On Friday we had a wedding rehearsal, a rehearsal dinner, and then we decorated the church hall for the reception. Larry didn’t want a bachelor’s party. But the girls went to a bachelorette party set up by Kelly’s cousin Mary Beth who was also the maid of honor. The party had been a bust thanks to a stripper. And there had been some nasty words between Kelly and Mary Beth.

It was possible that Mary Beth wouldn’t show up at the wedding. Who would take her place?

Amy had told me that what she saw with Mr. O’Brian and his nervous breakdown was looking good. But we’d see happens with the wedding. I was keeping my fingers crossed.

Saturday all the girls were at a beauty shop to have their hair, makeup, and nails done. And they’d go from there to the church in a limousine. Larry, Mark, and I were sitting around the hotel until we needed to put on our tuxedos and drive to the church. We wouldn’t see the girls again until the wedding. Hmm, let’s see, where would I rather be?

It was time. Larry, Mark, and I changed into our tuxedos. Damn, I hate these things. When we were ready, we went down to the hotel lobby, and to the front door. As I handed the Valet my keys, I asked him to bring my car. I told him it was the red ‘57 Chevy ragtop. He took the keys, grinned, and said, “Yes, sir!”

As he ran off, I said, “I hope he can drive stick.”

A few minutes later the Valet pulled up in front of the hotel, the car jumped a little, and stalled. He couldn’t drive stick. As he got out of the car, he said, “Sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

“Man, that’s one cherry ride that you have.”

As I handed him a tip, I said, “Thanks.”

Then as the three of us got in the car, I said, “I think it’s a little too cold to put the top down. Maybe after the wedding.”

“That would be cool if we could.”, Larry said.

Then Mark asked, “How are Maria and I supposed to get back to the hotel?”

“The limo’s taking everyone who’s staying there back.”, Larry said.

We pulled up in front of the church, and Larry and Mark got out, and I parked the car. Then as I walked into the church, I asked no one in particular, “I wonder if the girls are here yet?”

Larry replied. “They probably won’t get here until just before the service.”

The florist pinned a boutonniere on me. Then I saw Connor, and he looked sharp in his Marine dress uniform, even though his left arm was in a cast and sling. Was he going to be able to help Kevin with the aisle runner?

I looked into the church, and the flowers were beautiful. Then as the guests started to arrive, the groomsmen escorted them to their seats. At the appointed hour, the girls still weren’t here. I knew the priest was already at the front of the church. Five minutes after the appointed hour and again no girls. Ten minutes and still no girls. A couple of minutes later a white limousine pulled up in front of the church. I grabbed Larry, and we went to the front of the church and stood with the priest, who is Kelly’s oldest brother, Jack.

Shortly, one of the groomsman, Kelly’s brother Connor, escorted Larry’s parents down the aisle. Then Mark escorted Mrs. O’Brian to her seat and joined me. Then Kelly’s brothers, Kevin and Connor, pulled a white cloth runner down the aisle, and Connor didn’t have a problem. Then they joined Mark and me. No Matthew. Hmm.

Then the music changed, the first and second bride’s maids down the aisle were Kelly’s friends from here. Then came Maria. Then Amy, and she looked gorgeous. And she stood directly across from me where Beth Ann was supposed to stand. That told me something.

The flower girl and ring bearer followed Amy down the aisle. The flower girl had tossed rose petals on the white runner as she walked down the aisle. Then she stood with Amy, and the ring bearer stood with me.

The music then stopped, and the wedding march started. Everyone stood and looked towards the back of the church. Shortly Kelly, escorted by her father, started down the aisle. She was beautiful. The second prettiest girl here.

After Kelly and her father reached the front of the church. Kelly’s father was standing between Larry and Kelly. I moved to stand with Larry and Amy moved to stand with Kelly. Father Jack looked at Mr. O’Brian, and said, “Who gives this woman to this man?”

I noticed that Amy was carefully watching Mr. O’Brian, during an awkward silence. Then he finally said, “Her mother and I do.”

Then Mr. O’Brian went and sat with Mrs. O’Brian. And I saw Amy relax a little.

Almost an hour later, Father Jack said, “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

After Kelly and Larry had kissed for what seemed like fifteen minutes, Father Jack had Kelly and Larry turn to the wedding guests, and he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to present Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Thomas.”

There was a great round of applause. Then Father Jack said, “Ladies and gentlemen if you will give the wedding party a chance to go to the back of the church they will greet you as you leave. The ushers will assist you. And there will be a reception in the church’s hall which is in the basement.”

