Engagement Party: Part Two

The party seemed to fly by. I was concerned that if I ate too much, it would show and have my whole family asking if I was expecting a child, but I was so busy helping my mom out, that I didn't even get to eat much of the food I was passing around. That's what happens when the waitresses your mom hired to do everything don't show up!

At one point, I looked over at the gift table where my mom had placed a wooden box with cut up index cards. She had made a sign to tell everyone to leave little notes for my brother and his fiancée with advice for married life. When I saw my mom getting it ready a few days before, I thought it was such a cute idea, but I felt bad when I saw that there were only two cards in the box. My sister was walking by when I noticed this.

"Do you think I should try to get people to do this?" I asked her.

She hesitated for a moment, looking at the box and drinking her red wine. After a moment, she shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I just feel bad," I justified. "Maybe people didn't see it."

I figured it would be a good way to get to know all the people at the party I didn't know. Besides, I didn't want my mom's cute idea to be a bust. I waited for Scott to come out of the bathroom before asking him to tag along with me from table to table.

Scott held the pens and paper as I cautiously led the way to each table. It was a lot easier to ask the people who I didn't know, because they weren't going to laugh in my face, but the tables with my family members were a bit tougher.

"I don't know what to write," my aunt politely responded.

"You've been happily married for thirty something years," I pointed out. "You must have some advice."

I didn't want to be too annoying so after I made my spiel at each table, Scott and I quickly moved on.

At the last table, my brother's high school friends were all sitting there and heavily drinking.

One of them, Joey, exclaimed as I walked over to the table. "Little Caroline," he said as he threw his arms up in the air. "Where have you been hiding?"

I laughed and shrugged. "Floating around the party," I replied. I threaded my arm through Scott's arm before introducing him to the table of belligerent guys.

"Nice to meet you, man," said my brother's friend, Bobby, as he stood up and reached his hand out. "I hope you know Sam will kill you if you hurt her."

Scott laughed. "Yeah, I'm not worried," he replied.

I nudged him in the ribs but before I had a chance to say anything, Joey interjected. "He's not kidding, dude. One time a kid made a joke about making a move on Caroline at a party and Sam threw him up against the locker."

"What?" I dramatically asked. I had never heard this story, but I have to admit it kind of flattered me. I wonder how many guys wanted to hit on me in high school, but wouldn't because they were scared of my brother. I doubted the number was high, but a little delusion never hurt anybody.

"I don't mean I'm not worried about Sam," Scott replied before turning his attention towards me. "I meant that I don't plan on hurting this gal."

My brother's friends mock awed at Scott's sentiment, but I didn't even let them bother me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and smiled. "Thanks, babe," I quietly replied so that only he heard.

"Hey, Caroline," Bobby called at me. "Did you ever think your brother would get married before you?"

It didn't bother me that my brother was getting married before me. He had been ready to settle down since he met Linda a couple years ago, so it made sense. However, observing my brother's oldest friends reminded me of how he used to act. He was always partying and never in a serious relationship. If I was being completely honest with myself, I would've never believed that Sam would be engaged before me if anyone had asked me five years before.

"Well, thank you for mentioning it," I joked to Bobby. "I guess I never did think that."

Scott, to my surprise, joined in on the conversation. "Well, they're not getting married for two years. You could still beat him."

"Oh, boy," Joey said as he animatedly clapped his hands. "This guy's talking a big talk!"

I felt myself getting red and didn't want the sweet moment ruined by drunken degenerates, so I grabbed Scott's arm before telling them to please fill out the cards.

"Thanks for sticking it out with them," I said to him. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Scott replied as he kissed my forehead. Scott didn't mention his intention to marry me again so I didn't bring it up, but the comment made me a little more secure. Even with all our time apart, our bond felt stronger than ever.

By the time everybody left, I was exhausted but I had some coffee so that I could help my mom clean up. Scott insisted on helping us clean up, too, even though he had done more than enough throughout the whole party. He was really earning himself an out of this world blow job.

As I lugged a heavy garbage bag toward my garage, I heard Linda complaining to my brother from inside.

"Why did your friends have to drink so much?"

"I don't know, babe," Sam replied, sounding exasperated. "They weren't that bad and they're gone now."

I didn't even want to continue eavesdropping. I walked away and continued cleaning. How could someone be so miserable when she should be celebrating something special?