He Shoots, She Scores

Lacey was pacing the restaurant looking out the window watching the snow falling steadily.
“What if no one makes it?”
“Lacey we were 20 minutes from the Church to here, it’s at least a half hour ride from Niagara Falls to Buffalo and Tyler’s family flew in from Canada, give it time they are all used to driving in the snow and it’s not even coming down that hard” Carrie says sitting down at one of the tables
“Besides babe, it’s still a half hour too early” Tyler reassures her
“Ok I guess you guys are right” Lacey says sitting down in between Carrie and Hannah, noticing her sister’s gaze she nudges her and whispers in her ear “Please stop staring holes through my brother in law”
“If I can’t have your Enzo, why can’t I have that one?”
“Cause that is weird I don’t want to be your sister and your sister in law”
They all went quiet for a moment and it wasn’t long before Lacey was drumming her fingers on the table in nervousness
“Lacey!” Tyler snaps and she looks at him “Would you like a glass of wine” Lacey just nods “Carrie? Hannah?” Hannah nods while Carrie shakes her head
“You don’t want wine?” Nate asks
“No I don’t want wine, I want coffee”
“Coffee it is” Tyler says and walks away to get everyone’s drinks
As both families start to show up Lacey relaxes and the dinner goes on with no problems
“Carrie, look at mine and Tyler’s mom’s, they seem to be getting along don’t they?”
“Yeah they sure do”
“What do you think they are talking about”
“I’m going to guess they are comparing abuse stories, you throwing the crab apple at your moms face and Tyler hitting his mom with a puck”
“They were accidents!”
“Still happened” Carrie says taking a sip out of her iced tea
“What’s with you tonight, you never turn down wine”
“I’m driving home”
“Liar, you rode with Tyler and I”
“I didn’t want any”
“I’m back to you never turn down wine”
Carrie looked around at everyone talking and back to Lacey “Not here” Lacey nods and grabs her friends arm pulling her up
“Where are you going?” Tyler asks
“Ladies room you know women go together”
“Oh, I’m coming too I’ve had to pee for like 15 minutes” Hannah says following them
Entering the bathroom Lacey looks under all the stall doors to make sure no one is in there, and after Hannah uses the bathroom they all stare at each other.
“What are we doing? I thought you 2 had to go”
“No Carrie is hiding something”
“No I’m not, I just don’t want wine”
“Since when” Hannah and Lacey chorus
“Since I can’t”
“What do you mean you can’t? I will go get the first alcoholic beverage I see and remind you why you can!” Hannah says and Lacey rolls her eyes
“Carrie, you can drink whatever you want, you are 21 one and it’s not like you’re….. Oh my God you’re pregnant aren’t you?”
“SHHHH”
“Why?”
“Well one, I refuse to ruin your day because of me and 2 because Nate doesn’t know yet!”
“You didn’t tell Nate?” Hannah asks
“Well not yet, I will on Christmas”
“Carrie, that’s 11 days from now! You can’t keep that a secret. Wait when did you find out”
“I found out for sure yesterday, I didn’t want to say anything until then”
“Well congratulations, and tell your husband” Lacey says hugging her friend
“I told you every time we went dress shopping, don’t get pregnant. Go figure you stop getting reminders and what do you do? You get pregnant”
“Hannah”
“What it’s true! But congratulations”
The three returned to the party and Carrie couldn’t help but notice Lacey and Hannah both watching her like a hawks, she smiles bending down between the two of them
“If the two of you don’t stop looking at me like I am going to shatter into a million pieces my husband is going to notice and freak out, stop it” she says through her clenched teeth of a smile
“Sorry” they both say back and Carrie makes her way back to her seat.
At the end of the night everyone heads out and towards Tyler’s house. After dropping off Tyler, Nate and Tyler’s brother Jordan the girls head back to Carrie’s house.
