Chapter 21 - Shutdown
Naomi Neary could not contain her excitement.
She didn’t know what a wedding was, or what happened at one, but tomorrow, the entire family was attending a ceremony, and she got to wear a pretty new dress.
The whole wedding thing also included her first stay at a hotel with a swimming pool!
Her Daddy, Michael Isaac Neary, and Michelle’s daddy, Cousin Zeke, took them to the pool and she learned how to float.
She asked her daddy if he was going to teach her how to swim and he said he would after the wedding.
She made a small entry into her tiny memory to come back to it, or revisit that one later as her Mommy would say.
Yesterday, they had to go to a rehearsal.
She knew what a rehearsal was since they had them at her dance school before the big recitals.
This year, she had the lead role as Cinderella where she would get to ride off into the Happily Ever After in a pumpkin with her prince.
She wasn’t so sure about that either, but she was happy to be at the hotel with a pool.
After the wedding, she would get to play in the water again with Michelle.
Today was the big day. Dressed smartly in a lace covered peachy colored dress with dainty white shoes and white tights, she sat still as her Aunt Rebekah added light blue ribbons and bows to her hair. Michelle wore the same dress, and they also had the same hairstyle with ribbons and bows.
Grandma Ruth called for places, and she and Michelle were handed little baskets with flower petals.
Yesterday, they practiced in the rehearsal with pieces of paper; today; it was real live flowers.
The doors to the room opened, and side by side, she and Michelle walked down the blue carpet, dropping petals like she’d been taught.
At the end of the path, there was a stage.
Uncle Jay stood on the stage next to a boy she didn’t know, and beside him was her Daddy in a suit, and another man that she’d didn’t know either stood next to her daddy.
She waved at her dad, who gave her a small smile, and Uncle Jay, who blew her a kiss.
Naomi swatted the kiss away, then thought about it again, grabbing at the air to catch the phantom kiss.
The audience chuckled at her antics as she chased the imaginary kiss, locating it near the bench seat and applying it to her cheek.
She waved at him to let her uncle know the target was reached; after all, Uncle Jay did buy her a pony.
Michelle’s mom Tameka waved for Naomi and Michelle to come sit next to her on the front row where on the stage, she could see her Mommy.
The dress her Mommy wore was the same color as the dress she and Michelle were wearing and just like the one Aunt Rebekah had on.
A lady she didn’t know also had the same dress and stood on the stage by Aunt Rebekah.
Suddenly, music started and everyone stood up.
Naomi stood up too, but she couldn’t see.
Standing on the bench seat, she spotted what everyone was looking at–Aunt Helen.
She wore a white gown with the same peachy colored lace covering her face, walking besides a man Naomi had never seen.
At her side, Grandma Ruth appeared as everyone took their seats.
Naomi watched with interest as the man lifted the lace from Aunt Helen’s face, kissed her cheek, then took her hand and gave it to Uncle Jay.
“What is he doing, Grandma? Is he giving Aunt Helen to Uncle Jay?” she asked.
“Yes, he is,” Ruth Neary replied.
“Why, is he tired of her?”
“No, Helen is getting married to Jay, and her father is entrusting her care and well-being to your uncle,” she told Naomi.
Her eyes squinted as she tried to add two and two. “That man is Aunt Helen’s daddy?”
“Yes, he is.”
“So, he is my Mommy’s daddy too?”
“Yes, he is.”
Her eyes got wide, and her volume got loud, “I have a black grandaddy and a white grandaddy too?”
“Ssh child,” Ruth said as low giggles went through the crowd.
Naomi was not done. “So, if that is my grandaddy, does he have a wife? Is he married to my Mommy’s mommy?”
“He is.”
“Well, where is she?” Naomi asked, turning in her seat.
A woman sitting directly behind her waved at the child, placing her finger to her lips.
Naomi didn’t like being told to shush by a woman she didn’t know.
She stared at the woman mutherfuckingly, stopping when she noticed the resemblance to her own mother. “You look like my Mommy, but old.”
The group close by giggled a bit at the child’s realization that she was meeting her other grandmother, but Naomi was uncertain if she liked the vibe of the woman.
Naomi, turning back in her seat to watch the action, listened carefully to what Uncle Jay was saying to Aunt Helen, then he placed a ring on her finger.
