The Wedding

Kasey scattered the petals on either side of the isle.  Her light green gown rustled slightly as she inched forward in time to the music.  She walked very self-importantly, her shoulders held back, her chin slightly down, and her eyes looking straight ahead.  When she passed the last pew, she turned to the left and stood next to the piano at the foot of the altar.  Casting about, she caught her mother's eye and got a sharp nod of approval.  Sighing with relief, she corrected her posture once again, waiting for Georgia.
         Ever since she had been a little girl, Georgia had been Kasey's idol.  She often used to sneak into Georgia's room while she was away at school to try on her makeup and clothes.  Her mom was always busy talking to doctors or researching new treatments for their dad, and didn't have time for the girl who could amuse herself.  Georgia would yell a lot when she saw the mess Kasey had made in her room, but when Kasey started to cry, feeling like she wasn't wanted, Georgia would relent and hug her and tell her that it was ok, but just this once, and make her promise never to do it again. 
         Now that Kasey was all grown up and in middle school, she felt that Georgia and her got along better than ever.  The week before school started, Georgia had taken her out shopping and bought Kasey her first bra.  They had tried on makeup together at the mall,and talked about boys.  Kasey felt she was finally partaking in a great mystery that had been  unintelligible up to this point.  When Georgia announced she was getting married, Kasey began to worry that her sister didn't care about her anymore, and that she would lose this new bond she had formed with her just as it began.
         The maid of honor now stood in front of the altar as well, the lone other bridesmaid having finished her walk a few moments before.  Kasey watched the groom nervously wiping the sweat off his hands again and again on his pants as he waited for his bride.  The small church they were in was stuffed—no one had expected so many people to be able to make it with such little notice, but both Georgia and Gregory were well-liked, and people had apparently rearranged their schedules to see the event.  Finally, there was general flurry of activity in the wooden pews as people stood to watch the bride walk in. 
         Kasey was not surprised at the sight of her sister arrayed in her wedding gown, grasping the bouquet of flowers calmly in her hands.  She had been with her sister when they bought the gown and picked out the flowers, and had tried to give her wise advice about how the various dresses and flower arrangements matched.  She had almost expected that somehow, on her wedding day, Georgia would be transformed into a perfect being of light, floating down the isle into the arms of her love.  Instead, she was quietly gliding, with the occasional sparkle as light hit the rhinestones on her dress.  Her smile was genuine and an aura of happiness surrounded her, but they were nothing new.  Kasey had been seeing them for three weeks now, ever since Gregory proposed.  He was shipping out for Iraq in a month, and while Kasey was glad that she would have Georgia all to herself again, she tried to empathize with her sister's grief. 
         Georgia reached the front of the church, and Kasey saw her mother wipe away a tear.  She knew that was for her wishes that their dad could have been here.  He had died almost four years earlier from an extended bout with cancer.  They had been lucky that he met Gregory at all.  The priest began.
         “Today we are gathered to witness the union of Georgia Cole and Gregory O'Donnell.  Will all please rise.”
         The ceremony continued, and Kasey began to fidget.  There was a long hymn that was sung, which she supposed would have been fun if she had known the words, but became boring rather quickly just standing there.  Someone read a passage of scripture, then the priest started in on his sermon about love and marriage.  The number of people crammed into the small building made it very hot, and she was soon drowsy.  The windows were open, but there was no breeze on that spring day, the heat sitting heavily in the room.  As the couple read their vows, she worked to contain the yawn that threatened to escape her throat.  Wouldn't that be embarrassing.  Her mother would be sure to chastise her.  “Would you want someone to yawn at your wedding?” she would ask.  After all the stress that her mother had gone through since the date was set, Kasey did not want to add to her mother's anxiety.  Even usually headstrong Georgia had agreed to many of the things that their mom proposed—there was simply too much to be done too quickly to protest their mother's perfectionism. 
         “You may now kiss the bride,” the priest concluded.  Kasey leaned forward a little so that she could see around the two bridesmaids next to her.  The kiss was just what she had expected- sweet and loving and beautiful.  She sighed happily.  Even if the ceremony was a bit long, it had a happy ending, just as she had imagined. 
         
         At the reception, her mother had decided that she would happier at the “kids” table, which Kasey resented.  She surveyed the other children there as they waited for the food to be brought out.  There were three younger children—about five years old, she estimated.  They had instantly bonded and were chattering about some tv show.  She quickly ignored them as beneath her level of conversation.  There was also a boy and a girl about her age.  They were glancing around the room, mostly silent. 
         “Hi!  I'm Kasey.  What are your names?”
         “I'm John and this is my sister Olivia.”
         “Are you with the groom or the bride?”  Kasey was proud of the phrase she had overheard some of the adults at other tables using. 
         “Our dad was a good friend of Mr. O'Donnell.  You?”
         “My sister's the bride.”
         “Wow.  Cool.”
         Kasey sipped her punch as silence ensued again.  She surreptitiously glanced at John and Olivia while they stared off into space.  John was a cute boy with wavy brown hair and sensitive blue eyes.  Olivia was overly tanned, with the same blue eyes, but a narrower face.  She looked back over at John and was surprised to see him looking back at her with an intense gaze.  She blushed and looked down, before peeking a glance back.  He had turned to look elsewhere in the room and she was slightly relieved, but a little disappointed.  Just then everyone started tapping their glasses with their spoons, which startled Kasey.  She hesitantly imitated them, and then, as quickly as they had begun, they stopped.
         “What just happened,” she addressed the siblings.
         “Every time people do that, the bride and groom are supposed to kiss,” Olivia replied.
         “Oh.”
         “Our cousin got married last summer—we didn't know then either,” John added.  Kasey gave him a shy smile.  Just then the food arrived, and they turned their attention to the plates. 
         When the dinner and dessert had been passed around and finished, her mother took the microphone from the DJ.
         “Attention everyone!  The bride and groom will have their first dance.  The song—now,” her mother announced.  As sweet strains began playing, Georgia and Gregory slowly moved onto the dance floor.  Kasey looked at them longingly.  She wished her mother would allow her to go the dances at school, so that she would know how to dance too.  She was sure Georgia had learned somewhere, probably college, and wondered if she would have time to teach her before leaving that evening for her honeymoon in Rome. 
         “Alright, now I'd like to get the wedding party to the dance floor.”  Gregory had grabbed the DJ's microphone.  That meant her!  Let her mother try to stop her now.  It would be scandalous if she interrupted what Gregory so obviously intended.  She jumped up and scampered through the maze of tables to the slightly raised wooden platform.  Only after she got there, did she realize that everyone else was paired up and she would have no one to dance with.  How awkward.  That was not what she had intended at all.  She thought of slinking off and making excuses to John and Olivia that she had suddenly had to go to the bathroom and that was why she had not participated when Gregory came up behind her.
         “Ah, fair mademoiselle, will you do me the honor of dancing with me?”  Kasey giggled at his high language and placed her hand in his.  He was about two feet taller than her, so they held hands as she tried to move her body to the rhythm of the song.  She was sure she was making a fool of herself though, and became embarrassed quickly.  She dropped Gregory's hands. 
         “Your sister told me you wanted to learn to dance. You're quite good really; would you like me to show you a few steps that Georgia and I learned in our dance class?”
         “Oh yes!” Kasey quickly became excited.  She would be learning how to dance!  Her embarrassment forgotten, she put her hands back into Gregory's.  While she copied his movements, she shared a glance with her sister, who smiled at her.  When the song ended, she thanked Gregory, who returned to his bride.  Twirling around she happily collapsed once more into her chair.