Emily’s World: Flower Girl
Completed: 11/17/05
Rated: PG
Summary: The fam goes to a wedding and Em’s the flower girl.
Authors Note: 12th in the "Emily's World" series.
I walk into Emily’s bathroom and watch as she spins on her butt in the tub, laughing and spilling water over the side. When she finishes that, she puts her hand under the water and roots around for something, finally pulling up a drowned Barbie. “Time to get out of the tub, Munchkin.”
She looks up at me with wide eyes. “But I’m having fun.”
I pull a towel out of the linen closet and sit on the toilet next to her bathtub. “How come you never want to take a bath, but when you finally do, you never want to get out?”
She blows some bubbles off the palm of her hand and they float around for a second before a few of them land on her nose. She looks at me and shrugs, looking unbelievably adorable. “I guess I forget how much fun they are.”
“Did you clean yourself, or just play?”
She smiles at me. “I cleaned too. Even my ears.”
“Good job,” I say, holding up the towel.
She pouts and I shake my head at her. Then she goes for a dimpled smile, but I shake my head again. “Too late, you should’ve started with those.”
She sighs and stands up, bubbles and water dripping off her tiny body. “But sometimes I forget which one to use.” She looks at the towel I’m holding. “Mommy!”
“Emily, we don’t have time for this.”
“But… it’s clean; I put it away yesterday.”
“You mean you wadded it in a ball and threw it in the linen closet yesterday.”
She looks at me strangely for a few seconds, obviously not seeing the distinction. “That’s where it goes.”
“Emily Joan. This one time you’re using a regular towel. No Barbie, no Cinderella, no pink flowers. And I don’t want anymore complaining about it.”
She bites her lip, which means she’s on the verge of tears, not used to being scolded. She’s a very sensitive child. But then, in the blink of an eye, she gets a huge smile on her face and holds her arms out so I can wrap the towel around her. “Just this one time, you said.”
I wrap the towel around her body while taking a deep breath and reminding myself that she’s five and I have only her father to blame for moments such as these. When she’s wrapped up, I pull her out of the tub, stand her on the bath mat and begin toweling her off. “Can I wear lip gloss today?”
“May I, and yes you may.”
“My pink one with sparkles?” she asks while shivering and burrowing her dripping wet body against me.
“You have pink with sparkles?”
She nods. “Aunt CJ bought if for me while you were at Grandma Lyman’s.”
Why doesn’t that surprise me? “When did you see Aunt CJ?”
“We had a slumber party at her house one night while Daddy worked late on the early education bill. Its super duper important and Daddy’s super duper smart, so they really, really, really needed his help.”
I contain a groan. “He’s super duper smart, huh?”
She nods her head up and down quickly. “And you know what?”
“What?” I hand her a pair of underwear and she studies them before slipping into them.
“Aunt CJ said the smartest thing he ever did was marry you. You know what that means don’t you?
It means I can’t yell at her too harshly for spoiling my daughter rotten. “No, what?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know really, but it’s got to mean something good.”
I laugh and nod at her. “So, you spent the night at Aunt CJ’s and ate cookies and ice cream all night?”
“And pizza.”
“Of course.”
She shrugs. “But I ate all that stuff with Daddy too. And hot dogs.”
“I have no doubt.”
She tilts her head. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means your father’s like a big kid.”
Her smile widens and she giggles at me. “I know.”
I spend the next few minutes doing her hair while she counts the tangles I hit so she can some day shave her head bald and say that it’s my fault for nearly ripping her scalp off as a child. When I’m done, I pull a white ribbon out of a drawer to match the flower-girl dress she’s wearing today. She eyes it and then looks at me. “It’s a very important day. My hair needs to look brutiful.”
“You always look beautiful.”
“Yes, but today is super duper important. I’m the flower girl. Kelly’s counting on me.” Kelly’s the assistant in our office. She adores Emily and always hides candy in her desk for Emily to find.
“So what… you don’t want to wear a ribbon?”
“No, I do, but maybe I need a few curls too.”
I chuckle at her. “That can be arranged.”
When her hair’s done, I help her into her dress, tights, and shoes, then watch as she puts on her lip gloss and finds a matching purse. Then I send her downstairs to her father with explicit directions on not getting dirty.
**********
I hear Emily running down the hall towards the steps and I go to the bottom of them, looking up at her. She sees me and immediately stops running and starts walking, putting both hands behind her back and tilting her head and smiling at me as if to say, ‘aren’t I perfect?’
“Hi Angel,” I say, smiling up at her.
“Hi Daddy,” she says in a soft voice that we really only get when she’s in a dress.
