Just then Louis, Zoe and my mother came into the room, laughing as though they had shared a great joke. My mother’s face fell when she saw the expression on my face.
“Is everything alright, Teddy?” She had already assumed he had said something to set me on edge. (To be fair, this was often the case.)
I winked at her. “Everything’s fine, Mom. Dad was telling me how much he likes Louis.”
Louis grinned. “The feeling is mutual, Mr. Bennett.” He turned to the rest of my family. “I wanted to thank you for welcoming me into your home. I have felt so lucky since the day I met Sydney and now that I have met all of you, I feel even luckier.”
My mom looked like she was going to cry. She hugged Louis quickly and went off to find a tissue. My dad shook Louis’ hand, said something gruffly that I couldn’t hear and followed her out of the room.
Charlie turned to Louis. “Nice job! You know how to clear a room.”
Zoe smacked Charlie in the stomach. “Charlie! He might not know you’re joking!”
Louis laughed. “Do not worry, Zoe. I know Charlie pretty well already. We seem to think alike.”
Zoe eyed the two of them skeptically and then turned to me. “Syd, I think we have a serious problem. These two are going to be big trouble.”
I giggled. “No joke!” It warmed my heart to see Charlie and Louis getting along so well. Though I agreed with Zoe; I could see shifty things in their future.
“It sounds like you young people are having too much fun in here.” My father came in carrying a bottle of champagne. My mother followed him carrying six glasses.
Charlie whistled. “You brought out the good stuff. What are we celebrating?”
Zoe stared at him like he was crazy. “Your sister’s engagement?”
He pulled Zoe into his arms. “Oh, yeah. I knew something important was going on here.” He smiled and kissed her tenderly.
My dad smacked Charlie on the back of the head. “There will be plenty of time for that later. Now is the time to focus on your sister.”
Charlie laughed. “Yes, sir.”
I took a deep breath. My dad’s toasts were legendary - most often for embarrassing the recipients. I think Zoe is still recovering from the toast he gave at their engagement party nine years ago. No one was particularly interested in hearing about my brother’s escapades in college. Charlie’s run in with the campus police and physical descriptions of his girlfriends before Zoe were simply not suitable for such an occasion. I know it was my father’s version of humor, but I don’t think Zoe’s grandmother ever recovered from some of the details he gave. They were surprisingly vivid.
I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer he would keep it clean. The myriad of inappropriate topics he could bring up flashed before my eyes. I had told Louis most of the compromising moments from my past, but I had no desire to relive them in front of my family for my father’s enjoyment. The only thing I could take comfort in was that my father was unaware of the worst offenses...
The pop of the champagne cork brought me back to reality. I locked eyes with Louis, hoping that everyone’s good humor would hold through whatever revelations took place. I had a tendency to overreact (just a little) when I was teased sufficiently.
My mother handed me a glass of champagne. “Syd, he promised me he would keep it short and sweet.”
I smiled cautiously. “Did you ask him not to embarrass me?”
She shook her head slowly. “There’s only so much I can do, honey.”
Lovely. Well, at least Louis had already agreed to marry me.
And
he had seen me act in a peculiar manner on more than one occasion and still loved me. What could my father possibly say which would change that? I was probably overreacting. Again.
My father cleared his throat. We all regarded him with anticipation. The expression on my face had to have been a mix of pleading, panic, resignation and sheer terror all rolled into one. My father took one look at me and burst into laughter.
“Relax, Duck. I’ll keep it brief.” He grinned and turned to Louis. “Louis, we’re all grateful you’ve come into our lives. I’ve never seen Sydney this happy and I’m overjoyed that the two of you have decided to spend the rest of your lives together. Welcome to the family.”
My mother beamed and raised her glass. “To Sydney and Louis.”
Everyone else followed her lead. I stared at my father in disbelief. He had let me off
far
too easily. Was he saving the truly embarrassing toast for a more public occasion, like our wedding?!? I would have to kill him if this were the case. Having my father trot out my most questionable decisions for all our family and friends to analyze was
not
part of the plan for my perfect wedding day.
