by Laura Del
“Andy,” Tina whispered to him, “are you all right?” she kissed his forehead, and he lifted his hand, placing it on her cheek.
After a moment, he could finally speak, and he didn’t even grimace in pain. “That was a nightmare. Flashes of crazy things going through my head. Nothing coherent. All I know is that something major is goin’ down today.”
I looked at Mike as if to say that I’d told him, and he nodded. “What exactly did you see?”
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes again. “Well, I saw a huge fight, but I couldn’t see who was in it. Then I saw a knife, the wedding, and a ton of other commotion.”
“Do ya know when?” Mike asked calmly, and Andrew shook his head. “Well, shit.”
“All I know is I came up here because I was hung over, and now I have a worse headache now than I did before.”
“Let me get you some aspirin,” Tina said, getting up off the bed. She walked out of the room, leaving the three of us alone.
“Rest for a while,” I told Andrew. “Don’t think of any of it. If it happens, it happens, okay?”
He smiled weakly at me and yawned. “You’re right. Nothing’s ever set in stone with visions.” Andrew grimaced once more, then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
I placed the throw blanket over him as Mike took off his shoes. By the time Tina got back, he was sound asleep and snoring a little. “I’m gonna stay with him, Patty,” she said quietly. “Just in case.”
I hugged her. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”
When I pulled back, she nodded and mouthed, “Thank you.”
I smiled at her, leaving the room with Mike behind me. We started downstairs where little Fang greeted us. Mike picked him up, petting his ears. Then Mike whispered something to him, and set him down gently.
I cocked a brow at him. “What was that about?”
Mike smiled at me. “Nothin’ really. I just told him to be a good boy.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I knew he was lying and just couldn’t understand why, so I dropped it. “Uh-huh. Sure.”
Now that Andrew confirmed my feelings that the day was going to get worse, I knew I had to brace myself for the inevitable craziness that would ensue. However, there was a little part of me that understood I was never going to be fully prepared for everything that would happen.
Everybody was back in the Wyatt asylum by one in the afternoon. Mrs. A had come with the dresses about twelve-thirty, like she had promised, and as she helped my mother get dressed, Tina came in to do her makeup, which was my cue to make sure that the caterers had all the stuff set up in the separate tent that Mortimer and Andrew put up after Mortimer came back from the hotel with his suit.
When all the food was ready to go, I begrudgingly took some more pain meds. As it turned out the roughhousing with Mike had sent my wrist aching like the Dickens, and it wasn’t until I relaxed for about ten seconds that it really started to kill. So I took one pill to take the edge off then grabbed Fang off the couch and placed him in my room while Mike woke my father. Thankfully, he wasn’t too worse for wear, and besides a minor headache, he was right at as rain.
Mike gave him a couple of aspirin while I heard Pops apologize for acting the way he did. Then Mike had to keep Pops away from Moms, who was in the guestroom, so he wouldn’t see her see her until she walked down the aisle. When Pops was done with his tuxedo, Mike made him go downstairs as the guests started to arrive. It was all hands on deck, except for me, Tina and Moms, to get everyone in their seats. Of course, Mike and I were the last to get dressed, and Mike unfortunately had to wear one of my father’s old suit jackets and jeans.
Tina, who had been dressed for about thirty minutes, scolded me for not being ready. After a three minute lecture on how frustrating I was, she helped me put on my dress, and when it came to the cast, Mrs. A had created a beautiful cover for it. Once the dress was securely on my body, I decided to wear the same shoes that Samuel sent with the red dress, which was good considering my matron of honor dress was a little too long, and I was ready to go.
When all was said and done, Mike and I met on the landing, smiling at each other. I fixed his tie and made sure Pops’ jacket wasn’t too big on him. Then again, Mike could have worn a paper bag and still have looked good.
“Ya sure I look okay, bébé?” he asked, fidgeting.