“I’m so not sleeping tonight” Lacey says looking out the window as Carrie drives
“Why? You should be exhausted” Carrie says
“I am but I’m nervous I’m getting married tomorrow”
“And stealing my man”
“Hannah, he is not yours”
“I still don’t understand why I can’t at least flirt with his brother”
“Cause he’s younger than Tyler, who is younger than you”
“Still cute”
“He is cute Lacey” Carrie says
“You’re married” they both echo and Carrie laughs
“I know that, jeeze just kill me for an observation”
“No way that would kill my adorable little Gerbe niece or nephew”
Carrie just rolls her eyes and pulls into the driveway “And this is why I was waiting to tell you too” she says shutting the car off and getting out “Weirdo”
They walk into the house and all change into pajama’s before collapsing on the couch
“Movie?” Hannah asks and Carrie and Lacey shake their heads
“Food?” Lacey asks and Hannah and Carrie shake their heads
“Let’s go to sleep, I’ll drug you if I have to” Carrie says pointing at Lacey
They all head upstairs and try their hardest to fall asleep. In the morning Carrie’s alarm wakes her up and she makes her way into the bathroom showering, brushing her teeth and blow drying her hair. After tossing on comfy clothes she goes to wake Hannah and Lacey up and then heads downstairs to make everyone breakfast
“I’m not hungry Carrie if I eat I will puke”
“You need to eat Lacey because if you don’t your stomach will growl in the middle of the ceremony and they will be looking for the rabid dog”
“So nice to me on my wedding day, I was much nicer to you”
“I am being nice to you, I’ve made you breakfast. Your dress is hanging up in my bathroom so the steam from my shower takes out any wrinkles, I’m letting you use my apple body wash which you know I can only find around Christmas time so you are lucky I can get lots more right now”
“Can we eat, before we have to be to the church” Hannah says and Carrie nods moving the food from the stove to the middle of the island so they could grab what they wanted.
After breakfast Lacey and Hannah got in the shower while Carrie straightened and styled her hair, and did her makeup. After Lacey was done in the shower and dressed in yoga pants and a button down shirt Carrie did her hair. Leaving her bangs out Carrie took the sides of Lacey’s hair pulling them back into a pony tail and then clipping it up out of the way. She repeated this with another pony tail below it, leaving part of Lacey’s hair down. Starting there, Carrie worked slowly putting curl after curl into Lacey’s hair until the combination of the ponytails and the part left down made a cascade of curls down Lacey’s back. After carefully curling her bangs back and bobby pinning them in place Carrie sprayed her hair down before carefully putting in Lacey’s veil.
After Lacey finished her makeup and Hannah was done, Carrie changed into her dress. They carefully carried Lacey’s dress and all of their shoes out to the car and got in Carrie and Hannah feeling the cold on their legs and feeling ridiculous in short dresses with winter boots and Lacey still warm in her pants. They made their way to the church Carrie driving extra careful so Lacey’s hair and her dress didn’t get messed up in any way.
When they got to the church the girls made their way to the back room getting Lacey in her dress and doing touch ups to hair and makeup.
“Here” Carrie says handing Lacey tissues
“Where do you want me to put these?”
“One of two places, your boobs, or down the center of your bouquet, you’re going to need them thank me later”
“Speaking of which, where are our bouquet’s?”
“Shi-rtless men… everywhere” Hannah says remembering she’s in a church
“Swearing would have been so much better than that really” Carrie says with a laugh and Hannah shrugs “Their in my fridge aren’t they?” she says with an irritated face
“They sure are”
Carrie digs her phone out of her purse calling Nate “Nate, you have to stop at the house… I’m sorry you are halfway here handsome but all of our flowers are in the fridge…. Yes you put flowers in the fridge to keep them fresh…. Please…. Thank you I love you”
“That boy is whipped” Hannah says and Carrie shakes her head at her
“One I haven’t heard that since like 10th grade, and two he’s married, he knows better you never piss off the wife”
A half hour later there is a knock on the door
“Who is it?” Hannah asks trying to put her shoe on
“Nate”
“I don’t even think this is my shoe! Hang on Nate”
“It isn’t its mine” Carrie says walking towards the door
“Explains why I have two right feet”
Carrie opens the door to see Nate in his tux with 3 boxes in his hands “Flowers for the lovely ladies”
“Thank you” Carrie says kissing him on the cheek and taking the boxes from him “Nate, sweetheart your tie is crooked” she says setting down the boxes and fixing it
“Awe” Lacey and Hannah say over dramatically Carrie rolls her eyes
“I’ll see you later”
“Ok bye baby, bye Lacey, Hannah, you guys all look amazing” He kisses Carrie and Lacey and Hannah say thanks and a bye as Carrie closes the door
“Never gets his tie straight, I don’t know how that man functions” Hannah and Lacey just laugh “Can I have my shoe please?”