Amy and I followed Kelly and Larry back up the aisle, followed by Maria and the other two girls. Then, I went back to the front of the church and joined the other groomsmen. The four of us acted as ushers. First, we escorted Kelly’s and Larry’s parents and the four sets of grandparents back up the aisle, and then we went back down and allowed people to exit their pew as the line moved. I’m glad I'm doing this instead of standing and shaking hands.

Finally the last of the guests were out of the church, and we were back with the happy couple. The wedding photographer grabbed us and took us back to the altar area of the church for pictures. And then we worked our way downstairs to the church hall, and we could hear the music.

As we walked into the hall there was applause and dinging of glass, so Kelly and Larry kissed, and that brought more applause. There was a table for the bridal party to sit at and we headed to it. As Amy sat, she said, “I’ve got to get these shoes off.”

I bent down and helped her remove her shoes. She smiled at me, and whispered, “I wish you could massage my feet for me.”

I looked at her, grinned, and said, “Later.”

“You're bad.”

“Who me? Not me. I’m not bad.”

She just smiled.

I then asked, “Honey, do you think that Mr. O’Brian is okay?”

“So far.”, she replied. “I was worried for a minute when he was giving Kelly away. But that went well. It will take a while for the doctors to bring him completely out of his breakdown, if they can. But it should help with the wedding being over.”

The reception wasn’t a sit-down dinner. It was cake, punch, and other things. Kelly and Larry cut the cake early, and then they walked around talking with everyone and kissing to the dinging of glasses.

I noticed that there was a table piled with presents. I had an envelope in my pocket that I’d give to them later. And since no one was paying too much attention to anyone but the bride and groom, I asked Amy, “Why were you guys late?”

“Kelly and her mom got into it over Mary Beth.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. From what I got out of it, Mrs. O’Brian, from the beginning, had pushed Mary Beth on Kelly, and Kelly didn’t want her in the wedding at all. Then today at the beauty parlor after some yelling and crying, Kelly just told her mom, and I quote, ‘Mother! I have just had it. We are going to do this my way! It’s my wedding. Mary Beth was your idea, and now she’s not here. I didn’t want her in my wedding to start with, and now I’ll have the matron of honor that I wanted all along, Amy. And that’s the way it’s going to be.’

“After that, they had to straighten up both Kelly’s makeup and her mother’s makeup. And then we came over here.”

“So Kelly stood up for herself?”.

“Boy did she. I was proud of her.”

An hour or so later Larry and Kelly came and sat with us. I looked at them, and said, “It’s about time you two.”

“Tell me.”, Kelly said. “My feet are killing me. I’ve got to get these shoes off.”

Amy, with a mischievous little smile, said, “Have Larry do for you what Tom’s going to do for me later.”

“What’s that?”

“A foot massage.”

“Oh. That sounds so good.”

“Oh. It will be.”

To change the subject a little, I took the envelope out of my pocket and handed it to Amy. She looked at it and said, “What’s this?”

“Read it.”, I said.

Kelly looked at the front, and read, ‘To the newlyweds. From Amy and Tom with all our love.’

Then Kelly asked, “What’s in it?”

“Open it, silly.”, Amy said.

Kelly opened the envelope and removed the folded piece of paper. Then she unfolded the certificate, and both Kelly and Larry looked at it. And, Larry said, “You two, this is too much!”

“No, it’s not. It’s what we said we were going to do.”

Maria and Mark had been looking on, and Maria asked, “Is that what I think it is?”

“Probably.”, Amy replied.

“A certificate for a stay at the resort in New Mexico?”

“Right on.”

“Kelly and Larry, you will love it there.”, Maria said.

“Amy and Tom.”, Kelly said. “We can’t accept this. It’s too much.”

“Honey.”, Amy said. “If it were too much, we wouldn’t do it. We’re doing it because we love you like family.”

Kelly had tears in her eyes, as she said, “Thank you two so very much. You two are so special.”

Larry then said, “Thanks, guys. I know we’ll love it out there.”

“Larry.”, I said. “I’ve seen your dad and Kelly’s brother Connor talking. They appear to be getting along.”

“Probably talking about the Marines.”, Larry replied. “Why don’t we plan on getting out of here in about half an hour.”

“Sounds good.”, I said.

“You mean I have to put these shoes back on.”, Amy said.

