Marcus: The M Series, Book Three (24 page)

I laughed loudly. “All right, baby. Never again. Come on, go to the bathroom so we can get back to the others and see how Alissa's coming along.”

April 27, 2012

Mariah and I were lying on a chaise in our room at her parents’ home. I missed kissing her and it's all we ever do since Rob decided Pete was right to take our sex life away. She offered... other things for me but I refused. All for both of us or nothing, I told her. I'm just glad she's back and I can't wait to finally make her my wife tomorrow.

But when she was off restriction, all bets were off!

“All right, Marcus, time to go. I won't tell you again.”

“Five more minutes, Rachel,” I murmured against Mariah's mouth. Mariah giggled.

“Marcus! Out! Now!” Rachel laughed, storming into the room. “It's bad luck to see the bride the night before the wedding!”

“You better go, boo. Mom's on a rampage,” Mariah grinned as she rubs her enormous belly. “And I think she wants to give me the birds and the bees talk before the wedding tomorrow.”

“Fine!” I gave Mariah a last peck then reluctantly stood and mock scowled at Rachel. “I think you may be too late on the birth control talk, Rachel. I can't tell but I think she's already pregnant.”

“Ooh! Out! Go, Marcus,” Rachel demanded as she shoved me out the door. “The boys are already downstairs waiting for you.”

I laughed then kissed Rachel's cheek. “Bye, baby. We still on for tomorrow?”

Mariah grinned at me, picking up her watermelon. “Better call me first, Marcus. I have a date at two; it may run long.”

Laughing again, I ran down the stairs and passed Lisa on the way. She paused and scowled, tapping her foot. “You're still here?”

“I'm going now,” I said over my shoulder. I stopped and looked back at her. “If she needs anything, Lisa...”

She smiled at me. “You'll be the first I call. I'll be here all night. Now go! And don't corrupt my fiancé, Marcus!”

“Hey! There's the groom! Ready to party, Frank,” Rob shouted as I entered Thomas' study, shaking my head. They were all puffing away on cigars.

“Absolutely!” I looked at Matthew. “No strippers.”

He yanked the cigar out of his mouth, appearing offended. “I wouldn't dare,” he said, his voice going up three octaves.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I promise I didn't hire any females to take off their clothes. And no alcohol for you, Cramp. You miss tomorrow, we will all kill you,” Matthew declared, laughing.

Everyone laughed as Dad passed me a glass.

“Ginger ale,” he laughed as he lit my cigar.

“How's Cookie, Marcus,” Ethan asked.

“Tired, but happy,” I smiled. “Snacking on watermelon... again!”

“I think Monica and I should invest in a watermelon farm. We could make a killing the next time Mariah gets pregnant,” Tom joked.

“I got half on that, Tom,” Joshua declared.

I laughed with everyone else and held up my glass. “Cheers!”

“Cheers,” they shouted back.

Rob slapped my shoulder. “All right, Frank. I'm going to check on Mariah, then let the party begin!”

“Hear, hear!” Ethan yelled.

“Hear, hear,” we yelled back. Rob left the room, laughing

I didn't know what they had planned but I let them blindfold me when Rob returned, thinking I had better not see one stripper.

* * *

The blindfold was taken off of me and I realized we are in Rob's converted garage. Suggestive music started playing in the background. Ira immediately grabbed a beer and went to the card table.

“Toad! I said no strippers,” I shouted.

“Why do you assume me,” Matthew murmured, staring at a buxom brunette in a faux nurse's uniform as she danced around us. The brunette was soon joined by other similarly clad women in every nationality.

I smirked at him. “Who else?” I looked around and Ethan was grinning way too hard. I laughed at him. “Mariah is going to kill you!”

Ethan laughed hard. “Hey, we all have connections, Marcus. Just gotta know when to use which!”

I pushed Rob, Ethan, Matthew, Nathan, Mike Weiss, and Greg Cross forward then laughed as I followed Bryan, Dad, Thomas, Russell, Tom and Joshua to the card table with Ira. “Poker, gentlemen?”

