Kristy's Big Day (9 page)

Wedding Countdown:
Saturday—Zero Hour

“Ee-iii!”

It was the Big Day, the day of the wedding.

I woke up with a start and leaped out of bed without really knowing why. Then I remembered. I had to see what the weather was like. The day before had been rainy. If it was still rainy, then (horror of horrors) the wedding would have to be held indoors. The guests would be jammed into Watson's living room like sardines in a can.

I stood at the window and picked up the corner of the shade, but I couldn't bear to pull it back.

If it was raining, Mom would be in one of her moods.

I gathered my courage and lifted the shade.

I was greeted by a clear, blue sky.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

I exclaimed. “Now, if I could just get an idea for a wedding present.”

I ran downstairs thinking, Coffee cups? No. Cheese server? No. Paperweight? No. Pitcher?

No….

The wedding wasn't until two o'clock in the afternoon, but the morning went by in a flash. There was still a lot to do. Nannie came over to help us out. She gave Mom a hand packing for the honeymoon. Then she and Mom rode to the beauty salon in the Pink Clinker to get their hair done. When they came back, Nannie made us all eat something.

“I'd hate for one of you to faint during the ceremony,” she said.

“But I'm too nervous to eat,” Mom replied.

“Just a little something,” Nannie insisted, and suddenly she sounded very much like the mother, and Mom like the daughter.

After we'd eaten enough to please Nannie, it was time to get dressed. I went to my room, closed the door, and, with a feeling of awe, took my bridesmaid gown out of the closet. It had been hanging there in a plastic dry cleaner's bag since the day before.

I was about to put it on when something occurred to me. I ran to my window. “Hey, Mary
Anne!” I shouted. I hoped she was in her room. “Mary Anne!”

Mary Anne's head appeared in her window.

“Come over!” I called. “You want to help me get dressed?”

“Sure!”

Mary Anne was in my room in a flash. She helped me remove the dress from the bag. Then she zipped me into it.

The dress fit perfectly. Nannie had done a terrific job.

“Oh, Kristy,” whispered Mary Anne, “you look beautiful!”

“Thanks,” I replied. “I feel kind of beautiful.”

I put on my white knee-high stockings and my new shoes with the heels.

“What if I
trip?”
I cried, the awful thought slamming into my mind like a truck.

“You won't,” Mary Anne assured me.

My bouquet and the flowers for my hair had been delivered to Watson's, so I was as dressed as I could get for the time being. When Mom and Nannie and my brothers were dressed, too (we looked so elegant!), Nannie whisked us over to Watson's.

“See you at the wedding!” I called to Mary Anne from the window of the Pink Clinker.

At the Brewers' house, Mom and Watson were not allowed to see each other (it was supposed to be bad luck or something), so Mom and Karen and I were taken into a spare bedroom, where Nannie put the finishing touches on us.

Karen was overexcited. She jumped up and down and danced around the room. “Oh, I'm the little flower girl,” she sang. “The flower girl, the flower girl. And here are my white magic petals—”

“Karen, sweetie,” said Mom patiently, “sit down for a minute. You're going to wear yourself out.”

“Mom! Oh, no!” I cried suddenly.

“What is it, Kristy?” Mom asked, alarmed.

“It's a little late for this, but do you have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue?”

“Believe it or not, I do,” said Mom. “My earrings are antiques, my dress is new, I borrowed Nannie's pearl necklace, and, well, some of my underwear is blue—pale blue.”

Karen began to giggle.

“That's a relief,” I said.

Nannie left the room for a moment, and Andrew wandered in. His shoes were untied, his shirt was unbuttoned, his hair was a mess,
and he was trailing his necktie along the floor.

“Andrew!” exclaimed my mother. “You should be ready by now, honey.”

“Everybody's busy,” Andrew wailed, “and I need help.”

“I'll help you,” I said. I put Andrew together and sent him out into the hall, where I caught sight of the Fieldings. “Andrew, you're going to sit with your friends. There are Katherine and Patrick. Stay with them, okay?”

Just as Andrew was running off, Nannie returned. “It's time!” she said excitedly.

Mom and Nannie hugged each other.

I ran to the window and peeped outside. The street in front of Watson's house was lined with cars. “Everybody's here already?” I squeaked.

“They're seated and waiting,” replied Nannie.

Yikes!

“Now, are you two sure you know what to do?” Mom asked Karen and me for the eighty-zillionth time.

“Yes,” said Karen.

“Positive,” I said.

“All right. Let's go.”

Nannie led us through Watson's house to the door to the patio. There we were met by Sam
and Charlie, looking handsome and solemn and somehow not much like my big brothers.

Sam escorted Nannie down the aisle between the folding chairs and seated her in the front row. The guests watched, murmuring approvingly. Then he joined Watson, who was standing with David Michael (the ring bearer) and the minister in front of the guests.

