Beautiful Mistakes

ely forgot. I didn't get her anything either."

"I thought you were supposed to send those out sooner than a week. Does she live in Chicago?"

"No, she lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's about a four hour drive," he said on a sigh.

"I didn't even know you had a sister," she told him.

"Yeah, I never see her. She's the baby of the family. She just turned 21 in December and the dumbass is already getting married," he stated, rolling her eyes.

Raising her eyebrows, Julie said, "Has she been engaged long?"

"They dated for less than six months and got engaged. I think they were engaged for about another six months, but… she's really not ready for this. She's the baby, so she's spoiled and the guy… he's kind of weird, he says 'right on' too much, and I don't think he washes his hair."

Frowning, Julie said, "Oh."

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "They don't really meet the maturity level of a married couple. But whatever, it's her life. I've never pretended to understand my siblings."

"So, is that the only other sibling you have?" she asked out of curiosity.

Nodding, he said, "Yeah," and sat the invitation down on the couch.

"May I?" Julie asked, gesturing toward the envelope.

"Knock yourself out," he said.

Picking it up, she read the envelope that said, "Aaron Turner and Guest."

Raising her eyebrows, she said, "You're taking a guest?"

"No," he said, frowning and looking at the envelope. "She just put that there in case hell froze over and I picked up a girlfriend."

Julie laughed a little and said, "You make that sound so far-fetched."

"That's because it is. I'm about as likely to fly my unicorn to the wedding."

"I'd say you having a girlfriend is slightly more likely than the existence of unicorns."

"With my suave charm and winning chivalry?" he asked sarcastically.

"Naturally," she responded, smiling.

He shook his head. "I don't want to go."

"Want me to call you in sick?" she asked.

"Yeah right, my mom will kick your ass. You haven't met my mom, she's a pretty… tough lady," he said, for lack of nicer word.

"Weddings are fun," Julie told him with a smile. "I think you'll be okay."

"Weddings are not fun," he said, giving her a horrified look.

"They're totally fun. I love weddings. You get to eat really bad food and watch people do the chicken dance. The ones with open bars get better as the night progresses."

"If you like weddings so much, you go," he told her. "I'll happily send you in my place."

"I think they might notice you missing. We don't really look alike." Then, looking at the invitation again she said, "Why does this say you have to RSVP by today when we just got it?"

"I'm sure they sent everyone else's out earlier, but since I'm family I don't have a say in whether or not I'm going. You have to call and RSVP and tell them if you want chicken piccata or whatever else they're offering—I don't really know, 'cause I already told my mom I wanted chicken piccata when she called to ask."