Almost Hitched

by Kylie Gilmore

  She squared her shoulders and returned to the boutique.

  The women hustled her into a dressing room where gowns were already waiting for her to try on. She peeked her head out. “Amber?”

  Amber rushed over. “Yes?”

  “Can you find me a tiara too?”

  “You got it!”

  Kate stripped down and put on the first satin and tulle beauty. Wow. Lace, beading, so much poofiness. She pulled her bun out and redid her hair in a high ponytail, twisted the end, and tucked it into the hair band for the full updo effect.

  She stepped out into the boutique, where Amber, Susan, and her mom were sitting on a long white sofa.

  “It’s lovely,” Susan said.

  “Gorgeous,” Amber said.

  “My girl is all grown up!” her mom cried and broke down in sobbing tears.

  Kate stared, horrified. She’d never seen her mom cry. Ever.

  “Mom?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kate’s mom sobbed into Susan’s shoulder. Kate exchanged a horrified look with Amber. Whoa.

  She crossed to her mom and looked down at her crumpled form. “You must know I was grown up before I put on a wedding gown. I’m not sure why you’re crying now. Why not cry when I graduated high school? Or moved out of the house? Or moved cross country?”

  Her mom lifted her head, her glasses crooked. “I cried those times too!”

  “But you seemed so serious and unemotional,” Kate said.

  “I was holding it together for your sake,” her mom said. “I wanted you to have a strong female role model.” She turned to Susan. “I need a tissue.” Susan fished one out of her purse, and her mom took off her glasses and wiped her eyes with the tissue.

  Mind blown.

  Kate looked to Amber, who was looking at her mom with concern. Her world was askew again. She was standing in a beautiful white wedding gown, watching her mom fall apart. Not at all the cold formal woman Kate knew. She did a quick self check-in. Her breathing remained normal, which told her she was indeed marrying the right man. The tension was simply from the sudden change of perspective. She didn’t know what to do with this new information.

  Amber shifted to sit next to Kate’s mom, hugged her, and gestured for Kate to do the same. Kate switched places with Amber and hugged her mom—a new experience for both of them.

  Kate patted her back awkwardly. “There, there. I’m going to be a grown-up for some time.”

  Her mom let out a weird half-laugh, half-sob.

  “You can still be strong and have feelings too,” Kate said. “I would’ve admired that as well.”

  “I just…” Her mom sniffled and blew her nose. “I wanted nothing to stand in your way. I wanted you to stand tall with the other physicists. I knew what you’d be up against being in the female minority.”

  “You taught me to work hard,” Kate said, “which has been a great benefit. The men I work with have been quite pleasant.”

  “I’m very glad to hear it,” her mom replied, sounding more like her old self. “Perhaps this younger generation isn’t as sexist.”

  Kate had never thought about things being difficult for her mom. She always seemed determined, confident, and enthusiastic about her work. What had it cost her to project that image for so long? Both at work and at home. “Thank you for your valiant efforts on my behalf,” Kate said. “But, uh, new rule. From now on, you can express yourself fully with your adult daughter and we will commiserate together.”

  “I’d like that,” her mom said softly.

  Kate looked over to Amber, who was quietly wiping tears. “Excuse me, Amber needs a hug.”

  Kate hugged Amber and then, for good measure, Susan, who was smiling, but she didn’t want her new mother-in-law to be left out of the hug fest.

  “Okay,” Kate announced. “Now everyone help me pick out a good gown for my first wedding.”

  “And your last!” Amber and Susan said at the same time.

  Her mom gave her a watery smile. “I hope so. I’m sorry I set a bad example with my failed marriages.”

  “They’re certainly no reflection on you,” Kate said magnanimously, even though she knew better than anyone that her mom was difficult to live with. She whirled in her gown, making the bottom spin and fly out, and went to try on more expensive gowns, for her first ever mother-daughter dress time.

  Hours later, Kate had tried on every variation of gown—poufy ones, twirly ones, slinky ones, mermaid-style weirdness—and settled on the first one. “Guess we could’ve saved a lot of time if I’d stuck with my first instinct,” she said. “Sorry you had to wait around for that.”

