A May-September Wedding (27 page)

Erica came
bounding into the kitchen pursued by her half-sister Brenda.
"Bestemor, can we have some milk? Please?"

Judy's face
went to neutral as she saw her daughter and Erica bouncing around
Phyl. Phyl looked suitably chastened and said, "I'm sorry, girls, I
forgot that's what I came in here for." She opened the fridge to
get the milk out.

Erica giggled.
"That's so weird."

Brenda asked,
"What's weird."

"That milk
comes in plastic bags. It's funny." Erica took a glass from Phyl
and sat at the kitchen table across from Judy.

"Are you
Brenda's mommy?"

"Yes, I
am."

"You have
pretty hair. I wish I had red hair, too."

Judy's
maternal instincts kicked in and she let out a sigh. "But you have
such nice curly brown hair."

"Yep. Like my
Auntie Flisty's hair. But I wish it was red like yours." Erica
slurped her remaining milk and said, "Bye," as she zoomed back to
the family room with Brenda close behind her.

Cal sat down
with a cup of decaf. "I am so glad that we'll have the girls and
Tim to help us with her. She's as active as Jeremy was."

Phyl
commented, "I thought our girls were active, but she's just
..."

Judy said,
"Now I'm even more glad it's you two and not us that will take care
of her. But now that I've seen her with Brenda..." She paused as if
searching for words. "I think I'll be able to like her for
herself."

When everyone
had gone home and Erica was in bed, Phyl and Cal sat down on the
family room sofa to snuggle. Phyl let out a deep sigh and relaxed
against her man.

"Penny for
your thoughts, love." Cal dropped a kiss onto the top of Phyl's
head.

"I was so
worried about having David and Judy over with Erica so new in the
house. But it worked out fine."

"Erica is a
pretty charming kid. Grace has done a very good job with her."

"I know. I
feel for Judy, though. It was pretty hard for her."

"I heard what
you said about Jeanine. We should pray that she finds Jesus and
that her marriage is everything it needs to be so she can find that
love and stability she needs. It must be hard when you know that
your mother's health is failing and your fiance doesn't want
anything to do with your child."

"At least we
have each other and Erica has us." She scooted around so she could
sit on his lap.

"I guess I
still owe you a few kisses?" Cal drew Phyl's head closer.

"Yes, you do,"
she murmured softly against his lips before she claimed them.

"It's all
right, Vivian. I really do understand. Brenda wrote me a final
letter warning me that Mark might need space before he can let his
grief go."

"I'm really
sorry, Cal. You and Phyl looked so perfect together at the party in
July, even if neither of you would admit you were a couple. I'd
love to be there for the wedding."

"David's
bringing a camera and so is one of the university students from
church. Between the two of them there should be hundreds of
pictures."

"How's my new
niece?"

"There was
room for her at the same school Timothy goes to, so she's settling
in and making new friends there. I know we sent you some
pictures."

"She looks
like a handful, and her accent is darling."

"Well, any
time you're headed this way give us a call and we'll make sure
there's enough food in the fridge for Eric and Andrew."

"I might send
them to you for the summer so I can afford to buy clothes for them.
They're growing so fast."

"Well, I wish
you were coming but I know Mark. Give him a hug from me."

"I will,
Cal."

"Bye,
Vivian."

Phyl looked up
from her armchair. "You don't look surprised."

"I can't say
that I am. Brenda wrote me a letter, you know the one I showed you
where she said I should marry you if there was a spark between
us?"

"It's a lot
more than sparks, old man. One kiss and I was lost."

"I believe
I've already admitted I was several kinds of idiot, young lady. It
took more than a few kisses for me."

"Yes. I
remember the letter, so I'm not surprised that Mark can't come.
We'll see them next summer. I haven't been down East yet. We should
make a point to visit with Harry's parents, too. That will be a fun
trip, if the big girls are up for it. The U-17's take most of
August off to let the kids have a summer vacation."

"And you
haven't seen Victoria either. Maybe we'll rent a motor home out
there and spend a few weeks on the road."

