Chapter 21: Wish I Could

POV: Zac

Word Count: 3375

May 23, 2009

I was officially free of the hospital! A prescription antibiotic, a wife who could change bandages as good as I could now, and strict orders. No Physical Activity. Three words I absolutely hated, because that included sex and well, by the time I could she would probably not want too. I also had orders not to do a bunch of standing but also not to sit all day.

We’d gone home and I’d gotten to shower well, get a really good lunch and then we had to go to Philbrook to help with the wedding. We arrived at 2 and I was set on helping put up chairs, move tables, put up flowers and whatever else I could do.

I was here ten minutes before Isaac and Gabby sat me at a table with a shit ton of candles, little bubble tubes, small baggies, ties, and this huge container of M&M’s, red ones with their wedding date on them.

“What the hell is this?”

“Party favors. We were going to hire the company to just do it all, but since we had to buy her a dress then we cut the costs out and said we could do it ourselves. Well, little brother since you can’t do anything physical, you get this.”

“You have to be kidding me?”

“I’m not. The little bags are for the candy, we put a bit of the red M and M’s, tie them off, the red labels are for the candles, the black labels the bubbles. The large bags are for all of them, packed nicely with a handful of whatever candy she got extra. The kids get no candles and we have a number for them.”

I stared at them blankly. “This is what you want me to do?”

“Yes. You can’t help with tables and chairs and shit.” Gabby said.

“And you can?”

“No. She can’t because of the muscle she pulled, but Nicole has her arranging flowers and there was something special she wanted from her.”

“She wants me to make the flowers she carries. She asked me when we arrived.” Gabby said.

“Sure there’s nothing else?”

“Positive.” Isaac said.

He then put a label on the items so I wouldn’t confuse them and then walked away. Gabby leaned down and kissed my cheek.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

She walked behind me to a table filled with artificial flowers and began to assemble and arrange, I sighed and began to put lovely, yummy candies in the bag and tying them up. I felt like hours slipped by as Taylor and Isaac and a few of Ike’s friends set up the place and began to figure out placement and chairs, clearly they had taken this task to lower costs and I could tell they needed help but then Stella would jump in.

I lost count of how many damn bags I had.

“Isaac! How many of these bags am I using?”

“All of them, should be 200.”

“200?!” I asked.

“Yeah, our guest lists has like 150, but we have extra as we didn’t get some RSVP’s back.”

Fuck, I don’t think I even had 75 done and I was so bored. I briefly wondered if this was how Gabby had felt when she couldn’t really do anything at the venues, bored and feeling helpless. I really wanted to be helping them do the harder things, I was the stronger of the three, least in my mind I was. But, they would just ship me back here. Gabby moved around some, taking center placements to a table to it was set up and done. They did white table clothes with red ones over it and then thin black ones, just as an accent. It looked super fancy and super nice. The flowers were predominantly red with accents of white. I just kept sitting here bagging candy until I ran out of the bags. Then I was eating candy and putting labels on bubbles and then candles.

I hated this feeling, like I couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t going to be able to drum when Isaac returned, so unless Taylor did the basics stuff and I added later, all I could do was play the guitar and keys and sing. Even then I wouldn’t be able to do both extensively.

I couldn’t help my wife, even though she should be the one relaxing and not doing anything, she was now my caretaker because I wasn’t allowed to do much of anything. She didn’t seem to mind, but I did. I should be catering to her, not the other way around. Added, if Simon did return I wouldn’t really be much good to her. He had been insistent that night, intent to kill her. Would he try that again? Did he get scared when he shot? Did he really love her and want her back?

I was also worried that these packages weren’t from him, I rather liked believing they were because it was easy to connect them. But, he had been adamant it wasn’t him. If they weren’t from him, they clearly weren’t from Max..who was sending them? Was this person someone we now had to worry about? Was this person even remotely close to us?

I was beginning to see things as blurs when I felt her hands on my shoulders.

“Lean back.”

I did and found the softness of her abdomen. She rubbed my temples some and kept my head there.

“You put the last three labels on upside down. But, no fear, use it for a kids bag.”

“Ugh.”

“Just rest a minute.”

I just relaxed back against her for a few moments, then she was sitting beside me.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have near as much as you.”

She started with the candles and it seemed to move faster with two of us, someone for me to cut up with or try to make laugh. As we finished the little packages she ran them to tables or I did, but I walked. I wasn’t allowed to run. By 6 the reception area was done. The children’s bags were beside the door, the parents on the tables. Isaac and Nicole did a final view of the area, ensuring they were perfect before they split up. Isaac was staying with a friend of his and Nicole with her maid of honor.

Gabriella and I went and got dinner, I didn’t want her to be so active here and then slave over a stove all afternoon. We then went to the apartment, we were still there for now. I took the stairs but much slower and since that was enough I went to the bedroom, changed and laid down.

“You didn’t overdo it did you?”

“No. Just, the stairs was a challenge. I’ve also been sitting up all day.”

“I’m going to get comfortable.”

She went to the bathroom and returned in a gown, she hung her dress for tomorrow up.

“Did Nicole ever say why she didn’t ask you?”

