Then He Happened

by Claudia Burgoa

  “What?!” Mom squawks behind me.

  “I think it’s best that we postpone this ceremony indefinitely,” Charlie says with an even tone.

  “Eileen,” Mom hisses. “Say something.”

  Great, cold feet duty. I grunt. Well, I shouldn’t be complaining. This is a typical job for the Maid of Honor.

  “Charlie,” I say slowly. “How are you feeling?”

  She crosses her arms. “I woke up at five this morning to puke. How do you think I’m doing?”

  Peachy?

  “That’s fair,” I say. “Do you need water? A snack?”

  She nods. Mom and one of her friends get her to sit down in one of the chairs the bridesmaids have been occupying while I pull out her water bottle and a granola bar from my purse.

  We let her eat for a minute. Once she finishes, I kneel down in front of her.

  I take a long deep breath and ask her, “Okay, how are you now?”

  “Better,” she says drinking her water. “But I’m still not getting married.”

  I swear, if I wasn’t looking at her, I’d guess a five year-old had spoken just about now.

  Holy fuck. “Can we talk about it? Why don’t you want to get married?”

  She shrugs, still eating. “It’s just so fucking stupid. Getting married because we’re having a kid together. What was I thinking?”

  Finally, I think. Why couldn’t she have figured this out two fucking weeks ago.

  “Let me get this straight then. We’re calling off the wedding,” I confirm, more like calling her bluff because this sounds like a last-minute temper tantrum.

  Charlie shakes her head. “Just postponing it.”

  What the fuck does this mean? Why does she have to pull this bullshit today of all days?

  Right, because it’s Charlie.

  “Charlotte, that’s—”

  “Mom, please,” I snap. “Give her a minute.”

  My mom fumes, but I don’t give a fuck. It’s not actually her call.

  “So, you don’t want to marry Marek at all?” I ask.

  “That’s not what I said,” Charlie says aggravated.

  “You said we should ‘cancel indefinitely,’” I repeat her words.

  “Well at least until the baby comes,” she says.

  I take a deep breath. “Do you love him?”

  “Yes,” she says.

  “Do you want to spend the rest of your life with him?”

  “Yes,” she says earnestly.

  Surprising, but okay. That’s reassuring to know.

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  She starts crying, “All of my friends are wasted, and I can’t drink with them.”

  I sigh. Okay, this is manageable. She’s just being a brat.

  “Charlie, it’s one day. You can drink with them some other time, when you don’t have a baby to think about,” I say. “And wouldn’t it be nice to remember your whole wedding day, instead of how hungover you were afterward or how pretty the pictures are?”

  She shrugs. “It’s not the same.”

  “I get that—”

  “No offence, Eileen, but what would you know about parties or having fun?”

  I lean back and look at her. She seriously doesn’t know me, does she? What does she think I do with my life?

  I take a deep breath. “That’s not the point, Charlie. We’re talking about you giving up on your big day. You’ve worked so hard—”

  “Shut up, shut up!” She screams at me. “You’re such a fucking kill joy. You just hate me.”

  I can’t believe I have to say this but— “I don’t hate you. You’re my sister. I love—”

  “You’re just a bitter, heinous bitch who hates everything and wouldn’t do fucking shit for me if I were on the ground bleeding,” she says.

  “Do you hear yourself?” I say, my composure breaking. “I get it, you’re stressed. It’s been a long day. If it’d make you happy, we can postpone but—”

  “You’re not listening!” She shouts. “You fucking whore! I hate you.”

  I swallow and cross my arms. “Then say it again. What am I not listening to?”

  “This wedding is stupid, and I deserve to get drunk.” Charlie says. “Cancel it right now. Jason will just pay for the next one.”

  “Okay fi—” I cut myself off.

  Normally, I would just listen to her. Let it go. Move the fuck on because it doesn’t matter.

  Only it does. It so fucking matters.

