Sophia and I had a full day of wedding prep ahead, so I woke up early the next morning to take Rosie out for a nice, long walk. Even though we’ve taken the dogs pretty much everywhere we went over the past few days, I felt like I had neglected them. So much had gone on, and I didn’t have time to give them my focused attention and wouldn’t be able to for the next few days. Since Rosie was the energetic one, I figured she’d appreciate some one-on-one time outside.
Our day began with instructions from Mama to meet her at an address in Tartosa. It was a house on a hill with a breathtaking view of the ocean and close access to nearby shops and beaches. The place was beautiful, but why were we there?
“What is this place, Mama?”
“This is your honeymoon rental. Surprise!”
Sophia gasped.
“Wha… Mama! This is too much. You don’t have to pay for the wedding and our honeymoon.”
“Luca,” she said in a warning tone, “if you are fortunate enough to provide for your children like I do, you will. I hope you’ll get the chance to know what that’s like.”
Before I could rebut or say anything more, she sent us away with a list of errands while she stayed at the house doing whatever she was doing in there. Don’t get me wrong. I was grateful to keep some money in my pocket. And I understood why she did all this. I just hoped she wasn’t spending all her money on me. True, I didn’t know exactly how much money she had, but I didn’t think we were a wealthy family. We were always comfortable, never extravagant, but she still had to work for a living. She still had a long life ahead of her, and I wanted her to enjoy everything she worked for.
Our list landed us at the bakery first.
“Hi… I’m here to pick up a cake,” I said to the man in the window.
“Name?”
“Murillo.”
“Ah! Yes, I spoke to your mother this morning. Just a minute.”
I rarely had to tell sims my last name, and it felt a bit odd to say. I honestly hadn’t said it since…maybe high school. Wow. But saying it to the guy with Sophia beside me, knowing this time tomorrow she might have my name… I was so proud…and very turned on.
“Here you go,” the man said. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
“We’ve got cake,” Sophia said.
“Mmm hmm. There’s no turning back now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep. It’s in the wedding handbook. Once the cake has been secured, no one can cancel the wedding.”
“Hmmm. I like this rule.”
On our way to the flower shop, a clothing store with fancy, expensive suits and gowns in the window distracted us.
“Look at these,” Sophia shouted. “Could you imagine wearing something so expensive?”
“Imagine it? Absolutely. Dropping the coin, no way.”
“Right? It’s crazy!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mama walking toward us from a few blocks away, so we left the store to find the flower stand we were supposed to hit up next. But when we got there, it was closed.
“Don’t tell me it’s closed,” Mama said when she found us. “It’s not even 6:00 yet!”
“Maybe they went out for lunch or something,” Sophia said.
“Yeah,” I chimed in. “We could wait a few minutes and see if they come back.”
Mama sighed.
“Fine. Let’s go sit over there so we don’t miss them.”
The large fountain near the shop had the perfect vantage point to wait. I personally didn’t care if we got the flowers or not. The venue probably had more than enough decorations already. But this was Mama’s show, and if she wanted more flowers, we’d wait. It was a nice day for sitting around and taking in the sights. The sound of the water bubbling in the fountain and the random cool mist on my neck provided a refreshing respite from the all the running around we’d done that week. But after a while, I think we were all a bit restless.
“I wanted to elope,” Mama said.
She never talked about wanting to marry Dwayne, so I needed clarification.
“Elope with Dad?”
“Mmm hmm. I was so hasty. Once I decided we were meant for each other, that was it. I didn’t care about a dress and a party. I just wanted to be with him. He was the one who wanted the wedding.”
“So, what happened?” I asked.
“Mommy happened. I wore Ali down and convinced him we didn’t need a wedding, but there was no changing Amina Pope’s mind. And believe me, I tried.” She began to laugh. “Oh, I was such a brat that day. I was about your age and still so immature.”
“Where was the wedding, then?”
“In her backyard. I may not have been able to sway her on eloping, but I would not back down on getting married immediately. I threatened to take Ali to the beach and do it without her right then if she didn’t get onboard, but she convinced me to wait just one more day so she could get things together and invite my Aunt Nay. Remember Billie? That was her mother. They were best friends. Anyway…it was Winterfest, and-“
“You got married on Winterfest?”
“We sure did.”
With us getting married on New Year’s Eve, could this be the beginning of a family tradition? Holiday weddings?
“I was blown away when we got up. Mommy had turned the whole house into a Winterfest wedding wonderland. She was a designer and always kept our house looking nice. She designed your room!”
“Really?”
“Sure did. She loved you so much, Luca. She did everything for you, just like she did for me. All I’ve ever wanted to do was be an excellent mother, just like her. I know you think I’m doing too much, and I might be, but it’s what she would do. And I want you to feel special how I felt special.”
“You always make me feel special, though,” I said. “I don’t need extra flowers and a giant house to feel that… But I appreciate what you’re doing.”
Sophia cleared her throat.
“I hate to break up this tender moment, but I need to start getting ready for tonight.”
Mama checked the time.
“It is getting late. You guys go. I’ll deal with this.”
She gave us the keys to the house and sent us on our way. We walked back to the house in silence, Mama’s story weighing on our minds. Well, my mind, at least. I loved hearing about Gammy and stretched my brain, trying to remember just one moment. But I was too young. I couldn’t even conjure her face without seeing a photograph.
“Luca! Look!”
Of course Mama was fixing up the house for us. I should have expected that.
“This is so special,” Sophia shouted.
What was special was finally being alone with her. Maybe I could convince her to free me from all the wild thoughts I had at the bakery.
We stepped into the house, and Sophia looked around. I kept my eyes on her. All I could think about was how we were going to spend three glorious days holed up in our room, and I wanted to get started expeditiously.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said.
“How am I looking?”
“Like you want to devour me. We don’t have time.”
“Pretty please?”
“Come on. Let’s see the rest of this house.”
She left me and went outside, so I followed. We had the perfect view of the ocean from the patio, and Sophia was beside herself.
“Uuuuggghhh why can’t it be warmer?? I just want to dive in there right now! This is so beautiful!”
I was rather impressed myself. Mama really outdid herself.
