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The crowd hollers like wild animals. Brody lets go of my hand to take something from his inner pocket, and now I know exactly what is going on.
“Call me old fashioned, but I want to do the right thing by you, and by your family.”
He opens the little black velvet box, revealing anenormousrock studded in a thick silver band.
“Lily, will you marry me?”
With my hands over my face, I start to cry, tears flowing freely down my cheeks like a river of joy.
A chant starts in the crowd, “Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!” and then I realize I haven’t said anything yet.
“Yes!” I say and jump up to kiss him.
He hands the microphone to Sandra and then places the ring on my finger. It’s heavy, must have cost more than everything I own, but what matters most to me is that it represents our love.
We kiss for so long on stage that Sweets starts her show with us still there. A few moments later, we’re chased out by the staffers, giggling nervously like two school kids.
Epilogue
BRODY
Asolotour,ababy, a big family gathering, and almost a year later, we’re at Kuta Beach, in Bali, for our wedding.
When the day finally came, I could barely believe it. Contrary to my first wedding, this one is a colossal affair, and I like it that way — and the fact that Eric’s mother was not invited doesn’t hurt either.
We’re just leaving the rehearsal wedding and heading for the rehearsal dinner, when Eric comes running to me with something he has found at the beach.
“Dad! Look!” He hands me a beautiful shell, complete with a live snail, almost the size of my fist.
“Where did you find it, Eric?” I ask him in disbelief. Lily, by my side, is disgusted.
“Near the ocean. Can I keep it?” He looks at me with pleading eyes.
“Eric, it needs the ocean to live,” Lily comes to my rescue. “Put it back where you found it.”
Eric wilts the same instant, shoulders drooping and feet kicking at the ground. But he listens and goes back outside to put the snail back.
The baby stirs in the stroller, and I go tend to him before she can. Brody John Garrison II, at her insistence, because she always wanted a child with Roman numerals in their name.
“This one took strongly after you!” says my elderly Aunt Millie as I take Junior in my arms. “Eric looks a lot more like Ana.”
I just nod in agreement, never sure of how to deal with the older members of my mother’s side of the family. Lily, on the other hand, beams at her comments.
“Isn’t that the truth!” She smiles and plays with the boy’s nose. “Little Brody Junior, a mini copy of his dad.”
We enter the dinner hall where the rehearsal dinner, and tomorrow the reception, will take place.
“Bride and groom, over here, please!” the ceremonialist says as we enter the place, finely decorated for the night.
The man sits us at the largest table in the hall, big enough for us, both her parents, and my father.
Lily stands to greet her folks once they arrive. “Mom, dad! How’s the jetlag?” she asks.
“Oh, I’m doing better, but your father is going to spend the entire vacation sleeping!” Her mother, Aimee, says.
“This is not a vacation, woman. This is our baby’s wedding!” Lily's father, Theodore, says in his turn.
“Easy there, we’re all here to have fun,” I say, hands splayed out to appease them. “We’ll all have a few days at the beach before going back home.”
