Beautiful Life: The Carpino Series (9 page)

“Well,” she starts but inhales what looks to be her own lung full of courage as she starts to worry her hands in front of her.  “I’ve talked to Pop and he understands,” she starts, referring to Gabby and Tony’s grandfather who she’s very close to, but still not making any sense. 

“Gabby, what are you talking about?” Tony frowns.

Gabby turns to look at Jude and he immediately moves to her, puts an arm around her chest and pulls her back to him.  He leans down and I barely hear him say into her ear, “Just say it.”

When she looks back to Tony, she has tears in her eyes and I can see her swallow before she says quietly, “I want you to walk me down the aisle, give me away.  If you want to, that is.”

I feel Tony’s arm drop away from me as he moves to her.  Gabby’s tears start to fall down her cheeks and Jude lets go of her when Tony reaches to give his cousin a big hug and says into her hair, “I’ll walk you down the aisle, but no way will I give you away, Gabba.  Never.”

“Okay,” Gabby says as her voice hitches and she burrows into his chest. 

“Anything, Gabby, you know that,” Tony says with meaning.

“I know,” she says through a shaky voice.  Then repeats with meaning I can’t even begin to understand, “I
know
.”

I can’t help it, I have to wipe away my own tears.  My sweet friend who lost her parents has finally found her happily ever after and even though she won’t have her parents here to see it, she does have a big family to love and support her.  She deserves it.  Gabby and Tony have always been closer than close, but I have a feeling him jumping in front of a bullet for her has brought them to a new level.

Gabby finally releases Tony and announces through her sniffles, “I’m fine, I’m fine.  I’ve got to finish packing.  You two…well…get back to whatever you were doing.”  I feel my face warm as I hear Jude chuckle.  But Gabby forges ahead with instructions, “You’ll need to be fitted for your tux, Jude can give you the details this weekend, but it needs to be done by Monday.  I can’t believe it’s only four weeks away, there’s still so much to do.  I have no business leaving town for the weekend.”  Then she turns to Jude and says, “Come on, we need to go over your list that needs to be finished while I’m gone.”

“Gabby, relax, we’re getting married whether that list is checked off or not.  It’ll be fine,” Jude says nonchalantly.

“Jude Ortiz, I cannot believe you just said that.  We had a deal.  That list needs to be done by Monday,” Gabby shoots back as she tags his hand to pull him out the door.  “Goodnight, see you in the morning,” she calls over her shoulder as they leave, shutting the door in back of them. 

Tony turns to me and I say, “That was really sweet.  She loves you.”

“Yeah,” he sort of agrees as he moves around the bed to me, eyes warm and pinning me to the spot.

“Tony, I’ve got to get up early,” I say, turning to him as he gets close.  “I should really go to bed.”

“Yeah,” he repeats, reaching around me to grab my suitcase and tossing it to the floor. 

“What are you doing?”

“Putting you to bed,” he says with a grin while reaching over his head to grab his shirt between his shoulder blades to yank it off.  I watch his shirt flit to the floor as his thumbs go to his waistband pushing his track pants down, leaving just his boxers and he grabs me at the waist at the same time he steps out of his pants.  He repeats the whole turning-flopping-down-on-the-bed-move pulling me with him.  I let out a surprised giggle, but this time, he rolls me instantly pressing me to the bed where he had me earlier. 

His lips go right back to my neck and I remind him, “I’ve got to get up really early.”

“You’re going to a spa, gem, you’ll have plenty of time to relax,” he explains.

“You’re family seems pretty high energy.  I have a feeling a trip to the spa with the Carpino women won’t be the normal kind of relaxing,” I go on, but my hand slides up into his hair again.

“True,” he mutters.  I feel his tongue dart out and trace my ear, making me shiver.

“What are you doing?” I ask, even though I know what he’s doing.

“I’m going to relax you.  Again.  You know, in case you can’t relax this weekend because my family’s too high energy and all,” I feel him smile against my neck.

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” I respond, albeit distractedly.

“I disagree.”  He looks into my eyes and says, “Gem, relax.”

