One year later...
Alana couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her face when Tyler’s fiancée Taryn stepped into the dressing room with the elaborate wedding dress. Seeing her try on dresses made Alana think of her own marriage with Gino, which was now set at a tentative next year. She patiently waited nearby on a squishy chair while Taryn’s mother, and her other friends Stephanie, Daniela and Jessica gushed over the samples of wedding and bridesmaid dresses surrounding them.
Within the year, everyone else had practically gotten engaged and married as well. Kai and his girlfriend Elise were already married and had an adorable daughter together; the child was usually at the center of attention whenever Kai invited his friends over to his home for dinners and social gatherings.
“Hey, mom?”
“Yes, honey?” Taryn’s mom whirled around and streaked over to stand in front of the dressing room with such speed that Alana would have doubted the woman’s age if it weren’t for her greying hair. “Are you ready?”
Alana stood up and Stephanie, Daniela and Jessica wandered over as well, looking excited.
“Yes…”
“Does it fit nicely?” Taryn’s mother called to her daughter.
“Yeah, it’s perfect.”
There was a moment’s silence, and Taryn still didn’t emerge from the dressing room.
“You’re not going to show us what it looks like?” her mother asked as everyone else waited with bated breath.
“Are you going to cry?” Taryn asked back to her.
The mother raised her eyebrows. “No, why?”
Taryn suddenly pulled back the curtain. “Because you’ve never seen me in a wedding dress.”
“Oh, it’s beautiful!” Alana heard the mother’s voice crack, but she was speechless as well. It was absolutely gorgeous.
The shoulder straps held up a long, flowing dress of creamy white satin and silk. The hem was made of lace and emblazoned with floral designs made of silver thread. The length only seemed to emphasize Taryn’s long legs and height.
"It’s the first dress, but I love this one,” Alana gushed, admiring the train trailing behind Taryn, and her friends unanimously agreed.
“So do I,” Taryn admitted, her cheeks pink, and she did a small twirl in the dress. The soft whoosh sound and the gentle grazing of the expensive fabric against Alana’s ankle heightened her excitement at the prospect of marrying Gino.
A couple hours later, everyone was gathered around a table at Seoul Grill House, a Korean barbecue restaurant. Eating Korean barbecue was one of the few times Alana would eat more than she usually did since she had cut down her meat intake. Gino had worried over this, but she had only cut down on beef and pork for health reasons.
Alana giggled when she saw Taryn’s face fall comically once again. She had just failed to pick up some galbi for the fifth time in a row. Once again, Tyler took up his own chopsticks and tried to demonstrate how to properly use them. She had to admire his tenacity, though.
She turned to Gino and whispered, “Happy I taught you how to use them?”
He nodded and smiled, kissing her on the nose. “Your parents were very impressed,” he whispered back. It was true, though. Using chopsticks properly was one of the most important aspects of her culture and her fiancée had succeeded.
Alana wrapped her arms around him and placed her head upon his chest, smiling. She felt his strong arms slip around her waist in response. She was so grateful that he was such an open-minded and culturally accepting man.
“Apparently Tyler can’t teach, though. Because when he tried to teach me, I still didn’t know how to use them,” Gino murmured into her ear and she laughed again.
She popped some galbi and rice into her mouth and chewed. After swallowing, she asked, “How did it go with my parents this morning?” She had to leave the meeting with her parents in a rush earlier so she could help Taryn pick out wedding and bridesmaid dresses. Her father had gotten along with Gino much better over the last few months and had insisted they all meet for wedding plans. After Alana had told her parents the news of her engagement, her mother broke down sobbing and embraced her and Gino in a big hug. Her father, on the other hand, had said, “I’m happy I lived long enough to see you get married, but I just want to let you know, I want to see my grandchildren before I die.”
That, of course, had made her blush furiously, but her mother was positively exultant at the idea of having grandchildren. Ever since he had said it, there was absolutely no pressure whatsoever on the young couple. Especially considering the fact that their wedding plans had officially started last month and they had agreed to wait to have kids until after they were married and had spent a few years together without children first.
Alana tuned back into the conversation to see Tyler and Taryn playfully bickering over Tyler’s methods of teaching.
