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Chapter 13
“This is a lot,” I said, when I got out of the car with Natalie on Saturday. Gretchen had been gutsy, scheduling an outdoor shower, but the weather was gorgeous. Sunny and in the mid-seventies.
I’d worn a long casual white dress that made me feel ethereal. Natalie had gone with white shorts and a blue tank top.
We both pulled our presents out of the car and walked to the backyard of the house, following the pink and blue balloons and the noise of playing kids.
The party wasn’t due to start for another twenty minutes, but things were already in full swing.
“Wow, this is really something,” I said, taking in the tent, tables, play area with games for the kids, and the giant table with food that was being brought out from the kitchen in the house by uniformed caterers.
“Yeah, I don’t even want to know how much this is costing my parents, and this is nothing compared to what she wants to do for the wedding.” Natalie shook her head.
“Well, at least you can point to this and ask for them to give you the same level of party when you accomplish things,” I said.
“They didn’t even throw me a graduation party,” she pointed out.
“Oh, right,” I said. I’d forgotten about that.
“Yeah,” she said, as we piled our presents on the long table marked for the purpose. There were already a ton of boxes, and two strollers with bows on them.
“Who the fuck needs two strollers?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“One is for jogging,” Natalie said. “I’ve never seen Gretchen jog in my life, but she had to have one.”
“Sounds about right,” I said. My own present of a teddy bear and a few of my favorite childhood books seemed paltry in comparison.
“And this isn’t even the shower. This is the pre-shower,” I said.
“I know,” she said. “Let’s get drinks.”
We headed for the bar and found Esme setting everything up and already passing out drinks.
“Booze please,” I said, pulling some cash out of my purse and putting it in the jug she’d left up for tips.
“I’ve told you to stop tipping me,” Esme said.
“Sorry not sorry,” I said. “You deserve extra compensation for putting up with this nonsense.” I waved my hands around, indicating the party.
“Do you want one of the signature drinks?” she asked.
“No, I’m not participating in the genderization of this baby. A Bellini would be perfect,” I said.
“I’ll have the same,” Natalie said.
“Two Bellinis, coming up,” Esme said. I knew she was going to be dealing with a lot of annoying people today, so I wanted to make my order as easy as possible. Plus, Bellinis were delicious.
“There’s Gretchen,” Natalie said. “Can you hold my drink? I want to go say hello to her.”
I held her drink as she went over to Gretchen and they talked for a little bit. I wondered where Wyatt was. Obviously not here.
I sipped my drink and waited for Natalie to come back. More and more people started to arrive, and I recognized just about everyone. The present table started groaning under the weight, and I wondered if it might collapse.
Natalie came back and reached for her drink.
“Where’s Wyatt?” I asked.
“He’s supposed to be here for the actual reveal part, but he’s MIA right now. Gretchen is flipping the fuck out.” She gulped her drink.
