“What can I do?” Meg asked.
“I think we’ll have to eat in the dining room, there are nine of us. Have Jake help you with plates and silverware.”
After lunch, the men had cleanup duty; so Meg and Jess helped Lane finish organizing her closet, leaving time for Lane to have a much needed nap. Lane had always loved an afternoon nap. It was the one thing she remembered about her mother. Her mother died from cancer when Lane was four, but she remembered having a nap with her mother in the afternoons. She smiled. She also remembered waking before her mother. And then she’d sit quietly in the overstuffed arm chair in her parents’ bedroom and “read”, which meant she’d look at picture books and wait for her mother to wake up.
Lane stripped down to her underwear, crawled between the sheets and closed her eyes. In no time, she was asleep and dreaming that her family was engaged in fighting a war against tiny men whose only weapons were cameras.
At 4:15, Ben came into the bedroom and gently lay down next to his wife. He gazed at her as she snuggled into him. He moved her hair away from her face and she stirred. He brushed his lips across hers.
“Hey, sleeping beauty.” He whispered, “It’s time to wake up.”
She snuggled closer to him. “You’re warm. It’s cold out there. Why are you on top of the covers?”
He laughed. “Because I’m here to get you out of bed, not to be convinced to get in with you. We don’t have time for any funny business. Mass is at 5:00.”
She moaned and whispered, “We have time.” as she reached to unbuckle his belt.
He caught her hand. “Stop that.” He kissed her. “Woman, you are insatiable.”
Hadn’t Dr. Sennette told them that her hormones would be raging and that some women experienced heightened sex drive throughout their pregnancies? Whatever the reason, it seemed to be the case right now.
She smiled at him. “Yes, so it seems. Are you complaining?”
“Under ordinary circumstances, it’s the last thing I’d complain about. But we really don’t have time. Believe me, 15 minutes is barely a warm up, and that’s all the time we have.”
He kissed her, and she moaned as she unzipped his khakis. She had her hand around his solid erection and was stroking him. He wasn’t arguing any more. She had freed him from all encumbrances; and was urging him inside as she pushed her white lace panties to one side, clearing the path for him to enter her. She wrapped her left leg around him and pulled him close, moaning and catching her breath as her first orgasm claimed her.
God, how did she do that? She was wet, she was tight, and he had no control. He rolled her onto her back and pushed deep inside her. She moved her hands under his shirt and caressed his back. Suddenly both of her legs were wrapped around him and she was thrusting her hips upward in frantic need. He couldn’t wait any longer, and groaned as he went over. He looked at the clock. She’d gotten him off in less than 10 minutes and managed to have at least two orgasms of her own. He leaned down and kissed her. “I love you.” He felt her muscles contract around him.
“And I love you.” She smiled. “I told you we had plenty of time.” She whispered near his ear. “Now, let me get up so I can get dressed.” She said tapping his shoulder.
He rolled onto his side and looked down at his clothes. He was a wrinkled mess. His clothes looked like he’d just had sex in them; probably because he had. He got up, went to his closet and changed.
Chapter 29
the reception
It had been a tradition since they’d moved to Kansas; the Parkers went to Saturday evening Mass. Usually, they had dinner and went to a movie after Mass; but tonight they came home and changed, before going to Papa’s for the wedding reception.
Lane and Ben were in the master bedroom. Ben was changing into his tux, and Lane into her wedding dress. Jess and Jamie were changing into the clothes they’d worn to the wedding too. Pauli and Joey were changing into their suits. Jake had joined them for Mass but had gone home to change before stopping to pick up Meg. He’d meet the family at Papa’s.
The family entered the ballroom and were stunned. First, there were the roses; hundreds of them, all ivory. The head table, for the wedding party and family, was draped with blush and cream tulle and chiffon forming a canopy. The guest tables had either cream table cloths with blush napkins or blush table cloths with cream napkins. There was a large dance floor, with a string quartet, at one end of the ballroom. There were ivory rose boutonnières for Ben, Jamie, Jake, Joey, Pauli, Tony and Papa. There were ivory rose hand corsages for Lane, Jess, Mama Bellini and Meg. Everywhere Lane looked, she saw bouquets of ivory roses. She leaned toward her husband. “Tell me how many and what they mean.”
“A thousand…” He bent and kissed her as he handed her a rose from the table. “…and one. For a love that will last for all eternity.”
Jess leaned toward Joey. “I don’t know how she stands it. I hate the smell of roses. He sends her two dozen every week. Flowers just die. What’s the purpose?”
Joey shrugged. “He loves her, I guess that’s purpose enough. And she seems to like them. He wouldn’t send them if she didn’t.”
Joey filed that bit of information away. He’d never known a woman who didn’t like getting flowers, but apparently that was just one more thing Jess Parker didn’t do.
“I guess.” Jess said as she scanned the crowd.
She was amazed that Ben had pulled this together on such short notice. All of Lane’s friends were there. There were even friends from Omaha. Joey excused himself and got up from the head table. He’d been weird all afternoon. He’d disappeared just after lunch and hadn’t come back until just before they left for church. He left the ballroom through the door to the kitchen. When Joey got up, Jamie moved from the seat next to Lane and went to the empty seat next to Meg at the end of the table.
Joey shook his head at Jess as she watched him come back in the room with Nana Evie. Ben had brought Nana Evie to surprise Mom. God, she thought, that must be love, bringing your wife’s ex-mother-in-law to your wedding reception and seating her at the head table with the rest of the family.
Ben kept Lane distracted until Joey had seated Evie and walked back to his own seat. Evie tapped her glass and Lane turned to look at her. Evie stood and held her glass in the air. “A toast to the happy couple. May they always be surrounded by family and friends who share in their love. La felicità sempre. Happiness always”
Lane looked at the woman who had once been her mother-in-law, and who had remained her friend. Tears formed and spilled from her eyes. Ben was holding her hand, and gave it a little squeeze before letting go.
Lane wrapped Evie in a hug, whispering, “When did you get here?”
Evie returned the hug and then patted her cheek. “Your husband sent his brother and a private jet to get me this afternoon. They’ve had me stashed at your house since this afternoon.”
Lane looked at Ben. He was an amazing man. “You did this for me?”
“She’s your friend. You’ve said she’s been like a mother to you. I think you need her here.”
There were more toasts. There were knives tapping champagne glasses and people shouting “baciare.” Which Ben told Lane meant “kiss each other”, and he was happy to oblige each time someone said it.
Joey stood and clicked his glass to get everyone’s attention. “For those who don’t know me, I’m Joey Bellini. As the best man, it falls to me to toast the couple. I met Lane just hours before the wedding.” He laughed. “By now you all know they were in a bit of a hurry. I have never seen my brother so happy, so a toast to the beautiful woman who has brought so much happiness into not just his life, but to all of us. I believe Evie Parker may have said it best, La felicità sempre.”