‘Mum, Dad, you’re early,’ Paige said as she opened the door to her parents just before midday on Sunday. A leg of lamb was in the oven alongside potatoes and pumpkin all roasting to perfection for the big family wedding meeting.
Rebecca leant forward to give her a quick peck on the cheek. ‘There’s something I need to discuss with you before Sol’s parents arrive.’
‘O-kay. Come in.’ She gave her dad a hug as she ushered them in from the communal landing. ‘Sol’s in the shower—he went for his run later than usual this morning ’cos we were out late with Nik and Josie.’
Her parents both spoke at the same time.
‘Josie’s the girl you’re borrowing your mother’s dress from, isn’t she?’
‘You and Solomon are seeing Josie and her husband socially?’
‘Yes, she’s so great. Not only have I found a dress but a new friend.’ Paige smiled, thinking about last night. After Nik had kicked all their butts at the bowling alley, they’d gone back to Josie and Nik’s place and watched Top Gun. Josie and Nik—horrified that Paige had never seen it and many other ‘classics’—had vowed to take it upon themselves to educate her one film at a time. ‘Sol and Nik get along really well and I feel like I’ve known Josie forever.’
At that moment, Solomon appeared down the hallway, his hair wet from his shower. ‘Thought I heard voices.’ He shook hands with Hugh and leaned in to kiss his future mother-in-law on the cheek. ‘How are you feeling today?’
‘I’m fine.’ Her tone was terse and Paige tried to swallow her irritation—Sol was only being polite but her mum hated any reference to her illness. So far she’d refused to discuss his offer of his kidney any further and snapped at anyone who dared to ask how her dialysis was going.
‘Mum wants to talk to me about something,’ Paige informed him.
‘Intriguing.’ He wiggled his eyebrows. ‘Shall I put the kettle on?’
Rebecca glanced at her watch. ‘Actually, I want to talk to both of you. This involves Solomon and I’d like to get it off my chest.’
‘Okay.’ Sol nodded.
‘What it is?’ Paige asked, her heart leaping into her throat as she thought of all the terrible things her mum might be about to announce. Maybe the kidney failure wasn’t the worst? Maybe she had cancer as well?
‘Solomon, if the offer for you to be my kidney donor and go on the paired kidney exchange program still stands,’ she said, ‘then I’d like to accept it.’
‘Oh my God,’ Paige shrieked.
‘Of course it still stands,’ Sol said, grinning. ‘Where do I sign up?’
Her parents laughed, then Rebecca said, ‘We’ll have to make an appointment with Dr Chopra. You’ll need to be tested and evaluated to make sure you are physically able to donate and then, if so, they’ll put us on the register. The earliest they’ll operate is January, so they’ll be looking for a pairing match that also works out timing wise.’
‘Oh, this is so wonderful.’ Paige threw her arms around her mother and didn’t even bother trying to fight the happy tears that streamed down her face. ‘What made you decide to accept?’
Rebecca hesitated a moment, then, ‘The opportunity of getting off dialysis as soon as possible is too good a chance to pass up. I still feel terrible about taking Sol’s kidney but if the doctors deem him healthy and they haven’t any concerns then …’
‘They won’t,’ Paige declared, turning from her mother to embrace Sol. She really had the best family in the world and this would only consolidate their bond.
More hugs were exchanged and then her father sniffed. ‘Is something burning?’
‘Oh shit, the veggies!’ But Paige couldn’t bring herself to care, she felt like such a weight had been lifted.
As Paige, Sol and her mother were trying to salvage the roast potatoes—the pumpkin was ruined—the intercom buzzed again and her dad went to let Sol’s mum and stepdad in. She heard them laughing and talking as they walked towards the kitchen.
‘I hope you like your veggies smoky,’ Paige said as she kissed her future in-laws in greeting. ‘We got a little distracted.’
‘Wedding talk?’ asked Lisette with a wide grin.
‘Not yet. We saved that for you,’ Sol said. ‘Rebecca has just accepted my offer to be her kidney donor.’
‘Oh, wow.’ Lisette’s eyes teared up; she threw her arms wide and looked between Rebecca and Solomon as if she wanted to hug someone but wasn’t sure who. ‘That’s wonderful news. We’re so proud of you, son.’
