I realized that today (August 20th) marks the 7th anniversary of me writing the crazy world of Angela and Eric. I can't believe it's been that long since I posted the very first chapter of Where You Least Expect It. Sometimes I worry that, like many beloved TV shows, I've gone on too long with this particular set of storylines but I'm still having a blast exploring this crazy, random couple. More importantly, I'm glad so many of you have stuck around on this ride. Seriously, I'm grateful for all of you who have been with me through epically long chapters and very irregular updates. Thank you so much.
"Topanga, if you were a best man what would you do for a bachelor party?"
"Excuse me?"
"Shawn's bachelor party, I can't figure out what to do," Cory lamented and threw himself on the couch beside his wife. "Help me."
"You haven't planned anything yet? The wedding is in nine days. This is more than cutting it a little close."
"How is any of this helping me? I know it's close, but Jack's in Texas and Mr. Turner is in Connecticut. It's hard to plan a party when half the groomsmen are out of state."
"I'm neither a bachelor nor have I ever been a best man so I really don't know. I must say I am glad you seem to be foregoing the usual get drunk and go to a strip club routine."
"I thought about it, but with Shawn's alcohol issues it seemed like a bad idea."
"Right. And the strippers?"
"Nothing good happens at strip clubs."
"And you know this how?"
"Guys talk."
"About?"
"Guy stuff."
She rolled her eyes. "It's too late to plan a trip to Las Vegas, but there are plenty of casinos to try in this area. That's a thing for bachelor parties, right? I was just reading about this nice one in The Poconos."
"Jack's in Gamblers Anonymous," he reminded her. "That would be a particularly bad weekend for him to relapse."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot."
"And Evan really wants to be included and Mr. Turner said something about bringing his son if Evan was coming so they could keep each other company. So I have to come up with something appropriate for seven year olds, too."
Topanga decided not to mention that a party designed for seven year olds would probably be just perfect for him and Shawn. "Chuck E. Cheese?"
"Don't laugh. That might be the best suggestion." He sighed. "This is going to be the worst bachelor party in history! Shawn has been my best friend forever and I can't even give him a proper sendoff into married life."
"You're over-thinking it. Shawn will be happy just hanging out."
"What are you doing for Naomi's bachelorette party?"
"It's going to be pretty low key. After Naomi finishes her overnight shift Friday morning she's meeting with Hana and heading upstate to Milton and to the inn. I'm probably riding up with them. I'm not sure what time Jack and Rachel are landing on Friday, but I know they're headed directly there."
"That doesn't answer what the bachelorette part will be."
"We're getting the works done at their spa. Mani-pedis, facials, massages, and whatever else we can think of. Oh, and just for fun I got my mom's aunt to do our tarot cards."
"Crazy Guinevere the fortune teller?"
"Aunt Guinevere is not crazy. She has a gift. She says I have the gift, too, I've just never harnessed it properly."
Cory couldn't resist rolling his eyes. "Her gift is scamming people out of their money. The woman is a kook."
"You thought I was a kook when we were kids."
"Um….well yeah, you acted weird. But I loved you anyway."
"Aunt Guinevere has a very high accuracy rate. People are wowed by her every time."
"If she's such a good fortune teller then why does she have her shop behind a car wash? Did you ever think that maybe people aren't wowed, they're just high on exhaust fumes?" He narrowly avoided the pillow she aimed at his head. "Hey."
"She's not behind the car wash anymore. She moved to a space above an eye doctor."
"Why, to help her more clearly see the future? Ooh, maybe I should pay her a visit. This way she can tell me how the party ends up before I even plan it."
"Be nice to me. I made a little stop on my way home from work."
"Oh yeah? Did you get a new can opener like we've been talking about? I'm sick of risking tetanus every time I get a hankering for tuna salad."
"Yes, that's my surprise," she deadpanned, "a can opener."
"Then what else could it be?"
"Do you remember a few years ago when you wanted to take a vacation to the Bahamas?"
She'd been so wrapped up in work she never even looked at the brochures he brought home. And sure, a few months ago they talked about taking a vacation after the insanity of Shawn's wedding was over, but no concrete plans were ever made. "What about it?"
