Andi's Dream-A Wedding to Plan

© 2023 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original, any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

For readers of Stormwatch and We're A Wonderful Wife, this story is the genesis. On the Stormwatch timeline this is one year before Stormwatch - A Blizzard in Buffalo and it falls during the same time as We're a Wonderful Wife Ch. 10 and twenty years after The Pilot's Conjugal Christmas.

In her first day on vacation Doctor Adrianna (Andi) Roberts and her twin girls ended up stuck in a ditch during a Western New York Lake Effect Blizzard. She was rescued by a man she once met in the past, Doctor Paul Jarecki. He took Andi, Sandy and Madeline to his cabin and as they waited out the storm they opened their souls to each other and love bloomed. Proving that great minds think alike, they proposed to each other and somehow was able to convince Paul's brother, the pastor of a local church, to conduct the ceremony on Christmas Eve. Now, the blizzard is over and it's time to start making wedding plans.

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Andi's Dream

Altar Bound

After a very quick look at the exterior of the huge house that Paul said would soon be Andi's, the family hopped back into Paul's truck and drove through the village, soon they pulled up in front of what Andi considered a modern church. No steeple, and the doors on the side, a church should have its doors on one end or the other Andi thought. People were walking up to church from the recently plowed lot in small clusters. Paul hopped out of the truck, helped Andi down then they led the twins through the parking lot to the church.

As they turned up the walkway a beautiful, tall, slim, black woman with long flowing raven hair came out of the church, a huge smile glowed on her face and she held her arms wide. "Is this her mon frère?" she cried to Paul in a delightful French accent. When he nodded in the affirmative, she threw her arms around Andi and gave her a huge warm hug "Ma belle-sœur."

"Andi, this is Macy, John's wife."

"We talked last night," gasped Andi, Macy's hug was tight and loving and Andi was having trouble breathing.

"It's so good to meet you!"

"And these are my Love Bugs, Sandy..."

"Bug bug."

"And Madeline..."

"Bug bug."

"Oh they're so cute!" Macy crouched down and hugged the twins who were reveling in the attention. "They're so tiny!" Macy mouthed up to Andi.

"There wasn't room in mommy for two of them, so they moved out at 28 weeks." Andi didn't add that her ex-husband Frank's slapping her around for being fat as the babies grew put the babies at more risk than her own tiny body.

Macy walked with them up to the church door. "Sorry you ended up in a Lake Effect storm, especially down here in the Snow Belt. How was being holed up in the cabin for a long weekend?"

"Well..." Andi began to blush in spite of herself.

"Oooo girl!" Macy grinned, "we'll talk later."

Andi didn't realize it, but Paul was highly active in the Springville Congregational Church, and she was happy that he is involved. Inside the building she found a warm welcome and a hand to shake every time she turned her head. So many names! And Paul knew them all; "This is Tammy Schatz, she's the president of the Women's Ministry, this is August Di Domissio, we all call him Gus, he's a deacon on the board with me, this is Lou and Nanny Sagget, this is..." wait, did he say, "on the board with me?"

"You're on the board? You're a bigshot in this church?" asked Andi.

"Big shot? No! I'm a deacon, the word deacon is Greek, it means waiter, we're here to serve the needs of the people of this church. An Elder is a big shot, or a short pastor is a big shot." Paul pulled her close and gave her a quick hug. "And speaking of needs of the church, here's the shepherd of this flock, my baby brother John."

John was a shorter, younger version of Paul and had a smile as big and as bright as his wife Macy. John's eyes popped wide open "Hello Andi! You didn't tell me how beautiful these girls are!" He crouched down, "You must be Sandy and you must be Madeline!" He got an appreciative giggle with each correct identification.

"He's lucky," Paul whispered to Andi, "he's always been lucky. See how he got the girls names right on first try?"

"I told him about the freckle," Andi whispered in reply. Madeline has a small freckle on her neck below her left ear.

"Wait, what freckle?" Paul had been differentiating the girls by their attitudes, which was successful about sixty percent of the time.

