Brothers & Best Friends

by Rose, Ashley

  Still, she was a little shocked when he asked her if she wanted to do it when John came to visit.

  "As in...next weekend?" she asked.

  "If that's too fast, just tell me. I just figured..." He trailed off, glancing at her stomach.

  Janine also looked at her stomach. "Sooner is probably better," she reasoned. "I'm only going to get bigger, and I would like to have the cake before I go into labor."

  Janine couldn't believe how fast it was coming together. One month she was facing single parenthood and being forced to live with her mother forever, and the next month she was getting married in New York City to the man of her dreams.

  Life was weird.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Planning the wedding was enough to keep Janine completely occupied. With all the work and careful planning a very small wedding was taking, she couldn't imagine planning a large wedding.

  Janine assumed Jess hadn't thought of the minor details like planning your wedding months in advance so you could actually reserve a church for the ceremony, or even finding a suitable wedding dress when your stomach is protruding.

  No, Jess wouldn't have thought of those things, but Janine had to.

  Karen, to her credit, was really trying to help. But even Karen couldn't bend the world to her will, and in a city with millions of residents, just booking a church seemed to be an impossible task.

  Janine shook her head. "I just don't see how he expects me to pull all of this off. There isn't enough time. There isn't enough me."

  Karen nodded sympathetically. "Well, have you tried talking to Jess about it?"

  Janine scoffed. "Are you serious? Me and Jess communicate? About wedding plans, of all things?"

  "He's going to be your husband, babe. You have to be able to talk about anything."

  "I know, I know. But I can handle this. I've got it under control."

  Karen's finger came down on the list of churches Janine had already called. "I beg to differ. You definitely do not have everything under control."

  "Well, maybe not quite," Janine admitted. "But I have you," she said cheerfully.

  Karen shook her head, breaking off a piece of a brownie. "You're hopeless. You're entirely too thoughtful and considerate to be a wife, Janie. Have I taught you nothing?"

  "I am trying to learn from your shining example, but I have to make the wedding part happen before I get to be a wife."

  "This is exactly why I skipped that part," Karen told her.

  Janine groaned. "They're all starting to run together. I don't even remember which ones I've already called."

  "I have an idea," Karen said, sitting down at the table and plucking another of Janine's brownies off the plate.

  Janine raised her eyes from the computer screen and looked up at Karen. "What's that?"

  "Let me make a call."

  ***

  Later that night after dinner and some TV, Janine and Jess went to bed a little early. Janine took that time to update Jess on wedding details.

  "So, I know that you're a guy, and as such you probably don't have much interest in the wedding, but Karen and I are planning it and I feel that some details should be shared with the groom."

  "Absolutely," he agreed. "Time, place. I do need to know these things."

  "Well, I was actually having kind of a hard time finding a place, but Karen saved the day."

  "Doesn't she always?" he replied.

  Janine smiled. "Yes. Anyway, Karen called this preacher person that she knows, and she explained the situation to him, and he told her that he could squeeze us in."

  "How romantic. When?" he asked.

  "I don't know. I think it was flexible. We offer up a time we want, he counter offers a time that's available."

  "That's great. So what else do we need to do?"

  "I need a dress. Karen suggested kidnapping Vera Wang and forcing her to make me one, but I was thinking something a little less drastic. We'll probably shop around sometime in the next few days."

  "Cool," he said, nodding.

  Janine gazed up at him, reaching up and brushing his hair off his face. "You're so handsome."

  He smiled. "I know."

  She chuckled. "And so modest."

  "But you love me anyway," he pointed out.

  "I do," she agreed, resting her head on his chest and smiling up at him. A peaceful moment passed before she said, "Hey Jess, can I ask you a serious question?"

  "Shoot," he said.

  She hesitated, then said, "You're not just marrying me because I'm pregnant, right?"

  His eyes widened. "Where did that crazy question come from?"

  "It's not a crazy question," she said. "It's just something I've thought about on occasion. I love you, and I want to marry you, probably more than anything in the world, but I only want you to marry me if you want to. If you don't really want to, it isn't going to last anyway. I want us to be happy, Jess."

  He shook his head, ruffling her hair. "Man, you think way too much. Janie, I am not marrying you because you're pregnant." He paused. "Well, technically, if you weren't pregnant I might settle for an engagement right now, and then we would get married properly in the summer or something, but the pregnancy only sped up the process. Baby or no baby, I want to be with you, and I'm going to assume that it's the baby hormones making you ask me such a silly question."

  She smiled. "Probably. This baby certainly has messed with my emotions."

  "I've noticed," he said, running his hand through her hair.

  "I'm happy, though," she told him. "I'm excited about the baby, I'm excited about the wedding. I'm just excited about everything."

  "Me too. Except your brother being on my case."

  Janine chuckled. "What is John bothering you about now?"

  "What isn't John bothering me about?" he replied. "I swear, that guy thinks he's your father or something. I was just talking to him earlier and he was on me about you going back to school after the baby comes."

  "School?" she asked, frowning.

  Jess nodded a little. "Waiting on elderly people isn't good enough for John's little sister. He says you're way too smart to settle for that."