"I put a deposit down." She leaned over and picked up her briefcase. "I was going to make it a surprise, but I don't know when your last day of school is. You're usually tying up loose ends for a week or two after students are done."
Cory took the folder she offered and looked over its contents. It was almost the exact vacation he'd tried to plan for them. "We're really doing this?"
"Just tell me when and I'll call the travel agent."
"We're going to be on the beach sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them?"
"For ten days and nine nights."
"And work isn't going to interrupt?"
"I already told them that when we go I am not to be disturbed even if my office is on fire." Topanga put her paperwork aside and slid closer to him. "I've put my career ahead of us for a long time. I know that. I've been trying to get better and-"
"You have been, even though you've been spending weekdays in Washington. Speaking of which…" He paused and looked around the room, as if he suddenly remembered what day it was. "You're home."
"Yes."
"On a Thursday? Usually you come back Friday nights."
"I know, but I'm done."
"What?"
"The CEO of the recycling plant decided to take a last minute plea deal. My part is over."
"You won your case? Topanga, that's terrific," he exclaimed, throwing his arms around her.
She smiled. "Thank you, but that wasn't supposed to be the biggest news."
"You helped to stop some jerks from polluting the planet. That's huge."
"But the Bahamas-"
"The beach will be more pristine and the water will sparkle even more because of your efforts."
/
/
"So this is where the party is." When Eric got home from work and saw the upstairs lights on, he prepared for Georgia to be fussy and crying, unable to sleep. What he found, however, was the opposite. The baby was awake, but laughing and playing with Angela. It wasn't a common sight at one in the morning in their house.
She looked up at him briefly and smiled. "We got home from shopping and both knocked out. She woke me up screaming around eleven because she was starving. On the plus side, she slept for almost six hours straight. That hasn't happened since…I don't think she's ever slept that long."
"I'm sorry I missed it."
"It has to happen again at some point." She laughed when the baby attempted to roll the ball back to her, but then chased after it immediately. "Unfortunately it was the wrong time to sleep so she'll be impossible tomorrow."
He sat down on the floor beside Angela. "Then I guess it's a good thing we get to leave her with my parents for the weekend. They can deal with Miss Cranky Pants in all her whiny glory."
While Angela was looking forward to spending some much needed alone time with Eric, she wasn't excited about the next three days separated from her daughter. If she thought about it too much she'd cry. "Do you think she'll be okay?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't she be?"
"This is the first time she'll be away from the both of us for longer than a few hours. From the day she was born Georgia has always had at least one of us right there with her."
"Not true. Our anniversary," he pointed out. "We spent the night at a hotel. Alone. With no baby cries interrupting when we got to the good parts."
Angela lightly shoved his shoulder. "That was maybe eighteen hours."
"Still counts. And we've had very random date nights where my parents watched her. And she spent a lot of time at Max and Gina's house when Feeny was in the hospital."
"What if she cries in the middle of the night looking for me? I mean us."
"Her cries will keep the bears away. That is if her dirty diapers don't do the trick."
"Bears? Your parents camp where there are bears? What else? Wolves, coyotes, lions?"
"Lions," he questioned, shooting her an incredulous look. "Seriously?"
"Mountain lions."
"Relax. She's going to be fine. My dad owns a freaking wilderness store. He knows what he's doing." Eric wrapped his arm around her. "Do you really think my parents would put Georgia in danger?"
"No."
"See?"
"It's not just animals. Nature is one big trap, too. You said they camp right alongside a lake."
"Well duh, this way we could always jump right in to relieve the itching after the big family roll through poison ivy. At least that's if we can't find any poison oak first."
She glared at him. "Are you making fun of me?"
"I'm just saying you're being ridiculous. My parents took us all on our first camping trips before we were one. This is a big deal for them. She'll be fine."
"In my head I know that. My heart…"
"Your heart will be too busy having fun with me to even worry about anything else."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"You seem pretty confident there, pal."