It was almost an hour later when I moved the car as close to the door of the church hall as I could. The weather had warmed up a little, so I’d put the top down. Kelly and Larry had said their goodbyes and were getting ready to run the gauntlet of people throwing rice.

So to a lot of cheering and rice throwing, Kelly and Larry ran from the church hall to the car. Amy and I were standing on opposite sides of the car with the doors open, and the backs of the front seats pulled forward. Larry helped Kelly step into the backseat on Amy’s side of the car, and Larry ran around and jumped into the backseat on my side. Kelly turned her back to the crowd of people and tossed her bouquet over her head into the crowd. One of the young girls there caught it and squealed in surprise.

Amy and I then jumped into the front seat. And we got out of there to a hail of rice. Kelly and Larry were waving as I drove away.

There were no tin cans tied to the car like when Amy and I married, but we’d put a sign on the back of the car that said, just married. I asked Kelly and Larry where they wanted to go, and Kelly said, “Let's drive around for a little while, and I’ll direct you.”

So we drove around, and whenever anyone saw the sign on the back of the car they blew their horn, and I’d blow the Chevy’s horn. We drove around town, for a little while.

One funny thing happened. With the top being down, Kelly’s veil had been blowing like a flag over the trunk. All of a sudden I heard a scream from Kelly, then she yelled, “My veil blew off!”

I stopped the car, jumped out, ran back down the road a hundred feet or so, grabbed her veil off a bush, ran back to the car, and handed it to her. All to the cheers of some people passing by. I’m glad that the traffic was light.

Amy guided us into a residential area of town, and up and down a few streets. Then finally Kelly directed us back towards the hotel. I looked over my shoulder and asked, “Why all the travel through the allotment?”

With a grin, Kelly replied, “I just wanted to drive past Mary Beth’s house.”

We eventually made it to the hotel, and as we pulled up, we were met by the doorman, the valet, and the hotel manager.

The doorman opened the door on Amy’s side, helped Amy out and then Kelly, and Larry followed. The valet opened the door on my side, and I got out. The manager then welcomed Kelly and Larry. I helped the valet put the top up, and he drove off to park the car. As I waited for the valet to come back with my keys, Larry and I talked, and he reminded me to meet them in the hotel restaurant for dinner.

When I got my keys back, Larry and I walked into the hotel lobby. The girls were waiting for us, and we rode the elevator up to our floor. As we got out, Larry said, “Don’t forget seven in the restaurant.”

As the elevator door was closing, I said, “We’ll be there.”

We walked down the hall to our room, I opened the door, and I’ve never seen Amy undress so fast. The shoes went first. As she removed her dress, she said, “God. I’m glad that’s over.”

“That bad?”, I asked.

“These shoes are terrible.”

“Lie on the bed, and I’ll give you that foot massage.”

“Really?”

“I said I would.”

Amy crawled onto the bed. I stripped out the tuxedo and knelt on the foot of the bed. I looked at Amy, held my nose, and with the other hand waved it over her feet as I said, “Stinky.”

“My feet are not stinky, you brat.”, Amy said.

I grinned, and started giving her a foot massage. I’ve never felt her feet in nylons before. This was interesting.

The massage I was giving her must have been doing something because she was lying there with her eyes closed and softly moaning. Then I did something to her toes that surprised her. As I did it, I was looking at her. Her eyes opened in surprise. I stopped what I was doing, and whispered, “Do you mind?”

“God, no.”, Amy said. “It … It feels wonderful. Don’t stop.”

Later when I’d finished the massage, she opened her eyes, smiled, and said, “Honey, what you did was wonderful. I owe you big time.”

“I’ll collect tonight.”, I replied.

“It’ll take me more than one night to pay you back for that. And you can do that again anytime that you want.”

I smiled at her, and getting silly, I said, “Your wish is my desire, M’Lady.”

Amy joined in my silliness, when she said, “Oh, good Sir. Your gentle care was amazing. We just can’t let the King find us.”

“The King could never climb the stairs to your bedchamber, M’Lady. He is too infirm.”

“Oh so true my good Sir. He hasn’t been in my bedchamber for months.”

“Then M’Lady, I’ll return to your bedchamber tonight for our tryst.”

“Oh good Sir, I’ll count the minutes. No, I’ll count the seconds until we are together again.”

We broke down laughing at our silliness.

Then we got cleaned up, changed, and headed down to the restaurant. We were having dinner with Kelly and Larry, Maria and Mark, Kelly’s parents, Larry’s parents, and my mom and dad. I was going to try and sit between Kelly’s parents and Larry’s parents to try and keep the peace.

