Magic on Changeling Mountain

“Hey, do you have a guest book?” Tammy asked.

“No! Oh, my goodness, we are definitely going to have to go to Asheville!”

“Oh and something else I want to do for you is print out the RSVP cards. The printer will charge you big bucks to print them but they come in really handy when you have to do the thank you cards. I remember going to someone’s wedding that had them and I thought then that it must have made the process so much easier for people letting you know if they were coming or not.” Tammy said.

“Yeah, I started to order that when we ordered the invitations but it would have been an additional two hundred dollars! Hey, I just thought of something. Who are we going to get to sit at the welcome table? I mean someone needs to be there to greet guests and make sure the presents are accounted for and the card box, which we still need to make, is watched over.” Carolyn said.

“Do you have any cousins that might be able to do it?” Tammy asked.

“Hmmm. I’m not sure. Maybe my mom has an idea. Remind me to ask her later on.” Carolyn said as she pushed up off the sofa. She went to the bathroom and took some more Midol before returning to the living room.

The phone rang as she passed it and she picked up. “Hello?”

“Hi Dr. Masters. It’s Cindy. You called?” Cindy greeted her.

“Oh hey, Cindy. Yes. I wanted to let you know the date we have decided on and want to make sure that you are going to be able to get here. We’ve decided on April 4th. We have the rehearsal on the 2nd at 6 pm.” Carolyn said.

“Oh wonderful. That will work perfectly for me. We get out for spring break that week. I’ve actually already made arrangements to come home the Friday before that.” Cindy replied.

“Great. So how are things going there?” Carolyn said. “Why aren’t you in class right now?”

“Things are good. I have a 3 hour break before my next class so I came back to my room to study. I’ve found that studying during the day is better than trying to do it at night here. Too many parties going on in the dorm. Besides, I have to work tonight.”

“Well, I won’t keep you from your studies so I’ll let you go. But make sure you let me know when you get home.” Carolyn said and then hung up. She went into the kitchen and made herself another cup of tea and then returned to the sofa.

“Oh, lord, I feel like crap! These cramps are really zapping the energy out of me. I feel a nap coming on.” Carolyn said.

“Why don’t I go and let you rest then. Stuart is going to come over as soon as he gets off of work and we’re going to Ruby Tuesday’s to have dinner. Want me to bring you something so you don’t have to cook?” Tammy offered.

“No. I rarely feel like eating anything more than soup and chocolate when I’m having mine.” Carolyn grinned. “And I bought a whole bag of chocolate bars at the supermarket the other day.”

“Hahahahaha! You had better go easy on the chocolate or you’ll never fit into that gorgeous wedding gown.” Tammy laughed at her.

“I promise not to eat more than half the bag then!” Carolyn laughed with her.

Tammy left not long after that and Carolyn decided to take a shower and go lay down for a while. She texted Colin to let him know she was going to take a nap and to call or text her when he was heading her way. A few minutes later, he texted that it would be a couple of hours before he left since his parents had asked to have a few things done there before he returned the bobcat.

“My mom wants a new burn hole dug and my dad said he wants to level out the driveway right in front of the house and to expand the parking area. He’s talking about pouring a platform for a garage.” He texted back.

“Sounds like maybe they are thinking of moving back here?” Carolyn texted back.

“Maybe someday but the garage is something my dad has talked about doing for years but just never completed. Maybe they are hoping we will move in up here.” Colin replied.

“Maybe someday.” Carolyn texted back.

“Go lie down and get some rest. Love you!”

“Love you too.” Carolyn replied, then plugged her phone in to charge. She always kept it next to her bed, in case of emergencies. Knowing that Colin was going to be coming over kept her from falling into a deep sleep but she dozed off and on for the next couple of hours.

The cramps weren’t helping her rest either and she had to get up twice to go to the bathroom. About half an hour before Colin called to say he was on his way over, she finally gave up and got up. She got her heating pad, turned on the TV and curled up on the sofa to wait for him to come.

About half way through the movie she had found, Colin called to say that he was on his way and wanted to know if she wanted anything to eat. “Sure but you decide and surprise me.” She said as she smiled into the phone. She wondered what he would come up with and guessed it would be either pizza or burgers. She was pleasantly surprised when he showed up with fried chicken with the works.

