Chapter 75: Happily Ever After

Thursday, January 2, 1986

As it turned out, it was mandatory for newly engaged couples to make love before getting out of bed the next morning. I had not been aware of that rule, but it seemed entirely reasonable.

Also, one I would hopefully never have a chance to invoke again!

We just barely made it to breakfast at seven, and Jasmine herself made the point that anyone looking at her probably knew what had just happened. As she put it, “I look freshly fucked, and that’s because I’m freshly fucked. Let ‘em look!”

Paige and Angie didn’t arrive until about seven-fifteen. When they did, Jas elbowed me and said, “Two more.”

Yeah. She was right. Two more.

If the parents noticed, no one let on. Not that I could imagine any tasteful way for them to do so, but there wasn’t even an ambiguous ‘You look so happy this morning!’ or the like.

We hadn’t called friends yesterday, so that was a priority. We couldn’t get everyone, but we did what we could.

According to Angie, who talked to them, the call to Cammie and Mel was ‘weird.’ They hadn’t asked about engagements, nor had she, which I think might have meant they were waiting for the inevitable squealing and jumping around when everyone actually saw the rings.

I checked the newspaper during breakfast and found that A&M had indeed won the Cotton Bowl, beating Auburn (and Bo Jackson) 36-16. Bo might know football (he would keep proving he did, if history repeated itself) but apparently the Aggies knew enough about it to keep him from scoring enough to win.

I didn’t dig into the details. Hopefully, Cal and Andy got to play late in the game, at least. From the box score, it had been a 5-point game going into the fourth quarter, so I doubted they’d played much earlier in the game.

Would we be there next year? The Rose Bowl was now a factor in our decision-making, and I never would have expected that prior to yesterday.

But there might be other factors, too. The trip to France would likely happen in the summer, but nothing was set, and sometimes things came up. If it didn’t happen then, winter would be nearly necessary. I didn’t want to wait until the wedding to meet Jas’s extended family given that we would have been engaged for a year and half by then, and especially since we’d already traveled to Britain (though they might not know that).

As with trips before, the parents put us (which meant me) in charge. I’d done well before, and had a (deserved, if partly in ways they had no way to know) reputation as a good leader for Disney trips.

Tony and Jean had been here once before, as had Camille and Francis. Neither had been here for quite a while, though, while we had been here only a year and a half ago.

We had tickets purchased well before rope drop, and joined the moderately large crowd in waiting semi-patiently. As seemed typical, they actually opened the park about ten minutes early and everyone streamed in. Most people, including us, were fairly laid-back (if that term applies to people who get to a theme park before it’s open), but there were the usual people who shoved their way through the crowds and zipped on ahead. I figured we would see them later. I also suspected they might not have as much fun. ‘Seeing everything’ can be a recipe for enjoying nothing, if one allows every minute to become filled with obsessing about where one is going next.

Once we were in the park itself, our first stop was Guest Services. There was, alas, no ‘Newly Engaged’ button. However, Paige persuasively argued that ‘Happily Ever After’ covered it. There was no dissent, so the four of us donned buttons. We certainly could explain them if anyone asked.

After that, it was off to Fantasyland. It shouldn’t have surprised Mom and Dad that we all liked rides that were sometimes older than we were, but they seemed to have forgotten how much fun we’d had with Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, and other older ‘classic Disney’ rides. This time was different, though, because we were adults now and had our fiancées with us.

I think it fell even more into the ‘previews of coming attractions’ phase of our lives. As much as we’d hinted about starting families in the past, being engaged was a major milestone along that path. Grandkids were a step closer, and all of the parents were happy about that.

There were differences, though. I’d been at this point in my life quite a few years later in my first life, with the empty nest much more established and Mom and Dad closer to retirement. The desire for grandchildren was much greater then. In addition, my ex-wife and I had waited longer than Jas and I probably would. Not necessarily, but it was different.

Part of it was that Jas herself wanted children sooner than my ex-wife had (and far sooner if one adjusted for age). Another part was that I wasn’t dragging my feet. In my first life, it had felt like ‘cementing our relationship’ and ‘getting to be a couple’ were priorities. Kids would follow.

In practice, that had been a severe disappointment. The relationship wasn’t necessarily any more cemented, and we weren’t more successful as a couple before kids than we’d been as parents. Not any less successful, either, but the waiting hadn’t helped.

Jas and I already had a far more ‘cemented’ relationship than my ex-wife and I had, and we had — slowly but surely — passed the point where we had been a couple longer than my ex-wife and I had been when we tied the knot. Heck, we were within a few months of having lived together longer than my ex-wife and I had before marriage.

All of that, and I was still — biologically, and on paper — over six years younger than I’d been when I first met my ex-wife.

Once we’d finished with Fantasyland (at least for the moment, anyway), we were off to Adventureland. Specifically, the Haunted Mansion.

I took a very brief detour to the Blue Bayou. They were booked up today, but I was able to make a reservation for the eleven of us tomorrow at one. It would be more fun having Jess along with us, anyway, and there were plenty of places we could eat today.

