I am really, really, REALLY SORRY for not updating sooner. College has begun again. Between organic chemistry, physiology, developmental psychology and art courses, I haven't had the chance to think and type up the next chapter. Please be patient for more updates after as well. I will try the best I can to keep up frequently.
Also, I like to say thanks to all those who have reviewed. I love the reviews, please keep it up so I can keep going with this story. I know this chapter is short, and I'm, again, really sorry. Please enjoy reading and keep reviewing!
Chapter 16
"Morelli's Wedding"
Steph's POV (two months later)
Jeremiah would be flying today in the late afternoon. I hadn't seen him two months although he did call every two or three days. He's going to attend Joe and Sarah's wedding with me tomorrow morning and stay for three or four days before heading back to Texas. Sarah and I have been getting along great. I was being one of the bridesmaids with two of her three sisters and Lula. She was perfect for Joe and I couldn't be happier for them, but I couldn't help to become annoyed with her when it came to calling me frequently. Her oldest sister, who I met last week, was going to be maid of honor and I was so gladly relieved, even if for a little amount of time, when she arrived in Trenton. Sarah just transferred here and didn't know that many people so she recruited me to help her with all the wedding plans and it was a nightmare. Lula's wedding was in two weeks and as Lula's maid of honor, I had to help plan her wedding too. Can I say again? NIGHTMARE! I had somehow become a wedding planner for two women, one of the two was one of my best friends, but that wasn't much help either. Thank God one of the weddings was tomorrow.
Ranger, Tank, Lester, Bobby, Connie and Lula were the only ones who knew of the contract. We didn't have a full proof plan, but we needed it for tomorrow. At the wedding, every one of us would be present along with the gossip mills of the burg, so the best time for Jeremiah to witness Ranger 'prove' his love for me would be then. The reason for the not so full proof plan is that it depended on my latest (for the past two weeks) stalker, Edward Scrog apparently had a brother, Daniel that didn't have so much brain. We've discovered him and his whereabouts easily, he wasn't as good at this like his brother, but we didn't bother to purposely bring him to justice since we needed him in our plan to at least try to attempt kidnapping or killing me. Doesn't this plan sound great to you? Ranger would swoop down and save me as usual, and Jeremiah would see that Ranger truly loved me. Problem is if Danny boy would attempt something at the wedding with half of Trenton's finest cops.
It was just after noon when I dropped off my only skip for the day at the police station. It's been slow at the office but I've been busy with the upcoming weddings that I didn't mind, plus the fact Jeremiah is paying my apartment's rent for the next five months according to the contract. Probably the only smart thing I negotiated in the contract. I entered the office with my body receipt as Lula and Connie were talking about seating arrangements for Lula's wedding reception again.
"I'm thinking we should let Mary Lou and her husband sit along with Jenny and her husband. Grandma Mazur needs to sit with Steph's parents. So that's three seats that, uh, four for Grandma's date," Connie was pointing out on the seating charts in front of Lula as I walked in. They looked frustrated. Connie noticed me first.
"Still at the seating arrangements?" I asked and handed over the body receipt.
"Yep." Connie wrote out my check and I dropped it into my purse. I turned to Lula.
"For the music, I know we have Sally Sweet's band playing half of the time and a DJ during the other times of the reception, but the DJ wants to know if there's any certain songs you prefer when he called me today. He said your line was busy all day," I told her and passed her the number of the DJ.
"I'll do that right now and get it over with," Lula said. She took the piece of paper with the scribbled number and started to dial the phone. I hung back to help a little with the seating arrangements and waited until she was done so I could tell her that I had gotten a message from the video montage people. I saw Lula walk around the desk as she spoke on the phone. She was losing weight, not so much, but you could see a difference in her waist line. She started exercising with me at the gym along with the yoga and defense classes claiming she needed to for the wedding dress because white was a 'fattening color' and she wanted to make her Tankie proud. Although, she refuses to go running with me at 7:30 in the morning. The spandex she usually wore fits her better now.
As she ended the call, I complimented her on the weight loss. Connie agreed with me, stating the difference was becoming very noticeable. Lula was beaming with a smile, she had that happy pre-wedding glow look.
"Oh," I suddenly remembered after getting caught up with all the wedding happiness with the girls, "the video montage people also called. The feed is too short by a minute and few seconds. They want to know if you would like to possibly add some pictures and snap shots that they can incorporate into the video here and there. After the finished video, they want you to check it out and make sure you like it." I dug into my purse, grabbed the video montage info envelop, and passed it to her.
"Thanks white girl. I'm going to look and see what I got with Tankie and then give it to them." I bustled out of the office before I got caught up in more planning. Ranger has been having bodyguards on me again so I made my way to the black Explorer parked behind my red violet Rav4 and tapped on the driver's tinted window. Woody and Hector were babysitting me today.