  “No,” I say evenly. “We’re not cancelling the wedding.”

  “What?” Charlie says.

  “You’re going to finish that water, get up, and go get married,” I instruct her. “Everything will run smoothly from this point forward.”

  Charlie goes red. “That’s not what—”

  “I don’t care what you said—or think you want,” I tell her. “You know, you’ve pulled a lot of stupid stunts in your life. But this is really up there.”

  “Eileen, be reasonable,” Mom says. “If she doesn’t want to get married—”

  I toss my hands up in the air. Is she kidding me? It’s not okay to cancel. Does she just like to fuck with me?

  “Oh no, if she didn’t want to get married, I’d support that,” I say. “Planning this wedding has been a nightmare my ungrateful family shoved on me.”

  Charlie growls. “No one asked for your help!”

  “Really?” I say incredulously tossing the wedding journal at her feet. “‘Eileen, use the Pinterest board. Eileen, get the roses. No, I want daisies. No, Eileen I hate daisies, what are you? A stupid bitch?’”

  I find myself laughing, as a tear rolls down my cheek. “You used to be my hero, you know? I would do anything for the Charlie who would fight bullies for me and told me I could be an artist if I wanted.”

  Shaking my head, I continue. “But now you’re selfish, ungrateful, and I can’t take it anymore.”

  “Eileen,” my mother says in a threatening tone. “This isn’t the time—”

  “It’s never the right time, Mother,” I snap. “I’m sick of making up for your neglection toward Charlie and making me pay for it.”

  I dust off my dress. I sigh as Charlie glares at me. Her lip starts to wobble as if that’s going to assuage my anger.

  “If you hate me, I have no problem with never seeing you again after today,” I say simply. “But Jason, myself, and a shit ton of your friends and family bent over backward to make today happen for you. Something our mother didn’t even offer to help with.”

  “And it had to be today of all days.” I snort.

  I look between my sister and mother. Charlie starts sobbing quietly while my mother has the decency to blush. I didn’t expect her to remember. As angry as I am, I really pity them.

  “You ruined my graduation day,” I say firmly. “You stole my fucking birthday. You’re not allowed to ruin this beautiful wedding. So get over your stupid bullshit. You can have a belated bachelorette party next year. I’m sure Marek would love that.”

  “Sweetheart,” my mom says, trying to reach out to me.

  I wave her off. “I don’t care.”

  I offer Charlie a hand. Hesitantly, she takes it.

  “Come on, Charlie,” I say with a sad smirk. “Let’s get you hitched.”

  40

  Jason

  I need about two more cups of coffee and a shot of something hard to deal with this ceremony. We’re already twenty minutes late.

  Jackson and Alex are standing in as groomsmen. My parents couldn’t make it. Their flight got delayed, and they are stuck in New York. My sisters are also here. Because even when Mar is a pain in the ass, we love him. He’s like a brother.

  “The ceremony hasn’t started,” Jack mumbles under his breath.

  “I called it,” Alex mutters. “You owe me something.”

  I roll my eyes and shake my head. I’m not thrilled about being close to an altar waiting for a fucking bride. Do they have to behave this way? I check
my phone, but there’re no texts from Eileen. If Charlie had run away, she’d have told me.

  But, after the ten-minute mark, I volunteer to go looking for the bride. If she flakes, I’d prefer to find out sooner rather than later.

  I have to walk around half of the venue to get to the bridal suite. As I approach, everything starts to make a lot more sense.

  I can already hear Charlie pitching a fit, which is to be expected honestly.

  What I don’t expect is Eileen’s voice, shouting right back.

  “—Jason, myself, and a shit ton of your friends and family bent over backward to make today happen for you. Something your mother didn’t even offer to help with.,” Eileen says.

  True. I’m surprised she’s pointing it out though.

  “You ruined my graduation day,” she continues.

  Wow, we’re going there.