Phyl opened a
newsletter from Redeemer. "Ouch. Cal, we forgot to check the school
schedule when we booked our wedding."

"Oh. What's
up?"

"The Christmas
formal dinner is the night before the wedding. And we promised to
get the girls proper dresses and to help out at the school."

"The dresses
aren't a problem, except getting Lydia to decide on a style. And
it's a second wedding for both of us so we don't have to do any of
the night before rituals. I did that once and I was so glad that
the wedding was at four instead of two so I could get enough liquid
back in my system."

"Tim could
look after Erica, I suppose."

"Or we could
ask Jeremy and Patty. They'll be here the Wednesday before."

"We'll work
something out. I want to be there for the formal."

"So, Felicity.
You can wear your formal Scottish to both the wedding and the
dinner or just the wedding."

"Can I have
two different dresses?" Felicity turned on the charm.

"You can have
two different dresses. What were you thinking?"

"Well, I was
thinking that I'd get a mid-calf dress for the wedding to match
Phyl's dress. She'd not doing the full train white dress thing.
She's got this really pretty dress that will go well with the
Buchanan tartan sash you gave her."

"That's the
first I've heard about her dress."

Felicity
looked crestfallen. "I don't know if I should have said
anything."

"Don't worry.
I expect I'll be awestruck no matter what she wears."

"Yeah, you
look pretty goofy when she dresses up for you."

"Everyone
seemed to notice that before I did."

"Well, it was
cute. Still is, even if Lydia gets embarrassed by it." Felicity
waved her hand to silence him. "Now for the formal I was thinking
about a dress like the one that Elaine wore to Burns Night three
years ago."

Cal thought
about that. "That's a bit low in the front, don't you think?"

"Not if the
dressmaker fits the bodice properly. I don't mind looking really
modest at your wedding, but I want to look like a girl at the
formal."

"What's Lydia
wearing?"

"She's still
arguing with Mum about it. She wants to wear a backless green satin
halter dress, but Mum is freaking about it. I mean, it will cover
more of her than her swimsuit top does." Felicity was obviously
trying to enlist Cal's support.

"Okay, Beast.
I'll talk to Phyl."

Felicity threw
her arms around her dad and said, "You're the best. Thank you."

To Felicity's
retreating back he said, "It doesn't mean she'll let either of
you..."

"They are
young women now. They need a chance to dress up and flirt in a
controlled environment." Cal said reasonably.

"I can't
approve of this, Cal. I just can't." Phyl knew she wasn't being
rational.

Cal gathered
he into a hug. "Does this have to do with wild Heddy?"

Phyl looked
into Cal's caring face and burst into tears. "You know it does, you
nasty old man."

Cal let her
cry for a while and gently asked, "Is the dress Lydia wants
something that Heddy would have worn?"

Phyl looked up
into Cal's face again and said, "No, it's too modest. I had a dress
that had a skimpier top and only came to mid-thigh."

Cal had a
vision of Phyl in a dress like that. "As a complete aside, would
you wear a dress like that for me?"

Phyl saw the
desire in his eyes. "You don't need that kind of stimulation. At
least not yet. And it's too young a style for me now. Anyway, we
were discussing Lydia."

"Actually,
dearest, I thought we were discussing your fears." Cal hugged Phyl
closer.

Phyl wiped her
eyes and sighed. "You're going to make me think that age brings
wisdom if you're not careful."

"Only because
it gives you the opportunity to learn from more stupid mistakes. I
made a pretty big one recently that I'm still learning from."

Phyl giggled.
"I suppose." She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. "I guess I
have to let Lydia make her own mistakes every now and then."

"Don't forget
we're part of the catering team. Both of them will be on their best
behaviour."

"And they will
both complain about it for months."

Cal gave Phyl
an affectionate peck and said, "How about this. We get three
dresses made for each of them and we get to veto their choice for
the formal."

"What do you
mean?"

"You've
already approved their dresses for the wedding. So we let them get
the dress they really want for the formal and a dress they are
certain you'll approve of. Then we let them model the dresses for
our approval."

