"How's my favorite wife?" asked Taylor Hanson, sneaking up behind his wife, Laura, arms circling her waist.
"Don't you mean your only wife?" she teased, as she continued to clean lettuce for tonight's salad.
Taylor sighed. "Sadly, I do. Unfortunately, bigamy is illegal in the United States." He kissed Laura's neck.
"Life's just so unfair, isn't it?"
"Tell me about it. I wanna stay here with you, but I got a soccer game to coach. Is Maddy home from school yet?"
"Nope. She went to Stacey's house, and the two are going to the game from there."
"She got her stuff?"
"Yup. Jenn and I dropped her cleats, shin guards, and uniform off earlier."
"So, how is my baby girl today anyway?" Taylor asked, smiling at the thought of his and Laura's four-month-old daughter.
Laura picked up the monitor with her left hand and placed her right behind Taylor's neck as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "Sleeping, right now. But she should be up soon. She was good today."
Taylor circled his arms a little tighter. "Everything all set for the christening tomorrow?"
"Yup. With the exception of Aunt Mickey, my family has flown in and safely tucked themselves at my parents."
"So, when is Aunt Mickey coming anyway?"
"She's flying in tomorrow with AJ and Zac."
"I don't get it. She wouldn't fly out for our wedding, but she will for Jennifer's christening?"
Laura turned around to face Taylor, her arms around his neck. "Sweetie, I told you, it's 'cause you're not Italian."
He crinkled his brow. "Seems unfair to me."
"I know, but that's Aunt Mickey for you. Mind you now, this is the same woman who flipped out at Uncle Sal's funeral because my cousin Pete wore a navy blue suit. She just has this thing for tradition, and an intolerance for modern views and beliefs."
"So, how bad did she flip out when she found out you were pregnant with Madeline?" Taylor began to massage Laura's back, just like he did when she had experienced back labor.
Laura rolled her eyes. "You don't want to know. She swore is she ever saw 'him,' she'd put a curse on him, forbidding him to ever conceive again." She snorted with laughter. "I can only imagine what she'll say when she finds out AJ and Zac are living together."
"She's a real live one, huh?"
"You got it."
"Are you SURE she's not lost?"
"Zac, trust me. This woman knows JFK like the back of her hand. Aunt Mickey may be eighty-nine, but she's playing with a full deck."
"Kinda like Sophia?" Zac asked, referring to the character from AJ's favorite TV show, "The Golden Girls."
AJ smiled. "EXACTLY like Sophia, except Aunt Mickey isn't Sicilian. She's from northern Italy." A herd of people walked by, and AJ scanned the crowd for Aunt Mickey.
"What is Mickey short for anyway?" Zac asked, shifting in the uncomfortable airport chair. One thing hasn't changed since he was a kid. He still can't sit still.
"Michelina," AJ replied, eyes still scanning the crowd.
"As in the frozen dinner?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, as in the frozen dinner. There she is!" AJ stood up, pointing.
"That's her?" Zac asked with disbelief, standing up as well. A short, plump woman with grey hair came charging towards Amanda. She has a carpet bag in one hand and a black umbrella in the other, which she swings wildly so others have to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.
"Yup, that's her. Aunt Mickey!" AJ opened her arms so the old woman could hug her.
"Amanda Jean. You look great. You need some more meat on you though." The woman and AJ embraced tightly. "Who's this?" Aunt Mickey asked, pointing the umbrella at Zac.
"Aunt Mickey, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Zac. Zac, THIS is Aunt Mickey."
Aunt Mickey gave Zac the once-over. She tucked the umbrella under her left arm and shook Zac's hand with her right. "Boyfriend, huh? You haven't popped the question yet?"
"Aunt Mickey!" AJ hissed.
"What? Oh, don't get shy on me now, Amanda Jean. You're twenty-six. You should be married and starting a family. My mother, Carmella, was married at nineteen and had my brother, Vito, at twenty. What are you waiting for?"
"For the time to be right. We don't want to rush into anything," AJ carefully explained.
"Don't want to rush? Guess that can only mean one thing. You're already sleeping together, aren't you?" Aunt Mickey shook her head. "Well, I hope, at the very least, that if you're going to be living in sin that you use protection. And none of those 'four-for-a-quarter' jobs either. One birth out of wedlock was enough."