  “Don’t be silly!” Amber exclaimed. “We had fun. Anyway, I knew it would take a while. We still have half an hour before we get our nails done. Let’s stop for ice cream on the way.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Susan said.

  “Ice cream is a soothing balm to the soul,” her mom said.

  Kate’s jaw dropped. “Mom, that was so poetic.”

  “There’s a beautiful poetry to the universe,” her mom said. “I just choose to describe it with mathematical equations.”

  “Me too!” Kate exclaimed.

  “Two peas in a pod,” Amber muttered. And, for once, Kate didn’t mind the comparison.

  They had ice cream and talked about the food Kate would like at the engagement party. She wanted a variety of savory and sweet items that would appeal to everyone. Kate was also surprised to hear it would be at the Jorge Chavez Dance Studio. Amber had arranged for them to have ballroom dance lessons followed by a buffet style of food and dancing for anyone who wanted to hit the dance floor. Another piece of her Cinderella fantasy was settling into place. She had the gown, she had the prince, and now she’d have the elegant waltz.

  Finally Kate settled in for her first ever manicure. “I’d like pink with violet flowers for my niece,” she told the woman.

  “I’ll have the same,” her mom said. “Violet is my grandchild.”

  They settled side by side. Amber and Susan were across from them. Amber was getting violet to match the violet streaks in her blond hair. Susan was getting an elegant plum color. Lot of purple going on for the Violet fan club.

  “You still up for getting your ears pierced?” Amber asked Kate.

  Her mom turned to her. “You know you pass out with needles.”

  “Amber says it’s not that bad,” Kate said. “Right? Piece of cake?”

  “They don’t use needles,” Amber said, not quite confirming the piece-of-cake part. “It’s like a little nail gun.”

  Kate’s stomach rolled. “A nail gun on my ear?” She wanted to cover her ears protectively, but her nails were still being done.

  “It’s not as painful as childbirth,” Susan said frankly. “And if you want drugs for that, there’s going to be a long-ass needle in your spine.”

  “In my spine!” Kate screeched.

  Amber smiled serenely. “I had natural childbirth with Violet. Hurt like a mo-fo, but it’s worth it. In fact, we’re trying for baby number two.”

  “Wonderful!” Susan exclaimed.

  “Another grandchild,” her mom said on a happy sigh.

  “Are you crazy?” Kate barked at her sister. “You’re voluntarily signing up for ‘hurt like a mo-fo’ pain again?”

  Amber nodded and smiled.

  “I will not be getting my ears pierced,” Kate announced. “I refuse to sign up for voluntary pain when there is mo-fo pain or possible long-ass needles in my future.”

  “But the crystal drop earrings will look so good with your tiara,” Amber said.

  Kate hesitated. Earlier Amber had shown Kate some delicate gorgeous crystal earrings she’d found online. Damn. She wanted those earrings badly. They were perfect and would highlight the crystals in her tiara. On the other hand, she was a wimp.

  The nice woman doing Kate’s nails looked up. “We can pierce your ears here if you want. Shanna does them. Only hurts for a minute.”

&
nbsp; Her mom turned to her. “I’ll get mine pierced too. I let them close up thirty years ago. Then we can be earring twins.”

  A mother-daughter ear piercing? How feminine! How rite of passage! How female solidarity reveling in body art togethering!

  Kate swallowed hard. “Okay, but you go first.”

  “That’s fine,” her mom said. “I’m tough.”

  The gauntlet was laid down.

  “The Lewis women are all tough!” Amber exclaimed.

  “Yeah! The Dancy women too,” Susan said in a tough-guy voice. Dancy was her maiden name.

  That was it. There was no way Kate could be a wimp surrounded by all these strong women.

  Once their nails were done, and hers turned out quite stunning, she followed her mom to a chair in the back where an ear-piercing station was set up. Shanna waited nearby, looking tough with her hair shaved on one side and a dozen earrings lining her earlobe on both sides as well as a nose piercing, eyebrow piercing, and lip piercing. Ow, ow, ow, ow.