"Oh, I am. I was able to switch with Tonya for tomorrow and am working the midday shift and she's covering the evening broadcasts. So we're definitely going out for dinner. If you want we can see a movie, too, or maybe dancing."
"Let's pace ourselves. We'll have the whole weekend. No need to overdo it the first night. Dinner and a movie tomorrow sound good. Maybe Saturday we can go dancing. Although I have to admit it feels weird to think of going clubbing now that we're parents."
"We're not going clubbing, but where else are we going to dance? And don't say we can put music on here and stay home."
"We've done it before."
"I know, but we've been slacking in the date night department and I intend to make it up to you."
"I don't need fancy-"
Eric held up his hand. "I love that you're just as happy to crash on the couch with takeout and reruns as you are getting a nice dinner, but we're doing this. We need to take full advantage of this baby free weekend."
She nodded. "So tomorrow dinner and a movie, Saturday dancing…what do you have planned for Sunday?"
"I'm not getting too specific, because you know, baby ears are present." He nodded towards Georgia who was now playing with his shoe laces. "But we're not leaving the bedroom at all on Sunday. If we do it will be to have fun in the Jacuzzi."
"That sounds like a perfect weekend."
"Who knows, maybe by the time Monday rolls around we'll want my parents to keep the baby longer." He picked up the baby and bounced her on his knees. "What are you doing, goofball? You untied my shoe. That's pretty smart. I didn't think shoe-tying came until preschool or kindergarten."
"Let's wait to see if she can tie it again before we get on the phone with Mensa."
"Speaking of super smart people, how did your shopping trip with Lila go? Did you find Georgia an outfit for Shawn's wedding? Though I don't understand why she can't just wear her Easter dress again. If it was nice enough for her to wear when my parents dragged us to church to show her off it should be fine for an outdoor wedding."
"It doesn't fit her anymore."
"But Easter was only last month."
"I know, but she's Hulking out of it already. For some reason she insists on growing at a breakneck pace. But I did find something for her to wear. Now she just has to not grow for the next week and a half." She leaned over and reached for a bag that was next to the toy box and held up its contents for Eric to see. "Here's her dress."
He took the outfit from her and removed the smaller garment from the hanger. "Are you expecting her to be potty-trained by next weekend, too? Don't get me wrong, I won't miss diapers at all, but we might be pushing it."
"What are you talking about?"
"What's with the giant baby underwear?"
"It's a diaper cover."
"So diaper lines are just as bad as panty lines? One flash of some Huggies and Georgia's on the worst dressed list?"
"They're also called bloomers."
"So we're going back to the eighteen hundreds? No one uses that word anymore." Eric surrendered the bloomers to the baby when she attempted to pull them out of his hands. "Georgia, mama got you granny panties. Why didn't you stop her?" He and Angela both laughed when she tried to put them on her head. "What are you doing? The only time it's acceptable to put underwear on your head is when you're drunk at a frat party. And let me tell you something, little girl, as long as I'm breathing you'll never be near a frat party, drunk or sober."
She knew that was too specific an example to be hypothetical. "You got so drunk you put your underwear on your head?"
"Oh, how I wish it was my underwear."
"Ew! I don't…how…why…"
"I had way too much to drink and wandered into the laundry room."
"And the underwear?"
He shrugged. "Can't say. I was too drunk. If pictures didn't exist I never would've known it happened."
"It was at least clean underwear, right?"
"That's what I tell myself."
/
/
"What's up, Cor," Shawn said, answering his cellphone.
"Paint ball or bowling?"
"…what?"
"Paint ball or bowling?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Your bachelor party next Friday, what do you want to do?"
"Granted, I haven't been to a ton of these things, but aren't you supposed to be planning this with Jack and Jon?"
"They're in different states and they're bringing their boys! Evan really wants to be involved and hang with "the guys" and Mr. Turner said he could bring his kid so he and Evan could play and keep each other company since they're around the same age."
"So what's the problem?"
"The problem is I had issues planning this even without knowing there would be seven year olds in attendance. I thought about strippers for about half a second before I remembered every story I've heard about strippers and bachelor parties usually involves debauchery I want no part of. Drinking is out because…well…you know your history. We can't gamble because of Jack's issues-"
"Sorry the Hunter addiction genes are getting in the way of a killer party."