I drew in my breath. I hadn't really had a good look at the yard until then, and I saw that it was beautiful. The minister and my brothers were separated from the guests by garlands of flowers strung between poles. Behind the minister was a sort of arbor, covered with more flowers. It all would have been perfect if not for the sight of Morbidda Destiny's house beyond.

“Okay, Kristy. You're next, honey,” said Mom.

There was a piano player on the patio, and he struck up the wedding march. I stood still for a moment, collecting myself. Then, holding my bouquet firmly in front of me, I walked slowly up the aisle. I was aware that everyone had turned around to look at me. I tried to smile, especially when I spotted Mary Anne and Claudia, but my mouth trembled as if I were going to cry.

The aisle looked a mile long, but at last, I reached the garlands of flowers. I stepped through
them and stood next to the minister, on the other side of him from my brothers and Watson. When I was able to focus on the people in front of me, I saw Karen walking jauntily up that long aisle in front of my mother, who was escorted by Charlie. Karen was strewing her rose petals and grinning broadly. No stage fright for her.

When Mom walked by Nannie, Nannie burst into tears.

In all honesty, I have to say that the next part of the wedding, the vows and stuff, got kind of boring. I stopped paying attention and looked out at the guests. Mary Anne smiled at me. So did Dawn. Jamie Newton waved and called out, “Hi-hi!” which made several people laugh.

Just as the minister was saying, “You may kiss the bride,” I noticed Stacey signaling frantically. She was pointing to me…. No, not to me, to Karen. I looked down. Karen had turned around and was staring at something behind us. From the look on her face, I thought for sure Dracula was back there.

Then Karen let out an ear-piercing shriek. Luckily, she let it loose just when Mom and Watson were finishing their kiss (a very big smooch, I might add), and people were beginning to
rise from their seats with congratulations. The ceremony was over. I dared to turn around.

Morbidda Destiny was standing behind me in full black dress, with her snapping eyes and her frazzly, witchy hair.

“The magics!” Karen wailed. “The magics are going to crash!”

Morbidda Destiny looked at Karen, puzzled. Then she turned to me. “I brought the bride and groom something,” she said, holding out a box.

“Don't take it!” Karen cried. “It's a wedding spell! It's a—”

A hand was clapped over Karen's mouth. Watson had broken away from the celebrating.

“Why, thank you, Mrs. Porter,” he said, accepting the box with one hand, while keeping his other hand over Karen's mouth. “That's very nice of you. Won't you join the guests for some refreshm—Ow!”

Karen had tried to bite her father's hand.
“Daddy—”

I pulled Karen away. Watson regained his composure, and Mrs. Porter did stay at the party for a while. (Karen ran in the house and wouldn't come out until she was gone.)

Later, the caterer wheeled out the wedding
cake. The guests gathered around to watch Mom and Watson cut the first slice. They did it together, both pressing down on the cake cutter. Then they each took a bite of cake, their wrists intertwined. I could see their wedding rings shining in the sunlight.

They're joined, I thought. They're part of each other, and our families have come together to be part of each other, too.

I felt tears spring to my eyes.

And at that moment, I knew what to give Mom and my stepfather.

“Good-bye! Good-bye!”

One after another, our relatives' station wagons pulled away from Watson's house. The wedding was over, the guests were gone, and now our family was leaving, too.

“See you, Luke! Bye, Emma! Behave yourself. Bye-bye, Beth!”

The Meiners were gone.

“Take care of your leg, Ashley! Bye, Peter! Bye, Grace!”

“May the force be with you!” (That was David Michael saying good-bye to Berk.) The Millers were gone.

A friend of Watson's pulled up, picked up Karen and Andrew to take them to their mother's, and then
they
were gone.

Last to leave were Mom and Watson. They were going to spend their honeymoon at a little
inn in Vermont. My brothers and I would be on our own for a week!

Before Mom got in the car, she ran through a list of last-minute instructions.

“Don't forget to walk Louie before you go to bed. And don't forget to change his water. And lock up the house if you're all going to be out. Charlie, you're in charge. David Michael, remember your vitamins.”

“Aw,
Mom
.”

“And, Sam—”

“Mom, Mom, we know
everything,”
I said. “Trust us. We won't leave the burners on—”

“Oh, I hadn't even
thought
of that!” exclaimed Mom.

“—and we'll run the dishwasher, and we know where the emergency money is.”

“And I'll be on call,” spoke up Nannie, who was standing behind us. Nannie was going to drop my brothers and me off at our house and then go home. She looked tired.

“Honey, let's go,” said Watson.

“Oh … all right.” Mom tried to hug all of us at once.

I kissed Watson on the cheek and he told me I'd been a beautiful bridesmaid.

Two minutes later, Mom and Watson were gone, too. Watson honked the horn all the way down the street.

When Nannie dropped Charlie, Sam, David Michael, and me off, we waved to her as the Pink Clinker hummed down the street. Then we went inside, and all four of us collapsed on the floor in the living room. Louie joined us, lolling on his back.

