****
When I had called Margaux, a month earlier to tell her about being engaged to Ari, she had been thrilled. She told me not to worry about anything and that she would take care of my dress and shoes. She started right in texting me so that I could keep track of her progress and I found that I was actually very pleased. I had told her I wanted to keep the dress simple, light but still elegant. Our wedding was to be held on the beach at dusk; the late hour dictated that, though the ceremony would be outside, it would be formal. She told me she had a huge surprise for me, and that she would not show me the shoes until the day of the wedding. She herself always trotted around on five-inch heels, so I was a tad anxious about the “surprise,” but she promised the shoes would suit the beach sand just fine. I had no option but to trust her. I didn’t have to worry about bridesmaid dresses since August was my maid of honor. Rory was Ari’s best man so we told them they were in charge of their own attire and begged that they keep it appropriate.
Aggie called me sometimes as often as three times a day to go over wedding details. I always told her she should do whatever she thought best, but she still insisted upon my input. I did make a few choices. I chose my flowers, for instance. I have always loved white anemones, with the stark white petals ringing a black center, so I made sure to request them for our wedding flowers. I was planning to wear my hair down, with soft waves trailing down my back. Julia, great at putting on makeup, agreed to help me out with hair and face. All that I really cared about was being with Ari; the rest just didn’t seem important to me. Aggie on the other hand was worrying over every detail. Sometimes to keep from hurting her feelings, I handed the phone off to Ari. He always knew exactly what to say to ease her anxiety.
We spent the last few weeks of July just lounging around the house. I sat and played the piano and gave Ari a few lessons. He picked up the basics in no time at all. He could even pick out a few songs by himself by ear, and though he played slowly, the result was impressive.
Ari was trying to learn phrases in French, too, but August constantly teased him. For instance, he would have Ari repeat some words to me that had been presented as just everyday phrases but that were actually really raunchy and almost always had something to do with sex. I loved this game; it made me blush, and then laugh and laugh. Ari wasn’t quite as fond of it – he often became angry at August, though his frustration made me laugh even more.
Ari didn’t realize it but the game actually did help him with his accent and pronunciation. He sometimes sounded like a genuine francophone, which was a very becoming sound for him.
Julia and Rory liked being in Canada more than they let on; they kept to themselves a lot during the daytime and they eventually hatched a plan to stay in Montréal while the rest of us traveled to London for Nora’s wedding. I booked same-day return-trip tickets from Montréal to London for the day of the ceremony. Ari and I were planning to fly out of London non-stop to L.A. right after the wedding reception. August was planning to hang back in London for a couple of extra days. His parents were going to be in town, so he was going to visit with them before he came back to California.
August liked California so much that he had actually started looking for jobs there. Ari was not too crazy about the idea of him living with us in our new home and I didn’t push the idea. In our entire relationship, Ari and I had never really been alone -- unless I counted the trip to Chicago for Mia’s funeral, which I did not. I was looking forward to having him all to myself for a very long while.
Whenever I thought about my own wedding night, I became extremely nervous. Ari could tell I was edgy and that made me feel worse. It wasn’t as though he and I sat around and talked about sex all the time, but because we were living with August and Rory, the topic was bound to crop up at least once a day. I knew I wanted to marry Ari; I loved him more than anything else in the whole world. I had already proven that I could not be without him. I just hoped he understood that my feelings of nervousness were those typical of a bride and not at all directed towards him.
One night, about a week before Nora’s wedding, I had just concluded a very long, very tiring phone call with Aggie. I hung up the phone and put my head in my hands. Ari came up, put his hand on my back, then began to run his fingers through my hair.
“Do you want to elope first, Ava? We can. It would just be our little secret; we can run off and get married and I promise no one will have to know.”
I kissed him and shook my head no.
“I appreciate the offer, Ari, but I want to marry you the right way, with your family there behind us. That’s the only way to do it.”
He smiled at me then scooped me up in his arms and carried me off to bed, slamming the door behind us with his foot.
For our final week in Montréal, I did a lot of packing. Since I was selling the house, I needed to go through the rooms and decide what to do with all of the stuff. I didn’t need the furniture, but there were still some keepsakes and pictures that I decided to pack up and ship out to our home in California.
I had cleaned out most of my old bedroom, and I didn’t find anything in it that I wanted to keep. I took all of the books to the library of the school I had attended and sent my old clothes to the women’s crisis center.
August’s room had been just about empty to begin with. My mother and I never had visitors when we were in Québec, except for Perry, so the room had rarely been used.
My mother’s room was a completely different story. She had literally not packed a single thing of hers when we moved. Her jewelry box was still sitting open on the dresser. I picked out her favorite necklaces and even her wedding ring and I wondered if what Ari asked about was right. Maybe we did just up and leave in the middle of the night. When she told me we were moving, I didn’t suspect anything. She told me she had a job and I believed her. When we got to Chicago, she started work right away.
Now, the more I learn about who I am, the more I realize that I really didn’t know who she was. So many of my questions remained unanswered. I had learned from Margaux that my mother was a Fate. I knew my father had been a Fate as well, a trait inherited from ancestors on both sides of his family. For the first time in history all three Fates had been combined in a single offspring and I was that offspring. I had the blood of all three. I had not yet told Ari my discovery.
Ari, August and I flew out at dawn on the day of Nora’s wedding, one week before my own. I was ready to leave as soon as we landed. Being back in London brought all of the horrible and painful memories back to me. Ari squeezed my hand and never let it go the whole day.
Nora and Adler’s wedding was really lovely. Adler’s family was affluent and well known in the community. Their guest list was quite impressive and ranged from a very famous research scientist to a pop star and even a few actors. Nora looked ethereal in her floating white satin gown and Adler was visibly awe struck by her splendor the whole time.
Ari and I had plenty of entertainment watching August try to bring The Smith Plan to fruition. August had been right – Smith was clearly gay. But I don’t think he had the same feelings for August that August had for him. Nevertheless, I was happy to see him trying to move on from Claude.
I enjoyed seeing Nora again, and apologized again for not having been able to say goodbye to her when I left England. She, for her part, was very excited to meet Ari finally.
“Well, now I understand why you were such a mess when you were here, Ava,” she said when she first saw him. “I would have been a mess too if I had left him behind.”
Ari laughed and pulled me closer to him. We danced a few slow songs and then I hugged each friend – Nora, Adler and August – goodbye and Ari and I made our way back to the airport to go home at last.