Chapter 75

The scents of decadent Italian cooking wafted up to the bedroom where Gennie hurried herself to get ready for her guests’ entrance. People would start arriving at any minute and she wanted to look her best. It struck her as odd how their original plans for a casual party had evolved into the almost formal affair that it had become, but both she and John liked dressing up on occasion and this was a perfect opportunity for them. Besides, it seemed only fitting, considering the circumstances.

 Sliding herself into her dress, she wondered how much longer she would be able to wear form-fitting outfits like this. She loved this deep dyed, off the shoulder silk dress in the color of violets.  It wasn’t really what she’d had in mind when she was shopping for something to wear for tonight, but when she saw it, she knew it was perfect.

  Looking out the window, which she knew was senseless dawdling, she spied Stacey’s kids playing tag on the back deck dressed like children right out of a storybook. They were so cute with their fancy clothes. It was apparent that, while Megan loved her poofy finery, Alex was not so comfortable in his as he tugged mercilessly on his tiny clip on tie which was barely visible beneath the heavy coats they were both wearing. The only one who possibly looked more uncomfortable down there was Josh. As awkward as it sounded to her, she figured he’d be more at home in the orange OSU polo shirt and clunky headset that he would've been wearing at the game right now. It made Gen giggle to see him in shirt and tie, crouched in the corner, grimacing anytime he thought the kids might come in contact with some dirt. She guessed Stacey had read him the riot act on the topic of keeping the kids in pristine condition, at least until they had been seen by enough people to justify the amount of time and money spent making them look like little angels.

 A soft knock on the door interrupted her daydreams.

 “Gen, you need any help in there?” Stacey asked as she peered around the tiny crack in the doorway just big enough to fit her face through. “We’re all done setting up down here, so I thought I’d see if you needed anything.”

 Suddenly, Gen realized that she hadn’t left this room all afternoon. She had heard the comings and goings of delivery trucks all day proffering their wares. It made her curious to know what her downstairs must look like now with all the flowers, tables and chairs she’d ordered for tonight’s festivities. She wondered for a moment if she’d perhaps gone overboard, especially with the floral order, but she quickly decided that she hadn’t. She wanted a sumptuous presentation to match their celebration. Besides, she was doing her best to recreate the springtime she felt like she was missing here up north.

 “Gen?” Stace asked after her again, this time stepping into the room and quietly shutting the door behind her. “You’re in a dream world again, aren’t you? You’re feeling better, right?” She said this with the absolute hope that her assumptions were correct. She didn’t know what was up with her friend and her wild mood swings, but another teary outburst like she’d had earlier and it could ruin the whole evening.

 “Yeah, Stace, I feel fine,” she smiled revealing a much happier countenance than before. If one didn’t know better, you might even say she was a different person now. The old Gen was back, but somewhat nervous, it would seem.

 “That’s a great dress!” Stacey said approvingly. “It’s really gonna look nice in the jungle we’ve got set up for you down there.” She chuckled at the thought of the thousands of flowers that somehow, miraculously, through the grand efforts of John, Robby, Josh and herself, had been positioned to sheer perfection around the house.

 “I can’t wait to see it. I’ve been smelling lilies and roses all afternoon!” Gen chuckled. “And I love your dress too, by the way. Cobalt blue looks really good on you.”

 “Thanks! It cost a fortune, but I figured, what the hell?” Stacey held out her arms and spun around like a model showing off her new blue dress. It was made of rich silk, sleeveless, cut just above the knee and sported a low squared neckline rimmed with luminous bugle beads. The matching velvet cropped jacket was similarly trimmed around the mandarin collar and cuffs. It was the kind of dress she and Gen would normally ooh and ah over in the store, but in the end, would pass by, deterred either by expense or practicality.

 “I’d say it was worth it,” Gennie smiled as she reached out for the leather jewelry case sitting atop her dresser and removed her amethyst necklace.

 “Here, let me help you with that.” Stacey reached around and fastened the necklace at the nape of Gen’s neck. “You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect piece of jewelry to match this dress,” she smiled. She stepped back, standing at arms length to admire Gen in her semi formal attire. “You look beautiful. I’m so happy for you.” She gave her best friend a hug- an uncharacteristic move while still completely sober. They both giggled when she pointed that fact out to her.  “You ready?” she asked hopefully.

 “Yeah, just give me a minute. I’ll be right down.”

 As Stacey slipped silently from the room, Gen stepped back to the full-length mirror in the bathroom for one last check. No wrinkles, the seams in her stockings were straight, her jewelry was in place, her hair was perfect, and there was no need for makeup touch ups… everything was in order. She held her hands out in front of her making sure her nails were still as flawless as when she’d had them done this morning. The absence of the diamond on her left hand left her feeling naked, but since at this point nobody but Stacey and possibly Robby knew the truth, she didn’t feel it was right to flaunt it yet. They’d all find out soon enough.

