Mouse Bk. 03 Ch. 03

8> Friday: Rehearsal

Michael didn't understand why they had to rehearse for a pretend wedding, but in the end he was glad they did. Mouse had insisted. She had said it was part of the whole schtick, and a girl only gets married once, so they were going to do it right. He gave her an annoyed, sidelong look when she said it, so she leaned up to whisper "I love you" into his ear, and then gave him a quick kiss, and then dragged him along by the hand. He'd had no choice.

The rehearsal was simple enough. The wedding hall was the main room in Jeff's rather large apartment. A soft white light filled the room from a line of high windows along one wall. They offered a wonderful fifteenth floor view of the snowbound city, with a brooding white-gray cloud covered sky as a backdrop. You could even see a sliver of Lake Michigan between the other buildings. Being a successful lawyer had its obvious advantages. He apparently had a lot more to offer Tania than wild sex.

Jeff had graciously agreed to let all of the room's furniture be moved into his bedroom, opening the room up like a small hall. Mouse joked that it was the only thing that she could get on such short notice. Michael waited along one wall, near the "altar", which was merely a folding card table covered with a white table cloth. Chairs were arranged appropriately along the sides in rows, with an aisle down the middle. For the rehearsal, only Alicia, Tania, Jeff, Mouse and Michael were there. Tania was acting as justice of the peace, Alicia was maid of honor, and Jeff was the best man.

It started with Mouse theatrically coming out of the bedroom hallway and striding up the aisle, loudly singing the "dum, dum da dum" wedding march by herself. Halfway through she decided that was too silly. She looked at Jeff's collection of music. He surprised her by quickly recommending some classical selections, and after sampling just a few she had settled on one that she liked.

They went through the motions for everything, with lots of joking and giggles and smart comments. Every few minutes someone would have an idea to make things more entertaining, and they'd joke some more and get carried away, then eventually abandon it. Michael liked that. Keep it simple. Complicated meant there was more to go wrong.

The biggest problem at the rehearsal came when Tania asked for Michael's full name. It hadn't occurred to either of them that this game would require it, but of course it did. Tania had to say something. She started to. She started to say, "do you, Michael...". And then Tania realized that she didn't know his last name. So she asked him.

It should have been simple. When someone asks you for your last name, you just tell them. You don't stutter. You don't hesitate. It's not a difficult question.

But your last name is never already the same as the woman you're dating, and obviously fucking, and pretending to marry.

Michael froze. Mouse froze. The whole room waited.

While Michael grappled for a name, a safe name, any name, he looked to Mouse for help. She recovered sooner than him, but showed no sign of coming to his aid. She seemed to enjoy watching him squirm.

"Campbell," Michael blurted finally, relieved to escape, no matter how awkwardly. There was a Campbell at their warehouse in the suburbs. It was a common name. It seemed a safe choice.

Tania eyed him for a moment.

"Sorry, I just, I just started..." Michael began lamely, feeling the need to explain his clumsy pause.

"I just started thinking the words 'Mr. and Mrs. Michael Campbell', and I kind of freaked." he finished, lamely he thought. "It sounded so... intense."

Mouse was grinning at him. She discreetly slipped him a quick wink, as if to signal that she thought he'd done well.

Tania still eyed him, but eventually went on. "Do you, Michael Campbell, take this woman, to be your playfully wedded bride..."

And so it continued. And then came time to kiss the bride. Mouse and Michael were still self conscious about kissing in front of other people, so they leaned in to give each other only the quickest peck on the lips. Somehow, the act of letting people see them show their incestuous lust was just too difficult to do. Michael couldn't explain it, not with everything else that had gone on, not even with Tania having listened to their sessions through her walls. And yet they couldn't do it.

"Okay, that was lame," Alicia chimed in. "That's how I kiss my brother."

Her choice of analogy made both Michael and Mouse blush, which made them even more self conscious, which made them blush more. Michael felt his cheeks burning with heat.

"Yeah, come on, kids," Tania put in. "Let's see some tongue action there. I'm not presiding over a Puritan wedding."

Mouse and Michael obediently leaned into each other. They hesitated for one more moment, looking each other in the eye, steeling themselves, and then locked lips in a slightly longer, only slightly more passionate kiss. Michael could feel himself wanting to let it grow into more, but they still separated quickly.

