What Is Left Unsaid : An Ashley Purdy Love Story

Family Gathering

ASHLEY'S POV :

      I reach into the trunk to help CC with his and Anna's bags , and the three of us head toward the house , followed by Andy and Juliet , who are stopping in to see Tiana for a few minutes before they head over to Rick and Shan's place , where they're staying this weekend .

      After we gave everybody the news on Valentines Day , Tiana and I took our trip to Japan , deciding to just do everything sort of backwards , counting that as our honeymoon , then coming back and jumping into the wedding plans with everyone else . Since we'd already decided to keep everything simple , it really hasn't been all that difficult , and with everybody pitching in , we actually managed to get it all put together in just a little over a month .

      As we all head inside , we see Tiana sitting cross - legged on the couch , with a bowl in her lap , and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos next to her . She looks up and waves , saying "Hi everybody !" , as she uses a chip to scoop some pinkish - looking stuff out of the bowl .

      "Do we even want to know what that is ?" , Juliet inquires .

      "Deviled Spam ." , she responds , before popping the whole mess into her mouth .

      "Babe , that's just ... wrong ." , I tell her . "On many , many levels ."

      "Well , I'm not the one you need to explain that to , y'know ." , she retorts , pointing to her stomach . "Apparently , this is what he , or she , wants for lunch . Wanna try it ?"

      "T , you know I don't eat that sort of stuff ." , I say .

      "Since that presumably started out as something resembling meat , Jules and I are gonna pass , thanks ." , Andy answers . 

      Tiana makes a clucking noise at Andy and me , and CC says , "Oh , what the hell , I'll give it a shot !" , and moves forward to fish a chip out of the bag .

      As he sticks it into the bowl of Spam , Anna giggles , and says , "That's my big brave man ."

      He pops it into his mouth and chews , with a thoughtful expression on his face . He finally swallows , then says , "Well , I don't think I'd want to eat it on a daily basis , but it actually tastes better than it looks ."

      "It'd just about have to ." , Andy mumbles , and Tiana laughs .

      Just then , Bonnie comes out of the kitchen and says , "It was cottage cheese with grape jelly for me , and I normally don't like either . And I've heard of even worse ."

      I introduce her to Andy , CC , and the girls , and ask where Gavin is , and they tell me that he rode with Brian to pick Kelli and her kids from the airport , and that they should be back soon . It's a good thing that we all have fairly roomy houses , because we're all packed to the ceiling right now , with people camping out on couches and air mattresses . Bonnie, Gavin , CC , Anna , Kelli , and her kids are staying here , along with several members of my family . The rest of my relatives , and the rest of the band , are dividing up between Rick's place and Brian's , and my friend Jazy has been nice enough to put up Blasko and several members of our crew , since she lives here in town .

      "Hey , aren't you supposed to be somewhere else anyway ?" , Anna asks me . "I thought there was something that said that you aren't supposed to see her before the wedding ."

      "I think that's only after I'm in my dress ." , Tiana tells her . "Besides , that seems kind of silly to me , anyway , under the circumstances ."

      The front door opens , and Brian and Gavin walk in , followed by Kelli and two small kids , who both immediately run toward the couch , shouting , "Aunt Tiana !"