"You know I don't mean it like that. It's just when you combine those things with the fact that we live in different states, don't have a lot of time to do something, and there will be kids there, it makes it tricky. Paintball or bowling was the best I could come up with. Or there's this massive arcade on the way to the inn."
"Don't most bowling alleys have arcades?"
"Yeah, so bowling?"
"I'm fine either way. Just make sure you check with Jack and Jon about paintball. I don't know how they feel about the boys using any kind of gun."
"Right." He sighed. "You're really okay with these ideas, Shawnie? I feel like I'm failing your sendoff into married life."
"I just want to relax and have some fun. Even if all we do is get pizza it will be good."
"Even if there's no strippers?"
"Would you even know where to get a stripper?"
"The yellow pages," Cory guessed.
He laughed into the phone. "I'll see you in a few days."
/
/
"Well, it's done."
Eric spun his chair around and saw Angela in the doorway of his office, leaning against the doorframe. "Hey. I take it Georgia's well on her way to the great outdoors?"
"Yeah. Your mom and Morgan have been texting me updates and pictures. They made it to the campsite a little while ago. Georgia's already crawling after butterflies and tried to eat a worm." He laughed. "Morgan stopped her. She wasn't happy."
"And how are you doing? Are you happy?" She nodded and he could tell it was taking everything in her to hold it together. He held out his hand and, as soon as she was close enough, pulled her into his lap.
"It was just hard to watch her drive away."
"Was there crying?"
"Not from her," Angela admitted. "She was all smiles and laughs. But don't worry I waited until the van was out of sight. I didn't want Georgia to get upset because of me."
"She's going to be fine. This is good for her…for all of us. She gets to spend time with more people who are nuts about her and we get to enjoy time to ourselves."
"I know. I'm sorry. I'll try not to be a big buzzkill tonight."
"Remember what I said? You'll be too busy having fun with me to worry about her."
"Oh, yeah, you did promise me a perfect weekend," she said with a smile. "How much more work do you have left before we get to that?"
"I just have to hit save and then I'm all yours'."
"I hope I'm not over-dressed for dinner. Or under-dressed. You never did tell me where we were going to eat."
"I got reservations at the restaurant we went to on our anniversary."
"Good. We've wanted to go back there." They were supposed to return weeks ago, but then she got the call about Mr. Feeny and their date night was forgotten.
"I know." Eric kissed her neck and ran his hand along her leg. "And you look perfect."
"Hit save."
"What?"
"Your work on the computer…" She tilted her head to the side as he continued to kiss his way down her neck. "Don't forget to save it." Angela laughed when he spun the chair back to his desk. "I can get up."
He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her closer. "I'm not letting go of you until Monday."
/
/
"How are we now in single digit countdown to the wedding," Naomi exclaimed when she burst through the front door of the apartment. She could see Shawn through the window, sitting on the fire escape. She dropped her stuff onto the couch and climbed out there to join him. "There are still a million and one things to do and with the exception of tomorrow I'm working every day this week. Would you take it personally if I slept in on our honeymoon? Because really, we should have one day to just catch up on sleep." She received no response. "Hello? Shawn?" Still nothing. "Aren't we supposed to be married for a while before you start tuning me out completely," she asked, nudging him with her foot. "What the hell is the matter with you?"
"Lila called a little while ago. She and Mr. Feeny can't come to the wedding."
"What did she say?"
"Mr. Feeny's had some minor setbacks with walking and other motor skills. She said it's normal according to the doctors, but they're worried about him falling or having an accident. He's just not steady enough right now."
"Honey, I'm sorry. I know how important he is to you. He's important to both of us."
"I know I don't give him as much credit as Turner or as Cory's dad, but I don't know where I'd be without Mr. Feeny in my life." He moved over to the other side, squeezed next to Naomi, and took her hand. "I didn't realize how important it was to me that he was at our wedding until I found out he couldn't be there."