Soon enough it was time to head into the sanctuary. The service started with a hymn from the choir and being the Christmas season, it was a well-known Christmas carol, one with verses that Andi never heard before. Soon the carol was over, and the worship director invited the congregation to "Shake hands with another sinner."

Andi was shocked at what happen next. In most churches she has been to, the congregation would turn and shake hands but here they left their seats and milled about, shaking hands, hugging, even an affectionate kiss on occasion. And Andi and the twins were the stars of the lovefest. This was a congregation that sought out visitors and got to know them and when a deacon walks in with a beautiful woman and two darling little girls, this had to be checked out.

And Paul walked away leaving her to these adoring strangers. Macy came and joined Andi for support, but Madeline had disappeared. Andi looked around in a panic until chuckling spread through the congregation. Greetings came to a stop as the congregation moved back to their seats. Andi was nearly in tears but Macy grabbed her arm and pointed to the podium. There was Paul standing at the lectern getting ready to read announcements and next to him was Madeline holding the hem of his blazer. "Wow!" he said into the microphone, "I didn't have to ask you to take your seats, it's a Christmas Miracle! Good morning!"

"Good morning!" they replied. Paul then went over the announcements for the week, upcoming activities, news items from the differing committees, and bible study. He then asked if anyone had anything to share and Lorrain got up and spoke about the fellowship meal next week (soup, salad, and Christmas cookies). When all the announcements were complete Paul stood smiling at the lectern with a little girl who looked lost and alone. Andi's heart was breaking for Madeline. She tried to coax Madeline back, but the little girl wouldn't move, so Andi told Sandy to go help Madeline. Without a second thought Sandy ran up to the podium to be with her sister. The ENTIRE congregation went 'Awwwww!' as Paul scooped them both up. "I would like to ask this congregation..."

"Point of order!" called out John from his seat in the congregation with Macy and Andi.

"Uhhh, yes John?"

"As I am well aware of which it is that you wish to ask of this Congregation, I believe it would be in order to open a short congregational meeting of the impromptu variety."

"That's good," said Paul regarding his brother's Damon Runyonesque delivery, "And you, my brother, are absolutely correct. As head of the Church Board I would like to open a very short impromptu meeting of the congregation. Kathy, are you able to take minutes?"

"Yes, I am," said the church secretary.

"Then that being said, we meet the charter requirements and I call this meeting to order." He paused and collected himself. "These are my love bugs. This is Sandy..."

"Bug bug"

(Awwwww)

"... and this is Madeline..."

"Bug bug"

(Awwwww)

"... and the reason why I called this meeting is because I would like to officially become their Poppa. To do that I would have to marry their mother, which, as circumstances would have, I also fell madly, completely head over heels in love with."

"Really?" Sandy asked loud enough to be picked up on the mike and chuckles rippled through the congregation.

"But unfortunately, there's a problem," said Paul to the congregation.

"Really?" said Sandy, Madeline placed her hand on her forehead, rolling her eyes upward, and bemoaning "There's always a problem."

Paul said over the laughter, "We did not rehearse this. What the problem is, is that someone in this relationship promised someone else in this relationship that we could get married in a church on Christmas Eve. So..." he took a deep breath, "would you folks mind if we tailgate on our Christmas Eve candlelight service for a few minutes and borrow you the congregation, and your pastor for a quick wedding ceremony?"

The congregation murmured a bit until John called out "We need this in the form of a motion."

"So moved!" called out Paul's friend and co-chair of the board Gus Di Domissio.

"Second!" called out Ernie Kraft, a local farmer and longtime trustee on the board.

Paul fell into his board chairman rhythm, "It's been moved and seconded and now open for discussion. Is there any discussion?"

"Will you pay the usual usage fee and pay the pastor his fee?" called out Marty Kraft, Ernie's wife and church treasurer.

"Yes, I will, I'll have the check for you after the service today."

"Then it is fine by me," said Marty.

"Any other discussion?" called out Paul.

"Do you intend to complete the pre-marriage classes with the pastor and his wife?" asked Macy.

Paul looked his sister-in-law in the eye with a smile. "We fully intend to take all of the classes required by our governing rules."

"And what if the pastor's wife is busy?" she said feigning arrogance.

