Chapter 16 #2
“We are not pregnant,” a blushing Cara assures everyone as the door to the kitchen closes behind Linney and the kids.
Cooper curls an arm around the back of Cara’s chair protectively. “We just know.”
“And when you know you want to spend forever with someone, you want forever to start right away,” Cara says. “Doesn’t it go something like that?
“When Harry Met Sally,” I say, simultaneously annoyed by the platitude and by the fact that she managed to reference one of my favorite movies.
“Exactly!” Cara says, blinking at me. She tilts her head, like she’s equally unnerved to discover we have this film in common.
The kids come back out with Linney, helping carry a tray of brownies and a carton of vanilla ice cream.
“Didn’t you know with Tripp?” Cooper asks Peter, grabbing a brownie off the tray.
“Oh, I knew,” Peter says, taking Tripp’s hand and giving it a squeeze.
“But you and Tripp were together for years before you got married,” I interject. “Y’all knew everything about each other.”
“It’s true, I knew all Pete’s embarrassing secrets, and somehow, I still agreed to marry the guy,” Tripp says, grinning.
“Like his silent but deadly farts?” William asks, his mouth half-full of a giant brownie.
“William, I am serious now,” Linney says to him sternly. “That’s enough. Give me the rest of your brownie.” Reluctantly, he hands it to her, and I see a glimmer of the stern Southern discipline I remember from our own upbringing. “Now you run upstairs and start getting ready for bed.”
“Me too?” Anna Carol asks, disappointed.
Linney smiles and pats her head. “No, honey, you can stay up an extra fifteen minutes because you are not misbehaving like your brother.”
William scowls and stomps through the door.
My dad stands up, an amused smile on his face. “I’ll go with him and make sure we don’t have any incidents with the toothbrush this time. I’m not playing anyway.”
“Incidents?” I ask.
Linney sighs. “Thanks, Dad.” Then turns to me and adds, “Last night, William dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. He says it was an accident, but…” She shakes her head.
Then Tripp lays down another set of green trains, now forming the longest route so far on the board.
“Jeez, Tripp. You’re killing us,” Pete says, clearly trying to help steer the conversation back to the game.
Cooper leans back and takes a huge bite of brownie. “Anyway, Cara and I know all the important things,” he says, looking at me as if in challenge.
“But even the little things can end up being important,” I point out, trying to figure out how I can keep sabotaging Cara’s routes while not losing to Tripp.
“Like, do you know each other’s favorite movie?
Most scarring childhood memory? Favorite holiday?
Does Sa—” I look toward the end of the table to where Anna Carol is in her own little world.
She’s singing and playing with her Barbie, making it dance across her dessert plate.
I lean forward and whisper across to Cooper and Cara.
“Does Santa Claus bring all the presents, or just, like, one big one?”
“Santa doesn’t bring you all your presents?” Nate asks in a low voice.
I turn to face him. “We each got one big present from Santa, and the rest were from Mom and Dad,” I whisper.
“That’s not a thing,” Nate counters. “Santa brings all the presents. That’s his job. He literally works on them all year.”
“My mom worked on Christmas all year.” I turn back toward Cara and Cooper. “Luckily, Nate and I aren’t getting married. But if we were—”
“Absolute deal-breaker for me,” Nate says. “Could never raise my child in a one-Santa-present household.”
“Oh, I kind of like that idea,” Cara says. “Especially if they have friends who maybe don’t get as much as they do. It helps explain why.”
“I’m also okay if you want to label all the presents from Santa,” Cooper says.
Cara and Cooper smile at each other. “I guess we’ll figure it out.”
I suppress a groan.
“You will indeed,” my mom says. “And that reminds me…”
The conversation moves toward what is apparently her favorite new topic—the wedding—and I tune out the details.
All roads lead to the wedding these days. And shockingly, most of the logistics of this last-minute event seem to be falling into place. The next item on the to-do list is the dress.
“So I’ll need you all ready tomorrow at noon for the appointment at LuAnne’s, alright? All the girls are going.”
“Oooh.” Anna Carol claps her hands. “Including me?”
“No, sugarmuffin, I’m sorry. I meant all the grown-up ladies.”
Anna Carol sighs but, undeterred, turns to Cara. “Aunt Cara, are you going to wear a face wig?”
“A face wig?” Cara asks confused—while I’m still stuck on the fact that Anna Carol is already referring to her as an “aunt.”
“She means a veil,” Linney explains.
I feel the blood in my veins freeze at the mention of a veil, as I look up first at Linney and then at Mom.
If Mom offers to let Cara wear the Walker family veil, the one passed down from Meema, that Mom and Linney both got turns wearing, I will lose it.
That veil is meant for me next. It’s a family heirloom, and it holds a lot of significance for me.
I open my mouth to try and steer us away from that topic, but Mom beats me to it:
“LuAnne’s got some great options, and we can match it perfectly to the dress,” Mom says, and I sigh with relief.
“I’m so glad you want to wear a veil, Cara.
All these modern brides are choosing to go without.
But this is perfect.” She claps her hands together.
“And I can embroider your initials in blue—that’ll be your something blue! ”
Cara looks at my mom. “Really?” For the first time all evening, her smile doesn’t look fake at all but completely genuine. “That’s—that’s so nice of you Mrs. Bennet. I mean, Joan.”
“Honey, it’ll be my pleasure!” Mom says.
And watching the way her face has lit up over this idea, I know it definitely will.
I glance over at Nate, who’s been oddly quiet. I’d been expecting to share an eye roll, but instead, he’s just looking at his sister and my mom, with something so tender written on his face that it takes my breath away.