The Haunted Mansion was and would forever be one of my Disney favorites. Fortunately, Jas loved it nearly as much. Paige, I think, loved it more than Angie, and Angie was a big fan.

Mom was ready for it this time and loved it all of the way through. She and Dad sat in their Doom Buggy, holding hands, cuddling, and having a great time. We couldn’t see them most of the time with the ride the way it was, but I saw them enough to notice it. It was a flashback, and perhaps a flashforward, to the two of them as a couple, free of kids, deeply in love, and enjoying every minute together.

Camille and Francis and Tony and Jean loved it just as much. We would undoubtedly be back here tomorrow. There was no doubt of that!

Everyone wanted lunch after that. After some quick discussion, we opted for sourdough bowls of clam chowder and other such hearty fare. Lunch discussion was lively, with the inevitable topic being ‘So, about those weddings... ‘

We revealed most of our current plans, such as they were. The Unitarian church looked ideal. Mom and Dad knew right where it was, and the others could easily place its general location. They already knew a double wedding was the plan, and everyone agreed it made far more sense.

We promised to set a firm date within the next six months. We probably needed that anyway — some wedding professionals book up that far in advance — and it would help Grandmother and Professor Berman figure out their travel plans. The same was true for the members of the Nguyen and Seiler families.

A number of totally inevitable compromises were made. If these weddings ‘belonged’ to anyone, it was Jas and Paige first, their mothers second, Mom third, and Angie and me fourth. The dads were only in the loop as a very last resort, and woe be it for them to even attempt to act as referees or tiebreakers. I needed to play it very carefully, for that matter.

Oh, the couples would get what they wanted, by and large, but the mothers wanted input on everything. Flowers, cakes, photographer, music (wedding and reception), menu, bridal showers, rehearsal dinner ... the list was long and varied. At least no one asked for input on the bachelor party!

I was certain to have one. I’d actually gone to a strip club for the one in my first life. If I did this time, it would probably be out of a sense of obligation. I had nothing against strip clubs, but they’d lost a good deal of their charm. The irony was that my ex-wife had only grudgingly accepted the very idea of my visiting a strip club, while Jas, Angie, and Paige would only grudgingly accept the idea of my visiting one without them.

Heck, we probably should do that at some point. Someplace nice, but ... someplace. I had never gone to a strip club with a woman, just talked to the ones who worked there. I imagined the experience might be very different!

Thankfully, that was not part of the conversation. Far too many things that would be difficult to explain, though I imagined Mom might understand Angie and Paige having some interest in traditional strip clubs.

Jas? I had no idea what Mom knew, and was very uninterested in asking. She was good friends with Camille and Jean, and both of them knew Jas and Paige had dated, so ... maybe?

Not a subject I wanted any part of anytime soon!

Everyone was in a relaxed mood after lunch, so we rode the riverboat, then walked around Tom Sawyer Island. Four years ago, it had been Angie and me scampering around here like maniacs. Jas had been in my life, and Angie knew Paige, but so much had been unknown. Today, we walked with them as our brides-to-be.

We spent an hour there, then crossed back to the ‘mainland’ and headed for Pirates of the Caribbean. By now, the lines had grown, and we had nearly an hour’s wait. That was fine with all of us, since it just gave us more time to talk. Besides, we would certainly be back here tomorrow, both for the ride and for the restaurant across the ‘bayou.’

By the time we got off the ride, one of the parades was just approaching New Orleans Square, so we stopped and watched it.

A train ride to Tomorrowland followed, along with a trip on the Happiest Cruise that Ever Sailed (aka It’s a Small World). Mom herself made the joke about it being the scariest ride at Disneyland this time. That required explaining, but when I mentioned the stories of rowdy guests being sent back around with no chance to get off their boats, everyone shuddered just a bit. Once was exactly the right number of times to see It’s a Small World at any given time.

We were still going slowly, and much of the park would remain for tomorrow. That was fine with everyone.

We had dinner at an Asian-themed place in Tomorrowland, then went out near the castle and secured spots for the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was Mom’s favorite, and it turned out to be Camille and Jean’s, as well. If the moms liked it, the dads were required to, and the happy couples made it unanimous.

By the time that was done, it was time for a leisurely stroll back down Main Street and a visit to see Mister Lincoln. Dad was not going to Disneyland without that!

We made it back to our hotel a bit after nine. We could see the Disneyland fireworks from a viewing area there, and it was cool seeing them from a different angle.

I reminded the parents that Jess would be here tomorrow. They had remembered and were looking forward to seeing her. I was nearly certain Dad would ask her some questions about ‘Back to the Future’. I was just about as certain Mom would ask about her dress in the movie.

Everyone was nearly exhausted by time the show ended, so we all headed to bed. The parents were still largely on Texas time, and the couples hadn’t exactly gotten all that much sleep last night, all things considered.

When we got to our room, we had a message waiting from Penny. She suggested lunch on Saturday at the Disneyland Hotel. That worked for us, so I made a mental note to call her back tomorrow and leave a message to that effect. It was too late now.

After getting ready for bed, Jas and I got all snuggly. This time, without any extra activity first (except for a bit of kissing).