Sorry for the wait with this one. I'm in the middle of re-configuring some chapters and it's taking longer than I thought it would. I realized that a couple weeks ago (August 20th) marked 8 years of me writing the crazy world of Angela and Eric. It doesn't feel like that long ago that I posted the very first chapter of Where You Least Expect It. Sometimes I worry I've gone on too long with this particular set of storylines (hence some of my re-configuring) 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 stupidly long chapters and very irregular updates. Thank you so much.
It was later Sunday morning by the time Shawn and Naomi made it back to the main building of the inn. They were supposed to be meeting everyone for brunch before people went their separate ways and back to their normal lives. He flexed his fingers on his left hand, still adjusting to the new normal of the gold band. It was different, but good different. They didn't even make it to the dining room, however, when they spotted Virna and her boyfriend talking to Jack's mom and step-dad.
"You okay," Naomi asked. This group made him defensive on even the best of days, which she hoped this weekend continued to be.
"Yeah." He chuckled to himself and shook his head. "All weekend I've been thinking about the havoc Chet would cause if he were here right now though. Nothing bad," he reassured his new bride, "but he'd have made it memorable."
"Because it's not memorable enough with our wedding," she challenged good-naturedly.
"Well, see…what I meant was-"
"It's fine, Shawn. I get it."
/
"…when you come back from your vacation we'll have to get together and have lunch. Maybe do some shopping, too. And you simply must experience a show on Broadway at some point in your life."
Virna smiled. Shelly hadn't changed much. Plans started small, but by the time she was done talking they were always completely different- bigger, grander. "That would be something to cross off my bucket list."
"Then consider it a date," she said, clasping the other woman's hand. "Call me when you get back from Lake Tahoe and I'll set it all up."
"Lake Tahoe, huh?"
The ladies turned around and saw the happy couple standing there. "Naomi, weren't you going to show me those brochures I could give to my sister?" Shelly knew she'd never be able to undo the damage done by keeping Jack and Shawn apart when they were growing up, even if it was what she had to do in order to protect Jack and herself from Chet. So she's done her best to keep her distance the whole weekend. She was here to be Lala and keep Milo and Calum occupied for Jack and Rachel during wedding festivities. "I know she'd love this place."
"Oh, right. They should be this way."
"You're going to Lake Tahoe," Shawn repeated once he and Virna were alone.
"It's Reuben's family reunion. His mother grew up near there and they own some land and have a big cabin."
"Nice."
"I'm meeting them for the first time: his three kids, parents, he even has a 103 year old grandfather and a 101 year old grandmother who are still sharp as tacks from what I hear."
"You sound nervous."
"I'm scared to death. I thought I'd aged out of the meet the parents demographic. Meet the kids? Sure. But parents and MeeMaw and PopPop? I'm too old for this."
"They're going to love you."
"I don't know. What am I? A girl from Oklahoma who waited tables at a roadside diner for years? A movie ticket taker in Philadelphia who struggled to make ends meet and, when the pressure got to be too much, abandoned my family on more than one occasion? And then for good?"
He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at her. He wanted to be angry at Virna for dragging all this up again, especially the day after his wedding. He wanted to be angry, but he wasn't. Shawn remembered how pressured he felt the first time he met Naomi's family. He worried they'd be able to see right through him, into every insecurity he had and mistake he ever made and deem him unworthy. "As far as they need to know you're a 911 dispatcher who lives near Baltimore."
She nodded. "I suppose."
"Reuben's kids…what are they?"
"Excuse me?"
"Boys…girls…kids…teenagers…adults?"
"Oh, his sons are right around your age, one is a year or two younger and the other a year or two older I believe. And his daughter is twenty-two."
"If they give you any trouble, tell them you have a son who's not above pounding the crap out of them."
"Even his daughter?"
"Well, no, I'd have to recruit Morgan for her. Something tells me Nomi would frown on me using any kind of violence, even just threats."
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely. She's a very peace loving person."
"No, not about Naomi, about you."
"What about me?"
"You just said you were my son." While Virna had never stopped thinking of him that way, she couldn't blame him for no longer seeing her as his mom. "After all this time and everything that's happened…you really mean that?"
"I…yeah…yeah, I do. I'm Shawn Patrick Hunter, son of Chet and Virna." He doubted he'd ever be able to call her mom again, but the fact remained. His mother wasn't some random stripper Chet knocked up. It was Virna. "For better or worse you are my mother."
