KISS: Road Trip

Ch 28: Have You Planned Anything? (Gene)

The ride over to Peter's place was kind of awkward because Paul was still kind of pissed at me, which was fair, because I had seriously messed up. "So uh...it's cool that Ace asked you to be his best man," I said after awhile. He nodded, not bothering to look away from the road. "Yeah. It was nice of him. I'm kind of surprised Peter asked you to be his best man," he snapped.

I winced, ears burning. "Y-yeah. I was kind of surprised too. But it was really nice of him." "Yeah, real nice of him especially since you stopped talking to him for five years." "Paul, I'm sorry, I really am." "Yeah. You are."

And of course he didn't say he forgave me.

Ace pulled open the door once we arrived, giving us a huge smile and brushing his hair out of his eyes. "You guys are late!" he teased, opening the door and letting us in. "It's okay though, I was f--" "Ahh! Shut up!" Peter cried, punching Ace in the arm and cutting him off. "What?! I was just gonna say I was finishing getting ready! What were you thinking of?" Ace said, rubbing his bicep with a frown.

We all turned to look at Peter as he turned crimson, quickly walking into the kitchen. "The same thing. Nothing. Shut up."

"You know what, I'm just not going to ask," I said with a sigh, accepting the plate Ace handed me and getting myself some food. The four of us sat around the table, eating as I pulled out a list. "Okay so you guys are getting married in what, a week and a half? Two weeks? Where are you getting married?"

Peter and Ace exchanged glances, shrugging. "I dunno. We haven't really...done anything." "Oh my gosh you guys don't even have a venue?! Have you even invited people?!" Paul cried as I buried my face in my hands. "Uh...no?" "Okay, look. You two call around and find a venue that can host a small wedding in a week and a half. You might have to do an outdoor one, so think of backup plans too. Paul and I will work on catering. I'll call some of my old restaurant friends, but first I'm going to answer the phone and talk to my wife."

"Tell Shannon I say hi!" Paul said, surprising me with a smile, which was quickly seconded by Peter and Ace as I walked out into the hall, answering the phone.

"Hey love, what's up?" She let out a sigh. "Aw Gene I miss you. I can't wait for you to come home!" My heart absolutely melted and I let out a sigh of my own. "I know, I know, I miss you too. But it's just a few more weeks and then I'll be back! They're getting married next Saturday I think and then I'll stay in town for a bit longer and then I'll head home. They all say hi, by the way."

Shannon laughed and I smiled. "Aw, tell them I say hi too! How's the wedding planning going?" "Okay so you know how you get married in a venue and have catering and stuff?" "Uh no Gene, I don't, because we haven't had a wedding ceremony yet." I winced. Ouch, bad choice of words on my part. "Oh damn that's right. Dovey I promise we'll have a full ceremony in a little bit, after Nick is born and all that! But anyway yeah they haven't actually planned anything. No venue, no catering, nothing. So it's a disaster."

"Well, after meeting Ace and Peter I can't exactly say I'm surprised. Oh, and speaking of Nick, I would really appreciate it if your son would stop kicking me in the stomach. Just kicking me in general, really. Such a pain. I can't wait until he's born and then you can help take care of him too."

"My son? Isn't he our son?" "When he's being difficult he's your son," she teased. "And hey, I take care of you, which basically is taking care of him!" I protested. She laughed again. "Well you're doing a bang-up job taking care of me all the way across the country, aren't you?" My face turned crimson and I ran a hand through my hair. "Shannon hon if you want me to come back home I can come back home right after the wedding! It's your call babe, really!"

"Gene, no! I'm not even technically eight months pregnant yet, as long as you're back here in, mm, let's say four weeks, then it'll be perfect! You know his due date isn't until August, it's still June! Really babe, I just want you to be happy, and it's cute to see you and your friends together and happy again! I'm bored but I've been doing just fine, just a bit lonely at night without you in bed with me," she said warmly.

"Oh hey speaking of Nick, that reminds me. We don't have a godfather for him but I was wondering if like uh...maybe Paul could be godfather? I know you don't know him super well but I swear he's a great guy and he's basically been my brother for years and-and I feel really bad about what I did so I wanted to kind of try and make it up to him a bit." "Gene, of course! I've only talked to Paul a few times but I love him, he's such a sweet guy. I'd love to have him as Nick's godfather, almost as much as I'd love to have you back home! Now with you gone I have to go buy a shit ton of random food myself to satisfy my cravings."

Smile splitting my face, I held the phone a little tighter, wishing I could've actually held her. "I know hon, I'm sorry, really! I'll be back in three-ish weeks, I promise! And I'll keep calling you every day, I promise. I'll call you again tonight." "I look forward to it! Love you babe!" "Love you too!" I said happily, blowing her a kiss over the phone before rejoining the rest of them.

"How's Shannon?" Paul asked as I took my seat next to him again. I smiled fondly at just the thought of her. "She's bored and wants me to come home but she said I can stay for four weeks. I have to be back at the end of July though, Nick's due date is in August and I'm not going to be across the country when he's born. Shannon would kill me if she had to give birth alone."

"Don't worry! We're getting married in a week and a half and then you can go home whenever you want!" Ace said, leaning against Peter, who shushed him. "Shh! I'm on the phone with the venue!" he hissed. "You guys'll get married if we can get this all worked out. I don't know why I agreed to be a best man," Paul muttered. "Honestly," I said under my breath, trying to figure out who I could ask to cater a small wedding in two weeks.