From Me to You

Chapter 3

Normally, Christmas break consisted of Tracy and me doing a whole lot of nothing. Not this year. When I wasn't with the Club or Ryan, I was busy helping my family get ready for Lucy's wedding.

Sure, it wasn't for two more months, but there were dresses to be fitted, hairstyles to be tested, and cake to be tasted. Guess which one I didn't mind?

And, of course, there were also family fights to be had.

"How many times are you going to bring this up?" Lucy dragged her suitcase to the front door.

Mom followed closely behind. "I think it would be something different. Years from now, don't you want people to talk about how fun and unique your wedding was?"

"Ugh!" Lucy folded her arms and glared at Mom. "You use the word unique, but others would classify your Beatles obsession as insane."

Lucy wasn't only my oldest sister, she was also the wisest.

"What's going on?" Rita sat down next to me on the couch and handed me a piece of leftover pecan pie.

"I'm not sure, but I think it has to do with that." I pointed to a cake topper with Beatles figurines circa their Ed Sullivan Show debut.

Rita and I ate our pie and watched the battle like it was dinner theater.

Mom continued to play her favorite role: The Often Put- Upon Mother. "Now, Lucy, you know that without the Fab Four, your father and I would've never met and you would've never been born. I think it would be nice for them to be in your wedding somehow."

"Fine," Lucy began to concede as she put on her wool coat. "I'd be more than happy to have Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as guests. Please see to it that they each get an invitation."

"Don't think I haven't tried," Mom replied.

Of course she had. OF COURSE.

"DAD!" Lucy screamed up the stairs. "I'm going to miss my flight if we don't get moving."

While I knew how stressed out Lucy was about the wedding, I didn't want her to leave angry. "Mom" - I approached her cautiously, leaving the safety of the couch - "I think the cake topper is great."

"I knew you'd understand, Penny Lane." Mom wrapped her arm around me like we were taking a stance together against

Lucy, and I only wanted to smirk at her for a fleeting second.

"Well, you do have your thirtieth wedding anniversary coming up this summer . . . so don't you think it would be great if you and Dad had a party? And we could use the topper for your cake?"

Mom looked thoughtful. "You know, that would be a great idea. And then we can use those invitations I saw, and the plates and napkins . . ." She walked into the kitchen, talking to herself, most likely already making a list of all the new Beatles stuff she'd be able to buy for this party.

"Thanks." Lucy embraced me. "I owe you."

Dad came running down the stairs. "I know traffic to O'Hare can be bad, but we've got plenty of time, Lucy."

"Dave!" Mom called out from the kitchen. "We're going to have a party for our anniversary and use all the Beatles stuff we got for Lucy's wedding that she doesn't want!"

"If you say so," Dad called back before he winked at Lucy. "Let me tell you, being in a relationship is all about compromise."

Rita piped up. "Does Mom even know what compromise means?"

"Now, girls, you may not believe this, but your mother can be a reasonable woman."

"I'm sorry; you're going to have to provide us with at least one example in order for me to believe any of that," Rita said dryly.

"Okay, okay . . ." He held his hands up. "Your mother used to insist that 'Ding Dong, Ding Dong' be on our Christmas playlist, but I convinced her otherwise."

"So she can play it all day New Year's Eve and Day," Lucy reminded him.

"Ding Dong, Ding Dong" was a George Harrison song about ringing in the New Year. If only Ringo had also done a New Year's album.

"Hey, compromise means each person has to give something up." Dad looked satisfied with himself as he took Lucy's luggage out to the car.

Rita and I said our good-byes to Lucy before she went to the airport with Mom and Dad. After nearly a week of a full house, it was now eerily quiet.

"So." Rita broke the silence. "What are you going to have to give up now that you have a boyfriend?"

"RITA!" I smacked her arm. "We've been dating for a little over a week. Relax!"

"Wow." Rita shook her head. "I wasn't going there, since I'm clearly the most innocent of the sisters." Please. "I meant with everything going on with the Club, school, work, something's gotta give if you're going to have a serious boyfriend."

"Again. A week," I reminded her with a roll of the eyes. I took our dishes to the kitchen and started to clean up the pie crumbs.

But I couldn't help but think about what Rita had said. Everything was great with Ryan now. I didn't have to worry about school or homework. I had plenty of time. But being the leader of The Lonely Hearts Club was a huge commitment. Not that I was complaining, believe me. It was the best thing to ever happen to me. But that question kept nagging me.

What was going to happen when school started back up?