January 26, 1946
When Alice rolled out of bed on Saturday morning, she could already hear bustling about in the kitchen below. Nix still slept soundly on her right. The rise and fall of his chest made her smile. He really could sleep through anything. It was remarkable.
A knock at the door had woken her. When it sounded again, Alice sighed and started to get dressed. Kitty was spending the morning with her bridesmaids. Alice had the responsibility of making sure the men all got themselves presentable on time. Once she'd pulled out a house dress to wear until later, she stood staring at Nixon.
Alice grabbed her pillow. In a moment of impulse, she smacked his side. He rolled over, cursing, and sat up a bit. Alice laughed as he rubbed his eyes.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered. "What was that for!"
She couldn't help but snicker. "Nix. It's the wedding day. You need to get up and help me make sure everyone else is ready." As he rolled his eyes, she clambered back on the bed and wrapped her arm around his shoulder and over his chest. "Come on. For me?"
"For you?" He rolled his eyes. "No. For Harry? Fine."
Alice laughed. "Whatever you say. As long as you say it while getting dressed." Just as she went to leave, he grabbed her arm and kissed her. Alice startled and laughed as she pulled away and dodged him. "Up!"
As she left the bedroom, she found Dick heading down the stairs. The voices from earlier had gotten louder. When she reached the floor, her shoes adding a note of finality, she stopped. Now she understood the knocking.
"Buck!"
The man turned around and grinned. Alice hurried over and hugged him. It made her feel a bit better, that this time seeing him didn't trigger horrible memories like in Austria. A few uneasy emotions, perhaps, but nothing to keep her from enjoying the moment.
"Alice you look great!" Buck looked her up and down. "Nixon's here too?"
At his question, she couldn't help but laugh. "Yes. He's upstairs, probably still moping."
"Moping?" Harry asked. He walked in from the kitchen, followed quickly by Dick. "What's he moping about?"
"I hit him with a pillow."
All three of them burst out laughing. But Alice could smell bacon and sausage, and so she pushed through them down the hall into the kitchen. Food scraps lay around, half-eaten scrambled eggs and a few pancakes.
"This looks good. Who made it?" She moved over to the kitchen itself and started scooping eggs and bacon onto a plate. "Let me guess. Harry?"
"I can cook too," Dick protested.
Alice just laughed. "I'm sure you can."
It had been Harry. She could tell as soon as she tasted the hint of whiskey in the coffee. She just shot him a smirk, and he a knowing smile back. It didn't take long before she'd sat down at the table and started chatting with Buck, who told her all about his time back home. They didn't discuss Bastogne, there was no need, but she could tell by the way they all clammed up around discussion of the holidays that it had taken its toll. She knew it had on her.
"So, you and Nix?" Buck prodded. "When it's happening?"
Alice shot him a smile and shook her head. Diverting her gaze, she found her coffee extremely interesting. "We don't know." Honestly, she wished people would stop asking. But she couldn't say that, not to the men who were like family to her. "We're working on it."
"Buck Compton, always showing up right before the big day."
They all turned to see Nixon, looking only a bit bedraggled, waltz into the kitchen. He exchanged a quick glance with Alice. She knew he had heard the question. Alice didn't doubt he'd made his presence known to stop any further prying.
"Lewis Nixon, always half asleep," Buck countered, laughing. He stood from the table and Nix's hand. Then he sat back down. "Now all we're missing are Speirs and Lip."
"They'll be here," Alice assured him. Then she stood up and smiled. "I'm going for a smoke. I'll watch for them."
Leaving Nixon to talk to Dick, Buck, and Harry, she hurried to the door and grabbed her coat. Blanche was still upstairs? She looked up the staircase. Then she shrugged and moved outside. Alice nearly laughed when she found Ron and Lip standing in the cold, the former smoking.
"Carwood Lipton! You're here and you didn't come inside?"
The man in question whipped around, Ron following suit. He laughed as she barreled into him. "Good to see you, Alice."
"Yeah, you too. How long have you two been out here?"
"Not long," Ron said. "What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?"
They both laughed. But Alice just shook her head. "Buck's inside. He was complaining about you still owing him a pack of smokes?"
The grin on Ron's face made her pause. Clearly he understood, because he said absolutely nothing in response. Lipton just shook his head ever so slightly.
"Clearly I'm out of the loop for this." She took a deep breath of the smoke from her cigarette and shook her head. "You always were a bit crazy, Ron."
"Not my fault you're all slow," he countered.
Alice laughed. "Slow? Harry beat you in your first encounter, didn't he? Mr. Dog Company."
Lipton hid a laugh with a cough. Beside him, Ron took his cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled. After a moment of silence, he said, "Low blow."
"Get inside," she teased.
As they picked their way past, Alice squeezed Lip's arm and smiled at him. It was good to see him again. The air had gotten crisper, just as cold but not as damp. It made things a little easier. Alice did her best to enjoy her last few minutes with the smoke and the quiet.
When she set foot inside, she found the men laughing and joking, Buck heckling Ron over something and the latter not entirely amused. But it didn't take long to realize Blanche still hadn't made an appearance. Alice looked at the clock. Almost nine. They needed to be at the church by eleven at the latest. Sparing one more glance up the stairs, she hurried into the kitchen.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said, obviously not at all sorry, "but you all need to get ready. Now."