"I don't think there was any tongue in there," Tania observed with disappointment. She stared at them a moment longer, but when they showed no sign of giving her a better performance, she sighed in theatrical resignation and continued.

"I present to you all," Tania announced, looking up and around the empty room, "Mr. and Mrs. Michael Campbell."

"No!" Mouse interjected, startling them all. "No, I don't like that."

Everyone blinked in confusion, everyone except Michael. He knew where she was headed.

"Dear," Michael started, trying to steer her away from dangerous waters.

"No," Mouse said firmly, glaring at a blank spot on the wall. "I want to be Mr. and Mrs. Michael Castillo."

"You can't do that," Alicia protested. "You can't make him use your last name. You can be Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Castillo, which is very un-romantic, or Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Campbell-Castillo, or Castillo-Campbell, or whatever. But he can't become Mr. Castillo."

"Are you through?" Mouse asked, sounding as if venom was ready to drip from her teeth.

Alicia held her tongue. They all knew about Mona's temper.

"It's my wedding and my game and my rules and I can do whatever I want. Michael has to do it, too, because if he doesn't I'll lie in bed on our wedding night like a three day old fish," she said.

Tania was the only one that laughed. She quickly voiced her feminist opinion. "I agree with Mona. It's about time women completely turned the tables. Let Michael take her last name."

"I don't care," Michael said as soon as he could get a word in. Jeff raised his eyebrows at him, as if goading him to do battle, to champion the vanishing rights of men everywhere.

"I really don't, it's not a big deal to me," Michael said. Actually, he hated the idea of doing this with a fake name, too. If they had come this far, if they were going this far, then he wanted it to feel real when they did it. He didn't want his little sister introduced as the wife of some other, unknown man. It was too weird, he thought.

Too weird? He knew he was losing it now. He was pretending to marry his sister, but using an assumed name was too weird.

"Okay, so it's settled, we'll be introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Michael Castillo," Mouse concluded.

"I present to you all," Tania intoned, looking at Mouse with an approving grin, "Mr. and Mrs. Michael Castillo!"

Michael and Mouse turned to face the empty chairs. They held hands, and she leaned onto his arm, beaming.

They all applauded politely. Tania put two fingers in her mouth to deliver a loud catcall of a whistle.

* * *

After the rehearsal, the five of them opened a bottle of wine. They sat around talking about all sorts of things. They were just killing time until the rehearsal dinner. Near six o'clock they rearranged the chairs around some more card tables. The guests started to arrive. There weren't many, Michael noted happily. A delivery man came to the door with a stack of pizza boxes.

"We're sparing no expense, I see," Michael said.

"Well, the groom's family is supposed to pay for the rehearsal dinner, and the father for the wedding. And that's you, both. So if you want to spring for something more elaborate, go right ahead."

"No thanks. Anything else I have to do tonight? Other than find some way to satisfy you," he added, trying to keep the leer out of his voice. He felt like he'd missed something there, but couldn't make the connection.

"You have to give a toast."

"The groom doesn't give a toast, at either the wedding reception or the rehearsal dinner," Michael said smuggly. "I know, I've been through it once."

"The bride's father does," Mouse answered, equally smug.

Michael made a show of swallowing his tongue. "Excuse me?" he finally got out.

"We need someone to be my father tonight," Mouse said, choosing her words carefully in front of her friends. She almost said "to be Dad", but caught and subdued that thought quickly enough. She had then wanted to say "be my daddy," but she didn't trust Tania nearly enough to do it in front of her.

"We all figured, that since you were the oldest..." Mouse started.

"And because you look sort of like Mona," Alicia chimed in.

Mouse glared at her for adding that discomforting observation, although Alicia clearly and thankfully had no idea why it annoyed her so much.

"And because you look like maybe you could be my father," Mouse continued delicately, with another restraining glare at Alicia, "age-wise."

"And because sometimes Mona calls you 'daddy'," Tania interrupted, grinning.

Mouse's glare switched targets and intensified. She didn't want to let this conversation get out of hand. "And because sometimes you act like a father to me, 'daddy'," she said with a small smile, while making a show of rolling her eyes. "Because of that, we figured that you should be the one to give the father's toast at the rehearsal dinner."

