Chapter 24: The Wedding plans

The wedding was rapidly approaching and Dee was being a typical woman awaiting her wedding. She was squirrelly with stress and bouncing off the walls. Fortunately she wasn't working alone, and I had given her carte blanche to do whatever she wanted to do. After all, weddings are usually for the bride; the groom is just along for the ride.

When things got started Dee didn't have any idea of what to do, so Carol was a good sounding board. She had planned her sisters wedding as well as the first wedding for her brother. She had a good idea of how both sides of the routine worked which helped Dee immensely.

Once they got started it seemed like things were going fairly smoothly. The two of them broke it down and each ran off to do their assigned tasks. The only assignment for "Tom" was to be sure I had a white tuxedo that fit, was clean and to be "to the church" on time.

Check, done, in the closet wrapped in plastic. Hey. This is easy shit! It's going to be here at the house. How can I be late?

Carol went out to arrange the flowers, cake and caterers, while Dee went to find the dresses that she'd need for herself and the bridesmaids. They didn't know it yet, but Dee was going to ask Marie, Lisa, Sheryl and both Carols to be bridesmaids, more than anything she wanted Tara to be her Maid of Honor.

The date had been set as best they could project Tara's return. Tara wasn't positive when it would be either, so she could only give Dee and me a ballpark guess.

It turns out she was wrong. She would be back home and retired about ten weeks sooner than had been planned or communicated. She was elated, and decided that she would surprise Dee by just "showing up" at the house. She debated on whether or not to tell me so I could pick her up at the airport, but decided to just take a cab and be there. She had a key to the house, so if nobody was home, she could just let herself in.

I had already asked Jim if he would be my best man, and Jim had agreed, so that part was already settled. I let Jim know that when the time got closer we could hit one of the finer men's stores and pick up a tux for him.

Jim asked if the place I was thinking of rented tuxes. He'd rented them before, but it was always at a rental outlet.

When I told him that we'd just buy him the tux, he argued that he never had occasion to wear a tux, so he always rented one the few times he'd ever needed one.

"I'd rather you spend that kind of money and give me a new set of wrenches," Jim laughed. "At least they'll get used all the time."

"If that's how you want to work it Jim, it's ok with me. I know I have three black and three white in the closet for any occasion."

"Yeah, but you use them Tom," Jim observed. "I'd wear it for the wedding and then it would collect dust in the closet until I wore it in my casket. It wouldn't even fit the next time I went to wear it so the undertaker would have to rip it up the back," he laughed. "I appreciate your offer, but it really wouldn't be money well spent."

"Ok," Tom capitulated. "We'll find you a rental, and a new set of wrenches," he said with a grin.

"Hmmm," thoughtfully, "Since my next project is the next Porsche RSR, I'll need metrics. Craftsman or Snap-on would do nicely," he said with a big grin and a chuckle.

"If that's what you need, that's what you'll get. Hell, it's not like you haven't done a shit pot full of work on my projects. Is the RSR you're talking about yours or is it the one in my garage?" I knew full well what he was talking about, little did he know!

"What do you think?" laughed Jim. "I'm retired and I park cars. "Where am I going to get the bucks for an RSR?"

"Oh I don't know. I got mine pretty damned cheap!"

"Yeah?" he looked at me skeptically. "What's cheap to you?"

Tom tried to remember what he'd paid for the cars. It had been a few years since he'd picked them up but the price was so good there was no way to pass on any of them. "I think it was somewhere around $9500.00 Jim, and considering it's a $45,000.00 car, I figure that's pretty cheap."

"Yeah. Ninety five hundred is pretty cheap all right, but I don't have that kind of geetus just hanging around. Besides, I'd bet you'll spend thirty-five thousand on parts before you're done."

"That's about what I figured, and most of that is cosmetics. I've done, or I should say, we've done the engine ourselves, sent out the tranny since neither one of us likes to do transmission work, and re-done all four corners in competition format. There's not much left to finish it up."

