Chpt. 40 APOV:
"I can't believe your mom shipped so many dresses to you!" I exclaim as I take in everything in Kate's living room. Lying across her couch and two chairs, are bags of wedding gowns that were delivered yesterday. With our ceremony just a week away, this is one of the final items that I still need to cross off my to do list. Thankfully Kate's mom came through and sent more than enough gowns for me to choose from. She even has a seamstress she's worked with out here in the past who can alter the dress for me in time for the ceremony.
The last couple of weeks have absolutely flown by, between work and planning for the wedding we've been so busy that we haven't had much downtime. Work continues at our house, with the master bedroom slowly being finished. The hope is it will be done the week following our wedding if everything goes as planned. We had a slight setback with the electric upstairs that pushed our timeline back, but now everything is progressing as it should be.
Thankfully Grace and Mia have taken the reigns of planning for our wedding. We have a very small guest list, less than a dozen people will be in attendance. None of us wanted a huge event, filled with people we don't know. Especially given our… unique relationship, we only wanted people there that we knew supported our marriage. Taylor and I don't have any family, well none that we want attending our wedding, so that cut down greatly on our guest list.
Still, even with a small guest list, there is so much to do for the wedding especially since we want to do it so quickly. This is where Mia and Grace come in; Grace wasn't kidding when she said they've been planning these types of events forever. They have it down to a science; I've had no issue letting them take the reins either. They check in with us about the final decision of course, but they have contacts that would take me hours just to find.
Kate will of course be my maid of honor and Elliot will be both Christian and Taylor's best man. Planning the ceremony part has been a little challenging. We've found lots of information on the internet about three way commitment ceremonies but most seem to be about bringing a third person to an already existing relationship. Finding examples of ceremonies for our situation hasn't been easy, but we're getting there.
We went ring shopping last weekend which was much easier than I expected. Turns out Christian and Taylor had already discussed this part and had decided that each of them would be giving me a wedding band. We found two bands that will sandwich my engagement ring perfectly; they're both similar but different from one another as they picked out their own band that they wanted to give me. Their wedding bands though took more discussion. I felt like they each needed to have two bands, one from me and one from the other person. They both vetoed that idea though, neither of them wanted to wear two wedding bands. Ultimately we decided they would wear one wedding band that would be presented to them by the two of us. One thing I loved is that we decided to have our three names engraved on the inside of our wedding bands along with the date of our wedding.
Today Elliot, Christian and Taylor are getting fitted for their tuxes while Kate and I finalize a wedding gown. Her mom is an amazing designer, specializing in high end gowns that under normal circumstances I would never even be able to dream of wearing. However I've known Kate for so many years now that her mother wouldn't hear of me wearing a dress by anyone else for my wedding.
"I'm pretty sure she sent every dress that she had finished, or nearly finished, in your size from her shop," Kate explains. "I've tried to organize them as best I can so they're not too overwhelming. The easiest way to eliminate a few, is if you want a typical floor length dress or one that falls shorter—"
"Definitely floor length."
"I figured, so that eliminates that pile."
For the next two hours, I try on more gowns than I thought possible before finally choosing the perfect one. The gown is simple but elegant; it sits just off my shoulders which is perfect for the outside ceremony. The top is simple, with no embellishments of any kind which is exactly what I wanted. Some of the other gowns had sequence sewn in which while beautiful felt scratchy to the touch. This gown is the opposite, having the sequence sewn in along the bottom and the train of the gown. The train is short but I don't need something huge considering the small ceremony we're having.
"Mom sent a few pairs of shoes too, ones that could go with any of these dresses so I think between those and the undergarments you should be set," Kate announces.
"I think you're right," I smile looking at the mess we made of her living room. "I'll never be able to thank your mom for doing all of this for me."
"You know she wouldn't have it any other way, she can't wait to see you again."
"Do you need any help getting these back to her?"
"No, she's going to pick them up next weekend when they come for the wedding."
"I can't believe it's less than a week away!"
"Getting nervous?"
"A little, but not the reasons you think."
"What then?"
"More nervous that something won't come together. Like the cake won't be there or the DJ won't have the song we prepared. Or… "
"I get it, that was my biggest concern too even though the wedding planner in Vegas assured me everything was set."
