Chapter 20

***Better late then never...right? I got caught up in all the hockey games tonight :)

Enjoy!

~J

“So do we know what’s happening for your bachelorette party?” Vero asks while having breakfast with Kelsey and Miranda

“No, I told Ashley to hold off on planning it…I’m kinda wondering about what the guys are going to do though,” I say

“Jay, you shouldn’t be worrying about that!” Kelsey says

“I know, but I mean everything’s going to happen back home, the guys don’t know anything out there!”

“Oh, yeah I could see that being a problem then,” Miranda says

“So I was kind of thinking of an idea, that I’d run by the guys obviously, but how random would it be to do a combined bachelor and bachelorette party?”

“Not completely random, it’s been done before,” V says

“And I mean, I thought we could do our separate dinners, and then meet up for dancing or something,”

“That’s actually sounds like a good idea!”
“I’m totally not saying this because I’m worried about what the boys are going to do, I would just feel bad if they went golfing or something and then we were out all night, you know?”

“Well, run it past James and see what he says?”
“Do you think your men would be cool with it?”

“I think Ty would like it, he loves country dancing!” Kelsey says…her and Tyler were added to our wedding party; James & I came to terms that we wanted to include them J so that made the entire wedding party to 12 people.

Later that night, I ran the idea by James, and he thought it was a great idea; the rest of the guys did too. So with that, we would plan our own dinners, then go dancing at Dirty Bourbon, and last minute things were being set in stone. All the family members had rooms booked at the casino where the reception would be & all the wedding guests would be in town by Friday the 6^th.

I was shocked at how fast the time had gone by that I was almost too busy to notice that the boys had made it through the first 2 rounds of the playoffs and were nearing the finals. Almost. Ok, so not really, with the fiancé I have and the environment I was in, I’d probably get fired if I forgot.

We beat Tampa Bay, then Toronto, and tonight was game 4 against the Hurricanes in Carolina…with the chance to sweep them. YEAH. Like I couldn’t notice that. At least the Hurricanes fans were welcoming, maybe cause we were like family…we both have a Staal.

GUESS WHOSE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS?  Yep, we are! We had to wait to see who we would be playing, as the series between the Predators and the Avs was tied at 2 apiece, but the guys were glad for that because it meant a few days off for them to gear up and get prepared.

“Are you guys ready for the finals?” I ask my mom as I’m grocery shopping

“Yeah, we’ll be home for the games, so we will be watching them,” she responds

“Ok, good. James wouldn’t let you live it down if you missed it,”
“We know, dad is kind of bummed that we can’t make it out there,”
“I know, I wish ya’ll could too,”
“Yeah, he was like my son in law is playing in the finals and I’ll be watching it from my couch,”
“Aw, well next year, you guys will be out here,”

“He’ll hold you too that!”
“Oh, I know! But mom I gotta go and finish at the store,”
“Ok, bye sweetie, talk to you soon,”
“Ok, bye,”

Last night was game 6 between the Preds and the Avs, which had the series win from the Predators, our opponent for Lord Stanley. Game on.  Once again, we had home ice advantage.

The next day, James and I go to lunch with Sid and Janelle at the pizza parlor in Sewickley.  James seems distracted the entire time through lunch, but I was figuring it was just nerves for the game, so I blow it off.  After lunch, we get back home and decide to pick something for our wedding that we haven’t done yet…pick our first dance song. So we sit on the couch with my laptop and iTunes and get to work.

Our list included:

“The Way You Look Tonight”

“I Could Not Ask for More”

“You Had Me From Hello”

“My Best Friend”

“Me & You”
“I Love You This Big”

We narrowed it down to “My Best Friend”, “Me and You” and “I Love You This Big”

“I think I like the Kenny Chesney song the best,” James says

“Me and You?” I ask

“Yeah, and remember, he sang it when we saw him at Heinz Field,”
“Oh yeah!” I say as he stands up

“So, can I have this dance?” He asks, putting his hand out

“Absolutely” I say, gladly accepting

[[Here's the video of the song in case ya'll haven't heard it...I absolutely LOVE it! I actually want it for my own wedding song :)]]

Cheesy, I know, but moments like this, when it’s just the two of us, are what I love the most, just us together. And there we were, dancing away in the middle of our living room. Perfection.

“I think it’s perfect,” he says, looking down at me

“I love it,” I respond, smiling

“Then it sounds like we found our song,”
“Definitely,” I say before he leans down to kiss me

Just then the doorbell interrupted us

“You expecting anybody?” I ask

“It might be Jordan, he was dropping off a video game,” James says as I walk to the door

“Oh my God!” I'm shocked to see my parents on the other side of the door

“Hi!” my mom says

“Hi! What…how did…when did this happen?”

“Dad had airline points, so we used them to surprise you!”

“And now were here,” dad said

“Well come on in! How did you plan this?” I ask

“We had a little help,” mom said, looking at James

“You did?” I ask him

“Yeah!”

“I tell ya, he’s amazing at keeping secrets!”
“What can I say,” James says

“What a beautiful house you guys got!”
“Thanks! Want a tour?” I ask

So we give them the tour of the house, and spend some time catching up.  It was a gorgeous day outside, so we decided to throw some burgers on the grill and eat dinner outside on the porch.

We start cleaning up and decide to go to Bruster’s for some desert, when Jordan calls me

“Hi Jordan!” I say answering it

“Hey Jay, how’s it going?” Jordan says on the other line

“Good, just hanging out with my parents, and you?”
“Just relaxing, hey listen, I need your help with something,”
“Ok, what’s that?”
“I need help picking out…an engagement ring…”

“AH! You’re going to propose to Heather?”
“Yeah, I am!”

“Oh my gosh, I’d be more then happy to help you!”
“Ok, so she is back in T-Bay, she will be back on Wednesday before the game, so any chance we could go tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that should work, my parents are here, but I’m sure they can spend a few hours with my aunt and uncle, or around town,”
“Ok, awesome, I’ll call you tomorrow then, ok?”
“Sounds great, talk to you then!”
“Oh and Jay, don’t say anything about this, not even to Vero…because I know how you girls are,”
“You got it Jordan,”

Oh boy...secrets are SO hard for me to keep. But I'm not going to disappoint Jordan, and I'm going to stick with his promise.