Three Weddings and a Bar Mitzvah

by Melody Carlson

  “I wonder how Megan’s interview is going.” Lelani sat Emma down to peel off her jacket. “I even remembered to pray for her.”

  Kendall slapped her own forehead. “I forgot.” Then she closed her eyes and silently shot up a quick prayer. “There. A quickie will have to do for now.”

  Lelani laughed as she picked up Emma again. “I’m sure God gets lots of quickies.”

  “So how was school?” Kendall asked as she flopped down onto the sectional and put her feet up.

  “Okay. You know the classes I’m taking are pretty insignificant, just a way to get my foot in their door for next year.”

  “Maybe so, but you seem to be doing a lot. I mean being a mom, working part-time, going to school.” Kendall shook her head. “I don’t think I could do all that.”

  “But you watch Emma for me, and you’re still doing your eBay business. Besides that, you’re pregnant, and that can take a lot of energy.” Lelani grinned at Emma. “Oh yeah, little girl, I remember how tired I got when you were in my tummy.”

  “Still, you have your life a lot more together than I do.” Kendall frowned. “In fact, it seems like everyone does.”

  “Everyone’s different.” Emma was patting Lelani’s face and laughing as Lelani changed expressions for her entertainment.

  “Plus, you’re planning a wedding,” Kendall reminded her.

  “So are you.” Lelani set Emma back on the floor. “I’m so happy for you, Kendall. Killiki is really a great guy.”

  Kendall nodded. “I know. I knew it from the beginning. But I’ll admit it was encouraging when you gave him your endorsement.”

  “He’s been my friend for as long as I can remember. And I’ve always had the greatest respect for him. In fact, I think he and Gil are a lot alike. Both very responsible and mature.”

  Kendall made a face. “You’d think my mother would be happy for me. I mean, I finally fall in love with a good guy and—”

  “Did you tell her?”

  Kendall nodded. “But I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d just kept it a secret until Killiki and I tie the knot. Maybe I could put a note in the baby announcements, that is, if I send any to my family. Something like, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m married.’”

  “But don’t you think your family will want to come to the wedding?”

  “Not if they’re thinking like my mom.”

  “How’s that?” Lelani was playing peekaboo with Emma.

  “My mom actually said that I’m jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”

  “Seriously?” Lelani peeked at Kendall from behind her fingers. “She said that?”

  “She did.” Kendall nodded. “And a lot of other things too. Like why haven’t I gotten a paternity test?”

  “She wants you to be tested while you’re still pregnant?”

  Kendall shrugged. “I guess so.”

  “Well, tell her that’s not in the best interest of the baby. Prenatal tests are invasive and carry a risk of miscarriage. Admittedly, it’s small, but it’s a risk nonetheless.”

  Kendall rubbed her abdomen in a protective way. “Maybe I should wait until the baby’s born.”

  “And besides the risk factor, a test won’t prove a thing without Matthew’s cooperation. My guess is that he won’t cooperate, not short of a court order.”

  “So, really, there’s no big hurry to be tested, then.”

  Lelani didn’t respond.

  “That whole paternity thing made me wonder about you and Emma.” Kendall watched as mother and daughter continued with peekaboo. “Did you get her tested?”

  Lelani put her hands down. “It’s like I already told you, Kendall. Emma’s dad has no interest in her and I have no interest in him.”

  “But what if something happened?” Kendall persisted. “Like what if he changed and wanted to know for certain that she was his daughter?”

  Lelani’s brow creased. “I don’t honestly know what I’d do.” She put her nose against Emma’s nose. “But I don’t think that’ll ever happen.”

  “What if there was some kind of a medical need?” Kendall asked.

  “You mean like if Emma needed a kidney or bone marrow transplant?” Lelani sighed.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Naturally, if Emma had a desperate medical need like that, of course I would contact her biological father. But it’s not something I lie in bed worrying about every night.”

