Leila awoke with excitement on an early October morning. Today was the day of her brother and Shannon's wedding. She'd been looking forward to the day since Shannon and her brother had gotten engaged. Her excitement was made more special by the fact that Mia would be joining her. For months she had imagined she'd be going alone and would have to navigate awkward conversations with distant family members by herself, but now having someone to accompany her made her feel much more at ease.
Leila spent the majority of the morning getting ready. She'd ordered a dark green dress a few months back and carefully curled her hair in her bedroom.
The ceremony would be simple, just a small outdoor wedding at a local golf course, yet she still felt it necessary that she look her best. Even if she wasn't part of the wedding party, it would be the first time she'd be seeing several family members in a while, and she wanted to make sure she at least looked presentable.
Leila's heels clacked against the hardwood floor as she stepped into the living room. She went to pour herself a morning cup of coffee when she heard the door to Mia's bedroom open. Leila could tell already Mia was also wearing heels by the same familiar clacking.
As Mia stepped out from the corner, Leila held back a screech of surprise. Mia's hair had been curled slightly; she wore glittering earrings and a small jeweled necklace. What took Leila aback most of all was the elegant navy blue jumpsuit Mia was wearing. She looked absolutely stunning. It made Leila slightly jealous of the fact Mia wasn't accompanying her as her actual date.
"Is this okay?" Mia asked, noticing Leila's surprise. "All my dresses felt a little too simple, so I thought the jumpsuit—"
"No, it looks great!" Leila assured her.
"Thanks. I like your dress," Mia said.
Leila hoped Mia couldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks. "Thank you. I bought it a few months back."
"Well, it looks great on you," Mia said.
"T-Thanks," Leila said again. "Are you about ready to go?"
Mia nodded.
Leila gave Fuji a few good-bye scratches and lectured him about how there was dry food in the kitchen should he get hungry throughout the day, though she doubted he understood by the way he rolled over and went back to sleep.
Leila felt strangely nervous on the car ride over to the golf course. Perhaps it was because she was bringing Mia along, or maybe the nerves she knew her brother was feeling were somehow permeating her as well.
"So why didn't Shannon make you a bridesmaid?" Mia asked.
"Oh. We talked about it, but they wanted to keep the wedding party small, and she wanted to make sure her bridesmaids and my brother's groomsmen matched in numbers. I don't mind much. I don't like the attention anyway. I was happy to just go with my parents. I'm glad you're coming along now too," Leila said.
"Thanks for inviting me," Mia replied.
It was the perfect day out on the golf course. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and although the air was slightly chilled, it wasn't cold enough for Leila to shiver.
"I'm sure I'll be bombarded by family members, so stay close to me," Leila told Mia as they headed toward the venue.
"Trust me, I was planning on it," Mia replied.
The wedding venue was situated adjacent to the golf course, surrounded by colorful autumn trees and a white arch embedded with fresh, colorful flowers. Several white chairs had been set up in rows, some of which were already occupied by family members. Leila immediately located her parents sitting near the front. Her mother greeted her with a hug and complimented her outfit before her eyes fell to Mia.
"Mia, so glad you could come!" Leila's mother exclaimed, wrapping Mia up in a hug before Mia could react. "You look beautiful as well!"
"Don't mind her, she's emotional today," Leila's father explained to Mia.
Mia laughed uneasily as Leila's mother slowly pulled away from her.
"Why don't you two get seated? The ceremony will start in a little bit," Leila's mother told them.
Leila nodded and found her seat near the front with Mia. She was thankful to have Mia with her; otherwise she was sure her mother would have made her exchange small talk with a number of their family members.
"I'm guessing your mom isn't taking Gavin getting married well?" Mia asked.
Leila rolled her eyes. "No, she's fine. She's just feeling a little protective today, I'm guessing. I can't imagine what she'll be like when I get married."
Mia chuckled and leaned back in her seat. "It's a pretty venue, at least."
Leila nodded. "Yeah, they booked it awhile back. My mom was concerned it might rain, but I'm glad it's such a pretty day out." She paused. "Thanks for coming with me."
"Of course. It's not every day I get treated to free wedding food," Mia explained. "Speaking of which, what are they serving at the reception?"
Leila opened her mouth to respond when suddenly she was cut off by a woman standing in front of her. She glanced up, realizing it was her aunt on her mom's side.
"Aunt Theresa! Hi!" Leila exclaimed, standing up to give her a hug. "Thanks so much for coming."
"Of course. I wouldn't miss Gavin getting married for the world," her aunt said. "You look beautiful, dear."
"Thank you. Where's Uncle Chuck?"