I go up a few steps, meeting her half way and pulling her into my arms. “That’s a very nice dress.”
She holds out a foot in front of me. “I got new shoes too.”
“I can see that. You’re gonna be the prettiest one there.”
“Really?” she asks with a big smile on her face.
“You’re so beautiful that people will think you’re the bride instead of Kelly.” Her smile widens, showing me her mouthful of missing teeth. “Are you all ready to flower-girl?”
She nods. “I have a very important job today, Daddy.”
“I know.”
“Kelly needs to walk down the isle on flowers.”
“Yes.”
“And I have to put them there.”
“Right.”
“I prolly have the most important job of anyone there.”
I chuckle at her. “Probably.”
“I’m pretty much the star.”
“Pretty much. You’re going to be very popular today.”
“I know.”
“Will you save me a dance?”
She nods and kisses my forehead. “You get the first one.”
“I do?”
“Yes, but you have to dip me and spin me and twirl me around and around like a princess.”
I smile. Aren’t spinning and twirling the same thing? “I promise.” I walk down the steps holding her. “Where’s your mom?”
“She’ll be down in a minute. She waited to get dressed until after I was dressed so I didn’t mess her up.”
“Ahh… did you and Aunt CJ help her pick out her dress?”
She nods. “They both bought dresses. Aunt CJ said you’re gonna have a canary when you see Mommy in hers.”
“A canary?”
She shrugs. “Something like that.”
“Emily Joan, are you telling girl secrets down here?” my wife says, walking down the steps. I look up at her and… wow. I mean… wow.
“Uhh…”
She reaches us and kisses me lightly on the lips. “Very eloquent,” she whispers, pulling back.
I lean forward to kiss her properly and nearly drop my daughter. “Yuck! No lip kissing when I’m this close!”
She wriggles around and I put her down, which just gives me an extra hand to back Donna up against the wall behind her. “Joshua…” she says, laughing at me.
“Shh…” I whisper before kissing her.
She only kisses me for a few seconds before pushing me back by my chest. “We have to go.”
“We have to go upstairs,” I say, leaning back in towards her.
She laughs and pushes me back again, her fingers against my chest. “Later,” she whispers. “I promise.”
I frown as she steps out from between me and the wall and then checks her make-up in the mirror in the hallway. “We’re skipping the reception,” I grumble.
“Daddy! We have to dance at the reception!”
Shit. “Just kidding, Princess.”
**********
“Ok, let’s review the rules.”
“Mommy…” she whines.
I lightly slap Josh’s hand that has wandered over to my thigh and speak to Emily. “What do you do after I leave to sit down?”
She sighs and begins a list. “I stay quietly in the back until the lady with the bad breath tells me it’s my turn. Then I walk slowly down the aisle and drop the flower things on the way while smiling.”
Josh chuckles while I play the adult. “Emily, let’s not make fun of people’s breath, ok?”
“Ok,” she says cheerfully.
“What else?”
“I don’t wave to Daddy or you or Aunt CJ or Uncle Sam or anyone else, even if they wave at me first. I don’t look down at the ground, and I try my very, very hardest not to fall.”
“Good. Then what?”
“I stand next to all the bride girls while Kelly and Eric get married, even if it takes a super duper long time.”
“And what don’t you do?”
“I don’t move around, I don’t laugh, I don’t leave, I don’t turn around and look at people, I don’t whisper to anyone, I don’t make an ick face when they kiss at the end, I don’t…” she trails off, biting her bottom lip.
“Play with the empty basket.”
“Right.”
“Or bite your lip.”
She looks up at me. “That’s a new one.”
“Yes.”
“But Daddy says I look like you when I bite my lip.”
“You do,” he tells her.
I ignore him. “And after the ceremony?”
“The bride and groom go first and I wait till they’re almost to the end before following them. When we get to the back, I wait quietly for you and don’t fidget.” She’s got this down. We’ve been practicing. I refuse to have one of those flower girl kids who freaks out and ruins the wedding. They’re so cliché.
“Perfect. What about the reception?”
She takes a deep breath. “No running, no being bossy to other kids or fighting, always stay where I can see you or Daddy, only one piece of cake, sit with my legs together, if people talk to me, smile and answer in complete sentences.”
“And…”
“Mommy…”
“Emily, what else?”
She huffs. “No making fun of republicans,” she says while pouting.
I turn to my chuckling husband. “That goes for you too.”
“Donna…”
**********
Donna, CJ, Sam and I sit in the second row on the groom’s side, where Donna can keep eye contact with Emily and can grab her mid-ceremony if necessary. CJ assures us that Emily will be an angel, but Donna’s taking no chances. As for me, I’m just having problems keeping my hands off Donna in that dress.
