twelve: the quiet wedding night

The Marriott was, hands down, the nicest hotel around.

Marco and Laurie had driven out to the farmhouse and collected the luggage and then stopped in at the cabin, as they called Jeb's place, and grabbed a few things for us.

Rafe and his girlfriend followed the rest of us over to the hotel and texted Jeb when they arrived that they'd seen Lonnie park in the lot between the Marriott and the Outback Steakhouse. Shay called the police to check it out.

It was just Shay, Jeb, Rafe, his girlfriend and me in the hotel bar. We could hear the fountain gurgling from the lobby as we sipped cocktails and talked about the baseball game on the monitors.

My phone buzzed and I looked down, shocked to see it was my father calling. "Dad?"

"Ali-bear, you got married?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Wow. I wish you'd told me. I would have come."

"It came together fast. I'm sorry."

"So is it that guy...he contacted our office saying you'd gotten cold feet..."

"No - that's a different guy. My husband's name is Jeb Scott. He's in construction here."

"Construction?"

"He's a good guy."

"What happened to the other guy?"

"He really wanted to marry you more than me."

"He's gay?"

"No, worse. An aspiring actor."

"Oh, what did I tell you about those? I thought we..."

"It was a mistake, Dad. But the police have dealt with him. I'm sorry he bothered you."

"It's fine...fine. I'm just angry he scared you and all of us. The price of fame, Ali-bear. They can really go too far and this time you got the brunt. Did I ever tell you about the time I was in Budapest, we were doing principle photography on 'Milk Run 2' and this wannabe actor broke into my hotel suite and..."

"Dressed up like prostitute and hid in your bathroom? Yeah."

My father chuckled. "That was one for the memoir. OK, so make plans with Ari. I want to see you and this Jeb fellow next weekend. He'll fly you up."

"Dad, I'm graduating."

"That's next weekend?"

"Yes. You said you were thinking of coming."

There was a long silence.

"It's all right," I said softly. "I understand."

"Find a good time. We'll celebrate both things. Just get with Ari."

"I will."

Jeb shook his head but didn't ask. I hung up and we met Laurie to get our stuff. Marco had gone straight up to Maggie and the kids.

We had a double room with two full-size beds. Jeb took the one by the window. I took the bathroom first.

I stepped in the shower and washed away my wedding day. I didn't know why I was so sad. A baby had been born, Finn had been faced, I'd spoken to both my parents in the same day - which had happened very rarely in my entire lifetime because neither liked to speak with me when I was with the other. Even if it wasn't the things I wished were said, there was a warm feeling in knowing that they were in my life.

I twisted my hair up in a towel and put on my pajamas. Brushed my teeth. Moisturized. Took my vitamins with tepid tap water.

Then I crawled into my bed while Jeb took the shower.

I scrolled through my apps on my phone, checking Facebook last. Laurie had tagged Jeb in one of my pictures so I sent him a friend request. I cropped a picture of me from the wedding and made it my profile pic. I had changed my status to "single". Now I changed it to "---", which would remove the whole question from my profile.

I clicked off my phone and plugged it in on the table between our beds.

Jeb stepped out of the shower in board shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. He was rubbing his hair with a towel. "You got any gel or anything?"

"Uh," I sat up.

"If I don't do something, I'll have a nasty 'fro in the morning. I could use conditioner, in a pinch, but that might be greasy."

I checked my little toiletries bag and found a tester of gel. "You can finish it."

"Thanks." He finger combed it through his hair, section by section, in confident motions.

"Can I ask...?"

"Uh, sure. My mom is white. Well, you probably figured that from Maggie and Laurie. I never knew about the rest until recently. I'd seen some pictures of my biological father and he looked a lot like the Rock - Dwayne Johnson, the actor? Except more hair. Turns out they are both half Polynesian. And my dad's father was Creole, mostly Haitian I think. When I was younger I used to just check 'yes' to every single racial description," he chuckled. "Turns out I was right."

"I would have guessed biracial."

"I get that a lot. The eyes."

Jeb plugged in his phone, too, and got into his own bed. Instead of turning out the light, he turned and looked at me. "Big day."

"Way big," I agreed, turning on my side to face him as well. "I'm just embarrassed that..."

"Don't be," he cut me off. "Remember, don't worry about..."

"I know, I know," I sighed.

"I've been meaning to ask, did you want a ring?"

"What?"

"It's just three months but you'll be doing a lot of stuff as Levi's stepmother, you know? From daycare and therapy and all that. I wondered if maybe you wanted a wedding ring? I guess that matters to some people. I noticed the cop looked at your hand when Shay introduced you."

"You noticed that, too? Huh. So, would you wear one?"

"I...I hadn't thought about it. On the job, we can only wear the silicone kind. What would it mean?"

"The same as me. It goes both ways, right?"

"Uh, I was thinking more of the stepmother thing. I don't want to confuse you. I'm not planning to be a husband, Alice."

"Were you going to date?"

"No! I mean, I've got a lot going and once Levi is home, he's the priority. That raises the stakes."

"A ring would say you're not dating."

"It could be a point of confusion though. When we take them off."

"Or a point of clarity for right now, saying this is where we are."

"True. I think I need to think about it. Right now, my mind is stuffed with Levi coming home."

"I meant to ask, how did he get his name?"

"I've been told that it was my father's choice. That he'd talked with Levi's mother at some point and said that if he had another son, he'd want him to be Levi. Which must of been some kind of premonition because he was 60 when he died and his youngest child at that time was Keren, she would have been 16."

"She's your youngest biological half sister?"

He nodded.

I smiled. "So there were six of you, altogether?"

"Whoa. Wait. How'd you do that?"

"What's your eldest half-brother's name?"

"Esau."

"It's biblical. Esau is the eldest son of Isaac and Rebekeh; he's the forgiver of Jacob, his twin. Jebediah or, more commonly, Jedediah was the second son of David and Bathsheba. Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah. Keren is the third daughter of Job. Fewer daughters are named in the Bible so can I guess?"

Jeb nodded.

"Miriam or Jemima?"

"Miriam."

"Sister of Moses. For the missing second daughter...oh, I may have to look this up....Not Keziah, right?"

"Nope. Want a hint?"

"Rachel?"

"Wow. Yes. You really know your Bible. I never realized - I don't think any of us put that together. It's gonna blow their minds."

"Was your biological father religious?"

"He was a pastor. But, you know, he had his problems." Jeb rolled over and folded his hands under his head. "I hope I'll be a better dad."

"Excited about tomorrow?"

"More anxious than excited." Jeb's phone buzzed and flashed between us. He sat up and took a look. "That Lonnie dude was persistent. The Outback Steakhouse closed so the police told him he had to move or be ticketed for trespassing. He just drove over to the hotel parking lot. So the police told him if he wasn't a customer, he had to move on from there. Shay said there was a moment when they expected the guy to come get a room but he moved on. A cruiser followed him out to the highway."

"I'm officially creeped out. I would have sworn he was just...a little off, you know? Not like this. Not for real. Just crushing on me like a middle schooler. It should have passed by now."

"Is the eldest?"

I nodded. "He's sort of slow. A true believer, though. He does music ministry, he even plays the drums. I'm so- oh, shit. Not supposed to that, huh. I feel bad about this, though."

"Don't. I'm glad you're safe."

"Me, too," I met his eyes.

"This wasn't the wedding night you were expecting, huh?"

"Or you."

"I wasn't expecting one. I was just joking with Jay that what I needed was a temporary wife to help out and then, bam!, there you were on my porch. When I heard myself proposing to you, I was as surprised as anyone."

"Jeb?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You, too," he nodded. Then he turned out the light.