A Little More Than Convenient

|Trent Remington|
I woke up the day after Thanksgiving at around nine o’clock. I would have slept later, but I was assaulted by the constant ringing of the phone. I was actually dreaming about the phone ringing. I kept turning it off, but it just kept on ringing. Groggily, I answered it.
“Hello little brother!” my sister sang into my ear.
“Go away,” I retorted.
“I’m not there.”
“But you’re in my ear.”
She paused, trying to think of a comeback. “Okay, listen,” she didn’t have a comeback, “you and I are going shopping today.”
“Shopping? Tara, I’m a guy.”
She sighed very loudly. “For tuxes. I’m getting married next month, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” I replied, “I forgot about it for a while.”
She grumbled something and said, “Meet us at the mall around, okay? At the bridal shop.”
“On Black Friday? Tar, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Trent, it’s your fault. You decided not to go shopping with me that Saturday in October, like we said.”
“I had to meet with Mr. Bening!”
“...And get married,” she said slyly, “to a girl you only met a couple hours before.”
I groaned. “Tara, get the hell over it!”
“Okay.”
“Who all will be there?”
“You, Mark, Joel, obviously, Tristan, Connor, and Brock.”
Connor and Brock were Mark’s brothers.
I sighed.
“Kay,” she replied, “remember: Ten o’clock, mall, bridal shop.”
“But-”
“Tah, tah,” she hung up.
Guess I’ll get up, I thought to myself. I went to the bathroom and showered, shaved, and brushed my teeth. Then I dressed in a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a Three Days Grace T-shirt.
Then, I grabbed my wallet and my keys, and went out the door.
***
Unsurprisingly, the mall was swamped. The Mall at Turtle Creek was built around 2004 and 2005, replacing the Indian Mall. The Indian Mall was named for ASU’s mascot, but after it was found offensive and changed to the Red Wolves, there was really no point in having Indian Mall. Besides, the Indian Mall had only one level, while The Mall at Turtle Creek had two.
I went in through the Target entrance bypassing the huge, rowdy crow, then went through the exit to the mall. On the right was Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I was tempted to go in there, because there was a salesgirl named Candace that Ross and I liked to flirt with. But then I realized that I was married.
So, I went left where the children’s play place. It wasn’t empty, but it was usually much fuller than it was that day. Being as though it was the Mall at Turtle Creek, the theme of the play place was, you guessed it, turtles.
I passed a nail salon, a Steve & Barry’s and a few kiosks, when I came upon Maurice’s. I remembered that Carmen really liked Maurice’s. A few feet away from Maurice’s was Claire’s, beside the Children’s Place, beside...tah da! The Bridal Shop. That’s what it was called. The. Bridal. Shop. How very original.
Tara, Mark, and Joel, Tristan, Connor and Brock were all there when I stepped into the store. Tara was tapping her foot and glaring at me. I checked my watch: 10:04.
“What?”
“You’re late,” she said primly.
“Four minutes late,” I said defensively.
She was about to say something else, but Mark put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “Hon, do you think maybe we can get to work on the tuxes.”
She thought for a moment, then sighed. “Okay, then. But you’re still not off the hook, Trent.”
I snorted under my breath.
Tara didn’t notice.
That was the way things worked around here. Tara was a younger version of Mom. A little bossy, kind of a drill sergeant, liked to tease. She thought that since Tristan and I were younger than her, she got to toss us around. But she knew her boundaries. Usually, Mark could get her to calm down. She knew that he meant business.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t completely true.
But it was close enough.
“Do you have anything picked out, Tara?” I asked her.
She nodded. “You’ll all be wearing black suits with primrose ties.”
“Primrose?” Tristan asked.
“Very soft yellow,” she replied.
We (including Mark) all stared at her.
“Light yellow?” Connor asked.
“For a December wedding?” Brock asked.
“Almost Christmastime?” I asked.
“Tara, are you sure?” Mark asked.
“I ain’t wearing no damn yellow,” Tristan said.
“Yewwow!” Joel exclaimed.
“Is bad, little nephew,” Tristan said.
Tara shrugged. “Primrose or champagne.”
“Champagne?” Brock asked.
“Like alcohol?” Connor asked.
“No!” she snapped.
“Then what is it?” I asked.
She sighed. “Champagne is a color. A pale cream color.”
We (the guys) all stared at each other.
“I guess that’ll be okay,” I replied.
“Yeah,” they all agreed.
“All right!” Tara, exclaimed, “Time to get fitted!”
We all groaned.
I looked away and stared out the window. I noticed two young women heading toward Maurice’s. One was thin with light brown hair, and one was curvier with dark, curly brown hair. It was Carmen and Jessica.
“Hold on, guys, I just saw Carmen! Let me go tell her and Jessica that I’m here!”
“Who’s Jessica?” Tara asked.
“Her best friend,” I replied.
I jogged toward them, calling out Carmen’s name.
She and Jessica turned around. Jessica looked solemn, and Carmen looked wrung out and as if she’d been crying.
“What are you doing here?” Carmen asked, trying to smile.
“Tux shopping with Tara. Hey, what’s the matter.”
She bit her lip. Jessica patted her back.
“Carmen?” I asked again.
She sighed. “Trent, I have some news. I just found out today, so don’t freak out, okay?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you sick?”
She shook her head.
I was relieved. “What is it?”
She sighed again, and then motioned for me to follow her. We sat down on a bench. Jessica stood beside Carmen, protectively.
“I wanted to make sure that you were sitting down when I told you.”
I was still confused. “How come?”
She bit her lip again and said, “Remember that night that we got married.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, I guess, it’s well...,” she trailed off, “I don’t know how to say this.”
I still had no clue what she meant. “Okay, then just tell me.”
“Really? Can you take it?”
“Carmen, you’re starting to make me nervous!”
She sighed and said, “Trent, we’re going to have a baby.”