The Best Alien And The Perfect Dress

We've finally gotten the wedding clothes issue sorted, and yes, I'm happy to report that everyone is going to be wearing something.  It's actually kind of funny, because the problem got solved by pure chance yesterday  while Sini and I were walking downtown.

Let me start at the beginning, which was yesterday morning, when I went to the hospital to get my cast taken off.  Beau went with me, partly for moral support, but mostly to help me find my way around the maze that is our local medical centre.  Sini had originally planned to come with me too, but she said she wasn't feeling well yesterday morning and wanted to sleep in.  The idea of Earth hospitals seems to make her nervous.  I think her upset stomach probably had more to do with anxiety than anything else, but I didn't make any comment to her about it.   I would've liked to have her there, but if she wasn't up to it, I wasn't about to insist.  I knew I'd be okay as long as somebody was with me, and Beau is really great about helping me.   We've become good friends since he arrived here, which is surprising, because he hardly ever talks to anyone else.  He and Dylan have gotten pretty close, though.  The three of us hang out a lot. 

I kissed Sini goodbye just before I left and said I hoped she'd feel better after some more rest.  She promised to meet me and Beau downtown around mid-morning.  She thought the three of us could go for celebratory coffee and pie in honour of me regaining the use of my dominant hand.  Since I love my coffee and Beau never refuses a slice of pie, we agreed that was a good plan. 

Anyway, Sini met us around ten o'clock at a downtown café that we like.  Beau had to be at work by eleven, but there was still plenty of time for pie.  Sini and I had blueberry pie which is our favourite.  Beau got peach pie with vanilla ice cream.  Peach pie is the main reason why this particular café is at the top of Beau's list.  Apparently, peach pie is hard to find around here and he says it reminds him of home. 

Usually we'd linger over a second cup of coffee or, in Beau's case, iced tea and we'd chat about everything and nothing until the staff politely encouraged us to buy something else or move on, but we didn't have a lot of time for that yesterday. Once we'd finished our snack and paid the bill, Beau headed off to his job at the supermarket.  Sini wanted to window shop, and I agreed even though my arm was hurting a little and I really wanted to go home and wash off the lingering antiseptic hospital smell that still seemed to be clinging to me.  Yeah, I know some of you are probably thinking that I let Sini get her own way a lot, and you're right, but sometimes I just can't help it.   It's hard to say no to her.

Window shopping is something I never understood, much less enjoyed, until I met Sini.  She says it's one of life's simple pleasures, strolling along and looking through shop windows at things you never really intend to buy.  The dreaming and imagining is the real fun in window shopping.   We stopped in front of various shops and Sini described the things she saw displayed in the big front window of each place; cameras, winter coats, books, shoes, candy, toys, sports equipment, more books and more shoes. 

Then we came to a shop that sells formal wear.

Sini's previously gentle grip on my hand tightened and I heard her make a little chirping sound.  It was the same kind of noise Pax makes when he gets excited about something like candy or new toys or a trip to the mall.  I guessed Sini was reacting to something she saw.

"What is it?" I said.

"I want to go into this shop."

"What shop is this?"

"There are dresses," she said, and I didn't miss the emphasis she placed on the word.  "They are so beautiful.  Can we go in, please?"

"You want to go into a clothing store?"

"Yes," she said. "I want that dress.  The pink one in the window."

"Hang on.  You want a dress?  To wear?"

"Yes.  For our wedding."

"So, you're getting married with clothes on now?"

"I talked to Rommie," she said.  "She told me that a bride's dress does not have to be white."

"It doesn't, but I thought you didn't want to wear any dress at all."

For a few moments, she didn't respond to that, but eventually she said, "White does not mean the same thing for my people as it does for yours.  For us, white is not a colour of purity and peace.  It means winter and mourning and sadness.  Our loved ones who die are shrouded in white.  I could not wear a white dress on our happy day."

"Oh Sini...I didn't know that," I said.  "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I thought it was a rule," she said, and I could hear a slight tremble in her voice.  "I thought I had to wear white if we were going to do it the Earth way."

I pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head, heedless of any passers-by on the street who might be watching us. "No, there's no rule at all.  It's okay.  You can wear any colour dress you want.  If you'd told me, I would've understood."

"I'm sorry," she said, her words muffled against my chest.

"You don't have to be sorry.  If you want a pink dress, you can have a pink dress."

"It is really okay?"

"Of course it is.  Do you really think I'm concerned with the colour of your dress?  You're beautiful to me no matter what you're wearing," I said.  I held her for a few more minutes until she seemed settled again, and then I inquired, "Why don't you tell me about this dress that you want?"

"My description will not be good enough," she said.  "You need to see it.  You need to see me wearing it.  I want to try it on."

And so, we went into the shop and Sini tried on this spectacular pink dress.  Amazingly enough, the dress that had been hanging in the window was exactly her size.  She fell in love with it the moment she saw herself in the mirror, and she excitedly encouraged me to check out this wearable work of art for myself.   I'll admit, I kind of fell in love with it too.  It's made of three different kinds of fabric, each with a different texture.  The skirt is huge and voluminous and it's made of this silky stuff that feels like hundreds of ribbons all sewn together.  The top part is kind of rough, but I guess it's lined with satin inside.  Sini said the rough part is sparkly, woven through with silver and shiny pink threads.   I didn't know what the saleslady was thinking while I was giving the dress a throrough tactile examination with my fiancée still in it, but I could just imagine the look on her face.  I imagine we put on quite a show.  