  Janine smiled despite herself, inwardly pleased that her brother thought so much of her. "He would say that."

  Choosing his words a bit cautiously, Jess asked, "Could there possibly be any truth to that statement?"

  She looked up. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, you are really smart. Have you given any thought to going back to school once the baby comes?"

  "Not really," she said, shaking her head. "I'm going to have a baby to take care of, Jess, and I'll need to work because we live in New York and we need both of our incomes just to live."

  "I know that, Janie, but I don't want me or the baby to be the reason you were held back. I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything, but I'm just saying, if you did want to go back to school, I'll help you do that. We'll figure it out."

  She smiled and leaned up close to his face, giving him a lingering kiss on the lips. "Well, I appreciate that. But right now I have everything I want, and I don't think I'm going to go back to school."

  "Well, that's fine with me, too. I just want you to know…" he trailed off a bit awkwardly.

  "That you're there for me?" she replied, grinning.

  "Shut up," he said, rolling her over on her back playfully.

  Janine giggled. "It's sweet, Jess. Don't get all embarrassed."

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her on the forehead, closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Janie."

  "'Night, Jess," she returned, burrowing her face into his chest.

  ***

  The next day she and Karen both called in sick to work and spent the entire day at Karen's house, working on wedding plans. According to Karen, her preacher friend would be able to squeeze them in on the following Friday at 1:45. Seeing as it was already Tuesday, they didn't have very much time to throw everything together.

&nbs
p; "This is going to be so much fun," Karen bubbled as she sat down next to Janine.

  "Well, I think it's going to be small and simple," Janine said. "A makeshift reception can't be too big, because we really don't have anywhere to have it, so we'll have to have it at the apartment."

  Karen grimaced. "Your apartment?"

  Janine shrugged. "We don't have anywhere else to do it."

  "But you have such a small apartment. Even our apartment is bigger. Hey," she said brightly, "you could have it here. I mean, no pressure or anything, but I wouldn't mind, and we have more room."

  "Oh, but shouldn't you talk to Chad?"

  She waved a hand dismissively. "We have a telepathic link, he probably already knows. Most of the guests are going to be our friends anyway, so they all know where we live."

  "If you're sure," Janine agreed with a nod.

  "So, I was thinking, we need to have you a bridal shower immediately," she said.

  "I was thinking we could skip that," Janine said. "I mean, I am going to have a baby shower after the wedding, so it just seems like too much showering in such a short time."

  "Aw," Karen said sadly. "Well, I guess. I just wanted you to get all the cute house stuff. And three blenders. Everybody gets at least three blenders."

  "Well, Jess already has a blender."

  "Then you need a toaster," Karen added.

  "I actually have a toaster and a slow cooker at home that John's bringing me when he comes to visit."

  "You're very well prepared," Karen remarked.

  "I try," Janine said with a nod.

  "Okay, well what about the reception? Do you have any idea how many people will be attending this wedding?"

  "Not a lot," Janine said. "I don't even know how many family members will be attending. My mom wouldn't miss it, but I highly doubt Jess's mom will even show up."

  "So…around fifty?" Karen suggested. "I'm trying to think how many people we're feeding, how many favors, that kind of thing. I think we can pull together a wedding for fifty in a week or so, but we're going to have to get an Evite out, like, yesterday." She turned to her laptop and started tapping away at the keyboard.

  Privately, Janine thought even 50 might be shooting high, but she wasn't sure who Jess wanted to invite.

  Janine took the few minutes of silence to actually try to put together the guest book in her mind. Even though she knew Jess's mom wasn't going to show, she still had to invite her. Her own mother…well, she wasn't looking forward to that conversation, but obviously she would have to invite her. John would be in the bridal party, but she would still technically need to invite him.

  Dress shopping was also on Karen's list—the next big necessity. She would not get married without a white dress, and seeing as she already had a bump, there was going to be no way of hiding her pregnancy without making her look like a whale, so she was hoping to find a dress that might embrace her undeniable curves.

  ***

  They worked all day, and when they ran out of ideas, Karen announced that they needed to invite everyone over and see if anyone had any brainstorms about the wedding.

  Janine wasn't overly excited about the idea, but she appreciated the fact that it seemed like Jess's friends were accepting her, so she agreed and suggested that they make dinner for everyone. Karen thought that was an excellent idea, and told Janine to pick out the main dish and she would come up with the accompanying sides.

  Janine decided to make lemon chicken, which she knew would occupy her in the kitchen while Karen played host and mingled. She called Jess and told him to come to Chad's after work. By six o'clock, Chad and Jess were both there, along with Paula.

  Hope and Karen came in the kitchen to help Janine cook. As it turned out, Hope was more help than Karen, who kept getting distracted and going in to talk to Chad or Paula or Jess—anything to keep from cooking. Hope, however, was having a grand time transporting the potatoes from their sack over to Janine.

  "Did you see Hope's little apron?" Karen called in the living room as she flitted back into the kitchen. "My mom picked it up at Target and sent it to me, and I was like, 'What is my kid ever going to do with this?' But isn't she cute in here helping Janie?"

  "Just darling," Paula replied, a bit sarcastically.