"I wish there were more of the better and less of the worse."
"Hey, it wasbetter when I was a kid. I didn't know how worse off things were. You made things special."
"I tried."
"You did good."
"And then you got older and harder to fool. As stupid as it sounds I think that's when I started to lose my grip. When you were six your Christmas present was this castle fort I made out of an old refrigerator box a neighbor was going to throw away. I thought you were going to hate it because it looked cheap and nothing like you saw in the stores." She'd had to sneak outside to cry happy tears over his reaction so as not to worry the little boy.
"I remember that." He hadn't thought about that Christmas gift in years. She'd even made a little drawbridge. "That was great until I insisted on taking outside in the rain and it fell apart."
"Then when you were ten you wanted to try to learn the drums. Again, money was tight and I was the only one working. But I couldn't pull the wool over your eyes any longer. And when I couldn't fool you into thinking things were normal I was no longer able to fool myself."
Shawn cringed when he thought about how he acted with the drums. That Christmas was the first time he swore at his parents for giving him some, 'cheap piece of crap.'. "Sorry."
"Nothing justifies what I did to you. You deserved so much better then. I'm glad you have it now with Naomi."
"I'm glad you're happy with Reuben. You deserve it, too."
"Thank you. And thank you for letting me be here. You have no idea what it's meant to me."
"Yeah, I do."
/
/
"December twenty-third?" Cory looked through his phone. "That's a Thursday!"
"Yeah, we know, Cor, thanks."
"Saturday, yes, perfect day for a wedding. Sunday, too. Heck, I've been to my fair share of Friday night weddings. But who the heck gets married on a Thursday?"
"We do," Angela said, exasperated. After managing to last the entire weekend staying mum on any details, she'd been the one to slip up and give the date away at the post wedding brunch before everyone let to head home. She was so certain Eric would be the one to crack they'd even bet on it, wagering hated baby duties instead of money. "Now can we please stop talking about this? It's still Shawn and Naomi's weekend. We're here for them."
"Fine, but you're still weirdos getting married some random Thursday in December."
"It's not random. December twenty-third is our anniversary."
"I don't get it. Why do you guys only want to have one anniversary? Topanga and I must have at least five or six for various occasions. Spread out the celebrations and presents, I say!"
"It doesn't need to be a special occasion for a night out or a present," Eric chimed in.
"And it's right before Christmas," Morgan pointed out. "You guys realize it's the day before Christmas Eve."
"Wow, Weasel, did they teach you how to read a calendar at UCLA or did you know beforehand?"
"Hey!"
"Eric, be nice to your sister."
"I'm trying mom, but everyone is shitting all over our wedding date."
"Eric," Rachel hissed.
"You said a very bad word, Uncle Eric."
"I'm sorry, Nina. I just meant that everyone is being a bunch of party poopers."
"Honey, no one is trying to…rain all over your wedding date. It's just an unusual time of year to get married, that's all."
"What's unusual? Christmas is the best, most happy time of year! We're just adding to the happy."
"Plus it's a great way to keep the guest list limited to only our closest family and friends."
"Shh, Mrs. Grinch, you're not helping our case," he admonished his fiancée in a teasing fashion.
"Do you have a venue lined up," Topanga asked. "You don't have much time. Let me know if you need any help. Who's more organized than me?"
"I was going to start researching in the next couple weeks," Angela said. "We're keeping it small."
"The wedding is six months, two weeks, and three days away. You don't have time to wait a couple weeks to start your research."
"She's right. We planned all this in nine months and there were a lot of times it felt like we were pushing it."
She turned around and saw Shawn and Naomi standing behind her. "I'm so sorry. I swear we weren't going to bring up anything this weekend, but I slipped and gave away the date."
"Wow, you broke first?" Shawn was almost impressed. Typically Angela was the proverbial vault while Eric the blabber mouth. "There's a bet I would've lost."
"She already did," Eric bragged. "That's why she gets the next five Georgia nail trims."
"Nail trims? Really? That's what you wagered? I would've thought dirty diapers would be the worst part."
"Diapers are a piece of cake compared to trying to pin her down to do her nails. Trust me, cutting her talons is a special kind of hell."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Still though, we wanted this weekend to be all about you guys and your wedding."
