Page 27

Part M

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody”

November

“I can’t believe it’s finally here!” Nate squeals from the back seat of the Towncar. It’s taking us to the North Carolina Museum of Art to get ready for their wedding.

“I know, it doesn’t feel real,” Isaac seems excited as well, but isn’t about to bounce off the walls quite as much as Nate.

“Are you ready to deal with them all day?” Abby asks me behind her hand, but loudly enough for both of them to hear.

I shake my head. “I don’t know. We might have to get someone else to handle Bridezilla and her husband-to-be.”

Nate puts his hand to his heart and replies, “Hey, now. I won’t have you talking about my Isaac that way on our wedding day.”

We all erupt into a fit of laughter. “Only joking, Nate. You know we love you and couldn’t be happier.”

He takes one of each of our hands in his. “But seriously, you two have been amazing and we wouldn’t be here without you.”

“That’s right,” Isaac echoes. “We love you girls, and we’re not only thrilled to have you as our Best Women, but as our best friends.”

Tears well up in all of our eyes, and I’m grateful that we’re not doing hair and makeup until we get to the museum. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Group hug!” Abby announces.

We skooch as close together as the awkward seating will allow and embrace each other. Just then, the car turns, we all slide to one side, and Nate lands on the floor. We explode into hysterics again and Isaac helps his fiancé back onto his seat.

Soon enough, we’re at the venue and ushered off to our separate areas to get ready. Nate and Isaac wanted plenty of time to take lots of photos, so we got here three hours before the ceremony is to start. There are so many great places at the art museum to take photos, both indoors and outdoors, that it will take at least an hour or more. Thankfully, Isaac’s coworker, Sarah, does photography on the side, is looking to build her wedding portfolio, and is giving them the entire photo package as a gift for their wedding. She does great work too.

Abby and I settle in for the hair and makeup team Nate hired to work their magic on us. Neither of us wears much makeup, so we’ve asked if they can keep it very natural. For her hair, Abby is going with a French twist with curls cascading out of the top. Since my hair is pretty short, I’ve asked my stylist to just add in some waves and call it a day. My stick-straight hair doesn’t normally hold curl well, but if she puts in enough hairspray, it should at least hold through the photos.

We text the boys when we are ready—because of course they are finished sooner—and head off to meet the photographer at the Mirror Labyrinth installation for the first set of photos. We progress from there to the some of the gardens, the giant ring sculpture called Gyre , and finally to the courtyard before we make our way into the West Building where the actual ceremony and reception will be held.

“Thank god that’s over,” Isaac says, wiping his brow with a handkerchief when we’re finished with the photos.

“If it’s any consolation, I know I got some great shots,” Sarah says, scrolling through some of them on her camera. I take a look over her shoulder and she’s right, there are some stellar photos on there.

“Just think of all the fun we’ll have sharing these with our grandkids someday,” Nate adds, wrapping his arm around Isaac’s shoulders.

“Grandkids?” Isaac looks, in a word, petrified.

“Okay, nieces and nephews. Whatever. We’ll still have plenty of kiddos to torture with fabulous photos of us lookin’ fly on our wedding day.”

“‘Lookin’ fly’?” Isaac tries and fails to stifle his laugh. “Oh, honey, we really need to work on your slang.”

Nate looks at Abby and I for support, but we’re giggling right along with his fiancée. “Et tu, lesbians?”

“Hey”—I hold up one finger—“I’m bisexual.”

“Yeah, I’m the only lesbian here,” Abby pipes up and puts her arm around my waist. “My girl here loves everyone.”

“So-o-rry,” Nate says, adding an extra syllable to the word. “I stand corrected.”

“Can’t we all just get along?” Isaac adds. “All the queerness in this group of friends has a place, and I, for one, am here for it!”

“Hear, hear!” Abby responds.

“Hear, hear!” Nate and I echo in unison.

We have another impromptu group hug, careful not to ruin anyone’s makeup or hair, then we go back to the boys’ ready room to wait for the guests to arrive.

It’s not long before the guests have arrived, and the wedding coordinator is calling us to take our places. Neither Isaac nor Nate wanted to be standing at the front waiting for the other one to walk down the aisle—and Nate would be damned if he didn’t get to march down that aisle on his wedding day—so they decided they’d both do it, escorted by their Best Woman. We all decided that the only fair way to decide on who went first down the aisle was alphabetically, so Isaac and I are going first.

“Are you ready?” I ask Isaac, who doesn’t look at all nervous.

“Absolutely,” he replies, and we start our march down the aisle to the string quartet playing Etta James’ “At Last.” It took a long time for them to select a song to walk down the aisle to, and Abby found this group called Vitamin String Quartet, who has an album called The Gay Wedding Collection . They loved everything on it, but they both agreed that Etta is timeless, so that was that.

As we approach the archway under which the minister is standing, I glance over at the string quartet and see a familiar face. The cellist most definitely plays for the symphony, but more than that, he looks very much like the ghost man from the other timeline. I start to feel faint, but I force my eyes to look forward and to remain focused on the beautiful wedding we’ve all been waiting so long for. But I will be telling Abby all about this later on.

