Legally Wed: A Lawyers in Love Novella (15 page)

Adam’s entire family was buzzing with happiness and excitement. I had never seen his dad so animated. Abby seemed kind of distracted, though. I managed to get her alone for a few minutes to talk to her.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked.

“Oh yeah.” She laughed. “I was just thinking. My little brother is getting married. Wow, how weird is that?”

“It must feel a little strange.”

“Yeah, Adam and I are only a year and a half apart. I’m close to my sisters, but he and I were always especially close. We used to sit up at night and read with a flashlight when we were supposed to be sleeping.” Her eyes started to look a little wet and my chest got tight.

“He still likes to read in bed.”

“Me too.” She smiled. “He and I are so much alike. We both act like nothing bothers us, joke around, act cocky, you know? But underneath, we both have more going on. I’m so glad that he found someone who he can be himself with.”

“You’ll find somebody too,” I said reassuringly.

“Oh! I’m not worried about it.” She laughed. “I’ve got other things on my mind right now. The Federal Public Defender offered me a job heading up their computer crimes group and I’m thinking about taking it.”

“Wow. That sounds like a great opportunity.”

“The federal prosecutor who’s just been assigned to lead up the U.S. Attorney’s computer crimes division is kind of annoying, though. If you think Adam’s cocky, you should meet him.”

“Uh oh. Is his name Jacob Sachs?”

“Yeah, do you know him?”

“Jacob and I used to date back in law school and he was involved in that case that Adam and I got pulled into recently.”

“You
dated
him? He seems like such an ass.”

“Jacob can be an ass, but he’s got more going on under the surface too.”

“I’ve heard he’s a womanizer. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any problem with men
or
women having as many casual sexual encounters as they want, as long as there’s respect, you know?”

“I don’t know what he’s like with the women he hooks up with casually, but he always treated me with respect. He and I never had a great love affair, but he didn’t cheat on me. Just between you and me, he’s really good in bed and his ego isn’t all that’s big.” I laughed.

“I’ll take your word for it.” She gave me a raised eyebrow. “It would definitely be an interesting job and I would never let one cocky prosecutor keep me from doing what I wanted anyway.”

“Good. I think you should go for it.”

“Enough of this, let’s focus on what’s important. Girlfriend, this time tomorrow, you’ll be my sister-in-law. Welcome to the crazy.” She and I hugged tightly and I had a feeling that Abby and I would become very close friends.

I found out that Adam had a surprise planned for me after the rehearsal dinner and I was very intrigued. The day went by quickly, filled with laughter and happiness. We greeted old friends from back home who had made it in. Adam’s two best buddies growing up, Josh and Rob made it and so did my two closest girlfriends. Marcy and Sharon. What a conversation that was! They were all stunned but thrilled that Adam Roth and Lily Adler, mortal enemies since preschool, had fallen in love and were getting married. It meant that anything was possible.

Even Shari Edelstein, who now had the fakest boob job on the planet, made it. And although she was nothing but friendly, I must admit that it gave me perverse pleasure that she would watch me marry the cutest boy from our class.

Rabbi Stein walked us through everything step by step late that afternoon. We would start out separately with me sitting on my bridal throne and being kept company by the female guests. Meanwhile, Adam would being giving a talk about what entering into marriage meant to him, as the male guests listened.

“So, she sits on a throne and I give a lecture?”

“Yes,” Rabbi Stein replied with a smile. He went on to explain that Adam would lead the men to the room where I was waiting, and he would offer me the gift of a gold wedding band, and we would sign the marriage contract.

“And then I give her jewelry and agree to take care of her and keep her happy, while she accepts the jewelry, and agrees to let me.”

“Yes,” Rabbi Stein answered again.

“Just making sure I got all that.”

After that, Adam would officially recognize that I was, in fact, his bride and he would veil me and we would proceed to be led by our parents to stand under the marriage canopy together and take our vows. We weren’t supposed to eat that day, and there were a few cups of wine involved in the ceremony, so I anticipated being rather merry by the reception. After we took our vows, we would go off somewhere to break our fast and be alone together before we joined everyone else as man and wife.

By the end of the rehearsal, Rabbi Stein was looking a little pale, and with an apology, he skipped the dinner to go lie down and rest. We all ate in a private area of the formal dining room that night, and there were plenty of toasts and lots of funny stories. When dinner was over, it was time for my surprise.

Adam went off somewhere, and my friends led me into a small nightclub and seated me next to the stage. Our friends and family members quickly filled the place, and within a few minutes the lights were turned down low. A voice came from somewhere off stage.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we welcome you to our show!” The curtain went up and I saw a huge glittery sign that looked very familiar. It said “Adam’s Las Vegas Review.” Oh my God. It was the sign from his bar mitzvah.

