A Very Merry Superhero Wedding (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke) by Kitty Bucholtz Read Free Book Online Page B

to be the center of attention, but this is you r on e day, sweetheart. Relax and enjoy it.” She smiled warmly. “It’s only going to happen one more time in your life, and then it won’t be about you as much as it’ll be about your unborn baby. Today, all these people are here to congratulate you and welcome you into their family. They need to believe you’re enjoying this. It’s your gift back to them.”
    Tori thought about the times she’d been on the other side of this table. She absolutely loved to watch people unwrap the presents she gave them. It was fun to see their faces light up, no matter whose gift they opened. She took a deep, calming breath.
    Okay, God, help me to give them a gift, too.
    Lexie figured which gift bag a card went with and handed both to Tori.
    “This one is from Liz,” Tori said and waved her fingers at her friend. She read the card, laughing at the message, then opened the gift bag. She pulled out a small box and opened it. It was a beautiful silver necklace with two hearts joined together.
    “‘First comes love’,” she read aloud from the tag inside. “This is beautiful, Liz.”
    She pulled a large box wrapped in tissue paper out of the gift bag. “‘Then comes marriage’,” she read from another tag taped to the outside. She pulled off the tissue paper and sucked in her breath. The box was decoupaged in all kinds of pictures and little decorations.
    There were pictures of Tori and Joe that she remembered posting on her Facebook page. Pictures from a bridal magazine, pictures from a home and garden magazine, and words like “love” and “forever.”  Four black picture corners in the center of the top of the box waited for a new photo.
    Tori opened the box to find the inside decorated as beautifully as the outside. Lying on the bottom of the box was a picture of Liz and Tori in front of one of the big roller coasters at Cedar Point in Ohio. It was taken in junior high when the church youth group went down for a weekend. Liz had decorated the picture to make it look like a Polaroid. On the bottom, she’d written “Best day ever — until now.”
    Tori teared up. She couldn’t read it aloud. “Tissues, please!” she barely got out.
    Sam ran for tissues while Hayley leaned over Tori’s shoulder and described the gift to the crowd. “Aww, that’s so sweet, Liz.”
    Several people joined in with “Aww.”
    Tori held the picture to her heart and smiled at her friend. “I’m framing this,” she told her.
    Liz picked up her napkin and dabbed at her eyes. She waved her hand at the bag. “Keep going. There’s one more.”
    Tori reached inside and drew out another tissue-wrapped bundle with one more note. “‘Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!’” Tori rolled her eyes and grinned. So much for trying to convince Liz there was no baby coming soon. She unrolled a piece of cloth to find a cute baby rattle. Unfolding the cloth, she found a hand painted baby bib. Amid the colorful pictures it read, “I love Aunt Liz.”
    Tori laughed and held it up for people to see. “Thank you, but don’t be offended if I don’t use it for a couple of years,” she said to Liz.
    Her friend shrugged. “The best laid plans…”
    Sam took Liz’s gifts and carefully fit everything back in the bag. Then Lexie handed her more presents. Tori remembered what her mom said and made sure everyone could tell how much she loved everything.
    There were handmade Christmas ornaments with their names and wedding date, a set of four hand-tatted lace doilies shaped like snowflakes, a satin bathrobe that was definitely not for staying warm, and so much more.
    Or less, depending on how you looked at it. Hayley gave her a barely-there teddy from Victoria’s Secret. “Really, Hayley,” Tori said loudly so everyone could hear. “You couldn’t give me something like this in private?” Then she leaned over and hugged her. “It’s beautiful, thank you.”
    “Just don’t tell me anything more