Sweet Lantern

Chapter 22

Darry

I lay in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling and at her. She looks so beautiful and sweet laying here, curled up against me. She's been so exhausted lately; she's falling asleep everywhere. I had to carry her upstairs and put her tiny little butt to bed last night.

The sun is barely up when I kiss her cheek and slip out of bed, careful not to wake her. She needs to rest. I definitely don't want her to fall asleep during the wedding ceremony. That would be a disaster.

After I'm dressed, I leave the room and quietly descend the stairs, tiptoeing down, trying my best to keep her asleep.

The wedding is very near, less than a week now. Today I have to pick up the tuxedos and then I'm meeting the guys to work on my reception surprise for Alice.

In town, I'm stopped by just about everyone I pass. They're full of congratulations and questions about the wedding. There is so much excitement in the air, it makes the hair on my arms stand up. We've grown up here, our parents grew up here, and their parents before them and so on and so on. We all know each other here. Everyone is happy for Alice and me, they can't wait to be with us for our celebration. It really warms my heart. I love being part of a town like this, where everyone cares so deeply about everyone else. No way you could get this in a bigger town, or a big city even.

I pick up the tuxes and head back to my car. Joel, Matt and Kevin are all leaned against the charger, waiting for me to come out of the shop. "Hey man, we set up the appointment, it's in ten minutes. You ready?" Joel speaks up first.

"Yeah. I still don't understand why we needed an appointment though." I reply, shaking my head.

"You'll see", they all three say at the same time, grinning stupid grins from ear to ear.

Kevin walks next to me, his hand on my shoulder as we cross the street and begin our two-block journey to the only inflatables store in town. "You're gonna love this, dude, I promise", Kevin says to me, reassuring me it'll be worth my time away from Alice and all the work that needs done at our farms.

When we get to the store, I can't help but be impressed by the sheer size of the building itself. It's an indoor/outdoor inflatable playground for children and adults alike. It's very cool. I've never actually been here, only seen it passing, but Alice and I have talked about wanting to have a date night here.

Inside, I notice right away that there's no one here except for the staff. Odd for a summer day. But I shrug it off as they must have just opened and begin to really look around. There's a bunch of different types of inflatables; big ones and small ones, princess and fantasy-dragon themed, and everything in between. There's a side for adults; the inflatables are larger and not children show themed. And there's a side for children; smaller inflatables of course and they're more television/character themed.

In the back is a small cafe type place with a few scattered tables and drink/snack machines.

Up front on the right side, as soon as you walk in, there's a window where you pay for "jumpy-time" or rent the inflatables for however long you're willing to pay for them. That's where I'm headed, when I feel a strong hand on my shoulder, pulling me to a stop. "Whoa, dude, we have plenty of time for that. But right now,..." Matt begins as he reaches down, steadying himself on my shoulder, to start pulling his tennis shoes off. "... We jump!" he finishes his sentence and like a five-year-old little boy, he takes off running toward the inflatables, adult side, thank God.

I must look as confused as I feel because Joel and Kevin come up to me and begin explaining. "We rented the entire building for two hours. Happy Bachelor party, man!" And off they go, in white socks, ready to play like we're in the third grade. I feel the smile creep across my face, and my shoes are coming off before I realize I've moved.

I run to join them and throw myself into the huge dragon bouncy house. Up and down, up and down, we jump until we can't breathe. Joel and Matt are in the inflatable directly across from me, so I can see them bouncing and knocking into each other, trying to knock the other off balance. Kevin is in the inflatable beside me, I can barely make out the top of his head through the little windows at the top of each bouncy house, he's doing flips.

The noise level is big for just four dudes, but we don't mind. None of us have had fun like this in a long, long time. This is the best Bachelor Party, ever!

When we've exhausted ourselves, we're hungry and thirsty, so we go sit down at the cafeteria to catch our breath before we order. "Dar-r-y, man..." Joel tries to get my attention through labored breath. "We have a gift for you." I look around, trying to find the gift or the box, or whatever he's talking about, but I don't see anything. "Nah, man. Not like that. We wanted to do something, to help, you know. We decided that we wanted to pay for the inflatable rental for you. It's all taken care of. It'll be delivered to your farm late Saturday afternoon, they won't blow it up until the ceremony begins, so Alice won't catch on. They'll pick it up on Sunday, around noon."

I feel the tears well up. "Man, y'all didn't have to do this. But I really appreciate it. Y'all are awesome!" I tell them and they all come to hug me, mockingly, trying to bring the seriousness down to a more manageable level. Matt throws his leg up on me, grabbing my nipple and twisting it, being totally obnoxious.

"Man, get off of me!" I yell, shrugging them all away, playfully.

"Pizza!" Kevin and Joel get up to go order our pepperoni pizzas and some sodas. When they return, we all eat to our fill and then we just sit there at the tables, legs propped up, leaned back with our arms crossed behind our heads, talking. We talk about when we all first met, in elementary school. We were all in the same Kindergarten class, which was kind of a 50-50 shot, seeing as there were only two different classes at that time for Kindergarten.

Kevin was the little boy with glasses and messy dirty blonde hair. His mom always dressed him like a tiny little Aeropostale model, and she'd come to school every morning raising cane because he got his clothes dirty at recess the day before.

Joel and Matt were the first kids to talk to me and Alice in school. Kevin came into the group a few days later. Joel was the kid that was always chasing the girls around the playground, driving them crazy. Matt was quieter, believe it or not, more laid back. He was always too just cool. Kevin had that same demeanor, to a certain degree. He was quiet and laid back too, always a cool calm, but he's always been the one to be more off to the side in groups that include people beyond our friend group, where Matt is now louder and more outgoing, silly even.

We went through school together, most years having at least three or four of the same classes. We've shared so many experiences. I've always been able to count on these guys and confide in them. They've always had my back and me, theirs. I love these guys. This motley crew of ours.

We bounce for a while more and then it's time to go. I go to the window and pick the princess bouncy house, adult sized of course, to be brought to the farm for the reception, and then we leave the building. Closing the door behind us feels like we've just shut the door on a chapter in our lives. It's the last time we'll all be together, unmarried, no real responsibilities. It's the end of an era...of our childhood. And we can all feel it.

On the street, no one says a word. We're all deep in thought, like me, they're probably feeling the heartache for the memories. I love Alice, I wouldn't want to live a day without her, but it is going to be different somehow. Being married, the friend dynamic might change a little. I won't be able to run to hang out with them at the drop of a dime, with a simple phone call and request from one of them. It'll just be different.

We say our goodbyes, and all go off in different directions. I'm feeling anxious to get to my girl, so I turn my car toward the farms and haul butt down the street. Ready to see those bright green eyes and kiss those soft, full lips. I feel like we've been apart for days, but it's really only been a matter of a few hours. When I pull into the driveway, I see my baby sitting on the front porch steps of her parents' house. She sees me coming up the drive and her eyes light up as she sits straight up, then stands to come out to greet me. I close my driver side door and run up to her. She throws her arms around me and buries her face into my neck, "Where have you been? It feels like it's been weeks since I've seen you", she whispers, whining a little about having to be without me. My heart melts and I squeeze her tightly to me, carrying her off into the house.