Phyl still
looked uncertain. "I suggested the same thing when Elaine went to
the prom in grade twelve. Brenda put her foot down instead and that
was yet another chapter in the Colin debacle."

"Okay, dear
man. Let's tell the girls."

Cal came back
from shopping to find Jeremy and Patricia already unpacked and
making themselves at home in the kitchen. Erica raced over with
excitement written all over her face, "Auntie Patty's going to have
a baby. I'm going to have a new cousin." She bounced around the
kitchen table like a kangaroo then zoomed off to find Felicity and
tell her for the fifth time.

Cal blinked
and said, "Congratulations. I see you've run into Hurricane Erica
again."

Patty took the
groceries from Cal's hands. "It's hard to miss her."

Jeremy gave
his dad a hug. "She's a sweet kid. Phyl dropped the girls off about
a half hour ago and said that she had to go pick up some dresses
for Lydia and Felicity."

Patty said,
"She looked a little stressed."

Jeremy
replied, "Well, she is getting married in three days. And moving
into a new house with this old fart. That would be enough to stress
anyone."

Cal said,
"Yeah, and you're the only step kid from the first batch who's
younger than her."

Jeremy asked,
more seriously, "Are David and Mark still giving you grief about
that?"

"No. After the
Erica crisis, David's been good. Mark just isn't talking to me
because he still misses your Mom and he thinks I'm being
disloyal."

Jeremy
snorted. "Well, he never saw you guys and the Schuylers on a
regular basis. And you waited a over a year before you started
courting her. All of the conventions were followed."

Cal heard a
voice from the front door. "We're back!" This was followed by a
squeal and Erica shouting "Bestemor!" from the top of the
stairs.

Phyl, cheeks
still pink from the frosty weather, came into the kitchen with six
hangers covered with zippered garment bags. Felicity, Lydia and
Erica trailed after her. "OK, girls, put these in Felicity's
room."

They had a
leisurely supper because the kids didn't have any homework but the
girls were getting more and more anxious. Eventually, Phyl put them
out of their misery and said, "I guess it's time for a fashion
show. Just the two choices for the formal and put your hair up in
either a ponytail or a bun."

Cal called
after them. "Put on your second choice first."

Phyl looked
grumpily at Cal then softened as she held his loving gaze for a
while. Erica poked Phyl in the leg about four times.
"Bestemor...Bestemor..."

Turning her
attention to Erica she responded, "Yes, Erica?"

With her eyes
really wide she said, "Did you know I'm going to have a new
cousin?"

Phyl had a
hard time keeping a straight face. "Yes, sweetie. I was here when
Patty told us she was going to have a baby in April."

Patty stood
next to Erica and gave her a little hug. "If it's a girl, I hope
she's as nice as you are."

Felicity came
in then, dressed in a very traditional floor length white gown with
a Buchanan Ancient sash pinned with the Richardson sept badge at
the hip.

Jeremy said,
"Very pretty, sis. Very traditional."

Cal nodded
approval and the women both agreed it was very nice. Felicity got a
look that said she was hoping for better than pretty but then
remembered she had another dress to model. "Back in a couple of
minutes."

Lydia came in
wearing a calf-length satin dress in sapphire blue with a high
square neckline and short puffy sleeves. The bodice was contoured
but not form fitting which still managed to show off her athletic
figure.

Patty said,
"Oh, that colour is very flattering."

Jeremy said,
"Very nice."

Cal and Phyl
looked at each other. Phyl gave her judgement, "You look very
pretty, Lydia."

Lydia smiled
and curtseyed, then went upstairs to change.

Felicity came
back in with her first choice and Jeremy and Cal stopped talking.
She was wearing a strapless silk cocktail dress in fine Buchanan
tartan with a fitted bodice and a lightly pleated skirt that came
to just below her knees. A black velvet bolero jacket covered her
shoulders while displaying a hint of her bosom. She was wearing a
pair of black pumps with two and a half inch heels that she'd
obviously been practicing in, because she didn't wobble as walked
across the kitchen floor.