Three Weddings and a Bar Mitzvah

by Melody Carlson

  Six

  Kendall

  “I really appreciate your help with this,” Kendall told Lelani on the drive into the city. “I mean, it’s going to be hard enough to do wedding-dress shopping with my fat belly, which seems to growing fatter by the minute, but if I wait to pick out a wedding gown with my mom …” Kendall shook her head. “Well, that would be pure torture.”

  Lelani glanced at the backseat of Kendall’s car. “I just hope Emma will cooperate. You know how she can totally lose it when she misses her afternoon nap.”

  “I told Emma that I expect her to be a big girl,” Kendall said as she exited the freeway, “and I explained that if you were going to be around for my wedding, which looks unlikely, I will have her for my flower girl.”

  Lelani laughed. “She’s not even walking by herself yet.”

  “She’ll be walking by June.”

  “Hopefully we’ll be able to come to your wedding. I told Gil that if we’re really going to get married in Maui, we could at least set the date for the following weekend. It’s not like it’s that hard to find a free strip of beach for the ceremony.”

  “I can just imagine you guys barefoot and gorgeous with wind-tossed hair.” Kendall sighed. “I told Killiki that I wouldn’t mind if we repeated our vows, privately I mean, on a Maui beach sometime.”

  “That sounds romantic.”

  Kendall nodded. “And we’ll do it when I’m not pregnant, and I’ll get a really pretty dress and maybe have someone take our picture. I hate to even think what our wedding photos will be like with me as big as a house.”

  “You don’t have to get married before the baby comes,” Lelani pointed out.

  “I know. That’s what my mom said too. Call me old-fashioned, but I just want my baby to be born with a daddy.” Kendall instantly regretted her words. “Not that it’s that big of a deal. I mean you did what you had to do and I totally respect that. And, as we all know, Killiki isn’t my baby’s real daddy.”

  “No, Kendall, he will be your baby’s real daddy. Just not his biological one. There’s a difference.”

  “Yeah. And speaking of biological daddies, I’ve been thinking that my mom could be right.”

  “Right about what?”

  “That maybe I should have Matthew Harmon do a paternity test.”

  Lelani didn’t say anything.

  “I mean, I know where you stand on that, and for the most part, I totally agree. And it’s not like I have the slightest interest in getting together with Matthew.” Kendall turned into the parking lot of the wedding gown outlet store. “But I wonder if he has the right to know.”

  “That’s a tricky question, isn’t it?” Lelani was already getting out of the car.

  Kendall hoped she hadn’t stepped on Lelani’s toes about this. In fact, she wished that she’d just kept her big mouth shut. It wasn’t as if Lelani should have all of the answers to Kendall’s questions. Kendall eased herself out of her car, then got the stroller out of the trunk while Lelani unbuckled Emma from her car seat.

  “She’s sound asleep,” Lelani said quietly. “If we’re lucky, she’ll sleep a while longer.”

  Kendall was arranging the quilt in the stroller, helping Lelani to gently lay the sleeping princess down, tucking the quilt around her, and hoping that she would continue to sleep while she and Lelani looked at wedding gowns.

  “So far so good,” Lelani said as Kendall held the door open for them. Kendall looked around the store and tried not to feel too disappointed. It hadn’t been her idea to look at a discount store, but Megan had suggested it, and in light of Kendall’s finances, it had seemed sensible. On the other hand, if she waited to get a dress with her mother, money might not be such a problem. And yet, if she did that, she could end up with 1) a dress she hated and 2) a great big fight with her mom. In the end, waiting was probably not worth it.

  “Keep in mind that you’re going to be a lot bigger by the time June rolls around,” Lelani said as Kendall held up a fitted gown.

  “I’ve been trying to decide whether it’s better to go with something fluffy and full or something clingy that shouts out pregnant bride alert. Like, ‘Get over it, Aunt Betty.’”

  “Can I help you?” asked a young-looking salesgirl.

  Kendall pointed to her rounded midsection. “Maybe so. As you can see, I’m pregnant, and I’ll be even more pregnant two months from now.”

