Chapter 5

After the reception line and a grueling series of photographs, the wedding party retreated into the house for a brief break before the next series of photos with Lanh in her wedding gown and then the reception. “What do you think of your house?” asked Don, as Lanh swept into her apartment.

“I love it!” she gasped as she twirled around, her arms outstretched. “Especially the chocolate fountain! I love that the most!” she grinned.

“That’s not part of the decor, that goes back with your new cousins Billy and Geoff.”

“You hear that Syd?” said Rosa. “they’re going to take this back.” She dipped a rice crispy treat into the flow of chocolate. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.” Craig quickly found out where he stood compared to a chocolate fountain and a table full of goodies. He and Bao ended up watching the chocolate fest from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Don and Lanh were making plans for their apartment. “We can put a small table and chairs here in front of the window.”

“Why? The dining room is right through those doors,” asked Don.

Lanh rolled her gorgeous almond-shaped eyes. “Intimate meals?” She huffed and dropped her shoulders.

“You’re wasting your time, Lanh,” called Kim-ly from the crowd at the chocolate fountain. “Guys ain’t got no romance, they only got one thing on their mind.”

“I’M the one with one thing on my mind,” insisted Lanh. “I’m thinking naked brunch, and he’s talking about the dining room!”

“Think of all the fun we could have if we both get on that big table in the dining room,” Don whispered in Lanh’s ear as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“I like the way you’re thinking,” she grinned as she rubbed her ass back at his growing erection. She turned around in his arms to kiss him.

Just as their lips touched, Mai, Tam, and Sandy swept into the room. “The photographer wants us on the porch in fifteen minutes. Sorry son, but you have to relinquish your wife.” She pulled Lanh out of Don’s arms and led her into the bedroom as Tam wheeled the dressmaker’s dummy with the wedding gown into the bedroom.

“Wait!” cried Don, “I just got her!”

As she stepped into the bedroom, Lanh turned and looked at Don. She smiled and opened the vest and Don could see her nipples in their erect glory through her silk blouse. She wagged her eyebrows at him and pulled the door closed.

The photo sessions seemed to last forever, and Lanh’s face hurt from smiling so much. Never in her life had she had a camera pointed at her so much. The throng of reporters after the state championship wanting pictures of the student coach were nothing compared to this. Over and over she and Don have been posed and reposed, then repositioned and posed and reposed ad nauseum, and if she ever hears “Ok, Smile!” ever again ... eventually her dreams of revenge were getting the better smiles. Don learned when he whispered “I want to lick your pussy” in her ear got the best smiles. Even when they paused for a much-needed kiss, it was a photo op, when they take a break and she collapses exhausted on his lap, it was a photo op, even one of her favorite things, sitting side by side relaxing in those ancient Adirondack chairs, holding hands in the cool shade of the porch became a photo op.

Lanh was hot and uncomfortable in the wedding gown; it was so heavy and to make matters worse; she wore Grandma Tri’s vest over it. The gown was purchased from a thrift store for twenty-five dollars and because she was wearing the matching white silk vest over it to cover a stain; it was that much warmer.

The skirt was fluffy and wide and traditional, and complaining aside, it was a pretty dress, and Grandma Tri’s vest gave this uncomfortable old dress life. The white silk of the vest matched the white of the gown perfectly, and the golden dragons and flowers just glowed and folks who didn’t realize she was wearing a vest asked her, “How did you find a gown that matched your áo dài?” (In the case of Don’s family substitute, áo dài for “pants suit.”) It was this beautiful, beautifully embroidered vest. Wearing it over the gown was a random thought Lanh had, and it worked so beautifully.

Kim-ly thought that the western wedding gown was a dumb idea, but Don’s family loved it, they gushed “She looks like a beautiful little doll!” and “She looks like an angel!” Lanh wanted to scream, “I don’t look like an angel! I know what an angel looks like, they’re tall, and they’re beautiful and they’re blond and busty, and they’re right there behind you!” Every now and then, Lanh could see her angels watching her from the safety of the crowd, or from behind the grills. She could tell it was them because they were out of focus while everything around them was sharply in focus. Karole and Past Karole realized Lanh could see them, but they loved this part of Lanh and Don’s life so much they didn’t want to leave.

Don and Lanh were posing at the tractors, their last photo op before the reception started. The Ford and the John Deere were parked in the open, they were scrubbed and waxed, gleaming in the warm spring sun. Assured that both were free from grease, Mai “allowed” Lanh to clamber into the seat of the ancient John Deere. They posed for various shots on that beautiful old green tractor and when the photographer stopped to reload his camera, Lanh put the tractor in neutral, turned on the key, and hit the starter button, but nothing happened.

“That’s not a starter,” said Don. “That’s the horn, and it’s got to be running to work.” He was standing on the left side of the tractor, and he said, “Give her quarter throttle and half choke.” Lanh adjusted the throttle and choke levers and then Don grabbed the flywheel. He turned it toward Lanh a quarter turn, then another quarter turn, then, with a tremendous heave, he spun it forward as hard as he could. There was a sput, then another sput, then putt, putt, putt and the John Deere reluctantly coughed to life. Lanh’s eyes opened wide in delight, and she patted the fender to her right. “Get on!” she called over the sputtering of the engine. Grinning, Don hopped up on the tractor and leaned on the fender next to Lanh. She put the tractor in second gear, eased out the clutch, and as the photographer recorded their getaway, they trundled off through the orchard.