Teach Me How To Kiss

Body Combat

The kitchen was a disaster! I had been busy baking a precise cake recipe and couldn't decide between flavors; red velvet with a vanilla swirl or French vanilla and berry bits. My lovely mother put me in charge of her wedding cake; it was an honor as much as it was a nightmare. I had been perfecting my recipe for the past month and a half and only had three weeks till the date.

Thankfully it was going to be a small private wedding with only 50 guests at The Arboretum botanical garden. The site looked like a painting; I could only imagine how beautiful everything was going to look. The date was set on the second week of April, not far from my 18th birthday, which meant my mom would be on her honeymoon...in Puerto Rico.

We had finally figured out the center pieces to go with the Marine Corps theme; small glass bowls filled with water, dark blue pebbles and floating tea lights with red rose petals sprinkled around on the table. Janet and Nancy, my mother's friend from work, were the bridesmaids while I was the maid of honor. And Mr. Rogers had two fellow Sergeant Majors as his groomsmen and Terri of course was his best man. Our bridesmaid dresses were a beautiful garnet red to match the men's dress blues.

The stress was mounting as I still had tests and school projects while juggling my night shifts at the restaurant and helping my mom out with the wedding details. I was a busy girl! Not to mention a recent aunt. Elizabeth gave birth last week to a very healthy baby girl. At 8 pounds and 19 inches, Rhea Meade was perfection. To add on to the miracle, Izzy's father finally broke down and insisted that she move back in the house.

Elizabeth's mom was finally at peace having her whole family under one roof. She even decided to take a couple of weeks off to stay with Izzy in the house while Jordan offered to convert his old room into a nursery. Mark, Rhea's father, came every day for a few hours. But according to Izzy, she felt extremely awkward when both him and Devin were there at the same time. Although he was the father, Elizabeth's mom wasn't crazy about him; yet Devin seemed to have made a good impression...not surprisingly.

Janet even visited twice, but something told me that there was more involved since she and Gabe had called it quits. Jordan could possibly be a new target; not sure if that would work or not with Janet leaving to nursing school after the summer. What do I know though? I still was contemplating how Terri and I would work things out with me living in San Francisco. But the more time we spent together the more I was convinced that I wanted to keep him.

Date 3

After our Valentine's picnic and a movie, we went for another bike ride that weekend. It was short because I had to study for a killer pre-calculus test. But Terri stayed with me at home and helped me review; he even made me little quizzes. Not to mention he kept my coffee mug full and provided me with revitalizing shoulder massages...along with energizing smooches.

Date 4

Might not seem like a date but it counts for me. Terri's unit teamed up with the local Fire Department to rebuild a playground for an abandoned neighborhood. Terri made the arrangements and provided me with a check to get all the materials and ingredients I needed to make 300 cupcakes. Yes you heard right 300 CUPCAKES! I mean I haven't even gone to Culinary School and I was plunged into that project. I had a couple of days to get everything ready and the nearby fire station's kitchen to use as my baking headquarters.

I had all my friends help me out that weekend. Devin was my right hand, Janet, my mom, Lilah and Isaiah all pulled through for me. It was the closest experience to knowing what my own bakery would feel like. As crazy and stressful it as it turned out, I didn't think the idea impossible. We brought the colorful cupcakes to the reopening of the park and it was a hit. I had never been so exhausted in all my life, not to mention the pressure of them actually tasting good.