  “I know.”

  “Look, Kendall.” Lelani gathered up Emma and stood. “How you handle your situation is totally up to you. I did what I felt was best for me and my baby. And as you know, I’m not terribly proud of all my decisions. You need to decide what’s best for you—and at least you have Killiki to help you figure things out now. I was pretty much alone.”

  Kendall smiled. “You’re a strong woman, Lelani.”

  Lelani just shrugged as she headed to her room with Emma. “I don’t know about that. I just did what I had to do. But I’m not afraid to admit that it’s a relief to have Gil in my life. Or that he helps me to be stronger.”

  “That’s how I feel about Killiki,” Kendall called out. “In fact, I’m going to phone him right now. If I’m lucky, he’ll still be on his lunch break.” But she wasn’t lucky. Her call went straight to voice mail. As she left him a warm, loving message, she imagined him with his head underneath someone’s kitchen sink, or perhaps he was setting a toilet. She knew a plumber’s life (even in Maui) was not a glamorous one, but she also knew she didn’t care. She loved Killiki for who he was, not for his occupation or net worth or real estate holdings, and not even for the kind of vehicle he drove, and that for her was something new. She had just finished her message to him when her phone buzzed and, hoping it was him, she eagerly answered.

  “Kendall?” her mother’s voice was shrill. “Good grief, girl, it’s about time you turned your phone on. I even tried the house phone several times, but all I got was a busy signal. I was starting to get worried.”

  Kendall walked over to see that the landline receiver had been knocked off the hook. Probably Emma’s doing. Good girl! She reluctantly set the phone back in place, then took in a deep breath. “What do you want, Mom?” she asked in a flat voice.

  “Well, I told your father about your, uh, your situation.”

  “Which situation is that?” Kendall placed a protective hand over her stomach. “Being pregnant with a married man’s baby? Or suddenly deciding to get married to a man I barely know? Or just the general jumping-from-the-frying-pan thing?”

  “So, perhaps you do see my concerns.”

  “I was being sarcastic.”

  “Still.”

  “Look, Mom, I’m sorry I’m not your perfect child. I’m sorry I’ve made some stupid mistakes. I’m sorry I lied to you sometimes. But the only reason I lied was because I thought I was saying what you wanted to hear. If you’ll recall, you were pretty thrilled when you thought I was going to marry a celebrity.”

  “Yes, but that was only because—”

  “I’m sorry to be a disappointment to you, Mother. But this is my life and I’m the one who has to live it.”

  “And that’s exactly what your father said.”

  “Well, tell him thank you for me. Better yet, put him on and I’ll tell him myself.”

  “He just left for a golf date.”

  “It figures.”

  “And I wasn’t calling you so that we could fight again, Kendall.”

  “Really?”

  “No, I was calling to let you know that Dad and I are changing our travel plans so that we can return to Oregon and help you with your wedding. Isn’t that wonderful!”

  Kendall had vivid flashbacks to her three older sisters’ weddings: how her mother had taken over every little detail and all
the fights that entailed, and how Kate and her mom had nearly come to blows over menus and flowers, and how Kim ended up wearing the “poodle” dress, and how Kristen had gotten so fed up at the last minute that she called off her wedding entirely.

  “I … uh … I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to say a thing, Kendall. Just know that Mommy is coming and that everything is going to be okay.”

  “Have you been drinking?”

  She just laughed. “My daughter just asked if I’ve been drinking,” she said to someone else. This was followed by ripples of feminine laughter.

  “Seriously, Mom, it’s a little early for martinis.”

  “You know what they say, Kendall, it’s always happy hour somewhere.”

  “Obviously.”

  “So, don’t you worry about a thing, Kendall, darling. Toodles!” And then she hung up.

  “Right,” Kendall said to nobody. “Nothing to worry about now.”