"He's already seated, but I saw you sitting up front, so I thought I'd say hi," her aunt said. Her aunt's gaze turned toward Mia sitting beside her. "And who's this beautiful lady? Your girlfriend?"
Leila nearly choked. She watched Mia's face twist in confusion.
"No-no! Just a friend!" Leila exclaimed. "Anyway, you should probably get seated. My mom said the ceremony is going to start soon."
"We'll catch up more at the reception," her aunt promised.
Leila took a seat, begging Mia wouldn't say anything about her aunt's comment. Thankfully, she didn't. She supposed it was only natural for her aunt to assume Mia was her girlfriend. Leila had been out to the majority of her family members for a few years. She'd never felt comfortable hiding the fact she was gay from them after she'd come out to her immediate family, and thankfully, all of them were supportive. However, their knowledge of her sexuality meant they could easily make wrong assumptions about why Mia had accompanied Leila to the wedding.
I'm so stupid. Why didn't I think of this? Leila thought.
Leila anxiously ran her fingers through her hair, thankful to hear the wedding officiant begin to ask people to migrate to their seats. Leila glanced up and made eye contact with Gavin. He cleaned up well in his suit, but Leila could tell he was nervous. She stuck her tongue out at him, which thankfully made him laugh. She hoped that eased his nerves.
Beside her, Leila could already hear her mother sniffling before Shannon even walked down the aisle. As she did so, all heads were turned. Shannon was dressed beautifully in a long ballgown dress with sheer floral sleeves. Leila knew Shannon had spent several months looking for a dress. She was glad Shannon had finally found something that fit her taste.
The ceremony itself was as beautiful as any other wedding Leila had attended. Her mother wouldn't stop weeping beside her, but other than that, Leila happily watched her brother finally marry Shannon. She recalled back to the first time he had ever brought her home when he was in college. Little had Leila known that day that she was meeting her future sister-in-law. As Leila sat, clapping as they walked out, she grew excited thinking about what a wonderful addition Shannon would make to her family, even though it felt like she had already been a part of it for a long time.
Shortly after the wedding ceremony, everyone gathered at the hall inside for the wedding reception.
"That was a really nice ceremony," Mia told Leila. "I felt like I was even getting emotional at times."
"Did you really?" Leila asked.
"Well, I mean, I've known your brother a long time too. I didn't know he had it in him," Mia said, laughing some. "He looked really happy."
"I'm sure he is," Leila said.
The reception meal was standard, though Mia looked happy chowing down. Leila's parents were running around the reception hall to see family members, mainly leaving Leila and Mia on their own. Once again, Leila didn't mind. She didn't care for socializing with family members as much as her parents.
Unfortunately, she was greeted by one of her cousins halfway through her meal. His name was Tucker. He was a cousin on her dad's side and only a year older than her. He lived in Connecticut, so they didn't often see each other growing up save for the occasions when they played together as kids at family reunions or on vacation. These days, they mainly interacted through social media.
"Hey Lei, say congrats to your brother for me. I don't think I'll get a chance to talk to him with that line," Tucker said, glancing over at the main table. True to his word, a large cluster of people were gathered, eagerly waiting to speak to Shannon and Gavin.
"Will do," Leila said.
Tucker turned his head, noticing Mia out of the corner of his eye. She watched his lips curl into a smile, but it was too late to stop him
"Oh, you brought your girlfriend along?" he asked.
"Not my girlfriend," Leila said firmly. "She's a friend. Nice talking to you, Tucker."
As he walked away, Mia opened her mouth, but Leila grabbed her wrist. "Come on. Let's go say hi to my brother."
"Okay," Mia said, seeming confused.
Thankfully, Leila was able to scoot past a few family members in line until she came up to the main table that her brother and Shannon were sitting at.
"Congratulations!" Leila exclaimed to the both of them.
"Thanks, Lei," Gavin said. "I wish you had told Mom to stop crying during the ceremony though. It's going to be the only thing we'll be able to hear on the background of the wedding video."
"There's only so much I can do," Leila said. "Plus, you can just hire someone to edit it out."
"Thanks for coming along, Mia," Shannon said, glancing at Mia. "I think Leila would have been bored to death if she were here on her own."
"Whatever I can do," Mia replied. "Congrats to both of you. It was a nice wedding."
"Thanks," Gavin said. "Now, unfortunately I have to whisk you along. There are more people waiting to say hi."
"Don't act so high and mighty just 'cause you're married now," Leila snarked back at him.
"The dance floor is going to open soon. Why don't you go meet us out there?" Shannon asked.
