21. Temple
Friday Night
Bachelorette Party
The first thing I noticed when I walked through the door of the Airbnb was the smell of vanilla.
The second was the fact that my sisters had apparently decided my bachelorette party needed to look like the inside of a luxury hotel.
Brown and tan balloons floated along the walls in elegant clusters.
Cream-colored flowers filled oversized vases.
Candles flickered on every surface, casting a soft amber glow across the room.
There were trays of chocolate-covered strawberries, charcuterie boards, gourmet popcorn, miniature desserts, and enough champagne to get six women into some serious trouble.
I smiled.
“Toni . . . Phire . . .”
Toni turned around, wearing tan silk pajamas and a grin that told me she was entirely too proud of what she’d done.
“I did my big one, huh?”
I nodded. “You did. I love it.”
Sapphire was sprawled across the sectional in chocolate-brown silk pajamas, already holding a champagne glass. “Girl, you better love it. We been planning this for weeks.”
“I can tell,” I replied. I looked around again.
Lessyn, Skylyn, Payton, and Jela were all dressed in different shades of brown and tan silk pajamas, and for a second, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“We look like a damn chocolate box.”
Skylyn looked down at herself. “A very expensive chocolate box.”
We all laughed.
“You ain’t wrong.”
That was the thing about tonight. It didn’t feel forced. It didn’t feel like one of those bachelorette parties where everyone was trying too hard to make sure the bride was having fun.
It just felt easy.
Comfortable.
Maybe because these women had somehow become my friends without me realizing how quickly it had happened.
They were technically my husband’s friends’ wives and girlfriend, women I’d only recently met, but somewhere between conversations, dinners, dress fittings, and all the craziness that came with falling in love and getting married so quickly, they’d become people I actually wanted around me.
Jodeci played softly from the Bluetooth speaker. I recognized the song immediately and sang while rolling my hips. “Come and talk to me, I really wanna meet you, girl!”
Skylyn gasped in excitement. “Oh, hell yes!”
She grabbed Lessyn’s hand and danced on her. Lessyn laughed as she followed her.
Payton nearly spilled her champagne. “Y’all are ridiculous.”
“And you’re just mad because you can’t dance,” Skylyn shouted.
“Girl, I dance better than you! You know I throw this ass in circles.”
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”
I couldn’t stop laughing as Toni grabbed my hand. “Come on, bride.”
I shook my head. “I just got here.”
“And?”
“I haven’t even had my drank yet.”
“You’re holding it, crazy!”
I looked down. She was right. “Fair point.”
She pulled me to the middle of the room. Soon, everybody was dancing.
I laughed as Jela tried to teach Payton a dance move and Payton completely ignored her instructions. Sapphire was singing into a champagne bottle like it was a microphone, Lessyn was dancing with her eyes closed, and Skylyn was somewhere behind me yelling every word to the song.
And I just stood there for a moment, taking it all in.
This was my life now.
A husband.
A wedding that had somehow become real after a secret trip to Italy.
Now, I stood with a group of women standing around me in silk pajamas, champagne glasses in their hands, laughing like we’d known each other for years.
I smiled because I hadn’t expected this part.
When I’d imagined marriage, I’d thought about my husband, the wedding, the home we’d build, the life we’d create together.
I hadn’t thought about the friendships that might come with it, or the women who would somehow find their way into my world, and if life would be having moments like this, then I was here for it.
Toni turned the music down. “Okay, ladies!”
Everyone groaned.
“No!” Skylyn shouted.
“Yes,” Toni said. “Because it’s time for games.” She pulled a stack of cards from behind one of the pillows.
I immediately narrowed my eyes. “What kind of games?”
“The kind that are going to tell us how well you know your husband.”
I laughed. “Oh, Lord.”
Sapphire sat up. “This is about to be good.”
Toni held up the first card. “What is his biggest pet peeve?”
I didn’t even have to think. “People chewing loudly.”
Toni flipped the card. “Correct. Okay, sis! You better know something!”
Everyone laughed.
I smiled. “Easy.”
“Don’t get cocky, bitch,” Sapphire said.
Toni picked up another card. “What is his favorite meal?”
“Steak. Medium rare. Mashed potatoes.”
Toni looked at the card. “Correct again.”
Sapphire pointed at me. “Okay, Mrs. Know-It-All.”
I took a sip of champagne. “I pay attention.”
Toni smiled. “Oh, I know you do.” She picked up another card. “What is the groom’s favorite thing about his bride?”
I froze. For some reason, that question hit differently. I looked down at my glass. “I don’t know.”
Sapphire made a face. “Oh, please.”
“I really don’t.”
Toni flipped the card. “His answer was, her heart.”
The room filled with soft awws. I felt my cheeks heat.
I shook my head, smiling. “That man knows exactly what to say.”
“Or he meant it,” Jela said.
I looked at her.
She smiled.
Something warm settled in my chest. Maybe he did. Maybe that was the part of marriage I was still learning–that sometimes the person you loved saw things in you that you hadn’t learned to see in yourself yet.
Toni wasn’t letting me get sentimental. “Next game.”
I groaned. “Can I at least finish my champagne?”
“Nope.” She held up another card. “Finish the bride’s sentence.”
Sapphire immediately leaned forward. “Oh, this should be messy.”
Toni looked at me. “The one thing Temple will absolutely not tolerate in her marriage is . . .”
“Disrespect!” Phire shouted. The answer came easily.
“Clock it!” I jested.
“Good answer,” Lessyn said.
