CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

Website where photos of all outfits mentioned is on my profile. Sorry for the delay. I went away for a few days (not medically this time!) We travelled to the other end of our country and saw Gabriel Iglesius. Laughed so much I almost cried. Walked so much my feet still hurt. Spent so much my card wore out.

At 5pm that night we're all standing in the entranceway of Derek's house, Abel's lying in his pushchair in the tuxedo onesie that Jax and Opie found for him and the thought of the two men voluntarily going into a store and buying it makes me giggle each time I look at him. Ellie and Kenny are standing side-by-side just by the table with their mother taking photos of them, the fact that Kenny's in a black dress suit (with no tie) and Ellie is standing beside him in her white dress with the dark blue ribbon and flowers around the bottom has Donna's continual clicking making sense.

Pulling the camera from her hand after the thousandth picture I gesture towards the kids and take a couple of photos of the four of them. One of the photos makes me laugh when both Kenny and Ellie put their hands on Donna's tummy and Opie starts chuckling.

The guys look amazing, but very uncomfortable. The only two of them that actually went the full suit route are Jax and Juice, Opie's wearing an black, dress pants, shirt and jacket but no tie (hence why Kenny had refused). Happy's in black pants, a white shirt and a black jacket. Cam had asked him about a tie and the look on his face was so funny that I almost choked on air.

By contrast Juice is wearing a full suit, pants, shirt, jacket and tie and Jax went one step further with a waistcoat under his jacket. The look on the faces of Donna, Cam, Al and I when we came downstairs probably could have gone in a dictionary beside 'stunned'. Kuttes had been left in the wardrobes upstairs and Happy had been the first to comment that it felt strange being without it that had led to all of us being told it was not going to be a common happening.

Trish insists on taking photos of each of us, the four couples and then one huge group photo. While we're waiting for the individual photos to be taken Jax nods his head towards our friends "I had this horrible thought that you'd all wear the same colour."

I giggle and shake my head "No. We did think about the same style dress in different colours but then Cam found one that she had to have and well, that killed that idea."

The red dress that Cam's wearing clinched at her waist by a thick black belt but the split that goes from the bottom to her mid-thigh has Happy's attention repeatedly drawn to her legs. Jax laughs and shakes his head "I guess Hap's a leg man." He mutters quietly.

I lean closer to his chest and shrug "I think Hap's just a Cam man." Sure enough Happy is now running his finger over Cam's collarbone and whispering in her ear.

Al's dress is white, a colour that she doesn't often wear, but the draping back and sleeveless dress she'd picked looks great on her, and next to Juice in his dark coloured suit and his coffee skin the dress looks brighter than it did in the store. Al can't stop grinning, and wiggling away from Juice's hand when it rests in the cowl of the back of her dress.

Donna's still standing with her kids, the dark blue dress she picked very simple by comparison, floor length with thick straps, but the same colour as the ribbon on Ellie's dress and if anyone looked close enough they'd see it's also the same colour as the buttons on both Opie and Kenny's suits.

Jax looks down at me again and shrugs "And you still look the best of them all."

Looking down at my own dress one of the flowers on the single strap brushes my chin. The black floor length dress has a gauzy cover and three roses as decoration. Jax lifts his hand to my chin and makes me look up at him again "I mean it babe."

I nod "I know baby."

Derek clears his throat and gets our attention "Right, the car has just arrived. Same as last time sorry guys, gotta walk to the end of the drive cause it won't fit up here."

Cam bounces in place clapping her hands and is the first out the door while Derek is last, alarming the house and locking the door.

The stretch hummer is still huge, even with the two booster seats and the car seat that we strap in. Derek used his many connections to make sure that there was the ability to tether the capsule in place, rolling his eyes when I'd thanked him.

The drive to the art gallery that had donated the use of its function room for the night is relatively short, something all us girls are grateful for, the long skirts keep getting tangled together, and Ellie keeps flicking her skirt over her head to watch it flutter back down, much to her mother's head shaking giggles.

As we pull up Derek leans towards the window and smiles "Good, they did it." The entrance way to the art gallery has been modified to look like a giant IV stand on either side covered in paintings done by the kids that the money raised will be benefitting.

The wait staff are lined on each side of the doors as we walk through them, Derek and Trish both casting a critical eye over them, one of the guys gets sent to tie his hair up and one of the girls is asked about her nails, which are painted with medical related things, from a tiny stethoscope on her thumb nail to a blood bag on her little fingernail of the opposite hand.

Cam leads us to the bar where they have alcohol-free beer and mocktails, pushing a glass into each of our hands Happy looks down with a wrinkled nose at his booze free beer. "Cam, you owe me for this shit."

Cam laughs and leans into his side brushing her nose against the side of his neck "I'll take you to the best bakery in New York on Monday."

Happy looks over at me and lifts an eyebrow "Is this place good?"

I shrug, looking over at Cam "Lulu's?"

She nods and starts laughing when I nod enthusiastically "I'm coming!"

Jax looks over with a confused look and I just shake my head "No you're not coming. I'm going to go with Cam and Happy and buy lots and lots and you're going to stay at home with Abel cause I'm not letting you in Lulu's. You'd buy the whole bloody place."

Jax laughs and Cam just nudges my shoulder "You mean you won't? I seem to remember while you were packing to go back to Cali you made me go to Lulu's to get you some stuff 'for the road'. Did it last past state lines?"

I blink innocently up at her and shake my head "It barely made it past the edge of the city limits. But least that meant I was eating!"

Derek laughs at both of us when he appears between us "They donated a couple of vouchers which we've made into voucher baskets for the smaller auction lots."

Derek motions towards one of the tables "I gave us one of the tables at the back, the ones at the front tend to be full of the people who want to be seen both for having brought a seat, and the things that they buy."

Cam nods, sliding her arm through her father's elbow "That's why you charge more for the tables at the front Daddy, and make sure that the photographers focus on those areas."