AJ covered her face with her hands, shaking her head slightly. "I don't believe this is happening."
"What's that, Amanda Jean? I embarrass you?" Aunt Mickey turned to Zac. "So, how did you two meet anyway?"
Zac swallowed hard, wondering if she would attack him next. "Um, we met at my brother and Laura's wedding."
"Um? You don't sound too sure."
"I am."
Aunt Mickey nodded her head. "Okay. Let's cut the crap, and get on this plane." She picked up her carpet bag and headed towards the ramp, waving her umbrella wildly.
AJ and Zac picked up their carry-on pieces and joined hands. "I'm sorry," AJ apologized.
Zac gently kissed her lips. "Don't be. It's okay. But I am glad about one thing."
"Oh? What's that?"
"That she's not really your aunt. Because, when we DO get married, she is DEFINITELY not invited to the wedding."
AJ giggled. "Agreed." She returned Zac's kiss, and the two boarded the plane.
"Isaac, Sweetie, which shoe? This one? Or this one?" Rebecca first stood on her right foot, and then her left, so her husband could see how each shoe looked with her dress.
Ike turned away from the bathroom sink, still brushing his teeth. "Do it again," he instructed, his mouth full of toothpaste.
"This one? Or this one?"
"Hmm... the one on the right. YOUR right."
Rebecca kissed her husband's cheek. "Thanks, Sweetie." She went back to the master bedroom to get the matching shoe.
"Mom!"
"Yes, Kaitlyn?"
"Mom!"
"Yes, Kaitlyn?"
"MOM!"
Rebecca raced into her four-year-old daughter's bedroom. Frantic, she asked, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm ready."
"You yelled for your mother like that just to tell her you're ready?" Isaac entered his daughter's bedroom, his teeth freshly brushed and his voice stern.
"Yes," Kaitlyn said meekly, her eyes on the floor.
"Well, don't do it again. There's no reason to be shouting through the house like that."
"Yes, Daddy." Kaitlyn paused. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Sweetie." Rebecca had a difficult time being stern with her daughter. Kaitlyn is her baby. "Sweetie, dear, you dressed yourself?"
Kaitlyn nodded her head enthusiastically. "Uh-huh. Not even Daddy helped me."
At that statement, Isaac smiled. His little girl is growing up.
"Why aren't you wearing your dress shoes, though, Sweetie?" Rebecca asked.
"I like these shoes better, Mommy," Kaitlyn said, referring to the worn sneakers on her feet.
"Katy-bug," Isaac said, sitting on his daughter's bed and sat her on his lap, "this is a special day. And we all have to wear something we don't like. Your mommy is wearing high-heels, I'm wearing a tie, and you're gonna have to wear your dress shoes."
"Is it because it's cousin Jenn's special day?"
"That's right," Rebecca answered. She knelt down in front of her daughter and began to untie her sneakers.
"I can do it myself!" Kaitlyn protested.
"All right. All right." Rebecca stood up and backed away.
"Kaitlyn..." Isaac's tone of voice served as a warning for his daughter.
"Yes, Daddy?" She smiled sweetly.
"Be good." He kissed her forehead. "Now your mom and I have to finish getting ready, okay?"
"Okay." Kaitlyn jumped off her father's lap and began to untie her sneakers.
Ding-dong.
"I'll get it. You finish getting ready," Ike said to Rebecca, who was wearing only one earring.
Ding-dong.
"Coming!" Ike shouted. He opened the front door. "Zac? AJ? What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise.
"Are you gonna invite us in, or are you hinting that we should go somewhere else?" Zac meant it as a joke. He really did, but he knew there was an edge in his voice. The plane ride with Aunt Mickey had frazzled his nerves.
"Of course I'm gonna invite you in!" Ike let his brother and girlfriend enter the house and make themselves at home in the living room. "I just thought you would've been at Laura and Tay's, since Aunt Mickey had to go there and you are Jenn's Godfather, after all. Where is Aunt Mickey anyway?"
"Purchasing a one-way ticket to hell," Zac said. AJ shot him a murderous look, and Zac kissed her forehead. "Sorry. We dropped Aunt Mickey off at Laura's folk's house. I want to make Tay's torture as short as possible. And since we figured Laura and Tay would be running around crazy over there, we'd get ready here. Is that okay with you?"
