“Eat my hairballs!” Octo-Cat shouted and then laughed maniacally.
Another cat meowed angrily, then hissed.
“Why aren’t you talking? Cat got your tongue?” Octavius teased.
Another low growl followed by a sharp hiss.
“You TV stars are all alike. Beauty without brains.” Now Octo-Cat hissed, and soon the enraged utterances of two warring felines filled the air.
“This is gold! Are you getting this?” one of the members of the film crew shouted as the chaos shifted from the backyard to the front.
The front door noisily flew open, then several pairs of feet stomped up the stairs. This was my chance.
“Help! Help! I’m trapped!”
“You, zoom in on the door. You, follow the cats.”
“Could you just unlock me?”
“Do you have the shot?”
Whoever he was talking to must have nodded, because at last the door unlocked and swung open.
“Are you okay? What happened?” the lead TV wrangler intoned dramatically, giving me no doubt that this crazed moment would be included in the final cut of their season finale.
“Someone locked me in,” I explained, grabbing the key from the lock, then shutting the door between myself and the crew. “Thanks for the help!”
I could still hear them chattering out in the hall.“The bride locked in? Clearly someone doesn’t want this wedding to happen. This is even better than I could have dreamed. You got all of that, right?”
The voices receded, and I slumped down to the bed to grab a moment’s rest from all the excitement. Paisley must have run out in the commotion because I now found myself completely alone.
Still, leave it to Octo-Cat. His plan had been genius. He must have known the film crew would be unable to resist a good cat fight, and so he picked one with Chessy and then brought everyone up here.
“Hey, let me back in,” Octo-Cat called from outside the room, his voice sounding strange. Oh no, I hope he wasn’t hurt in all that. I didn’t even think about the possibility that Chessy might be able to best him.
I pushed myself off the bed, already missing its comfort, then opened the door just enough to admit the two waiting felines.
Grizabella immediately took up the spot I’d just vacated while Octo-Cat stopped right in front of me and spit something onto the floor at my feet.
Not something. Two somethings.
The missing rings!
I bent down and scooped them up, ensuring they were no worse for the wear.“Octo-Cat, thank you! Where did you find them?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a satisfied smirk. “I’ve got your back. Nobody messes with my human’s special day.”
I didn’t point out how taxing his behavior had been just yesterday. Yesterday wasn’t the big day, and now today was. I loved knowing he was on my side against any further drama. And even though I still didn’t know who had locked me inside the room, I decided that it didn’t really matter in that moment.
I could focus on my wedding, or I could focus on this random mystery. And I chose to be truly present so I could remember everything about this day for years to come.
“Nice rings by the way,” Octo-Cat said slyly. “Grizabella and I will need something like that to mark our union as well. It’s time I made an honest cat out of her.”
I sat down on the bed beside Grizabella, and Octo-Cat jumped up too.
I stroked both of their purring bodies and smiled.“I’ll be sure to order you both gorgeous bejeweled wedding collars straight away. I’ll even let you help pick them out.”
The purring intensified, telling me I had gotten my answer just right.
13
Nan and Grandma Lyn returned with the vegan meal twenty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin. They said a quick hello through the door, then excused themselves to finish getting ready. Thankfully, Nan had had the foresight to bring her outfit to one of the guest rooms so she could dress in private—seeing as how we’d coopted her bedroom as command central for use of its vanity and so I could avoid the second set of stairs that led to my tower bedroom.
With only a short bit of time left to prepare, I put the finishing touches on my gown while Christine and Mags got the cats ready. This included bathing the two sphynx cats, whose tortured howls of protest filled the whole house.
And before I knew it, a soft knock sounded on the door followed by my father’s voice. “Are you ready in there?”
I opened the door to my parents’ joint expression of love. They were walking me down the aisle together, just like they did everything else that mattered to them.
“I know it’s not my dress,” Mom said softly, “But this is just as good. You look incredible.”
I handed her the decorative bundle I’d put together last night. “Can you hold onto this for me?” I asked. “Make sure no one sees it though.”
She accepted my last-minute arts and crafts project, and Dad offered me the crook of his arm.“Well, let’s get this show on the road, kiddo.”
My replacement dress didn’t have a long train, so it was fairly easy for me to get myself down the grand staircase. Still, both parents fussed over me like I was made entirely of glass. Together we reached the main entrance. I could already hear the music playing softly, waiting to usher me down the petal-strewn aisle.
I hiked my dress up a little to protect it from the freshly mowed lawn, then stepped into the yard. Holding Mom’s arm on one side and Dad’s on the other, I made my way around the house, then gasped as the backyard came into view.
One hundred white wooden chairs stood in rows, flanking a long aisle. The sunlight streamed through the balloons, creating splotches of color that made the setting look otherworldly, and there, at the very end of the aisle, stood Charles Longfellow, III.
The love of my life, my future,my husband.
Tears began to prick at my eyes, but I didn’t even care. As the cellist continued her beautiful song, I stepped forward, my parents at my side, all the most important people surrounding me to bear witness to this beautiful memory in the making.
Each step forward was a choice. I was choosing Charles, choosing our love, choosing to leave my old single life to create something new with my partner and best friend beside me for all future steps I would take.
All eyes were on me.
I briefly glanced to either side of the aisle, wanting to remember all the details for later, but it was hard to tear my eyes away from my devastatingly handsome groom. His dark, wavy hair fell in that same perfect swoop it always had, and his bright green eyes sparkled with mirth as he watched me watch him.
Mags stood beside Charles wearing a hot-pink pants suit that she must have borrowed from Nan. She looked incredible and matched the wedding colors perfectly. Nan and Grandma Lyn stood wearing light pink lace bridesmaid dresses, their walks down the aisle already complete. Grizabella’s owner Christine was there too, dressed in delicate lace and wrangling the rest of our wedding party—Charles’s and my four favorite cats. The boys, Octo-Cat and Jacques, wore hot pink bowties, and the girls, Grizabella and Jillianne, wore delicate pink dresses that coordinated beautifully with the other bridesmaid gowns. The female sphynx seemed quite irritated by the fabric against her skin—she kept nipping at it with her teeth—but Grizabella sat with great poise and obvious pride. The former show cat was no stranger to showing off her beauty for all to admire.
I felt a bit like a show cat myself as the audience oohed and ahhed and murmured soft words of encouragement and approval behind me.
I reached the aisle and took Charles’s waiting hands. Mags began to speak, but I didn’t hear any of it. My sudden inability to pay attention made me glad the TV crew was here, after all. I could watch my big day on repeat and observe all the tiny details later. Right now, I simply wanted to bask in the moment, in finally having arrived at this place with my very own Prince Charming.
I’d had a crush on Charles from the moment I first saw him, which happened to be when he stopped by the law firm where I once worked as a paralegal to interview for a recently vacated associate position. We started getting to know each other when he caught me FaceTiming with Octo-Cat at work, and he subsequently blackmailed me into helping with a case where a traumatized Yorkie was the only witness to a double homicide.