What It Was

Chapter:36

Dress shopping was hard since the two of them couldn't come along. I could bring them each along to each other's. Cris to Louis' and Louis to Cris'. I sat in Cris' office while he was talking with Louis across the house. The phone started ringing. I looked over at the receiver seeing father across the screen. I ignored it and continued to search for places I could go for the shoes for my dress.

The door opened as the last ring went off. Cris strode over and looked at who it was. "I'll call him back." He grumbled. "How many ceremonies are there going to be?" I asked him. "Louis and I, then you to each of us." He said. "So I need to find two dresses?" I asked. "Unless you want just one dress and one ceremony. I was thinking a separate ceremony because of my father." Cris said.

"I understand that babe. That would mean I would need two dresses." I said. "One of my taste and one of Louis'." He said. "Since my parents aren't around, and Louis' parents want nothing to do with any of this, along with my friends out of the state with their own lives now, I'm definitely going to need a second opinion for the dress I need for his." I said.

"And you want me to go to the shop with you, and help you pick out a dress for his." Cris said. "If you don't mind. You know his style Cris. I'll ask him if he doesn't mind helping me find a dress for yours." I said. He glanced over at me. "If his parents can be fooled that you are marrying him instead of me, and that I am no where in the relationship anymore then they may come for a simple dress fitting then maybe the wedding." He said.

"But then if Louis wants you as his best man, they will get suspicious of it." I said. "That's true." He said. "Then if you want him as your best man, your parents will get suspicious." I said. He nodded. "There's three to four guys that will sign off on the marriage certificate if need be. Several of the guys are married and their wives have been wanting to meet you." He said.

"I could get to know several of the women while dress shopping." I said. "And if I go to make sure it's more of Louis' style." Cris started. "A few of the men could go along so your not the only guy there." I said. He scoffed. "Talk business." He said. "That's fine with me babe." I said. "I'm guessing it will be the same with Louis?" He asked. I nodded.

"I better call that guy back. Go see if you can find Louis and talk to him." Cris said dismissing me. I stood up from my seat and went over to kiss him. He pecked me on the lips before I turned to leave. His hand hit my backside as I went around the desk.

I walked nearly the entire house before finding Louis outside pulling grass out of the flowerbeds. I got down with him pulling grass up. "Do we know the plans for the wedding?" He asked. "Do you?" I asked. "We talked about having a separate one for each of us since his father is to be at his." He said. "That's what we were talking bout." I said.

"One ceremony for him and I, then a separate ceremony for the two of us." I said. "Just thinking, what if we did the ceremony with you and him, then have another one where you both are marrying me?" He asked. "It would save us a ceremony." I said. "It would. You would still need two dresses." He said.

"Speaking of dresses, would you mind going with me to help me find the dress for Cris?" I asked. "As long as I help you find two pairs of heels for both dresses." He said. "You know I will let you help me shoe shop." I said. "These need to be watered." He said. "I'll get the hose for them." I said as I went to get the hose.

As the bed became drenched it became easier to pull grass. "Think we should talk to him later about just the two?" He asked. "Yeah. Because he'll be going with me to pick out the dress for yours." I said. "Is he busy at the moment?" Louis asked. "I think he said he was going to call his father back not too pleased." I said.

"He only deals with his father if he has to." Louis said. "I can tell." I said. "It's not my place to say why he's that way to his father. He prefers not to talk about it." He said. "He doesn't have to speak about it if he doesn't want to." I said. "It's the same way with his drinking. It's gotten better since six months before we met you. He does drink occasionally." Louis said.

"The last time I saw him drinking, was after that dinner we went to in January." I said. "He usually reaches for gin or whiskey. One glass only though." Louis said. "It was gin that night." I said. "He does whiskey when he needs something stronger." Louis said. I nodded.

"We'll talk later about how many ceremonies." I said. "I prefer not to have my parents come." He said. "Is it because of that first boyfriend?" I asked. He scoffed. "They were ok at first with it, then after he turned violent that's when they wanted to truly disown me." He said. We were now in the swing outside. "Probably didn't fully realize that he was abusing you." I said.

"Probably." He said. "Think if they were invited over and saw how kind Cris is and meet me, do you think that they would try to reconnect with you?" I asked. "If I try to reconnect with them." He said.