“Hell no,” they all shouted.

I patted Ira's back. “Sorry, Ira. I did tell them no strippers.”

He shrugged and watched the single men have the time of their lives. Needless to say, Matthew and the women provided us with quite a floor show.

April 28, 2012

Dad patted my back as I fixed my tie. “Ready, son?”

“I've been ready for this day since I met her,” I smiled.

“Good. You picked a wonderful girl, son. I'm very proud of you.”

That meant a lot to me. I nodded and quietly said, “Thanks, Dad.”

“All right, Cramp,” Joshua shouted. “Who's the best man?”

I turned. He had Matthew in a half Nelson.

“Damn it, Twerp,” Matthew yelled as he elbowed Joshua in the gut. “Cramp, tell this fool it's my turn!”

“Mariah and I decided no attendants. Just her and I at the altar.”

They immediately froze.

Matthew scowled at Joshua. “Do you see what you did? Now, it's not either of us!”

“Me? You're the one who nagged and pleaded!”

“I do not nag, Twerp!”

“What the fuck do you think you're doing now, Toad?”

“Boys! Do I have to go get your mother,” Dad shouted over them.

“No, sir,” they said in unison, like they were six and nine again.

“Nice work, Dad,” I grinned.

He smiled. “Let's get you married before they start up again.”

Of course, as we went down the stairs they started tagging each other. I turned, tilted my head and glared, giving them the same move I did when Mother would get exasperated with them. The first time I did it, I ended up making Matthew black and blue after he flushed Evelyn's earring down a toilet. Since then, all I had to do was give them that look, and they straightened up. I hadn't done it in fifteen years, at least.

To my surprise, it worked right away. They moved to either side of the stairs and behaved. I mentally patted myself on the back.

I greeted our guests with a huge grin on my face, with Matthew at my side. I spotted Ira, who was definitely feeling the aftermath of the party last night. I made him a vodka and Red Bull and laughed at his perplexed and doubting expression when I passed it to him.

He swallowed the drink fast. “Fuck you, Marcus. What the hell was in that punch?”

I laughed again. “Something that makes a gay man forget he’s gay with a female stripper!”

Matthew grinned at me. “That was no female, Cramp. I hired only one stripper and it was that one especially for Ira!”

“Don't think I didn't appreciate that, either,” Ira grinned. “I appreciated it all fucking night.”

I laughed again and slapped his back. He winced. “Hurry up and get married, man. I'm sleeping for a week after this.”

Ethan was sitting with sunglasses on and looking very pale.

“What's this,” he asked when Matthew gave him a vodka and Red Bull.

“Hair of the dog with a kick,” I informed. “Give it a couple minutes. At your bachelor party, I hope you do better than last night.”

“I hope I don't,” he grinned, then swallowed the drink fast. “Matthew will make sure I won’t.”

“Damn right I will,” Matthew laughed, patting Ethan's back, making him groan.

Mandy approached and gave me a small box. “This is from Mariah,” she smiled. “Glad you two made it here, Marcus.”

“Me too.” I grinned and opened my gift. It grew bigger when I saw the platinum cufflinks with our initials and wedding date engraved on them. Mandy helped me remove the old ones.

“Very nice.” Mandy smiled when she’d finished fastening the new cufflinks. “That must have been some party last night,” she murmured as she looked around the garden.

“Not really. Poker and too much drinking. Very tame,” I said as Bryan tottered into the garden with his wife, Sarah. She was shooting daggers at me and Matthew. Bryan definitely had a little too much fun, and unfortunately, he took a few pictures.

I think Dad, Thomas and I were the only ones who didn’t drink last night. Everyone else tied one on hard.

“Maybe we had too much fun last night,” I said to Matthew after Mandy left us. We watched Russell stagger in and almost trip. He grabbed a seat and put his head in his hands. Matthew and I moved to the bar and made more of the drinks.