  The girl looked slightly uncomfortable. “Well, I’m kind of new here, but I know that we have some maternity wedding gowns somewhere.”

  “You do?” Kendall felt hopeful as they followed the girl toward the back of the store. “I did an online search and I found this satin number that I really liked, except that it was more than a thousand dollars and I need to economize.”

  “Here they are,” the girl told them. “Unfortunately you’re limited to the sizes on this rack. Because we’re an outlet store, it’s not like we can order anything special for you.” The girl stared at Kendall’s belly. “So, do you know what size you are?”

  “I know what size I used to be.”

  “Let’s just start there.” Lelani was already looking at the gowns. “How about this one?”

  Kendall frowned at the dress. It was satin, but it seemed kind of frumpy.

  “Now, I don’t think you can make any snap judgments,” Lelani told her. “Not until you actually start trying them on.”

  Kendall nodded. “You’re right. In fact, I felt kind of encouraged when I checked out the pregnant-bride Web site. I was surprised at how pretty those pregnant brides actually were.”

  “They were probably just models pretending to be pregnant,” the salesgirl said.

  “Some women are at their most beautiful when pregnant,” Lelani said quickly.

  The salesgirl nodded and stepped back. “Well, I’ll let you guys look around. And when you’re ready for a dressing room, just let me know.”

  Kendall giggled. “I’ll bet I’m her first pregnant customer.”

  “There are some really pretty dresses here,” Lelani said as she continued to peruse the rack. She pushed a couple more at Kendall. “Why don’t you go get started trying them on, and I’ll keep looking.”

  “Want me to take Emma with me?” offered Kendall.

  “That’s okay.” Lelani glanced at Emma, who was still sleeping.

  Kendall carried the gowns back to the dressing-room area and waited for the salesgirl to unlock one of the doors. Like everything about this store, the fitting room was barren and cold-looking, nothing like the bridal shops that Kendall had always dreamed of shopping in. Of course, those dreams had never included a pregnancy. “Thanks,” she told the girl. “My friend is going to bring some more gowns back.”

  “We have a limit of only three gowns at a time,” the girl told her.

  Kendall chuckled. “Right, probably a lot of bridal-gown shoplifting going on.”

  “You’d be surprised.” She closed the door.

  As Kendall peeled off her T-shirt and maternity jeans, she tried to imagine how someone could possibly steal a wedding gown. Perhaps they wore a fake-pregnancy pack that was large enough to stuff a gown into. She tried not to look at herself in the mirror. No matter how many times she saw that belly, it was pretty shocking. For sure, she was not wearing a fake-pregnancy pack.

  She slipped the first dress on, struggling to zip up the back. Fortunately it fit. Unfortunately, it was ugly, so bad that it seemed pointless to wait for Lelani’s opinion. Kendall removed the dress, hung it up, and went for the second one.

  “How’s it going?” asked Lelani.

  Kendall opened the door so that Lelani could see the second dress. It was an improvement on the first, but still not right. Kendall held her arms out in a hopeless gesture. “Maybe pregnant brides aren’t supposed to be p
retty.”

  Lelani shook her head. “You’re pretty, Kendall. But the dress is all wrong. Who wants to wear puffy sleeves when she’s pregnant?” She held up another one. “Try this.”

  After a while they narrowed the choices down to a couple possibilities: a semifitted satin dress that was low cut and sleeveless, and a lacy number that made her belly look smaller but also made her feel like she was going to Sunday school.

  “Try on the satin one again,” Lelani told her. “And I’ll go have one last look on that rack. Maybe I missed something.”

  As Kendall removed the lacy gown, she heard Emma waking up. The little girl was clearly not happy. Kendall was not happy either. In fact, she was on the verge of tears. Maybe it had been a stupid idea to go shopping with a baby along. For that matter, with two babies along. But then, wasn’t Kendall the Queen of Stupid Ideas? She hung up the lace dress and started to don her street clothes again. Enough was enough. Time to call it a day.