She didn't even wait for a response. Turning tail, she hurried down the hall and back up the stairs. She and Blanche both were bridesmaids, Nix her matching groomsman and Dick for Blanche. They had work to do. She needed to do her hair, and her makeup, and corral nearly half a dozen men into understanding how serious to take the prep work.
"Blanche!" Alice knocked on the door. She heard no response. With a frown, Alice knocked again, and then went inside. She found the woman sitting on the bed, tears streaking down her face. Alice closed the door behind herself quickly. "Blanche. What's wrong?"
"I'm fine!" Blanche insisted. She got up from the bed, shaking her head when Alice tried to walk over to her. "Alice I'm fine."
"Do you want me to get your brother?" she asked.
But Blanche shook her head vigorously. "No! No. He's got enough problems, Alice. You both do. You all do. Nothing bad has happened to me. I don't have a right to feel this way," she argued. "It's stupid! I'm a Nixon. I'm better than this."
Alice's heart broke. "Well. It's not your fault," she said. "Blanche, trust me. It's not your fault."
"Yeah, you can keep saying that." Blanche shook her head. "I've got to get to work on making myself presentable. Make sure Lew does the same for me. He often doesn't care enough, and then we all get the judgement."
The bitterness in Blanche's voice surprised her. But she just nodded, taking a last look as the woman moved to the mirror on the vanity and started brushing her hair. "Alright. Well. Get me if you need something, okay?"
"Of course."
Of course. Alice wasn't so sure she believed Blanche as she shut the door on her way out. But it couldn't be helped right then. Kitty's wedding wasn't far off, and then the reception, and then she'd be on her way to Philadelphia.
Kitty had warned her that the wedding took place within a Catholic mass. Seeing as she didn't speak Latin, only knew bits and pieces from her education, that wouldn't make any sense to her. But the marriage itself, that would be English. And English, she knew it well.
As Alice pulled on her sky blue satin bridesmaid dress, she looked at herself in the mirror. She felt thankful for the long sleeves; It would hide her scars. The one across her cheek had mostly faded but the two on her left, her shoulder, and her arm, they showed ugly in the light. Nix always told her they weren't ugly, but she knew they'd be hard to explain to anyone. And she didn't have the energy for that, not now and not ever.
First, Alice worked at her hair. As she curled it, Nix came inside to change as well. They talked a bit, neither saying much. But when Alice finished with her hair and turned to him, he just sighed. Nix sat at the foot of the bed tying his shoes.
"Why don't we just... get married," Nix said.
Alice stopped. She'd been grabbing her bag of makeup. "What? Now?"
"Not now," Nix laughed. "That'd really crush Harry. Us get married on his own wedding day." When he saw her roll her eyes, he just smirked and took a drink. "No, I mean... Why should we make it a big production? If we do, the tabloids will be all over us. New York, New Jersey, San Francisco. Everyone."
"So, what. We run off to England, say our vows, and pray they count that as a legal marriage?" Alice thought he was crazy. But saying it out loud, it made her smile. "Throw caution to the wind? Forget your name? Become wanderers."
He scoffed. "No. I need the name to get the whiskey, remember?"
Nix walked over to her, putting his hands around her waist. Leaning forward, she kissed him. They really did need to decide what to do. But standing there in that embrace, that was enough for now.
"How about this." Nix worked his way to her neck. "After the wedding. After you visit Philly. We run away for a day and get married."
Alice took a deep breath. She had to suppress a groan. "Goddamnit." Pushing him off, she stood back. "I need to get ready! Stop that!"
Nix just laughed. "Yes or no?"
"Yes."
"Good. Don't tell anyone though," he added. With a smirk, he moved to the door. "They'll all be jealous."
She just laughed. "Can't have that," she sassed. "Come on. Go make sure Ron and Buck haven't killed each other yet. Red's a hard stain to get out, and I bet none of you know where to start with it."
It didn't take too much longer for Alice to get herself ready. Once she'd gotten the makeup done and shoes on, she'd padded down the hall to find Blanche. The woman's room stood empty. Alice took it as a good sign.
She found them all in the hallway. It was nearly time to go. While Nix and Dick moved the suitcases into the car, she and Blanche stood outside, trying to keep from shivering. Ron wore his dress uniform, and the others their finest suits. They looked wonderful.
Yesterday, Alice had laughed when in the practice, the other two bridesmaids had done nothing but giggle about Dick and Nixon. Evidently they were more attractive than the average man at the wedding rehearsal. Nixon had shut it down real quick but winking at one and then kissing Alice dramatically, but Dick was left on his own. Boy were they in for a surprise when Ron, Buck, and Lip showed up as well.
"You have good friends, Alice," Blanche told her. She kept her voice low as they stood off a bit apart from the men. "They really like you."
Alice smiled a bit. "We went through a lot together. That made us close, like family. They are my family."
Blanche nodded. "I can see that. It's nice. Don't ever forget how lucky that is."
She didn't have a response. Blanche was right, of course. It had taken Alice a long time to realize how lucky she'd been to come home from the war with family after losing her own. Many men came home to a world foreign to them, left without the brothers they'd made. And looking at Harry, grinning and bouncing off the walls, Nixon sneaking him a drink of whiskey after the man had had his own confiscated, she loved it. She cherished it.