Bee laughed. “She’s met them. Matt is Mason’s younger brother and Rob is James’ younger brother. They were at my birthday party.” She paused for a second. “Now that you mention it though, they would make kind of a cute gay couple.”
“Oh, those two.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re right, I have met them. They’re too young for me. But the other options sound promising. I am so getting laid.”
Marie laughed. “Okay, now that the important question is out of the way… are you getting nervous?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m not, actually.” I had thought after Isabella’s threat that she would have been horrible all week, but I hadn’t heard from her. And James’ parents hadn’t contacted us at all. Those had been the only two things I was stressed about. The wedding itself didn’t make me nervous. It felt like I had been waiting forever to marry James. “I’m just so excited.”
Marie smiled. “That’s good. God, I was so nervous the week before I got married. I just kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Like tripping down the aisle, or…”
Bee lightly pushed Marie’s shoulder. “Don’t make her worry. It’s good that you’re excited, Penny. We’re all so excited for you.”
A waiter came by and dropped off four cosmopolitans. Bee and her friends always ordered them when they went out. It gave the whole night a Sex in the City vibe, although Kendra was the only one that was single.
“How’s the new job going?” Bee asked and took a sip of her drink.
Luckily my bruise had faded so I wouldn’t have to talk about being called Fight Club. “It was a weird first week. Having to tell the other interns that I was basically just handed the job was embarrassing. You’re all so successful. And I…”
“Okay, you can stop right there. Marie and Kendra, absolutely,” Bee said. “But you know how I got my job. James only gave you an internship. You still have to work your way up. You still get to prove your worth.”
I laughed. “I forgot about that, actually.”
“And everyone’s going to forget that James gave you your first marketing job. It’s not a big deal. Besides, you’re marrying him. You’re taking his last name. People are going to automatically respect you.”
“Do I sense a hint of jealousy?” Marie asked.
Bee laughed. “Mason and I are enjoying the here and now. And we’re too busy to get married.”
That’s how I had felt while I was still in school. Bee and Mason were growing their business together. They worked all the time.
“Mhm,” Kendra said. “So when do you think Mason will pop the question?”
Bee shrugged. “Sometime before we have kids? I don’t know.”
“Are you seriously thinking about having kids soon?” Kendra asked. “Ugh, they’re always so sticky.”
Marie laughed. “Sticky? Actually, that’s a pretty good way to describe the little monsters.”
“Not soon soon,” Bee said. “Like I just said, I’d want to get married first. So it’s a few years out. We have talked about it though.”
“I’m thinking pretty soon myself,” Marie said with a smile.
“Nooooo!” Kendra yelled. Some people in the bar turned to look at us. “You can’t have kids yet. None of you can. I’m not ready.”
“You’re not ready?” Marie asked. “You’re not the one whose body is going to turn into a watermelon.”
Kendra laughed. “True. But I’ll be an unofficial aunt. Which means I have to agree to the when. And I say not yet. I need these girls’ nights. I can’t have you guys all fat in here. How will I ever pick up men that way?”
“But you’ll look so good in comparison,” Bee said.
“No. Pregnant women have that whole glowing skin thing going on. You’re all trying to ruin my life.” Kendra turned to me. “And you’re awfully quiet. Does that mean you’re going to start popping babies out right away too, miss soon to be missus?”
“Oh, I… no, I don’t know if that’s… well, probably not.” I took a huge sip of my cosmo. God is this strong. I coughed and looked back up. They were all staring at me.
Kendra’s face got a little softer and she glanced at Bee.
Bee gave me an encouraging smile. “What, James doesn’t want a million little kids running around?”
I looked down at my drink. “We just haven’t talked about it much.” I knew he was worried about being a bad father. But he was stronger than he realized. He wasn’t going to break again. His life was good now. We were good.
“Isn’t that kind of something you’re supposed to talk about before getting married?” Kendra asked. “Ow!” she yelped. I looked up to see her giving Marie a death stare.
“You’re so young,” Marie said. “You two have plenty of time to figure it out. Besides, you’re just starting your career. You’ll probably want to work for several years before starting a family.”
“Mhm.” I wasn’t so sure about that. But I was young. Being with James always made me try to act older than I was. I had plenty of time to convince him that it was a good idea, though. Right now I just wanted to focus on us.
Bee pulled out her phone. “Oh, no.” Her face drained of color.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Bee looked up at me. “I thought you said you’d tell James to not let Mason throw his bachelor party? You said you’d talk to him.”
“James said he didn’t want one and then he never mentioned it again. I figured it didn’t matter. I meant to ask you about that, though. What’s wrong with Mason throwing it?”
Bee’s face went from pale to bright red. “Ummm… well…”
“I’m really sorry, I kind of thought you were just joking around about it.”
“I wasn’t joking, Penny. This is a disaster.”
“I mean, I can talk to James tonight if it’s that big of a deal…”
“It’s too late. They already left.”
“What?”