“Wouldn’t your parents just be happy that I can use chopsticks?”
“No,” Tyler was saying patiently. “There’s a difference between using them and properly using them. A lot of Asian Americans don’t know how to properly hold and use chopsticks.”
Taryn pouted and glanced over at Alana and winked. “I should have just had Alana teach me. She was able to teach Gino and it went well.”
Tyler snickered. “Everyone learns things differently.”
Alana giggled and returned to her food before someone else’s voice caught her attention.
“I’m always the one sorting out the bills and calculations!” Jessica said, rolling her eyes. “And all my boyfriend does is sit at his laptop and say he’s working on programs for Grid Tech.”
“At least you can do the math,” Gino chuckled as everyone else laughed. “She’s not that good at it,” he said, jerking his head over at Alana, who promptly blushed and playfully nudged his arm.
“I did calculus in high school, at least. And you’re just bitter because I beat you at Sudoku ten times.”
"Nine,” he corrected her with a grin.
“Same thing,” she said, smiling back at him.
After lunch, Stephanie, Daniela, Jessica, Taryn and their respective boyfriends and fiancée left for Kai’s house to go coo over his daughter once again. Gino and Alana held back and decided to share some gelato and enjoy some alone time before joining their friends.
They had just finished the treat when Gino leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against Alana’s lips. He made a sound at the back of his throat when his tongue traced the inside of her mouth.
He pulled away and breathed, “You taste like strawberries.”
“That’ll be the toppings,” she replied and licked her lips, knowing the effect it would have on her fiancée.
He grinned at her. “You taste good when you eat a lot of fruit.”
“So do you.”
“Especially pineapple.”
Alana blushed; he was referring to what they did to each other in the bedroom when they were alone. “Mmm.”
After a moment’s pause, Gino wrapped his hands around her waist and leaned over her. His sapphire gaze looked warmer now. He nuzzled his nose against Alana’s and whispered, “I love you.”
She felt pink suffuse her cheeks once again and murmured back, “I love you too.”
He smiled warmly at her before gently taking possession of her lips.
“Lila, say hi!” Elise bounced the chubby baby on her knee while keeping her hands firmly around the child’s torso. The young child merely blinked at everyone smiling and waving at her.
“Saying hi is polite, Lila,” Kai rumbled, his large hand gently caressing his daughter’s head, where soft tufts of light brown hair had already sprouted on top.
“Oh, she’s so adorable,” Daniela sighed and leaned against her boyfriend Pierce, who grinned and nodded.
Lila turned to her father and stared at him with her large eyes, and then grinned a toothless smile. She cooed and pointed a tiny finger at her father and said loudly, “Da!”
Kai chuckled and reached for his child. Elise hefted the baby up and handed her daughter to her husband, who plopped Lila on his lap and turned her so that she was facing everyone else again. “Say hi to everyone, Lila.” His hand curled protectively around the baby’s body, ensuring that she wouldn’t accidentally fall off.
The baby girl giggled and waved at her gushing audience and proclaimed, “Lala!”
“Aww,” Jessica squealed.
Alana couldn’t help but smile as well. The baby truly was adorable. She glanced over at Gino, who was sitting beside her, and she widened her smile at him. He grinned back at her and hugged her tightly. The couple eyed the giggling child once more, and she knew that her fiancée was also thinking of their possible future children.
“Remember that dream that I had of you and our son?” Gino whispered in her ear.
She nodded and blushed.
“I wonder if it’ll come true. But if we had a daughter first, then I’m fine with that too.”
“Well, we’ll have to wait and see,” Alana replied, placing a hand on his cheek.
He turned and brought his own hand up to caress hers and kissed the inside of her palm.
“I can’t wait.”
Galbi- marinated beef or pork short ribs
*Yayyy! This is the actual end of Gino and Alana's story here, so I hope you all enjoyed reading their lives up until now. They may or may not be mentioned in future stories (*wink wink*) but I will not be writing any more stories of them. Their tale has ended. And I purposefully ended it here because then you readers can imagine what their ending is like. Also because there are already too many stories that elaborate on couples' marriages and children. So, I hope this has brought you some smiles to your faces, and votes and comments are always welcome! Thank you so much, once again, to all those who have kept up with this story and supported it!