  Janine barely stifled the urge to roll her eyes, instead turning her attention to Hope, who was bringing her what seemed like the five hundredth potato.

  "Thank you, sweetheart," Janine said, setting it on the counter with the others.

  Hope smiled and waddled back over to the bag to get another one.

  "Your kid's going to be a little Emeril, isn't he?" Karen remarked, scooping Hope up and eliciting a giggle from her.

  Janine smiled, wiping her hands on a paper towel. "Maybe. Never know though, he could just be a music snob like his dad."

  "I heard that," Jess responded, shooting Janine a look.

  She smiled cheekily. "Love you!"

  "Sure you do," he responded dryly.

  "Ooh, that reminds me!" Karen said. "We need to make a wedding playlist. I don't care how small it is, you two are dancing."

  "Jess and I are never going to agree on this," Janine said, smiling at Jess.

  He shook his head. "I do not trust you to help pick the music."

  "I don't trust you, either. If you so much as think about putting one of those Leftover Crap songs on my wedding playlist, I might have to shoot you."

  Chad started laughing, and Jess smirked. "Leftover Crack, not crap," he corrected.

  "Trust me," Janine said to Karen, "it's crap."

  Karen nodded. "I can't handle some of his music either. Thankfully Chad is a master at putting together music that makes everyone happy." She smiled pleadingly and batted her eyes at Chad.

  "Yes, I will make them a wedding playlist," he conceded.

  "Why don't you take a break from helping Aunt Janie and go play with Daddy?" Karen suggested to Hope. "Go on, go get him," she urged.

  Hope smiled and waddled unsteadily out of the kitchen to go find her father.

  Janine laughed. "She's not a dog, Karen."

  "No, but if she helps out much longer, I'm going to have to go buy a few more trucks full of potatoes."

  "True," Janine acknowledged.

  Karen walked over to the counter. "Now, I really am all yours, what do you need me to do?"

  "Put the dinner rolls in the cake pan."

  "I can handle that," Karen said with a nod, picking up the plastic bag of dinner rolls and untying it.

  "So, do we have any new wedding ideas yet?" Janine asked conversationally as she put the chicken in the frying pan.

  "Not yet. Paula isn't really the wedding planning type, and no one else seems to be very productive tonight. Maybe the food will get them going."

  "When's dinner done?" Chad called into the kitchen.

  "About twenty minutes," Janine called back.

  "Awesome. I love having two wives," he replied.

  Karen smiled. "I am all over these dinner rolls, baby. Are you proud?"

  "Couldn't be prouder," he replied.

  "I might even open the butter bowl and put it on the table."

  "You're blowin' me away, babe. Oh, um, Mommy, Hope needs you," Chad called.

  Karen rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to plan wedding details in here."

  "But she needs you," he insisted.

  "He can't even change a damn diaper by himself," Karen muttered. "Okay, the rolls are done. I have to go change her. I will be right back."

  Janine vaguely heard a male voice say, "Hey guys," and a few responses. She listened quietly to ascertain whether she should go greet the new person, but upon finding out it was only Eddie, she decided just to finish cooking and greet him when she joined everyone else.

  She put the dinner rolls in the oven, then she started seasoning the chicken.

  Next thing Janine knew, Karen was wielding a camera and saying, "Go give your wifey a hug," and lightly shoving Jess into the kitchen.

 
; Janine laughed. "Karen, if you have to force him, it isn't what I would call romantic."

  Jess shot Janine a look and came over to her. "I don't have to be forced."

  "I want to take a picture of you two."

  Janine managed to get Jess to cooperate, even though photos weren't really his thing, then Karen told them she wanted another one, but Janine needed to turn so the baby bump was very visible. She even went over and positioned Jess's hand where she wanted it before she would finally take the picture, but she seemed happy with the final result.

  "Are you done?" Janine asked, Jess's hand still resting lightly on her belly.

  Suddenly a voice from the doorway drawled, "Aw, isn't that just adorable."

  A feeling of dread settled in Janine's stomach as she looked up unhappily to see Will leaning casually against the frame, smug smile on his face.

  She wanted to ask who invited him, but the next thing she saw was Candace bouncing happily into the room and her question was answered.

  Karen smiled apologetically to Janine and mouthed, "Sorry."

  Janine shrugged, walking away from Jess and back over to the food.

  "What smells good?" Will asked.

  "Chicken," Janine replied civilly.

  "Mm, what kind?" he asked, walking over to peer into the pan.

  "Lemon chicken."

  "You know how to make lemon chicken?" he asked, sounding reluctantly impressed.

  "I know how to make a lot of things," she remarked.

  He smiled at her. "I'll bet you do. A beautiful woman who can cook and make babies. Honestly, who could ask for more?" he asked, leaning against the counter.

  Janine did her best to ignore him, but she got the feeling that he enjoyed that more than a response, as it proved she felt uncomfortable. She did look over her shoulder, kind of wondering why Jess hadn't come over and said anything to make Will go away yet, but when she looked, she realized Jess had already left the kitchen.

  Some knight in shining armor, she thought sarcastically. He left her in there to fend for herself. Where did he go?