“Japan,” he replied without any hesitation. “I’ve always wanted to visit Tokyo and Osaka, and visit an old inn with a hot spring. That’s too much to do to get to do all three, so I’d be happy with any one of those, and maybe we can do the others some anniversary or other.”
“Oh, a hot spring sounds nice! My top pick would only take a day, so I’d be good with giving more time to Japan so we could spend a three day weekend at a spa after spending most of the beginning of the week in either Tokyo or Osaka.” He looked slightly embarrassed as he revealed his desire. “I want to go see the Brady house.”
Alec barked out a laugh. “Of course you do! I’m in. It’s kinda nerdy, but so is having ‘ride a Pikachu train’ on a to-do list for Tokyo. And actually, it sounds fun, but you’re right, that’s a one day thing. You sure there’s nowhere else you want to add?”
“I’ll save those for our first and second anniversaries.”
Both of my males turned to regard me. “And where would you like to go?”
“A Disney theme park,” I replied, surprising them both. “The ads always looked so fun, and I’ve heard students talk about how fantastic a time they had.”
“There’s one in Tokyo,” Carl said. “We can add it to our time in Japan. So, wedding, fly to where the Brady house is, take the tour the next day, with lots of pictures, and you bet we’ll be dressing for the occasion! Then dinner, and fly to Tokyo, where we sleep off jet lag and go to Disney, followed by more sightseeing until Friday morning, when we travel to some onsen.”
“That’s only a week.”
“Yes, well, we can go see Osaka afterwards or return to Tokyo, whenever we all decide then.”
Alec bounced in his seat. “Oh my god, I am so excited!”
“I meant to ask you, who is this Myrtle from your mother’s church who is making our cake?”
“Oh! She is the best cake maker we know. Since we don’t want a tiered cake, she’s going for a wedding themed regular cake, wedding bells, I think she said, using her shaped cake pans for our parents and us, and two tall stands of cupcakes for the guests. The rest of the church ladies and my mom are putting on a buffet of fried chicken, potato salad, pulled pork sliders, and some salad. All very casual, like we said, right down to the Chinet paper plates and lots of Tupperware. We will have crystal glasses for our toast, though. Everyone else gets plastic. Not classy, but recyclable, and no worries about broken glass in the grass.”
“Yes, we don’t want anyone to get hurt later, especially seeing as it’s your mom’s backyard.”
“And you guys are really okay with this?”
“Definitely. Especially the not having to wear a tux part. Just button down shirts and chinos. Absolutely wonderful.” Carl beamed before taking another sip of his drink.
“I, too, prefer less formality. If you are both content, so am I.”
Alec grinned, his body relaxing. “Just one word of caution, I suppose,” he said, chuckling.
“What’s that?" I asked.
“My Uncle Dev, my dad’s brother, married a woman from Minnesota, where he moved after getting out of the Army. So, um, his wife, my Aunt Shelby, has insisted on helping with the buffet, and my mom said it’s with a salad.”
Carl barked out a laugh. “A salad, huh? I think I see where this is going. It involves Jello, and fruit, with cream cheese or cottage cheese, and whipped cream,“ he pursed his lips, “and possibly marshmallows.”
“Exactly.”
Carl laughed. “Oh, baby, are you in for a treat,” he said, looking directly at me.
“Honestly, the ones I’ve had have been pretty good,” Alec said. ”I’m sure she’ll be making one of those I’ve tried and liked. I told my mom to tell her the one with maraschino cherries and mandarin oranges was delicious, to try to kinda steer her in that direction.”
“Yup, an absolute treat.”
“I look forward to it, liking the fruits named, though the combination with the other foodstuffs sounded a bit odd.”
Both of them laughed then.
“Oh, she’s going to love you,” Alec crowed, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.
I beamed, loving how easy it was going to be to make the rest of Alec's family, especially this aunt, love me.
31
CARL