"Relax," the new bride said. "You didn't call it out in the middle of the ceremony or reception so I really don't care."
"Thank you."
"But I do agree with Topanga, six months is insane. Though I have to admit, it'll be kind of fun to see someone else run around like a chicken with their head cut off ranting about flowers, caterers, and colors for bridesmaids' dresses." Naomi shook her head, recalling her mother's dismay when she learned the bridesmaids would be wearing a different color than her sister- the maid of honor. Not to mention her fit when she learned Nina picked two colors for her flower girl dress. "I happily pass the headache to you."
"Ooh, bridesmaids' dresses." Rachel clapped her hands. "Let me know if you want to do dress shopping or just browsing of any kind. We don't fly back to Texas for another week and a half and with work I don't know if I'd be able to come back for any fittings. But it will be so much fun to put together a winter wedding and help with some details while I'm here."
"Are you okay," Eric asked. Angela seemed completely caught off guard when Rachel and Topanga whipped out their phones and searched bridesmaid dresses. He could practically see visions of eloping at city hall dancing in her head. "I can tell them to stop."
"It's fine. At least no one's lecturing to us about the date anymore."
/
/
"We won't see you before we go home?"
"No, Nina," Jack said. They were trying to get the luggage together to drive back to the city with his parents. "Remember what we said? Uncle Shawn and Aunt Nomi are going on their honeymoon."
"What's a honeymoon?"
"It's a vacation for people who just got married."
"Oh. Did you and mommy have one?"
"Yes. We went to Greece."
"So it's gonna be a long time before I see you and Auntie Nomi again?"
Shawn was glad he didn't have his phone on him otherwise he'd cave and delay his plans, Nina's pout and puppy dog eyes were that effective. "We'll figure something out, okay? I promise it won't be super long. Maybe we'll visit around Halloween to see you in your costumes."
Her eyes lit up. "Will Auntie Nomi help me make mine? I wanna be a puppy princess."
"Why don't you go find her and ask her?"
"Okay."
He watched as she scampered off towards the house. "What the hell is a puppy princess?"
"Damned if I know. So, how does it feel to be married?"
"I'm only about eighteen hours into it, but so far so good. I was hoping I'd feel different, you know? Not different so much as I was expecting some huge shift, like what happened yesterday would hit me. Then I woke up this morning and saw Nomi lying there and…"
"And?"
"It was exactly the same, but more peaceful. It's like I don't have to worry anymore. I mean…who are we kidding, it's me and I'm still going to worry, but I don't have to worry about her or us." He scrunched up his face. "Ugh. When does the sappiness stop?"
"I don't know. I thought I beat it and then came the kids. I think you just need to resign yourself to a lifetime of random sappiness."
"Crap. I guess there has to be some tradeoff for the peace. I'll find some way to live with it."
"There are definitely worse things."
/
/
"You have to keep this story in here."
"Joyce, no."
She scanned over Alvin's notes again. "I can't believe it. All these years and it was you and Gorecki? You were the ones who siphoned the gas out of Lieutenant Pope's car and replaced it with soda? Do you know how much trouble you would've been in if you were caught? Kiss your military career goodbye."
"I know."
"Why did you do it? He was your superior at the time."
"The man was a bully who picked on those he deemed weaker. I didn't enlist to pick on my fellow man."
"So why don't you want Georgia to read about you standing up to a bully?"
"Vandalism hardly the example I want to set for my granddaughter."
"You want her to know who you are. This is part of your story. Plus I think Angela and Eric would get a kick out of it."
He took the pad of paper back and placed it with the rest of the notes. He'd spent the last couple months getting in touch with various old friends and army buddies asking them to write their favorite story of their time together. Once he told them why there was no hesitation. It was surprising to find that people he hadn't seen in years still held him in such high regard. "What do you think of everything else, vandalism notwithstanding?"
"I like it. There are things even I didn't know."
"But am I telling it in a way that explains who I am without dragging up painful issues for Angela?"
"She's the only one who can answer that question."
"I suppose."
"When do you leave for Philadelphia?"
"Friday."
"Show her what you have. Tell her your plans. She must have a story or two that she wants Georgia to know about you."
Alvin shook his head. "I want this to be from me and in my words."