“Oh wow! I was expecting burgers and fries or a pizza. This is great! I’ve been eating soup so much I feel like my stomach is made out of liquid. Crampy liquid.” She said as another cramp took hold of her stomach and she made a face as she stumbled back to the sofa.

“Oh babe. I hate to see you in so much pain. Is there anything I can do?” Colin said in sympathy. He could smell her scent and it was turning him on. He tried to keep his libido under control as he moved to sit next to her on the sofa and put his arm around her.

“No, it will be better tomorrow. Thankfully it’s only really bad the first day.” Carolyn said as she leaned her head on his shoulder and curled into his side. It might not have done much to ease her stomach but it sure was comforting to know that he was there to support her.

“What are you watching here?” Colin asked, trying to distract himself from her scent.

“Old Yeller. It was the only show on that wasn’t sports or a talk show.” Carolyn said.

“Oh it’s always so sad when he has to shoot the dog.” Colin said and then his stomach growled.

“Someone is hungry. Let me get us some plates.” Carolyn said and started to get up from the sofa.

“No, you stay here. I’ll get it.” Colin said as he reached out and pulled her back and then pushed himself off of the sofa and walked into the kitchen. He stood looking around and wondered where her plates were kept. He opened one cabinet and then another as he looked for plates.

“They are in the one to the right of the sink. Utensils are in the drawer just below it.” Carolyn tried not to laugh as she watched him.

“Ok. I found them.” He said as he took two of everything and carried them over to the table where he had left the food. Carolyn stood up and came to the table and started taking the food out of the bag.

“Wow, you got some of everything.” Carolyn said as she started opening containers.

They enjoyed a nice meal together and enjoyed spending time alone but her scent was driving Colin mad and an hour or so later, he finally made his excuses to leave.

“Oh, hey, did you get the invitations?” Carolyn asked as she started to kiss him goodbye. She knew he was just making excuses to go because she knew he could smell her and it was making him edgy. They both couldn’t wait for the day when that would not be an issue anymore.

“Yeah, they are out in the car. Hang on and I’ll go get them.” Colin said as he pulled on his coat. He went out and retrieved the boxes of invitations and envelopes. He ran them back to the house and she was waiting for him at the door. He handed them over but didn’t come back inside.

“Do you have to run away so soon?” Carolyn asked as she took them from him.

“If I don’t go now, I’m not going to be held responsible for what’s going to happen. Your scent has me climbing the wall.” Colin said, honest bluntness causing her to blush which made him moan as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him.

“Oh girl, the next month had better go by fast because I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” He said before he kissed her hard.

By the time he let her go, Carolyn was light headed and wasn’t sure her knees were going to hold her up as Colin turned and left, noticeably unsteady on his feet, as he held onto the rail to go down the steps. He had a rather bowlegged walk as he walked back to his jeep and got in.

Carolyn hugged herself as she danced around the room until another cramp began and she returned to the sofa and her heating pad.

The next morning, Tammy called about 9 am to ask if they were still going to do the invitations or not. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Cramps are almost gone and actually I feel pretty good. I’ve been up for a couple of hours, had a shower and breakfast, took a quick run down to the clinic and left a note for Randy of things I want him to do today and I wish I could go take a run but with so many strange new residents on the mountain, I don’t want to take a chance with any of the gathering realizing that it’s my time of the month so I’m staying close to the cottage.”

“That’s great. I was just wondering if you felt up to doing the invitations today. I’ve got the note cards all printed and I’ve even printed your address labels for the return envelopes.”

“Yes, definitely. Oh and my mom said not to worry about lunch, she’s going to bring it.”

“Great. As soon as my 10 o’clock appointment leaves, I’ll be over and looking forward to lunch.” Tammy said and then hung up.

Carolyn made sure she had sodas, made a pitcher of tea and defrosted a can of apple juice that she could mix up later. She found pens for them to write with and because she was antsy and needed something to do with her hands, she typed her wedding list into her computer and printed out several copies.

With that done and a look at the clock, she knew her mother and Sarah would be showing up soon and then they could get started. Informing everyone she knew of their wedding, seemed to make it real and she felt like she had a thousand butterflies in her stomach and she was so excited to set the wheels in motion.

