Wedding Previews

 

          “Gage, come on already!  We’ve only got an hour left.  I knew that shopping with you would be a mistake.  Why didn’t we just buy two different presents for them?”  Sydney said.  Gage felt hurt, but didn’t let on.  She’d been moody and upset for awhile and he wasn’t sure what was wrong.

          “Syd, why not?  Why can’t we get him season tickets to the Cowboys game?”

          “Because Erika probably wants to be around her husband when he’s off work.  Gage, it needs to be something they both can use together.”

          They left that store and went to the next.  “God, kitchen stuff.”

          “Yeah, kitchen stuff.  He won’t be spending every meal at CD’s with us.”

          “That sucks.”

          “Gage!”

          “Well, it does.  Walker’s always with Alex and Angela; Trivette’ll be with Erika.”
          “And you’ll have to spend time with me.  Oh, I’m so sorry you’ll be punished like that, Gage.”  He knew, when she said that, that he’d said the wrong thing. 

          “Syd, I’m…”

          “Save it, Gage.”

          They looked for a little longer and saw an indoor grill.  “Syd, what about this?”

          “I think it will be great.”

          “Walker, come on.  We have to pick something.  What would you have liked in your first year of marriage?”

          “A gun.”  She looked sternly at him.  “For work purposes only.”

          “That’s much better.”  They walked for awhile until they came to a porch swing like the one they had at home.

          “Alex, Trivette’s talking about getting a ranch.  Our porch swing is where we found out about Angela, where we sat and talked to our friends, where all the best things happened.”

          “You’re right.  The porch swing it is.”

          Trivette and Erika walked into CD’s.  It was decorated for the surprise shower.

          “Okay, Sydney and I decided that we wanted to give you your own shower here.”  Trivette smiled.  He knew that they wanted Walker and Gage to be a part of this; all the other showers had been females only.  The significance of having it at CD’s was not lost on him either.  He only wished that their friend could be here.  Big Dog had missed so much: Walker and Alex’s wedding, Angela’s birth, and now his wedding to Erika.

          “Thanks, you guys.”  He hugged the girls first and then talked to Walker and Gage.

          Instead of the traditional bridal shower games, they played pool and darts.  Instead of the traditional shower food, they had hamburgers.

          “Gage, we don’t have any potato salad this time.  Sorry.”  Alex said.

          “Oh, that’s okay, Alex.  I’m sure he’ll find someway to gross us out.”  Sydney commented, half-serious, half-joking, as Gage eyed a jar of salsa.

          “Oh, my God.  Thank you so much, you guys!”  Erika said, opening the grill.

          “How do you use it?”

          “Don’t worry, Jimmy.  I predict you’ll learn very soon.”  Alex and Sydney smiled while the guys rolled their eyes.

          “Thank you, Alex.  Thanks, partner.”  Jimmy said when he opened the swing.

          “We remembered all the good times we had on our swing.  We wanted to get you one for your ranch.”  Alex said, smiling.  Trivette had become a brother to her, taking care of her when Walker was hurt or gone undercover.

          “Okay, time to split up.”  Sydney said, as she and Alex stood.

          Both Alex and Sydney had thrown a fit when the boys just suggested going camping for the weekend, not that Walker or Trivette blamed them.  Walker and Gage had managed to get tickets to the Cowboys game through their connections.  After they were settled in their seats, Trivette turned to Gage.

          “Are you all right?”  Trivette asked.

          “Yeah.  I’m fine.”

          “Oh, ‘cause you’ve seemed a little upset lately.”

          “It’s Syd.  If you or Walker aren’t around, we either don’t talk or she ends up biting my head off.”

          “You really don’t know, do you?”

          “Know what?”

          “If you so much as looked at Sydney the right way, she’d marry you that instant.  The girl is head over heals in love with you.”

          “Trivette…”

          “I know.  Trap door.  All I’m saying is maybe that’s why she’s hurting, because she loves you and she knows how you feel about that.  You’ve never been that great at keeping things a secret from her.”  The game started and they turned their attention to better things.

          “Finally, the men are gone!”  Sydney shouted.

          “It’s what we’ve all been waiting for.  THE BACHELORETTE PARTY!” Alex joined in.

          “Okay, Erika.  This was very hard for Alex and me.  She wanted to have a girlie sleepover type party, while I wanted to have a real party!  So we compromised.  We’ll start with the girlie part and then work our way up to the stripper!”  Syd announced, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

          Their first game was Truth or Dare.  They elected to have the person to give both the dare and the question and then have the other choose between the two.  They waited ten minutes before starting the game so the girls could think of tricky questions and gross-out dares.

          “Okay, Erika gets to go first, since she is the bride.” Alex said.

          “All right, Sydney, either you have to eat marshmallows that we each have licked or…answer this question.  What qualities does your ideal man possess?”  Erika questioned with a knowing sparkle in her eye.

          “I’ll take the question because I absolutely hate marshmallows.  My ideal man, hmm.  Well, number one, he has to be kind and considerate.  He is athletic, but doesn’t over do it.  He is handsome and well built.  He likes music.  But most of all, he has to be completely in love with me,” she told them.

          “Sounds like a ranger we all know, COUGH, COUGH!”  Alex said quietly.

          “What did you say?”  Sydney said, a little angrily.

          “Nothing, Sydney.”  Alex denied, causing the room to once again burst into fits of laughter.

          “All right, then.  Alex, either dance with your panties on your head or tell us when you first knew that you loved Walker.”  Sydney said.

"Well, I definitely can't do the dare.  I have a reputation to uphold!!!!   It's really hard to say when I knew.  I think I knew from the first time I met him, but we both adamantly denied our feelings.  There were lots of times when I felt it.  Every time someone decided to kidnap me and he'd come to the rescue.  But I think I knew for sure when my father came back into my life.  Dad had been drinking one night and punched me.   Typically, Walker practically would have killed him, but he knew that I didn't want any more violence.  So, out of respect and love for me, he stood by and let my father and I work out our relationship.  That's when I knew that Walker was the one," Alex gushed.

"Aww..." the room said in unison.  They followed it by fake gagging and puking sounds.

"Okay, well, now that you're all done mocking me I'll take my turn.   Erica, you're being kind of silent.  So, you're the recipient of my dare.  Either you drink a glass full of Walker's detoxifying drink or you answer this question: If you could be any tree, what would it be and why?" Alex asked.

“Alex, has anyone ever told you that you're a tad bit on the crazy side?" Syd asked.

"Shut up, Sydney, and let her choose her fate!" she said jokingly, tossing a pillow at her friend.

"Well, Jimmy told me about that green, puke-tasting drink, so I think I'll pass!  That's a tough question because I don't know a lot about trees.   Okay, I'd like to be any tree that grows on a ranch.  That way I get to live out in the country, have beautiful scenery, and be well cared for and loved for all of my life," Erica laughed.

After a few more rounds of Truth or Dare, the girls took an ice cream break.  Next up were makeovers.  After giggling at their clown faces in the mirror, they decided to do some Karaoke.  This idea was quickly ended after Syd took her turn.  They decided that they just didn't want to be compared.  

"Ding dong!" the door bell sounded.

"I guess my stripper's here!" Sydney said.

Sydney's stripper turned out to be Alex's dad, who was in town for the week.  He took off his shirt and tie, before he was stopped by the immense laughter.  After saying good-bye to Gordon, they finished their evening drinks and girl talk.  They were all excited and welcomed Erica into their close knit "family."  Trivette had finally found "the one."