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"Oh, they have such great news. Sit down. I fixed your black tea."
I took my seat next to her and took a sip from the huge mug. Everyone had one except Zach who was sipping from a bottle of beer.
"Hitting the booze so early in the morning, my friend? Oh, is this an intervention for Zach's alcoholism?"
"Shut up, jerk, I came straight from the hospital. It's dinner time for me."
"Anyways," London said, catching my attention. She looked like a sunny day at the beach, like always. "We're here to invite you to at our engagement party this weekend. We already spoke to Chief Sadin and cleared the schedule for everyone invited. You and Wendy will still be on call but not required to be at the hospital, so just make sure you have your pager with you."
Great news indeed. This was really happening; my man Ford was settling down. Well, in many ways, he already settled down, but it would be odd to see it actually happening. He hated the institution of marriage since his first engagement failed, and now he was anxious to bring London in front of a minister and say I do.
Suddenly, it hit me that Rita and I would never have that: the wedding, the cake, the first dance, and I'd love nothing more than to see her walking down the aisle.
"That sounds great. How do you feel about it, Zach?"
If the scowl on his face was any indicator, I'd say he hated it. This party might bring out a lot of ugly memories for him.
"It's not an engagement party. It's just a lunch on the river side with friends and family. My parents are coming, and London's aunt and uncle are flying in from Florida."
Rita laughed and sipped from her cup.
"Sounds like an engagement party to me. Why so resistant, Zach? It's a happy event."
"Because we've been engaged for months; everyone knows. I want a wedding." He stomped his foot on the ground like a toddler, and Chelsea made a sound in agreement with him. These two had a weird bond.
London jumped in and calmed him down with a soft touch on his knee.
"And we will have a wedding in a few more weeks, babe. We booked the venue; we talked with the venders...we're getting married. But you know how much my cousin wanted to throw this party for us. I couldn't break her heart and say no."
Rita was melting in her chair listening to her.
"Oh, London, your cousin sounds like an angel," she said, and Zachary puffed sarcastically.
"More like a foxy she-devil. And guess what her name is, Rita."
Why was this name thing so funny to him?
"Umm...amnesia, Zach. I don't know her name."
"Paris. Her name is Paris."
"Zach!" London intervened again, otherwise we would have been here all day debating the fact that people named their kids after cities. "So, we hope you three will be there."
She was being nice, but there was no choice in the matter there, so I told her just that.
"London, dear, I'm his best man, and he needs the support. We wouldn't miss it for the world."
"I don't get it, papi; this is a celebration of their love. Zach, you should stop being grumpy and be grateful this beautiful woman wants to take you as her husband."
I loved that she was growing comfortable with the people in my life, but I made a note to bring her up to speed with Zach's past as soon as they left so we could avoid talks like this in the future.
"Rita, love, it's not that. Zachary knows how lucky he is to have London. You don't need to go all mama bear on him."
"I am not. I'm just saying he should show more enthusiasm. How many engagement parties does one get?"
This should have been a rhetorical question, but across the table, my best friend cleared his throat and took Chelsea down, putting her on his knee and giving her his car keys to play with.
"This would be the second one for me, Rita. First time didn't go so great."