We bought the dress, even though it cost a little more than I'd budgeted for.  Okay...a lot more, but you onlly get married once, right?   Well, I guess some people get married more than once, but I intend this to be my first and only marriage.   We bought my wedding shirt at the same formal wear shop while we were there.  Sini picked it out.  It's purple satin.   Rommie, the notorious opponent of purple shirts for men,  is going to have a fit when she sees it.  I can't wait to show it off.

Here's Sini in her fabulous wedding dress.   What do you guys think?

While we're on the subject of sorting out wedding-related issues, I should probably share with you how Dylan ended up not being my best man.   I wanted Dylan to be my best man.  I asked him if he would, but he had other ideas.  In fact, he offered up an idea that I really didn't expect.  I liked it and I'm happy with the idea, but I'm still a little disappointed that my cousin isn't going to be in the wedding party.

"I'm really honoured that you're asking me," was Dylan's response when I approached the subject with him. "But, I think there's someone else who might be more appropriate for the job."

"Not Michael," I said.

I must've looked horrified or shocked or something, because Dylan laughed.  "Most people would probably say he was the logical choice, but no, not Michael."

"If it's not you and it's not Michael, then who are you talking about?" I said.  I honestly expected him to say Beau, so I was more than a little stunned when I heard his answer.

"Pax," he said.

"Really?" I said, blurting out the word even though I hadn't really meant to.

"Why not?" said Dylan."I mean, it kind of makes sense, don't you think?"

"How does it make sense for me not to have my best friend as my best man?" I said. "It's the reason I asked, you know.   Don't you want to?"

"Don't get me wrong.  I'd love to," Dylan said.  "It's just that I think it'd be good for Pax to participate in an Earth ceremony.  It'd probably mean a lot to him to be included.   I mean, what's he going to think when he sees Skyla carrying that little basket of flowers and he doesn't get to do anything?"

I'll confess, that hadn't actually occurred to me.  When I gave it some thought, however, I realized Dylan had a point.  Pax probably would feel left out if he didn't have a role in the wedding and it might be nice for Sini to have someone from home in the wedding party as well.   The only thing that concerned me was how I'd manage to explain to Pax what it meant to be best man in a wedding.

In the end, I decided just to plunge right in and ask him.  I'd figure out how to explain it as we went along.

"Pax," I said, "How would you like to be in the wedding?"

"I get married too?" he said, clearly confused.

"No.  You know how we've been teaching Skyla to carry that little basket without dropping it or throwing it?  On the day of the wedding, she's going to carry the basket.  When Sini and I exchange our rings, we're going to put Sini's flowers in the basket and Skyla is going to stand there and look pretty while she holds them."

'Yes," Pax said. "That a good job for Skyla."

"Would you like a job?"

"What job?"

"Would you like to be my best man?"

"No," he said.  "I not be best man.  That impossible."

The only way to describe my reaction was flabbergasted.  I actually think my mouth fell open for a few seconds, I was so shocked.  Somehow I managed to ask, "What?  Why not?"

"I not a man," he said mildly.  "I a boy."  

"Oh..." I said, and then immediately started laughing.

"What so funny?" he demanded. 

Once I caught my breath I explained, "It doesn't matter, Pax.  You can be a boy and still be best man.  Best alien.  Whatever."

"Sini say okay?"

"Sini doesn't get to choose. I do."

"Okay," Pax said. "What I do?"

"Your job is very important," I said.  "You have to carry the ring that I'm going to give to Sini.  You have to be very careful and promise not to lose it.   When we get to the part in the wedding where Sini and I give each other the rings, I'll ask you for the ring and you'll put it in my hand.   Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes," Pax said. "What else I do?"

"You'd have to dress up."

"In a costume?   Can I have a tiger costume?"

"No one's going to be wearing a costume.  You'd wear nice shirt and a necktie."

"Can I have a pink shirt?"

"I think so, but we'll have to ask Sini about that," I said.

"Okay.  What else I do?"

"If the best man were a grown-up, he'd give a speech at the reception."

"What means 'speech'?"

"A speech is when you say something that you made up ahead of time.  If Dylan was my best man, he might say something nice about Sini or tell a funny story about me, and then he might say why he thinks it's good that Sini and I got married."

"I can do that!" Pax said enthusiastically.  "I can do the speech.  I know lots of funny stories and I say nice things about Sini."  

In hindsight, I probably should've given that a lot more thought before I agreed to it.  My best man isn't my twin brother or my favourite cousin.  My best man is an alien with the mental maturity of a ten year old who's making up a speech for the reception all by himself.  It should be interesting to say the least, and will most likely be embarrassing and awkward in the extreme.  We're committed to this course of action now, though.  Ask me after the wedding whether I've learned anything from it.

Pax is pleased about the state of affairs, though, judging by the conversation I overheard this morning.   Apparently, Remi caught Pax talking to himself in front of the mirror in the front hall, because he said, "Pax, what are you doing?  Are you practicing for a speech, or something?"

'Yes!" Pax said cheerfully. "I make a speech."

"What for?" Remi asked.

"For Tyler and Sini getting married," Pax said.  "I say a funny story about Tyler and something nice about Sini and I supposed to say I happy because they have a wedding."

"And are you?  Happy because they're getting married, I mean."

"Yes. I very happy." 

"So, you're going to say a few words at the wedding."

"Yes.  It my job."

"And what job is that?"  Remi asked, clearly curious.

It was all I could do not to laugh at Pax's answer and give myself away for eavesdropping.  "My job very important," he said.  "Tyler say I the best alien."