Ike shrugged. "Sure. Fine with me."
Just then Rebecca entered the room with Kaitlyn at her heels. "Zac! AJ! What a surprise. I would've thought we'd meet up at the church."
"There was a slight change in plans," Zac told her. Then he turned his attention to his niece. "You certainly look pretty today, Kaitlyn."
"Thank you, Uncle Zac." She kissed her uncle on the cheek. "How come you're not dressed to go?" Kaitlyn asked, raising her arms, indicating she wanted to be picked up.
Zac obliged. "AJ and I are gonna get ready here. Is that okay with you?" He tickled his niece's sides.
Kaitlyn giggled. "Of course it is! AJ, you can use my room."
"Thanks." AJ smiled, but it quickly faded as she removed her pager from her jean's pocket. "Damn!" she muttered under her breath as she recognized the number. "Ike, Bec, can I use your phone?"
"Sure," they replied.
"AJ..." Zac's tone of voice said he didn't approve.
"Zac, I have to answer this."
"AJ, you took the weekend off."
"Zac, I'm like a doctor. I never REALLY have a day off. You said you understood that."
"I do, but..." Zac sighed. "I just thought I was gonna have you to myself this weekend."
"You will. Promise." AJ gave Zac a quick kiss on the lips. "Right after I make this call." AJ darted out of the room before her boyfriend could protest.
Zac adjusted Kaitlyn on his hip and huffed.
"Am I getting too heavy, Uncle Zac?"
"No, Sweetie." Zac kissed his niece. "Not at all."
"Come on, Honey." Rebecca took Kaitlyn from Zac's arms. "Why don't you help me finish getting ready so your uncle can get ready and talk to your dad."
"Okay. Mommy, those earrings are yucky."
Rebecca laughed. "Well, then, you can pick out another pair for me to wear." Mother and daughter retreated upstairs to the master bedroom.
As the two left, Ike turned to his brother, an expression of concern on his face. "Everything okay between you and AJ?"
"Yeah. Sure. They're fine." Zac plastered a fake smile across his face. "How about you? How are things with you and Becca?" he asked, changing the subject.
Ike plastered an equally fake smile across his face. "Never better."
Laura plopped herself down at the end of the dining room table. The service had gone really well. Jennifer was the only baby that didn't cry. And now the whole family was here, out in the backyard, fussing over her daughters. She doubted anyone saw her slip into the house, and, for all intent and purposes, she preferred to keep it that way. It's not that she didn't love her family. She did. But big family gatherings like this tended to make her feel stuffy.
"Peaceful in here, isn't it?"
Laura looked up and saw her sister-in-law, Rebecca. "Yeah. I just needed to..."
"Say no more," Becca cut her off. "Been there, done that, and I understand how you're feeling."
A smile crept up on Laura's face. "Figured if anyone would, it be you."
"Uh-huh." Becca nodded her head in agreement and sat down. "So, think you'll make it to the end of this gathering?"
Laura rested her head on the table, face down. "God, I hope so!"
Rebecca giggled.
"Hey! What's going on here?" AJ entered the kitchen from the backyard through the sliding glass door.
"We're in the dining room, hiding," Laura responded.
"Good idea," AJ agreed. She grabbed three wine coolers from the fridge and entered the dining room and passed out the bottles, taking a seat on the other side of Laura. "The greater the distance between me and Aunt Mickey, the better."
"She found out you and Zac are living together, huh?" Laura asked, unscrewing the cap on her wine cooler.
"Well, I hope, at the very least, that if you're going to be living in sin that you use protection. And none of those 'four-for-a-quarter' jobs either," AJ mimicked the old woman. She took a sip of her drink.
"She did NOT say that!" Laura's jaw dropped.
Rebecca giggled. "Sorry, AJ. I don't mean to laugh, but I can't believe she said that. She's quite a character."
AJ rolled her eyes. "You have NO idea. I swear, the plane ride alone was enough to age me." Becca held up her hand, indicating for AJ to stop. "Please, let's not talk about aging."
"Feeling old, Bec?"
"I found this spider vein on the back of my thigh this morning. I suppose it's just a matter of time before Ike can use my thighs as a road map."
"You know," AJ said, "it just doesn't seem fair. I mean, the other day, someone at The Times was saying how women grow old and men grow distinguished. What's up with that?"
