Volume 20 - Grand Finale, Chapter 153 - Big Plans

"Hello? Yuisu Nakahara speaking," Yuisu said through a yawn. She'd been awake for an hour, but she had stayed up too late the night before. When her days were full of wedding preparations and work at the Inn, late at night was her only time to spend with Haru.

"Good morning, Yuisu. This is Korbin," said the voice on the phone.

"Oh, what's up, Korbin?"

"I should be asking you that. I heard you're working on some big plans for a big day."

Yuisu's eyebrows scrunched together. "Where'd you hear about that?"

"A little centaur told me," he said, his grin nearly audible. "I hope that's not a problem."

Yuisu let out a breath. She didn't want the news spreading too much before she got the invitations sent out, but Korbin having advance knowledge wasn't an issue. "No, that's fine. We are indeed planning our wedding for January 14th."

Nine days left, and so much to do, Yuisu thought. Invitations will go out today, by email and phone since physical mail's too slow, and wedding dresses are already purchased, but the remaining work is a bit overwhelming.

Korbin asked, "Have you picked a venue yet?"

"Nope. Before the sudden change in timeline, our plan was to do it outdoors, in the spring." She didn't need to explain that holding the ceremony outside in the mountains in January wasn't realistic.

"How about the ski lodge? We've got a banquet hall you can rent."

Yuisu almost replied 'That's a bit out of our price range' before she remembered that the Exchange Program was footing the bill. There was still a price limit, but she was sure Korbin could be talked into a discount if the Program got stingy.

Instead she said, "That actually sounds great. Agent Will's handling the wedding finances, so I can put him touch with you."

"Don't worry about it. I already have his number since he's Rosty's Coordinator."

"Oh, of course. Thanks so much for offer. It's a huge help." If Korbin hadn't suggested the lodge, Haru and Yuisu likely would have gone with a less impressive meeting hall or church in town, that is if such a place would even accept a human-liminal lesbian couple. The law had changed due to pressure from the Exchange Program, regular citizens, and international governments, but the culture of Japan was still quite conservative.

"I'm always happy to do business with you. I'll let you get back to your preparations now. Have a good day, Yuisu!"

Before she could say goodbye, Korbin had already hung up. Sometimes that man moved a little too fast. Not that Yuisu could talk. Nine days left…

"Chione! You're finally awake!" Mara cheered as she bounced from one set of legs to the other. She had a piece of printed paper in one hand but it was moving around too fast to tell what was written on it.

Chione yawned and shuffled into the kitchen, her hair a mess and her eyes half closed. "Yeah, I'm awake. What's up, Mara?"

Mara paused her bouncing and skittered up behind Chione, to where she'd spotted a small wardrobe malfunction. The back of Chione's skirt was stuck under its elastic band, revealing the big teddy bear face on her panties.

"Oops, let me fix this for you real quick," Mara said as she deftly plucked the skirt free and covered Chione's remarkably perky butt.

"Huh? Oh, thanks, Mara," Chione said. A year ago she would have been painfully embarrassed by such a situation, but all the positive attention Actia had lavished on Chione had given her more confidence in her body. Additionally, she'd grown very close to Mara and the other women in the house. What was a little panty shot among friends, especially when they often bathed together?

Mara resumed her original mission and said, "I've got a list of wedding invitees right here. I figured we can just drop all the men and we've got our guests for the bachelorette party."

"Our guests?" Chione asked.

"Yes, our guests," Mara said with a smile. "I want you to help plan the party with me. It'll be a nice warm-up for this year's ComicMon preparations."

"Fair point. Let me get some breakfast and we can start on it. Are we keeping the details secret from Haru and Yuisu?"

"Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. They can probably already guess some of the plans, since I also organized Quess and Iormu's party, but I think we should keep it secret anyway. One less thing for them to have to worry about when they've got so much on their plate already."

While Chione ate her 7pm 'breakfast', she and Mara planned out the bachelorette party and booked the venue. The date had to be January 12th so there would be a full day between it and the wedding to let everyone recover from potential hangovers. Luckily, the Wild Life nightclub's back room was available that night, and Chione even saved them some money with her employee discount. Unlike the wedding ceremony, the Exchange Program wouldn't be footing this bill.

"How about these ones?" Yuisu asked, pointing at a vase of white flowers that each had four large petals with smaller green leaves between. "They're so pretty."

Haru took a look and answered, "Hmm, I like them, but we don't want too much white. Remember what color we'll be wearing."

Quess stepped up and said, "Good instincts, Haru. I've got a plan that will fix that." She stretched her arms behind the flower shop's counter and grabbed a vase in each hand, both filled with beautiful and fragrant roses. One group was a mix of standard pink and red, but the other vase held very unusual pale green roses.

She held them up for Haru and Yuisu to consider. "These roses could add a splash of color to go with those Kousa dogwood flowers you like. The white, pink, red, and green would give you a gentle pastel vibe suitable for a winter wedding. The combination would work well on the arbor as a beautiful backdrop for the ceremony without stealing the show."