Leila nodded, congratulated them once again, and lingered near where the dancing would begin. Most of the other guests had finished eating and were out conversing with each other. Leila tried to appear busy by talking to Mia, but that didn't stop her grandfather hobbling over to them with his cane.
"Hi Grandpa. Good to see you," Leila said, greeting him with a hug. "Did you enjoy the wedding?" she asked, making sure to shout as loudly as she could with his poor hearing and the noise of the crowd.
"Very beautiful," he said.
Leila was nervous seeing him lean on his cane. His mobility had slowed recently, and watching him navigate through a crowd of people made her bite her lip nervously. The last thing she wanted was for him to fall.
"Did you find somewhere to sit down?" she asked.
"Yes, but I wanted to say hi to some family members." He turned his head, noticing Mia. "Oh, this must be your—"
Mia cut him off with a handshake. "My name is Mia. I'm a friend," she said.
Leila felt her cheeks flush knowing her grandfather was also dangerously close to making the assumption that Mia was her girlfriend.
"Nice to meet you, Mia. Well, I'm off to say congrats to the couple," he said, hobbling away.
As he left Leila and Mia standing in place, Leila was begging for the music to start playing before Mia could ask any questions. Unfortunately, Shannon and Gavin were still being greeted by guests, leaving too much time for them to talk.
"Kind of impressed everyone is so normal about being gay in your family," Mia said.
Leila stiffened. "Yeah," she said. She had hoped that was the end of the conversation, but Mia continued.
"I mean, New York was progressive, but is Maine on another level? I didn't expect everyone to assume I was your girlfriend, but I'm kind of surprised—"
Leila quickly grasped her wrist. "Come with me," she said. There was no use hiding it anymore, she figured, plus the couple glasses of wine she had drunk were making her feel bold. She navigated them through the crowd and out into the hallway near the restrooms where they could be afforded some more privacy.
"What?" Mia asked, staring at her funny.
Leila took a long breath and quickly glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby. She wasn't sure it mattered since most of her family knew anyway, but she wanted the privacy all the same.
"I-I'm a lesbian," Leila admitted to Mia.
"Oh," Mia said, a slight look of surprise on her face.
"That's why they're being normal about it. I came out to them a few years ago, so it's only natural they assumed whatever woman I brought with me to the wedding would be my girlfriend," she said.
Mia suddenly burst out laughing.
"What?" Leila asked.
"Sorry! Sorry for laughing," Mia said. Quickly, she gathered hold of herself again. "It's just, why didn't you tell me that to begin with? I wouldn't have cared. I mean, I'd always kind of guessed, what with the comments your mom made and the way you got tongue-tied every time I brought up you having a boyfriend."
Leila felt her cheeks burn. "I-I thought you wouldn't believe me since we'd been friends so long. I never got the chance to tell you since I didn't really figure things out until years after you left. I was too scared to tell you right away, and then I thought the longer I kept it from you, you would get mad at me..."
"What? I'm not mad. I'm happy for you. I'm glad you're comfortable with yourself. Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me," Mia said.
Leila let out a long exhale of relief. "Thank goodness."
"Although you're not going to sound very convincing when you tell your family members I'm just your roommate. I would've been happy to play along, you know," Mia said.
Leila hoped she didn't appear too flustered under the hallway light. "You would have?!"
"I think it would've been fun. But I know you would've been too honest to pretend," Mia said.
"Hey!"
"I'm right, aren't I?"
Leila glanced down at her feet. "Yeah..." She sighed and glanced back up at Mia. Perhaps it was because she'd already had a few drinks, but being here alone in the hallway with Mia, she was tempted to push her against the wall and kiss her. Thankfully, the sound of the music starting snapped her out of it.
"Should we go dance?" Mia asked.
"Sure," Leila said. "Thank you. For not overreacting or anything."
"Leila, 90% of my friends were gay at school. I wouldn't have cared," Mia explained to her as they headed back out into the reception hall. "But thanks for telling me."
Thankfully, the rest of the evening felt calmer to Leila afterwards. She danced with Mia, ate cake, and overall had a pleasant evening. In quieter moments she cursed herself for waiting so long to tell Mia after Mia's perfectly normal reaction, but she was glad she no longer had anything to hide from her.
As the sky darkened, Leila grew tired and figured it was probably time to head home despite her brother's insistence she come out for drinks. She could already tell he was going to wake up with a hangover by the way he'd slurred his words asking her to join them.
As Leila got into her car with Mia, she smiled to herself in the darkness. She'd expected to attend the wedding alone only a few months ago, but she was glad Mia had joined her.