They put all the finishing touches on everything making sure they are ready to go when there is a knock at the door again
“You girls about ready, it’s almost time”
Hannah opens the door and nods to their dad standing on the other side. They make their way out and down the halls to the sanctuary hearing the murmur from everyone inside. While they are waiting for the doors to open Hannah standing with Jordan, and Carrie standing with Nate, Lacey feels the nerves creep up again
“I think I’m gonna barf” Carrie turns around to face her paler than usual friend
“Lacey, listen to me. Tyler Ennis is waiting for you at the end of the aisle; he loves you very much and would probably still kiss you even if your breath smelled like puke. However, you are not going to, you are fine take a deep breath, I’m right here for you and so is Hannah, and when this is over you are going to look back at this moment and laugh because what’s about to happen in there is going to be the best moment of your life”
Lacey nodded and took a deep breath “Too late to run right?” she says making Carrie laugh remembering her own wedding
“Well I may not be in heels but I can’t run on ice and snow so yeah too late to run”
“Ok, well then I guess we should go get our boots”
“Lacey, even if you run you’ll end up marrying that man, might as well get it over with now”
“And besides if you don’t do it, I will” Hannah says making both girls laugh
“Ready?” Carrie asks seriously this time
“Yeah ready”
“Ok, I’ll see you up there, got your tissue?”
“In my flowers”
“Good” Carrie says hugging her friend and fixing her veil before turning back to Nate to walk down the aisle with him.
As the doors opened letting Lacey and her father walk down Carrie smiled, and Hannah sniffled, Tyler gawked and got an elbow to the ribs from Nate and “Dude close your mouth” from his brother
Before a word was even said Tyler’s mother was already crying and it wasn’t long before Lacey’s mother joined her. By the end even Lacey’s dad was teary eyed. Lacey used her tissues twice, while Carrie and Hannah ended up getting one from Nate’s pocket which earned a couple of mumbles like “Smart man” and “He must be married”
As they turned to leave the smile on Lacey’s and Tyler’s faces looked like their cheeks could bust and they all made their way out of the sanctuary and out of the church.
The reception was loud and wonderful, Lacey danced with her dad to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts, and then to “Don’t Want to Miss A Thing” By Aerosmith with Tyler. They were eating and drinking and having fun. They all sat down and after everyone finished eating Tyler’s brother stood first delivering the first speech and Nate went after him, Hannah followed and then Carrie stood up
“I think by now you all get the picture of what Tyler and Lacey mean to each other and to their families, and their teams. When I originally wrote this I had a funny inside joke filled speech written and then I realized it didn’t really say anything meaningful, and quiet honestly what any of you think doesn’t matter to me so I threw it out and decided to wing it, and tell you all what Lacey and Tyler mean to me. Tyler has helped me move, not once or twice but 3 times, and my furniture is not light. But, more than that he is easy to talk to loves his job and his dog, is a great best friend to my husband, and is doing a great job making my best friend smile and I thank you Tyler for all the small things you don’t even realize you do that impresses me daily. Lacey, my best friend, my fat girl stuck in a skinny girls body, my favorite Pollock, I don’t even know what to say to you. In the time we have known each other our lives have been a roller coaster, and I’m so glad you were there for all the important parts, graduation, losing my grandparents, every rant, every bad day, and everything in between and then my wedding. I am honored to be a part of yours and so glad you are always so persistent. I wish you both all the happiness marriage can bring because you both deserve it so much. Congratulations to my little sister, and my new brother in law” Carrie blinked back the tears in her eyes and lost it when she finally looked at Lacey to see her crying, Nate handed them both a tissue and Carrie laughed into the microphone “And thank you to my ever prepared husband for having an endless supply of tissue for me today”
That caused a small roar of laughter as Lacey stood to hug Carrie. They went back to dancing and talking to everyone.
“Oh man, the smell of that cake is making me sick” Carrie says walking past it
“Isn’t it a little too early for morning sickness” Hannah asks and Carrie shrugs
“It’s 10 at night” Lacey says
“I mean since she’s only 6 weeks, you doofus”
“Oh”
“How am I supposed to know, this is all new for me. But if I walk past that cake again I’m going to throw up”
“Operation keep Carrie away from cake commence”
“How much have you had to drink Hannah?”
“Enough to treat this as a spy mission”
“So not that much”
After they cut the cake, Hannah making sure Carrie can see it but not smell it, they sit down and wait for it to be passed out
“I told the waiter not to give you any” Lacey says and Carrie smiles gratefully
“Hey baby, want some cake”
“NO!” All three girls yell turning to face Nate
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing”
“You are all talking in unison… what’s wrong?”
“We’re fine Nate, just none of us wants cake and we are sick of being asked” Carrie says and Nate eyes her skeptically but drops the subject.
They get up to dance again after cake plates have been removed
“Nate, mind if I steal your girl for a dance?” Tyler asks and Nate shakes his head
“Stealing yours then”
“Be my guest”
Carrie smiles at Tyler rolling her eyes jokingly but dances with him anyway “By the way, congratulations”
“Lacey told you?”
“Yeah she did and I think she’s right you should tell Nate. He’s been watching you all night and keeps asking me why you’re acting funny”
“Yeah I’ve noticed”
“Especially the cake thing what was that?”