  Three

  Anna Mendez

  “It’s only eleven more names,” Anna’s mother said in a pleading voice. “Surely, you can squeeze in a few more guests, Anna. It’s not like I’m asking for the moon.”

  “You’re not supposed to call me about this at work, Mama.” Anna forced a smile for Edmond as he waited by her desk. “Besides, you’ve already squeezed in about forty more guests than Gil and Lelani wanted. At the rate you’re going, the wedding’s going to triple in size before the invitations are even sent.”

  “But these are family members, mi’ja, your family too.”

  “Not every single family member has to come to this wedding.”

  “But you know how it is. There are expectations … feelings will be hurt.”

  “They’ll get over it. Just explain that it’s a small wedding.”

  “But Gil is my only son.”

  “And I’m your only daughter, and I have a meeting that I’m going to be—”

  “But you will talk to Lelani for me?”

  Anna stood. “Talk to her yourself, Mama. Better yet, talk to Gil.” Then she said good-bye, snapped her phone shut, turned it off, and rolled her eyes for Edmond’s sake. “My brother is going to owe me big-time before this wedding is over.”

  He just chuckled. “Maybe Gil and Lelani should just bite the bullet and have a big wedding.”

  “They don’t want a big wedding.” She picked up her laptop and glanced at the clock. Fortunately they still had a couple minutes before the meeting.

  “I thought all girls wanted big weddings.”

  “Not Lelani. Her ideal wedding would be to get married on a beach at sunset, probably in Maui.”

  “Why don’t they do that then?”

  “Lelani can’t afford that. And, besides, she wants all of us at her wedding.”

  “How about an Oregon beach, then?”

  “Not possible.”

  “Why?”

  “Remember, that’s a really busy weekend. Megan has a wedding to go to on Saturday.”

  Edmond nodded. “And we have the bar mitzvah.”

  “Plus there’s Kendall’s wedding too.”

  “Man, that’s going to be one crazy weekend.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Hey, why don’t Lelani and Kendall have a double wedding?”

  Anna frowned at him.

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Think about it.”

  He chuckled. “I guess Lelani and Kendall are about as different as two girls could be. But they do have Maui in common now.”

  “Besides that, my mother would probably throw a hissy fit if Gil’s wedding had to be shared with anyone else.” She almost added, “Unless it was me,” but thought better of it. No way was she going to hint that she wanted to go down that road. Oh, sure, all this talk of weddings brought out some longings in a girl. It bothered her a little (although it obviously bothered her mother more) that Gil, the younger one, was getting married first.

  “So, I guess my future as a wedding planner just hit the rocks,” Edmond said.

  “Better stick with publishing,” she said as they went into the meeting room.

  The meeting dragged on and on, and Anna tried to concentrate on the last thing on the table, a boring nonfiction book proposal from a friend of Edmond’s mother, but she felt distracted by all the recent talk of weddings. She also resented the way her mother kept pulling her into the planning, even calling her at work. Why should the guest list be Anna’s responsibility? After all, it wasn’t her wedding, was it? And it’s not like she was fulfilling the role of maid of honor. Why wasn’t her mom calling Megan? Or Lelani or Gil?

  Of course, Anna knew why her mother was acting like this. It was her way of rubbing Anna’s nose in the fact that Gil was beating his older sister to the altar. Not that her mother was the least bit enthusiastic about the fact that both of her children were dating outside of their religion and their culture. Still, she seemed to be adapting. And really, perhaps Anna should be thankful that Gil was breaking this new turf on the home front. At least if (and when) Anna decided to get married, it should be easier.

  She glanced at Edmond, who was trying to show interest in the book project although she knew he wanted it to be rejected. His sandy brown hair was a little shaggy, in need of a trim, but it actually looked rather attractive too. And had he changed his glasses lately? Anna tried to remember. Hadn’t they been black frames before? These were more of a dark tortoise shell. Still, they looked good on him. She smiled and, to her surprise, he looked at her in that same instant and smiled back. Fortunately, the meeting was coming to an end and no else seemed to have observed her flirting with him. Not that she was flirting actually. After all, he was her boyfriend, so she was allowed to flirt, right?

