Tomorrow's Going to Hurt

Brody made it home shortly after I went to bed around 11:30.  I was still awake, and I rolled over and said hi to him.  He jumped a little, not expecting me to be awake.  "Hi," he said softly.  "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I wasn't asleep yet, I just went to bed," I assured him.  I reached over and flipped on the lamp next to the bed so he could see.  He changed quickly, went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and was in bed with me in 5 minutes.

"You don't have to tell me where we're going," I said, "But can you tell me how to pack?  For real, not 'as little as possible.'"

He chuckled and kissed my shoulder.  "Pack like you packed for Mexico," he said.

"Thank you, I can handle that."  We chatted for a few more minutes, then our conversation dropped off as we both got sleepy.

Brody was, once again, gone when I woke up.  That was the pattern for the rest of the week, as well.  With my mom's help, we finished up all the last minute tasks we could do from afar by lunch on Wednesday.  My parents declined the opportunity to ride with me to the airport to pick up Jen, electing instead to hang out on the deck, which they both loved.

I pulled up outside the airport and spotted Jen right away.  I got out and waved, and she ran over, pulling her suitcase behind her.  "Hi, almost-sister-in-law!" she squealed, letting go of her suitcase to throw her arms around me.  "Thank you so much for coming to get me!"

"Hi!" I greeted her cheerfully.  "And it's no problem at all."  We got her suitcase into my car and took off towards home.  We chatted excitedly the whole way.  I really wish that Jen lived closer, because I adored her.

"So, am I going to get to see my brother at all before Friday?" she asked as we got closer to home.

I snorted.  "I wouldn't count on it," I informed her.  "He's been getting home between 11 and midnight and is gone before I get up in the morning.  He's trying to get as much done as possible before Friday."

"I had a feeling that would be the case," she admitted.  "Oh well, I'd rather hang out with you anyway!"  I laughed and we continued talking until I pulled in the driveway.  I showed Jen to her room and then took her out on the deck to say hi to my parents.  Just like Brody, Jen could talk to anyone, and easily engaged in conversation with my parents, even though she'd only met then once at our surprise engagement party.

My dad grilled pork chops and we ate on the lower level of the deck and hung out with glasses of wine until long after it got dark.  Jen helped me clean up and do the dishes, then went to bed, pleading exhaustion after a long day.  My parents followed shortly after, and I decided to also go to bed.

I was brushing my teeth when I heard the garage door opening.  By the time I was out of the bathroom, Brody was in our room, taking off his tie.  "My sister make it?" he asked.

"She did.  She went to bed about 45 minutes ago."

He frowned.  "I came home a little earlier hoping I'd catch her before she went to bed.  That sucks."

"I'm sure I could cheer you up if you wanted," I said, cocking an eyebrow suggestively at him.

He smiled sadly.  "I love your brand of cheering up, but I am just exhausted," he said.  "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," I said.  I smiled as I closed the distance between us and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him.  "I understand completely."

I got in bed while Brody finished getting ready for bed.  He came out of the bathroom, turned off the light, and got into bed, snuggling up to me.  "I changed my mind," he said, kissing the back of my neck.  We had the laziest sex possible, then both fell asleep almost immediately after.

I woke up fairly early the next morning and heard voices downstairs.  I made my way down there and found my parents, Brody, and Jen sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast.  "You guys are loud," I complained grumpily.

"Have some coffee, honey," my mom and Brody said simultaneously.  The table erupted in laughter at this while I rolled my eyes and walked over to the Keurig.

"There's a Cafe Vanilla in there waiting for you," Brody said, turning to watch me.

"You are way too nice to her," my mom informed him.

"You know, Brody, I think we should have made my parents stay in a hotel after all," I grumbled as I grabbed the clean mug sitting next to the Keurig.

"Too late for that," he said.  He was next to me, putting his plate in the sink.  "I'll wash these tonight," he said.

"I'll get them," my mom replied.  "Don't you worry about that."

"Thanks, Karen," he said, grinning at her.  He slid an arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.  "I've got to go, baby.  I'll probably beat you home tonight, if Jen has her way."  I heard Jen giggle from behind me.

"Okay," I replied, still not fully awake.

"Have fun tonight, I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," I replied.  I turned my head so he could kiss me and Jen said, "awwwwww" from the table.

"Can it, little sister," Brody said.  He stopped to ruffle her hair like she was a little kid and she shrieked angrily at him.  He laughed, said goodbye to my parents, and headed out.

Once I was fed, caffeinated, and awake, I took my parents on a brief tour of some of town.  We were meeting Lynn and her parents for lunch after their flight, and in the meantime, I showed them around a bit.  My parents had never been to Denver, and I made them promise to come back sometime when I wasn't getting married in a matter of days so they could be proper tourists.

I was so excited to see Lynn when we met at 1 that I absolutely shrieked and hugged her on the sidewalk like an over-excited child.  "I am so excited you're here!" I yelped, my arms still around her.

"I'm so excited I'm here!" she replied.  When we finally pulled away from each other, I hugged her parents in turn as Lynn hugged mine.  Then I ushered everyone inside because I was starving.  Breakfast was really early, and it was past my normal lunchtime.

The restaurant employees probably hated us, because thanks to Lynn and I, we were the most obnoxious table in the restaurant.  After lunch, I asked Lynn if she wanted to come home with me for the afternoon before we went out.  She happily agreed, and I followed them to their hotel so she could get a change of clothes.