"It is normal, you know," she said in an effort to reassure him. "These setbacks, I mean. They're normal, especially for elderly patients."
"Being normal doesn't make it suck any less."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Put your years of medical experience to use and come up with a miracle cure."
"I would if I could."
"I know." Shawn supposed it was his fault anyway. He'd hoped his wedding would be flawless and go off without a hitch, if not for him than for Nomi. When will he learn? Nothing in his life happens without a hitch. There's always a damn hitch.
"Are you okay? Shawn?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be fine." He stared down at the alley a few stories below and winced as the crazy lady who lived above them whipped into her parking space, narrowly missing their neighbor's jeep. "One day that old bat is going to hit something, you know?"
Naomi linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. Part of her said that he needed to talk this out more, but the other part of her knew Shawn enough to know that he was done talking until he was ready. Right now he needed a distraction. "Did I tell you that Dr. Kaspar's car got hit in the parking garage last week?"
He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. No, not smile, grin. He hated that guy. "Aw, don't tell me Rod's Viper got wrecked."
"You sound so broken up about it." It was hard to lecture when she was fighting back giggles herself. "The front end got completely smashed."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No."
"Okay, now I can feel good about laughing. That was a kickass car though. "
"Shawn-"
"Don't."
"We dated for like a month, maybe a month and a half. We were each other's rebound flings. It ended a few months before I met you."
"I don't think Rod knew it was a fling. How often does he hit on you and make little comments about me?"
"He flirts with anyone that has a pulse."
"Trust me. He still wants you. Not that I blame him, but-"
"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes. "You should thank him."
"How do you figure?"
"If I didn't have my rebound fling with Rod to get over my relationship with Peter I might not have been ready for something serious when we met." Naomi had been devastated when her two year relationship ended. After some moping she decided she needed to get out and have fun. Rod was many things, fun was one of them. He'd been the perfect way to get her feet wet in the dating pool again. "If I never had my rebound before you, what if I would've treated you as my rebound?"
It was too scary for Shawn to contemplate life without Naomi in it. "So he's your Courtney," he asked, referring to the first woman he dated after accepting things with Angela were over. Actually, she was the first in a string of short term relationships.
"Exactly."
"Okay," he said with a sigh, "I don't know about thanking him, but I'll try to hate him a little less."
"That's all I ask."
"Maybe you can give him Uncle Mike's card. I'll tell him to treat the good doctor like he would any other rich guy with a nice ride."
"Charge him out the ass?"
It was good to laugh after the phone call. They sat quietly for a few minutes, watching traffic and stray cats maneuver through the alley. "This time next week we'll be counting down the hours."
"Are you nervous?"
"I'm so ready to marry you. The only thing that scares me is the thought that one day I'll wake up and find that you and us…all of this…was a dream."
"That's not going to happen." Naomi snuggled into his side. "You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."
"Then I guess it's a good thing I like it."
She smiled before leaning in for a kiss. "You'd better."
/
/
"How's your food?"
"It's good. How about yours'?"
"Amazing. Who knew lobster would go so well with macaroni and cheese?"
Angela smiled and resisted the urge to check her phone in her purse. She and Eric had agreed to not talk about Georgia tonight. This was a time to reconnect with each other. They spent so much of their days talking focused on their daughter. This weekend was for them. So why was she still having so much trouble?
"Thinking about Georgia?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I was thinking about her, too."
"Really?"
Eric nodded and sipped his beer. "It's almost her bedtime. That will be the hard part. She's away from us, her crib, and the whole bedtime routine. That's when she'll miss us…well, mostly you. She's cranky enough and fights sleep when she's home. Who knows how things will go without the comforts of home."
"Don't say that. It will only make me call your mom again."
"I want her to be comfortable and relaxed with my parents, but part of me hopes she gives them a little bit of hell so they understand why we're always so tired."
"That's kind of brilliant. It's a little mean, but also brilliant."
"Good. At least I'm brilliant at one thing tonight."
"What does that mean?"