Woody rolled down the driver's seat window. "I got to stop by the bank then the hair salon to get my hair done for tomorrow's wedding. After, I'm going to get some grocery shopping done since Jeremiah's flying in to stay for a couple of days and he's going to be here in a few hours," I informed them. I felt it was better to tell them where I was going so they would know what to expect. It's got to be boring following me all day anyways. Woody and Hector both nodded. Hector said something in Spanish that Woody looked at me then back at Hector to shake his head no. Huh? I really got to learn some Spanish. I've found that Ranger even thought in Spanish half the time, so it's not fair to have ESP if you can't know what he's thinking anyways.I sighed, walked away and got in my small SUV.
o0o0o0o
We had to be there two hours early in the bride's dressing room at St. Paul's Church. The girls and I were already dressed in the light pink bridesmaid's dresses. I had my hair done in soft curls that were nicely pinned up. Sarah was nervous and she kept pacing back and forth. I was worried she would ruin the long trail of her wedding dress.
"Am I doing the right thing?" Sarah asked. She's been asking the same question for the past few days now and we've all heard it too many times.
"Yes," and "Of course," were heard from all three of her sisters and Lula. I sat there not really saying anything so she turned to me and repeated the question. Do I look like a wedding planner? Am I supposed to do all this and answer question after question? I sighed.
"Sarah," I began softly, "Joe's a good man. He wants to get married and have a family. You said yourself that you wanted the same things. He would make a good husband and father. There's nothing wrong with that."
Lula smiled. "Yeah, Super cop's even got the finest ass in Trenton and a dog for your kids to play with. I say you're lucky and get on with it. I heard about this. You just got wedding nerves. I know just what to help you," Lula said and she started going through a box she had brought with her. She pulled out several of bottles. She grinned and looked at the clock. We still had an hour and a half until the ceremony begins. "My cousin told me this is the best way to get rid of them nerves. She's been married four times now." She handed each of a bottle of red wine and gave Sarah a rather large bottle of tequila. Uh oh. I have a bad feeling about this. Lula quickly uncorked her bottle and took a large gulp of it.
One of her sisters uncorked her bottle and took several sips. She smiled and said, "I feel calmer already." She continued taking sips out of her bottle of wine.
"You sure this is a good idea?" Sarah asked to no one in particular as she opened her huge bottle of tequila. Uh….? I don't think it's a good idea. I opened my mouth to say something as Sarah put the bottle to her lips and took a mouthful of it. Oh god! I looked to see that all three of her sisters and Lula were already drinking halfway through their wine bottles. This was not good. I looked at the wine bottle in my hand. Stupid Stephanie was telling me to join the fun and smart Stephanie was telling me to go and get someone for help. God help me! I uncorked my bottle and heard one of her sisters slur, "Yeah. That's it Stephie, take a sip. Definitely makes you, uh, calmer."
I walked towards the door as I immediately downed half of the wine from the bottle. Before the alcohol can affect me, I placed the bottle down and walked out the Stephanie was still telling me to get someone. I went down to the end of hall and turned left. After a while, I turned right into a different room where I immediately walked into Tank andRanger.
Babe? Ranger thought.
ESP was working. Probably not drunk enough yet. I giggled.
"Drunk? Are you ladies drinking in there?" Ranger asked out loud.
Drunk? Am I? I thought for a moment. Probably am. Not as worse as the rest of them. I only took half a bottle. They probably already onto their second and third bottles.
Ranger's POV
Oh god. "Tank, all the girls are drunk. I don't think Morelli wanted a drunken bride," I said. Tank's eyes widen.
"You serious? How the hell you girls get drunk at this time, Bombshell? There's supposed to be a wedding in an hour," Tank asked.
"Well, uh, Sarah had wedding nerves and pacing. Yeah, lots of pacing. And Lula said her cousin said it's the best way to deal with the wedding nerves," Steph said slowly and slightly slurring on her words. She was a cheap drunk. "I shouldn't have listened to stupid Stephanie. Smart Stephanie said to go get someone. Yeah that's why I'm here but stupid Stephanie said to drink a little." I shook my head. Tank looked at me.
"Don't ask about the stupid and smart Stephanie thing," I murmured to him and placed my hand on Steph's back. "Come on," I told her and starting leading back to the women's dressing room.
"Tank, inform Bobby and Lester of the situation and tell them to tell Morelli that we may have to stall the wedding a few minutes." Tank immediately took out his cell and did what I wanted. We stood at the door of the room. Sure enough, Lula and two other girls were on the floor next to the table drunk and laughing. The bride and maid of honor were on a sofa next to the table looking on the verge of passing out. Oh god. This is not good. There were several empty bottles scattered among the floor.
