PART FIVE: the ring and the church pews

Saturday morning came round sooner than you would have liked it to, you had for once slept so well curled up into Gator's side subconsciously that you didn't want to get up, you wanted to bask in the well rested sleepiness of the darkness of his room, curtains drawn tight and his warm body and comforter surrounding you, but his sisters had other plans. The alarm clock had barely struck seven when his bedroom door was being flung open, feet pattering across the carpet.

"Oh my god, Maude it's not gross in here.." You heard Jessica whisper, though it was the loudest whisper you'd ever heard in your life. "There's no boxers all over the floor..or stinky socks..she's like Mary Poppins!"

You snort at the comparison, having already been awake and raise your head so your chin is resting on Gator's hard, toned stomach, looking at them through the dim light streaming in from the hallway. Gator was still snoring and you couldn't have been bothered to lift yourself all the way up. "Whatcha need girls?" You ask, voice thick with sleepiness still. One of the twins jumps at the sound of your voice, not having expected you to be awake you assume. "You want breakfast?"

Maude, you think nods her head quickly and you barely see it. She must be the shy one, you realize. "We didn't think you were awake yet..mama doesn't let us in the kitchen alone," She says, still in her pink pajama set. "Says we might burn the house down..thought we'd wake up Gator.."

You hum, already sitting up some as Gator still snores beside you. "I'm already up, might as well get you two fed, huh?" You scoot gently down to the end of the bed, your feet not even touching the ground when you throw your legs over the edge. "Got a long day ahead of us trying on dresses.."

The girls follow you out of the room, excitedly talking about the bridal shop and how they'd never been to one. You shut the door once they're out of it, closing it gently to let Gator stay asleep before you follow them down the stairs. "French toast sound good?" You had made Gator buy the big thick bread yesterday at the store, and cinnamon creamer to soak it in to absorb the flavor.

The smell of cooking food and brewing coffee fills the house, the sounds of bacon sizzling in a frying pan and cartoons on the television in the living room accompanied by giggles from two girls made you feel so calm and content, as if you were home. Something about it reminded you of weekend mornings with your mom before she married Boyd, before life as you had known it (happy and loving) had been snatched from you, replaced with cold, calm and collected, emptiness.

You smile as a particularly fond memory of your mother making you breakfast plays in your mind, not hearing the shuffling steps into the kitchen, or the large, warm body behind you until his thick bicep is draped around you. "Whatcha makin'?" His voice is thick with sleep, his words followed by a yawn. You damn near drop the hot spatula you're holding, heart racing. "Damn, you okay?"

"Scared the shit outta me, Gator!" You half heartedly yell, glancing behind you with narrowed eyes. "I'm makin' breakfast whats it look like dummy?" He rolls his eyes at you and nudges you out of his way, reaching up into the cabinet to grab a coffee mug from the top shelf. You don't notice him grab two of them until he's handing one to you, filled with coffee and a bit of creamer. "Thank you.."  You say, taking a sip.

He hums in response, leaning against the counter next to you as you cook. "Girls bein' a menace?" He asks, eyes trained on the living room doorway. You shake your head no, and he hums again, taking a long drink off of his mug before putting an electric vape to his lips. You scrunch your face in disgust and thankfully he doesn't see it. "Ready for dress shopping?"

"Absolutely!" You say, face lighting up. "Boyd is bringing Tori and Lucy to the boutique so they can try on their dresses with your sisters while i look around for a gown.." You plate the bacon that had finished frying, carrying it off to the table. You don't notice him following you with the plate of french toast in his free hand. "Gonna run his damn amex sky high today," You giggle, thinking about it. It was truly your only form of revenge currently and you were just dying at the thought of what today's price tag is going to be.

"'atta  girl!" Gator drawls, going to corral his sisters to sit down for breakfast.

The boutique is quaint but has a seemingly massive selection of gowns, you and the girls spend nearly two hours picking out dresses for them and while they're trying them on (and showing them to Gator, keeping him too distracted to follow right along with you and your step-father), you're in a different part of the store, picking out wedding dress options. Boyd is tailing you, making sure you're picking out options that are suitable enough, he had a reputation to up-keek around town and wouldn't let you spend his money on something outrageous looking, and when he's satisfied with the pile you've gathered with his approval he turns on his heel with an order to bring your sisters home when you're finished for the day before disappearing from the store.

