Mr. Sensitivity

"Honey, you looked beautiful." Mom grabbed my shoulders in a rough hug as Taylor and I entered the ground floor of the nearby Holiday Inn, where Isaac and Sarah had decided to hold their reception.

"Oh, thanks." I smiled down at the dress Sarah had picked out for me to wear, identical to those of her bridesmaids Jessica and Avery. Choosing a bridesmaid's dress that is not utterly putrid is a chore in itself, I tell you. It had taken probably about two weeks of scouring Tulsa's bridal shops before her eyes fell on the simple dress the three of us now wore. The most incredible thing was it was comfortable: its thin straps had been loosely tailored to fit my shoulders, it was fitted in the waist enough to show my stickish figure, and the layers of the skirt folded around my legs like the petals of a rose. I loved the way the light green satin felt against my skin, not starchy and scratchy at all.

I could almost get used to dressing up.. almost.

"And I didn't trip through the whole thing," I added with a grin, showing them the three-inch heels on my feet. It was a good thing Taylor was a good deal taller than me, I had to be around six foot perched atop of these darn things.

"We were very proud of you Maggie." Dad replied with a sour note. "Every parent's dream."

"As hard as it is to live up to your standards," I joked back.

"As long as you aren't walking down any aisles yourself for awhile, you'll spare us the heart attack." At those words, I caught him looking over at my boyfriend suspiciously. Unfortunately, Taylor noticed it too, before glancing down at me, slightly amused. I coughed slightly in surprise.

"Dad!" I scolded.

"Don't worry, that's not going to happen any time soon." I found Taylor's hand and squeezed it lightly, giving him a sideways smile. He squeezed it back. By the twinkle in his eyes, I could tell that he was enjoying watching my cheeks turn pink at Dad's implication.

"Now remember, today is Embarrass Sarah day, so you guys can just take a break from teasing me." I warned my parents. Sometimes it was hard to imagine we were as close as we were, them having adopted me about five years ago. They were the most wonderful parents I could've ever hoped to have, almost completely filling the void that had formed in my life the day my own parents were killed in a fateful car accident.

"Every day is Embarrassing Maggie day. Family tradition, don't you know that by now?" The voice of another person close to me spoke up. I suppose this is the best time to point out the obvious: my family often shows affection by tormenting each other.

"Greetings to you too, Nana." I greeted my grandmother with a kiss on her cheek.

"You two were wonderful." She squeezed my hand lightly. I returned her smile when she stepped back a little and looked at the two of us standing together.

"You were right, he is handsome." I laughed when our family charm was turned on him and it was his turn to blush.

"Gotta love guys in tuxes, Nana." I winked at her and wrapped my arms around Taylor in a gentle hug. My heart beat a quick step faster as his arms circled warmly around my back. Resting my head on his shoulder, I caught the sight of more familiar people, but someone else's relatives.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hanson!" I greeted them with a huge smile. Beside the fact I adored them, anything to avoid further embarrassment by my own relatives was definently a good sidewinder.

"Diana, Maggie." Mrs. Hanson-err, Diana replied with a smile as they joined our group. I always had the hardest time referring parents by their own names, especially my own. While I was all for equality, somehow 'Karen' didn't have the same ring as 'Mom,' and the same for 'Gerald' vs. 'Dad.'

"Oh, sorry." I apologized. "I keep doing that, don't I?"

"One of these days she'll get it right," Taylor nudged me with his shoulder.

"Probably on my death bed, knowing me," I joked back.

"You two looked great up there." Mr. Hanson-ahh, Walker spoke up.

"Thanks," I answered for the both of us.

"Who knows? Maybe you two will be the next two walking down there together." He playfully slapped Taylor's shoulder with his palm.

Not again, I thought. Why is everyone bringing that up?

"Yeah, who knows." was all Taylor replied quietly, releasing his hold around my waist. Wondering if something was on his mind, I looked for a chance for us to escape. If I knew parents, they would start discussing boring subjects anyway and it'd be fine for us to politely excuse ourselves.

"It was such a beautiful service, at the price they paid." As if reading my mind, Mom started the typical, parental small talk.

"Absolutely." I quickly agreed, seizing the opportunity. "Taylor?"

"Yeah Babe?" He turned back toward me.

"Want to grab our seats now?"

"Why?" The tormenting boyfriend I love came back in the grin that spread across his face. "You think if we sit down earlier they'll bring out the food faster?"

"You never know." I smiled innocently. After a shake of his head, he turned to the group:

"Now how am I supposed to turn down an offer like that? We'll catch you all later."

"'Bye." "Later." "Have fun." "'Bye." "Happy digesting." The last was from Nana, I turned around and threw her a big smile as we left.