As we got on the elevator, Amy said, “I asked Kelly about Kevin.”

“And?”, I asked.

“She said, that’s just the way he is. He’s been that way all of his life. The strong silent type. And he’s really smart. He’s going to M.I.T.”

“M.I.T.! The Massachusetts Institute of Technology?”

“Yes. He’s studying computers or something like that. And he’s just finished his masters and is working on a second master's degree.”

Everyone was waiting outside the restaurant, and we weren’t the last ones there. Kelly’s parents were late, and her comment was, “They’re being fashionably late.”

I saw Amy walk over to Kelly and whisper something into her ear. They both looked at me and giggled. I gave them a stern look.

A few minutes later Kelly’s parents walked up. My parents knew everyone there except Kelly’s parents, so I did the introductions, I said, “Mom and dad, this is Mr. and Mrs. O’Brian. Mr. and Mrs. O’Brian these are my parents, Dr. and Mrs. Young.”

Mr. O'Brian looked at my dad, and said, "Dr. Young! That's intriguing."

They greeted each other. And they were soon on a first name basis. And Mr. O’Brian and my dad were in conversation through most of the dinner. So, I didn’t have to keep Larry’s dad and Mr. O’Brian apart. Thank God. And Larry’s dad, Larry, Mark, and I had a good discussion. And the women talked about the wedding.

It was well after nine when we finally left the restaurant. My mom and dad were heading home early tomorrow morning. So we said so long to them and had to explain our so long thing to the O’Brians. Amy, Maria, Mark, and I were going to start back after a late breakfast with Kelly and Larry. So the six of us headed upstairs after saying goodnight to everyone else.

As Amy, Maria, Mark, and I got off the elevator on our floor. We said goodnight to Kelly and Larry. And I added, “Don’t do anything that we wouldn’t do.”

When we walked into our room, I asked, “What were you and Kelly whispering about?”

With a sly smile, Amy said, “It was girl talk.”

“Uh huh. What kind of girl talk?”

“What a foot massage can do to you.”

“You didn’t tell her everything about my foot massage did you?”

She grinned as she said, “I’ll never tell.”

I just shook my head.

Amy and I then flipped a coin to see who would take a shower first. And I lost. So while Amy was in the shower, I relaxed and found something to watch on the television. When Amy came out of the shower, she was wrapped in a towel and had her hair also wrapped in a towel. Later as I got out of the shower with a towel wrapped around me and walked into the bedroom, Amy was stretched out on the bed completely naked.

She looked at me and said, “That foot massage today was wonderful.”

“Ask.”, I said. “And I’ll give you another one.”

With her cute smile, Amy said, “I’m asking.”

This foot massage turned into more. Much more. And I’m going to leave that to your imagination.

Sunday morning came too soon. I woke up cuddled to a naked Amy and thinking about last night. This girl is amazing.

We finally dressed, packed our suitcase, checked the room, and went down for breakfast. And as we ate, I asked Kelly, “So is everything okay with you and your mom?”

“Yeah. I guess standing up for myself was a good thing. Mom treated me differently the rest of the day.”

“Differently?”

“Like I was no longer a little girl hanging onto her apron strings.”

I smiled, and said, “That’s good.”

A short time later we had checked out of our room, and the valet had brought the car to the front of the hotel. This time without stalling it. The four of us hugged Kelly and Larry so long. And as I got in the car, I noticed that there wasn’t any rice in it. I called the valet over and asked, “Did you clean the rice out of the car.”

“Yes, sir.”, the valet said. “I couldn’t let a cherry ride like that be messed up by all that rice. And I took the sign off too.”

As I took a ten out of my wallet and handed it to him, I said, “Thank you very much. You saved us some work.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“No. Thank you.”

I shook his hand. And we headed home.

When we were back home, the first stop was at our favorite drive-in for burgers, fries, and shakes. Then on the way to the house, we dropped Maria and Mark off at their apartment.

As we walked into the kitchen of our house, my mother saw us, and said, “Hi kids. That was a very nice wedding.”

"Yes.”, Amy replied, “Except for a few problems.”

“Problems?”

“Yeah. Kelly and the girl that was to be her maid of honor had a big fight, and she didn’t show up.”

“I never noticed. And I thought that you were supposed to be the matron of honor from the beginning.”

“No. Kelly’s cousin Mary Beth was supposed to be the maid of honor.”

“Did that upset Kelly very much?”

