Chapter 5

Jennie

Wedding planning was in full swing and I was on a roll.

· Invitations picked out? Check.

· Flowers picked out? Absolutely, mostly by Jisoo, but she had fantastic taste.

· Band picked out? Done.

The day I'd been most excited about was finally upon me. Wedding dress shopping! We had an afternoon appointment in the city at one of the most sought after shops in all of the Midwest, but first my mom, Jisoo, Rosé, and I were having lunch at the cutest little tea shop right down the street. Tea, scones, and chicken salad sandwiches were just what I needed to calm my nerves about finding a dress.

"I'm sorry again, guys," Rosé apologized for the twentieth time that morning as Max's hand barely missed the water glass he'd swung for.

"Rosé, stop it." I laughed. "It's really fine."

"I just had no idea that Tommy had agreed to work. I thought he'd be able to keep Max." She wiped the drool from his chin.

Reaching across the table, I scooped Max out of her arms and set him in my lap. "Are you kidding? I'm glad my godson gets to be here on wedding dress day. Let's just hope I can make a decision before he's walking, huh?"

"You'll be fine," Jisoo said confidently. "Trust me, when you put it on, you'll just know."

"That's good, because right now I truly have no idea what I'm looking for." I sighed.

"And that's okay," my mom reassured me. "Like Jisoo said, when you see it or try it on, you'll just know."

Jisoo huffed and raised her water glass at me. "See? Jisoo's always right."

"So, wait. Who's with the girls today?" Rosé reached over and handed Max his favorite plastic key ring.

Mom and I looked at each other and laughed, most likely thinking the same thing.

"Lisa and Viper are babysitting," I answered nonchalantly, planting a bunch of kisses on Max's chubby cheek.

I looked up and Jisoo's and Rosé's mouths both hung open as they stared at me blankly.

"What? Stop looking at me like that."

Jisoo started to giggle while Rosé shook her head quickly. "Sorry, I'm just trying to picture Viper watching the girls, and the things that are popping into my head are scaring me."

That only made Jisoo laugh harder. "Yeah." She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "They'll probably know how to spell the F-word by the time you get home." She whooped louder than she had before.

I rolled my eyes. "Lisa's there too. They'll be fine."

Was I trying to convince them, or myself?

We walked into Belle's Bridal, and it was like walking into a fairy tale. What the off-white walls lacked in color, the chandeliers, fancy chairs, and ambiance made up for ten times over.

A woman in her mid-thirties, who clearly had it all together, met us at the door. "Hello. Welcome to Belle's Bridal. How can we help you?" Her pale pink suit jacket and matching pencil skirt were completely wrinkle free, and not one hair in her perfectly executed bun was out of place.

"Hi, we're a little early." My heart thumped nervously in my chest. The place was intimidating. "We have an appointment at two. My name is Jennie Kim."

"Oh!" Her eyebrows shot up and her smile got a little wider. "You're Jennie Kim." She said it like she knew who I was. "Come in, come in. It's so great to meet you. I'm the store manager."

She extended her hand and I shook it happily.

I introduced her to my mom and the girls before she led us down a long hallway. The smell of roses filled the air, though I wasn't sure where it was coming from, and huge pictures of the most elegant brides I'd ever seen hung on the walls. She opened a big white door and stepped back, waving us in. "Come on in. This will be your private bridal suite for today."

We stepped in and I immediately loved the room.

"Wow! This is amazing!" My eyes darted around, wanting to look at everything all at once.

It was very different than the main part of the store, reminding me more of a trendy New York City loft than a bridal room. The walls were painted a cool, rustic shade of bluish-gray and had funky artwork covering them. A white couch sat in the middle of the room, anchored on each side by hot pink, oversized chairs and a large weathered coffee table in front. The whole setup faced a wall of mirrors that had a small stage in front of it.

We all filed in and were talking about the room when Kate picked up a phone on the wall. "Send Chloe in here, please."

About ten seconds later, a young girl appeared in the doorway carrying an envelope.

"Thanks, Chloe. Be on standby in case we need you." Chloe offered a smile before she nodded and walked away.

"I'm going to be assisting you today, with anything you need. Please, make yourselves comfortable." She motioned toward the seating area. We all shuffled over and sat down. "Before we begin, can I get anyone anything to drink? Sparkling water, champagne, a mimosa?"

"Oooo, I'd love a mimosa," Rosé said eagerly.

"Can I do a vodka and cranberry?" Mom asked.

"Sure thing," Kate nodded.