Relatives.. Are anyone else's as weird as mine?

"Taylor?" I asked him after we'd taken our seats at the largest table in the room. Gazing around, I smiled at how simple all the features were, but elegant. A Dee-jay was putting finishing touches on his set-up of speakers and strobe lights in a corner. Watching him distractedly, I wondered how I'd get out of being dragged onto the dance floor by not only Taylor, but Zac as well. The two of them loved dancing wildly and it would be embarrassing if I didn't love them as much as I do. Unlike a sarcastic sense of humor, coordinated feet don't run in my family, surprisingly possibly because I teach aerobics for work. But that doesn't take much skill - just a stern voice and forward attitude, not to mention fear of cellulite.

"What's up?" Taylor broke my rambling thoughts. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as I turned my eyes back to him.

"I'd like to ask the same of you, actually." I smiled as I looked into his eyes. It was fascinating to watch them flood with confusion. Confusing Taylor sometimes seemed to be a habit of mine, more than once done for the sole purpose of teasing him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Just wondering if there's something you wanted to talk about." Although I spoke lightly, there wasn't an air of teasing in my voice. I was genuinely concerned why he'd drawn back a little while talking to my parents. Although they generally got along, it had taken a few months for my parents to accept Taylor as my boyfriend. I couldn't blame them though, I was the only 'little girl' they had. I use that term roughly because my twentieth birthday is just around the corner.

"Uhh.." Taylor thought for a moment. With a grin, he finally replied,

"Nope."

"Oh, ok." I smiled briefly at him before shifting my gaze again. I was surprised to find the room nearly full of Ike and Sarah's relatives by this time.

How on earth did they all sneak in here without me noticing? I guessed that also meant the newly-weds would be making their grand entrance in a few minutes.

"Should I be bothered by something?" I turned back to Taylor when he reached over and squeezed my hand.

"No, silly." I patted his leg reassuringly. "I just wanted to see if anything was wrong."

"Not that I know of, but I could be wrong." I loved the sound of his loud laughter in my ears. Although he was sitting close to me and it nearly blew my eardrums out, there are definently worse ways to loose one's sense of hearing. I playfully threw him a dirty look, squinting my eyes under a frown.

"Excuse me for caring, Mr. Sensitivity." I broke my frown by giggling at the nickname Sarah and I'd given him awhile ago. The joke was that he was different from the stereotypical male insensitive nature. It was definently a joke: Taylor was just as clueless as they come. But the joke had erupted into a full-blown excuse for him. Whenever he used it with that damn charming smile, it could melt away all of my frustrations with the guy, not to mention make me laugh.

"That's right." He agreed with a grin. My giggles increased when he turned his head, half-closed his eyes and looked down at me in the corners and lifted his eyebrows suggestively. It was the Mr. Sensitivity stare, one that women (this is all part of our joke, I assure you) were powerless against it at all odds.

"Cut that out," I swatted at his shoulder. As he dropped the face, he reached over to tickle me in the side.

"None of that either!" I jerked away from his hand, being incredibly ticklish that I am. Call it a weakness, call it a curse, either way it sucked. Especially dating someone as relentless as Taylor.

"Sorry." The grin on his face sure didn't reflect that apology.

"Seriously though, I just wanted to make sure everything was ok." I referred to earlier.

"Everything is fine." He assured me with a warm arm around my shoulders. "Maggie.. Like I've told you a hundred times just this month: relax."

"I know, I know." I replied, feeling a little tense as my defensive nature kicked in. As I took his hand in mine, I looked deeply into his blue eyes and smiled shyly, as I always did when I looked into his gaze. My heart thumping a beat quicker in my chest, I continued in a voice barely over a whisper:

"I just don't want to mess anything up." I confessed.

"You're not going to mess anything up." He repeated firmly, for this wasn't the first time we'd had a conversation similar to this one. Can you blame me though? It was my first serious relationship in eons.

"You say that, but it's another thing if I think it." I admitted sadly. The only problem I had with us was that it so often felt too perfect. It was almost as if I were waiting for reality to strike and it to fall apart.. and if I wasn't careful, I'd mess up and ruin the entire thing. Little did I know that my worries were the root of the problem.

"Then let me convince you." Taylor released my hand and slipped his hands around my face, his fingers laying around the line of my jaw. With a light pressure from his fingertips, he brought my lips to his in a gentle, tender kiss. My entire body dissolved into relaxation as I felt his soft lips against mine as we sat unmoving for a few seconds. Only my heartbeat sped up to a Congo line speed, pulsing loudly in my chest. I breathed as we broke apart.

"Well, when you put it that way.."