"Shit," I heard Tank mutter from behind me. Steph started giggling at the sight of them. At least I know I'm not as drunk as them. Mine will pass soon enough and I'll be fine, she thought.
"Babe," I said softly and shook my head. We entered the room slowly.
"Tank, confiscate all the liquor out of the room." Tank took a box of liquor out into the hallway. I began picking up the empty bottles and placed them carefully on the table. The room strongly smelled of alcohol and perfume. Steph was speaking softly to Sarah and her sister on the couch. She took their bottles and handed them to Tank when he re-entered the room. She did the same with Lula and Sarah's other two sisters.
Steph looked at the girls around the room and down at herself in the mirror. "We need some help. We're a mess guys. Sarah can't get married like this," she stated. No kidding, I thought. Can we have Connie, my mother and Sarah's mother here? She asked in her thoughts. Okay. When I didn't move, Steph turned away from the mirror and asked impatiently, "Now?"
I turned to Tank. "Have Connie, Mrs. Plum and Mrs. Bishop come up here and help the girls. Don't tell them that they're drunk. Tell them that Sarah requested them. Only them," I ordered and Tank left the room.
Ten minutes later, Connie, Steph's mother and Sarah's mother entered the room and they immediately took notice of the alcoholic states. I turned to them, "Steph went to get us. She's the least drunk obviously," she simply was the only one standing, "the wedding is in forty five minutes and counting. They need help."
Mrs. Bishop faced me. "I see. Excuse us. We'll take care of it." I left the room and let the women deal with it. I ordered Lester and Bobby to stand guard in the hallway of their room and swiftly left to find Tank.
I found Tank in a room with Morelli, Eddie Gazarra, Carl Costanza, Big Dog, and two other Morelli men all wearing black wedding tuxes. Morelli faced me. "Is my bride really drunk with her three sisters, Steph and Lula?"
"Yes, Steph found me and Tank. She was the least drunk," I answered. The room filled with smiles and a few chuckles.
He groaned and muttered about something he should have expected. He cleared his throat and asked to no one in particular, "Am I still getting married today? Did they pass out?"
"They were close to passing out. Connie, Mrs. Plum and Mrs. Bishop are dealing with them. You're still getting married," Tank answered.
I looked at the clock. Half an hour. I said blankly, "The ceremony might be a little late and not start exactly at noon like you wanted though." Morelli nodded.
I left and check inside the church. The pews were slowly becoming full with guest. A soft buzz filled the area. I heard several conversations of gossip as I walked around and scanned the area for any sign of threats.
o0o0o0o
The wedding began fifteen minutes after noon. The girls looked as if they were never drunk an hour ago, although they had somewhat glassy wet eyes and one of Sarah's sisters had tripped as they proceeded down the aisle. Her partner, Big Dog, was able to catch her to balance again swiftly and almost discreetly. The wedding ceremony turned out to be quite nice and simple.
I kept a trained eye on Steph the entire time. We were hoping Daniel Scrog, her latest stalker, would show up and attempt to kidnap her. He was a pathetic stalker but we left him alone because we needed him for the plan. I would swoop in and save my babe as usual to show Jeremiah the proof of my love for her. Part of me felt it was ridiculous but I also wanted to show not only Jeremiah, everyone, that Stephanie Plum was mine, especially after she marries me eventually. We could have had him in police custody within a day. Lester and Bobby came up with most of the plan when Daniel Scrog appeared two weeks ago as a joke until Connie and Lula started to like the idea. They call it the 'Batman Saves Wonder woman Operation' or BSWO for short. The girls calling me Batman had gotten to Tank, Lester and Bobby. They have begun teasing me endlessly with Batman jokes no matter the few times I had put them to late night surveillance shifts. We had informed Morelli of the latest stalker and the reason for the security I had placed for his wedding. He agreed with no problems as long as we didn't scare the guest so we were required to wear suits. He said he still loves Steph and wants her safe as well.
Steph's POV
The ceremony ended and we stood for multiple pictures for the photographer that was hired for the wedding. The reception would start at two o'clock at a hall in the burg, just ten minutes away. Many of the guest have already left the church to head over to the reception hall as we continued to stand with smiles for pictures. At one forty, the rest of us began to leave for the reception as well.
On the way to the reception, nothing had occurred. I was hoping that Danny boy would jump out and try something in between the wedding ceremony and reception as we would be traveling across town from the church to the reception hall. I didn't want to be alert for anything during the reception either. That sucks. We'll just have to see.
Let me know what you think? Review please, please, pleaseeeee. I like reviews. I'll try to get chapter 17 as soon as I can. REVIEW!