“Russell and Twerp didn't have a real party before they married. We had to make it up to them.”

I nudged his arm. “Did you go home with that Asian beauty?”

“Yeah, I did... and her Hispanic friend, too. I almost didn't make it here on time. I haven't slept, yet. Well, I had a little in between rounds, and I had a hell of a wakeup call!”

I shook my head as he laughed. I walked over to Russell and gave him a drink.

“All of it,” I advised him. He shushed me.

“Damn... How the hell is Matthew walking around and laughing like that? He drank more than I did. So did Ethan. Look at him.”

I glanced over at Ethan, who was laughing and talking with some guests. I tapped Russell's glass.

“You should have seen him twenty minutes ago. Drink up.”

“Your sister is pissed at me. She says I can't play with you guys anymore,” he chuckled.

“She'll get over it,” I laughed. “We’ll be in a park, soon.”

He laughed. I patted his back then gave Bryan a fixer, too. Sarah's scowl and glare in my direction spoke volumes.

“Were there strippers at that party, Marcus?”

“Yes.”

“Did he touch any of them?”

“Yes.”

Bryan glared at me.

“I knew it,” Sarah pouted, on the verge of tears.

“He touched one's breasts and told her yours were better. She was very offended and left.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. Bryan grinned and winced. He downed his drink quickly.

“You’re lying, Marcus.”

“Matthew,” I called.

My brother walked over to us. “Hi, Sarah. You know, you really know how to fuck up a bachelor party, Bryan. I can't believe you insulted that stripper.”

Sarah glared at Matthew. “How did he insult her?”

“He told her that her ass needed work and that was after he told that other one her breasts were nowhere near as good as yours.” He stared at her chest. “Mmm, he was right! Damn, Bryan, you are a lucky guy!”

“Stop leering at his wife, Matthew! Go fix Mike one of those!”

Sarah sighed. “You still like my breasts, Bryan?”

“Always, sweetheart. You know that,” Bryan said softly as he passed me his empty glass. He gave me a thumbs up then waved me off.

Rob approached me as I went back to the bar. “Please tell me she is single,” he said with a groan. “Damn, I meant to meet her at Twerp’s wedding.”

I looked around. “Who?”

“That beautiful girl in the blue dress. No over there.”

I looked where he’s nodding. “Elka?”

“Elka,” he groaned. “Is she single? Tell me she's single!”

I laughed. “No idea. Let's go find out.”

I smiled at Elka as Rob and I walked over. I kissed her cheek.

“Thanks for coming, Elka. How are your parents?”

“They're great, Marcus, thank you,” Elka grinned. “Except Mom is ticked she can't be here. She's still raving about Mariah saving Mandy's reception. You guys are getting married fast and they couldn't get a flight back in time. Be aware: Mom’s threatening to bake something for you when she returns,” she laughed. “Did you like our gifts for the babies?”

I laughed and nodded. “Yes, we did. I think you bought out a toy store. Mariah was excited and very pleased.”

Elka smiled. “It was the least we could do after she was so giving to Mandy and Joshua.”

“She was,” I nodded then turned to Rob. “Rob, meet Mandy’s sister, Elka Plummer. Elka, do you remember Dr. Robert Brand?”

She smiles at Rob. “I do. I saw him at Mandy and Joshua's wedding. He disappeared before I could slip him my number.”

Rob sat next to her. “I had to leave early; I was paged for a delivery. Is it possible to get that number now?”

She grinned. “Of course, Dr. Brand. Or I could give it to you over breakfast in the morning.”

Rob's jaw dropped. He sat back and stared at Elka. “Go away, Frank. Go get married or something.”

I chuckled as my father approached. “Come, son. Your bride is ready.”

I grinned as we walked toward the altar. “How did they take it?” I asked Dad.

“They were surprised and happy. I think they're okay with it.”

I nodded. Last night, I asked Dad to tell Matthew and Joshua they both were going to be best man but to wait until the last minute.