"I said you'd have such a good time you would have no chance to think about the baby. Yet here we are…"
"I am having a good time," she insisted. "Really, I am. It's just weird to not have to take care of her. Every moment of my day is about her and what she needs. Give me more than a few hours to adjust."
"You're right. I'm sorry. How about we change the subject?"
"Go for it."
"Rise and Shine America wants me again this summer while their regular meteorologist is on vacation."
"Really? Even though you had to leave early last year when my water broke?"
"Are you kidding? There was a spike in their ratings and traffic on their website and social media pages. Apparently I made for good TV that day."
"That's great, babe. I'm so proud of you."
"People love me on a national level," he bragged. "I mean, I can't blame them. Can you?"
"You are very lovable."
"I know!"
"And Georgia and I will be right there, leading on the lovefest and keeping the groupies away."
"Groupies? I don't have groupies."
She snorted. "Please."
"I don't. Or at least I don't encourage them."
"I know that."
"We're even then, because guys are always checking you out."
"You're nuts."
"The waiter practically threw the menu at me but gave you a long description for just about everything they have to eat. I think Vance has a little crush."
"He's maybe nineteen, twenty at the oldest. He's a child!" She spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting to be overheard. "I highly doubt he's interested in a twenty-eight year old mother who hasn't slept since dinosaurs roamed the earth."
"Don't underestimate your hotness."
"Okay and time for another new topic. Would you feel weird if my dad flew in for Father's day?"
"Why would I feel weird?"
"You made sure Mother's day was my day. Heck, you even saw your own mom a day early just to be focused on me."
"Yeah, because I knew if we went over for lunch it would've turned into an all-day thing. I wanted to make your day special."
"You did and I want to do the same for you. I wasn't sure if my dad being here would squash that."
"Not even a little bit." He knew, despite their past issues, Angela missed her dad a lot. And given his health, no one knew how many more Father's days he had left to celebrate. "In fact, maybe we can have a barbecue that weekend. Your dad, my parents, and whoever else wants to come. He can help me man the grill since you get nervous whenever I use it."
"You and fire," she began, "it's a hazard."
"That's only candles. Not fire in general."
"And why do you think I'm not letting a single candle within one hundred miles of our wedding?"
Eric smiled at the mention of their wedding. "Speaking of that, have you thought about what kind of wedding you want? I know we want to keep it small and-"
"-and no candles."
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. No candles. You've made that perfectly clear."
"Well, I-"
"Excuse me," their waiter began as he approached their table, "how is everything? Good?"
"Yes, thank you, Vance."
"Would you like to see a dessert menu?"
Now that it had been pointed it out, Angela couldn't ignore that the waiter's eyes were on her only.
"We have some specials," the young man continued. "Our chef makes a creme brulee that is to die for. We also have strawberry shortcake, cannolis, and chocolate lava cake. Although, if you'd like my personal opinion, my favorite is our tiramisu layer cake."
She glanced at Eric out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't often she got to see him jealous. "My fiancé and I will take a couple orders of cannolis to go."
His eyebrows shot up. "Fiancé?"
"Yes." She reached across the table for Eric's hand, being sure to showcase her engagement ring.
"Con-um-congratulations."
"Thank you."
"I'll go get your dessert."
"You don't think that was a little mean," Eric joked once the waiter walked away. "You killed his dream."
"You'd rather I flirt with him?"
He thought about it for a few seconds. "No. Why lead the guy on?"
"Are you okay with cannolis? I thought about the tiramisu, but that would be next to impossible to sneak into the movies. Cannolis will work, though. I brought my big purse."
"Wow."
"What?"
"You brought a big purse to sneak food. You're turning into Nana Boo Boo right before my eyes. I didn't see this coming."
"Shut up."
"At least warn me before you start talking bunions over dinner."
/
"Thor, it's okay." Eric chuckled when the cat zigzagged between his feet, meowing.
Angela emerged from the bathroom. "I guess we're not the only ones missing Georgia."
"He must miss her because he's in her crib now and he never goes in there." He picked his phone up from the nightstand. "Dad sent me this a little while ago. One last update before everyone else goes to bed."