 Slowly, almost hesitantly, she made her way down the stairs, being engulfed by the aroma of Italian food and fresh cut flowers. As she reached the bottom stair, she was caught almost speechless. In the fading sunlight, the room was awash with the soft glow of what looked like hundreds of candles.  What the room lacked in furniture, it gained in atmosphere. Somehow, they’d turned her home into a shrine to the wonders of spring.

 “My God! It’s beautiful!” Gen exclaimed in amazement to no one in particular.

 Robby, his girlfriend, and Stacey, who were all sitting around one of the lavender draped tables having a casual conversation, turned around to see an awestruck Gennie. Robby immediately popped up and hurried over to hug her.

 “Gen, you look great!” he smiled merrily.  “Congratulations, by the way. We love the house! But I hope you plan on cutting back some of the undergrowth here,” he teased. “It’s starting to look like a tropical rain forest, and that’s just not right in Buffalo.”

 “I don’t know… I kinda like it. I don’t see how you guys can stand the dead of winter for so long. I’ve decided to make my own springtime,” she giggled.

 “That’s the spirit!” he grinned. “I think you’ll do just fine up here in the great white north. Spring and summer are really just a state of mind, y’know… there for you any time you want ‘em!”

 “Gennie!” a tiny voice squealed exuberantly as little arms wrapped around her waist for an enormous hug. “You look so pretty!”

 Gen was taken aback by the sudden adoration. “You look cute too, Meggy! That’s a really pretty pink dress.”

 “I know!” she gushed. “Mom let me pick any dress I wanted yesterday. See the flowers?” She proudly showed off the tiny silk flowers attached to the neckline and waistband of the pale pink organza dress.

 “You blend in really well with all the flowers,” Robby smiled.

 “Hey! I know you from TV! You were on the show with Gen and Johnny!” she exclaimed boldly; her customary shyness apparently a thing of the past.

 “Megan, this is Robby. He’s Johnny’s best friend, just like your mom is mine.”

 “Cool,” she said. “I like your hair.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “I like yours too.”

 “Thank you. But mine’s not cool lookin’. I wanted to have pink hair like that girl on TV, but mom won’t let me,” she stated glumly.

 Gennie snickered at her comments and wondered when Stacey had gone from being mommy to just being mom. Meggy was certainly growing up into a sophisticated young lady, albeit one who longed for hot pink hair. “So, where’s your brother?”

 “Oh,” she sighed, “he’s with Johnny, of course. They’re showing some people around outside before it gets dark.” Abruptly, she changed the topic. “I’m hungry. When do we eat?”

 “It’ll be a little while but if you go in the kitchen, I bet there’ll be something you can snack on.” Gen hoped the caterers had some hors d’oeuvres ready to go; she was pretty hungry herself.

 “Cool!” was the response she got before the little girl trotted off toward the kitchen.

 “Well,” Gen sighed to Robby, “I guess I should go say hello to the rest of my guests. You’ve gotten the tour already, right?”

 “Yeah,” he nodded. “Now, go be a good hostess.”

 With a smile and a little wave to the others, she excused herself and went to the kitchen in search of a quick bite before she tracked down her future husband. She ignored the chastising looks of the catering staff as she tried to make a path to the counter where some freshly baked snacks stood cooling.

 “You know, those are for later. You really should wait until they’re served,” a stern voice scolded her as she juggled the hot baked good back and forth in her hands.

 “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “But I’ve got to get something in my stomach before I faint.”

 “Perhaps, you should wait until the host and hostess offer them to you,” the commanding voice said again, disapprovingly.

 Gen spun around and looked the woman directly in the eye, straightening her posture. “I am the hostess, thank you very much.” She turned on her heel to walk away, popping the steaming morsel in her mouth.

 As she reached to grab her overcoat from the peg by the door, she spotted him through the window as he stood outside on the deck pointing out exterior features on the house like a proud homeowner. The sight of him dressed in a casual, but stylish dark suit and loose tie caused her breath to catch in her throat and shivers to roll down her spine. She couldn’t believe her immense good fortune to be, not just dating, but engaged to this man. The tender way he carefully held his nephew who inattentively dozed on his shoulder made her proud to think that he was also the father of her child.

 Before she even had a chance to slip her coat from the rack, he turned his head suddenly, catching her watching him through the kitchen window. For a few intense seconds their eyes locked and the world around them ceased to exist. Without warning to those with him, he stepped away, the outdoor portion of the tour apparently over. He walked gingerly toward the kitchen door to behold the spectacle of his bride to be. Sliding his now awake and alert nephew to the floor to run off to play with Alex, he moved closer to Gennie, having never taken his eyes from her since that first initial instant.

 He struggled to find words that could do justice to the feelings he had for her right now. “Genevieve,” he whispered slowly, as if the name itself held magical powers.

