Chapter 2
As they ate dinner, the kids tossed out their thoughts on wedding ideas and themes, many of which had their parents sharing amused smiles.
"We can help you!" Angie said, excitedly as she scooted her chair closer to Jess' at the dinner table.
"Yeah, we can brainstorm if you want," DJ added as he sat and reached for the plate of potatoes Cody was passing. "Like, if you want a beach wedding, you could have it here on our beach," he suggested.
"You could have a cake shaped like a giant sandcastle!" Angie offered. "And cookies shaped like seashells. And if it's outside, Felix can totally be your flower goat."
"That's very … creative," Jess said with a genuine smile at their enthusiasm.
"You could do a whole theme," DJ offered. "My friend Elijah's brother did a super hero theme."
"For his wedding?" Cody raised his brows.
"Yeah, he met his wife at comic con and they love superheroes. The cake was a batman one. I saw pictures, it was raw."
"Ohh, we're definitely doing something a little more traditional that," Jess said with a grin, "But a theme is a nice idea to consider."
"What's a theme, again?" Angie asked, wanting to be sure before she thought of more ideas for the very exciting day that she couldn't wait to be a part of.
"It's like an idea that carries through a party, or event, like Grace does at your birthday parties," Cody explained. "How you had princesses and goats and DJ had baseball and when Jacob was little, he had minions."
"Ooooh, Like a Cinderella wedding! You can ride in a fancy carriage with your daddy, Jess!" The seven year old gushed.
"Okay, that one's actually pretty cool," Cody admitted, nodding at his fianceé. "I can see Jess arriving in a carriage."
"One of my friends from the academy had a baseball wedding," Catherine said with a smile at her son. "She married a sports writer and they're huge Yankees fans. They gave out boxes of Cracker Jack as favors and the bridesmaids all wore Yankees blue." She turned to Steve. "Remember how they had a Yankees logo as one of the ice sculptures?"
"Definitely," Steve said with a grin. "Your Uncle John said if he'd been to that wedding before he married Aunt Carrie, he'd have suggested a Steelers' theme for theirs."
DJ laughed. "I bet Grandma Ang would have done a Cubs wedding if she could have when she married Grandpa Rocks."
"You know, I think you're right," his mother agreed with a chuckle.
Ange sighed heavily. "It's too bad Mommy and Daddy already had their wedding. We're thinking of some really good ideas."
"Maybe they'll have a vow renewal someday," Jess tossed out.
"What's a vow renewal?" Angie asked as she bit down on a french fry.
Jess, who was distracted momentarily by moving Angie's glass away from the edge of the table, missed the looks of mild panic on Steve and Catherine's faces.
"It's like a do-over wedding," Jess explained. As she spoke, she felt the eyes of every adult at the table on her.
Angie gasped. "You can do a do-over wedding?"
She looked at first Steve, then Catherine, then DJ who seemed as confused by this new information as his sister.
"Is that a thing?" he asked.
"Yes." Catherine knew she had to choose her next words carefully. "Sometimes people decide to have a vow renewal ceremony. A lot of times it's for a special anniversary like your tenth or twentieth."
"You and Dad have been married for eight years, right?" DJ said.
Steve grinned. "Eight and a half."
"Maybe you can have a do-over when it gets to ten," DJ suggested.
"It's certainly something to think about," Catherine said, desperate to move the focus back to Cody and Jess's wedding since she knew the idea of a vow renewal would take on a life of its own if Angie and DJ got invested in the idea. "Right now though, we're trying to help Cody and Jess come up with ideas."
"I have some ideas of what I want to do color-wise," Jess said. "But I haven't made a final decision yet. I love sage green but I'm not sure how it'll look on all the dresses and flowers and tablecloths. Grace is going to bring some design books over so we can get a better idea."
"That sounds like a good plan," Catherine said, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed Angie and DJ exchanging a look.
Jess linked hands with Cody and smiled. "My mom said that once I settle on a dress everything else will start to fall into place."
"You're gonna look beautiful in whatever dress you pick 'cuz you're very pretty both on the inside and on the outside," Angie announced confidently.
"Thank you," Jess cooed. "That's so sweet of you to say."
"Hey, I have an idea!" Angie said. "Maybe Mommy and Daddy can plan a vow reversal …"
"Renewal," Catherine corrected gently.
"Yeah that." Angie bounced in her seat. "And maybe that would help you get some ideas for your wedding."
"That's a great idea," DJ said. "And this time me and Angie can both be there."
Angie clapped. "Then we'll have two videos to watch."
Jess looked at Steve and Catherine apologetically. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it."
"It's fine," they assured her.
"We could have it here on our beach," Angie suggested.
"Remember how you both always say this beach is your happy place," DJ reminded them.
"You two sound like you planned this presentation," Steve said to the kids.
Cody barked a laugh. "Looks like you two were hoisted on your own silent communication petard there."
"Why don't we have some dessert and we'll talk about it later," Catherine suggested.
"Cookies!" Angie thrust her arms in the air.
"You should definitely have a cookie table at your wedding," DJ told Cody and Jess. "Cupcakes too. Kaitlyn has been working on so many new flavors." His eyes sparkled mischievously. "Mom and Dad, if you do a vow renewal we can try some of them out and Jess and Cody can see which ones they like best."
"We don't want to steal Cody and Jess's thunder," Catherine said as she got up to retrieve the cookies and ice cream from the outside kitchen. "All of the attention should be on their wedding."
"Actually, you'd be doing us a favor," Cody said.
"Having all of the attention focused on us is … challenging." Jess smiled. "People mean well but between our two families and all our friends it can be a lot. Neither of us is completely comfortable being the center of attention."
"See, even Cody and Jess think it's a good idea," DJ said as Angie nodded vigorously.
Cody nodded. "We sure do."
"You two aren't helping," Steve said good naturedly.
Both Cody and Jess smiled unapologetically.
Angie beamed as she reached for a cookie. "And if we have the vow thing here on our beach you can get to see what it would be like to have Felix as a flower goat."
THE END
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