Page 28 of Allison

“Allison, my goodness if your daddy could hear you,” Leslie chimes in, peering at her around Susie Beth.When did she get here?

“You be sure to run and tell him when they get here,” Allison sneers. “You always were a tattletale.” Shocked gasps along with Susie Beth’s cackle of laughter fill the room. Allison has tried to be nice, but she isn’t in the mood to be treated like she’s still in middle school. Regret hits her almost immediately. “I’m sorry, Em. I don’t mean to cause problems.”

“Youaren’t causing problems,” Emma says graciously. “Let’s all just take a minute and calm down. Leslie, it isn’t like Allison is dropping the f-bomb so chill on shaming. None of us are perfect, and we need to remember that.”

“The dress feels a little snug,” Allison comments to break the tension, “What do you think?” Emma gives her an appraising look, tilting her head to the side.

“You might be right,” Emma asserts, nodding. “Let me have mom come and check.” Emma texts her mother. “Mom’ll be here soon.”

Minutes later, there’s a knock on the door. Emma hurries to open it. “Hey, mom. Allison’s dress might need some adjustments.”

“Aunt Margaret!” Allison rushes to give the woman a hug. While many of Allison’s extended family can be overly judgmental, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Henry have never been too bad, especially after what Emma had gone through. They’ve always been Allison’s favorite aunt and uncle.

“Ali, my girl!” Aunt Margaret grips her tightly. “I’m so happy to see you. I should have come to dinner the other night but didn’t want to intrude on the young kids' fun. We’ll have time to catch up at the rehearsal dinner and reception.”

“Mom, you and dad aren’t intruding,” Emma argues, good naturedly. Margaret glances at Emma, giving her a dismissive wave of her hand. Allison can tell the women have hashed this out a few times before now. She turns back to Allison, putting her at arm’s length to assess the dress.

“This won’t be too difficult to alter,” Aunt Margaret says. She picks her bag off the floor where she must have dropped it when she saw Allison and plucks out a plastic container full of straight pins. “Now, hold still. You don’t want to be the pincushion.”

Allison winces remembering a few sharp pokes as a child when Aunt Margaret would make them clothes. Allison had a hard time staying still while the hems and seams were pinned. She’d end up getting several sticks and bleeding on her new outfit before the process was over.

About twenty minutes and only two small pokes later, neither of which drew blood, Aunt Margaret is satisfied the dress is pinned like it needs to be. “Alright, slip that off, and I’ll take it back to my room and get to work. I should have it ready in a couple of hours at the latest.”

“Thanks, Aunt Margaret,” Allison gives the woman’s arm a little squeeze. She returns to the bathroom, carefully removing the dress and placing it on the hanger. After quickly donning her clothes, she leaves the bathroom. “I have plans for dinner tonight. I’ll see you all in the morning,” she says to the women in the room, handing the dress to her aunt.

“Allison, wait!” She turns at Leslie’s request. “I’m sorry if I upset you earlier. It wasn’t my intention.” Allison nods but doesn’t comment. This has always been Leslie’s tactic in the past. She’d tell on the rest of them for even the most minor of infractions, then beg their forgiveness saying she hadn’t meant to get them in trouble but would do the same thing a day later. Allison doesn’t believe for one second the woman has changed from the brat she’s always been.

“Don’t sweat it. I shouldn’t have risen to the bait.” With that Allison gives Emma a hug.

“I’ll see you later,” Emma says with a grin, then leans close to whisper, “Bachelorette party tonight. We’re leaving around nine. I didn’t invite the cousins.”

“Later,” Allison agrees, returning the grin. She heads back to her room checking the time on her phone. She should have just enough time to shower and freshen up before Russell arrives with their dinner.

19

WORM

The hotel bar isn’t very busy. Mercury is on Worm’s left happily scarfing down his chicken wings, fries, and cheese sticks. “Just a little snack,” he’d said when he ordered. Bull has Susie Beth cornered in a nearby booth. She isn’t looking very happy to be trapped next to the wall, or perhaps she just doesn’t want to be trapped by Bull.Good luck, buddy.

Worm is nursing a beer while Virus is on his third, complaining the whole time about being bored. Worm doesn’t remember Virus being so whiny when they’ve been out before. Virus heaves out a huge sigh. What’s gotten into him now?

“What’s eating at you?” Worm turns to face Virus. “You’re worse than a three-year-old at church.”

“Nothing,” Virus snaps, staring at the wall of liquor behind the bar. “I mean, what could possibly be wrong? It’s not like all my bros are finding women, settling down, and leaving me to carry the torch for all the bachelors for life, right? That would never happen.” He turns his head, giving Worm a glare.

“I’m not settling down,” Worm denies, even as a sour feeling settles in his gut. “It’s just dinner. Besides, you’re not the last one left. Mercury is a happy bachelor, right?” Worm spins to his left.

“I’m a bachelor all right,” Mercury responds, looking down at the remnants of his food. The look on his face makes it plain he’s anything but happy. Worm frowns. What’s he missing? Does Mercury want to be settled down? He makes a mental note to have a private talk with him sometime.

“Everything is changing,” Virus complains, drawing Worm’s attention again. “I miss the good old days when we’d come back from a mission and hit the bars, picking up barflies for a bit of fun, then hanging out together. Now, most of the team is married with kids, or soon to be, and those days are gone.”

“We still hang out,” Worm counters. “Hawk and Charlotte have everyone over at least once a month.” Virus’s face screws up in a scowl.

“It’s not the same!” Virus waves his hands around in a dramatic fashion. “There are kids present. We can’t get shitfaced and have barflies hanging off us.”

“Is that what you really want?” Worm asks with genuine curiosity. “You want to have meaningless hookups and never have someone special to come home to?” Virus waves at the bartender. When he looks over, Virus holds up his empty glass indicating he’s wanting another.

“I’m not saying that I never want to settle down, but it’s all happening so fast, you know?” The bartender places another full glass of beer down in front of Virus.

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