"But everything was perfect for your wedding."
"And it will be for yours too. Let's grab a glass of wine and sit out on the balcony."
Kate pours us each a glass of wine and we sit out on the small balcony. I haven't been out here in so long; before she met Elliot, Kate and I would sit out here when she came home from a crappy date or when one of us had a long day at work. There's not much of a view, unless you count the buildings around us, but we loved to people watch from up here. Make up stories about people walking below us, or those having animated discussions in the cars as they drove by.
"Can I ask you something?" Kate asks after a few minutes of silence.
"Of course."
"Elliot… he told me what he saw the night he passed out in the kitchen… "
It's not often Kate hesitates in saying something; she's usually the type of person who tells it how she sees it. I think she's trying to find out if I know the reason Elliot passed out that night, if I know what he saw in the kitchen. I guess like Elliot, Kate is assuming that Christian and Taylor keep that part of their relationship hidden from me.
"He saw Taylor and Christian kissing," I finish her sentence.
"Yeah… I guess I wanted to make sure you were okay with that."
"That they kissed?" she nods. "Kate, the three of us are getting married meaning the three of us are together."
"I guess… "
"What?"
"I just assumed that both of them were in a relationship with you."
"They are."
"But they're also in a relationship with each other?"
"Yes."
"So… they're gay?"
"No," I giggle because if she had any idea what goes on in our bedroom every night she wouldn't even have thought that. "I assure you that neither Christian nor Taylor are gay. They're both very much in a relationship with me as well as each other."
"So… they're bi?"
"I don't know," I never really thought about it until that moment. "I think… what we have just works. I can't see it working with anyone else, but the two of them… they've been through a lot together. I don't even know half of what they saw in the service, but judging from their nightmares, God Kate… I can't imagine. I think it's because of that experience that they're relationship is what it is."
"Do they hide it from you?"
"Not at all."
"Good."
"Good?"
"I guess, I was afraid it was something that they were hiding from you. Like they were having an affair together or something behind your back which I guess saying it now sounds pretty weird since the three of you share a bed together each night."
"They're not hiding anything."
"You don't get jealous at all?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, its none of my business."
"Kate, you'll be standing next to me in a few days when I marry them," I laugh. "You can ask any questions you have. I know what we have is different and I get it that you might not understand it but you're one of the only people who has supported me from the beginning with this."
"They make you happy Ana, anyone can see that. That's all that matters."
"They do; we make each other happy. I never expected to fall in love with both of them after that night in Georgia, but it's what happened."
"Were they… together back then?"
"No," I answer quickly. "That's something that… just sort of happened over the last few months."
"I bet it's really hot watching them kiss."
"It is," I feel my face heat up with that admission.
If only Kate knew just how hot it was too watch them kiss and do so much more to each other. My mind immediately goes to the night a few weeks ago when I walked into our room to find Christian and Taylor making out. I've loved watching them kiss and touch each other, but that night took things to an entirely different level. I watched as Christian made love to Taylor while they both watched me watching them. Christian has watched me and Taylor together a couple of times but that was the first time I watched the two of them together.
"I can only imagine what you're remembering what right," Kate laughs and I join in because we both know I'll never share.
"I like that their relationship has grown," I explain. "In the beginning it did feel sort of like you said. That I was in a relationship with the two of them, not necessarily separate relationships because each night we all shared a bed together. But now, it's as if we're all in a relationship with each other. It's kind of hard to explain…"
"I could see that, like it's more about the three of you instead of you."
"Exactly."
"Elliot was obviously really shocked by it."
"I'd say so," we both laugh. "We were surprised at Grace's reaction more than anything though."
"Elliot told me she didn't really react. She said she knew that they were together since you guys had said the three of you were together."
"That was the odd part because back then, things hadn't… things weren't like they are now between Christian and Taylor."
"Interesting."
"I'm just glad it didn't cause more problems, especially for Carrick."
"He's come a long way since that day."
"He has. I think I almost fainted when he suggested we get married at their house."
"I think he wants to do it as a way to show he really is okay with everything now."
"It seems that way."
"Have you guys talked about kids? I mean, I'm sure Carrick saying all that shit that day brought it up, but I didn't know if you guys were planning on having kids?"
