Meeting a Woman 02: At College

His mom made a big fuss over her ring. She thought it was the prettiest engagement ring she had ever seen. The dads were men and said it looked nice. All of the parents got a tour of the house and were surprised at how many rooms they had and how large the home was. It didn't look that large from the outside.

The dads went back out and brought in all kinds of cleaning supplies. The ladies assigned everyone tasks to complete. In about 2 hours with all 5 of them cleaning, almost all of the bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchen had been cleaned, floors swept or vacuumed, toilets, and showers scrubbed. They all agreed that pizza would be fast and good for lunch. They got several varieties, but Nic and Fi stayed with the pepperoni, bacon, and banana pepper.

At some point during the conversation, Josephine called Joey "Nic." His mother asked why she called him that. They had never shared that story nor had anyone ever heard them call either of them by their pet names. She asked him if he minded if she told the story. She was pretty sure that his parents had never heard of their "first" night sleeping together. She told of their hiking and camping trip, about how it stormed, how he saved her and kept her warm. She did leave out several key pieces of detail. But she did emphasize that they barely knew each other at this point but looking back they probably did have crushes on each other already.

She said that Nic had come up with the idea of nicknames because they were both very embarrassed by the situation. She was very worried about her reputation for being in his tent. To try and ease her mind, he came up with the idea they would pretend to be other people. Her name would be Fi, for Fiona, and he would be Nic, for Domonic. They both had agreed that it might help. So they continued that the rest of the trip and any time afterward where they discussed that situation. As time went by and other situations put them together in awkward circumstances, they just naturally fell back into using those names. As their relationship grow after their Vegas business trip, they started using those names almost exclusively unless there were other people around.

His mom thought that was the sweetest story and that it would likely be told for generations to come. Joey had a thought flash through his head of their grandchildren sitting around a fire when they were old and telling stories about their childhood and one of them would say to the group if they remember how grandpa and grandma got their pet names for each other. He almost got a little choked up.

The delivery guys didn't arrive until closer to 12:30 pm but made fast work of getting all of their new pieces into each of the rooms. They even set up the bed frames. The rest of the afternoon was taken up by the ladies telling the men to move this piece and that piece of furniture around so that it looked just right. They much have moved every piece in the living room eight times until it was finally decided they were done.

Joey said he wanted breakfast for supper and Andrew mentioned that he had heard good things about the Westen Diner. It turned out to be great. The menu was huge. There was something like 19 kinds of omelets you could choose from as well as 3 or 4 more pages of every kind of breakfast food you could think of.

The parents left shortly after getting back to their new house and said they would stop by for a little while tomorrow morning on their way to the airport. It turned out that they were staying with Andrew while they were in town. It worked out great and they got to spend some time together and get to know each other better.

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The marriage arrangements didn't take as long as they had initially thought. They hadn't made a lot of close friends in the area and neither had a lot of close relatives in their families. They decided on a very small wedding. Them and their parents. Her dad offered to arrange a time for them at the club if they wished to do it there, but Josephine asked about having the ceremony at his house. Maybe at the entrance to the flower gardens.

He was thrilled at that request. He thought it would somehow feel like his late wife could still be a part somehow. He still missed her greatly and this might even help him heal a little.

Tommy knew a guy that helped take care of the music, food, photographer, videographer, minister, and decorations. Nothing was fancy, it was all just enhanced the natural beauty of the flower garden that his wife had loved. It was her design and it was she who had taken care of it. Tony only started when she became too ill to keep up with it. It was a very special place for Andrew and Josephine.

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Epilogue

They spent a weeklong honeymoon in Bali, Indonesia at the Mandapa where they rented a one-bedroom villa that was huge. It had a private pool and the most breathtaking view looking out into the rainforest. They went out for some type of activity each day to see a local attraction or something of the traditional life in the area. The beauty and cultural education they received was very eye-opening. Neither had ever been to this part of the world before.

Her doctor confirmed their pregnancy 3 months after their wedding. She had stopped taking her pills on their wedding day. Joel was born 8 months later. Two years after that their fraternal twin girls, Jordan and Joanna, were born.

Joey's executive tract toward CEO continued for the next 15 years. Andrew retired at 65 and handed the reins of his company to Joey. Tommy was still there and would become as important to Joey as he had to Andrew.

Josephine and Joseph lived their whole lives in love. Their 3 kids gave them 10 grandkids and those gave them 5 great-grandkids before they left this earth. They passed within 3 days of each other, still in as much love with each other as their first kiss in that hotel room in Vegas all of those years ago.