So I suck in another lung full of air and realize I don’t have the will to fight it.  Over the next twenty minutes, Tony takes his time and eventually has me begging him to relax me in delightful ways before tucking me in tight.  With my face smushed into his neck, his big heavy thigh smushed in between my legs and his arms around me, I go to sleep more relaxed than I can remember from my second Tony induced orgasm.  As I fall into a deep sleep, I remotely wonder why I didn’t fight it, but I decide not to think about it.  Maybe I’ll think about it this weekend.  But I doubt I will.

“This is totally Cindy Lauper’s
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
!”

I look across the fire at Paige who is past the point of tipsy.  I’ve learned Paige not only lives her life to music but comes up with a theme song to commemorate special moments.  I’ve found most every moment is special to Paige because she’s an abnormally happy person, so if this trip had a playlist, it would be long and varied. 

But who am I kidding?  We’re all past the point of tipsy. 

It’s Saturday night and we’ve had two full days of fun and somewhat relaxation.  I was not wrong in my estimation of the Carpino women.  They’re all high energy, but when you get them together, it’s off the charts.  Other than the two massages, facial and pedicure I’ve had, the rest of our bachelorette-spa-tranquil weekend has been go-go-go. 

We hiked in the Arizona mountains, which should be tranquil but not with this group.  It was loud, funny and chaotic.  Until Tia, Gabby’s aunt tripped and skinned her knees.  Of course Gabby’s other aunt, Emma, being the oldest and self-anointed matriarch of our group, unearthed Band-Aids with antibiotic ointment to save the day.  Then it was back to loud, fun and chaos. 

This morning we went horseback riding and I’m not sure the poor horses have ever experienced the likes of our group.  Half way through our mosey, Lizzie’s horse stopped and refused to budge another inch.  I’m pretty sure this had everything to do with the decibel of Lizzie’s voice.  After much coaxing from our guide with zero success, the horse refused to move and Lizzie had to ride back with Sophia.  Paige commemorated the moment with
Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)
.  Sophia’s horse had a happier disposition because he didn’t seem to mind the singing, giggling and horse dancing (I didn’t know you could dance on a horse, but Sophia and Lizzie did it).  

We ended our afternoon with a sunset meditation session.  We were perched atop a plateau overlooking the beautiful orangish-redish mountain ranges.  It was supposed to be a thirty minute session, but I’m pretty sure our instructor cut it short.  Let’s just say this group isn’t capable of meditating, at least not together.  In the beginning our instructor gently tried to discourage the whispering, but the whispers became giggles and that’s when it happened. 

Someone passed gas.

And all hell broke loose.

No one owned up to it, but I do know it came from the other end of our group so I wasn’t blamed.  Our instructor finally got everyone settled down, when from her meditation pose, Paige started to quietly sing
Against the Wind
.  Now, I love Bob Segar, but that song will never be the same to me if that tells you depths of Paige’s power to label a moment.  It was then our instructor, with a tight face, announced our session was over and it was time for us to get ready for dinner even though the sun hadn’t set below the mountains yet.  We climbed off our plateau giggling with no remorse for ruining our meditation session. 

After dinner, we congregated in the lush cushy furniture around the low outdoor fire pit wrapped in blankets provided by the resort.  Gabby and I are drinking Prickly Pear Martini’s.  I think they’re made with some sort of cactus fruit, but it doesn’t really matter what’s in it, they’re like candy and I’ve lost count of how many I’ve had. 

“Enough fun!” Lizzie slurs over those who have started singing
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
.  “Quiet!  All right, ladies, we’ve come to the time of the weekend for marital advice.  Who wants to go first?”

I feel my stomach clench and I’m sure I just sobered up about three martini’s out of my who-knows-how-many martini’s because I have absolutely nothing to add to this conversation. 

“If you start talking about sex with dad, I’m going to puke,” Charlotte says to Lizzie.

“I’m not sure about this…” Gabby starts.

“No, no,” Tia adds and then hiccups.  “We have many, many years of valuable experience you can benefit from.”

“You should have kids
right away
!  There’s
no reason
to wait,” Reagan annunciates her words to communicate their importance. 

Feeling a lot loose lipped, Gabby waves her hand around sloshing her martini and says, “Done!  Jude wants to start having babies eee-meee-diate-ly.”