"Just water, please," Jisoo groaned.

I laughed at her pouty face. "I'll just take water too, please."

"Jennie, you sure?" Mom questioned. "Have a cocktail if you want one."

"No, thanks. I need to be as sober as possible when I pick out a dress." I laughed.

Kate smiled. "Let me go grab those. I'll be right back. Feel free to start looking at some of the catalogues on the table, unless you already know what you're looking for." She winked.

"Okay, thank you." I leaned forward to pick up a magazine as she turned to leave the room.

"Oh, wait. I almost forgot. This is for you." She handed me the envelope and walked away quickly.

"What is it?" Mom sat up straight, craning her neck to see.

I shrugged, staring at my name on the envelope. "I have no clue."

Sliding my finger under the seal, I gently pulled to the side. Like a perfect envelope should, it popped open willingly.

I pulled out the folded piece of light blue paper.

Jennie,

Roses are red.

My jersey is white.

Pick any dress you want for our big night.

Hey, babe. I hope you're having the best day with your mom and friends. Like my award-winning poem said, I've arranged everything with the shop in advance. All you have to do is pick out your dream dress, maybe something in a nice ice blue. ;)

Have fun! Love you!

Lisa.

"Oh my God." I rubbed the tears from my eyes and read the letter again, hoping my brain wasn't playing a trick on me.

"What? What is it?" Rosé asked, gently rocking Max back and forth.

Unable to form a verbal response, I took a tissue out of my purse and handed the paper to my mom.

She read it and gasped.

"Will someone read the damn thing out loud?" Jisoo growled impatiently.

Mom cleared her throat and started reading, "Jennie, roses are red. My jersey is white. Pick any dress you want for our big night. Hey, babe. I hope you're having the best day with your mom and friends. Like my award-winning poem said, I've arranged everything with the shop in advance. All you have to do is pick out your dream dress, maybe something in a nice ice blue. Winky face. Have fun. Love you. Lisa."

Tears streamed down my face as she read the letter out loud. It blew me away that not only had that crazy woman called the salon and arranged the payment of my dress, but she actually took the time out to write that note, and poem, and drop it off before I got there.

"Awww, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard." Rosé reached over, grabbed a tissue from me, and dabbed at her eye.

"Wait. Ice blue? I don't get it." Jisoo said, blinking quickly.

I thought back to that night and giggled. "Last year, we went to that charity banquet for Wild Kids, remember?" I cleaned the mascara out from under my eyes as they all nodded. "Well, I borrowed—"

"Yes!" Rosé pointed at me when she remembered, nearly dropping Max in her excitement. "You borrowed that ice blue dress from me."

"Yep, and she loved it… like… a lot." The look on Lisa's face as she stood in her kitchen said it all that night. I asked her what she thought on a scale of one to ten. I would never, ever, ever, as long as I lived, forget the number she said. Six hundred fifty-two.

"Obviously." My mom took Max from Rosé and bounced him on her lap.

I took out my phone and texted Lisa.

HEY. I JUST GOT THE ENVELOPE. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Within seconds, my phone chirped.

L: I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT. YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE HOW LONG IT TOOK ME AND VIPER TO COME UP WITH THAT DAMN POEM.

HAHA! WELL, IT MADE ME LAUGH.

L: GOOD. I'D DO ANYTHING FOR MY GIRL.

AND I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR YOU! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

L: I JUST SENT YOU A PIC. REMEMBER HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME WHEN YOU OPEN IT, OKAY?

Uh oh.

The image came through and I stared at the little hourglass spinning round and round, waiting for it to open. When it did, I squinted to get a better view. At first glance, the tiny image just looked like Ruby and Jane making silly faces, but when I blew it up with my fingers, it was a whole different picture. Their sleeves were rolled up and fake tattoos covered their forearms and biceps. They were both flexing, just like Viper was doing behind them, and they had their tongues sticking out. Lisa had typed Having fun with my tattooed Twinkies above the photo.

"Oh my God." I started laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

"What now?" Mom looked at Jisoo and Rosé, who just shrugged at her. Clearly, they all thought I'd lost my mind. Without saying a word, I handed my phone to my mom, who angled it so that Rosé and Chu could see too. Watching all of their faces when they saw my tattoo-covered twins only made me laugh harder.

"Well," Rosé finally said once we'd all finished laughing, "it's probably better than the F-word, huh?"

Just then, the manager came back in the room carrying a silver tray with our drinks on it. "Who's ready to start looking at dresses?