"We've talked about it. In fact, Christian asked Taylor and I to take his last name for that reason—"
"Really?!"
"He said he wanted our kids to have parents that all had the same last name."
"You can do that? I mean even though you won't legally be married?"
"Yup, you can change your name to anything if you wanted to. You don't need to be married to do it," I explain.
"Do you think you would find out which one is the father of your child? I know it wouldn't matter but… "
"I don't think so. I mean, if there was a medical reason to do so than we would have to. But beyond that, I don't think there would be a reason to do a paternity test. What about you and Elliot? You guys going to have kids?"
"We've been talking about it," she smiles. "We're thinking about starting to try next year."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Elliot feels the business is at a point where he doesn't have to work so many hours a day every day like when they first started it up. We want to wait another year, maybe buy a bigger condo nearby so we have the extra space and then start trying."
"I'm so happy for you!"
"Who knows maybe we'll be pregnant at the same time," she winks.
"We haven't talked as in depth as you guys have," I laugh. "We definitely need to get the construction done on our house first."
"Speaking of, you guys are sure you don't want to take a honeymoon right after the wedding?"
"No, we've talked about it and right now getting the house finished is our priority. The master bedroom is almost done, but then there's the other bedrooms and another bathroom that need to be remodeled. Plus the landscaping work that hasn't even been started yet."
"Still, you guys should go away for a long weekend at least."
"We talked about it, but we just took time off for the funeral. We don't want to delay any projects buy
taking more time off right now. When the house is finished and things calm down a little, we're going to take a long weekend and fly off somewhere."
"Have you talked about where might go?"
"No," I laugh remembering the conversation with Taylor and Christian. "We've talked about everything from Hawaii to Alaska to a cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully we don't need to decide right now, because I think we'd be flipping a coin if we had to."
"Well, my vote would not be Alaska," she laughs. "Far too cold."
"It is, but it's also beautiful this time of the year."
"That's what the internet is for, just google pictures," we laugh because we both know Kate would never be caught dead in Alaska. She hates the cold, and the snow and the ice.
"I'm sure we'll figure it out, thankfully we have some time since we're delaying the honeymoon."
"We're staying at the Grey's the night before right?" she asks.
"Yeah, Grace practically insisted plus I think it'll be a lot easier to just get ready there. She has someone coming for our hair and make up that morning so we won't even have to go anywhere. Mia mentioned something about having someone come the night before to give us messages and spa treatments—"
"Yes please," Kate laughs.
"I know, right?"
"Elliot is mad that the guys said no strip clubs."
"That's because Elliot wants to go to the strip club."
"I know," she blushes. "We went to one last weekend—"
"We? Like both of you?"
"Yeah, I wanted to see what all the hype was about," her face turns even darker which is so out of the norm for Kate.
"And?"
"Let me tell you, the hottest sex ever when we got home that night."
"Really?"
"Hell yeah."
"Who knew?"
"I thought it would be weird, that he would be picturing one of those girls from the club."
"But it wasn't."
"No, he was definitely focused on me and knew exactly who was in bed with him. It just made things… I don't know more intense."
"Do you know what the guys are going to be doing?"
"There's a baseball game that afternoon that Elliot got tickets to, afterwards I think he said they're going to hit a casino. I booked two rooms at the casino hotel so if they end up drinking they don't need to worry about driving somewhere."
"Good thinking."
"I can't believe we're planning your wedding!" she squeals suddenly.
"I know me either!"
"Are you doing okay with not having your mom here for it?" she asks after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know how she would handle this," I admit. "I'd like to think she would accept our relationship and realize that the guys make me happy but… "
"Her reactions were hard to predict."
"If she was in one of her manic states, she would have flown out here to help me try on dresses and she would be on cloud nine about the wedding. But if she was depressed, she might not even make it to the wedding. If she was in between… she would probably try to make it about her. So maybe it's for the best … shit that sounds awful."
"No it doesn't Ana," she puts her hand on top of mine. "It may sound bad to someone who didn't know your mother and what you went through, but you forget I met your mom several times. I saw those mood swings first hand and I know what you went through growing up. So no, it doesn't sound awful, not at all."