“Really?” Susan gasps.  Susan is Jude’s mom and I think she’s had the same experience I’ve had this weekend, playing the part of the observer to the Carpino Craziness.  She’s either really shy or doesn’t know what to think of them.  But I can tell she loves Gabby and she loves that her son is happy.

“Oh,” Gabby mutters as she frowns.  “I’m not sure we were planning on telling anyone that.  No one can tell anyone!” she says, pointing her finger at random, demanding secrecy from the huge group in front of her.  I’m not sure there’s anyone left to tell, but I look over to see Audrey drawing an X over her chest and Susan looks as happy as a clam.  Getting over it quickly, Gabby belts out, “That was easy.  Next?”

“If you get in a fight and even if you’re still fighting, you should never sleep apart,” Emma says, sagely.

“Done again.  Jude would never allow that anyway.  Wow, this is
way
easier than I thought it would be.  Next?” Gabby semi-yells.

“Don’t let him railroad you,” Paige mumbles with attitude as she drains her beer, getting the attention of the waiter for more drinks. 

“Paige,” Micah enters the conversation. “You’ve never had a serious boyfriend.  What do you know about being railroaded?”

“No one wants to be bossed around,” Paige mutters.

Gabby bursts into laughter, puts her almost empty martini glass down, giggling so hard she snorts.  Trying to calm herself down, she wipes her eyes to say, “Ah, that’s funny.”

“What’s funny?” Clara asks. 

“Jude is uber bossy, but it’s okay.  He works it and he’s bossy about
everything
, if you know what I mean.  But most of it is totally delish,” Gabby says with a dreamy look on her face until her eyes move through the group and hit Susan.  Her dreamy look turns horrified as she exclaims, “Oh, I’m sorry Susan!”

“It’s okay, Gabby.  I’ve had so much to drink, I’m sure I won’t remember that tomorrow,” she says on a smile.  Gabby looks over at me with big eyes and a tight mouth and I can’t do anything but giggle at her faux pas.

“Lanny can be bossy,” Sophia whispers loudly with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, so can Vic,” Charlotte adds, who is usually much more reserved but apparently not when she’s three sheets, agrees with a giggle.

“I do not need to know this about my daughters,” Lizzie mutters.

“Trust me, Paige, you’ll like bossy someday,” Sophia informs her little sister with a grin.

“Whatever,” Paige mutters.

“Smut!” Audrey shouts.  “Read lots of smut.  It helps to keep things interesting in, well,
that department
.”

“I’m not sure we need help in,” Gabby looks over to her future mother-in-law and then decides to whisper, “that department.”

“Well of course you don’t
now
.  It’s new.  But sometimes it’s fun to have a little inspiration,” Audrey replies grinning.

Gabby looks skeptical, but plays along and says, “Okay, if you say so.  Next?”

“Make his favorite meals, it’ll make him happy,” Micah says, as she accepts her new drink from the waiter.

“Jude does eat a lot of my salads,” Gabby mutters.  “I need to remember that one.  Next?”

“And keep his favorite drinks in the house,” Charlotte adds.  “Really, they’re very simple creatures.  Sex, food and drinks.  It doesn’t take a lot to keep them happy.  But you might have to learn to watch ESPN.  SportsCenter lasts an entire hour.  But that’s when you just cuddle up next to him and read your smut.  He’ll appreciate you not talking during SportsCenter, anyway.”

“That should be easy, Jude is mostly a beer guy and I already watch sports with him.  But I might have to remember that about SportsCenter.  An hour is way too long for sports news.  Got it.  Next?”

“Oo-oo!  I know,” Clara interjects.  “Sleep naked now while you can.  Trust me, when you have kids, you can’t.”

“This is true,” Charlotte mutters.  “Once you have kids, you never know when you’re gonna end up with an extra guest in your bed.  Unless you wanna invest in therapy, you won’t wanna be naked when they climb in.”

“Sleepin,” (hiccup), “naked was the best,” Micah slurs in remembrance of the event.

“Huh?  Sleep naked.  Okay, point taken.  Next?” Gabby moves on, but this time she catches my eyes with her bright blue ones. 