"It already is. A little input won't change that. It's a beautiful love letter to both Angela and Georgia. I think she'd be touched to know what you're working on." She watched him set the papers aside and lean back in his chair. "Forgive the trite expression, but: penny for your thoughts?"
"This is it, you know?"
"What?"
"The summation of my life, it's here in these papers, at least as far as my friends are concerned. You always wonder how people will remember you when you die. Now I know and that-that's a strange feeling."
/
/
"I have to say, one plus I didn't think about with having a kid was that I can order off the kids menu again without anyone looking at me like I'm crazy. Not that I really cared what people thought before," Eric added. They'd been back on the road for about twenty minutes having stopped so Georgia could have a snack. "And I know she's still a little young to really eat the food, but it's nice to have the excuse." He glanced at Angela after he received no response. Her focus remained fixed on the road. "You okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You've hardly said anything since brunch. What's up?"
"Rachel and Topanga…." She shook her head. "…I didn't think about having bridesmaids and a matron of honor. How am I supposed to pick?"
"Who are you closer to?"
"Probably Rachel."
"So pick her."
"Topanga would be devastated. I think Rachel would be slightly more understanding."
"Then pick Topanga."
"You're really not helping."
"Tell me how to help and I'll do it."
"Who's going to be your best man?"
"Not sure. Probably Jack…or Max. I don't think Cory would take it personally if I didn't pick him because I know I was a last minute substitution. Crap. I didn't think about this part of getting married."
"See?"
"Do we even have to choose? If we pick them to be up there, they're the best."
"It doesn't work that way."
"Then let's draw names out of a hat."
"Be serious."
"I am. Let's just…we'll worry about that part later, okay?" He put his hand on her knee. "We don't have to decide everything all at once."
"I guess."
"So on a totally different topic, what were you talking to Jack about with books and dvds for Georgia?"
"Oh, he mentioned that we should try baby signing with her. He saw how frustrated she was getting when I couldn't figure out she wanted the banana instead of blueberries yesterday."
"Signing? But she can hear just fine, when she wants to anyway. She's getting good at ignoring when we tell her no to something."
"Milo can hear and he signs more than talks. His speech therapist recommended signing long before they even knew Calum existed and that he was deaf."
"Isn't Georgia a little young to learn that? She's only nine and a half months."
"I read an article or two this morning while she was nursing and she's at a great age to start. Babies usually pick it up the basics pretty quickly. And everyone is happier because there is less guessing and frustration involved."
"I'm all for less frustration. It's pretty obvious she knows what she means when she's babbling." He glanced in the back seat and smiled at Georgia's reflection in the mirror. She was having quite the animated conversation with her stuffed toy. "She thinks she's saying real words to puppy dog. I mean, sure, everything except da-da, is coming out, but-"
"Eric…"
"Not that I'm taking it personally."
"Right. I totally believe you."
"It is just about the easiest sound for babies to make," he grumbled, "but she won't do it."
"She will eventually."
"Promise she won't be eight and calling out 'hey, you' across the house?"
"I can almost guarantee it." Angela squeezed his arm. "Georgia knows who you are, even if she's not saying it yet."
"I'm being silly, aren't I?"
"No. If things were reversed I don't know how I'd feel." That first mama was indescribable. It was like a sign she was doing a good job, that all of her fears going into motherhood were for naught. If Georgia thought she was a good mama, did anyone else's opinion really matter? Still, maybe she'd work with the baby. If she wouldn't say da-da yet maybe Angela could teach her to sign it and surprise Eric. She was taken out of her musings when her phone buzzed. "Can you check that?"
He took her phone out of the center console. "Topanga, Rachel, and Morgan."
"All of them at once?"
"They thought it would be easier to start a group text," he said, reading. "This way everyone would be on the same page with wedding details. Topanga sent a link with this season's hot color schemes for winter weddings."
"Oh."
Eric noticed her hands tighten around the steering wheel. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
"You're strangling the steering wheel. It's obviously something."
"I've been in enough weddings to see how crazy the planning gets. And the more people that get involved the more opinions there are to deal with. I just want to be sure this stays the wedding we want it to be: one that represents us and our little family."
"If people start going too crazy let me know. I was serious when I said I'll get them to back off. We'll have the day we want."
She smirked at the irony of his statement. "Says the guy who hijacked a stranger's entire wedding for Cory and Topanga."
"Hey, we agreed to not talk about that ever again."