“Well, Harry is at home nursing a sprained ankle. He stepped off the patio and just rolled it the wrong way this morning. Doc says it’s not broken, but he has to stay off of it for a few days. That man hates to be lazy, so I expect I’ll see him up and about by the time I get home,” she said with a laugh.
“Come sit down and tell us all about your adventures these past few months,” Meg said, patting the chair next to her. Dixie sat down and smiled.
“Okay, but let’s pile our plates high with food first. I haven’t had a home cooked meal in ages!”
As they laughed and passed dishes of food around, Julie swore she could feel her heart literally warming up in her chest. For her whole life, she’d imagined a family like this. Well, maybe not exactly like this, but this was better.
She had everyone in the world that she loved sitting at one table. Dawson, her daughters, her sister, her mother. And Dixie, her extra mother, as she called her. She just never said it around SuAnn because that would’ve been a recipe for disaster.
When she let her mind go back to those years of marriage to Michael, it almost scared her to think of what her life would be like if he hadn’t destroyed their family. At the time, she’d thought it was the worst thing that had ever happened to her, but now she wouldn’t trade this new life for anything.
“So, where’s the first place you and Harry went?” Janine asked as she took a bite of her salad, the loud crunch of cucumber echoing down the table.
“Well, we went to Gulf Shores, Alabama first. Nice area. Beautiful water and white sandy beaches. Then, we made our way over to New Orleans for a few days. What a hoot!”
“You didn’t get on one of those balconies and flash somebody, did you?” William asked, looking at her speculatively.
“As much as I’d love some of those beaded necklaces, I didn’t want to get arrested. Besides, if I took these old girls out of my bra, they’d splat right on the ground!” Dixie roared with laughter as William put his face in his hands.
Julie couldn’t help but laugh too. Dixie had the best sense of humor of anyone she’d ever known. And the filter between her brain and mouth was missing completely.
“I feel your pain,” SuAnn mumbled under her breath.
“Mom, don’t you start too,” Janine said with a chuckle. “We don’t need y’all comparing bosom issues.”
“Bosom?” Meg said, rolling her eyes and laughing. Vivi wiggled beside her in the highchair that Julie kept at her house.
“Anyway… Dixie, tell us more about your trip,” Dawson interjected. Julie smiled at him appreciatively.
“We just had the best time, I tell ya. We went as far west as Vegas, in fact,” she said, looking down at her plate before taking a big bite of her yeast roll.
“Oh yeah? Did you do any gambling?” Colleen asked.
“Just some slots when we first got there. We actually parked the RV and stayed in a fancy shmancy hotel one night. They had a beautiful buffet and this great waterfall thing out front.”
“Sounds very nice, Dixie,” SuAnn said.
“It was. And they had a lovely honeymoon suite with a heart shaped bed and jacuzzi tub. Really helped my sciatica.”
“Honeymoon suite? Why would you stay there? Was that all they had left?” William asked, staring at her.
“No. We, um… we chose it.”
“Sounds like they just needed a little romantic getaway, William,” Janine said, poking him in the side and grinning. “Sounds fabulous to me.”
Julie noticed that Dixie wasn’t looking up, and she seemed nervous. “Are you okay, Dixie? Do you need your medicine?”
Dixie shook her head and looked up slightly. “No, it’s not that.”
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
She sucked in a long breath and blew it out slowly, before reaching into her pocket for something. Julie watched as she slid a gold band on her finger and held it up. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as every person around the table realized at once that Dixie had gotten married.
“We got hitched,” she said softly, a reserved look on her face.
“What?” William said. Nobody else spoke or congratulated her, worried that William wasn’t going to react well.
“We got married, son,” she said, finally looking at him. “Harry is now my husband.”
The silence was deafening, nobody knowing what to say or do until William made the first move. After all, he probably never expected his mother to remarry, especially since she’d said she wouldn’t ever get married again. Johnny had been her one true love.
William put his napkin on the table and stood up, walking over to the window and looking out for a brief moment before finally coming back to the table. He stood next to his mother. “And I missed it?”
“It was very spur of the moment, William. We didn’t plan this, I promise.” She stood up, holding onto the chair, her nerves very apparent.
Slowly, a big smile spread across William’s face. “I’m so happy for you, Mom!”
Julie swore she could hear everybody let out a collective sigh of relief as excitement and congratulations permeated the room. William pulled Dixie into a warm embrace.
“You mean you’re okay that I got married again?” she asked, incredulously, as she looked up at him.
“Of course! Mom, I’ve wanted you to have a second chance at love most of my adult life. This is amazing news! I wish Harry was here to share in the celebration.”
“Me too, son, me too,” she said, as her eyes filled with tears. “I wasn’t sure if I’d even tell y’all today, but I’m sure glad I did!”
Everybody took turns hugging her until they finally all sat back down. Dixie proudly displayed her new wedding ring and regaled them with stories of her recent traveling adventures.
Julie didn’t know why her news was so surprising. This was how her Sunday dinners always went. There was never a dull moment with her crew, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Janine reached her arms high into the air and then swept forward, her head hanging as her hands rested on the hardwood floor. She loved forward hangs. They allowed the tension that built up in her neck to release after a long day of teaching.
People often assumed that she, as a yoga teacher, would live a stress free lifestyle, but nothing could have been further from the truth. She loved having her studio, but managing the business sometimes wore her down. William helped, but she didn’t want to rely on him, especially since he was so busy with his own new business lately.
She missed having frequent date nights, like they used to do before he started working so much. She would often find him sitting in the town square, working furiously on his laptop. But, he didn’t seem happy. He seemed stressed, tense and worried much of the time, and that worried her.
“Long day?” she heard him say from behind as he walked into the studio.
“Every day is a long day, but you know I love it,” she said, smiling as she pulled him into a hug. Burying her head in his chest at the end of her work day was one of her favorite things.
“I know you do.”
They stood there for a moment before she pulled back and looked up at him. “What’s up?”