You breathe a sigh of relief, turning unhappily to the stack of dresses you had been left to choose from when you hear Gator. "You four all look pretty, how could I ever decide.." And you giggle because it was very obvious to you that he had stopped paying attention a while ago and was just appeasing them.

The girls go back into their dressing rooms and your fiance turns to look at you, smile tugging at his lips before he starts heading towards you. He had been tense ever since Boyd decided to hang around, it was weird to see him suddenly relaxed as soon as he had left. "I'm gonna step out for a bit, go get coffee for us.." He says, giving you a kiss on the cheek which you assume is just for show to the person helping you with the dresses (it would look weird if you guys didn't act in love as an engaged couple). You smile and nod, watching him go before turning back to the shop attendant.

"Thank god, i was trying to think of a way to get him out of here so he wouldn't see the dresses.." You laugh before following the woman into a large, empty dressing room. They may not have been dresses that you absolutely loved, but they were expensive nonetheless and you were bound determined to rack up a bill on the amex card.

You don't even realize that over an hour passes before you see Gator again, trying on and viewing several different dresses with the girls, whom all ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the white gowns that had been chosen. You were absolutely stuck on and surprisingly in love with one of the more expensive dresses (a win-win situation you supposed); a simple ivory satin gown that hugged your figure, but flared out loosely past your knees. It was a mermaid silhouette, without being completely tight down to your feet, it was perfectly simple and elegant all at the same time. The shoulder straps were made from genuine pearls, something you were certain aided in the price being so high that you got a little nervous looking at price tag. It looked stunning on you, and it needed minimal tailoring.

You were just slipping back into your jean shorts and tshirt (why would you need to dress nice to go dress shopping?), telling the attendant that that would be what you were going to purchase the gown when the bell above the front door rang and the girls shouted "Gator!".

"Where's Pearl?" You hear, and stick your head out of the dressing room, trying to pull your shorts on. "Oh, I'll be right back girls.." He walks over towards the dressing room, and expecting him to stay outside, you pop your head back in, finishing buttoning your bottoms before slipping your sandals back on.

"What too-" You start to ask, turning around. You're greeted with his chest, not having noticed he had following you into the room and was standing right behind you. "Jesus Christ, Gator!"

He narrows his eyes at you. "Don't take the lords name in vain, baby.." He says with complete seriousness to the point that you're about to apologize when he speaks again. "I, uh..walked by a jewelry store on my way to the coffee shop, and I..realized that you're kind of missing an important part of being engaged.." You furrow your brows at him, confused until he pulls a small black box from behind his back. "We're going to Church tomorrow, and people are gonna ask if you don't have one.."

"Gator, I-" He puts a finger over your mouth to shush you, shaking his head at you. He opens the box and your eyes widen, tears welling up in your eyes. It was fucking beautiful, and probably fucking expensive, he spent all that money on a piece of jewelry for you and he barely even knew you. "Oh my god.." You breathed. "It's beautiful.."

Gator tsk's at you, shaking his head. "Again with the takin' his name in vain.." He's being playful, you know and you can't help but smack his chest lightly, glad that this is happening in somewhat privacy. "It's almost two carats..whatever the fuck that means..thought you might like it because it's real simple, you know?"

And you truly did. It was an oval cut diamond, set by itself on a simple gold band. It was absolutely gorgeous and even in the lighting of the dressing room it was absolutely sparkling. "Gator.." You look up at him as he takes your left hand in his, slipping the ring onto your ring finger. "Thank you.." You whisper, pushing up on your tiptoes to leave a lingering kiss to his cheek.

"There..now it looks more legit.." He says, skin flushing where your lips had touched him. The moment is sweet and tender, and probably would have ended in the two of you kissing properly for the first time had your sisters' voices not echoed in from outside.

"Pearl! We're hungry!"

Gator has to pull you out of bed by your feet come Sunday morning, grumpily telling you to get your ass in gear and get a move on. Church started at 9, and you weren't even out of bed yet at 8. You hadn't been to church since your mother passed away, the last time you stepped foot inside of one was the day of her funeral when you and Boyd and the girls had gathered in the first pew with all of his friends and family behind you guys to talk about her and view her one last time before they would put her in the ground. You hadn't particularly been looking forward to this part of the weekend, but it was one of the few things Gator had asked of you and you felt obligated to oblige, especially now that you were wearing what you were sure as an expensive diamond on your finger (he refused to tell you the price).