“You look great,” I reassured him. The jeans were casual, but the brown jacket, white button-down shirt, and black tie looked more formal. He was a walking contradiction, but he pulled it off.
He took a deep breath. “Weddin’s always make me nervous. So many people. And with Andy’s partial vision, anythin’ can happen.”
“I’ve already warned Mortimer about it,” I told him. It was fairly simple, as soon as the Irish vampire walked back in the house with another dark blue, tailored suit, like the one he wore for the rehearsal, I mentioned to him to be on his guard, and he promised me that he would be. “And you told Angel,” I continued, “so that’s the best we can do for now. Besides, it’s not set in stone.”
He nodded. “You’re right. But I’m still nervous.”
“To tell you the truth, so am I.”
“You lean on me and I’ll lean on you,” he whispered to me, kissing my forehead as to not screw up Tina’s handy work, “okay?”
I nodded. “Okay. Ready?”
“Yup.”
We smiled again, making our way down the stairs, holding hands in the process. Mike squeezed my hand tighter when we reached the bottom. Almost everyone seemed to be waiting by the door. All of them beamed up at us. That is, all except Bobby, who stood there scowling at Mike.
“I can’t believe this,” Bobby huffed when we joined them.
“What crawled up your ass and died?” Angel asked him. She looked beautiful in a long, skin tight, blue dress. It was very plain, but looked very elegant.
Bobby just shook his head, grimacing at her. He looked good in his tux, but the unhappy expression ruined his face. He just stood there staring daggers at Mike and me.
Before I could say anything to him, my father walked up to me, kissing me on the cheek. “You look amazing, baby girl.”
“You look good too, Pops,” I said, still looking at Bobby. “Are you feeling better?”
He nodded. “Much. Thanks to your Mike.”
I looked at my father and genuinely smiled. He didn’t call him “that Mike person,” he called him mine. Pops was giving him his approval. It was the best news I had all day. “He is kind of great, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, right,” Bobby chimed in with his hateful attitude.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Tina huffed, folding her arms at him.
“Yeah, what is it?” Mad asked in her dark red, floor-length, long-sleeved dress. She had her hair pinned up and looked too nice to sound so mean.
“Nothing,” he hissed at both of them.
“Hey,” Sandy yelled at him, her black suit swishing a little as she turned to face him, “you can take that tone and shove it.”
“You’re all crazy,” he screamed at us. “He”—he pointed to Mike—“nearly killed Pat! You all know this, and you’re just standing here acting like it’s fucking normal. You need your heads examined!” He pushed through the little gathering to put his face in mine. “I can’t believe you’d rather be with a monster,” he said in a harsh whisper, “than an actual human being.”
“Easy there, boyo,” Mortimer said calmly, placing his hand on Bobby’s shoulder. “There’s no need fur dat.”
With cat-like reflexes, Bobby took Mortimer’s hand off his shoulder, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Mortimer was a vampire, the hand would have been broken. “Keep your hands off me,” Bobby’s voice was low and menacing.
Before I could move closer to him, Andrew caught my arm, shaking his head. “Don’t, Pat,” he warned, and I st
opped, letting Bobby walk off. And as he went outside, we all watched him carefully.
“Forget him,” Tina said, fussing with my hair. She had put both of ours in the same curly style, but hers was over her right shoulder while mine was over my left, half pinned up.
Andrew shook his head. “I don’t think we should.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, but before he could answer, Tina decided that it would be a good idea to get Sandy and Mad out of earshot. She explained that they should be helping people get into their seats and asked Pops to join them.
“Good idea, Christina,” my father said with a smile and escorted them outside without complaint.
“What the hell is going on?” I hissed when the sliding glass doors closed behind Pops, Sandy, and Mad.
Andrew shook his head, looking like he was in a daze. “I don’t know, but there’s something seriously wrong with that man. I had this awful feeling. Something is just off. Better keep an eye on him. Okay?”
