Page 57 of Rory: His to Discipline

“Oh, don’t thank them yet,” Bridget shot in as she left the table. “Save that for later after you see how things turn out,” she insisted laughing.

Tess nodded and went to the bar to pay the bill. All the girls argued, but she cheerfully paid with Rory’s bank card, including a generous tip for Patrick who laughed heartily about it and thanked her with a big hug that took her off her feet.

Chapter Nineteen

Tess carefully hung the garment bag containing her wedding dress and veil in the closet. She fell in love with the first dress she tried on. It was a strapless ivory gown with a ruched bodice.

Ivory chiffon fell from the bust to the floor and was sprinkled with tiny crystals that caught the light each time she moved. Her headpiece was a slim headband of crystal flowers attached to yards and yards of ivory tulle.

The shoes looked like delicate glass even though they were made of much sturdier material and she felt like a princess the minute she slipped her foot into the first one.

Putting what she considered an outrageous amount on Rory’s bank card made her feel guilty until the girls assured her it really was a bargain. Tess placed the shoebox on the shelf and quickly changed into an old pair of jeans and a tee shirt. The girls were coming to help her and she had a hard time containing her excitement.

Two hours later a pickup backed into the driveway and Bridget and Maggie jumped out. Molly pulled in behind them with Jason. Colleen parked on the lawn, Michael and Ryan spilling from her car.

Tess ran outside as Maggie dropped the tailgate and stared at the array of items. It seemed everyone in the family had cast offs they were willing to donate and as they unloaded the truck, Tess had a moment of panic. Rory was going to kill her.

“No, he’s not,” Molly assured her standing off to one side as the boys carried in a bright purple rug.

“Are you sure?” Tess asked, doubting Molly for the first time.

“Pretty sure,” Molly replied with a grin. “On the other hand, Patrick may kill me when he finds out I’ve given his brother his prized possession,” she continued skipping to her car and returning with a replica of the lamp from A Christmas Story, complete with fishnet stocking and tassel trimmed shade. “Pat loves this lamp, but I’ve tolerated it for the last holiday. Take it with my good wishes,” she laughed.

All in all, they were there about four hours “fixing up” the house. Half the living room floor was covered with the purple rug, the other half with neon green shag.

The couch Maggie picked up was two houses down from hers. It was waiting for the trash man, but Maggie and Bridget managed to stuff it up onto the truck. Her neighbor behaved very sympathetically offering a nicer couch she had in the garage but Maggie insisted that this one was perfect. It was red, lopsided with one broken leg and the cushions were as thin as pancakes.

Molly covered Rory’s recliner with a ruffled pink bedspread that had seen better days and quickly stitched up the back so it would stay on. While Colleen hung curtains on the window, half Superman and the other half, Barbie, the boys carried in something they called a potato chip chair. It had no arms and looked a little like a lounge chair, but wider. It was upholstered in orange fur and it vibrated.

Tess got into the spirit of things and strung Christmas lights corner to corner across the ceiling with Jason’s help. When she plugged them in she realized they were chasing lights in green, purple, yellow, blue and red.

Maeve arrived about an hour before they were finished, carrying a lighted picture of the Eiffel Tower and another of Elvis painted on black velvet that had its own spotlight to go over it. They hung one on each side of Rory’s big screen TV, which they decorated with silver garland.

“I picked up a couple of items at the store for ya, dear,” she told Tess. “Jason, run out to my car and get the packages in the back seat.”

The first item was a singing Christmas tree that danced around and had them all laughing. This they placed on Rory’s end table so he could enjoy it while he watched TV.

The other item was a wireless doorbell. It was programmable and it took quite a while to decide what sound to have it play. They finally agreed on the barking dog.

Tess made a big pot of hot chocolate and got out the cookies she baked yesterday. Looking out the window she saw Mason’s truck. They laughed hysterically when Rebecca rang the doorbell.

Wide-eyed, Rebecca looked nervously around until she was assured there was no dog. She didn’t have a clue what to say when she got inside the house. “It looks nice,” she finally stammered, not wanting to hurt Tess’s feelings.

“Thank you,” Tess replied straight faced, which had Colleen running for the bathroom, before she wet her pants, and Maggie and Bridget howling as they held each other up.

Maeve, too, was wiping her eyes as she giggled like a girl.

“Did I say something funny?” Rebecca asked seriously.

“No,” Tess replied wiping her own tears from her cheeks and holding her aching side. “I have been having a problem with Rory. He told me to redecorate the house, but has no opinion about how to do it so the girls decided to help me out. What do you think?”

“Impressive,” Rebecca laughed, her green eyes twinkling as she took in each item that had been added. The Elvis picture was her favorite followed by the dancing tree. “Hey, Mason wants one of those lamps,” she told her pointing to the leg in the fishnet hose. “I told him absolutely not.”

“He can have this one after I am done with it,” Tess teased.

“Don’t be so sure he will let you get rid of it,” Molly spoke up. “He may decide to keep it. I never would have gotten out of the house with it if Patrick had been home.”

“What will you tell him happened to it?” Tess asked curious to how Molly dealt with this type of situation.