Just as we all clinked our glasses, my father turned to Louis and said, “Make sure to cut off her access to liquor after the second drink. You’ll save yourself a world of trouble.”
And there it was. Thanks, Dad. He even had the nerve to glance over and wink at me. Leave it to my father to end the evening with his perverse sense of humor.
The remainder of our visit in New York was relatively uneventful and for this, I felt quite fortunate. Zoe and Charlie had us over for dinner the night after Thanksgiving and we finally had an opportunity to relax. Zoe and I were able to catch up and Charlie and Louis talked about everything from world news to car parts. I took my mother Christmas shopping on Saturday while my father educated Louis on his knife collection. My father has over five hundred knives, so it was a very, very long (not to mention frightening) day for Louis. He bore the entire visit surprisingly well. It seemed my fiancé could deal with just about anything.
As we rode to the airport in the backseat of my parents’ car, I put my head on Louis’ shoulder and sighed. He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head.
“Did you have a good time,
mon coeur
?”
I gazed up at him and smiled. “It was perfect.”
He laughed and squeezed my hand. I was a little startled to discover that my definition of perfect was evolving.
The month of December went by in a blur and the New Year arrived swiftly. I had used my remaining vacation time over the holidays to conduct some serious wedding planning. I reviewed the catering menus for our wedding venue and selected several items for our tasting session, researched several options for our honeymoon, had my first dress fitting and chose a dress for my bridesmaids. I’m not joking when I say choosing this dress was harder than choosing my wedding dress!
Everyone had a different idea on style and color and Kate was the only one who seemed to care about my opinion. In fact, Maya was still trying to convince me that her choice of a red satin strapless mini dress was much more alluring than the plum, off the shoulder, knee length dress I had chosen. After much debating, I pointed out that I had intended the dresses to be sophisticated, not alluring, and if she had any sense she would remember this was MY wedding and she would be well advised to shut her mouth. Apparently, Bridezilla Sydney would come out if pushed.
In the midst of all the wedding planning, Louis and I were able to have a nice quiet Christmas. Since it would be Kate’s last chance to travel before the baby was born, she and Nick decided to head back to the east coast to visit our parents. It was a little strange not being with my parents or siblings for the holidays, but it was nice to introduce Louis to my family’s favorite Christmas traditions. We trimmed our beautiful Christmas tree, baked gingerbread cookies, watched
Holiday Inn
and
The Sound of Music
and dined on roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Christmas Day.
Going back to work was difficult after having so much time off, but I was looking forward to catching up with my boss and coworkers. I was going to have to wait until next week to do this in person though, since my boss was sending me to a five day training on our new employee database software. Before I left, I reminded Louis that I would be in downtown San Jose for the week and would only be reachable on my cell phone. He told me he had meetings all morning and would check in with me in the afternoon.
The morning passed fairly quickly as my brain attempted to absorb all the features of the new benefit tracking system. I was thankful when our lunch break arrived since my eyes were burning from three straight hours of staring at a computer screen. I quickly ran to the bathroom and then checked my cell phone for messages. Oddly enough, there was one from Louis. I wondered if he had finished his meetings early.
From the moment I heard his voice, I knew something was wrong. While he simply asked me to call him back, his voice was...strained. It lacked his usual warmth and genial tone. I wracked my brain, trying to remember if he had told me about any difficult projects coming up for him at work, but couldn’t come up with anything. I had a sinking feeling that whatever the issue was, it was
bad
.
I dialed Louis’ work number and noticed my hands were shaking. He picked up on the first ring.
“
Mon coeur
, I am so glad that you called.”
I cut to the chase. “Are you OK, Bluey?”
He hesitated. The anticipation was killing me. What happened? Did someone die? It was so unusual for Louis to be this concerned about anything. I couldn’t wait any longer.
“Louis! What’s going on? You have me really worried.” Honestly, Syd, like that’s
so
unusual! I knew I shouldn’t have pressured him, but something was seriously wrong and I needed for him to get to the point as quickly as possible.
He exhaled slowly. “Syd, I got some bad news this morning.”
