I Made You My First (20 page)

The waitress brought us drinks
and took our orders.  While we ate dinner, both of our phones went off multiple times. We let them take messages. When the waitress came for our plates, Irish excused himself and went to the restroom. I finished my glass of wine and tossed the phone in my purse. We left as soon as he returned. Jennifer didn’t say a word as we walked out into the night.

When we pulled up to Judy’s, her car wasn’t there. “
Irish, when you told me in your note that you spoke to Judy, did you mean spoke or sent her a text?”

He pa
rked the car and looked at me. “I called her with your phone,” he said, looking a little sheepish.

I smacked his arm and smiled at him.  “I don’
t care that you went in my purse, I just want to know what she said.”

He looked up and off to the side
as if trying to remember the conversation word for word.  “She said she had a date,” and he turned his face to me.  “With someone from work, yeah, and that you knew where the key was.” He smiled, pleased with himself. I bent down and fished for my phone. Seven messages total, six from John.

I scrolled up to
the first voice message from Judy.
Hey, J.C., I spoke to Irish. I guess you were sleeping. I’m glad that everything went okay with John at the funeral. I told Irish that I might not be home when you get here. I actually have a date with a really cute guy from the office.  Don’t worry, he’s not in my department, but I’m not sure what time I’ll be home. But I will be home. Love you.

I closed my phone.  “It looks like we’re going to be unsupervised,”
I laughed.

Irish helped me get all three suitcases in
to the house and to my room. I reached for my cigarettes and phone, with Irish following me to the patio. We sat down in chairs, both satisfyingly full.

Chapter Ten

“What do you want to do tomorrow,” Irish asked, tilting his head to the side, smiling handsomely.

“I’
m not sure, but I could really use a shower right now,” and I grinned at him. I was trying to reference our shower in San Francisco, but he didn’t give me the right response.

Looking serious he said, “
No really, Jurnee, what do
you
want to do tomorrow? It’s your birthday.” 

T
omorrow was Tuesday, June 10th? I stared at him trying to account for the last several days. He was right…tomorrow was my birthday. I sat back in my chair, pulling a cigarette from my pack. Irish stood up and fished his lighter from his pants. We smiled at each other, remembering our first day out here on the patio.

“Well, I don’t really know,” I said.  “Don’t you have to work?”

He sat back down after he lit my cigarette and leaned
all the way back in his chair.  “We could get up early, go downtown, get licenses, drive to Vegas, and get married,” he said grinning.

I shook my head.  “
You’re crazy, but you know that already, right?”  I stared at the sky, trying to separate myself from his piercing stare and that silly grin.

“I think your mom would be
a little upset if we did that Irish, don’t you agree?” He didn’t answer. I looked and he was holding up his phone, scrolling through numbers.

He looked at me.  “I could ask her,”
and he flipped his phone open.

I felt my eyebrows pinch together and my mouth fly open.
“You’d better not, Irish,” and I sat straight up in my chair.

He stood up.
I could hear it ringing. I took a deep breath hoping that he was messing with me. With his back to me I heard him say, “Hey Mom,” and he turned around and smiled at me. I froze. He wouldn’t tell his mom something like that over the phone, I assured myself.  I felt the heat rising in my body. 

Irish looked away from me
and continued talking. “I wanted to call you first, and give you some good news.”  He looked into the sky.  “Remember I told you all about Jurnee?” and he began rocking back and forth, still looking at the sky.  “Yeah, John’s sister,” he said. “Well she asked me to marry her.”  My mouth fell open.  I didn’t even feel myself stand up.  “Yes, I know, it surprised me too,” he said, looking at the ground. “Well, I said yes, Mom, and we were thinking about going to Vegas tomorrow.”  He turned and looked at me with a serious expression.

I have no idea what my face looked like.
I was speechless.  “I know that she is, Mom, I’d bet my heart on it.”  We stared at each other.

“No, we’
d come straight home tomorrow night; Dad mentioned I have to get up to San Francisco and sign papers on the house. This will be a quick trip” and he winked at me, smiling. What the hell was he doing? I was silently screaming inside. 

“No, M
om, you’re the only one we’re telling. Would you keep it to yourself until we get home tomorrow night?”  He looked away from me. I sat back down.

“
I love you too, Mom, see you tomorrow,” and he closed his phone.

I sta
red at him until he turned and looked at me. He wasn’t smiling and looked way too serious.  “I want this more than anything, Jurnee, and now it’s up to you.” 

I didn’t know what to say.
We stared at each other until finally I took a deep breath, my hands covering my face.  “You’re sure, Irish, this isn’t a stupid mistake? I don’t even know your parents’ names.” I heard his steps coming toward me. 

He bent
down and reached his hand to my face and I looked up at him. With his finger under my chin, he said, “I’m one hundred and ten percent sure, Jurnee. This isn’t a mistake, I assure you.” I could feel my eyes filling up and I was pulling at the fabric of my jeans. “Please trust me,” he said and stood up, pulling my body with him.  He hugged me tightly and I took another deep breath.

“Do you swear that was your mom?”

He chuckled. “Yes, I swear that was my mom, and she was surprised but also happy for us.” Pushing me back just enough so that he could see my face, he said, “We need to get birth certificates and make a plan. You need to tell me if
we’re
going to do this, and we need to leave early.”  I was looking at him and I did hear him, but I needed a few minutes to process it in my head. I put my face into his chest and he held me in his arms. 

Married?
Was I going to be any good at marriage? I felt Irish squeeze me gently, and I pushed back and looked into his face.  “Okay” and I wiped the tears from my eyes.  “Let’s get married,” I announced.