Out onto the stage walked a guy with a ventriloquist dummy. He introduced himself, and I recognized him as the first act. Behind him was a huge screen, and on the screen, was a picture of him performing at Adam’s bar mitzvah all those years-ago. I got a lump in my throat and my eyes welled up. Adam was recreating the whole show for me! After the ventriloquist came the juggler and the comedian who had performed that day.

Finally, it was time for the grand finale. A spotlight shone on the stage and there was a drumroll. Then a platform lowered, and standing on it, was my groom, the love of my life, the greatest showman since P.T. Barnum. I heard the opening notes of “
I Did It My way
” and Adam began to sing. By the way, Adam sings very well. He had changed one thing this time around —the lyrics to his song. Adam looked straight at me and sang, “We did it our way.”

Out came three showgirls with the feathers and the beads and the whole nine yards. I realized that while they all looked fabulous, they had to be at least in their mid to late thirties. He had even found the same showgirls!

There was the picture of Adam at thirteen in the background, and as I watched him perform for me, tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t have wiped the silly grin off my face even if I had wanted to. The whole time, he sang directly to me.

When he finished, we all gave him a standing ovation and he asked me to come up on the stage with him. When I got there, I gave him a huge hug, and the place filled with “ah’s.” I took the microphone.

“I have a dream,” I started and everyone laughed. Well, everyone who had been at my bat mitzvah anyway. “Seriously, though. I did have a dream, and I had it many times. And he was in it.” My voice broke and the tears started flowing again. “And now my dream is coming true.” Adam leaned down and kissed me, and we both got a standing ovation.

After spending some more time with all of our guests, we finally went back to our room. I know a lot of people would have at least spent the night before the wedding apart, but Adam and I didn’t want to be apart ever again. We talked until late, and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.

We woke up early and went off to our respective changing suites. The mothers and Adam’s sisters were there along with Gabrielle, Jessica and Beth. I took a bubble bath and then started the process of getting ready. A hairdresser came in along with a woman to do my make-up. I was pampered and prettied up, as befitted a bride on her wedding day. Everything was going smoothly, and exactly as planned, when a knock came at the door. Hannah went over to answer. The next thing I knew, the mothers were at the door too and I started getting nervous.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing to worry about, Lily,” my mother replied. “Rabbi Stein has food poisoning, but they’re going to find a replacement.”

“Nothing to worry about?! We have no rabbi.” Okay, now, I was panicking - my perfect wedding, the wedding I had fought for, the wedding that I had planned meticulously, the wedding Adam had sexed himself to exhaustion for, and there was nobody to marry us.

“Don’t worry, honey,” Jess said, and she and Gab and Beth came over to comfort me.

“Yeah, this is Las Vegas,” Beth said reassuringly. “With all of the weddings here, there have to be plenty of rabbis.”

“They’re keeping us updated, dear,” Mrs. Roth said soothingly.

Everyone went back to helping me get ready, but there was an air of nervous tension in the room. Finally, there was another knock on the door and the mothers went over to answer. After a quick conversation, my mother turned to me.

“See, nothing to worry about. Mr. Jonathan found a replacement, and Rabbi Stein is doing well.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

Not long after, it was time for me to go to my receiving room to sit on my bridal throne. The mothers stood on either side of me and led me there. When I entered the room, I saw a beautifully decorated chair, with flowers and ribbons affixed to it. I went and sat down and all my female guests came and surrounded me, telling me funny stories and making me smile. I felt like a fairy princess. Hell, I felt like a queen! It was just like I had always imagined it would be. Everything seemed surreal. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me. My stomach was tied in knots, and I was feeling a little lightheaded, although that might have been because I hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning.

After a little while, I heard male voices and laughter, and they sounded like they were coming our way. I knew what it meant. Adam was leading the men in procession to come and claim me as his bride and veil me. My heart started pounding like a jackhammer and my mouth went dry. I tensed and waited for what would be one of the most romantic moments of my entire life. Then, I saw Adam come through the door escorted by our fathers and I just smiled with wonder and joy.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw me and just stared, looking mesmerized. I stared too. He wore a tuxedo and a white yarmulke on his head and I had never seen anyone ever look so amazingly handsome. It was the moment I had dreamed about and it was perfect. While it lasted. And then the replacement rabbi entered the room.

“Hello there, everyone! I’m Rabbi David Epstein, but you can call me Rabbi Dave.”

“Why are you dressed like Elvis?” I asked numbly.

“Now now, don’t get all shook up, little lady, I have a show right after this. That’s my other job. I’ve got my yarmulke on.” Adam and I were about to be married by an Elvis impersonator.

“Viva Las Vegas,” I mumbled, and then I looked over at Adam, and saw he was still staring at me, transfixed. And that was the moment that I realized that the details didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that I was marrying the man who I loved. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man could marry us and I wouldn’t care.