Shit! He sounded absolutely awful. Who died? Oh my God! We were going to have to go back to France for a funeral. And I still hadn’t signed up for French lessons! I wasn’t prepared to meet his family. They were going to think I’m crazy! OK, Sydney, this thought process is wrong on so many levels. Reel yourself back in. I took a deep breath and attempted to calm my frazzled nerves.
“What happened?!?” My voice was much shriller than I had intended. Sydney, you must relax. Louis needs you to help HIM this time.
He sighed. “I lost my job. My company had a large scale layoff and my position was eliminated.”
Wait? What? I wasn’t expecting that. I closed my eyes and took yet another deep breath.
“I’m so sorry, Bluey.” I frowned. It seemed rather strange for him to lose his job only a few months after he was transferred to the US. It was going to be hard for him to find another job on a visa, but at least he had a little time to figure it out.
Louis was oddly silent on the other end of the line. I started to wonder if something else had happened. He was never this quiet.
“Louis, is something else wrong?”
He cleared his throat. “Well, you could say that. I just found out that my company had me on a J-1 visa, not an L-1 visa, as I had thought. In addition to that, I have discovered that since we earn three year college degrees in France rather than four year degrees, I may not qualify for an H1-B visa.”
I didn’t like where this was going. Immigration was one of the functions I handled for my company, so I was alarmingly familiar with all the options.
He sighed. “I have thirty days to figure this out or I will have to leave the country.”
My head started to spin. I stared at the ceiling and willed myself not to scream. I was in a public place and felt no desire to let everyone here know how insane I was.
I exhaled very slowly. “OK, there’s no need to panic.” Yes, I know this statement is ironic coming from me. “The safest thing to do is to get married.” Did I just say that?
“Syd, I...”
“Louis! Do you know how long I’ve waited for you? Seriously, you took FOREVER to come into my life. I dated a parade of total losers while I was waiting for you to show up and it wasn’t fun. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some stupid visa issue keep you from me for even a day.” Holy crap! I think I finally found my backbone.
He started to chuckle. There was my Louis. He had returned. “You are an amazing woman, Sydney Bennett.”
I smiled. “I know. You tell me often enough.”
“How did I get to be so lucky?”
I shook my head. The poor man still had no idea of the degree of crazy he had been saddled with. “You must have been a saint in a former life. Now, down to business. We’ll go to city hall tomorrow, apply for a license and be married by the end of the week.”
“But what about all the wedding plans? You have gone through a lot of effort...and it is everything you have dreamed of for so long.”
“Don’t be silly! We’ll still have the wedding in Monterey. What does it matter if we’re technically already married? It just means we won’t have any jitters that day.” This wasn’t such a bad plan. I’m a genius!
Louis laughed. “So instead of having two weddings, we are going to have three.”
I slapped my palm on my forehead. “Yes, I suppose we will. Three weddings to the same man! I may as well change my name to Elizabeth Taylor.” Then I remembered even Elizabeth Taylor only married the same man twice.
“You realize I have no idea what you mean, right?”
I giggled. “Don’t worry, Bluey, I’m just having one of my moments. It’ll pass.”
I noticed the trainer signaling everyone back inside. How the hell was I going to concentrate on software at a time like this?
“Louis, our training session is starting up again, so I have to go. I’ll call you during our afternoon break, OK?”
“OK,
mon coeur
. I love you.” He still sounded so sad.
“I love you too. Please don’t worry, Bluey. Everything is going to be alright.”
After I hung up with Louis, I picked up my purse and started walking to the training room. With each step I took, the realization that I was going to have to get married in the next thirty days or send my fiancé back to France hit me right between the eyes. I began to have trouble breathing. I had to call Kate. She would be able to talk me down from this ledge. I desperately hoped she didn’t decide to pull an “I told you so” out of her arsenal. This just wasn’t the moment.
I walked back towards the lounge area and dialed Kate’s cell phone. Thankfully, she picked up right away.
“Hey, Syd! How...”