"Duh. Some ugly, fat, old man came up with that one." Laura snorted with laughter. She composed herself and continued. "But let's face it, woman's lot in life isn't all it's cracked up to be. I mean, childbirth wasn't exactly the most WONDERFUL feeling I've ever experienced."
AJ frowned. "So, what do you think man's lot in life is?"
"Easy," Becca replied. "Their eyebrows grow together."
All three women burst out laughing.
"You know, now that you mention it, Bec, you've got a point there. Remember your Uncle Sal, Laura? He didn't have eyebrows. He had a unibrow." AJ took another sip of her wine cooler.
"Forget that," Laura responded. "Remember his ears? I swear, he had more hair in them than on his head. He didn't need a hearing aid. He needed a trim."
All three women burst out laughing again, and Rebecca's eyes began to tear. "You two are so bad," she said. "You should be thankful you come from such large families."
"It does have its advantages, but it can make you a little crazy at times too," Laura explained to her sister-in-law.
"Yeah," AJ chimed in. "If you start spending extended periods of time with them, you'll start having fantasies that you're adopted, and have a normal family that's desperately trying to find you."
Rebecca snorted. "Stop!" she said, gasping for breath. "My sides are killing me."
"Sorry," AJ apologized.
"It's okay. I don't mind. Laughing's good for the heart anyway."
AJ turned to Laura. "So, do you wanna know what you're brother-in-law said this morning?"
Laura cracked a smile. "Which one?"
"Which one do you think?"
"Okay. What did Zac say?"
"He said when we get married, Aunt Mickey's not invited to the wedding."
"Wedding!?! Married!?! Did he pop the question?" Rebecca asked excitedly.
"No." AJ sighed. "No, he didn't."
"Is everything okay between the two of you?" Laura asked, concerned.
"I... Well... You see..." AJ put her head in her hands and shook her head. "No, they're not." She looked up.
"Why? What's wrong?" Rebecca reached out across the dining room table and gently placed her hands over AJ's, her maternal instincts kicking in.
"We just don't see eye to eye on some things."
"Anything in particular?"
"Yeah. My career," AJ said grimly. "Ever since I started free lancing for The Times," she shook her head, "we can't get through the day without some type of argument."
"Well, what do you argue about?" Laura asked.
"Me. About how I'm always taking phone calls. About how I'm never around. About how I can't talk about my stories."
"AJ, that comes with your job." Rebecca frowned. "Have you tried explaining it to Zac?"
She sighed. "Multiple times. He says he understands... But how can he? If he did, he wouldn't act this way. And now I don't get it myself. I don't understand him anymore."
"Ike, I just don't understand her." Zac shook his head in disbelief.
"Don't understand who?" Taylor came up from behind his brothers and sat down next to them on the front porch.
"AJ," Ike answered for Zac.
"Why? What's going on?" Tay asked his younger brother.
Zac sighed. "We're drifting apart, and it's killing me. I love her, so much. In fact... well... marriage has come up a few times..." He let his voice trail off.
Ike raised an eyebrow. "Marriage? Really?"
Zac nodded his head.
"What's the problem?" Tay asked. "She doesn't want to?"
"No. No, she wants to. I'm pretty sure of that. I... I just don't think she's ready."
"Ready how?"
"Well... you see..." Zac let out a deep sigh. "Whenever we're together, no matter WHAT we're doing, if that phone rings..." He swallowed hard. "Her job is number one on her priority list. I'm somewhere in the middle." Zac looked down at his shoes.
"Do you really think that? REALLY think that?" Ike asked.
"Ike, there's no other way to explain it. The phone will ring, she'll answer it, and get out of bed to meet her source."
"Zac, that's her job." Taylor rested a comforting hand on his younger brother's shoulder.
"I know, Tay. But the problem is, she has two."
"Two?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. She's been free lancing for The New York Times for about three months now on top of her job with People magazine," Zac explained.
Ike let out a low whistle. "Two big jobs with two major publications. Not bad."
Zac shot his oldest brother a look.
"Sorry. And you're right to want her around more. You deserve more of her attention."
Taylor nodded his head in agreement. "Have you told her any of this?"
"I've tried to. Multiple times."
"Well," Ike said, "maybe you should try again."