  “Glad that’s over,” he said as they rode down the elevator together. “I was worried that Rick was going to push to publish that last one.” He feigned a yawn. “We’d have to sell it with a complimentary packet of NoDoz.”

  She laughed. “Not a bad idea.”

  “So what’re you doing tonight?” he asked as he helped her with her coat. “Want to go grab a bite to eat?”

  “As tempting as that sounds, it’s my night to cook. We’re all trying to save a few bucks by taking turns in the kitchen.”

  He smacked his lips. “So, what does a guy have to do to get an invite?”

  “Nothing, except that we all agreed to devote our evenings this week to getting the wedding plans solidified. There are still lots of decisions about when and where and whatnot and I need to get those invitations—”

  “Yeah, yeah …” He held the door open for her. “And I’m guessing it’s no guys allowed.”

  “It’s distracting enough with four girls trying to agree on things,” she told him as they went out to the parking lot. “Throw in a few guys and we’d never get any decisions made.”

  He stood by her car, waiting as she unlocked it and got in. “So, maybe all this wedding planning is good practice.”

  She frowned up at him. “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged, then glanced toward the door, where the new intern was emerging with an armful of books. The girl was halfway out when the door swung back, knocking most of the precariously stacked books to the pavement.

  “Looks like I better go give Lucy a hand,” he said quickly. “See you tomorrow, Anna.”

  Anna smiled and waved as he closed the door to her car and hurried over to where poor Lucy was scrambling to gather up the books, dropping even more as she did this. Why hadn’t the silly girl thought to have gotten a box? Edmond was gathering up the books as Anna backed out of her parking space. It was so like him to help others like that. Really, he was one of the good guys. Old-fashioned when it came to etiquette, honest, traditiona
l, hardworking. Really, Anna’s mother should be pleased that she was dating a guy like Edmond.

  Anna replayed his words as she drove to the grocery store. Maybe all this wedding planning is good practice. He must’ve been talking about their relationship. But was he seriously considering marriage? Oh, she knew he liked her well enough. In fact, he’d been the one to do the pursuing. Even when she’d hurt him in her brief period of insanity by going back to her old boyfriend Jake (the Snake), Edmond had waited in the wings and eventually forgiven her.

  Anna thought about this as she pushed her wobbly cart through the grocery store, gathering up the few things she needed for dinner. What if Edmond was thinking about popping the question? How would she feel about that? On one hand, Anna had never planned to marry young. Not that she was so young at twenty-six—at least by her mother’s standards. Most of Anna’s younger cousins had already married. Some of Anna’s aunts (probably her mother too) called her the Old Maid when they didn’t think she was listening. Not that it bothered her. At least it hadn’t before … all of this wedding talk. She found herself thinking about marriage and weddings a lot more than she used to.

  While growing up, all Anna wanted was to be a single career woman, at least until she hit her thirties. She wanted independence and freedom and, most of all, her own apartment. Living at Kendall’s house was simply supposed to be the first step toward that goal. It hadn’t been easy to convince her mother to let her move away from home. What may have appeared to be “one tiny step” for a young woman was “one giant step” for a traditionally raised Latina girl.

  Anna parked her cart at the end of a line at the checkout stand and waited. She gazed blankly over the glossy magazines, absently scanning the covers until her eyes locked on a headline of a slightly cheesy woman’s magazine. Single and Over Thirty—Meet the New Spinster.

  Anna blinked and read the line again. What were they trying to say? That no one over thirty was going to get married? Someone needed to get a life. She resisted the temptation to pick up the magazine and skim the stupid article. Really, why should she give a stupid magazine like that a second thought? They were simply being sensational, trying to scare young women like her into buying their ridiculous magazine. Well, she was not falling for it.