Randy nodded and clapped Sol on the shoulder. ‘Good man.’
‘Your son is very special,’ said Rebecca.
Hugh nodded. ‘We can’t thank him enough for giving Rebecca this life-line.’
‘Well, we’re family now,’ Lisette said, ‘and family take care of each other.’ She and Sol exchanged a look that contained all the years the two of them had been a team, running from his father.
‘Shall we eat?’ Sol asked, not at all comfortable being the centre of all this praise. He didn’t understand why everyone was making such a big deal. If a stranger came up to him in the street and asked for his kidney, he’d probably hand it over on the spot. Just as he gave no thought to his own safety when rushing into a burning building.
Just one of the many reasons Paige loved him.
‘Good idea,’ she said, silently vowing to show her appreciation later.
When everyone was crowded round the small table, pretending the food piled on their plates was more edible than it looked, Paige got down to business.
Clearing her throat, she picked up her pen and opened her wedding notebook—at the top of each double page spread was the title of something that needed to be decided. Catering. Celebrant. Invitations. Music. Band. Flowers. Decoration. Photographer. Cake. Transport. Bridesmaid dresses. Suit hire. And, last but not least, the guest list. Many of these things she didn’t need their assistance with, but she wanted everyone to feel involved.
‘That’s a good idea.’ There was a note of respect in Rebecca’s voice as she nodded towards the notebook. ‘You’re so much more organised than me.’
‘This was actually Josie’s suggestion. She kept something similar for her wedding and said it helped having everything in one place.’
Her mother frowned.
‘Is Josie a friend of yours?’ Randy asked.
‘She’s the girl who wore Rebecca’s wedding dress,’ Lisette said. ‘Remember, I told you this. Paige is going to wear it as well and Josie is letting her borrow it.’
‘Ah that’s right.’ Randy nodded and went back to trying to chisel his lamb.
‘She’s been a godsend,’ Paige said. ‘She and Nik had a short engagement as well, so she’s given me all sorts of tips to organise things quickly.’
‘How long have she and her husband been married?’ Rebecca asked, putting her cutlery on her plate as if she couldn’t be bothered with the pretence of eating anymore.
‘I’m not sure exactly. Can’t be longer than two years because that’s when the second dress owner gave it to the op shop,’ Paige said. ‘Anyway, first things first. As you know we want to keep to a strict budget, but we also want the day to be a very special celebration of our love. Having the reception at your place,’ she smiled at Sol’s parents, ‘will keep costs down, but we also want to limit the guest list to just close friends and family, so we don’t need to hire too many extra tables and chairs.’
‘Are you hoping to have a sit-down meal or something more like a buffet?’ asked Lisette. ‘I have a friend who has just started a catering company and she’s keen to get business, so will do us a good deal.’
‘We were thinking more finger food,’ Sol replied, looking to Paige for clarification. She nodded. ‘Like cocktails and canapés. We want a really fun, casual vibe and that will fit better than a formal sit-down.’
‘Do you think your friend will be willing to make food to fit our theme?’ Paige asked.
‘What theme?’ asked both mums in unison.
This was the moment Paige had been waiting for. Her mum was gonna love it. ‘Well, since I’m going to be wearing your dress, which was made in the eighties, and since Sol was born in the eighties, we’ve decided to embrace that era. We’re gonna hire a jukebox with eighties hits and have a black and neon colour scheme. The bridesmaids will wear neon green, neon pink and neon purple, the groomsmen will have ties in the same colours and we’re hoping to have three cocktails to match.’
‘Sounds like fun,’ Hugh said. ‘If we can’t find your mother on the night, all we’ll need to do is head to the jukebox. Although you might need to ration her so everyone else gets a chance to pick a tune.’
‘Hardi-hah.’ Rebecca gave him a look.
Sol chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, I think Josie will give her a run for her money. That woman has an eighties obsession to rival Rebecca’s.’
Everyone laughed, except her mother. ‘You’re inviting Josie? But you guys only just met.’
‘So?’ Paige retorted. ‘We like them. Plus, she’s letting us borrow the dress.’