“She already had her four. We talked a little while back and I understood, just between us the red isn’t a good color for me.”

“You look fine in red.”

She just shook her head. “I’ll be fine being a participant. Stella has already told me to plan to be part of hers.”

“Taylor’s already asked.”

She crawled into the bed and laid down. “Awful early for bed, right?”

“It is but I should be laying anyway.”

“I asked Sierra to come help pack this week. She said she would.”

“We’ll need the help.”

“Yeah. She can help with the heavy things but you can do things, as long as you aren’t moving much.”

“Like our closet? I can sit and pack.”

“Exactly.”

“Sure you haven’t decided on a boy’s name?” I asked.

“Zac…could be a girl.”

“No. Boy, definitely a boy.”

“How do you even know?”

“I just do.”

She just tilted her head and I smiled. “When she did the sonogram she did a butt view, pretty sure I saw a penis.”

“I didn’t pay any attention to that.”

“I did.”

“Well, I’ll wait for the doctor to officially confirm that. Elijah though?”

“I like the name.”

“I don’t know…”

“We have plenty of time to decide names.”

She yawned and I giggled. She’d asked me about it being too early, here she was yawning. Yet, we moved and got in bed before I found a program to watch for a bit. She was asleep before me, but I was up a little bit longer.

May 24, 2009 – Gabby-

We both got up when his alarm went off. The first thing he did was shower and then I cleaned and bandaged the area. Considering it was a bullet there hadn’t been a large cut, but they did have to make it bigger so they could repair the damage. Added, the through and through meant another bandage on the back side, which was very small. I then helped him get into the pants and shoes but he opted to wear a looser shirt until closer to time. Their wedding was during the day, guest arrive at 1 but Zac had to be there by eleven. I made breakfast and then showered myself, but I didn’t get ready just yet, because I would be helping set up where I could.

“What color dress did you buy?”

“I didn’t buy one.”

“What are you wearing then? I know you didn’t have one that was wedding appropriate.”

“I have a few but Sierra hated the bridesmaid dress that was bought, so when I mentioned needing one she gladly gave it to me. I had Elaine adjust it for the top and that was it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. I saw no reason to buy a brand new dress to wear once. Sierra will never wear that again.”

“Long as it works then.”

We left the apartment and went to Philbrook, it was spectacular this time of year with so much stuff blooming and being pretty. Nicole was in the room with her bridesmaids, Zac went to the room where Isaac was and I found the lady in charge, Rebecca Grove, she directed me within limits. About 12:45 I got my dress from the room Nicole was in and then went to the bathroom and changed. The dress fit really well and I liked it, but I noted that as I was changing the flatness of my abdomen wasn’t quite so flat anymore.

“Need me to fix your hair?” She asked.

I glanced up at a her, she had knee length blonde hair that was straight as a board. She was wearing a red dress with the high-low bottom, so she had to be one of Nicole’s friends. Her eyes were bright green and she had a pretty smile.

“Wasn’t planning to do much with it.”

“I can do a braid or something, will keep it out of your face.”

“Shouldn’t you be doing that to yours?”

“Emma is going to braid it when I get back. I just needed to potty. I can fix yours quickly though before going back.”

She went to the last stall and locked the door.

“You’re Gabriella, Zac’s wife, right?”

“Yeah, I am. I’m sorry I don’t know you’re name.”

“Chelsea, I’ll be walking with Zac today, Taylor came and said they’ve made him sit all morning because he didn’t want to miss it.”

“Yeah, he’s not suppose to stand a long time.”

She came out and washed her hands and looked at me.

“It’s fine really, we’ll be back inside before long so it shouldn’t be bad.”

She smiled and headed back and I finally put those heels on and headed out myself. I found Diana, Walker, and the cousins by the door. Sarah was standing there with Stephanie who saw me and almost fell out of her mom’s hands. Glad I caught her quickly.

“Jesus, I was wondering where she was going!”

“I got her.”

She was wearing a bright yellow sundress with a diaper cover that matched and white sandals. She held on to the dress some behind me.

“She’s missed you, kept saying gab and we didn’t understand until we saw your picture. She pointed, Gab.”

“It’s been a few months since we’ve been together.”

“Exactly. Guess she’s happy now.”

I smiled and I didn’t mind holding her, even if she was over my weight limit now. She was happy to stay with me while we talked but headed down the steps I had her Dad take her, I wasn’t real steady in these heels and I didn’t need to fall. Not that I had to worry, JJ and Chase both escorted me down them.

“Let me guess, Zac made you?”

They smiled. “He instructed us to make sure you got down the steps in one piece. I think we did good.”

“You did.”

I took my seat which thankfully was in the shade because it was hot. Isaac was here by 15 until one, he looked dashing in the black tuxedo, white shirt and the bright red bow tie. They had huge red round paper decorations inside the gazebo. Isaac looked so nervous though. I imagine Zac looked as nervous. Everyone turned when the music began, I could see the girls being walked down, they’d put Zac in the front so he could clearly see where he was going.

