Note: This is a muiltipart story that focuses in the early part on character development, before it gets to the sexier parts. Bear with it, however, and I promise you will be rewarded in the end.
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Part 1
"Whumpf."
"Whumpf."
The sound of breaking glass was muffled by the heavy linen napkins wrapped around each of the wine glasses. As the couple embraced and kissed following their two-glass ceremony, shouts of "Mazel Tov!" were heard around the room. Amanda smiled, and a tear formed in the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek as she watched them kissing just a few feet away. Before she could dab it with the tissue she had ready in her hand, the tear rolled off her cheek and on to her matron of honor dress.
Amanda had known Ellyn for over 30 years, having grown up with her in a small town in New England. She was about the only person from her childhood that Amanda had stayed in touch with over the years, through college -- even though they attended colleges that were hundreds of miles apart -- and later, as they became adults, and went out into the workforce. Others she had drifted apart from, but Ellyn had been a constant in her life. Even though they sometimes didn't see each other for a couple of years, they were always in touch via regular letters and phone calls, and later, through email and IMing. She and Ellyn each would describe their relationship with the other using a term the young girls of today used, as "BFFs" -- best friends forever. No topic was off limits, as they shared with each other their problems, questions, triumphs, and tribulations that arose at the various stages of life.
The couple pulled apart from each other and turned to face the audience, both of them smiling broadly. Some people started to clap, but others knew enough not to do so as it would be a serious breach of protocol in the synagogue. Amanda, who though not Jewish was fairly familiar with Jewish traditions because of her long friendship with Ellyn, had nonetheless been briefed by Ellyn's mother at the rehearsal dinner the night before as to what the ceremony would entail and how she should act.
The couple started back down the aisle, trailed by Ellyn's young niece and nephew who were performing the role of flower girl and ring bearer. Amanda and the best man followed next, walking slowly arm in arm. Amanda had met Josh for the first time at the rehearsal dinner; he seemed nice enough, a professor like her husband Phil.
When they were discussing the wedding plans, Phil had suggested that Amanda go to the wedding herself, volunteering to stay home with the girls so that Amanda could have a good time without worrying about them. The spring semester was over so it was easy for him to work from home and take care of them while she was gone. "Go ahead, it will be more fun for you," he had said. After first putting up a fight, Amanda quickly backed down and realized he was right.
As she walked down the aisle, looking at Ellyn's back, Amanda smiled to herself. She never thought she'd be doing this, seeing Ellyn get married, and she was so happy for her that she finally did. Ellyn had of course been the maid of honor at Amanda's wedding ten years earlier, and it brought Amanda great pride and pleasure to be able to return the favor. Another tear of joy rolled down her cheek, Amanda quickly reaching up to catch it this time with the balled-up tissue she still had in her hand. As she dabbed at the tear, she glanced discreetly over her shoulder and saw the two sets of parents and the remaining members of the wedding party, the bridesmaids Sue and Angie, following along.
The wedding party climbed into their limos in order to make a beeline for the country club where the reception was to be held. When Ellyn had decided to get married, she had insisted on having a very traditional wedding, with -- as she described it -- "a big fucking, kick ass party." She had waited long enough to get married and didn't want to be denied any of the pleasures associated with the event. Amanda knew that they were rushing in order to have time for the formal wedding pictures to be taken by the photographer at the club. They didn't want to leave the guests hanging around at the bar too long before the wedding party made their entrance into the club's ballroom. Luckily it was a beautiful June day in Boston, and the outdoor pictures would likely come out beautifully.
Amanda was in a limo with Josh, Sue, and Angie for the short ride to the country club. She knew Sue, as she too was a childhood friend of Ellyn's, though Amanda had never been very friendly with her and had only seen her once, at their tenth high school reunion, since their graduation. She was pleasant enough, though, and had seemed to have made a nice life for herself living in the suburbs of Boston with her husband and two young children.
Like Josh, Amanda had just met Angie at the rehearsal dinner, but she knew quite a bit about her. Angie and Ellyn had been roommates freshman year in college, and had remained close friends ever since. Somehow, though, Amanda had never had a chance to meet her until this weekend. But Ellyn had told her all about Angie over the years. She was Ellyn's "wild friend," the one who took her on adventurous vacations, crazy bar-hopping excursions in Boston, or shopping trips to the funkiest shops in the city. Ellyn often joked about the contrast between Amanda and Angie, reminding Amanda on numerous occasions that "even though your names are so close in the alphabet, you couldn't be more different -- but I love you both!"