‘Fair enough.’ Rebecca shrugged, although her tone sounded like that of a child who hadn’t got their own way.
Trying not to let her mother’s weird mood get her down, Paige moved to the next item on the list. For the next half an hour, they discussed how they planned to tie in the theme in other areas and came up with a timeline of what needed to be organised and a list of who was in charge of doing what.
‘Before we get onto the guest list, I have one more question,’ Paige said. ‘We’ve talked a lot about the kind of wedding we want, but is there anything any of you would like us to include?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Hugh.
Sol chuckled. ‘What Paige is trying to say is would you guys like any nods to your family heritages, either during the ceremony or at the reception? Anything Scottish or French?’ he added as he looked from Hugh to Lisette.
‘I suppose you could wear the family kilt, but I didn’t even do that when I got married.’
‘It’s your day, do what you want,’ said Lisette, ‘but it’s very sweet of you to consider us.’
‘Actually it was Josie’s idea,’ Paige admitted. ‘Until she asked where Sol came from, the thought hadn’t entered either of our heads.’
‘I can’t wait to meet this Josie,’ Lisette said, taking a sip of her drink.
Before Paige could say Josie had offered to help them make the invitations, so the two of them would meet soon, Rebecca pushed back her chair, the wooden legs shrieking against the tiled floor. Everyone glanced up at her.
‘You okay, love?’ Hugh asked, concern furrowing his brow as he too made a move to stand.
‘I’m fine.’ She waved her hand at him, picked up her plate and then dived for the empty veggie casserole dish. ‘Just thought I’d start clearing up a little. Keep chatting. I’ll listen while I wash.’
‘You don’t need to do that,’ Sol said. ‘We’ve got a dishwasher; it won’t take long to tidy up after and you certainly don’t have to help.’
Her mother sighed, her body language like that of a caged bird who’d just missed an opportunity to escape. What was her problem? She’d been so excited about the wedding when Sol first proposed and now it seemed she’d rather do anything except discuss it.
Later, when the dishwasher was packed and everyone was moving into the living room for a post-lunch coffee, Paige cornered her.
‘What’s going on?’
Rebecca blinked. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re acting strange. And I get the impression you’ve got something against Josie. Didn’t you like her when you met her the other day?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Why wouldn’t I like her? I hardly know her, but neither do you—that’s my point—I just think it’s a little odd that you’re so chummy all of a sudden.’
‘I know enough,’ Paige responded, feeling defensive. Even when she was a little girl, her mother had never interfered in her friendships. ‘I know she’s funny, and clever, and kind—three traits I thought you also admired in a person.’
‘How old is she? She seems a bit older than you.’
‘In her early to mid-thirties I think.’
‘You think?! But you don’t know?’
‘No, our specific ages haven’t cropped up in conversation. I know she’s trying for a family and is worried about her biological clock, but …’ Paige shook her head—this was one of the weirdest conversations she’d ever had with her mother, perhaps with anyone. ‘Who cares how old she is? Why does her age matter? We’re both adults.’
Rebecca’s expression softened a moment. ‘Josie’s having difficulty getting pregnant?’
‘Getting pregnant hasn’t been the issue,’ Paige said, ‘but she keeps miscarrying.’ She felt slightly bad about sharing such a private thing with her mother, but hoped this knowledge might make her sympathise with her friend.
‘That’s terrible,’ Rebecca whispered. ‘Hopefully she has a good family support system.’
‘Yes, well, she’s getting support from a local charity that deals with miscarriages and stuff. That’s helping her.’ Paige picked up a box of chocolates that she was going to take into the lounge room to go with the coffee.
‘That sounds good, but what about her parents? Do they live nearby?’
‘Why are you so interested in Josie?’
‘First you accuse me of not liking her and now I’m concerned about her, you’re annoyed at that. I can’t win!’ With that she threw her hands up in the air and stormed off to join the others in the lounge room.
Paige looked at the box of chocolates in her hand and wished it was a bottle of wine instead. She had no idea what had got into her mother, but decided to check Google again later and see if one of the symptoms of kidney disease was irrational behaviour and mood swings.