Ali and I packed up the pups and headed to Mommy’s house. I think giving Hunter that bread went a long way because he likes Ali a lot. But then again, I couldn’t imagine him not liking anyone. Shiloh has not warmed up to Ali yet. She doesn’t mistreat him or anything, but she definitely has not rolled out the red carpet. She’s probably mad I brought someone else into our home. Oh well.
Mommy surprised me and loved my hair! I thought for sure she would freak out.
“Who are you and what have you done with my child?! Ali done took my baby and made a woman out of you! I am not mad at that!”
Ali blushed.
I let her think whatever she wanted. Ali was a factor in my happiness, but I didn’t change my look because of him. This look reflected how I felt inside. How I always felt inside, honestly. I was just afraid to let her out.
Mommy asked what was going on and how we were, and I couldn’t contain myself.
“We’re getting married!!”
She gasped and covered her heart with her hands. Her eyes bounced between the two of us, and I knew she had concerns. We’d been dating all of five minutes, and when we finally had a “define the relationship” type conversation, we professed our love and committed to each other for life. Very unconventional. I got it. But Mommy knew me. She knew my deep desire and how badly I wanted it. So she congratulated us.
“Oh, my baby. You have gotten so grown on me all at once! I can’t take all this! So when is this wedding?”
“Today!”
“I’m sorry…what? I’m getting old and must be losing my hearing. I thought I heard you say you were getting married today.”
Ali looked so nervous, it was adorable. Most of my friends found her intimidating, and she probably would be pretty scary in action. But I’d been handling her my whole life. She acts tough at first, but she always caved.
“I did.”
She gave Ali nuclear level side eye. “Did you put her up to this?”
“N-no, Mrs. Crenshaw.”
“You know he didn’t.”
“No. I’m not allowing it. You can’t come in here and dump all of this on me and expect me to be happy about it. No.”
“But, Mommy!”
“I said no. These things should be planned!”
“I don’t want to wait! I want to be with Ali!” Oh yeah. I was definitely still a child. I stomped my foot and everything. So pathetic! “And I didn’t come over here to ask for your permission! I thought you’d want to be part of it!”
She took a few moments to respond. I think she may have realized she couldn’t tell me what to do anymore because I was grown-ish. “Baby… What about your friends? Don’t you want to go dress shopping with them? Don’t you and Ali want to fight about where to go on a honeymoon?”
I said to her exactly what I said to Ali. We decided, and a wedding was going down that afternoon with or without her. But preferably with her.
Mommy sighed once more, and I knew she had given up. She always did. “Emerald… I know you and I were in different situations, and I didn’t have time to plan. But you do! I know it doesn’t seem important now, but in the future, when you look back on your wedding day, I don’t want you to have any regrets. You’re behaving as if only the two of you matter, but I’m telling you, you want to have your friends witness this. Your marriage affects all of our lives. So, please. Wait just one more day so we can at least get Nay and Billie over here. They’re your family too.”
Wow. I never lost against her before. It was kind of…humbling. She was right. I considered no one but us. I mean, really, it was all about us. We were the ones binding ourselves to each other for life. Sims eloped all the time. There was no rule that required a crowd. But there were others who loved us and wanted to join in our happiness. And Mommy… She probably had dreams of seeing me under an arch in a beautiful gown, and I ruined it for her. I felt bad. We could wait one more day.