Angela and Sarah showed up on Daniel’s truck about 10:45 am with Tammy only a few minutes behind them. Everyone decided to have lunch first and then get to work on the invitations. Angela had made her vegetable lasagna and Sarah insisted on getting the recipe and Tammy seconded her.

“This is absolutely fabulous, Angela! I’ve had good lasagna before but this beats them all hands down! I can’t believe that there’s no meat in here.” Sarah gushed.

“We had a good year on eggplant and zucchini this year and so far, I’ve managed to sell some of it so I bought some fresh from the supermarket. The Pence’s brought us a bunch of cheese, that if I don’t use it, it’s going to go bad. Some people say that mold enhances the taste of cheese but I personally prefer it pre-mold!” Angela replied and everyone nodded their agreement.

As soon as lunch was over, Angela insisted on cleaning up their dishes while the rest of them got to work on the invitations. Carolyn looked at the RSVP cards Tammy had created and she was very pleased. “This will give us a good head count of how many people we need to provide food for. I’m kind of hoping that some people we are not really close to will decide not to come so that we can cut down on the expenses.” Carolyn confided.

“Well, if you need to cut it down, now is the time to do it. We can just not invite some of them.” Angela offered. She had included every family member from both sides of their family, which was quite extensive.

“How about instead of inviting the whole family, you put it down to just Mr. & Mrs. and leave it to them to tell you how many will be attending? Children rarely eat all of the food the caterer will put on each plate and you end up with a lot of waste. Then you can either contact them saying it’s an adult only gathering or that you have limited seating available. Some people will back out but most will enjoy having an adult gathering to go to and will find a babysitter, if needed.”

“Well, let me look at the list again.” Carolyn said. She ran her finger down the list and actually had to ask who several of the entries were. Angela explained who they were and how they were related and then added, “I only invited them because we always receive invitations from them, which I don’t think we’ve gone to even one of their gatherings.”

“Mrs. Noble, have you come up with anyone else that you would like to invite?” Carolyn asked.

“Our list is only family and while I would like for them to get an invitation, I doubt if most of them will come since they live so far away.” Sarah said. Her list only consisted of 15 names, some of them Carolyn even recognized.

“Well, that brings the total up to 225 people. At least we have decided to do lunch instead of dinner. There is no way I could afford to do a sit down dinner for 250 people. The guest list is only for people who are not in the actual wedding and while I doubt if I will be able to eat anything before the wedding, I for one will be ready to eat by the time everything is over and I’ll want more than cake and cookies and punch.”

“Where is the menu from the caterers? Maybe we can pare it down some and that will help save some money.” Angela said. Carolyn produced the menu and together they all went over it and decided on soup, salad and sandwiches instead of the chicken and fish they were originally considering. “Wow, what they want for chicken and fish! That is outrageous! How about we have several vegetable platters as well? Most of the people coming will be vegetarians anyway.” Angela said and everyone agreed that would be the best alternative.

“I’ve told you before and I’ll say it again, you should find out about patenting your recipe for your lasagna, freeze and sell it.” Sarah told Angela.

“Well, I have to admit that while it’s still edible for a little while after it’s been frozen but if you don’t eat it within a few weeks, it begins to get really soggy and in my opinion no longer edible. I rarely make really big batches of it just so that I won’t have left overs for that very reason.”

“Mom, you know as well as I do that the whole family loves it so much that, truth be told, it’s never been left in your freezer for that long because it gets eaten up.” Carolyn told them. “But this is great! I like this better than what we had originally talked about and considering the deposit I put down, it will be almost all paid for. We didn’t tell them any menu specifically but if everyone agrees, and I do want to include Colin in the final decision and if he agrees, I’ll call them tomorrow and tell them what we have decided. I wonder if we will get an additional discount if we agree to do the clean up?”

“I doubt it because they will still have to deal with the dirty dishes.” Tammy said.

“Yeah, I guess you are right.” Carolyn said.

They finished addressing all the envelopes and had everything all stuffed by 4 pm. Now, Carolyn could take them to the post office and mail them out tomorrow. A glance at the clock told Angela that it was getting close to dinner time and she said “Well, ladies, as much fun as this has been, I’d better get home and start dinner. Anyone coming with me?”