We all nodded, and I pushed the rest of them out of the house. Mike and Mortimer kissed me on the cheeks together, wishing me good luck, and Tina, being the last one out, winked at me before she left.
Waiting at the bottom of the stairs, I began to pace. All I could think of was something was going to blow up. Maybe it would be the heaters in the tents or maybe someone would drop a food warmer next to some gas. Who knew what the next couple of hours were going to bring? But when I saw Cindy/Moms in her dress at the top of the stairs, all my worried faded away. She looked amazing. Tina had done her hair up in the most elegant way, and her makeup sparkled as she descended the stairs.
“Moms,” I sighed when she reached the bottom, “you look wonderful.”
“Do you think so, darling?” she asked in her regular voice, looking a little scared.
I nodded. “Yes. Pops is going to love it.”
“I feel as though I may throw up. So let’s get this over with, shall we?”
“We shall,” I said, and she laughed. I extended my arm to her, and she took it. We both took deep breaths as we made our way outside into the first tent. Tina fussed with Moms dress before her and I walked down the aisle. Then the music played and there was Moms. She was just beautiful.
I glanced over at Pops, and he looked so happy. It brought a tear to my eye, but when I smiled over at Bobby, he just scowled at me. Letting it go, I watched the beautiful bride walk toward us, and when she was finally there, it all began. Everything went by so smoothly, I thought we weren’t going to have any trouble. Then, as soon as the ceremony was over, all of the guests and the wedding party shuffled into the other tent. Even the little bit we were outside, it was freezing, but no one seemed to mind.
The wedding party, including Mike, Mortimer, Angel and Andrew, helped get all the guests to their proper tables. I recognized most of the people from the town, and as I looked around, I noticed that Alexandria and Jimmy were nowhere in sight. I thanked whatever god would listen for small favors.
Anyway, some of the crowd included Moms and Pops’ old friends and a couple family members. One member in particular stood out, my grandmother, Olympia Wyatt. Odd name because she married my Irish grandfather, and she was full Italian. However, her name didn’t stop her from being any less amazing.
“Patricia Anne,” she hollered over to me. She always insisted on calling me by my first and middle name.
I walked over to where she was sitting, and I saw Mike look over at us. “How are you, Grandmom?”
“Can’t complain,” she replied with a wrinkly smile. She was wearing a yellow suit and looked very comfortable in her chair, then again, she always looked comfortable anywhere. That’s just the way she was. “I heard you were married and then not. What happened?”
“He was a horrible man,” I told her, trying to keep it light.
“Then it’s a good thing you got rid of him,” she commended. “Who’s this?” she asked pointing behind me.
I looked over my shoulder at Mike, and he smiled. “This is Mike,” I answered, holding out my good hand for him to take, and he did. “He’s my beau.” I winked at him, and he laughed.
“Very nice to meet you, Mike,” my grandmother said with a grin. “I like this one, Patricia Anne. He’s very strapping. And sexy.”
I grimaced. “Grandmom!”
“Thank you, Mrs. Wyatt.” Mike laughed a little. “I see where Pat get’s her spunk.”
“She gets more than that from my side. That backside is pure Italian,”—she patted my butt—“and don’t you forget it.”
“Grandmom,” I sighed.
“I won’t, Mrs. Wyatt,” Mike twanged. He was just showing off.
“What part of the South are you from, Mike?” Grandmom asked.
“Louisiana, ma’am.”
“Lovely state Louisiana. Are you going to marry my granddaughter?”
“Grandmom,” I hissed at her, and she waved me off.
“One day I hope too, ma’am,” he replied with a smile.
“Are you two having sex?” she asked matter-of-factly.
I hung my head. “I give up,” I muttered to myself.
“Yes, ma’am. We are, but I promise you we are bein’ safe,” Mike answered her again, this time in a reassuring tone.