Just when I thought every last one of my brothers was asleep, the silence was interrupted by a snort of laughter from Charlie. Then he said in a deep voice, “All right, you guys. You heard Mom. I'm in charge. These are the house rules.”

I raised my eyebrows. Leave it to Charlie to let a little responsibility go to his head.

“Dinner every night will be pizza. Everyone must go to bed an hour later than usual. Sam, no eating in the kitchen; food is permitted only in front of the TV set
while it's on.
Kristy, you must, I repeat
must,
spend three hours a day talking on the phone. David Michael, go through the
TV Guide
and make sure you don't miss a single cartoon show.”

“Do I still have to take my vitamins?” he asked, inspired.

“Yes,” replied Charlie. “Don't press your luck.”

The four of us were laughing hysterically. It was a good thing, because I'd been just about ready to leak a few tears over the wedding, and Mom's being gone and all.

Instead, when we recovered from Charlie's rules, I went to my room and began working on my idea for the present. Eventually I'd need Claudia's help, but I might as well get my thoughts together before I talked to her. I looked through our encyclopedia for information on family trees. I doodled a bit. I hoped I would have the present ready by the time my mother and stepfather came back.

That night, before David Michael went to bed, he stuck his head in my room and said, “Hey, Kristy, I know what to give Mom and Watson.”

“What?” I asked.

“Goldfish,” he replied.

And that's exactly what he did give them.

The next day, I talked to Claudia about my idea. I went over to her house so we could look at her art supplies.

“See? It'll show both families,” I said, “and how they became one. But I need help with the
design. And I need you to draw a bow and show me how to make those little flowers you drew on that art project for Mr. Fineman last year.”

“Or maybe you should use a real bow,” suggested Claudia.

“Oh, that's an idea! And maybe the background could be a really pretty piece of wallpaper or something.”

Claudia and I bent busily over our work.

We were interrupted later by the sound of the doorbell. That was followed by the sound of feet—lots of them—running up the stairs. Stacey, Dawn, and Mary Anne appeared in the doorway to Claudia's room.

“Hi, you guys!” said Dawn. “We were looking for you.”

“Look what I've got,” said Stacey. “Pictures.” She held out a fat envelope. “They're from the wedding. Mom and I took them to that one-hour developing place downtown. It was open this morning.”

“Ooh!” I shrieked. “Let's see.”

Claudia and I abandoned our project. The five of us plunked down on the floor, and my friends peered over my shoulders as I opened the envelope.

“There you are, getting ready to walk up the
aisle,” said Stacey. “And there you are, walking up the aisle.”

“Look at the expression on my face!” I cried.

“You look so nervous!” said Mary Anne.

“No, she looks like she's going to cry!” exclaimed Dawn.

“Both, I think,” I said. “Gosh, the dress looks pretty, though, doesn't it?”

“Beautiful.”

“Perfect.”

“Where is it now?”

“What are you going to do with it?”

We were all talking at once.

“It's in my closet in a plastic bag,” I told them. “I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I'll probably outgrow it pretty soon.”

“Oh, don't!” wailed Mary Anne. “If
you
start growing, then
I'll
be the class shrimp.”

“Hey, there's Mom and Watson kissing!” I exclaimed. “Stacey, I can't believe you took a picture of them doing
that!”

Stacey grinned slyly. “I thought you'd want the moment captured forever.”

I poked her.

“There's Karen and you and Watson and Morbidda Destiny,” said Mary Anne softly. She shuddered.

“It's hard to believe Mor—Mrs. Porter is going to be my neighbor soon,” I whispered. I quickly stuck the photo on the bottom of the pile. “Here are Mom and Watson cutting the cake,” I said, looking at the next picture. “That's a great photo, Stacey. Hey, you guys, that's what gave me the idea for a wedding present for Mom and Watson.”

“What is?” asked Stacey.

“Mom and Watson, when they linked their wrists like that and stuff. Like in the picture. I thought of how their coming together brought our families together to make another different family. And then I thought I could make them a sort of family tree to show the new family. Claudia's helping me. See what we're going to do?”

I showed them what Claudia and I were working on. “Up at the top,” I explained, “are Karen and Andrew. Then those lines show that they're Watson's children. In the middle, Mom and Watson are joined by a heart. And the lines under Mom's name show that my brothers and I are her children. And that's the new family.”

“That's really something,” said Mary Anne.

“Yeah,” agreed Dawn. “I think it will mean a lot to your mom.”

“I wonder if I can get it framed before the honeymoon is over,” I said.

“I bet my mother and I could go with you to the frame store this week, if you wanted help,” said Stacey.

“Really? Thanks!”

The members of the Baby-sitters Club looked at my new family tree. Mom and Watson, Karen and Andrew, Charlie and Sam and David Michael and me. Two families coming together to make a new family. That's what the wedding had been all about.