  I stop in front of the door—no use interrupting when Eileen’s finally telling them what’s up. I lean against the door frame, impressed as fuck.

  “Sweetheart—” her mom says.

  I roll my eyes.

  “I don’t care,” Eileen yells, and I wonder if the wedding guests can hear the throw down.

  Who cares? The smile on my face is so broad it hurts. That’s my Eileen, tough and capable.

  She deserves to know her worth. What’s reasonable to ask of her, and when she deserves care and support.

  It feels like she knows it for once.

  When the door swings open, Eileen is pulling Charlie through the threshold.

  “Everything alright here?” I ask cautiously.

  Eileen huffs, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I think so.”

  I look at Charlie, who’s kind of a wreck around her eyes. Good thing Jossie has shit to touch her face up before the reception.

  “You ready to get married?” I ask Charlie.

  She sniffles, looking at Eileen who refuses to meet her gaze.

  “Yeah,” Charlie says. “I’m ready.”

  The wedding finally gets underway. A harpist begins playing softly in the corner. All the decorations and people are set, and the wedding party goes down the aisle seamlessly.

  Then, it’s Eileen and me walking down side by side.

  “Nervous?” I whisper and link her pinky with mine.

  “Not anymore,” she says with a smirk.

  “You’re a fucking badass,” I say. “You should be proud of yourself.”

  “Takes one to know one,” she says.

  Just as we part at the front of the room, I squeeze her hand and walk to my side.

  It’s sort of a Catholic ceremony. The minister is Lutheran. Which, Eileen explained to me is… different. Mainly he added more readings, but not so many that it’s as long as Eileen’s grandparents expected it to be.

  Which, thank God, because I don’t know what we’d do if they don’t approve since I’m not helping, or paying, for another wedding.

  “And now,” the minister says at some point. “The bride and groom have elected to recite their own vows.”

  My eyes catch Eileen’s as she hands Charlie a piece of paper. I swallow thickly. This... this could be good. Unless Eileen didn’t do what we agreed on.

  3 days ago

  I bang my head against my coffee table. “They’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

  “I wish,” Eileen says, lying on my area rug. Max is just right beside her, belly up sleeping.

  She’s hiding her eyes under one of her checklists. It’s kinda cute.

  “There was a list, and that list had a sublist,” she mutters. “I gave her three things to do. Tell me who your bridesmaids are, pick your wedding dress, and write your wedding vows.”

  “I’d say two out of three ain’t bad, but she barely did one of those,” I joke.

  She groans. “How the fuck do we write vows for someone else’s wedding?”

  We sit there in silence for a while. How in-fucking-deed. This is way beyond the job description.

  Then again, we could get creative with this.

  I nudge her shoulder with my foot. “Hey, Eileen.”

  “What?”

  “What if we act while we write these?”

  She sits up, blinking at me. “I gotta be honest, that’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard you say, and I won’t pretend it made any sense.”

  “What if... we pretend we’re in love with someone or something. Talk about love, embellish it a little bit. Let them edit it last minute and boom, corny vows that no one will ever remember anyway.”

  “I could live with that,” she says.

  She pulls out a notebook from her bag, handing it to me with a pen. “Let’s try to go for one page, front and back.”

  I stare at my paper for a while, waiting for the muse to strike me.

  “Uh, I know I suggested this but... how do we actually do this?” I ask.

  Eileen looks up from the paper she’s been furiously scribbling on for a while.

  “I don’t know,” she says with a shrug.

  “What? You’ve been writing like a maniac for—” I check the clock on the wall. “Twenty minutes.”

  “Yeah, kind of,” she mutters.

  What does she have there, a three-page essay on coffee?

  “Let me see,” I request.

  She clutches her notebook close to her chest. “No, that’s okay.”

  “Come on, Eileen,” I say, reaching over. “Show me.”

  “It’s not done yet!”

  She scoots away from me. I get on the ground for a better angle.

  “It can’t be that bad!” I say, making a grab for her notebook.