  Kate watched her mom climb up on the high swivel chair, looking her usual calm and composed self.

  Shanna pulled out a display of starter earrings on a black velvet tray. “What would you like?”

  Kate leaned closer to look. There were gold balls, silver balls, tiny rhinestones, hearts, stars, moons, and a variety of other geometric shapes. So cute. She already knew she wanted stars.

  “You pick,” her mom said to Kate.

  “Stars,” she said.

  “Stars it is,” her mom pronounced. Wow. They really were going to be earring twins. If Kate didn’t chicken out. She’d wait and see if her mom winced or screamed or leaped out of her seat. Any of which Kate would do. If she didn’t pass out.

  Amber and Susan watched from nearby. Amber had her cell phone up, snapping pictures. “You think Dad will like it?” Amber asked Maxine.

  Her mom turned. “I will like it and that’s what matters.” Total badass mom.

  Shanna pulled out the piercing tool, which did look like a nail gun, only much smaller, and loaded it. Then she cleaned her mom’s ears with an alcohol wipe. Kate broke out in a sweat.

  Her mom watched in a small mirror as Shanna lined up the first earlobe. Pop! Kate jumped, but her mom remained impassive, still watching in the mirror. Shanna did the other ear. Pop! Kate cringed.

  “What do you think?” Shanna asked.

  Her mom tilted her head, looking in the mirror. “I like it.”

  Her mom got up and stood to the side. Kate stared at the empty chair.

  “Go ahead, Kate,” Susan said. “You can do it.”

  Amber held up her cell phone with the picture of the crystal drop earrings Kate coveted.

  “Would you like me to hold your hand?” her mom asked.

  Kate flushed. Her mom had held her hand for every shot she’d ever gotten. And she still passed out. She didn’t want to look like a giant baby. She was an adult about to embark on the very adult journey of marriage and children.

  “Yes,” she said.

  She took the seat, and her mom held her hand. Amber got close to video the whole thing. Now she really couldn’t look like a wimp. Amber would show Barry and possibly Violet this video. She had to be a strong female role model for Violet. Besides, if Ian heard she passed out, he’d tease her relentlessly. He’d had an earring in college. Surely if Ian could do this, she could. Were men tougher than women? No. Did men push giant baby heads out of a tiny hole? No. Did she want those crystal drop earrings that complimented her tiara and gown perfectly? Yes.

  Shanna touched her earlobe with something cold, and Kate jumped. “That was just the wipe,” Shanna said.

  Kate squeezed her mom’s hand as she always did when a needle was about to get close.

  “Katherine, perhaps it’s time we have a frank talk about the secret of men,” her mom said in her formal tone.

  “Mom, we’ve had the birds and bees talk many times,” Kate said. “I’m good. Is there some other secret about men I need to know?” Kate’s mind whirled with possibilities—this secret could have to do with her dad, in which case, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know. “Does this have to do with a particular man or men in general? Ow!”

  “First star in,” her mom said. “Take a look.”

  Her ear burned. She couldn’t look. Oh God. She didn’t think she could take another pop and burn.

  “It’s about your dad,” her mom said.

  “What about Dad?” Kate asked. This better not be sexual. Geez, she had to have a talk about boundaries with her mom if she thought this new mother-daughter bonding stuff included hearing sex stuff about her dad. “Ow!”

  “All done!” her mom exclaimed.

  “You did it!” Amber cried.

  “How do you feel?” Susan asked.

  Pant. Pant. Pant.

  “You were so brave,” Amber said. “Wait until Violet sees. She’s going to want some earrings too.”

  Kate took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. Her mom’s face appeared next to her. “Earring twins,” her mom said. “Awesome.”

  Kate smiled at the word her mom had never uttered before with her. “Awesome,” Kate echoed.

  They left, Kate feeling bonded and badass for not passing out, when a thought occurred to her. “What were you going to tell me about Dad?”

  “That was a classic misdirection ploy,” her mom said. “You’ve always fallen for those when you got a needle.”

  “But I didn’t pass out this time,” Kate said proudly.

