Remember Us

Everyone in town knew about the engagement within a day. People flooded in and out of the bakery just to congratulate me. Even with all the publicity I’ve had, I’ve never felt like this. Like everyone is watching my every move. But I guess that’s exactly how it has been for awhile now, I just notice it more.

Katie wasn’t all for us going on vacation without her. Though let me say, it was a much needed get away. I often forget how much a child keeps you from doing a lot of things in life. Being child-free for two weeks wasn’t half-bad.

Katie though, didn’t like it. Actually, she beyond hated it. Dakota told us that she just sat at her desk and stared at the calendar, waiting for us to come home. So Adam and I did what any sensible parents would do. We sat her down and talk to her about why she hated it so much.

The reason? I had told her that Mamma Mia was based in Greece and she wanted to go find them. For a smart kid, she sure is stupid at times. Although, I guess part of this could have been blamed on me. I did after all let my seven year old daughter watch Mamma Mia and believe that it was real.

And now that the big wedding I was working on is finished, and the engagement trip is over, the paparazzi are going crazy. Asking all these questions about where it’s going to be and what color the flowers are. What does it matter to them? It’s my wedding, not theirs. Which is why Adam and I decided early on to make it a private wedding. No media allowed at all. We figured that would make it more fun for us and the guests.

Dakota, Katelyn, Jenny, Jacqueline, and Katie were all with me at the dress shop while the guys went tux-shopping. Since the colors were so simple, it wasn’t hard finding a dress that not only matched each of their personalities but also the theme.

Dakota’s dress, since she’d be seven months pregnant by the wedding, was made out of a more flexible fabric. It was just a simple navy blue with a white line down the left side. Katelyn’s was more out there. It was short, just above her knees, and strapless. The color was silver, but not quite to the point of metallic. The skirt of the dress had different sized dark blue stars all around it. Definitely matched the ‘starry night’ theme that Adam thought would be nice. Jenny too, went for something a little simpler, sticking to the dark blue area. And that’s exactly what it was; a long, flowing, blue dress.

Katie wasn’t as easy to shop for. She wanted it to look like Cinderella’s dress, but obviously, that wasn’t going to work. Finally, we came upon a white sparkly dress that had a ribbon to tie in the back. I just had them switch out the color of the ribbon to dark blue and it was perfect.

Now though, we were trying to find a dress for me. Of course, I wasn’t one who wanted to have too much going on in the dress. Uncomplicated was the best in my eyes. So when the dress advisor person kept coming out with ruffled dresses, I kept sending them back. Finally he came out with a white dress that had blue lace of all sorts of shades on the top. It was the same idea as Dakota’s, but a very different design and color. The short-sleeves added just enough coverage so that I didn’t feel like I was showing too much skin.

Just as I was handing the cashier my debit card, my phone started ringing. When I see that it’s Adam, I instantly know it’s a fashion problem.

“hey babe.” He says sweetly when I answer.

“what’s the problem Adam?”

“bowtie or not? oh, and should I go with a navy suit or black and white. I mean, the colors for the wedding are-”

I slap my forehead before cutting him off. “Okay, Adam, I’m going to say this once. Black tux, white undershirt, and navy blue tie. Don’t listen to Finn when he tries to convince you to buy something polka-dotted. Or even my brother when he wants it navy blue. Now, what kind of tux are you getting?”

“black tux, white undershirt, and navy blue tie.” He repeats like a child in class.

The girls behind me laugh and I smile proudly, he’s finally gotten the listening part down. “Good. Now no more problems, we don’t have time for problems.”

“yes ma’am.”

“I’m going to go have lunch with the girls, so don’t get into any trouble. Love you.”

“yeah, yeah. No trouble. Love you too.”

I hang up and turn to Katelyn, “you’re brother is seriously weird sometimes,” I tell her and she just nods in agreement.

The second we step out of the store I’m bombarded with questions “are those the dresses?” one of the women asks and Dakota gives her a ‘no duh,’ look.

“will we being seeing your wedding dress anytime soon Juliana?” another person asks.

I stare at the guy when I answer, “it’s bad luck.” A few people chuckle at that, but most continue writing frantically.

When we finally get through them and to the car, there was another wave of them. But this one much smaller.

“Hey look, TMZ.” I comment, walking up to my car where their cameraman was waiting.

The guy stands there and has, what I presume to be, an interesting conversation with Katie. Especially since she was talking to him in Italian. I laugh and interrupt them, “Katie, honey, you can speak English to him.”

“but I don’t know him,” she reminds me of the rule I gave her. It was to not talk to strangers. She took that to mean not to talk English to strangers.

“This time, nothing bad will happen.” The guy behind the camera laughs and turns his attention to me.

“Hey, we’ve got a game for you.” I nod for him to continue, “okay, since you’re getting married in about a month, we have five questions for you about your soon-to-be-mother-in-law.”

I chuckle, “alright, give ‘em to me.”

“number one; where did Jacqueline and Adam’s father meet?”

“that the best you can do? They met in the courtyard of Jacquelines apartment downtown. He was delivering a package and she was leaving the building. They just ran into each other. That enough detail?” I knew the story by heart, I just didn’t feel like sharing that on tv.

“yes. You’ve gotten one right.” I look over at Jacqueline and find her smiling at me. “now, onto the next; what did Jacqueline go to school for before becoming an interior designer.”

“Well, she put down accountant on her application but once she got to school that quickly changed over to journalism. Her sophomore year she had decided she wanted to work with environmental studies but by junior year she finally got her mind set on art.”

“does she get along with Adam’s grandmother, Elisabeth?”

“depends on your definition of ‘get along’. I’ve only seen them fight and bitch at each other about the craziest things. But, that’s just how Jacqueline bonds with people.”

“what’s her favorite color and why?”

my face drops. I know they choose the most random questions but this isn’t something I’d even consider knowing. I mean, the other stuff can even help me build conversation at family functions. But a favorite color? That’s useless information. “Uh, red blood because it’s a war color…?”

I could hear Jacqueline and Katelyn laughing at my answer. I would be laughing to if it was a joke. But really, that’s all I could come up with to answer his question. “not exactly…it’s blue because the sky is blue and it reminds her of her love for flying.” I shrug, knowing I’d never have guessed that. “now last question. How does she feel about your relationship with her son?”

“you mean, besides all the threats?” I laugh in a joking manner. “nah, don’t worry. That was just with his last girl friend. In reality, Jacqueline loves me. how could she not? and also she’s glad I’ve been able to control the wild animal known as Adam.” I answer the question with a grin, remembering some of the things Italians have been gossiping about us.

One group even had the courage to say I’d put on some weight since the trip to Greece. They said it was because before I was so stressed and not eating as much. But now that everything has fallen into place, I’ve gone back to my regular eating schedule. Though that’s partly correct, I still don’t like people making a point of my weight gain on national tv.

Later when we got home from a day of shopping, Adam wouldn’t let me see his tux. He said that if he couldn’t see the dress, I couldn’t see the tux. So okay, yeah, I understand his reasoning. But I get a little nervous when he calls me mid-day to ask questions, and then doesn’t let me approve of it. What if he really did go with something polka dotted?