Jim nodded his head with a smile. He enjoyed working with me on cars. Even though we were a little more than 25 years apart, we enjoyed each other's company. Our bizarre senses of humor were pretty close, our military experience was similar, and we were both car freaks. Some days Jim would come over to the shop and we'd work for 8 hours in near silence. Other days, it would be grab ass and bullshit all day while turning the wrenches.

Dee and Carol were out doing some shopping, not wedding related this time, when Tara pulled up in the taxi. She paid the driver and because he hefted her bags up to the front landing, tipped him very well and thanked him profusely.

She managed to get inside and put her bags in the guest room before anyone got there, and was just sitting in the living room having a glass of soda when Dee and Carol came sauntering in carrying bags of goodies.

When Dee walked by she looked over and just said, "Hi mom," before she realized, "what the fuck"?

"MOM," Dee squealed, dropping everything and literally launching herself at the couch where Tara was sitting. Fortunately, Tara had the foresight to put her glass on the table next to the couch and away from any edges.

Dee wrapped herself around her mother like a tailored suit, and hugged her tightly. Both of the women were in tears letting each other know how much they'd missed the other. Dee left no doubt how much she loved Tara.

Much to Carol's surprise, well not really given their recent experiences, Dee pulled her face back looking into her mothers eyes and proceeded to kiss her very lovingly. Tara not only didn't have a problem with the show of love, but also returned it in kind.

Carol decided to just go on with what they were doing, and when Dee had greeted Tara adequately, she'd rejoin in the previous tasks.

Dee and Tara spent the better part of an hour talking, getting to know each other again, relating what's been going on in each of the two locations. Dee held Tara's arm close to her the entire time.

Tom wasn't spoken of either, but Tara had done that on purpose. She knew that Dee was still a little uneasy about the past, and didn't want to raise any anxiety needlessly. She'd see Tom soon enough. She figured he was out doing something. Well, duh?

Carol wandered through a couple times just putzing around the house. She'd actually started dinner for everyone already. When she wandered by this time, Dee called out to her.

Having forgotten that they'd met at the club on "twin night" Dee went through formal introductions, and was shocked when Tara stood up and gave Carol a good kiss on the lips.

"Honey, we met at the club. Remember?" Tara asked.

"Oh that's right. I'd forgotten," Dee said blushing. "Carol is helping me with planning the wedding, and now you can help too. We didn't expect you back this early, but it makes me sooooooo happy!"

"No. I didn't expect to be back so early either, but I was finished with the assignment so there was no reason to hang around just waiting for time to pass. My boss here told me to just pack up and come home. So that's what I did," Tara grinned.

"I'll drive over to the office in a couple weeks to do all the retirement paperwork. Tom's already set me up with the money manager that he uses, so if I like him, I'll keep him," she said smiling.

She thought she could broach the subject now that his name had been mentioned. "Speaking of which, where is Tom? It's unusual to be here and him not be around."

Dee just smiled at her brightly and said, "He'd have been here if he'd known you were going to be here. He's in the shop with Jim working on the Porsche. Honestly, I think he bought a couple more after they started working on the one that's been there forever."

"Tom was going to buy Jim a tux for the wedding, but Jim convinced him that it would be a waste of money because he didn't have occasions to wear a tux. They'll rent one, but jokingly he told Tom to take the money and buy him a new set of wrenches, so he did."

Then almost secretively she told both Carol and Tara, "I think he's trying to get at least one of the Porsche's ready by our wedding. Jim is going to shit, but Tom wants to give him the first one they finish as a "best man" gift."

Both Tara and Carol nearly dislocated their jaws when Dee let them in on the secret.

"How the hell am I going to match that for my bridesmaids and Maid of Honor?" she lamented.

"Have you thought about that yet honey?" Tara asked Dee.

Dee smiled at her and nodded. "The only one I haven't asked yet is my Maid of Honor," she said slyly.

"Oh? How come?"

"Because she hasn't been around," Dee answered cryptically.

"Oh. Whom are you going to have as bridesmaids," Tara asked not catching on to Dee's comment.

