4th of July

The next morning found my family (plus Brody) falling easily into the 4th of July routine that we'd had for so many years.  My mom, an early riser, got up early and went to the local parade route to find us a spot.  I slept in, because I was useless and crabby in the morning and everyone had a better day if I slept a little longer.  When I got up, Brody was already up and helping my dad get some snacks and drinks into a cooler.

I busied myself getting chairs together for us and loading them into my dad's car.  Brody came out in time to help me shove the last one in.  "So this parade is a big deal, huh?" he asked.

"It's a huge deal," I replied with a laugh.  "It's probably the biggest event of the year here."  Brody smirked, and started to say something, but I silenced him by kissing him.  "You should just keep that thought to yourself," I advised him.  "Don't want to piss off the locals."

"Definitely don't want to do that," he agreed, chuckling.  "Here, watch out."  He nudged my fingers away from the trunk of the car and shut it firmly.

We followed my mom's texted directions and found her along the parade route easily.  We set down the cooler and chairs and I pulled a bottle of hard cider out of the cooler.  "4th of July parades...the best excuse for day drinking that exists!" I said in response to Brody's raised eyebrow.

"So what time does this parade start?" Brody asked.

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.  "About 45 minutes," I replied.

Brody gave me a weird look.  "You guys really are serious about your parades."  I laughed.

"That's why we drink," I responded, reaching in the cooler and handing him a beer.  About halfway through the parade, we got up to wander down the street to find a local business that would let us use the bathroom.  After we found one, we headed back but only made it half a block before I heard someone call my name.  I paused and looked around.  It took a moment, but John made his way through the people and appeared in front of us.

"Hi," he said.  He looked at Brody and nodded.  Brody nodded back.  Such men.

"Hi, John," I replied.  We stood there awkwardly for a second before he went for a delayed, awkward hug.  I hugged him back and then asked, "How are you?"

"Good," he replied smoothly, quickly recovering his charm.  "You look good."  He looked from me to Brody, then back to me, and said, "I heard you guys are getting married soon.  Really soon."

"Good news travels fast," I said with a nervous laugh.  "Yeah, October 3rd."

He nodded.  "Cool.  Well, it was good to see you."  He looked at Brody and added, "You too."

"Yeah," Brody replied.  "Good to see you."

John lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave and then walked away.  "Well," I said, once we were on our way back to where my parents were sitting, "that was weird."

"Yeah, it was," Brody agreed.

We made it back to our spots and relaxed for the rest of the parade.  We went straight from the parade to the spot we'd arranged to meet Ken for lunch, taking my mom's car again.  I grew nervous as we parked and walked towards the restaurant.  Brody could tell, and he slipped an arm around my shoulders and said, "Don't worry.  If he's anything but perfectly well-behaved, we'll leave.  If you're uncomfortable, we'll leave.  I think it will be okay, though."

I nodded and smiled, trying to relax a little.  We were a little early, and Brody's phone rang as we waited outside.  He pulled out it, reaching to silence it, but then frowned.  "It's my mom," he said.  He held up a finger and I nodded.  "Hi, Mom."  He chatted for a few minutes, but I wasn't able to figure out what they were talking about.  When he hung up, he smiled.  "She just wanted to say she was sorry she couldn't come to our party, but that she's looking forward to meeting your parents at some point."

"Did she say why she couldn't come?" I asked curiously.

Brody shook his head.  "No, she didn't, but I'm guessing she just didn't want to travel.  She did so much of it when she married to my dad, she tries to avoid it if she can now."

"That makes sense."

Then he grinned.  "I also think that she's been spending a lot of time with the mysterious man she's been seeing.  I hope so.  I want her to be happy."

Before I could respond, someone spoke behind me.  "I have to admit, I was a little worried you guys wouldn't show up."  I jumped and spun around, startled because I hadn't heard Ken approaching from behind us.

"Sorry," he said, grinning sheepishly.  "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," I replied.  "I'm jumpy sometimes."  I regarded him carefully.  I could see the similarity to Brody in his features, but Ken looked much more like their father than Brody did.

Brody put a hand lightly on my lower back.  "Should we go in?" he asked.  Ken nodded.  Brody motioned to me to go first, and they followed me in.  We were seated quickly.

Once we'd placed our orders, Ken looked at Brody, then me.  "So, I should start with an apology.  I owe one to both of you, but especially you, Olivia."  He looked at me, and I nodded.  He sure did.  "The way I acted at Thanksgiving was completely inappropriate and out of line.  I'm sorry.  And I don't expect you to accept that apology, nor do I really even want you to.  You don't know me, and my apology should mean nothing to you.  But I intend to show you."  I nodded again, not sure what to say.