Aunt Helen did the same to Uncle Jay. The man in the long white dress said a few words, then Uncle Jay kissed Helen.
“Grandma, what is happening?” Naomi asked.
“Jay and Helen are now married,” Ruth explained.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that now, he and Helen will go off on a romantic trip, then come home and become a family,” Ruth explained.
Naomi watched the two people she loved a whole lot face the room.
All the folks in the big room full of chairs clapped for them, and Aunt Helen was smiling.
She hardly ever smiled, and this must mean she was happy.
Naomi very seldom saw Aunt Helen happy, and she thereby concluded in her six-year-old brain that being married must be a good thing.
Her mommy was married to her daddy, and she was happy.
Grandma Ruth was married to the Grandpa Man and baked goodies every day but didn’t get fat, so she must be happy too.
It was then that she decided by the end of this party thing for Aunt Helen and Uncle Jay, she was going to find herself a husband so she could go on a trip to a hotel to swim in a pool and live happily ever after.
It was the start of a wedding reception that would be talked about for years to come.
****
GROUPS MINGLED INTO the Welkins Room, which also held a dance floor, for after the dinner reception.
Helen didn’t like the idea of three separate areas requesting an all-in-one space for the meals and festivities.
She and Jay entered the room to a rousing round of applause as others milled about looking for their seats.
The head table only held four seats, one each for the bride and groom, Rebekah, and Oscar, who served as the best man.
She glanced out at the audience, her eyes on Table Two, with a label of “Stray Bullets” on the placard.
The guests at the table seemed confused, especially since none of them knew each other.
Passion Fruit, also assigned to the table, looked back at Helen.
Excusing herself, Helen made her way over to the table.
“Welcome,” she said to the group, who looked at her with a bit of confusion.
Passion Fruit spoke first, “Why am I at this table and not with my team, or at the head table with you? I was one of your bridesmaids.”
“Because your father wanted you all to meet,” Helen said as all the eyes at the table focused on her.
“What?” Passion Fruit said. “How do you know my father? Wait, what?”
Helen offered a soft smile. “I had coffee with him, and he asked me to wave my magic wand to bring you all together. I thought this was the perfect opportunity.”
A handsome man, seated next to his wife, scowled at her. “And in doing so, what is your reward and why us?”
She again smiled. “When your father spoke of his children, he did so with a sense of pride I had never seen.”
“His children?” An attractive raven-haired woman asked.
“Morgan, he nearly had tears in his eyes when he mentioned your Olympic medals in Showjumping, and he spoke fondly of your ranch in Montana,” Helen said.
“Elm, he boasted about your work as an arborist, working on the trees in the Rose Garden before that woman had them removed. Thunder, his chest puffed out when he mentioned your military service and the courses you offered in learning to fly helicopters. He talked about the first time you took him up in one, how he was scared but you calmed him. Passion Fruit, he is ever so proud of you being a medical doctor, and you having coffee prepared and a whole conversation with him sparked this request.”
The one who scowled at her cleared his throat, “And me? What did dear old Dad have to say about me?”
Helen smiled from ear to ear, “You, Mr. Mann, he said with the utmost pride, is a certified badass. He will be joining you later. His request was for you all to meet, break bread, and have a meal with him.”
Mann wasn’t buying it. Michael Kurtzwilde didn’t ask for favors and when he did, it meant a lifetime of servitude. He wanted to know what this little pip of a woman was getting out of the deal. “And what do you get in return for this feat?”
“His retirement,” Helen said, looking at the chubby toddler. All of Kurtzwilde’s children stared at her. “He’s even sold the club. I thank you for your trust in accepting the invitation. Please enjoy your meal and the evening.”
She gave a hug to Passion Fruit, who looked at her siblings. “He told me he had other kids who were Technicians, even suggesting I make a plan to you to meet you, Mr. Mann. Is that your handle, Mr. Mann?”
“I am The Mann,” he said, “and in the words of dear dad, I am a certified badass. The only handle I need is my name.”
Elm spoke, “Hmm, nice to meet you all. Weird, finding out about my siblings like this, but we can ask him why when he gets here, I guess.”
Thunder spoke next, “I’ve only seen him once this year; thought maybe he was sick or something.”