over with and it also felt good to know that Karen and I weren't going to apart again.
"Wait up, folks!" She shouted above the din of everyone talking at once. The members of the reception turned. "I'm going to throw the bouquet!" She stepped towards the audience and threw it into the air. For a second, I thought the whole thing was going to fall apart, but the flowers stayed bound together. The bouquet dropped and Ann caught it.
"I caught it! I caught it!" She shouted, jumping up and down like a lunatic.
While this happened, Karen teetered unstably from the steps and I helped her down.
"I hate these high-heels," she grimaced, limping towards the reception table, only to be plowed over by family members launching hugs upon us.
Popuri let out a wail that sounded happy. "That was great! I can't wait to get married, now!" She exclaimed, throwing herself onto me. Jack seemed to have forgotten that we were just friends and not formal acquaintances. "Congratulations," he told me solemnly, shaking my hand.
"Come on, Rick!" Karen hauled me away mid-shake towards the reception tables. "Before they eat everything!"
We managed to come out alive from the noisy crown with some cake. We sat down at one of the long tables that had been set out and Karen got a very mistrustful look.
"Hey, Rick, over there!" She screeched. I turned my head towards where she was pointing and she smashed me into my cake. At first I was enraged until I remembered that it was all part of the fun. Laughing, I wiped the white substance off of my face onto a napkin.
"Nice one," I grinned, still wiping off the frosting.
"Thanks. Oh, I'll get you other slice of cake," she added guiltily, looking at the remains of my cake.
"That's okay, I can get one myself." I got up slowly, feeling slightly disorientated. Karen grabbed her purse and whacked me with it.
"Oh, come on! I'll get it for you! It's my fault." With that, Karen stormed off. I hope that I hadn't just spurred another fight.
"After-wedding fights, eh, Rick?" Said a voice from behind me. I whipped around, alarmed. It was only my father, drinking something.
"Well, she smashed my face into my cake," I said.
"She's a pretty fast gal. I like that. Rick, would you listen to me if I told you this?"
"Tell me what?"
"I'm sorry about doing those awful things to you," he apologized. "I guess I wasn't the best father in the world right then. I lived without children for so long that I treated you more like you were my age." He rubbed his hands together hopefully. I nodded for him to go on. "And...you know...Now I can't make it all up to you." He sighed depressingly and took a swig of the thing inside the bottle he was drinking. I had a strong suspicion that it was beer.
"It's okay," I said simply, not knowing what else to say to comfort him. Karen came back with a slice of cake balanced on a plate.
"Here you are," she said sweetly, slipping it on the table.
"Thanks," I replied.
Father continued, "But...What happened to my chickens?" he asked in a low voice.
"They weren't your chickens," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "I don't care. What happened to them?"
"I...uh...gave them to Jack. I didn't want you to kill them anymore, dad! It's not fair!" I remembered the horrified clucking, the silence after he cranked the handle, the head of a defenseless animal rolling onto the ground...It was unbearable.
"Yes, yes, I understand. Well, have fun!" He waved to me and went off to talk to the other men attending the reception. The Mayor was exceptionally fat for only eating some cake, but it was soon revealed that he had been hiding some of it in his pockets that were inside of his jacket.
"Hey, Rick," Karen voice said from behind me with an unusually dreamy quality to it. I caught the scent of beer and turned.
"I thought I didn't want you to drink that stuff anymore," I said reproachfully. Karen shrugged.
"We're having fun, remember?" She downed the rest of the contents and thrust the bottle onto the table. "Who doesn't like the taste of beer?"
I chose not to answer that question, as I had never thought to drink beer. Although I did remember when I was younger I had wanted to and after tasting the bitter liquid I had fought to stay away from it.
When we left, it was three in the afternoon, and we were all exhausted.
"We have to make arrangements of where to live," Karen explained to me as we left the church, showered by flower petals that everyone had ripped off of the flowers on the wall.
"Phteah," I spat as a flower petal landed in my mouth as I opened it to speak.
"What was that?" Karen asked sharply.
"Something got in my mouth. Anyway, we'll have to talk about it later."
The crowd behind us rushed out and threw stuff such as seeds and grains of rice.
"Oh, fun," Karen said good-naturedly, catching some and throwing them back. Jack ran up playfully and attached a 'Just Married' sign to our backs. We left it there, although it was quite uncomfortable to walk with.
But the sign displayed the truth, we were newly-weds, and proud.
-----
I'm sorry if that was so bad! It took me 2 days to write because I had to plan everything out. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!