“That’s good, you can never be too careful,” she told him. “If I could have done it before I was married, I would’ve. Ladies these days need to test the merchandize, and I don’t blame them. I got lucky with Patricia Anne’s grandfather, but you never know what you’re gonna get. Patricia Anne,” she addressed me in a half whisper, “how is he?” I wanted to die, so I just smiled awkwardly at her. “That good, huh?” she said with a wink and then thankfully it was time for the wedding party, and everyone else, to sit down to their meals.
“See you later, Grandmom,” I told her, kissing her cheek before I made my way over to the long table facing the crowd.
Everyone ate their wonderful dinners and then we watched the caterers bring out the cake. When it was successfully on the table, we all clapped. Except Bobby.
He was sitting next to me, so I leaned over and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” he spat.
“That most certainly doesn’t sound like nothing.”
He scowled at me and then it finally came out. “I can’t believe you just forgave him like that. I mean, he nearly killed you.”
“It was an accident.”
“And then,” he went on, not paying attention to me, “you do nothing when he tried to kill me last night.”
“You were drunk and out of line,” I hissed.
“Not all that drunk,” he admitted, and my eyes widened. “It just shows me that you would rather fuck a dead man and a dog than a human being. I have nothing against werewolves when they stay with their own kind, but God, Patricia. I mean, I thought after I killed that vampire thinking it was your precious Mortimer, you’d learn, but—”
“What?” I asked, and I felt my brows shoot up to my hairline. That’s when I remembered that Bobby was active military and had the training to kill. Part of me was happy that it wasn’t my father, but the other part of me was so shocked I could barely breathe. This was Bobby. My Bobby. The friend I grew up with. I just couldn’t imagine him doing that. Or maybe I could. The way he looked at Mortimer, the way he pretended to tease me about him, and finally the way he looked at Mike last night. Maybe it wasn’t him being scared, but plotting his revenge.
“Why would you do something like that?” I finally got out when the shock subsided.
“For you,” he huffed. “It was all for you. I love you, Pat. I always have. And if I had to watch you throw yourself away like that, I wasn’t going to let you.”
“I told you, Mortimer and I never…” my voice trailed away because it began to tremble with anger.
“I understand that no
w,” he sighed. “But it’s still one less dead man in the world, which is fine by me.”
“But not by me,” I growled at him. “You killed a man for no reason. You’re the monster.”
“For good reason,” he said next to my ear, and I pulled away. “Can’t you see how much I love you? I love you so much more than a dog or a corpse ever can.”
“You’re distorted sense of love is not something I want,” I hissed in answer. “You disgust me.”
Just as he was about to say something else, I realized that it was time for the speeches. Bobby rose and did a very similar speech to his rehearsal one and then it was my turn. It felt wrong to smile and make jokes, but I had to do it for Pops and Moms sake. So I stood, took a deep breath, and began. I tapped my glass gently with my spoon. Everyone became silent, and I tried to seem pleasant. “Thank you all for coming on such a snowy day. Although, I have to admit, it kind of adds to the theme, don’t you think?” I asked them, and they laughed. “As we all know, I’m no expert on love,”—there were nods—“but I do know it when I see it.”
“Yeah,” Bobby interrupted harshly so everyone could hear, “right!”
“Stop that right now, Robert,” Pops whispered, but Bobby wasn’t having it.
“No, I will not stop,” he yelled, turning his attention to me as he stood up. “You’re right. You wouldn’t know what love was if it bit you in the ass.”
“Robert,” Mrs. A, his mother, scolded him. “You sit down this instant. Pat has done nothing to harm you or anyone.”
“How would you know, Mother?” he screamed at her. “You’re all still so fucking blind when it comes to her.” He jabbed a finger at me. “You think she shits gold.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you, asshole?” Tina chimed in, standing beside Moms.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch! No one is talking to you! And as for you,” he yelled in my face, “I love you, and if I can’t have you…” he paused, pulling out a knife from inside his belt, “no one can!”