Toni looked at the next card. “Temple’s biggest weakness when it comes to her husband?”
I stared at her. “Toni.”
She smiled innocently. “What?”
“You know exactly what you’re doing.”
Sapphire started laughing. “Oh, she knows.”
I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her. She ducked. The room erupted, and I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. They knew his dick was my answer. I wish he could strap me to his waist and carry me around with that monster embedded in my closet.
We played games until my cheeks were sore from smiling.
We guessed wedding songs, played bride trivia, and tried to guess more things about my husband, then someone suggested a toilet-paper wedding dress contest.
I should’ve known better.
We were all too inebriated for this shit.
Twenty minutes later, Skylyn stood in the middle of the living room covered in toilet paper, posing like she was walking down a runway. Lessyn and Jela stood beside her, smiling like they were Les Giani.
I nearly choked on my champagne. “Girl!”
She put one hand on her hip. “What?”
“What the hell kind of dress is that? You look like a damn mummy!”
“A beautiful mummy,” she replied, doing a spin.
“Nah. Shorty does look like she headed to a haunted house!” Sapphire exclaimed.
Everyone screamed with laughter. I leaned against Toni, tears streaming down my face. “I can’t breathe.”
“That’s because you’re getting old,” Toni said.
“I’m literally younger than you.”
Eventually, the energy softened. We settled around the living room with fresh glasses of champagne. The candles were still flickering. The room smelled like vanilla, chocolate, and expensive perfume. Ginuwine played quietly in the background as I looked around at everyone.
Toni and Sapphire, my sisters, my protectors, the women who could turn any serious moment into a joke.
Lessyn, Skylyn, Payton, and Jela.
Women who had entered my life because of the man I loved but were becoming my own friends in their own right.
I looked down at my champagne. For a moment, I felt overwhelmed. Not in a bad way. Just . . . full.
Full of love, full of gratitude, and full of uncertainty too. Marriage was a big thing. A beautiful thing, but still a big thing, and I’d barely had time to process how quickly my life had changed. Toni must’ve noticed something on my face because she reached over and squeezed my hand.
“You okay?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“You sure?”
I nodded. “I’m just taking it all in.”
She squeezed my hand again. “You deserve this, bookie, and everything it comes with.”
I swallowed. “Thank you.”
“It’s normal to be nervous, babe. When I married Gabriel, I felt like I was about to faint.
It wasn’t because I was scared, but because I had finally found my forever and didn’t want to mess anything up.
That man took me out of a cumless relationship and gave me multiple orgasms that I still get until this day!
” Lessyn exclaimed, rolling her hips and sticking out her tongue.
“Cumless? For real?” Sapphire asked, shocked.
“Yes, girl. He couldn’t make me cum for shit, and when I found out the reason why, I almost killed him.”
The room went silent for a bit while Lessyn, Sky, and Payton shared a look. Now I wanted to know what happened.
“Wait! We need the tea! Was he gay?” Toni asked the question I wanted to know.
Lessyn shook her head. “Another time. Just know, I’m getting more than I can stand these days.”
“Eww. I really don’t want to hear that.” Skylyn gagged as we all laughed.
“Sky, please. You always want to spoil the moment and never tell what Karon be doing to you in that bedroom,” Payton said, rolling her eyes at her playfully.
“And I’ll never tell.” Her shoulders touched her ears as she gave us a closemouthed smile.
Sapphire raised her glass. “A’ight, enough of all that though . . . Toast. To my sister, Temple. May tomorrow bring you nothing but joy, happiness, and a lifetime of peace.”
Everyone lifted theirs. “To Temple!”
I smiled.
“To new beginnings,” Lessyn added.
“To love,” Skylyn said.
“To marriage and Amex cards,” Payton said. I giggled.
Sapphire raised her glass higher. “And to never letting your husband forget who you were before him.”
Everyone laughed.
I lifted my glass. “To the women who remind me who I am.”
The room went quiet again for a second.
Toni looked at me, and her eyes softened. “We’re always going to remind you, baby.”
My throat tightened. I looked away before anybody could see my eyes getting glossy.
Then Ginuwine changed songs.
Sapphire jumped up. “Nope. Nobody is crying tonight.” She turned the music up. “Dance!”
I laughed, set my champagne down, then kicked off my slippers. “Come on, then. Y’all know I used to do this shit for dough, so make it rain, bitches!”
Within seconds, everyone was back on their feet. Silk pajamas moved beneath the warm candlelight to Ginuwine’s “Pony.” Champagne glasses sat forgotten on the tables. Bare feet moved across the hardwood as we sang, danced, and laughed all night.
I pulled out my phone and sent my husband a text.
Me:
I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.
My King:
Me either, baby. I know you’re going to look like Christmas morning.
I blushed.
Me:
I love you. Promise me this feeling I feel will never change.
My King:
I cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. You’re going to always be happy, baby.
I giggled.
My King:
Don’t think about it too much, my love. Enjoy your night. I’ll see you tomorrow at the altar. I love you more.
I exited out of the app and just looked straight ahead with a smile on my face.
“Come on, Temp! I got one more game!” Toni yelled out, the champagne now getting to her loud ass.
“Okay.”
I stood, and for the first time since becoming a wife, I stopped thinking about what came next. I wasn’t thinking about wedding plans, expectations, or what marriage was supposed to look like.
I wasn’t thinking about whether I was ready for my new life to begin.
I was simply Temple, a woman surrounded by women who loved her.
And tonight, that was enough.