Even in her drunken state, I can tell she knows I have nothing to add since the entirety of my married experience was miserable.  She reaches over and grabs my hand to give it a squeeze.  Her squeeze gives me the courage and even with all the alcohol I find the words to softly say, “You don’t need to do a thing, girlie.  He loves you.  Just be you but whatever you do, be happy.”

Gabby gives my hand a pull and I lean forward to hug her.  “Thank you,” she whispers in my ear.  But she goes on to shock me, “You’re loved, too, Leigh.  And not just by me.  Maybe it’s time for you to be happy, too.”

“Oh, I’m going to cry,” Susan says, from across the fire. 

“Me, too,” Lizzie and Tia say at the same time. 

I don’t have an answer for her, so I give my shoulders a little shrug. 

To that she becomes louder in her loose lipped drunken state, “It’s time, Leigh.  You need to sit back and let it happen.  Don’t fight it.”

“Don’t fight what?” Audrey asks.

“Oh nothing,” Gabby says.  “I’m just so giddy and loved I can’t help but want to spread the bliss.  But I think I’ve had enough advice for one night.  I’m afraid it’s gonna get naughty and my future mother-in-law is here, so it
cannot
get naughty.”

“Thank you, Gabby,” Susan replies with big eyes.

But my attention is drawn back across the fire to Paige who has her beer raised in the air and is singing
I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore
.  She gives me a grin and a wink, tipping her beer as if she’s dedicating it to me. 

“Oh my,” I mutter under my breath as I pick up my fresh martini and down half of it as I hear Gabby giggling beside me. 

“She must be off her game from all the liquor,” Sophia states.  “This is a terrible song for Gabby and Jude.”

At that, Paige bursts out laughing which honestly is better than her silently dedicating ancient love songs to me.  But just when I think I’m catching a break, like mother like daughter, Lizzie picks up where Paige left off.  Then Gabby joins in, along with all the other Carpinos and Susan. 

Screw it.  I down the rest of my martini, catch the waiter as he walks by to signal for another and sit back to take in our group who are butchering the corny love song. 

I realize in my mostly drunken state how different I am than them.  They love each other, support each other, know what’s going on in each other’s lives and I’ve never had that.  Tony’s had that his whole life.  He didn’t just have a mother and a father and sisters to love him, but a big ole crazy family to top it off with a cherry on top.  I have a mother who’s shacking up with some loser in the next state and a strung out sister living in Florida.  Neither of them came when I was in the hospital after I lost my baby.  Neither of them bothered to see that I was taken care of, or to help remove me from an abusive husband, or even call to check on me for that matter. 

I know I haven’t been thinking things through lately, but I’m not blind as to what Tony wants.  I’m just not sure I’ll ever fit into this, be what he wants, what he’ll eventually need.  But I want to be a part of this more than anything. 

And I want Tony.  So badly it hurts.

When I was younger I wanted him in a dreamy girly way only young girls can seem to dream up.  Unrealistic happy dreams of a life made up of puppies, daisies and milkshakes all tied up in a baby blue polka dot bow with a hot guy.  But Tony went away to college, then law school and I eventually grew up, realizing reality was not made up of girly dreams.  Then I made the worst decision of my life tying myself to Preston who showed me reality was the exact opposite of puppies, daises and milkshakes.   

Now, with Tony forcing himself in my life, I know down deep I want him in a way I shouldn’t because I don’t know if I can give him what he needs and deserves.  Not to mention, the thought of being married again, a wife again, freaks me out huge.  And that’s exactly what Tony deserves.

Another new round of drinks arrives to pull their attention away from the sing-along.  My head is really spinning from practically downing my last Prickly Pear, so somewhere I find the wherewithal to sip this martini.  This is when my phone dings and I look down to see I have a text from Tony. 

My head is brimming from being with his family all weekend, his sisters, cousins, aunts, not to mention his mother.  Being with Tony in this…this…whatever this is we have together, I’ve gotten a glimpse of what a real and healthy relationship could feel like.  Knowing what Tony wants from me, where he wants
us
to go, my head’s not only spinning with Prickly Pear Martini’s, but with all things Tony.