“Kate!” I cut her off. I know, I know, where were my manners? There was no time for niceties. We had a true crisis on our hands. “I’m sorry to cut you off. I’m really and truly freaking out here. This is
not
a drill. I can’t breathe.”
“Sydney, you need to relax. I’m sure it’s not as big of a deal as you think.” She sighed.
“Well, Kate, this is one instance in which you’re
wrong
. I know this must come as a huge shock to you, because you’re
never
wrong, but here we are.” I exhaled very slowly. “I’m getting married.”
Kate started to laugh. “Duh! What have we been planning for? Seriously, Syd. You need to take a break.”
“No, you don’t understand.” My voice must have gone up five octaves. “I’m getting married, like, tomorrow.” OK, so it was a bit of an exaggeration, but I tend to do that under pressure.
The other end of the phone was silent.
“Did you hear me?!?” I was barely keeping hold of my sanity.
“Syd, what happened? You’re clearly leaving out some vital information here.” She sounded totally confused.
“I’m sorry! I guess in my total freak-out, I forgot to make sense! Because I usually make so much sense, right?!?” I was dangerously close to a meltdown of epic proportions. I put my head between my knees and took a few deep breaths. In the process, I dropped the phone.
“Syd? Are you alright? I’m truly worried now. What’s going on?” She was practically yelling.
I picked up the phone. “I’m sorry for scaring you.” Seriously, Sydney, you freaked out your poor pregnant sister. Pull yourself together! “Louis was laid off, which means he no longer has a visa, which means that either we get married immediately or he’ll be deported.”
Kate gasped. “Holy crap! What are you going to do? Are you sure this is your only option?”
I took a shaky breath. “From what I can tell, it
is
our only option. I thought his company had him on an L-1, but they somehow put him on a J-1, which doesn’t make sense and he most likely won’t qualify for an H1-B due to the difference in the French education system...”
Now it was Kate’s turn to interrupt. “Why are you speaking in acronyms? English please!”
I shook my head in another vain attempt to clear it. I don’t know why I bothered. It never worked.
“I’m sorry, Kate. I was talking about his visa. I won’t bog you down in the details, but the bottom line is due to the way his company filed his visa, there’s no viable option for him to stay in the country through employer sponsorship at this point.” I leaned my head against the wall. “If we don’t get married soon, then he’ll have to leave the country.”
“OK, Syd, this isn’t what you planned, but you’ll make it work, right? You two will get married this week at city hall and you’ll have the wedding you’ve always dreamed of in September.” She paused. “And then you’ll get married again in October...”
“Oy vey. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” I chuckled softly.
“It’s, um, unusual, but Louis is definitely worth it.”
I closed my eyes and smiled. “Yes, he is. I would do anything for him.”
“As he would for you, Syd. You two are very lucky to have found each other.” She sniffled. Oh crap! Here come the hormones!
“Thank you for pulling me back from the edge, Kate. I know it’s a lot to ask of you in your heightened emotional state.”
She laughed. “But you’re definitely worth it. I love you, Syd.”
“I love you too, Kate.” I paused. “I now have the unpleasant task of calling our parents and asking them to fly out here to witness my wedding in city hall.”
“Oooh, I had forgotten about that. May the Force be with you, Syd.”
I grimaced. “Thanks. I’ll fill you in later.”
I hung up with Kate and immediately dialed my mother’s store before I lost my nerve.
My father, of course, picked up on the second ring.
“Duck! To what do I owe the honor of your call in the middle of a work day?” He sounded very happy to hear from me. That probably won’t last for much longer. I swear, I’m quite tired of calling him with questionably good news.
I sighed, completely resigned to my fate. “Hi, Dad! Um, would you mind putting Mom on the phone? I’m afraid I have something to tell you both...again.”
“Oy vey, Syd! Give me a second.” He yelled for my mother to pick up the other phone.
“Hi, Sydney.” My mom sounded very cautious. I don’t blame her. I would be too given my past history of phone calls.
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to tell you.” I took a deep breath. “Louis was laid off from his job and if we don’t get married within the next thirty days, he’ll be deported.”