Michael spent a long time taking a little sip of wine from his glass.

"No," he stated. "No. That is not happening. I am not going to be your father one night, giving you away, and your groom the next, giving you..." Michael trailed off, trying to erase the images from everyone's minds and rephrase things. "It's not happening," he finished simply.

"It's too late," Mouse said, leaving no room for contradiction. "Jeff obviously can't be my father, he doesn't fit the part. I'm not black enough. It's too late to recruit someone else, so you're all that's left. So get to work and come up with a short speech. Make me feel wanted and loved, and give me away with honor and pride."

"I hate you," he said, burning holes in her eyes.

Mouse lifted herself up on tip-toes to give him a quick kiss in reply. Her friends all stood around them grinning wickedly.

* * *

Michael had decided he would make the best of it, Mouse knew. As clumsy and timid as he was, he wasn't a bad public speaker. He had been nervous and awkward when he was younger, but a career path that lead him to become a vice president of operations had taught him to be better.

He rose from his seat beside Mouse and walked to one end of the room. He cleared his throat. It took only a moment for the small group to quiet down. Apparently, they all figured that this was going to be one of the more humorous parts of the charade. Mouse hoped that he wouldn't disappoint them.

She looked across at him with some trepidation. It was like being the victim at a roast, she now realized. Everyone's attention was directed at him, but it was really on her. He looked into her eyes, and she could feel herself falling through space in that moment. She blushed immediately, and he hadn't even started. How un-Mouse-like, she thought, reprimanding herself.

"I can remember Mona as a sweet little girl. It's hard to believe, I know," Michael started. There was some muffled laughter.

"When she was very little, she played with Barbie dolls. One of her favorite games was to marry Barbie to Ken. The thing was, as soon as the wedding was over, they would get married again, right away. Her older brother and sister would constantly try to correct her, but she just didn't seem to get it. Mona liked weddings, and obviously more weddings were better than one, just like more helpings of ice cream."

More laughter.

"I hope by now she's outgrown that phase, although she may have engineered things like this exactly so that she can, in fact, get married again as soon as this one is over," he said. He was rewarded with a few more chuckles. Mouse made a show of sticking her tongue out at him.

"The day I remember most clearly is the night of her prom. She looked so amazing in that dress." Michael was looking straight at her now. His eyes were sober and intense, and she felt as if he were looking at her again that night, in that dress. She felt just as young and nervous, too, as if she were seventeen again and on her way to the prom. She'd never known why Michael had stopped by the house that night, only that he did, and he saw her, and her heart had jumped when he did.

"I looked at her and I saw a beautiful princess, my little princess. And then I thought, no, not a princess. I was stunned by the realization. She was a beautiful woman. My little Mouse had grown into a beautiful, radiant woman."

Mouse could feel herself blushing again. She fought it down.

"I felt sorry for her, because I knew she had to go with a barely acceptable date. The guy she wanted to go with hadn't asked her, so she took a second choice, and muddled her way through the evening with him, only to come home feeling unfulfilled. I hope she's not doing the same thing for her wedding."

Michael got some more laughs.

Mouse dropped her eyes to her plate at this memory. It was true. She looked around the room, seeing expressions of recognition and agreement on almost every woman's face. It seemed like no one actually went to their prom with the guy they wanted, she observed. Everyone had to accept a replacement date. The really unlucky ones have to go with a cousin or a brother recruited for the task.

Which was ironic, Mouse thought, because in her case, that was exactly who she wanted to go with. She'd have given anything to have been forced to go to her prom with her older brother.

"I can also remember her at Michael's first wedding," Michael continued.

Mouse's attention snapped back to Michael at this. She studied his eyes fiercely, wondering what he was going to say, and wondering how much of it would be true. She didn't want to hear anything about his ex-shrew.

"Many of you may not know that Michael's already been married and divorced. The thing was, Mona went to his first wedding, as did I." Michael paused to grin, and to let his audience have their laugh. "But what Mona doesn't know was that she was the most beautiful woman there, more beautiful even than the bride."

