Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)

Chapter Thirty-Six: Lauren, Summer, 2010

Rachel got married, and Lauren finally got to be her maid of honour. One out of two wasn't bad, at least.

Lauren walked down the aisle between two rows of white wooden folding chairs set up in their backyard, following behind Tej, who was Rachel's other bridesmaid. Both wore lavender dresses, and she could swear it was the exact same shade as the one Joanie had worn at her wedding.

Al winked at both of them as they approached and took their places, bouquets in front of them, and it made Lauren feel strangely bashful, as if there was something suggestive about that wink. Joe and Sunny smiled at them from from where they stood. Al chose Sunny as best man only because he had to choose one of them, and the two happened to be more even in height. They wore lavender Windsor knots with their black tuxes, and Sunny even found a turban colour that matched closely. It was striking. Al's tie was white, to match the colour of his bride's dress, he claimed, even though he wouldn't see it until today. He was surprisingly traditional about that, maybe because this was wedding number one for him.

Rachel walked herself down the aisle. They were in their forties. There was no need, she argued, to be handed off like a maiden when she'd already been there, done that, and anyway, her father had walked her the first time, and she felt it would be a disservice to him to have someone else walk her this time.

Lauren was surprised Al didn't lose it when he saw her. She was gorgeous in a simple white dress with the same width shoulder straps as the ones Lauren and Tej wore. It was almost a twin design to theirs besides the colour, with some added white beading on the bodice. Her dirty blonde hair was in a chignon, just as Lauren pictured it would have been if she'd been her maid of honour. She gleamed. She was a green-eyed goddess. Rachel claimed she didn't want to outshine the bridesmaids, but good luck with that; Lauren wanted to slip her out of that dress, lay her down right there on the grass, and do things to her that would scandalize the gathered guests.

The celebrant was a kindly middle-aged woman who was a marriage commissioner from the City of Burnaby; neither Rachel nor Al had any religious affiliation, and they didn't want to marry in a church, but they didn't know a good place to book in the short amount of time they had to arrange the wedding. Lauren was honoured to offer their place. The reception would be catered, canapes and drinks only. No dancing, as it was a daytime wedding, and Rachel and Al didn't want to put a lot of wear on their house.

As the ceremony proceeded, Lauren looked out at the small, intimate crowd that was just enough for their lawn to handle. There was Al's mom and Rachel's mom in the front row on opposite sides of the aisle. Al's mom had been lovely the whole day, helping to get everything ready, so enthusiastic was she to see her son finally get married. Even Rachel's mom had behaved. Lauren noticed that the mother-daughter relationship had improved over the months since they'd all reunited, to a point that was nearly normal.

Al and Rachel were nice enough to invite the parents of all the friends as well as the kids. The two of them had climbed high in the regard of Naomi, Tosh, Ajit and Harpreet, especially after the kids had witnessed the proposal late last year, and they'd earned the title of Uncle and Auntie even though they weren't blood relatives. The kids, for their part, behaved during the ceremony, sitting still in the front row, Naomi and Harpreet adorable in their big girl dresses and as spellbound by the bride as Lauren was.

Al had a couple of work friends from the library in attendance. Rachel had invited Julia, and this was the first time they'd all seen her since that terrible night cleaning up her apartment. Rachel had also invited Allison, who arrived with Apple, now a toddler who couldn't sit still. Allison also arrived with a new man, and Lauren wasn't surprised; she was a pretty young widow with a small child, and that attracted men eager to be a Prince Charming. It also seemed Allison had a type; he was Asian just like Mason, Rachel's ex-husband, had been; he'd divorced Rachel for Allison and then died young in a horribly stupid car accident.