“No, I told Colin I would wait for him here.” Sarah said.

“Thanks for all your help, mom.” Carolyn said as she stood up to hug her mother.

Tammy hung out with Carolyn and Sarah until Colin showed up about an hour later.

“So did you ladies get all of the invitations stuffed?” He asked after greeting everyone.

“Yes and do you think you could get them to the post office in the morning?” Carolyn asked.

“Sure. No problem.” Colin said.

“We also got to talking about the menu and we all think that we should do a soup, sandwich and salad menu with vegetable platters instead of the fish and chicken. Very few people actually eat that heavy during the middle of the day and it will cut your expenses way down.” Sarah told him. “What do you think?”

Colin looked at Carolyn who smiled at him and he said “That’s fine by me, if that’s what Carolyn wants.”

“Smart answer.” Tammy teased. “Remember that phrase all through your life and you will have a happy marriage.”

“I know but in this case, it’s totally true.” Colin grinned. “I don’t want to be over full on my wedding night anyway.”

“Ok, that’s my cue to tell you to take me home.” Sarah laughed, and everyone joined her in laughter.

Colin helped his mother with her coat and then they grabbed the boxes of invitations and left.

Tammy turned to Carolyn and said “So what are you up to this evening?”

“Absolutely nothing. What about you? Is Stuart coming over?”

“No, he goes on when Colin goes off this week. Man, I sure do hope the town council approves them hiring more guys and soon. These shifts suck! It’s really hard to have a personal life when they have to pull these long shifts.”

“I know what you mean. I don’t mean to sound like I begrudge Colin the time with his parents, even though they are making silent noises about moving back here, but it’s really cutting into our time together. We are getting married in a month and I think I can count on my fingers how many days we’ve managed to spend whole days together since we got engaged.”

“Well at least tonight he won’t come around not because of them but because it’s your time of the month.”

“True. Anyway, back to what we are going to do tonight. How about we eat leftovers and watch a movie?”

“Sure. So do you really think his parents might move back here?” Tammy asked as she stood up to follow Carolyn into the kitchen. Together, they warmed up the leftover lasagna and Tammy channel surfed the cable guide for a movie to watch. There was nothing that either of them wanted to watch so they decided to play cards and went to bed early.

Carolyn, for once, was up before Tammy the next morning. She turned on the coffee pot and then looked outside. She was surprised but glad to see that the snow was beginning to melt and that there were patches of dirt or rather mud showing up in her yard. She had been thinking about going for an early morning run but she hated when it was wet and muddy. Probably the cat in her.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and was just adding cream and sugar when Tammy put in an appearance. “Good morning.” She told Tammy.

“If you say so.” Tammy replied as she headed for the coffee pot.

“Uh-oh. Didn’t you sleep well?”

“No, not really. Kept having weird dreams that made absolutely no sense. I feel edgy and I’ve got a headache that feels like my brain is leaking out of my ears.”

“Ouch. Here take two of these, go take a hot shower and then lay down for a while with your feet up. It should help.”

“Thanks but I think I’m going home. That way you don’t have to tiptoe around while I’m trying to get rid of this.”

“Up to you but you know you are welcome to stay here.”

“I know and thanks. I’m going to go get my clothes and head home.” She stood up and went down the hall, gathered her clothes and came back into the living room, still dressed in her night shirt. She told Carolyn that she would call her later and then apparated home. Carolyn felt bad for her but knew that there wasn’t much more she could do. In the meantime, she decided to clean her cottage and got busy. She stripped the beds and then started laundry. She cleaned the bathroom, dusted all of the furniture and then swept and mopped the entire cottage.

She turned on her computer and checked her email and then Facebook. She was caught up on her patient records and even all her bills were paid so she shut it down and tried to think of anything else that needed to be done around the house. She decided to go clean out the lint trap in the dryer vent outside. Soon it would be spring and she would be able to get outside and start working in her yard again. She was hoping to put in some new flower beds, knowing that Foster and the other fairies would make them look spectacular.

That simple chore done, she went back in the house and added the small amount of lint to the baggie where she was saving for the fairies.