“No, she was happy. She doesn’t like Mary Beth, and her mother pushed Kelly to use Mary Beth when she’d wanted me from the start.”

“Oh. That could have been a problem.”

“It was until Kelly stood up for herself.”

“I see. Oh, there’s some mail for you on the table.”

While Amy and I were gone, we’d received some mail. There was one letter for me and three for Amy. My mail was my grades for last quarter, and I’d made the Dean’s List again. Amy’s one letter was her grades. Straight A’s again. One of the other letters was from the University’s President’s office, and she was on the President’s Honor List again. The third letter … the third letter was from the University of New Mexico's College of Nursing in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Amy opened the letter from the University of New Mexico's College of Nursing and read it. Then as she handed it to me, she said, “Read this.”

I read it, looked at Amy, and said, “This is exciting.”

“Very.”

My mother looked at Amy, and said, “Without being too noisy. Can I ask what’s so interesting?”

As Amy took the letter from me and handed it to my mother, she said, “Mom, I’m going to need input on this from you and others on this.”

My mother read the letter, then said, “Amy. Honey. I think they want you.”

“I know. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”

“I think you’d better start with having a good sit down with Tommy.”

“That’s where I was going to start.”

Amy grabbed my hand, pulled me to the den, and to the couch. We sat, and she kissed me. Then she said, “Tommy, I need help.”

“I can see that.”, I said.

I’ve got the two offers. The university here has given me a full ride scholarship for my masters. I’d be able to work in an Emergency Room that I know. And teach in a system that I know. We could still live here with your parents or find our own place.

“The university in New Mexico is also offering me a full ride scholarship, plus a job in the hospital while I’m working on it. I don’t know that hospital, and I don't know anything about the universitie’s teaching system. But they are also providing free married student housing.

“And I just don’t know what I want to do.”

“First.”, I said, “No matter what, I think we should find our own place. No matter if we stay here or go to New Mexico. If we go to New Mexico, we could use the married student housing for a while and look for something more permanate.”

“Yeah. And we’ve sponged off your mom and dad long enough.”

“I wouldn’t call it sponging. They asked us, and we help with food and other things. Besides they like to have us around.

“I know that there are different options for a masters degree. Do you know what options that each university offer?”

“Good thought.”, Amy said. “I know what options they offer here, but not what’s offered in New Mexico.”

“Might be good to find out what they offer. Is it in the paperwork that the woman from New Mexico gave you?”

“You mean Mrs. Etsitty?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me go get it.”

Amy jumped up and ran to our room, and she was back quickly. She sat and started going through all the paperwork that Mrs. Etsitty had given her. Finally, she said, “Here it is. They don’t offer as many options out there, and there is one that they offer out there that isn’t offered here.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a Clinical Nurse with an emphasis on the native people.”

“Hmm. You just might like that.”

“Yes. But there’s another one coming, that’s only available in one place right now, and it’s only a certificate program. But it sounds fascinating.”

“What’s that?”

“Nurse Practitioner.”

“What can they do?”

“They can treat certain things that a doctor would without the doctor looking over their shoulder.”

“That does sound interesting.”

“It does.”, Amy said. “It helps take the patient load off the doctor. But right now it’s only offered at the University of Colorado.”

“So would you do your masters in New Mexico?”

“I’ve thought about it since our last trip out there. I just feel close to the people and area. And … ”

“And what?”

“After some of the things that have happened, I … I … I feel safer out there.”

“Safer?”

“Actually safer for you.”

“For me?”

“The things that have happened to you.”

“To me?”

“How you were attacked. I’m so worried that you’ll be hurt again. But out there you fit in. You look like you belong out there.”

“I’ve also been attacked out there.”

“I know, but it was by people who aren’t from there.”

I just sat there and looked at her for a minute. Then I said, “What about you. What do you want?”

“I want what’s best for us.”, Amy replied. “What’s best for you and me.”

We just sat cuddled together.

My mother walked into the den, and said, “Kids, dad and I are going to bed.”

“I think we’ll head that way soon too.”, I replied. “It’s been a long weekend.”

“Made any decisions?”

“No.”, Amy said. “I think we need to sleep on it, and maybe talk to you and dad, and my parents.”

“Have them over for supper tomorrow, and we can all talk.”

“Good idea, mom. Good night.”

"Good night, mom.", I said.

“Good night kids.”

Amy and I were in bed shortly after that. And as we cuddled together, I said, “You do know what I’ll want to do if we move to New Mexico. Don’t you?”