The following months consisted of planning and stressing and inviting and a little bit of crying and lots and lots of kissing. On Friday, December 16th, Ellie, now a sophomore, but still taking senior classes, literally ran out of her last period English class and hardly stopped to breathe the entire eight and a half blocks home. Panting, she burst through the front door of Michelle's apartment.

Michelle, sitting cross-legged on the couch, looked up. "Hey cute girl." She patted the spot next to her, where Ellie sat down without even removing her backpack.

"So," Michelle began, pulling Ellie's backpack off for her, "does it feel good to be done with school for the break?"

Ellie nodded vigorously and then turned to look at the kitchen clock. She couldn't read it from the couch, so she walked a few steps toward it. "One thirty-seven," she said. She squished her eyes shut for a moment and then said, "Twenty-seven hours, twenty-three minutes."

Michelle smiled. "Can you not read the clock from over here? We'd better get you an eye appointment."

"Why are my eyes even remotely important right now?" Ellie yelled, or at least said very loudly.

Michelle put a finger to her lips. "Sssh... Mrs. Martin upstairs is sick. She's probably trying to get some sleep." By this point, Michelle knew exactly what was going on, but she wasn't going to end it just yet. She tried to hold back a smile.

Ellie was pacing the kitchen. "Michelle!"

Michelle calmly turned around and said, "What is it?" This was a sign that Michelle really knew Ellie- she knew just how far she could let her go into freak-out mode before having to stop her.

Ellie continued pacing, her breath quickening. "You're worried about the old lady upstairs and whether or not my eyes are going bad but you're getting married tomorrow for heaven's sake and then I'm heading off for winter break while you go on your honeymoon which I really don't even want to think about and then I'll come back and Tony will live here in this apartment and absolutely everything will be completely different again and so tonight is the last night ever that it'll just be you and me here and-"

Michelle cut her off. "Ellie. Honey. Seriously, you've got to stop doing this." Michelle walked over to where Ellie was standing in the kitchen and led her by the shoulders until they were both standing in front of the couch. "Sit." Ellie did as she was told, and Michelle sat down next to her.

Ellie stared at her feet. "Sorry."

Michelle put her hand on Ellie's back. "It's okay. Just talk to me." This was one of the Ellie things that Michelle still struggled to deal with- either she didn't talk at all, or she flipped out and didn't make any sense, so they couldn't get anywhere. "What are you worried about?"

Ellie's breathing began to slow down. After a moment, she opened her mouth. "It's just... everything's going to be different."

"Yeah." Michelle continued rubbing circles into Ellie's back. "But we've talked about how things will work, so there shouldn't be too many surprises. And different doesn't mean bad, right?"

Ellie nodded. They had talked about this. A lot. Tony would move in with Michelle and Ellie; the his apartment was quite a bit smaller, and Michelle didn't want Ellie to have to change schools. And Ellie wasn't going to freak out when she saw Tony and Michelle kissing or touching or anything- married people do that. They had talked about that too.

Ellie pulled both feet up onto the couch and hugged her knees to her chest. Michelle's hand moved from her back to her hair. "What else?" Michelle said.

Michelle was aware that Ellie had never really seen a marriage, or any type of relationship, that really worked. She had grown up with a single father, and she had seen her brother get married, only to have an affair. Michelle was glad that through she and Tony, Ellie would get to see a marriage that went (as she was sure it would) the way a happy marriage was supposed to go.

Ellie looked up. "Are you excited?"

Michelle smiled. "Of course." She paused. "Are you?"

Ellie nodded. "Are you nervous?"

"Not really. I guess maybe just a little. Mostly excited though."

"What time is Kerry coming?"

"Three hours. Are you going to drive us to the airport to pick her up?" Ellie had gotten her driver's permit several months ago, but didn't particularly like driving. She wasn't a bad driver; she just didn't like it. Michelle thought that it was because it stressed her out too much. But Michelle was also aware that Tony was much better at giving driving lessons than she was- she tried to slam on the brakes from the passenger seat too much when there were no brakes there.

Ellie turned to look at Michelle. "Do I have to?"

Michelle thought for a moment. "I guess not. But Kerry would be impressed!"

It was Ellie's turn to think. "I'll think about it." It could go either way.

Michelle reached up and pushed one of the curls that had fallen into Ellie's face back behind her ear. "Do you want to let me straighten your hair tonight?"

Ellie shrugged. "If you want to."

"We'll see what Kerry feels like doing." They sat in silence for a moment. "So, what else are you worried about?"

"A lot of things."

Michelle frowned. They had been over this. "Like what?"

"Like if I remembered to pack everything important. Like if everything will go okay tomorrow. Like if it'll rain. Like if I'll spill something on my dress. Lots of little things."

Michelle playfully pushed Ellie. "Well, quit being such a worrywart. Don't waste time worrying about the little things. Haven't you got anything better than that?"

"Like if Tony will be nicer to you than your last boyfriend was when he got mad."

Michelle didn't think Ellie knew much about that. "Of course he will."

"Like if, between work and Tony, you'll be way too busy for me."

"Ellie! That's silly. You know I'll never be too busy for you."

"Like if you'll be happy."

Michelle paused. "What about whether or not you'll be happy?"

Ellie shrugged. "You said not to worry about stuff that isn't a big deal."