When Amanda first heard this, she was a little insulted. She certainly wouldn't describe herself as "wild," but she did like to think that she knew how to have a good time. She realized that in part Ellyn drew the contrast between the two of them because of the choices that Amanda had made. She had married Phil, who had been her college sweetheart, right after graduation and she had worked in advertising to support him as he attended graduate school. Toward the end of his doctoral studies they had their first daughter, and three months later, Amanda went back to work. A year later Phil gained a faculty job at a small college in the Midwest, and their second daughter followed two years after that. After this child, Amanda stopped working as they could afford to live in their small town on Phil's salary alone. So Amanda settled into life as a faculty wife and mother, a role that she very much enjoyed.
Amanda didn't miss working, focusing her life on supporting Phil and the girls. She didn't neglect her own needs though, and made sure that she had friends in town with whom she could spend time. She also took vacations with her family, and even managed to get off on her own every now and then to come to Boston to visit Ellyn. But sitting back in the limo and glancing over at Angie, Amanda knew that Ellyn was absolutely right -- there was no way you could compare her life with Angie's.
The limos pulled up to the country club, and the wedding party piled out and assembled on the back lawn for their photographs. Thankfully, the weather was not too warm, nice enough that nobody was complaining as the photographer moved them to and fro in order to get the poses and groupings she wanted.
As she glanced at the other women in their fancy dresses she found herself a little envious. Unlike her, they all were single and even though in their mid-30s, had all maintained a fairly trim figure. She, on the other hand, showed the ravages of being a middle-aged woman who had given birth twice. She still considered herself attractive, but over the course of the two pregnancies had put on a fair amount of weight, some of which had not come off. She was what Ellyn liked to jokingly refer to as "zoftig" or "Rubenesque." She had very nice curves, large breasts (they didn't get much smaller after breastfeeding both girls) and a nice round ass, though she had managed to maintain a small waist. Even though she was short, just over five feet tall, she carried the weight pretty well, and she did notice every now and then when she'd get admiring glances from men who obviously appreciated curvy women. Nevertheless, she was still admiring of the thin figures the other women still had.
Everybody was laughing throughout as their pictures were taken, having a great time joking with each other. Just as the ring bearer and flower girl got tired and started pouting that they were hungry and tired of being outside, the photographer proclaimed that she had enough good shots, and the group made their way inside the country club where the rest of the guests had by then arrived and had settled in to enjoy the open bar and hors d'oeuvres.
Everybody but the wedding couple went into the ballroom to join the crowd. The band leader -- Ellyn had insisted on a big, 10-piece band, "no stinking DJ at my wedding" she had declared -- wrapped up the song they were playing and prepared to announce the newly-married couple to the group.
"Ladies and gentleman," he began, "please join me in welcoming, for the first time, Ms. Ellyn Stern and Ms. Rachel Groton!" People broke out in applause as Ellyn and her bride made their way into the ballroom, smiles flashing wide, as the band started playing again. As Amanda looked at the two of them, she too smiled, ecstatic at how happy she knew Ellyn was. She chuckled to herself, thinking, "Well, Ellyn's certainly getting that big Jewish wedding she always wanted, though probably not the one she thought it would be when she was little."
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Ellyn had come out to Amanda when they were in college. Like most girls when they were growing up, each of them had a succession of boyfriends in high school, attending proms and homecoming dances with boys, and doing all the things teenagers do during that stage of their lives. Ellyn never seemed to get very serious with any of them, however, and as soon as a boy got serious about her, she'd drop him. Amanda didn't think too much about it at the time. But later, after Ellyn had gone to college in Boston and discovered a world of sexuality not available to them in the small town in which they had grown up, she explained to her friend that she never really enjoyed being with the boys in high school. She went along, because that's what everybody did to fit in. In college, though, she got involved in women's organizations, and quickly realized that she was attracted to women. During her sophomore year she started dating one, and when Amanda visited her that spring, Ellyn introduced the woman to Amanda and came out as a lesbian.