Three hours and twenty-seven dresses later, I found it. The dress. Chu and Rosé were right—I put it on and I just knew. I knew it was the dress I was supposed to walk down the aisle in. I knew it was the dress I was supposed to say vows to my fiancée in. I knew it was the dress I was supposed to dance with Lisa in, and I knew it was the dress that would be tossed on the floor at the end of the night when I made love to Lisa for the first time, officially.

Who knew drinking champagne and playing human Barbie all day could be so exhausting? When Mom and I got home, I was ready to collapse, but when you have two little girls excited to show you their tattoos, you have to play along.

"Mom! Mom! Look!" they both squealed, rolling their sleeves up as they ran to the front door.

"Oh my goodness, look at you two." I took turns inspecting each of their arms, which were completely covered in Hello Kitty and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tattoos. "You guys got tattoos? Did they hurt?"

Jane covered her mouth with her tiny hands and giggled as Ruby corrected me, "No, Mom. They're not real!"

"Oh! Thank goodness." I wrapped my arms around both of them and pulled them against me. "I'm guessing you had fun with Lisa and Viper today?"

"You mean Uncle V?" Jane pulled back and looked up at me.

"Uncle V?"

"Yeah, that's what he said to call him." Ruby shrugged, skipping off to the kitchen with Jane tailing behind her.

"Uncle V got really into babysitting today, in case you couldn't tell," Lisa joked as she came around the corner.

"Obviously." I met Lisa halfway and melted into her open arms. I felt so tiny and safe and comfortable as I lay my head against her chest, I thought I could fall asleep right there, standing up. "Is he still here? I want to thank him."

"Nah, he left a while ago. Got a text from an… available female and off he went."

I rolled my eyes against Lisa's chest and mumbled, "Available female, huh? Interesting word choice. I'll just text him later. Sounds like you guys had fun though. I'm glad."

"I don't know how much fun Fred had." Her laugh vibrated through me.

"Oh no, what happened?" I was too tired to lift my head and look at her.

"Well, he lost a bet. A big one. And Viper made him pay up."

"A bet about what? What did he have to do?" I groaned.

Lisa rubbed my back and gave me one last quick squeeze before she released me. "He's in the kitchen. Go take a look."

As we walked toward the kitchen, I could hear my mom and the girls laughing. I turned and frowned up at Lisa, who just looked down at the ground, trying to hide her grin. Nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see.

"What's going on? What's this big bet thing?" Fred's back was to me when I got to the kitchen, but as he turned slowly, I saw just what everyone was laughing at. Right there, smack dab in the middle of Fred's forehead, was a Hello Kitty tattoo. "Uh… what… why?" I put my hand over my mouth, trying to hold it together, but it took about six seconds before I was laughing just as hard as the girls.

"I lost a bet." He frowned.

Lisa walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, the perfect height for me to rest my chin and heavy head on. "We were talking about the nickname Twinkies, and that led to talking about the food Twinkies, and that led to Fred betting Viper he couldn't take down an entire box of Twinkies in two minutes. Viper doesn't turn down a bet—ever—so he ran to the gas station and bought a box. The rest, as they say, is history."

I shook my head back and forth in disbelief. "How long do you have to keep that on?"

"Just two days." Fred sighed. "But he's coming back tomorrow to take me to lunch. He's really rubbing it in."

I tapped Lisa's arms so she'd let go. I needed some water. The girls were retelling the story to my mom in great detail as I grabbed a bottle from the fridge. "Wow. You guys are crazy." I laughed.

"Is this the mail?" Mom picked up the pile off the counter.

"Yeah, and Jennie, that huge pile over there is yours." Fred pointed.

"Really?" I was surprised. "I never get mail."

The stack of envelopes for me had to be two inches high. Once I started sifting through the stuff, I realized most of it was brochures from banquet halls and photographers, ring makers, and so on. One after the other, most of them with my name spelled wrong. "How did they even get my address?" I asked to no one in particular.

"I'm so sorry," Lisa apologized as she watched me flip through the envelopes.

"Hey, stop it. This isn't your fault." I kissed her cheek as I continued flipping.

"Yeah, but I was afraid this would happen. As soon as word got out that we were engaged, I worried people would start hounding you. I should have warned you."

"I can handle some lame brochures. No biggie."

"Look, that one spelled your name right," she cheered, "and it doesn't look like a solicitation."

She was talking but I couldn't hear her words past the blood rushing through my ears. That one did spell my name right. It would be pretty ridiculous if it were spelled wrong.

That one was from my dad.