 She blushed and started to say something but was interrupted by the flood of houseguests that blew in through her kitchen door. Words were unnecessary to her though, as her expressive eyes remained trained on him, communicating her feelings, despite the interruption.

 “Gennie!” Kate hurried toward her and gave her a hug. “Nice dress! And I love the house… can’t wait to see the rest of it.”

 “Hey, Kate. Glad you could make it,” she smiled.

 “Like I woulda missed this party!” she winked as she gave Gen a playful shove on the shoulder.

 One of the catering assistants, apparently prompted by an apologetic but still stern faced coordinator, tried to make amends for the untoward comment made only minutes earlier. “May I take your coats?” the young lady offered.

 “Sure!” Kate responded and handed the girl her heavy woolen jacket. 

 A string of John’s relatives streamed through and did the same, to the point that the young woman looked as though she might collapse under the tremendous pile of outerwear in her arms.

 “Here, let me help you with that,” Gennie offered sympathetically as she took half the load in her own arms. She led the young woman to the large laundry room where a row of coat racks stood. They carefully hung every coat before Gen excused herself to rejoin her guests.

 As she cut through the kitchen, a familiar male voice called out. “Hey, Gennie Penny!” She turned her head to see her parents hurrying toward her with open arms.

 “You’ve got a very nice house here, sweetheart,” her mother smiled.

 “Thanks mom. And thanks for coming. How was your flight?”

 “Well, we were late getting in, but I suppose that’s no surprise,” her father grunted.

 “Now, Chuck. Say something nice to your daughter,” Helen admonished her husband. “Genevieve, your father really admires your home- the whole neighborhood, in fact.”

 “Yeah, Gen,” he added a bit more cheerily, “It’s a nice place you’ve got. Good area, it looks like.”

 “Thanks,” Gennie replied proudly. “Would you like to see the rest of the house?”

 “Of course, darling!” her mother answered as if it were the silliest question ever.

 Gen proceeded to give her parents the grand tour of her new home, explaining how they’d be purchasing furniture eventually. She described to her mother her plans for decorating and listened as her mother offered her opinions, though Gen had little intention of implementing any of her ideas. When she was certain that she’d satisfied their curiosity in her new home, she led them back to the living room where party guests now feasted on hot hors d’oeuvres and visited amongst each other while soft music played in the background.

 Filling a plate with food, she searched the room to see where John had disappeared to. She spotted him sitting at a table in the corner laughing with Robby and Mike and some assorted old friends, one of them wearing a priest’s collar.

 “Gen, c’mere,” he waved a hand to call her over to the table. He put his arm around her shoulder and pointed with his beer bottle. “You’ve met these guys before, haven’t you? Brian, Joey, Tim, Robby, Mike.  This is Gen.” The guys nodded a friendly hello.

 “Well, two of them I know too well, I think,” she smiled. “But yeah, I think we’ve met before.”

 “Brian’s offered to bless the house for us too, tonight. Whaddaya think of that?” he asked with raised eyebrows as he stole a piece of fried zucchini off of her plate and popped it in his mouth.

 “That’d be really nice. Thanks, Brian,” she smiled, then turned her attention back to John. “It’ll make mom happy at least.”

 “Yeah,” he added with a nod while he continued to graze off her plate. “That’s what I was thinkin’.”

 After a few moments of idle chit chat, Gen nudged John in the side. “Um, babe, I hate to tear you from your friends, and my food,” she quipped, pulling her treats away from his thieving fingers, “but don’t you think we outta circulate a little and say hi to everybody?”

 “Suppose so. Later, guys,” he said, excusing himself from the table.

They mingled for a while making sure everyone was happy, comfortable, accounted for, and in the right place. Thankfully, Stacey and Robby had stealthily provided assistance with that. When they were assured everyone and everything was in order, John took Gen’s hand and walked to the front of the room, and stood before an enormous display of flowers.

 “I want to thank everyone for taking the time to be here tonight,” he began nervously. “I know it wasn’t easy for a lot of you, and I just want you to know that Gen and I really appreciate that you did this for us.” He paused and took a deep breath, dropping his eyes to the floor. “So, um, welcome to our home,” he smiled. His heart raced as he looked over at Gennie who stood beside him, anxiously chewing her lip. “But, um…. before we have dinner, y’know, um… a friend of mine would like to say a few words.” He nodded to his friend Brian, who calmly got up from his table and made his way to the front of the room to stand beside John and Gennie.

 “Good evening,” he smiled graciously to the guests assembled before him. “I’m Father Morelli and I know it probably comes as a surprise to some of you that this guy here would be friends with a priest, but we knew each other way before that. Went to school together and everything… and still they let me in the priesthood,” he chuckled, evoking a similar reaction from his audience. “To those of you who do know me, I expect to see you at mass tomorrow morning,” he winked at some of the younger members of the Rzeznik clan.