Within fifteen minutes you've brushed out your hair, leaving it to hang below your shoulders as you slip on a yellow sundress. "Gator!" You holler from his bedroom, your suitcase thrown open on the floor as you danced around awkwardly in the middle of the room, one arm turned around behind you and the other reached over your shoulder as you tried to pull the zipper up on the back of your dress. "Gator!" You yell again, frustrated.

You hear his heavy footsteps come stomping up the stairs and then the door creaking open. "The fuck are you doin'?!" He asks from the doorway, hands on his hips as he watches you do an awkward little dance in the middle of his room. You stomp one of your feet and mumble about how you can't get the damned zipper to go up before he sighs and steps into the room to help you. "Stop squirmin'!" He smacks your shoulder lightly, trying to get you to stand still as he comes up behind you, one hand on your lower back, the other fingering the culprit of your frustration. He pulls it up with little effort his hands going up to your shoulders, rubbing them absentmindedly once he's got it all the way closed. "Need'ta get goin', gonna be late.." He murmurs, large hands massaging your shoulders. You hum at his words, leaning back against him a little sleepily, wanting to stand like that all day with him until Jessica comes into the room, asking if you thought her shoe's matched her dress.

The church is beautiful, old pews and hand stained windows with sunlight filtering through, you bask in the different colors being thrown off as the pastor gives his sermon, not paying attention to a damn bit of it. You focus mostly on the man next to you, his hand on your thigh in what some people would call an inappropriate manner as he listened intently to what was being spoken. He would lean towards his sisters every now and then, eyes never leaving the preacher as he asked them softly if they were following along or if they needed him to explain what the pastor might mean later.

When the pastor was done, and the whole congregation had sung hymns that you honestly couldn't believe you still remembered, you stood with Gator in the pew that he had chosen for you guys, shaking hands and greeting awestruck and disbelieving faces of people.

"Hon, this is Coach Deans," Gator says, a big proud smile on his face that made him look oh so beautifully handsome in that moment as he greeted the man with a hug and more warmth than you'd ever seen him give to his own father in the short time you'd known him. "My football coach all through highschool!"

You smile graciously and take the mans hand, he catches your left in his own, inspecting the ring adorning your finger. "I have to say Gator, i thought the rumor going around town was just that..a rumor.." The man says, a big smile on his face. "Never thought I'd see the day.." He shakes his head and you wonder what the man means by that, but don't ask, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.
You leave Gator's side for a brief moment, busying yourself with the girls and their small group of friends from other church going kids when you hear the question. "When's the engagement party?"

You and Gator share a look of absolute confusion, what the fuck is an engagement party? You both questioned silently, you shrug your shoulders and he gives a small shake of his head before turning back to his coach.

You sigh, pulling your phone out to google what exactly an engagement party was and damn near start to cry in the middle of the church pews when you realize its yet another event for you plan alongside your quickly upcoming wedding.

The two of you talk about it later that night in his room, you in his desk chair, head in your hands as he sprawls across the bed, nothing on but a white wife beater and some boxer shorts. The girls had gone to bed hours ago, and you guys had stayed up to plan an engagement party. "You'd think Boyd would have planned all this, or your father seeing as all of this is their doing anyway." You pout, arms crossed over your chest as you stand up, overwhelmed with the details of everything that you had to do in the next few weeks.

Gator makes a hum of agreement, eyes on the ceiling as you move about the room, finding yourself in front of the shelf that had the photos from his childhood on it, the ones with two different women in them and you just can't help yourself anymore, you blurt out the question that had been plaguing you all weekend. "Gator?" He hums again  from his spot on the bed behind you, and you take the leap.
"Who are these women in your photos?"

He doesn't answer for a while, and when you turn around you see he's sitting up in the middle of the bed, legs pulled to his chest. He had a look on his face that you couldn't decipher, a mix of pain and sadness and..anger. You're about to tell him never mind, that you didn't mean to overstep boundaries when he finally answers.

"My mama," He says so softly you think that you're having auditory hallucinations. You see him swallow before he looks at you, pulling his legs closer to himself, as if he's protecting something. "On the left..my actual mama..she..died, according to my dad." He says, voice thick with whatever he's feeling. "And on the right, Nadine.." You want to ask more, but don't push him, you can tell it's emotional for him and you didn't want him to feel obligated to tell you about his childhood just because you were curious. "Sometimes i wish Nadine had been my actual Mama..she was better at it than she was.." A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips, and he looks up at you. "You remind me a lot of her y'know? Sh'woulda liked you alot.."

xxo