"I'll make coffee cake."

"We'll be there," she grinned. Paul's coffee cake is to die for.

"Call the question!" called out the sound man Larry Snow, another trustee on the board.

"The question has been called," announced Paul, "all those in favor of allowing Paul Jarecki and Adrianna Roberts to wed here at Springville Congregational Church, December 24th, at the end of the candlelight ceremony, and use Pastor John Jarecki as officiant please signify by saying aye."

"Aye!" called out the congregation.

"All opposed please signify so by saying aye."

Silence.

"Motion carried" there actually was a smattering of applause. Paul was worried because in the church constitution, all motions must be passed unanimously, therefore at board meetings it's not unusual to break for prayer before voting on a contentious proposition. "Ok, lovebugs, go get your mommy."

"Bug bug."

"Bug bug."

And off they ran to the arms of their mother. "There's one other thing." John approached the lectern and handed Paul a perfect rose and a small jewelry case. Paul took the two items with thanks went to the pew occupied by Andi, the twins, and Macy. He knelt, handed Andi the rose, and said in a hushed voice, "Adrianna Roberts, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?"

With shaking hands Andi took the flower and opened the jewelry box. Inside the box was a small note that read "I.O.U. 1 Engagement Ring" and under the note was a cherry Lifesaver, her favorite flavor. It took a moment, but she made the connection - a flower and a lifesaver.

"Oh my God, did I say that out loud?"

Paul nodded and smiled.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she cried, she threw her arms around Paul's neck and burst out in gales of laughter.

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After the service they returned home, a large Victorian that Andi had only seen the outside, the large front yard and porch with iron fence around the perimeter, and in the back the large five bay garage with arched doors to look like a Victorian horse stable. She saw the hot tub and further back the large built in pool. Near that was a huge grape arbor that provided shade as a gazebo in the summer.

"Come on you, let's look inside." He offered her a hand and she got out of the Ranger, then tried to collect Sandy and Madeline, who were chattering about a red bird they saw. "That was a cardinal," he explained.

After a moment of TwinBabble® with her sister, Madeline looked up at Paul, her eyes suddenly glowed with innocence "Can we keep her?"

Andi had seen that look numerous times; it was their "I want" look of faux sweetness. It was the beginning of a manipulative streak that their future boyfriends and husbands will have to contend with to varying degrees of success and financial hardship. She thought of warning Paul, but she decided to see how he handles it for a while.

Paul crouched down "First of all, that red bird is a boy, he wears bright red because his girlfriend likes those colors, and second of all he's a wild bird, he would be sad in a cage. But we can put up bird feeders and you can watch him, and his buddies all you want."

Madeline brightened, but Sandy asked, "Won't he be mad?"

"The bird? No, he'll love it."

"Not the bird," she pointed to the house, "the guy."

"What guy?"

Sandy huffed in exasperation "The guy who owns the hotel," she said as she pointed at the front door.

Paul grinned. "I suppose we'll have to ask your mommy." The twins looked confused, so he explained, "This is my hotel and I am going to give it to your mommy to live in forever."

The twins took that bit of information in stride and abandoned Paul, they turned to Andi and began to ask her if they could put up bird feeders, but she didn't hear a word they said. The reality of what she just heard struck home, and it all came crashing down on her. Dr. Adrianna Roberts, so deep in debt that she skips meals so her daughters can eat properly, whose student loans coupled with her ex-husband's debt has left her so far in the red that she works several second shifts a week at a second hospital, now suddenly owns a house that she dreamed of when she was a child.

She heard a roaring and a ringing in her ears, her entire body began to tingle like your arm does when it "falls asleep" from the lack of blood circulation, she felt an ice cold sweat break out over her entire body. Suddenly it was like she was looking at everything through a long tunnel, and at that minute she was gone. Her functions suddenly ceased.

Paul realized immediately that Andi was going to faint, as a cardiologist he's seen it often enough to know what her body was going through, a sudden drop of blood pressure causing oxygenated blood to stop flowing to the brain causes an entire shutdown of the brain and in turn the body. He was able to catch her in time to keep her from hitting her head. It wasn't a glorious, beautiful catch like in the movies, but he had her, and that's all that counts. He was able to shift her in his arms, so he laid her gently on the porch and set her legs up on one of the Adirondack chairs there on the porch. This allowed the blood to flow back to the heart and she came back to consciousness quickly.

