Reason to Live

Two weeks later...

" A. Moore," I thought I heard. I stood up, placing the magazine I was reading on Bruce's lap. That was rather pointless, because he stood up too. Followed closely by Bruce, I walked to the receptionist's desk, ready to pick up my prints from my second ultra sound.
"Hello Faye," the woman smiled. "Here you go," she said handing me a large envelope.
"My name is Audrey," I replied with frustration.
"You're not Faye?" she asked confused. By this point, Bruce had already opened the envelope and was looking at the prints.
"No, this always happens. My name is Audrey Leanne Moore."
"This really doesn't look like your uterus sweetheart," Bruce joked, holding up an x-ray of an ankle. I bit my lip, confused.
"I said 'Faye Moore'," the woman replied bitterly. Rightfully so, I made a real dick of myself.
"Oh," I replied, blushing. "My mistake, sorry," I said quietly. I handed her back the envelope, which she snatched from me. Embarrassed, I returned to the waiting room.

Out of nowhere ,Bruce started laughing as he drove my Mustang.
"What?" I asked, staring out the window while taxis and busses passed us in peak hour traffic.
"A Moore," he laughed.
"What? You stood up too. Obviously you thought she said that as well," I complained.
"I was just following you! Should have known better. You're the only person I know who can get lost in their own house," he said with a cheeky smile.
"It was an easy mistake."
" Not really. Why would they ask for a Moore? 'If there are any Moore's here, any Moore, a Moore, come get your results'" he mocked.
"You dickhead," I replied bluntly. "I meant 'A', standing for my first name!"
"I know, I know," he laughed. "I just like teasing you. You always bite. Fishing's good."
"Well," I smiled. "I am a good catch." He chuckled, nodding. "..And I'm hooked on you," I said, leaning close to him. He laughed deeply.
"Alright. You can dangle from my rod anytime," he smirked.
I burst out in laughter. "Oh my god, Bruce." I started to tear up I laughed that hard. He shrugged. "Where did you... No don't answer that."
"I guess I've learnt from Paul and Gene, and their gag-worthy euphuisms," he guessed, still smirking.

A few minutes later he asked, "Where have I heard Faye Moore?" with a puzzled look on his face. I wasn't sure if it was because he found himself in awkward traffic, or if he was just confused.
"Faye?" I asked.
"yeah, the name sounds familiar."
"Oh, you probably heard it at the last international "Let's steal Audrey's last name " convention...of name stealing people," I sulked.
"Ha, right," Bruce chuckled. "I bet the other woman wouldn't like being called Audrey. Hey, what are you so worried about anyway? It's only a few weeks until you become a Kulick."
"Counting the days Brucie," I replied.
"Yeah?"
"Twenty Eight."
"Man, Debbie has some planning to do," Bruce laughed.

A month earlier I was faced with a challenging decision. To choose my maid of honour. I felt obliged to select Marie, after all, I was hers. But Debbie and I had been best friends since we were fifteen. She was just like a sister to me. Then there was the option of my actual sister. I very quickly disregarded that thought.
So the decision was that Marie was the maid of honour, and Debbie, the wedding planner. When it came to picking somebody who knows me better than myself to boss me around and make all those annoying decisions, there was nobody better than my darling Deborah.

Bruce held my hand as he banged at the door of that sweet little home in Queens. "What do you think they'll say?" I asked, nervously.
"I think, from my mother at least, you won't be able to understand a single word," Bruce laughed.
The door slowly opened, revealing Alice Kulick, looking curious. Her face lit up and her smile widened, dramatically. "Harry!" she screamed. "The kids are here!" She hugged me tightly first, leaving a big kiss on my cheek. She almost attacked her son. It wasn't hard to tell that he's a mamma's boy.
"What?" Harry finally yelled from the living room.
"I said, the kids are here! Bruce and Audrey are here!" she yelled with a thick New York accent. I've mentioned it to Bruce before, but he can never tell. I guess being Australian, I pick up on different American accents.
"The game's almost done Alice!" he yelled, sounding peeved.
"Oh, forget him. All he cares about lately is baseball. Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" she asked Bruce, still pulling at his cheeks.
"We have a surprise," he smiled.
"It's not about the wedding is it? Why did you move it forward so fast? You know, it takes about three weeks just to get the invites out."
"Because of our surprise," I said with an awkward smile.
"Mom, we should sit down," Bruce said, leading her towards the living room.

"Hey!" Harry cheered as we walked into the room.
"What's the score?" Bruce asked, without an answer. He was quickly glued to the television.
"Hello gorgeous," Harry smiled, grabbing my hand as I walked past him. I just smiled.
"What's this surprise?" Alice asked curiously.
"YES!" both Bruce and Harry cheered at the same time. Alice rolled her eyes.
"Well," I said loudly, making sure that I grabbed Bruce's attention. He quickly sat next to me on the sofa. Bruce gently took the photograph from my hands.
"Here's a nice picture for you," he said, handing the print to his mother.
She observed it closely. Harry took it from her, squinting as he tried to figure out what he was looking at.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's your grandchild," Bruce replied.
"Grandchild?" Alice gasped. Bruce and I both nodded.
"Ten weeks old," I smiled.
"Oh my goodness," Alice said, covering her mouth and nose with her hands. Her large glasses looked like they were about to fog up. I looked at Bruce, who at the same time, looked at me. We sort of both giggled quietly. "Congratulations," she squealed, hugging us both tightly.
"Please don't cry," I said, smiling as I said it.
"I'm just so happy dear," she replied, not letting go of us.
"Alice, give them some room to breathe will ya?" Harry said, shaking his head.
"I'll go call your aunt..."
"No," Bruce said loudly. She looked at him, shocked. "We can't go telling anybody about this, okay Mom?"
"Why not?"
"We don't want the media in our faces," Bruce explained.
"...and I don't want my mother in mine," I added. Harry laughed.
"Especially don't tell Aud's mother," Bruce said.
"I don't have her phone number anyway," Alice replied.
"Ha, that's a surprise, you have every other person's," Harry chuckled. It was easy to see that Bob took after him.
"She'd probably have a heart attack if she knew I was pregnant before I was married," I explained.
I wasn't kidding either, my mother would have freaked. She thought it was bad enough that I was marrying a Jewish man, not in a church, without any real religious direction. I have to admit, there are times I'm very thankful for the division in North and South hemispheres.