  “I should hope not. Ear piercing is a minor event compared to a vaccine.”

  Kate felt a little less badass then.

  “But for you a major event,” her mom hastily amended. “And a first in the mother-daughter events to come.”

  “What’s next?” she couldn’t help but ask.

  “I’ll hold your hand during childbirth.”

  “Who held your hand?”

  “No one. I’m tough.”

  “Oh, I guess I’m not that tough.”

  Her mom squeezed her hand. “You’re strong. Enough to lean on someone when you need it and handle it yourself when you don’t. I greatly admire that.”

  She had to force the words out over the lump in her throat. “Thanks, Mom.” Her mom had never admired her for anything besides her academic work before.

  After that they went shoe shopping. By the time they got back to Barry and Amber’s place, Kate was exhausted. She stepped inside and did a double take.

  “Ian! What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. “How did you get here?” She’d taken his car.

  He grinned and opened his arms to her. “Surprise! I took the train.”

  She felt her cheeks flush. She wasn’t so good at surprises, but she was very happy to see him after this emotional day. She rushed into his arms.

  “We got the gown and came home with earring twins!” Amber exclaimed, gesturing to Kate and her mom. “Wait until you see the video of Kate getting her ears pierced.”

  Barry and Ian wore identical looks of surprise, but recovered quickly. “Very nice,” Barry said.

  “Both Drs. Lewis look beautiful,” Ian said, settling an arm around her shoulders.

  “Please call me Maxine,” her mom said. “We’ll be family soon.”

  “Okay, Maxine,” Ian said warmly.

  “Stars!” Violet exclaimed with her cute lisp.

  “Violet, you have to wait until you’re twelve before you get earrings,” Barry pronounced.

  “That’s an arbitrary number,” Kate said. “Unless you’re using it as a rite of passage into womanhood and in that case—”

  “We’ll discuss it,” Amber said.

  Ian kissed Kate and then pushed her hair back to look at her ear. “Don’t touch,” she said. “It burns.”

  “It is red,” he said. “What made you want to be earring twins with your mom?”

  “It’s a mother-daughter thing,” she said.

  Her mom beamed.

  Ian gr
inned. “All right, then.”

  “You want to see Kate’s video?” Amber asked. Everyone gathered close to watch on Amber’s cell phone screen. Even Kate watched. It looked like piercing was no big deal from the outside. You couldn’t even hear the pop of the piercing tool with her mom distracting her and Kate wondering what the hell her mom was talking about. She didn’t look as badass as she’d felt after. Bummer. Maybe she’d look badass giving birth. They’d need a video of that too.

  A short while later, Barry cooked them a delicious dinner on the grill. Her mom left after that, even stopping to give Kate a hug in a nice goodbye. The house was quiet once Amber took Violet upstairs for her bath and bed routine. Barry headed out back to clean the grill.

  Ian grabbed her hand and led her to the dining room. He pulled out a chair for her and took the chair across the table, saying, “Let’s talk.”

  Since they were alone, she had to ask, “Did you come here because I had cold feet?”

  One corner of his mouth lifted in his crooked smile. “Actually, approximately ten minutes into my work meeting, I realized I was being a complete idiot to waste one moment of our time together. I booked it out of there, bought a train ticket, and headed down to my girl.”

  Her heart filled to bursting. She found herself grinning like a fool.

  His warm brown eyes met hers. “And I’ll be working part-time from home this week so we can spend more time together.”

  “Perfect!”

  He pulled out his cell and tapped it. “I brought my bug report. We’re going to go through both reports and hammer out the details that matter in this relationship. Because you matter.”

  “Oh, Ian!” she exclaimed, pulling out her cell. “That would be wonderful. Let me get Barry. It’s important to have an impartial third party to facilitate these things. It’s in all the literature.” She leaped up.

  “Is that really necessary?” he asked.

  She slowly sat down again. “No, I guess not. Let me just, uh, look it over first.” She wasn’t so sure he’d like some of the stuff in her report, and she didn’t want him to get mad again after he travelled all this way to see her.