Irish
smiled at me and touched my nose with his finger.  “Let’s go tie the knot,” he whispered. 

Irish drove to his house to
get his birth certificate and some clothes. I looked through the paperwork in my room and picked out some clothes, folding them all neatly in a stack on my bed and putting my birth certificate on top and then went to take a shower. With a towel still wrapped around my head, I sat on my bed and went through my purse, making sure that I had everything I needed for tomorrow’s trip. When I picked up my birth control package, I only had three pills left, so I reached for another pack from my suitcase. I needed to make an appointment before I could get another refill.

When I was
sure I had everything, I picked up my phone and went through my messages from John.

First message:
Hang up.
 

Second message:
Another hang up.

Third message:
Hang up
. 

I decided to delete them all, tossing my phone on the bed
.
It had to be after eleven o’clock
, I thought, and I was really hoping to talk to Judy before we left town. Just then I heard the front door open. I jumped up and waltzed to the living room. When Judy saw me, she smiled graciously. She was wearing the cutest little black dress and pumps with her blonde hair pulled back on the sides.

“Don’
t you look
hot
,” I sang.

She laughed at me.  “Is Irish here?”
she asked.

“Not yet,”
I said following her to the kitchen.

Stopping to
look at my face, she asked “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, in fact...wait right here,”
I said, running to my room. I brought back the bottle of Grand Marnier I’d bought for Irish and held it up, smiling from ear to ear.  “We have to celebrate,” I squealed, dancing to the cupboard for two glasses.

Jud
y leaned back on the counter, taking off her shoes.  “Someone’s happy,” she giggled.  “What are we celebrating, J.C.?”

I
continued smiling while I poured, handing her a glass and holding mine up in the air to toast. She just smiled staring at me. “I asked Irish to marry me, well kind of, and he said yes.”

Her eyes
became huge and she threw her hand over her mouth.  “For real, are you kidding?” She watched my face now.

“
Yes, we’re leaving for Las Vegas first thing in the morning,” I smiled. Without a word she tipped her glass to mine and then took a big sip. I took a drink too and we both stood in the kitchen staring at each other. I knew what she
had
to say and
was
going to say. 

She was Mo
mma Judy, so I waited for her comment.  “You’re sure about this, J.C.?” and I threw my arms around her.

We hugged. “I’m one hundred and ten percent sure,”
I said.

She gave me a smile.  “Okay, I’m really happy for you.”  And I knew
she was. I sat on her bed while she changed clothes and told me all about Rodney. We were heading back to the kitchen to refill our glasses when we heard a light knock on the door.

“That must be Irish,” I said
skipping to the door. When I opened it, it wasn’t Irish but John. My eyes got huge as I quickly looked past him for Irish.

“
Jurnee, can I talk to you for a minute?”  I stepped back, staring at him.

“Sure, come in,”
I said, opening the door wider. 

I’m sure
he saw the disappointment on my face, so he quickly said, “Irish will be here in a few minutes. He had to get the original copy of his birth certificate from his parents’ house. I left before him.” I just nodded and walked over to the sofa.

Judy popped her head
in from the kitchen and then ran over to John and hugged him.  “It’s so good to see you,” John said.

Judy just gave him her
silly-Judy
smile.

“What’
d you need to talk to me about, John?”  I said, searching for my cigarettes.

“
I have something I think you’d like to have for tomorrow,” and he spoke with a serious voice. I looked him in the face and sat down on the sofa. He followed me over and sat down too, reaching in his coat pocket and handing me a folded handkerchief. I looked at him and accepted it, setting it on my lap and opening it. When I got to the middle, I saw two rings.

I looked up at
 John.  “These belonged to mom and dad,” and he nodded.

“
If you’re really serious about this marriage, Jurnee, I know they’d want you to have them.”  I looked at the rings, my eyes tearing. I set them down on the table and stood up holding my arms out to John. He stood and held me tighter than ever before. I did my silent cry into his shoulder. I didn’t hear a knock but Judy must have.  When I finally composed myself and pushed away from John, I saw Irish standing by the front door, smiling at me.

John
stepped away and walked over to Irish, hugging him too. When they finally separated, Irish pulled what looked like a blue address book from his coat pocket and handed it to my brother. Neither one said a word.

John walked to the front door, turning to me, “Be safe and I’ll see you when I do.
I love you, Jurnee,” and he closed the door behind him.

Judy, Irish
, and I stared at one another. I went to the table and picked up my parents’ rings. I smiled at Irish and he walked over and kissed me on my forehead. I reached for Irish’s hand and slipped my dad’s ring on his finger. We both looked at it. He took my mom’s ring and slipped it on my finger. It fit, and I began to cry. It wasn’t my
moment
cry. It was an overwhelmingly happy one.  I reached out for Irish, then Judy, and we group-hugged.
Tomorrow was going to be a good day
, I thought.    

Irish and I
were at the court house at eight o’clock and on the road to Vegas by ten.  We didn’t turn on the radio once during our six-hour drive. He answered all the questions I had about his family, the blue book he’d given John, his bad habits, and our plan for moving to San Francisco. It seemed he already knew way more about me than I did about him. We laughed so hard we shed tears about some things and grew sad about sensitive subjects as well. When we realized we were only two exits from the Vegas Strip, we grew quiet. Maybe it was the excitement, mixed with a little nervousness, but we stared straight ahead at the tall buildings. Irish finally pulled off an exit, promising to take us to the Strip. We had both agreed that we only wanted to make our marriage legal right now. We could always have a
real
ceremony later if we wanted it. Passing several chapels with signs offering every type of wedding imaginable, Irish and I continued down the Strip, smiling expectantly.