Finding a less than tacky wedding dress in 1989 is like finding a full can of hairspray in Dee Snider's dressing room. The chances aren't too likely. That is why it was so horrible when the one dress I liked wouldn't fit.
"Oh, this is hopeless," Debbie sighed, dropping her tired body onto a chair.
"Clam down man, we can fix this," Marie said hopefully, holding a pair of scissors.
"Oh, we won't be needing those," the woman tailoring my wedding dress spoke up rather quickly. I stood in Debbie's mansion, feeling like a fat pig, while the three women quarrelled over how to fix my "problem."
"Whatever. My plan is epic," Marie said, giving up. "Hey Aud, look out the window," she said, easily distracted. Beautiful, beautiful rain. That soon had me distracted too.
"Bet Bruce is getting wet right now," I said, dreamily.
"Let's focus on the task at hand," Debbie stressed. "Aud, your dress doesn't fit."
"Oh! Thanks for telling me, I never would have guessed Deborah," I said sarcastically as I tried to squeeze my arse past the material.
" There's no use. We need to redesign. I think I'll look into it tonight. It won't be as sleek around the hips, but at least we can play up your breasts, because they'll be bigger," dress maker explained.
"Being pregnant sucks."

Later on Debbie, Marie and I sat around listening to records and talking, just like how things used to be. We even danced on the coffee table, screaming Alice Cooper lyrics. Soon enough we "crashed" lazing on the floor, exhausted.
"I'm so beat," Debbie sighed.
"Ya, know Deb," I said sitting up. "If this wedding is too much, just say so. It's horrible that you have to go through all the stressful crap, it is my wedding."
"Nah, Aud! I want to do it," she said in her high pitched voice that she gets when she's trying to seem calm. Doesn't work.
"But you're so tired..."
"You need let loose. Lose your clothes in the ocean, swing from a tree, jump off a double story building..."
"They all sound horrible!" Debbie exclaimed, interrupting Marie.
"...dance in the rain," I smiled.
"Better," Debbie nodded.
"Once again, shoot down my ideas," Marie huffed, not at all seriously.
"You're a genius," I said sympathetically, patting Marie on the back. She replied by squeezing me so tightly in a hug, that I swear the baby was going to pop out there and then.
"But it's not about your dress, or the invites or the fact that no caterer in New York so far understands that nachos should be on the menu. It's not even about the wedding. This is actually my only relief... Even though finding you a wedding dress is a bitch."
"I don't like modern wedding dresses. I'll look like a goddamn marshmallow!" I argued.
“What dress does Bruce have in mind?” Deb laughed.
“White, tight and slutty," Marie joked.
“Yeah, I'd like to hope that the dress he described never, ever turns up in stores," I laughed.

“Close your eyes Audrey," Debbie demanded, out of nowhere.
“Why?” I asked.
“Just do it!”
“Okay...” I said, a little concerned.
“Imagine you're walking down the aisle," she said as she helped me off the floor and linked arms with me. I started giggling. “keep your eyes closed, it helps the daydreaming," she laughed. Marie started humming the wedding march, which was funny.
“Idiots," I said amused.
“Now you look around and say to your father, “Wow, Debbie planned the perfect wedding!” And he's not drunk yet, so he agrees," she joked. I couldn't stop laughing. “Then you see Bruce....”
“Oooh, ooh. I'll be Bruce!”, Marie said excitedly as he grabbed my hand.
“Okay, this is getting a little weird girls," I laughed awkwardly. Debbie burst out in laughter, which forced me to open my eyes. Marie stood before me with a guilty smirk.
“Deborah?” I asked in a stern tone, hoping she'd explain her laughter.
“She just pulled the funniest face, then checked out your ass.... You do a good Bruce impersonation!”Debbie giggled to Marie.
“What's the point of this?” I asked annoyed.
“Did you vision your dress?” Debbie asked, making her point.
“Actually yes. I also pictured the two of you watching from very far away," I joked.
"Now you know what dress you want. All we have to do is get it made in three weeks," Debbie smiled. "If only sorting out Billie and Holly was that easy."
"Is that why you're so stressed?" I asked.
"Yes! Oh my god they drive me nuts! Holly actually threatened to put some sort of wacko curse on her!"
Marie giggled "man she's awesome!"
"...they're like kids!" Debbie said, screwing her face up with frustration.
"Can it really be that bad?" I wondered.
"Yes, Aud it can. You're so lucky off in Bruce land. Fuck, they even had their silly little fight over messages on my answering machine! 25 new messages of bitching!"
"It'll pass..." I tried to calm her down.
"It better, we've got a killer gig next week."