"Well I don't have anyone around here that I'd even want to ask, so Carol said she'd be one," looking at Carol with a smile. Carol knew that Dee was going to ask Tara to be maid of honor, and was chuckling to herself the way she was going about it.

"Then I asked four other women if they'd like to as well and they all said yes, so I'll have five total."

"Oh," said Tara with a look that was difficult to read.

"The person who I want to be my maid of honor is back now so I guess I can ask her," Dee said coyly.

It was everything Carol could do to keep from laughing out loud, which would blow Dee's fun.

Tara just nodded her head, still totally clueless.

Dee made sure to make good eye contact with her mother and asked, "Mom, I'd be really honored if you would be my maid of honor."

Tara's jaw dropped and her eyes started flooding. She reached out, took Dee into her arms, and sobbed. Carol started to chuckle at the way Dee had pulled it off.

"Oh Dee," Tara choked. "I'd be so honored to do that for you. I can't believe you'd have asked your mother."

Dee looked at her mother very tenderly, "Mom. The maid of honor is usually the bride's best friend. You are my best friend in the world and always will be."

Now all three of the women were in tears, blubbering all over each other. That's how I found them a minute later when I came home from the shop.

The first thing I noticed was that there were three women on the couch. Two were wrapped around the third that I couldn't see much at all, but something had them all in tears.

"Uhh," I mumbled. "Dee, Carol, what's up? Why all the tears?"

Dee looked up to see me and said enthusiastically, "Tommy! Mom's back early!"

"Huh?" Then I recognized the third woman on the couch. Tara.

"Tara, you're early," I declared notably. Nothing like stating the obvious, but I was as much in shock as Dee had been.

"Yeah. They sent me home," she replied with a smile.

"Wow. That's great. So does that mean you're officially retired?"

"Well yes and no," she chuckled. "Yes, in that I don't have to go to work anymore, no in that I still have to go in to do all the paperwork to make it official so they can pay me, release my bonus and all the other "things" they promised when I agreed to take on the project."

I looked at her with surprise. She finished, "I have to check in after a few days to take care of everything. I was realistically finished with the project, and Peter just said to come back instead of just sitting around waiting for time to pass."

"That's fantastic. That was really nice of him to do that," I said. "It's great to see you, and I'm sure Dee is thrilled as well!"

Looking at Dee, Tara said softly, "She asked me to be her maid of honor Tommy. Maybe being a guy you don't understand the significance of that, but..."

"No, you're right. I don't, but I'm sure it's similar to the best man. It's usually the person you spend the most time with growing up, or a best friend."

Then tearing up again, "She told me that I was her best friend. I'm so overwhelmed; I don't know what to think. After abandoning her for three years, she still considers me her best friend."

"You didn't abandon me mother, what the hell are you talking about?" Dee shot at Tara.

"Honey. I wasn't here for you. I pawned you off on Tom for three long years," she whispered starting to weep softly. "Baby, I can never express to you how guilty I feel, and how much I've missed you."

"Mom, Stop that. I don't want to hear that stuff any more. You didn't pawn me off on Tom. I forced you to leave me with him. You knew what I wanted." Then looking at me with a grin, "And I got it."

"Dee, I --"

"I don't want to hear that crap mom," Dee interrupted immediately. "You did what you had to do for both of us. You didn't go work your ass off just for you, I know that already. You did that for both of us, and there's really no way I can ever repay you for that. You left me with my fondest dream. How can I ever repay you for the love of my life? I know that you wanted him too, but your priorities weren't with relationships. You were focused on our survival."

Tara looked at her daughter with bleary eyes thinking, "Where did this woman come from. Is this my little girl? When did she grow up like this?" When she thought of that, it made her sob harder.

"Baby. I've missed so much. You're not my little girl anymore. You're a mature grown woman. I missed those best years of your growing up. Your mother wasn't here when you most needed her."