He turned to Brody, and the two of them regarded each other for several seconds before Ken spoke again.  "I feel like you and I have a lot of things to talk about, and this probably isn't the time or place.  But I'd like to be back in your life."  Brody nodded.  We both were apparently perfectly content to let Ken do most of the talking today.  "Actually, I want to be back in everyone's lives.  I'm moving to Denver.  Well, to Boulder, actually.  My job offered me an opportunity to transfer, and I'm taking it."

"Wow," Brody said.  He sounded uncertain, but he was smiling.  "That's...that's really great, Ken.  It'll be nice having you around.  At least, as long as you keep your shit together and you're nice to my future wife."

Ken laughed.  "I plan to do both," he assured Brody.  "But I don't expect you to take my word for it."

The rest of lunch was uneventful.  I invited Ken back to my parents' house for their cookout, but his flight left in a few hours so he was heading back to his hotel and getting ready to go.  We thanked him for flying in for our party and then he was on his way.

"That was kind of weird," I said, after we were back in my mom's car and on our way back to my parents' house.

"It was definitely unexpected," Brody agreed.  "It seems like he wants things to be different."  Brody didn't sound convinced and I didn't blame him.  This would definitely be an interesting situation to watch play out.  I had to admit that I was relieved Brody wasn't jumping right back on board with Ken.  I was willing to give him a chance, but I was still wary.

We got to my parents' house in time to help them do the last minute setting up, and then sit down and relax for a little bit.  I curled up next to Brody on my parents' outdoor glider/rocker bench and took a sip of my mom's "famous" (at least amongst 4th of July cookout attendees!) sangria.  I handed the glass to Brody to try, and he took a sip and wrinkled his nose, which made me laugh.  "Too sweet," he said, shaking his head and handing the glass back.

"More for me!" I said cheerfully.  "This hasn't exactly been the most relaxing weekend, has it?"

"No," he agreed.  "But I think it's been good.  It's certainly been interesting!"  We stayed parked there until guests started arriving.  I got up to help my parents with food but they shooed me back to the party, saying I should spend time with my friends and family since I didn't get home very often.  Jen, Jack, and Alyssa all came, as well as Lauren and Alex, and I watched them mingle with my friends and family happily.  Jen and Amy especially seemed to really hit it off.

Lynn made her way slowly over to where Brody and I were standing with Jen, Jack, Alyssa, Amy, Lauren, and Alex, and said, "I feel like I've spent so much time with you but haven't really gotten to talk to you."

"I know," I agreed, frowning.

Her face lit up and I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to tell me what she was so excited about.  "I talked to my doctor after we talked about your wedding date, and she said we'd make some goals around getting me out there."

I grinned and hugged her.  "That's so awesome!" I replied excitedly.  "You should probably tell her you're going to need to be able to walk down the aisle, because I'm expecting you to be a bridesmaid."

"I'd be really terribly offended if I wasn't," she retorted.  "Plan on me walking down and standing for the ceremony."

"I'll plan on a short ceremony," I teased her.

She glared at me in mock anger, and then laughed.  "That's probably a good plan."

"What are you guys talking about?" Lauren asked, walking over.

"About the wedding you're going to be in in October," I replied.

"Oh," she replied.  "Wait, that I'm going to be in?  Did you just ask me to be a bridesmaid?"

I laughed.  "Yes, that's what I was going for."

"Well I'm glad you haven't completely lost your mind," she said.  "Who else?"

"I think just you two," I answered. "It's such a small wedding, you guys are the only people that I really want."

"Well, I'm just glad you didn't do something dumb to ask us, like make us cakes that say 'Will you be my bridesmaid?'"

"Not all of those things are dumb!" Lynn protested.  "I've seen some cute stuff.  But I'm also glad, because I don't want to eat any cakes that Liv baked."

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

Lauren and Lynn both laughed.  "No, she's right," Lauren agreed.  "You're a great cook, and you do cookies well, but you should stay away from other baked goods.  Baking is not your strength."  I pouted briefly until I realized that they were absolutely right.

My parents' house has the advantage of being within viewing distance of a couple different fireworks displays.  It was always so nice to not have to go anywhere at the end of the night.  It was a big part of the reason my parents did this every year.  Of course, it wasn't quite the same as being directly under them, but it was worth avoiding the crowds and the parking disasters that went along with going to the fireworks spots.

We ended the evening all piled onto two blankets on the lawn, looking around at the various fireworks being shot off.  When we planned this trip, I hadn't planned on being engaged or in the process of planning a wedding that was happening in three months (minus a day now, yikes), but I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our engagement than with family and friends on one of my favorite holidays.