My parents let her sit in the front seat so had more room for her legs, which she still (and maybe never would be able to) couldn't keep bent for long periods of time without pain.  We chatted excitedly the entire way home, while my parents laughed at us from the back seat.

When we got home, Jen greeted Lynn like an old friend and we grabbed a bottle of wine and went out onto the deck.  This was something we'd been doing every day this week and I was happy to soak up the warm sun for as long as possible before winter happened.

Jen wanted us to go out tonight, and had roped Kinsley, Kendra, and Lauren into joining us too.  We were meeting for dinner and then having a few drinks.  Meanwhile, my parents, Lynn's parents, and Lauren's mom were doing the same thing, somewhere else.  Brody had taken my car to work today and left his 4Runner so we had a little more space in the car, since Jen had offered to drive us and my parents into town.

So, while Jen nursed her single glass of wine, Lynn and I quickly finished the rest of the bottle and opened another.  By the time we needed to leave for dinner, I was reasonably drunk, which was hilarious to Lynn.  Probably because she wasn't much better off than I was.

We managed to change and Jen and Lynn admired my expertly applied liquid liner.  "It's impressive for a sober person, and unbelievable for a drunk person," Jen said, ushering us towards the door.

"I'm not drunk," I protested.  Jen and Lynn exchanged looks and burst into laughter.  "Okay, well I'm not a lot drunk," I amended.

"You're the drunkest person in this house," my very not-drunk father informed me.  They were waiting by the door, watching Jen try to gently herd us in that direction.

"And I'm done for the night, because the last thing I need is to get myself hurt," Lynn said.  Accident aside, Lynn had a terrible track record for injuring herself while drinking.  In college she'd actually broken her ankle stepping off a curb funny very late one Saturday night.

"Yeah, we all need to be able to walk on Saturday," I replied.

"And right now we need to move out the door," Jen said.  "Go.  We have reservations."

So out the door we went, finally.  We were only 10 minutes late, which was pretty impressive with how slowly we were moving before we left.  Dinner helped me become more reasonable, but the night quickly got out of hand after that.

"This is like a sort-of bachelorette party," I declared drunkenly as we left one bar that was way too crowded and moved to the next.

"It is now that you're drunk and fun," Lauren joked.

I stopped walking, trying to decide if I wanted to be offended or not.  "It's okay that you think I'm boring," I said finally, starting to walk again.  "I'm okay with that."

Lauren looked at me strangely and Kinsley, who was also pretty drunk, said, "What the fuck are you even talking about?  Did Lauren call you boring?"

Lynn quickly steered the conversation into more neutral territory, and to be honest my memories for the rest of that part of the night are a little patchy.  I do remember that everyone was facilitating my excessive drinking.  I constantly had a drink in my hand, and half the time I didn't even know where they came from.  My glass would be empty, and one of them would pluck it from my hands and replace it with a full one.

Eventually we had to leave and pick up my parents.  I slept through the entire ride home.  "Liv, you have to get up and go to bed," Jen said when we parked.  I felt her gently shaking my shoulder.  "Come on, Liv."

I groaned and turned my head.  I was comfortable.  "I'll sleep here," I slurred.

"Brody will kill me if I let you sleep here.  You should come in and drink some water."

"Jesus, what did you do to her?" Brody's voice sounded really far away as he joined Jen in the garage.  "I've never seen her this drunk."

"Don't look at me," Jen replied, holding her hands up.

"Come on, Liv," Brody said gently.  "Up.  I am not carrying you."  I opened my eyes, glared at him, and then sat up.  Everything spun as I sat up and I groaned.  Brody helped me out of the car and into the house, then sat me down at the kitchen table.  He brought me a glass of water and sat down across from me.

"I want to go to bed," I said.

"You'll thank me tomorrow if you drink that water first," he replied.  I drank half the glass of water, then decided I was hungry.  Brody made me a sandwich, which I ate happily.  Things weren't spinning any longer, though my head was still fuzzy.

"I can't feel my lips," I said, poking at my bottom lip.

Brody laughed and shook his head.  "You are ridiculous when you're really drunk, do you know that?"  I narrowed my eyes, then quickly popped them open all the way because doing that made me dizzy.  Brody laughed again at my expression.

"Fine, you just sit there and laugh.  That's fine.  I'll just eat my sandwich and go to bed."

"That would be great," he said.

By the time my sandwich and water were gone, I was at least able to walk up the stairs without Brody's help, which was an improvement from when we left the bar and Jen had to basically shove me into the car.

Brody sat on the bed while I washed my face and brushed my teeth, talking to me.  "You know, you're a pretty tame drunk," he commented.  "You didn't yell, or cry, or do anything really stupid."

"How do you know I didn't do anything stupid while we were out?" I mumbled around my toothbrush.

"Because Jen texted me that you're the weirdest drunk ever.  She said you just got really cheerful and happy about everything, then got super quiet as you went past the point of reasonably drunk."

"I talk a lot when I'm drunk," I replied after I spit out my mouthful of toothpaste.  I walked out of the bathroom, tugged my shift dress over my head and dropped it on the floor, and got into bed.  "But I don't get drunk much and I already regret it."

"Why?" Brody asked, switching off the light.

"Because tomorrow's going to hurt," I answered, right before I fell asleep.