Isaac stops as we reach the minister, and we turn around on our side to face the guests. Nate and Abby are already a quarter of the way down the aisle, and I smile watching my good friend and my girlfriend walk toward us. Nate is positively glowing and smiling broadly at Isaac. And I can’t get over how beautiful Abby looks in her tux, not to mention the warm fuzzies it’s giving me for how much it reminds me of the girl in the dreams.

When Nate and Abby reach the front, the minister begins the ceremony. As the boys wanted, it’s very short, sweet and to the point. However, they both wrote their own vows, which bring a tear to nearly everyone’s eye, and some laughter as well.

“Nate, you are joy, light and energy,” Isaac begins. “Ever since I met you, my life has been a fuller, richer, more beautiful place to be. Your heart reaches out to all to give them love and comfort when they need it most. I want to spend the rest of my life making you feel my love and comforting you when you’re down. I will be here as your friend, your lover and your husband, until death parts us. Forever, my love.” He puts the wedding ring on Nate’s finger.

Once Nate composes himself from hearing Isaac’s beautiful words, he pulls the ring out of his pocket. “So, when I started working on my vows, I was struggling. Then, I started looking up stuff on Google to see if it would help. And, you know what? It did!” Everyone laughs. “I looked up our names and found out that Nathan—and no one on this earth is allowed to call me that except my parents—means ‘gift of God.’ And Isaac means ‘one who rejoices.’ Which means, that we’re perfect together because I’m God’s gift and you rejoice about it!”

Isaac’s booming laugh fills the hall, and everyone else joins in. He leans forward and gives Nate a hug and whispers something in his ear. When they pull back, Nate continues.

“But, in all seriousness, Isaac, you are my gift, and I rejoice in you. You have my whole heart. You have since the moment we met, and you will until the day we die. Together. At the exact same time, because you’re not leaving me here on this planet without you.” Another smattering of laughter from the crowd. “Forever, my love.”

I cannot see anything for the tears flowing out of my eyes as Nate puts the ring on Isaac’s finger. The minister pronounces them married and everyone cheers as the happy couple kisses passionately in front of some of Rodin’s masterpieces. The quartet plays Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” as we exit, with Nate and Isaac leading, and Abby and I following also arm in arm.

The reception begins quickly since the guests stood for the short ceremony and the food is directly behind everyone. The boys opted for the buffet option to keep things a little cheaper, and it also gives more options for dietary restrictions. There are both high and lower tables around so guests can stand or sit as they please, but still have somewhere to put their food and drinks. The ceremony space is perfect for dancing, and the DJ is getting set up now that the string quartet has packed up.

When I start to sing “Only You” and they dance to it now, it’s magical. The way the dimmed lights create shadows of their intertwined bodies moving around the dance floor, it’s like an art installation in and of itself.

The DJ takes us from their song directly into mine and Abby’s: “Truly, Madly, Deeply.”

I walk over to where Abby is talking with Isaac’s parents and tap her on the shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt, but may I have this dance?”

She excuses herself from the conversation and takes my hand. Isaac’s parents wave us on, smiling. We make our way onto the dance floor, and I wrap my arms around her waist as she puts her arms around my neck. “You remembered,” she says as we start to sway.

“Of course I did.”

I’m entranced by this beautiful woman in my arms and lost in the feeling of this wonderful day. Abby grins at me as if she can feel it too. Could this be any more perfect?

Suddenly, I see something over her shoulder. It takes a moment before I can figure out what it is because I can tell it doesn’t belong here and now. In the distance, I see Ghost Me dancing with the cello guy from the quartet, only they aren’t in the art museum. I lean closer to Abby—which she mistakes for me wanting to dance closer, not that I mind—and squint to see if I can figure out where the apparitions are. Is that? Are they? Yes, they’re at Caffé Luna! They must be at the engagement party.

“Abby,” I say. “Can you turn around slowly and see if you can see Other Me behind you?”

She pulls back abruptly and starts looking every which way. “What? Now? Where?”

“Yes, now, but maybe don’t be so obvious about it. I don’t need everyone at this wedding thinking I’m insane or that we’re looking at them. And keep dancing.”

She nods, looking back at me and continuing to dance. “Ah, yes, got it.”

“Now, over your left shoulder, right behind where Sophia and Adam are standing, you might be able to see Other Me.”

She looks nonchalantly over her shoulder, gives a brief wave to Sophia, then turns back around. Not great, but passable. “No, I only see Sophia, Adam and a bunch of sculptures.”

“Darn. Okay, well, it was worth a shot. I guess I’m the only one who can see them.”

“Them?” she asks.

I realize I forgot to tell her about the cello guy. “Yeah, apparently the me from that timeline is with the cello guy from the string quartet tonight.”

“What?!” she exclaims then quickly realizes it was entirely too loud when several people look over. She mouths, “Sorry,” to them. To me, she says, “Sorry, what?”

“Other Me seems to be dating the cello guy from the quartet, who also plays for the symphony, because I saw him there too.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

“This parallel universe stuff is…wild.”

“Tell me about it.” I sigh.

Abby wraps her arms around me tightly and we dance the rest of the night away.