  She was just emerging from the changing area when Lelani and a still-fussing Emma came toward her. It figured that Lelani had found another gown.

  “Let’s go home,” Kendall said. “Emma shouldn’t have to suffer for my—”

  “She’ll be fine,” Lelani said firmly. “Here, you take this dress so I can pick up Emma.”

  “But I think we should—”

  “I think you should try that one on, Kendall. Really, it seems perfect.”

  “But I’m already dressed and—”

  Lelani shoved the dress toward her. “Please, just do it for me.” She bent over to release Emma from her stroller, then scooped her up. “It’s okay,” she said soothingly. “Auntie Kendall is just going to try on one more gown.”

  Kendall couldn’t help but smile at the auntie part. “Okay,” she told Lelani, “but this is the last one.”

  “Yell when you’re ready. In the meantime, Emma and I will look around.” She laughed. “Maybe Emma would like to pick out her mommy’s wedding gown while we’re here.”

  Kendall reluctantly returned to the fitting room only to find the door was locked again. So she set out to find the salesgirl.

  “I thought you were finished in there.” She reached for her keys.

  “I thought I was finished too,” Kendall admitted. “Like stick-a-fork-in-her-she’s-done kind of finished.”

  The girl scowled as she unlocked the door, acting like Kendall had inconvenienced her. “Here you go,” she said with an impatient toss of her head.

  Kendall wanted to tell her to lighten up—or grow up—or take a customer-service class, because if that girl ever wanted to work in anything higher class than an outlet store, she had better figure it out.

  Kendall hung up the dress, which upon a second glance wasn’t half bad, then slowly began to undress again. This time, instead of hurrying into the dress to avoid her image in the mirror, she really looked at herself. Okay, she was pregnant. Not fat, just pregnant. She ran her hands over the taut skin on her belly and for the first time thought it was actually kind of beautiful. Maybe it was a strange kind of beautiful, but it wasn’t as horrible looking as she often told herself. Just last night, Killiki had said that he wished he could see her, that he thought pregnant women truly were beautiful, and that he looked forward to her next pregnancy when they could be together. She sighed and reached for the dress. Really, all that mattered about her wedding dress was that Killiki’s eyes lit up when he saw her. Well, okay, she wanted to feel beautiful in it too.

  “Need any help in there?” called Lelani from outside her door.

  “Actually, I do.” She opened the door. “The zipper seems to be stuck.”

  Lelani set Emma down on the floor and went to work on the zipper. Emma crawled beneath the full skirt and began to giggle.

  “Whatcha doing down there?” Kendall asked. “Is it like a big white tent?”

  “There,” said Lelani as she zipped it up. “And it fits too.”

  Kendall lifted up her skirt and Lelani picked up Emma. As Lelani stood, her eyes lit up. “Wow, Kendall, this gown is really good. Well, other than your bra straps. Can you tuck those down?”

  Kendall struggled to unhook her straps and push them below the strapless bodice before she stepped out to where the three-way mirror was situated. Once out there, she just stared at her reflection. “Wow, it is good.” The empire-cut bodice fit well, and the full fluffy skirt actually disguised her midsection. Not that she felt the need to hide anything.

  “You look beautiful, Kendall,” Lelani said from behind her.

  Kendall looked at Lelani in the mirror and nodded. “This is the one. Thanks for making me try it.”

  “Well, you’ve got those gorgeous shoulders and long neck, it just seemed like you should show them off some.”

  Kendall turned to see all sides of the dress. “It’s perfect. Really perfect. I think even my mother might approve.”

  “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I found a dress that I’d love to try on.”

  “Sure, go for it.” Kendall reached for Emma now. “I’ll take care of the princess.”

  “Thanks!” Lelani ducked into Kendall’s fitting room. “I’ll hurry.”

  “Take your time,” sang out Kendall. “We’ll just be out here dancing.” Kendall danced Emma in front of the mirror, watching the skirt of her gown and imagining that she and Killiki were dancing at their reception.

  “So you found one?” asked the salesgirl as she led what appeared to be a mother and daughter into the fitting-room area.

