"Congratulations," Kari whispered as she gave me a hug at the reception hall. "But I have to go."
"Kari, you can't go, you're my maid of honor and my best friend!" I whined. "Are you leaving because of Brian?"
"No, I'm leaving because I uh...have to go somewhere."
"Where?"
"Um...I don't know yet."
"See, you can stay."
Kari looked down at the ground. "Yeah, I guess."
"Hey girls," I turned around and saw Nick, who was holding Autumn and Summer, Brian, and a girl I'd never seen before.
"Amy, Kari, this is Brian's new girlfriend Melani," Nick said. "Melani, this is my wife Amy, my little girls Summer and Autumn, and Kari."
"Hi Amy, Kari," Melani said shyly. "Aww, your girls are so cute! Can I hold one?"
"Sure," I replied. "It's nice to meet you Melani, I didn't even know Brian was going out with someone. Kari here-" I stopped and looked around. "Hey, where did Kari go?"
Brian shrugged. "Who cares?"
I gave him a dirty look. "Well, Nick and I have to go greet some more people." I took Summer from Melani's arms. "We'll see you later."
"What was that all about?" Nick asked as we walked away.
"Brian. Why did he bring Melani to the wedding? Didn't he think that it obviously would upset Kari?" Summer started fidgeting in my arms and began to cry. "Oh, it's all right baby, Mommy's here." Summer just kept on crying. "Ugh, she must get it from my side of the family."
"Here, let me try." AJ came up to us and took Summer from my arms. She started singing to her softly and soon she stopped crying.
"Thank you AJ," I said as I took Summer from him.
"Not a problem, I'm good with kids. Congrats you guys. I always said you two would make a perfect couple. I'm gonna go mingle with those gorgeous ladies over there, I'll see you later." AJ ran off and Nick and I continued walking.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Kari?" I asked as I walked into the bathroom. "Are you in here?"
"Yeah," came her answer from the counter. "What do you want."
"Diaper change," I replied as I put Autumn down on the counter and tried not to drop Summer.
"Want help?" I nodded and Kari took Summer from my arms and changed her while I did Autumn.
"So why are you hiding out in here?" I asked. "Afraid of seeing Melani?"
"Yeah. She seems so sweet and innocent, and it's almost like Brian's rubbing her in my face and trying to prove that she's a better girlfriend than I was."
I was going to say something encouraging like, "I doubt it.", but then I thought about the way Brian had been acting lately. Maybe Kari was right. What if Brian was trying to rub Melani in Kari's face?
"So what do you think?" Kari asked.
"I hate to say it Kar, but I think you're right."
"And that's exactly why I'm not coming out."
"But Kari, you have to! Prove that you're better than him! Go flirt with AJ or something. He's always had a thing for you, you know." I picked up the girls and headed back towards the door.
"Amy, wait!" Kari rushed towards me. "I'll come with you."
I smiled and handed her Autumn to hold. "Good."
* * * * * * * * * *
"Thanks you for coming," I said to the last guest. It was midnight and everyone, except for me, Nick, Jane, the girls, and Kari, were finally gone. I was really proud of Kari. She stayed with AJ all night long and didn't once look over at Brian.
"Nick, Amy, why don't you go change?" Jane suggested. "Kari and I will clean up, you guys have to get ready to go soon anyway."
"Alright Jane, thanks." I ran off to the bathroom to change. When I came back wearing denim capri pants and a pink tank top, the place was entirely clean.
"Now you two go off to Hawaii," Jane said with a knowing smile. "I'll take good care of the girls, don't worry."
"Bye Summer, bye Autumn." Nick and I gave each girl a kiss. "Mommy will see you in a week!" I gave Kari a hug. "Thank you so much for being my maid of honor."
"Not a problem," Kari answered. "If I every get married, you'll be mine."
"Come on Aim, we gotta get going if we're gonna catch out flight," Nick reminded me.
"Okay. Bye guys!" I called as Nick and I walked out the door and headed towards Hawaii.
