Revenge of the Scorned Witch

You know how most teenagers love to sleep in until noon or one o'clock in the afternoon when they are not in school? Well, I think my girls missed that step because once again, they were up and ready to go shopping before I even got out of bed.

As I got out of the shower, they already had my coffee and doughnuts waiting for me in to-go containers. "Come on, mom, we are so late for the best deals." Kaylee moaned. Laura just grabs my hand and drags me out the door, leaving Kaylee to get my purse and keys.

"Don't worry, I'll drive, mom, while you eat." She yells on her way out the door.

"Geez, thanks, you're not in a hurry, are you?" I laugh.

"You know you get the best deals when the doors first open at eight, and we won't be there when they do if we don't leave now. Remember, mom, there's a lot of traffic in Texas." Laura stated.

"Ok, well, no speeding, Kaylee, or you'll get to pay for the ticket," I mention when we start pulling out of the driveway.

"Don't worry." She replies as she rolls her eyes at me, "I do know how to drive safely."

We arrive at our first wedding dress shop, and instantly, the girls find me dresses to try on, which are all white and strapless. While I am trying them on, they find some bridesmaids dresses for them to try on. They did decide on maroon with navy blue, which I think would be pretty for a wedding. We decided on my dress being strapless trumpet mermaid lace dress with beading sequins and a court train. The girls had a hard time picking out dresses for themselves, so we paid for my dress then headed to another dress store to see if we could find one for them there.

After we hit two more stores, we finally found the girls dresses. They were perfect maroon lace dresses with a halter neckline. Now to see how long it would take to find boots to go with their dresses. I was grateful when we found them in the first place we stopped. They settled on a pair of dark brown Laredo boots, and for me, we picked out a white pair with a small heel.

We then went to pick out an outfit for Ellis to wear. We picked out a new pair of wrangler jeans, along with a dark navy blue sports jacket and a new white dress shirt. The girls also suggested that their dad could use a new pair of boots, so we went back to the Boot Barn, where we had just purchased ours, and I let them pick a pair out for him.

After spending all day in Dallas, Texas, we were done. All Kaylee and Laura could talk about was the wedding, asking me where we were going to have it and trying to get me to settle on a date.

"Fine, we will have it on May 30. Is that a good date?" I announce a little aggravated. Laura grabbed her phone.

"It falls on a Tuesday, but dad will be taking off work anyway. We will be out of school by then, so it won't affect us. So let's do that date."

"Works for me, so a spring wedding, yay! And the flowers will match perfectly with it. Also, we could have the wedding outside, maybe at the lake." Kaylee added excitedly.

"Well, I guess you girls got it all planned out for me, don't you?" I quipped.

"Of course, mom, you're so busy, and you got to admit we do have a better sense of style." Laura laughed.

"So your saying I should just let you two have a credit card and let you plan the whole wedding?" I joke. Kaylee is the first to pop up.

"Sure, not a problem." She says as she reaches for my purse.

"I was joking, Kaylee, I would like some say so in it," I say, smacking her hand away. When we finally made it to Ardmore, I decided to stop for supper before heading home and picked up a to-go meal for Ellis.

As I pull into my driveway, it's just a little past five o'clock. I was so happy to be home that when I made it into my room, I fell across my bed with bags in tow.

"Oh, mom, you are so dramatic." Laura laughs as she came in.

"Very funny, you two need to take your bags and put them into your closet, then feed your dad. Tell him I died on my bed." I ordered. They did as I asked but not without laughing at me first. I was so completely wiped out that I woke up the next morning with bags all over my bed, and I was wearing the same outfit that I had gone shopping in.

"Wow, you must have really been worn out. I saw you fall on the bed, then you were out." Bryan explained to me.

"What time is it now?" I ask as I blocked the sun shining in with my hand.

"It's ten am, you've been out for about seventeen hours." He replied.

"What the hell? Nobody bothered to wake me up!?" I exclaim.

"Calm down, we checked on you. We all just thought you could use the rest, you have been working a lot lately.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower. I got things that need to be done today." I yawn. And what I meant by that is Laura and Kaylee wanted to go check out possible places to have the wedding and reception, then go find a preacher to officiate the wedding. The thing is, I preferred having a high priestess do the wedding, so I'm hoping I can hold them off on that until I can find one. We drove around different parts of Lake Murray but couldn't agree on a spot. Then Laura had a great idea, "How about we see if we can't have it at Turner Falls in one of the old castles? It would be so perfect." She announced.

"What a wonderful idea!" I exclaim. Kaylee made an illegal U-turn and sped towards Davis. We were so excited when we found out I could have my wedding there. All they needed were a few details and, of course, a down payment, then we were all set.

