Before My Eyes

Monica and Louis have been married for 8 years and have two lovely daughters, who are the flower girls for a family friend's wedding. After the wedding, questions are in need of answering.

I smile as I watch Wynny and PJ walking down the isle. PJ, short for Patricia Jaylene, who's 5, is daintily letting the flower petals she holds in a basket fall to the ground at her feet. Mean while, 7-year-old Wynny tosses the petals carelessly around her. She's obviously annoyed and wants to get the job done with. Both my girls wear dark purple dresses that match Vidalia, soon-to-be- wife of PJ's, bridesmaid's gowns. Their dark brown hair is done up in a pretty style with white flower crowns. Louis, PJ's best man watches our girls walk up the isle, then dart to the right and over to me. I was offered the job of being a bridesmaid; however, Louis and I agreed one of us had to watch over the girls.

Vidalia and PJ exchange vows, both with eyes filling with tears, and tender smiles. The venue they chose is truly gorgeous, and this is the first wedding my girls are attending. Louis and I had our own wedding 8 years ago, but it feels like yesterday.

I watch PJ and Vidalia happily kiss after exchanging vows and rings, then look over at my daughters and start to laugh quietly at their horrified faces. Both of them love romance and all that, like all girls, but in a more masculine like fashion, they despise the kissing part of all of that. Flat out hate it. PJ and Vidalia step down, Louis, the rest of the groomsmen, and the bridesmaids following in an orderly fashion. Vidalia planned to perfection. I help Wynny and PJ into their fluffy winter coats, and I lead them out of the small building where Louis waits for us. He smiles and walks over, giving me a quick kiss on my cheek, and then sneaking on my neck. "Papa, up," PJ orders to Louis and he obliges like the push-over dad he is.

Wynny clings to my left hand, and my right-hand holds Louis' free hand.

It's not until we're around three miles on the road that things go downhill for me. "Daddy?" Wynny says.

"Yes, baby?" Louis answers.

"Did you see it?" she says. I tense, knowing exactly what she means, but Louis instead deciding to feign ignorance while I smirk at his discomfort.

"See what, baby?"

"The kiss," she whispers with a scowl.

"Yes, I saw it. Mama and I told you and PJ that they would. We warned you."

"You didn't say there would be tongue," she says, the scowl still in place. Louis can visually show how he feels his insides twisting. He does not want to be having this conversation. Not at all. He looks to me for help, any help at all. I raise his hands up, telling him that he's on his own in this. "When you get married, are you allowed to kiss boys?" Wynny asks when Louis don't say anything to fight her first comment. "Am I allowed to kiss boys when I get married?"

"Sure, darling," he tells her. "You can kiss a boy when you get married."

She nods, seeming content, and starts to kick her legs. Her feet are adorned in black flats with a small heel that made her feel so grown up. I remember Louis and I had only been married for a year when we agreed to start looking into adopting or surrogacy. We found Josephine, who gave birth to Wynny just 3 months after we started looking. Katerina birthed PJ three years after that. I feel like they have grown up so fast, but to be honest, I am so glad they have because I love the girls they have grown into. Wynny is so sporty, unlike Louis and I ever were, and PJ is such a diva. They contradict each other and it's great to see them try to find something in common with each other.

It's not even ten minutes after his last conversation with Wynny when she says, "Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" he answers.

"I've made a decision."

"And what would that be?"

"When I get married, like Vidalia and uncle PJ, I'm not going to marry one boy," she says holding up a single finger, before raising the second finger. "I'm going to marry two boys! One to mow my lawn, and one to watch TV with me."

I start dying of laughter in the passenger seat next to my husband, who simply shakes his head in amusement. Where this girl gets her ideas, I'll never know. "Sure, baby. You do that," he tells her with an amused grin. She grins back and looks out the window next to her.

Just after Wynny finishes, PJ starts to speak, "Hey, Daddy? There's a boy in my class who says he loves me." she says and I smile. PJ recently started kindergarten and so I simply smile, thinking this will be a much smaller and easier conversation, I mean, she's only five-years-old!

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. And he asked me to marry him."

"Really? Do you think you might want to marry that boy when you're older?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"That boy only likes me for my body," she says like it's the most casual and true thing in the world. I feel my jaw drop while my laughter fills the car again.

After the wedding dinner, and after our family has returned home and our girls are in bed, I am laughing at my husband rather than our daughters. "Why aren't you so upset?" he asks me, tracing random patterns on my bare hip.

"Where the heck did she hear that?! The only things we show her are what's on kid channels on TV and Disney movies!"

"It might've been the movie Cars," I mumble into his neck, intertwining my legs with his. "I think the rusty pick-up truck says it."

"The f*cking truck," he scoffs. "No more Disney movies."

"Liar," I accuse, turning off our lights so we can sleep.

"...yeah..."

Author's Note

I wrote this story, like one other, when I was younger. However, I went back and I did some small editing because I always found this story amusing.

Reviews

[matrixmark]

As soon as I started this I was drawn back into how damn good your writing actually is. The first sentence even though long, it was perfect for describing what you set out to do. Sometimes, as you know when we write sentences which are too long it can be a bit of a turnoff for the reader to read. But this was SO WELL DONE.

Your descriptives too are vivid in colour and really set deep into the minds eye because of the way in which you describe the setting. The dialogue was perfect and flowed just how dialogue is meant to. The conversation was as real as it gets without having to be there. It felt cute and so real becuase my sisters little one who is 8, asks akward questions like this (getting more and more awkward too) So the play of words which you described how Louis was feeling, I can relate to (Been there)

'Shes going to marry 2 boys' - that line made me laugh - the innocence and hilarity of it was nicely done. But again it felt so real. And the other comedy line 'he only likes me for my body' - boy o boy did I laugh.

Quality ending to another quality piece.
You have talent and it shows.

Mark.

[Tony Jordan]

You are simple.
Not in the head - but in the heart and pen.
Bravo