"Mom, I said stop. I understand you're beating yourself up over not being here, but I had Tommy. No, it wasn't mom, but he was certainly the next best thing for me. Anything I needed to know, anything I asked about no matter how girly or embarrassing from a woman's perspective, he answered honestly without hesitation. If he didn't know the answer directly, he would ask one of his friends, usually Carol, and she'd either come over, or give him the answer and he'd tell me. Yes, I missed my mommy, but she was doing what she needed to do for us."

Dee looked at Tara and put her arms around her even tighter, "I'm sure you're feeling soooo guilty about all of that, but I think it made me love you even more. It brought us closer than we have ever been, or could have been, if you'd been here trying to hassle me about growing up."

Chuckling with a warm smile, "I mean you're the mom, it's up to you to make me turn out right. That can drive a mother and daughter apart because of 'differences of opinion'. That didn't happen with us."

Her tone changed to a very soft voice telling Tara, "Mom, I meant what I said about you being my best friend. If you were such a bad mom, how the fuck could I say that?" She was going for the shock factor now and it seemed to work.

Carol decided to interject a little, "Tara, she means what she says. I can never recall ever hearing a cross word, or a complaint about 'mom's not here', or anything of that nature. Only excitements when she knew you were coming home for a while. I saw nothing but warm feelings and big smiles when she'd talked to you on the phone. Maybe you weren't here physically, but you were never 'not here'; you were always around."

Tara didn't know what to think. She looked up at me and I gave her a loving warm smile with understanding eyes. She looked at Dee and saw nothing but warmth and love. She looked back to me as I held out my arms inviting her for a hug.

She looked to Dee and asked, "May I baby?"

"Of course you can mama. I know you both love each other. It's been difficult for me to deal with at times, but I want you to be able to continue to love each other. I know Tom loves me, I don't doubt that at all."

Then with a grin, "We're going to share him mom. He'll be my husband, but he'll be part yours too."

Then laughing out loud, "How many guys get to sleep with their mother-in-law?"

With that Tara rose up to my invitation and allowed herself to be completely surrounded in my love. While I was holding her closely, Dee mouthed to me without a sound, "You and mom tonight."

I just nodded to acknowledge I understood what she'd said, then watched as Dee and Carol communicated something, both smiling like Cheshire cats with canary feathers at the corners of their mouths.

Both of the ladies stood up and hugged, looking at me with a grin. "Tommy, we're going to take off. We have some stuff to take care of."

Tara turned to look at her daughter with very suspicious eyes. "When are you going to be back honey?"

"Always the mom, huh? Can't go out anywhere without having to report back in?" she said laughingly.

Tara just shook her head and laughed. "I guess you caught me! But from that answer I can only assume you'll be home late if at all."

Dee's eyes sparkled. She looked at Tara, "I'll be ok mom. I won't be out with some guy getting pregnant." She laughed out loud.

Tara extracted herself from my embrace and turned to hug her daughter. She looked into Dee's dancing eyes, and gave her a very tender kiss letting Dee start some mild tongue tag. When their kiss broke, Tara looked into Dee's eyes once again and said, "Be careful honey." Then with watering eyes, whispered quietly, "Thank you baby."

Dee smiled and gave her a pecking kiss and whispered back, "Don't worry about me mom, we'll be at Carol's. Enjoy mom. I know you need it."

Tara blushed but nodded her head slightly and with a smile watched Dee and Carol head out the door leaving her alone with me.

I may be a clueless guy, but I was aware of what Dee had just done. I put my arm around Tara's shoulders and we made for the kitchen to figure out what to do for food.

It was obvious to both of us that Dee had left us alone for a reason. No rocket science here, slap in the face apparent! So we decided to take full advantage of the opportunity, since it was "approved" by Dee, so we grabbed something easy to provide some nutrition and energy.

Our conversation went from one subject to the next, I asked what Tara's project had been if she could talk about it yet. There really wasn't much she could say until she had her retirement papers, and had asked Peter if it was public yet. I totally understood that and didn't press Tara for anything further.

We finished up with food and cleaned the kitchen. On our way to the shower we stopped off and mixed up a couple drinks at the bar. From there it was off to clean up land, and beyond.