Chapter 22: The Party

It took a phone call from Tonya to Carolyn’s mother, but it was finally agreed upon that Carolyn could babysit as late as needed on Saturday. As usual, Austin left money and menus on the counter for Carolyn to order food for herself and the kids.

“Have a good time, and be sure to call if anything comes up,” called Tonya as she shut the door to the garage.

Austin opened the garage door and waited chivalrously by the passenger door. Tonya slipped into the car and connected her seat belt as Austin settled into the driver’s seat.

“It’s time to party,” she sang out as the car rolled into the street.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” said Austin in an amused voice. “There is a dinner and socializing first, then the after-party party.”

When they arrived there were already several cars in the driveway and parked along the street. Austin found a space a few houses down and they walked back to Jackie’s. There was an arrow planted in a flower pot in front of the door. It pointed to the side of the house and it read, “This way.”

Tonya led them around the house and through the gate in the fence. There were about twenty people milling around the backyard. The first person Tonya saw that she knew was Stephanie. She was sitting on a folding chair around a large electrical spool that doubled as a table.

“Nice table and chairs,” commented Tonya with a twinkle in her eye.

“It is. Quite fashionable,” said Stephanie as she carefully ran her hand over the top of the wood hoping to avoid a splinter. The two exchanged a laugh.

“Let Austin and me go say hi to the hosts and we’ll come right back,” said Tonya.

“Sure. Derrick is getting us drinks. I’ll save these seats for the four of us.”

Tonya and Austin found Jackie and Alex in the kitchen. They congratulated them and gave them the wine that they brought.

“Here,” said Tonya, “it’s not your house-warming gift, but you can never have too much wine with this kind of party.”

“Thank you!” exclaimed Jackie. “So glad you could make it. Here,” she passed Tonya two drinks, “start with these and I’ll be out in a few minutes to do introductions. You know what, here, take this too.” Jackie handed Tonya a half-filled wine bottle.

When Tonya and Austin returned to the spool Derrick was seated with Stephanie. He stood and shook Austin’s hand. He stepped closer to Tonya and gave her a hug. His hand rested very low on her back, and then it slid lower across her ass before he released her to take a seat. Tonya felt a tingle start between her legs. She crossed them when she sat and fought back a moan that started to form in her throat.

Stephanie saw her husband’s action. “Hey, there’s a time for that, and it’s not now.”

The two couples quickly polished off the wine and were talking easily about Stephanie’s new role when Jackie approached.

She laughed. “I see you got the good table and chairs.”

“What’s wrong with this setup?” asked Derrick. “I had this exact set when I was in college.”

“I think you answered your own question,” replied Tonya. “In college.”

Stephanie looked around and saw Alex by the grill. She motioned for him to come over. As he neared she reached into her purse and extracted an envelope.

“Here,” she said as she handed it to Jackie. “This is your house-warming gift from the four of us.”

Jackie’s eyes went wide when she extracted the photo showing the outdoor furniture.

“Guys, this is too much,” Jackie said as her hand covered her mouth.

“Nonsense. It was a combined gift, and we got a good deal. It’s the least we could do. It will be delivered sometime next week. I think they’ll call your cell on Monday to arrange a specific day and time.”

Jackie went to each person, hugged them, and told each individually how grateful she was to have such good friends. Alex was right behind her expressing the same sentiment.

Jackie and Alex then paraded the foursome around the yard for introductions. The number of family members that went to the wedding were indeed in the minority at the party. Jackie and Alex really did keep the ceremony very small. Present were many of the family members that did not go to the wedding, a few neighbors, and a handful of colleagues from their new company. The food was excellent and everyone had a good time milling around with each other. The family members were usually the target of conversation. Everyone wanted embarrassing stories from when Jackie and Alex were younger.

As darkness approached the crowd started to thin. At first it was Alex’s grandparents, followed by the neighbors, then eventually the rest of the family with a few less-than-subtle hints from the hosts.

Austin and Derrick helped Alex in the backyard as he cleaned and rearranged the furniture. Tonya and Stephanie helped Jackie do the dishes and clean inside. Austin brought in the last of the dishes from the outside and placed it in the sink of soapy water. Stephanie was hovering over the sink washing. Austin let his hand wander up Stephanie’s shirt and gave her a boob a quick squeeze as he patted her on the butt.