“Don’t even say that word again, just the name is making me think of the smell and I’m gonna throw up if I smell that”
“Ok then, not sending home any of the demon food with you” Carrie laughed but said thank you as the song ended
As some of the older family members started to file out they all said their goodbyes, and Carrie caught a whiff of the cake again and gagged
“I need some fresh air” she says walking towards the hallway
She steps out of the ballroom and takes a deep breath trying to settle her stomach. She sits down on a bench and before she knows it she sees dress shoes in her view of the floor
“Hi Nate” she says not looking up
“Are you ok? I brought you some water”
“I’m fine, thank you” she says taking the water and sipping it slowly
“Are you sure? It looked like you were going to puke back there and the last time you did that you drank way too much which I know you haven’t because I’ve been watching you so what’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing Carolyn because I can see that something is wrong so tell me”
“Nate, I’m fine”
“You’re not fine!” He says almost yelling
“Sh, calm down ok, it’s not something I want to tell you here ok its Lacey and Tyler’s day”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nate keep your voice down, you’re going to cause a scene”
“Good I hope I do, I’ve been watching you for the last two days and I can tell something is wrong, and you won’t tell me what it is and I don’t know if I am angry or scared so I hope I do cause a damned scene”
“Nathan!” Carrie says pointedly and pulls him by the arm down onto the bench with her “What’s wrong is the smell of cake is making me sick to my stomach”
“So you’re sick, well lets go home and-”
“I’m not done, so shut up” Carrie says and Nate closes his mouth with wide eyes “The reason the smell of cake is making me feel sick to my stomach is” She starts and someone walks out into the hallway and Carrie smiles and says goodbye to Lacey’s grandfather
“Is what!?” Nate asks and Carrie elbows him “What did I do?”
“Today is not about us ok so stop getting so excited, today is about Tyler and Lacey getting married and starting their life together and it is not about us or me being pregnant so just keep your pants on damn it”
“You’re what?”
“Pregnant”
“But h-”
“So help me if you ask how I will punch you”
“Right, when did you find out?”
“Two days ago, I wanted to wait until Christmas, but you freak out too much”
“And Lacey knows”
“And Hannah, she happened to have to pee while I was getting interrogated about not drinking last night, apparently I like wine”
“That you do. Baby you should have told me”
“I know I just wanted this to be their day, not everyone watch the pregnant girl make sure she’s ok day”
“Well it turned into me watching you all day anyway, I worry about you, and now I’m going to worry even more because there are two of you to worry about” Carrie just smiled at him and kissed him slowly “So, how far along are you?”
“6 weeks”
“How many more to go until we meet our mini Gerbe”
“All of them” Nate looked at her with a confused expression “I don’t know how many, I am new to this too”
Nate stood up and pulled Carrie up after him “Well, for all of them however long that may be I will be right here. I love you Carrie” he says kissing her “And I love you too little one” he says rubbing Carrie’s belly lightly and Carrie swats his hand away as another relative exits the ball room and Nate looks at her weird
“Their day, not ours. This is between you, me Lacey, Hannah, Tyler, and probably Jordan because let’s face Lacey can’t keep a secret very well”
They walked back into the room and over to the table where everyone was sitting and talking
“So” Lacey says and Carrie nods “Awe”
“Now if only he would wipe that goofy smile off his face” Carrie says and Lacey smiles
“He’s excited, he’s gonna be a daddy, let him have his moment”
“Anyway, congratulations Lacey”
“Thanks, I think I’m going to have to practice my signature from Lacey Johnson to Lacey Ennis. It’s going to take some getting used to”
“Please you’ve been practicing your Ennis signature in notebooks for 3 years before we even met them”
As team mates came up and said their congratulations and filed out the 6 of them began to feel the weight of the long day.
“Ready to go Carrie?” Nate Asks and she nods
“Hannah do you need a ride back to the falls?”
“No, my dad is still around here somewhere, probably outside I’m riding with him” Carrie nodded and hugged Lacey and Tyler
“Have fun in Toronto guys I’ll see you when you get back in a week. Don’t forget Christmas eve, eve dinner at my house”
“We eat there too often, how about you guys come to our place then for new years?” Tyler asks and Carrie nods
“Sounds like a plan”
“That’s really going to take getting used to, our place” Lacey says
“Give it a month, it rolls off the tongue” Nate says handing Carrie her coat “Night guys, drive safe”
They all head out the door leaving Tyler and Lacey alone for the first time all day
“So now what Mrs. Ennis”
“I guess we get going, Mrs. Ennis that sounds weird”
“It sounds perfect”
“That too. I love you Tyler” Lacey says kissing him gently
“I love you too Lacey”