  We tug back and forth a little bit. But finally, I get the upper hand.

  Yanking it just hard enough to get it into my hands—

  —Which causes Eileen to land on top of me.

  “Finally—”

  Her paper is a drawing of me.

  “Are you kidding?” I ask pretending to be upset but actually amused. “You’ve been drawing?”

  “I was stuck! What do I know about love?”

  I shrug, inspecting her drawing more closely. It’s a little cartoonish, but so accurate. She’s got all these great details of my hair, my eyes, my nose—

  “I don’t have this many freckles,” I say, pointing to the drawing.

  She looks between me and the paper, shrugging.

  “They look cute on you,” she says.

  Her eyes, those are cute, I think distractedly. Her eyes and her voice, plus the way she keeps tucking a pen behind her ear and then immediately forgets where it is. The way her hands flit across a page as she draws is super cute.

  It’s strange the things people can find beautiful in the odd and mundane.

  “Why don’t we start over? Together,” I suggest.

  Eileen nods. “You’ve been engaged before. What do you know about love?”

  I laugh. “Not as much as I thought I did when I first proposed but—listen, love is complicated, and it changes. It changes all the time. What matters the most is that you care about someone or something else a whole fucking lot and are willing to put the work in to figure things out.”

  “Like compromising,” she surmises.

  “Sure, but it’s only a compromise if everyone’s happy and comfortable with the changes. If couples just meet somewhere in the middle for the sake of saying they tried, it’s kinda bullshit and no one’s happy.”

  She nods, taking down some notes.

  Then she looks at me a strangely, kind of like with all these questions but also with secrets.

  “Okay,” she says after a long silence. “But we need to write about big sweeping love that makes people cry at a wedding. How do we do that?”

  I shrug. “It’s not about them. Cool if they get emotional, but it’s not about what other people think. It’s about seeing this person in front of you and thinking—”

  I glance at her bright, inquisitive eyes.

  I clear my throat. “T
hinking wow, this person inspires me. This person makes me feel good shit about myself, and I want them to feel that all the time. I wanna be around them for as long as they can stand me.”

  “Alright,” Eileen says. “I think I can figure something out.”

  Now

  “Marek,” Charlie says, reading the paper Eileen handed to her.

  “I can’t begin to tell you how much this day has made me feel. Excited, nervous, joyful, hopeful, and a little sad. Sad because every day you’re in my life is the best day of my life. I just cannot believe it took us so long to find each other.

  “There are so many things I want to say to you, but I’m scared that if I get them all down, we could be here a while.”

  The crowd laughs.

  “But I will say this,” Charlie says. “You are so witty, lively, and charming. You are a bright light in a very dark world that I would do anything to protect. You’re so free-spirited yet so measured. I promise to never discourage your smile or ambitions.”

  Marek’s the least ambitious person I know—

  Oh right, Eileen wrote this.

  I tilt my head to get a better look at her. Her eyes catch mine, almost instantly looking away as her cheeks go red.

  “You’re more than the tangible things, and you’re so much more than the sum of your parts. You see something in me that I can only hope I live up to. You cherish the little things in a way I’m only starting to learn. I want to spend the rest of our lives learning from each other.

  “I want each moment to be as breathtaking, exhilarating, and entertaining as the last. I want to see the world through your eyes because they hold the kindest mind and most profound soul I’ve ever known.”

  Wait a minute. Eileen said I’m the kindest person she’s ever met. Shit, she wrote about me?

  She wrote what she thinks about me? I’m her inspiration for wedding vows.

  A breath gets lodged in my throat and I realize, this is the most important wedding I’ve ever been to.

  “You’re an entire universe of love, hope, loss, and perseverance. I know the big things scare you sometimes. I know you aren’t sure of yourself. But I’m here to say that if I could be even a portion as good and wonderful as you’ve been in our time together—I’d be the happiest, most fulfilled person on the planet.”