The Bachelorette Party
They say that hindsight is 20/20. Don't you just hate when they say things that are true?
When I invited Hebe to live with me, I never expected she would invite others, let alone someone who was as "special" as she is. Velmoor is definitely special. I briefly met him before he and hebe disappeared into one of the empty rooms talking about sparkles, the dimension H, an Artie and drill holes.
I could hear the familiar sound of thunks that meant that Hebe and Velmoor were buying new items. I could only imagine at the time what they were getting. Hebe had told me to keep things simple so that's what I had been thinking of doing but so far she's had a lot of fun buying a lot of stuff. I've also noticed that when she picks up a skill book that has nothing to do with cooking that she cackles slightly and makes some odd remarks to the Voice in her head.
Apparently Velmoor and Hebe had come up with a plan for him. He wasn't sure what she meant by he could learn anything now but as soon as it really occurred to him that it mean he could learn cooking or gardening or painting or sculpting all he wanted and it didn't matter if he did. I often found him snickering at me behind my back. I knew it wasn't mean-spirited. He just thought it was really funny to watch someone else doing a dynasty.
Once Velmoor was officially settled in, Hebe decided to throw a bachelorette party. She invited over all her female friends plus a few of Velmoor's friends. When I asked why was she invited guys to her girl party, she looked me in the eye and said "So you can make friends of course!" It was a little early to be doing the friend requirement I thought but if Hebe wanted me to have friends then I'd make nice. I even paused while painting to put on the outfit she gave me. She said wearing this I was sure to impress. The suit she gave Velmoor wasn't much better.
As soon as the first guest arrived, bottles of nectar were suddenly everywhere. Most of them were empty, thanks to Hebe. She sprayed every guest that walked through the front door. Some twice. Of course, I did wonder about her choice to go after her boss five times. She had to know it was going to hurt her chances of promotion.
There were a lot of new people for me to mingle with at the party. I got to say hello to neighbor Thea again. There was also Mye Thyme, Lori Dreamer, Scarlet Dreamweaver, and Bubblegum Dreamweaver. Thea had the honor of giving the toast. She did well but there were some rude and oily paryt dancers that appeared right in the middle of it. I couldn't tell if she was annoyed or just having a good time truth be told.
Of course, having a good party hadn't been the only agenda. Hebe had set her sights on someone in the name of the dynasty. There was a dark fellow that came to the party. In fact he reminded me of the grandfather I was named after, maybe a little more tan but still similar. Hebe checked on him all night. Finally she cornered him by one of my easels while everyone else played video games. I have absolutely no idea how the conversation occurred beyond the knowledge that I had been given at a much later date. Declan Jade joining the house after initially refusing was all based on an old tradition of never denying a bride a favor. Yep, she played the bride card. She even threw out that no one really cared whether he sculpted or not as extra bait. He, of course, took it. Hook. Line. Sinker.
Speaking of fish, I'm sure you're wondering where James was throughout this affair? He got dressed just as his bride to be had asked him then he very steathily snuck away. At the time, it had seemed like the weirdest of places to hide from your bride. It was later as I watched Hebe make ambrosia that I realized he hadn't been hiding but also doing another one of those bridal favors. He caught five deathfish that night and each one was then used to make more so I wouldn't ever have to take up fishing if I didn't want to. The two of them had known my plan was to do everything myself for my requirements. The only thing I couldn't do was my own portraits but I really had planned to do everything else. James made it so I didn't have to because he had wanted to catch a deathfish. So he beat me at my own game.. this time.
The party was epic. Hebe's other agenda had also been fulfilled. Under the light of the moon, I met one more person that she had invited. She was a painter. She was ambitious. She was green. She was perfect. We spent all night chatting off and on about various artistic pursuits. She like many of my other friends had also been in a dynasty. Her father had been a founder before they had moved to Union Cove. She laughed at my jokes. And when I kissed her, she kissed me back. I thought maybe I had been moving too fast for her when she asked if she could stay the night. It was already four in the morning. Who was I to refuse her?
Hebe made us morning after pancakes and we sat out on the back patio eating and watching the stars turn into the morning sky. Eventually I steeled my gut long enough to actually ask her out on a date. She had accepted before I was finished asking. The two of us went down to the Art Gallery where we enjoyed some latte's and a good inspirational mood. It was there in the afternoon that she told me for the first time how she felt. I had been shocked and a little nervous but I let her know that I reciprocated. She was all I had thought about that morning. I had wished to kiss her, hug her and walk with her all day long. Each one coming true as time passed.
Soon we realized that the sky was going down again and it might be a good idea to head home. She asked if she come back to my place just as I asked if she wanted to join me. After a laugh, I promised I'd share an invigorating elixir with her. It was then as I took her hand and turned my head I felt the sparks. The same ones that had kept my parents company for many years.
We all sat down for an evening meal that night. Velmoor had apparently learned some important elixirs. Declan just needed a moment to warm his tongue after getting it stuck on an ice block. James had fished all afternoon and wanted to go back out for more night fishing. Hebe had spent the entire day doing nothing but wanted to follow James to see if the wind would blow up his kilt and to read some recipes under the moon since that's how you learned them faster.
By the time we were all done our lasagna, she had managed to sneak away with Pam inside. Pam says Hebe was just doing her job as household protector. Where she had gotten the idea it was her role I don't know. She had told Pam that her skill would be invaluable to the dynasty. When Pam had agreed to readily, that's when the twenty questions had begun about our date.
Eventually the questions came to an end when she asked the one that had been the most important to her. Pam says she must have answered right since the next moment she found herself being given a hair makeover. Hebe said that was all she really needed. Later when I asked her what the question had been, she told me that Hebe had asked "Do you love him?" She had said yes. Which was good because Hebe had let it be known she had no problem kicking Pam out, locking the door and taking up painting to protect me.
Instead that marked the day that the love of my life had entered my home. It was also the day I found a strange person puking in my bathroom but that's another story for another day.