Pachelbel’s Cannon starts and the bridal party makes their way down the aisle in red. Weddings don’t do much for me. All the money, all the time, all the fuss. Donna and I got married in
After the three bride’s maids, Emily comes down the aisle, looking like a miniature Donna. There was supposed to be a ring bearer in front of her, but he’s a no show. This concerns Donna, who obviously thinks Em left him in the dust, but ten bucks says he’s throwing a tantrum somewhere in the church.
Anyway, Em walks down the aisle smiling a brilliant smile and dropping rose petals a few at a time with care as she walks. Several people ooh and aww, and she sends small smiles their way. She, much like her father, knows how to work a crowd. My sometimes mean but always hot wife has forbidden me from distracting Emily by waving, but I watch her intently as Sam diligently takes pictures with my camera per my instructions. When she gets down by us, CJ waves, but Em’s a trooper, not waving back. I wink at her and she winks back, both of her eyes closing briefly before moving on. When she gets to the front she just kind of stops and stands there. Donna starts to panic, but the maid of honor motions slightly and Emily walks over to the bride’s maid area. Crisis averted.
**********
Mommy’s crying. I can see her and she’s crying. She’s not crying like a baby or anything, but she is a little. Daddy puts his arm around her and she smiles at him. Then he kisses her shoulder. It’s gross, but at least it’s not on the lips. Kelly and Eric are gonna kiss on the lips after the guy says they can. It’s gonna be yucky, but Mommy said I have to keep smiling, no matter what. Aunt CJ thinks lip kissing is gross too. I hope Mommy told her no ick faces.
I have to potty.
**********
The wedding goes off without a hitch, my daughter establishing herself as the world’s first perfect flower girl; I had no doubts. She gets several compliments at the reception while trying to avoid her pecan chicken, tossed salad and asparagus. She and Josh are in on this one together and I fear neither will eat a thing until the cake is served. Josh, whose hand continues crawling up my leg, claims we’re leaving as soon as humanly possible. I like the way he thinks.
The bride and groom have the traditional first dance and then invite everyone to join them on the dance floor. Josh kisses my cheek and whispers that he loves me before standing up and asking Emily to dance. He often does this when he’s going to put her before me in some small way. It’s very sweet. She looks from her uneaten dinner to me with a pleading look on her face and I pretend to ponder before nodding. Then she smiles up at him and he pulls her chair out for her and takes her off to the dance floor. I take a few pictures and then sit down to watch them.
“How’d you get such an amazing daughter?” CJ asks, sitting down next to me a minute later.
I glance over at her and then back at them on the dance floor. “God knew I’d have to put up with Josh. He probably figured that was enough.”
She nods and we watch as he holds her, spinning the two of them around and then dipping her and kissing her forehead as the song ends. “Who’d have thought he’d be this good at fatherhood?”
I keep watching them, but quietly reply, “Me.”
They clap along with everyone else, her big blue eyes shining. “She looks at him like he’s the whole world.”
“Yeah.” A fast song comes on and he puts her down, spinning her around the dance floor as she laughs. “He’s really got her fooled.”
CJ chuckles. “Yes. Yes he does.”
**********
Donna, CJ, Sam and I have gotten into a discussion about Sam’s appearance on “Inside
We continue with the conversation, both of us keeping an eye on the revolt happening in the corner, until Emily starts making her way towards us while the others wait for her. Without so much as a glance at me, she kisses Donna on the cheek. “Hi Munchkin,” Donna says cryptically.
“Hi Mommy. Are you having fun?” she asks, snuggling up to her.
Donna glances at the table. The conversation has stopped completely while we watch the scene unfold in front of us. “Yes, are you?”
She nods. “Yes. I’m just playing with my new friends.”
“You aren’t being bossy, are you?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not bossy. I’m the leader.”
CJ ducks her head to hide her laugh and gets a small glare from Donna. “I see.”
It’s quiet for a second after that while Emily glances back at her posse. Then, very quickly, she asks, “Can we put on a parade for all the grown-ups?”
Donna looks at me with raised eyebrows before looking back at Emily. “No ma’am, the wedding’s all about Kelly and Eric, not little kids.”
Emily squishes up her face. “Can we go out to the golf course and look for golf balls?”
“No.”
“Can we play hide and seek outside?
“No.”
“Can we…” she bites her bottom lip and looks up at the ceiling. “Play in the golf carts out back?”
“Nope.”
“Mommy…” Yes, the whining. I’ve been expecting this. “We have to be able to do something.”
Donna smiles. “You may dance.”
And out comes the pout. “I already danced with Daddy and Uncle Sam.”