Andi's eyes fluttered open and she saw Paul smiling down on her. "Welcome back," he said.

"Oh God, that felt so weird," she gasped. "What's my heart rate?"

"I didn't check, but I looked through your purse while you were out, you can't afford me."

"I suppose I'll have to marry you to get a medical opinion," she smiled weakly.

"I also looked down your blouse, I accept your offer," and he scooped her up off the porch and carried her to the front door while the girls asked over and over what happened. Rather than explaining he asked them to open the big front door.

They stood at the front door with a big oval etched glass window edged in stained glass. Sandy turned the big antique brass doorknob and it opened easily. The door swung open and Paul carried Andi across the threshold. She was confronted with the master staircase of her dreams; it swept up to the second floor where it joined the balcony that ran along 3 of the four walls up there. Over the stairs hung a huge crystal chandelier suspended by a chain from the ceiling over 25 feet above the floor.

"Welcome home Mrs. Jarecki," said Paul softly.

"It's so beautiful!" she gasped, and she buried her head in his neck and wept.

It took a long time for her to recover from her shock, but eventually he set her down on her own feet, and she started to climb the stairs slowly. She drew her hand up the banister slowly admiring the polished wood that glowed with an inner luster. "It looks smooth but it isn't slippery at all, is it anti-skid?"

"Yep, something Gus found," answered Paul. "He said it was to keep kids from trying to slide down the banister, but I think it's more of a high-end safety device for someone like me on the edge of old age." Gus Di Dimissio was Paul's best friend and a contractor who helped Paul rebuild an old, abandoned Victorian mansion. Springville was once filled with mansions like this, the village was a popular place for the rich of nineteenth century Buffalo to summer in and escape the heat of the city.

She was drawn up stairs by some force and she knew that the master bedroom and two smaller bedrooms on one side would be for their use, the others would be for guests. The twins ran the length of the balcony and selected the last bedroom as 'theirs.' Paul thought it was odd that with all these bedrooms to choose from they would share a room. Andi didn't think anything of it and mentally selected the room between 'theirs' and the master that she and Paul would share as the nursery.

Nursery? Where did that come from?

She walked into the master bedroom and looked around, the only furniture was the bed, a queen-size adjustable with no headboard. "Only a queen-size in this big room?"

"You're so tiny, I don't want to lose track of you."

She smiled at that, then she noticed the tub. It was a 72" claw footed beauty, plenty of room for the two of them. Grinning she kicked off her shoes and climbed into the tub fully clothed, there was all kinds of room in there. "Come here Sandy," she called leaning over the edge of the tub with her arms out. Sandy ran right over, and Andi lifted her inside, then she hoisted Madeline in there with her. "There's enough room for you too, daddy."

"Yeah, come on in!" yelled Madeline, and there was room enough, but he chose to tease the girls.

"You're too dirty, maybe after you take a bath," Paul grinned, and he reached for the faucet inciting screams from the children. The faucet was an impressive array of plumbing with a hand shower that hung like an old-fashioned telephone receiver. He didn't turn it on, but he held the hand shower up like he was going to spray the little girls who squealed, covered their heads and yelled for him to stop.

In the same area of the room was the shower, there was no shower stall, just like in the cabin, just a wall to deflect splashes and no door. The showerhead was mounted in the ceiling and there were six body sprays associated along with a hand shower. Paul walked over to the shower, turned it on, then demonstrated the different modes the shower used with an electronic control panel. Andi's eyes opened wide as she thought about all the possibilities...

Climbing out of the tub and exploring further Andi fell in love with the cavernous walk-in closets, and she found built in fire safes in both closets. The other bedrooms were not nearly as big and the shared full bath between them was a good size, larger than the lone bathroom in her Denver condo. After inspecting the bedrooms on the second floor she just noticed that she didn't see a staircase going upward from the second floor. "How to you get upstairs to your office?" she asked.