Just a few more little details to cover, and the wedding would be all planned. Thankfully the girls' to-do list was done for the day, so I could find me a high priestess who would do the ceremony. After some calling around, I found one in a town west of here who goes by Moonstone. She just needed a small payment on the day of the wedding. She also suggested a walk through a week before the wedding, so everyone would know where to stand. Bryan walks through the front door. "Hey, girl, how did the day go? Find you a spot at the lake?"

I just look at him and smile, "Nope, better: Turner Falls in the castle." I giggle.

"Wow, no way, that's just going to be so awesome!" He exclaims. "So I take it everything else is planned as well?"

"Unfortunately, no." I sigh. "There's still a lot more to do. Kaylee and Laura are a lot of help, but I'm worn out. Maybe I should just give them a credit card and let them plan the rest. I already have a priestess to do the ceremony, all that's left are minor details."

Bryan looks at me a little worried, "Did you get Ellis a ring yet?" He cringes as he asks.

"Awe damn it!" I scream. "No, I haven't. Maybe I'll just order one online." "And have it come in the wrong size? I think not, I'll go pick one out for him, ok? I know his size. Maybe I'll even take your daughters with me when they get off work tomorrow."

"Really? You'll do that for me?"

"Of course I would! You help me, I help you, that's how this thing rolls."

He gives me a big smile as he heads to the kitchen to make us some supper. I still don't know how I got so lucky having Bryan as a friend, but I do feel so blessed knowing he is on my side. Giving my credit card over to Bryan to purchase the ring wouldn't be an issue. The girls finding out he had it would be a different story. They were still riding the wedding excitement train.

"Don't let the girls know it's my card you're using, or they will go shopping crazy on you, and don't pick out nothing fancy. It's not Ellis, plus this wedding isn't going to last long, so something cheap, or you know what, pick out something that you would like because I'll be giving the ring to you as a present for helping me in all of this.

So, while he was in the kitchen, I called Kaylee up and told her that Bryan was going to be taking her and Laura shopping for their dad's ring tomorrow.

"Ok, then maybe we can stop for wedding invitations and get ideas on a cake." Kaylee started talking a mile a minute until I just had to jump in.

"Kaylee, just the ring for tomorrow. We have time, plus I thought we could design our own invitations. But we can always go into Ardmore and see what cake designs different places have, ok?" I say.

"Oh, well ok." She pouted over the phone. "Tell Bryan we will see him at nine in the morning."

After we hung up, I turned to Bryan, "Wow, I think I just broke her heart. Would you mind taking them around to look at cake ideas and such?" I pleaded sweetly.

"You feel bad, don't you?" He laughs. I just nod my head yes.

"Oh, ok, I don't mind trying out cakes. I didn't get this size by not liking it." I jump up and give him a kiss on the cheek. "You are the best!" I squeal.

The next evening, Bryan comes home looking worn out, followed by Laura and Kaylee.

"Hey, guys, how did it go?" I ask hoping for good news, but looking at my friend, I knew better.

"It went good, but I think I ate to much cake. Your daughters decided on one, though." Bryan whispered before excusing himself as he walked from the room. Laura and Kaylee set on either side of me as I closed my laptop so they couldn't see that I was sending an update email to Mr. Johnson of the FBI about their father.

"Mom, we got dad the perfect ring. Here, look, it's so cool." She hands me a little box. As I open it, I see a beautiful black gold ring with six blue diamonds in the middle.

"Wow, that is beautiful. You two did a great job." I tell them. "Now, we need to put this up until the wedding so we can surprise him."

I go and put it in my safe that is bolted to my bedroom floor in the closet. I shake my head, knowing they spent a lot more money on the ring than I had planned for them to, but either way, I knew Bryan deserved it. Laura started telling me about the white cake they wanted to have made, which was three tiered with white buttercream icing, plus it was going to have blue and maroon flowers painted on with edible flowers around it.

"It sounds perfect. Did you get a picture of it?" I ask.

"Yea, Kaylee took a picture of it with her phone," Laura replied.

Bryan finally came back out into the living room, looking a little less green than before. "I guess they showed you everything all the way to the cake?" He gagged.

"Yes, they did. Why don't you go lay down, and I'll get you some sprite and crackers to help your stomach?" I suggested.

He shakes his head and heads to rest in his room.

"We should go and let him have some quiet. We did run him pretty hard today." Kaylee giggles as she gets up and heads for the door with Laura behind her. "Love you, mom." She says as she heads out the door.

"I love you girls too," I say as they leave. I get up off the couch and start taking care of my sick friend for the rest of the night.