 He took a deep breath and started toward his intended purpose. “When Johnny, here, called me earlier this week and asked me to come to his party tonight, I had to admit I thought that it would be more like a trip down memory lane… figured I’d have to set two alarm clocks and everything, so I could wake up for Sunday mass.” He turned his head to John who was looking at his shoes to hide his blushing cheeks. “Anyway, when he also mentioned that he’d just bought a home and that was the purpose for the party, I thought- ‘Aha! He wants me to bless the house, good Catholic boy that he is’” he winked at John, while his sisters roared with laughter at the priest’s sarcasm. “Imagine my surprise when he told me that, while a house blessing would certainly be welcome, the real reason he wanted me here, besides being his friend, of course, was that he wanted me to meet his lovely girlfriend and to perform their wedding.” 

 The collective gasp taken in by virtually everyone assembled there would have caused the oxygen level to drop considerably, were it not for the sheer volume of plant life in the room. John and Gennie shyly scanned the crowd and found some tremendous smiles, some jaws agape, and some tears already beginning to leak from select eyes. They were pleased though to find that, besides a lot of shock, the general mood was one of joy and well wishes.  As Robby and Stacey stepped forward, John and Gennie took their place before Fr. Morelli.

 Without wasting any time, he started right into the ceremony. “Family, friends, we have been invited here today to share with John and Gennie a most important moment in their lives. In the short time they’ve been together their love has grown and flourished. Now that they’ve decided to live their lives together as husband and wife, they’ve asked us to join them as they promise to face the future together, accepting whatever may lie ahead.”

 Taking a deep breath, Brian smiled and faced his old friend. “John, do you take Gennie to be your wife?”

 He was silent for a moment as his eyes moved from Brian’s face to Gen’s eyes. When he took her in, he was never more certain of anything in his life. “I do.”

 Fr. Morelli then turned to Gennie. “Genevieve, do you take John to be your husband?”

 Without hesitation she responded happily, “I do.”

 Brian smiled broadly at the two of them and turned to John. “Then repeat after me. I, John, promise you, Genevieve, that I will stand by you through good times and bad,”

 John took her hands as one after another, his low, nervous voice parroted the vows Brian prompted him with. “I, John, promise you, Genevieve, that I will stand by you through good times and bad…”

 “I promise to share my life and love with you completely, every day for the rest of my life…”

 “I promise you my loyalty, being faithful to you always …”

 “I promise to remain by your side through every part of our lives, no matter what may come to pass…”

 Finally, he included his own addendum, gazing adoringly into Gennie’s eyes as he spoke. “And I promise to spend every day of my life trying to make you as happy and complete as you’ve made me feel today.”

 Gen fought valiantly to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. A glimmer of panic surged rapidly through John as he recalled the tearful scene from this morning. But it didn’t take him long to realize though that these were joyful tears.

 Before the lull became awkward, he prompted Gennie with her vows. She followed the priest in repeating the same words in her soft, emotional voice. “I, Genevieve, promise you, John, that I will stand by you through good times and bad…”

 “I promise to share my life and love with you completely, every day for the rest of my life…”

 “I promise you my loyalty, being faithful to you always …”

 “I promise to remain by your side through every part of our lives, no matter what may come to pass…”

She smiled as he momentarily turned his gaze away from her face to her soon to be growing midsection.

 “Rings,” Fr. Morelli whispered to Robby, who promptly pulled them from his jacket pocket and deposited them in the priest’s hand. 

“These rings symbolize eternity and the never ending bond that you, John and Gennie, share. May you come to wear them, realizing the emblematic meaning of their existence.” He held out his hand to John, who picked up the diamond band that Gen felt so naked without.

 “Genevieve, I give you this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity,” John smiled as he slipped the ring on her finger.

 She took her eyes from his face and observed the piece of jewelry which now seemed even more beautiful to her with it’s new meaning. Her eyes returned to his for a split second before taking his ring in her hand.  “John, I give you this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity.” Slowly, conscientiously, she slid the simple platinum band onto his left hand. It looked somehow foreign to her, but she was confident that she’d get used to it.

After a quiet, shared moment that was so personal, that it seemed they were the only ones in the room, Brian spoke up joyously. “Then by the power vested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He turned to his friend with a sly smile. “Johnny, man, no one’s stoppin’ ya. Go on and kiss your bride.”

 John responded with an enormous grin as he pulled his new wife close and kissed her with a passion he’d never before felt for her.

 The kiss stirred feeling in Gen too that made her blush, sending her into a fit of giggles. When she couldn’t stifle them any longer, she pulled away and turned to face her guests. “Um, well… in case you hadn’t noticed, this is our wedding night. So let’s eat, drink, be merry…have some fun!”

Home

Next