  Kendall smiled at her. “And it’s perfect.”

  The girl shrugged. “Well, as perfect as it can be anyway. I mean for a maternity gown.” She smiled at her other customers like this was funny.

  Everything in Kendall wanted to scream at this stupid, insensitive girl, but that would just bring Kendall down to her level, which felt like middle school anyway.

  “Here you go,” the girl told the mother and daughter. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  Lelani emerged from the dressing room. Her gown was a dreamy tea-length confection of lace and ribbons and beads, perfect for a beach wedding.

  “It’s beautiful,” Kendall told her.

  The mother and daughter paused to look as well. “Very pretty,” the mother said approvingly.

  “You’re both getting married?” the salesgirl asked in surprise.

  Kendall looked directly into the girl’s eyes. “Yes, we’re both getting married. We’ve been roommates for a while and we’re sharing our wedding day and we thought it was about time we gave our babies a proper home.” She linked her arm with Lelani’s as they both stood in front of the mirror. “You look lovely, dahling,” she said to Lelani in a seductive voice. “Don’t you think we make a stunning couple?”

  The mother and daughter looked slightly taken aback as they disappeared into their fitting room with their arms full of dresses. Then the cheeky salesclerk made a forced smile and hurried on her way.

  Lelani started to giggle. “What was that all about?”

  Kendall grinned and began to belt out one of her favorite oldies in her best Bonnie Raitt imitation. “Let’s give them something to talk about.” Emma laughed with glee as Kendall danced her around the small dressing area singing with more enthusiasm than talent. “Love, love, love …”

  Lelani just shook her head. “Oh, Kendall,” she said with her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter. “You are something else, girlfriend!”

  Just then Kendall pointed. “Look at Emma!”

  Lelani looked down, then let out a happy shriek. “She’s walking!” She clapped her hands. “Oh, Emma, you’re walking!”

  “She’s not walking, Lelani.” Kendall grinned. “She’s dancing!”

  Seven

  Anna

  Something
about Edmond seemed different. Several days had passed since that comment in the parking lot, and Anna couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she knew something had changed between them. She hoped it didn’t have anything to do with what she’d said to him in front of Felicia the other day. Surely, Edmond hadn’t taken it seriously.

  Anna sat at her desk, flipping through e-mail, as she replayed the scene in her head. They’d been at a marketing meeting, trying to hammer out some back-cover copy, when Edmond had made a thoroughly lame suggestion. Naturally, Anna had teased him about it. After all, they often teased each other. Really, it was no big deal. Or was it? Edmond’s promotion from Felicia’s assistant to head of publicity was still new enough that he could be worried about impressing everyone. And he fell quiet after Anna’s comment. As it turned out, Anna came up with the best one-liner for the back of the book. When she apologized to Edmond later he’d been fairly nonchalant, like it was nothing. Really, Anna told herself, it probably was nothing. She was just making a mountain out of a molehill.

  Perhaps Edmond had been hurt when they said good-bye on Tuesday. They were in the parking lot, and Edmond was getting a little friendlier than usual, and suddenly his uncle, Anna’s boss, came out. Anna literally shoved Edmond away from her. Still, he should understand that. She’d told him more than once that physical displays of affection in the workplace were taboo, at least where she was concerned. And he got that. She knew he did.

  In fact, the more Anna thought about Edmond, the more she wondered if his quietness had to do with something else altogether. Perhaps something weighed heavily on his mind, maybe it had to do with his future—and hers. Oh, she tried not to dwell on what he’d said at the beginning of the week, about how wedding planning might be good practice for her. But it wasn’t unlikely that Edmond might be giving the marriage idea some serious thought. Or maybe she was just daydreaming.

  Because sometimes, like this morning when Edmond was particularly aloof, it seemed entirely possible that Anna had imagined the whole thing. She knew things like this could happen. She’d heard stories of otherwise perfectly contented single women who, being constantly exposed to “happily” engaged women and all the hoopla of wedding plans, eventually caught the disease. Wedding Fever. In fact, she’d seen this very thing in her cousin Elisa.