I smiled. He looked fucking hot in that suit. Solid black, with a vest, red tie, white shirt and a little red pocket cloth. He’s worn his hair down for this too, Chelsea looked nice with her hair braided and Zac moved to be standing right in front of me. I knew he’d want to see me.

The four of them came down and then the music changed and Nicole began to come down. From far away I couldn’t see her dress well, it wasn’t until she was at the end of the rows that I could see the detailing. She’d gone sleeveless this time, perfect for the heat today. The dress went all the way down to the ground with lace details all around the bottom and the entire top was the same, from the waist down was some detailing. She wore her hair down with a simple veil. She looked gorgeous. Zac did manage to stand for the entire ceremony, looked happy but I could tell his side was bothering him, he kept shifting slightly.

When the ceremony was over, they headed down first and we waited until they were to the side, I waited though. As did Chelsea’s husband. Zac sat down for a bit while Victoria took pictures of the bride and her bridesmaid’s.

“Are you okay Zac?” Ike asked.

“Just hot, I needed to sit for a few.”

“No problem.”

Victoria let him sit a little longer and did a few couples and then he got up so the others could head back. He smiled but I knew he wasn’t comfortable. Victoria did not do couples for the party.

“I want one of the whole family.” Nicole said.

“Most are at the reception.” I said.

“Well, I mean like the parents, brothers, you and Stella. Immediate family.”

Zac sat while we waited on their parents to return.

“Zac would you be more comfortable if I sat you somehow?”

“That would be amazing.” He said.

When Walker, Diana arrived she arranged us. She put Walker and Diana at the top, followed by each of us. She alternated us so I was sitting in front of Taylor.

“Any request before I dismiss everyone?” She asked.

“I would like some of just these six, couples, and then boys and girls.”

“Okay.”

I got up so they could come down safely. She took the one of us all first, situating us differently, putting us ladies in front of the guys, and it helped with Nicole’s dress, she sat in Isaac’s lap. Zac got up and we took one standing, she then took one of just the three of them, she then had me get over so Zac could go sit and wait.

She had us standing in the center of two from columns of the gazebo. Which is also where the other two stood. Zac sat down until she took the one of us girls. Total contrast with white, cream and red. I wondered how they’d take Stella’s, because I’d be for sure showing then. Once we were done we headed up to the reception, while she took just the couples pictures.

Zac made the trip up slowly and I saw the several faces so instead of going right to the reception, where drinks and snacks were I diverted him to a smaller room.

“Is it hurting that bad?”

“It’s the tape, it feels like it’s pulling.”

I got the bag we brought with extra bandages and he groaned about undressing, but did so anyway. The area around the tape was red and I think he growled when I pulled it off.

“Mother fuck that hurt.”

“The tape is pulling, irritated the skin around it. No pulled stitches though.”

I checked the back and it was the same way. So, I removed it and another curse and growl. I let it air just a bit while I got the bandages ready. This time making then larger so it covered the irritated skin and I reduced the amount of tape.

“Better?”

He nodded but looked a little far away.

“Zac?”

“I’m okay. Just hurts now.”

I got the pain medicine and helped him get re-dressed, we then rejoined everyone, I couldn’t drink anything and neither could he so we stuck with punch and ciders and snacks until they came in and we did lunch. I’d ordered the salmon, after calling and asking the doctor. Of course Zac just eyed me.

“I’ve asked. It’s okay.”

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

Lunch was amazing and then the party started, but he really couldn’t do like he had at our wedding. He really wasn’t feeling that great, he sent me several times to dance with a cousin, Isaac, or Taylor and even his Dad. He did do a few slower dances with me. But he said one of us needed to enjoy themselves, pulling a me. I did have fun but I also worried about him. We ended up going home a little bit early and only because he really couldn’t take sitting up any longer.

“You did really well today.”

“Yeah, but I wish I could have done more. I just feel helpless as fuck right now.”

He’d sat down on the bed and kicked his shoes off at least, but he had to wait for me to change before he could get the shirts off.

“I know that feeling very well.”

“I don’t know how you dealt with this.”

“It wasn’t all that easy. It takes a lot to get use to it, but I was rather use to guys doing everything for me. You aren’t use to that.”

“No, I’m not. You really weren’t either, just there was traveling and stuff.”

I put my gown back on and walked to him. Started undoing the jacket, vest, shirt and tie.

“Then there is the no activity shit.”

I laughed. “Now you see the problem.”

“Legit, don’t know how you dealt with that.”

“It was quite easy for me, you on the other hand, not so much.”

It wasn’t real late but I checked the bandages first and then he put on loose pants and a shirt. He chose the couch to lay on, so he was more included. Since we were home I went ahead and started going through the kitchen. Finding dinner while I was at it, and condensing things.

“Are you cleaning?”

“Yes, and I have gloves on. I moved everything from the cabinets near the stove, going to clean then so we have less to do this weekend. Because the apartment does have to be cleaned.”

“Don’t overdo it Gabby.”

“I’m not.”

I did clean just those upper ones and then we had dinner, kind of relaxed for the afternoon. It wouldn’t be that way the rest of the week and not until we were moved in.

Nicole's dress & Brides Maid dresses

Taylor's Tux & Groomsmen's Tux

Their wedding cake