The room became suddenly, cavernously quiet at this admission. Michael was beaming at Mouse, and she felt both lost in and blinded by the sparkle in his eyes as he spoke. His eyes were so dark and serious, even though they were smiling. They seemed to hold her in the same strong grip his hands had used on her in the dance studio.

"And believe me, the bride knew it, and it infuriated her." Michael paused again while everyone laughed, and a few people clapped. He seemed to enjoy getting digs in at his ex-wife's expense. Mouse grinned herself. She'd never known all this. Later she would have to ask him if it was true.

"My last sharp memory is of Mona leaving to live on her own in Chicago. She had grown into a fantastic woman, one very capable of taking care of herself. I didn't want her to leave. I wanted to go with her, to protect her. There was a huge hole in my life when she left, but I had to let her go, to live her life on her own.

"And now I don't have to worry about her anymore, because she'll have a husband. And she can take care of him, probably better than he can take care of himself." Michael paused again to allow more laughter to die down.

Michael raised his glass.

"So, tonight, I'm ready to give away my little girl, my princess, my grown woman, and my heroine. To Michael and, mostly, to Mona!"

Mouse blushed as she listened to the applause speckled with a murmur of comments and compliments, and the short, sharp, stuttered ring of glass on glass on glass as people drank to the toast.

She took a sip of champagne herself, then rose up, feeling as if she were floating. She hurried over to Michael's side.

When she got to him, she looked him in the eye briefly, but couldn't bear it. She buried her face in his chest. When she regained her composure she looked up again. She reached up to kiss him, and he reached down, and they both froze. He was her brother. He was playing the role of her father. And she wanted to kiss him passionately in front of her friends, and some strangers, and all of the various dates her friends had brought with them for fun.

Fear overcame love, and Mouse gave Michael a very quick peck on the lips. Tania yelled "Kiss him right," but Mouse turned to her smiling.

"He's my daddy, I can't do that," she said, escaping, for now, amidst everyone's laughter.

Then she leaned up to whisper into Michael's ear.

"Is any of that true?" she asked.

His mouth found her ear. "All of it," he answered.

"Even the stuff about the prom dress?"

"Yes."

"And your wedding?"

"Yes."

"I love you, and I can't wait to marry you, Michael," she said. She gave his ear a quick flick of her tongue.

"You can't marry your father, Mona, it's incest," he whispered.

Mouse didn't answer him, but simply dropped back down, giving him a devilish leer, squeezed his hand, and scurried back toward their seats, pulling him with her.

* * *

The rest of the rehearsal dinner passed uneventfully. Eventually all of the guests left to go clubbing, until at last only the original five remained. They quickly cleaned up afterward. Once that was done, Michael asked Mouse if she was ready to leave as well.

"I'm not coming home tonight," she told him.

"You're not coming home with me? You staying with them?" he said, meaning Tania and Jeff.

"I'm going home with Alicia tonight," she explained, a little shocked that he thought, after last night, that she would even sleep in the same apartment with Tania and Jeff. She grabbed her coat and signaled Alicia that it was time to go. "The groom isn't supposed to see the bride until the wedding. It's bad luck. You can take my car. You'll find your tux back at my apartment. You have to be here by four tomorrow. Don't be late," she ordered. She gave him a quick kiss, and she and Alicia were gone.

8> Saturday: Ceremony

Michael felt silly the moment he left Mouse's apartment in the tuxedo. He'd spent most of the evening rooting around Mouse's computer, looking at her writing. He spent the morning eating, dressing, and snooping. He'd never been left alone in her apartment before. He felt good, a little nervous, but overall like he was having a good time with this, and one way or the other, it would be the last day of coordinated events, or so he hoped. He figured that once the ceremony was done it would be time for the wedding night, which would be spectacular, and then a week of simply pretending to be married newlyweds on a honeymoon.

The tuxedo fit well enough. It was perhaps a bit large. Either Mouse had overestimated his size, or he'd lost more weight than he'd thought. Still, it was passable.

Outside of her apartment, however, it hit him how silly he looked. What would he tell anyone that asked? That he was going to a wedding? He didn't need that kind of attention.

Fortunately, he didn't run into anyone until he got to Jeff's apartment building, and once there, while he drew some stares, no one talked to him.