“But you haven’t danced with your friends over there.”
“Donna!” I screech. She looks over at me and I lean in close to her. “There are three boys and one girl over there. Let’s not encourage double dating at this age, please.” CJ laughs again and Donna shakes her head at me and turns back to Emily.
“How about this… there’s a television in the room where we put our coats. Why don’t I go see if I can find someone who works here and maybe they’ll let you watch TV?”
Emily’s eyes light up and she quickly nods and looks back at her friends with a big smile. But then, being a Lyman, she goes for the gold. A tilt of the head, an ‘aren’t I perfect’ smile, and then… “Can we have more cake while we watch TV?”
Donna looks back at me as if I had anything to do with that question. Is it my fault my daughter’s a genius? Ok, well, I guess it is. “Nice try, kiddo,” she says to Em. “We’ll see.” She takes Emily’s hand and starts to walk away, and Emily turns back and waves to the rest of us. Ten minutes later, not only are the kids watching TV, they’re watching Emily’s “Mary Poppins” DVD that was in the car, and they’ve grown from five to about twelve. My wife is not only brilliant and sexy; she’s the hero of every mother here.
**********
“Mommy!”
I look over at her running towards me and raise my eyebrows. She immediately starts walking. I am so good. When she gets up to me, I ask, “How’s the movie?”
“Good. It’s the scary part with the chimneys.”
“Ahh…”
She climbs up into my lap. “Mommy, one of the girls said Kelly has a new name now. Is that true?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“What’s her new name?”
“Freedman.”
Her eyes get big. “I have to call her Freedman from now on instead of Kelly?” she shrieks like her father.
I smile at her. “No Princess, her name’s still Kelly. Only her last name changed. It used to be Kelly McNeal. Now it’s Kelly Freedman.”
“Oh…” she drawls out. But I wait for the most famous of all five year-old questions. “Why?” Yes, that one.
“Well,” I adjust her in my lap so she’s facing me. “Most women change their last name when they get married, that way it matches their husband’s last name. That’s what I did.”
“Your real last name isn’t Lyman?”
I laugh a little. “It is now, but it wasn’t before I married Daddy.”
“What was it?”
“Well… your last name is…” I trail off and wait for her to answer.
“Lyman.”
“Just like….”
“Yours and Daddy’s.”
“Right. So, when I was little like you, my last name was…”
Her eyes widen. “Like Grandma and Grandpa Moss’?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Your last name used to be Moss?” she asks as though I can’t possibly be right about this.
“Yes ma’am.”
“And you changed it when you married Daddy?”
“Yep.”
“Wow!” She hops down off my lap and starts to walk away. She takes about two steps before turning back to me. “Why didn’t Daddy change his name to Moss?”
“Because we live in a sexist world.”
She thinks about this for a few seconds, then smiles. “Ok.”
**********
Mommy and Daddy are dancing. They dance really slow. They’re barely even moving. It’s almost like they’re standing still. Ahhh!!!! Now they’re kissing. On the lips! In front of people! This is so embrasiting.
**********
Sam and I find a congressman here and get into a debate about the early education bill we’re putting together. When I head back towards our table a half hour later, my daughter’s asleep on my wife’s lap. Donna’s talking quietly to CJ and holding Emily, rubbing her back a little. I know I thought Donna looked sexy before, but this is when she looks the most amazing.
She catches my eye as I get closer and nods towards the coat room. I take a detour to and get our coats and Emily’s DVD. Then I come back out and gently pull Emily off of her. We say our goodbye’s and head to the car.
“Daddy,” Emily says in a tiny, sleepy voice.
“Yeah Pumpkin,” I whisper as I wait for Donna to unlock the doors.
“Am I done being flower girl now?”
“Yeah.”
“Did I do good?”
“You did wonderful.”
“Kay,” she says, closing her eyes again. “Night, Daddy.”
“Night, baby.”
When we get home, getting Emily upstairs is a two person job. I carry her up the steps and into her room, and Donna pulls her covers back. Then I lay her down on her bed and kind of stare at her lying there, inept at what comes next. Donna’s a pro, however, and slowly takes Emily’s dress, shoes and tights off of her without bothering her sleep. After my many failed attempts, I’ve decided that women are born with an extra gene that makes this possible. I take a step back and watch as she tucks the covers up around her and puts Bobo next to her. Then she kisses her cheek and stands up, where I come up from behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.
She turns around, still in my arms and kisses the very corner of my mouth. “I seem to recall promising you something earlier. What was it exactly?”
I start walking us towards our room while unzipping her dress and kissing he neck. “Don’t worry; I’ll explain it in detail.”