"Aw, look at her." She looked at the image of their sleeping child. "When did she fall asleep?"
"About two hours ago."
"Why doesn't she sleep like that here?"
"She's been out in the fresh air all day. And before you say anything, I know we take her outside and spend time in the backyard and the park, but there's something about being up there. Plus she's had all these new experiences and seen new stuff. That would exhaust anyone."
"I guess."
"And maybe it is because she's away from us."
"What are you saying? You think I'm…that we're doing something wrong?"
"No, no, not at all." He took her hand and led her to their bed. "What I meant was maybe you're so awesome that Georgia stays awake because she doesn't want to miss out on one minute with her amazing mama."
"Nice save."
"Thanks."
"It's a load of crap, but it's sweet."
He laughed at her honesty. "Are you ready to go to bed?"
"Do you mind if we stay up a little later?" She grabbed a red chenille blanket, the same blanket that cocooned them the night they got engaged, and headed for the balcony door. "There's a conversation we didn't get to finish at dinner."
"Is it bad," he asked, following her out there. A minute or two later they were nestled under the blanket. "So?"
Angela snuggled as close as she could get and rested her head on his chest. "I'm not the girl who grew up planning her dream wedding."
"I know."
"I assumed it wouldn't happen for me. And if it did it would be bare bones, quick and to the point. No pomp and circumstance needed."
"Did you decide you want to do the city hall thing after all?"
"No. I want what you want. I want a wedding."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Even though I want it, it's still difficult to imagine."
"Maybe it would help if we picked a date."
"You think?"
"I've been in my fair share of weddings and everything seemed to happen a lot faster once there was a definite date picked."
"Did you have anything in mind?"
"Well, I was thinking next summer might be good time."
"You want to wait a whole year?"
"Morgan's going to be away at school and we definitely want Jack, Rachel, and the kids there, right?"
"Absolutely."
"It would be easier to wait until school is out and everyone can travel."
"I don't know. Next summer seems so far away."
"I'm sure if we hustled we could put something together within the next couple months and do it this summer."
"I don't want to rush."
"Okay…well I guess we plan it during spring break? People will be able to fly in then."
"This whole thing is still a bit surreal to wrap my head around," she admitted. "I can't believe this is my life. I have a man who loves me. I have a family."
"Yes, you do. And we're not going anywhere."
"Maybe not now, but…"
"But?"
"My dad."
"Oh."
"He likes to ignore it, but I can't. He's living on borrowed time." She took a shaky breath and focused on the full moon. "No matter what issues exist between us I can't imagine getting married without him escorting me down the aisle. I want him to be there. I need him there when we get married."
Eric wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "Then he'll be there. How was his last doctor's appointment?"
"He's done with the latest round of chemo and radiation. He's not better but he's not worse either. A cure is not coming. Treatments are just delaying the inevitable."
"I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry. This is supposed to be about us and I'm making it about my dad and my family."
"You have nothing to apologize for. Your family is my family."
How did he always know the right thing to say? "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me." He paused, an idea coming to him. "You know, people are free around Christmas, too."
"What?"
"Would it be crazy to have the wedding on our anniversary?"
"I don't…can we do that?"
"Why not? We want to keep it small and intimate. A Christmas time wedding would help with that."
"I suppose."
"And you don't want candles."
"I think the reason for that is more than obvious."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But imagine a ceremony lit up by strands of Christmas lights. I know we both prefer colored lights for our decorations at home, but white lights might add a nice, classy touch for a wedding. Maybe we could even have a Christmas tree, or more than one."
"A small Christmas tree on every table at the reception!"
"That's the spirit! Ooh, we could even arrange for Santa to visit the kids at some point."
"I hope you know another Santa because I don't plan on letting you go that day."
Eric gave her a gentle kiss. "So? Is it settled? Will you marry me December 23rd?"
"What if my dad-"
"If his condition changes our plans change. We'll make sure he's there walking you down that aisle."
"Okay."
"Okay what?"
Angela could picture it so clearly; marrying Eric under the glow of Christmas lights and surrounded by their closest friends and family. "I'll marry you December 23rd."