Yuisu blinked at Quess and said, "Wow, you really know your stuff. Have you provided flowers for lots of weddings?"

Quess's translucent cheeks turned a deeper pink than normal. "Only a couple, but I've done some research into complementary color schemes and wedding decoration. I need to be ready for any business opportunities that come my way, now that I've got a family to care for."

Haru nodded. "In any case, I really like that idea." She turned to her fiance. "Yuisu?"

"I love it. Let's go with those for the arbor and any other static decorations. Do we want anything else, like a bouquet to toss?"

Haru fidgeted a little then said, "I think I'd like some flowers in my hair, to keep from being too monochrome."

Yuisu smiled. Haru was adorable when she was unsure of herself. "Good idea. Quess, got any suggestions?"

"Oh yes. I've got a book full of hairpiece designs. Pick a style you like and I can make it out of any flowers in the shop." Quess waved Haru over to a large glossy-paged photo book and they started to browse.

Not wanting to be in the way, Yuisu wandered the shop and admired all the beautiful flowers and their calming scents. She was nose-deep in a soft pink lily when a voice called out, "Aunt Yuisu!"

Yuisu pulled back and turned to see a purple-haired slimegirl in a school uniform standing in the doorway. "Pwess! How are you doing today?"

"I'm great!" she said, grinning broadly. "I got to walk here from school all on my own."

"Ooh, how responsible of you. I take it Iormu was busy?"

Pwess bounced up to Yuisu's side and said, "Yep, she needed to finish something for her high school class, and she didn't want to slither here in the cold." Then Pwess scooted up close to Yuisu's side and loudly whispered, "I heard you're getting married?!" The little slime's eyes were wide and sparkling and she was struggling to hold in her excitement.

Yuisu giggled. "We are indeed. Haru and I are here to pick out flowers for the wedding."

Pwess looked around the room for a couple seconds, then said, "Um, do you think… I can be your flower girl?"

Yuisu had been expecting this. Everyone loved seeing Pwess as the adorable flower girl at her parents' wedding, and Pwess seemed to have a great time too. Yuisu said, "Of course you can. I was planning to ask you anyw—"

Pwess interrupted with, "And can Cissu be one too? Please?" She was surprisingly insistent.

That, Yuisu hadn't expected. "Hmm, maybe. Why are you so set on that?"

Pwess frowned. "She's my best friend, but… I don't know how long that will last. She doesn't grow up as fast as I do." She took a deep breath and finished with, "I want to do something special with her, while we're still the same age."

"Aww!" Yuisu pulled Pwess into a tight hug. "You and Cissu can absolutely be our flower girls! And we'll make sure your basket has extra flower petals for you to eat."

Pwess hid her face in Yuisu's shirt in embarrassment. "Auntie Yuisu! I don't need that! I'm not a little kid anymore…"

The next evening, Yuisu stood in the living room, red in the face and stammering. "No way! Not happening, uh-uh, nope. I refuse!"

"Please, Yuisu?" Haru begged, gently holding Yuisu's hands and smiling.

Mara crossed her arms and her pedipalps and stood up tall on her tiptoes. "Yuisu, you're not being reasonable. It isn't fair to leave her out after all she'll be doing for us."

Haru nodded. "And think about how it would hurt her feelings to be excluded…"

Yuisu tried to take a slow breath. She tried to calm herself down, but there was no way she could. She wasn't the one being unreasonable.

She stood her ground and said, "No, we are not inviting my mom to the bachelorette party! She'd be a fish out of water with all the lesbians and liminals, and while she's around I won't be able to cut loose. You know, the whole point of a bachelorette party?"

She stared Haru in the eye and added, "And you saw how lewd she got the last time we were at the Wild Life!"

Mara grinned from ear to ear, her pointed teeth glistening. "All the more reason to bring her!"

Haru flapped a wing in Mara's direction and said, "Let me handle this." Then she returned Yuisu's stare. "Your mother is doing us a huge favor by coming up here early to help with the wedding, a favor that you asked for. And you have to admit it was fun drinking with her last month."

"Sure it was fun, until it was traumatizing. I learned more about her sexual preferences than anyone should know!"

"Yuisu, stop overdramatizing. Kazumi wasn't that bad and I'm sure we'll all have fun with her there." When her plea seemed to have no effect, Haru sighed and used her nuclear option. She said, "Alright, either she gets an invite to the bachelorette party or you have to explain why she isn't invited, to her face. You owe her at least that much."

Mara glanced at her phone and said, "Uh, and you should decide soon. Kazumi's train arrived in Okayado five minutes ago."

The remaining days until the bachelorette party passed in a blur of planning and stress, though it was eased considerably by Kazumi's assistance. And Yuisu eventually did the right thing and invited her mother to the party.

"All done with the caterer," Kazumi said as she closed her flip phone. "Lunch will be delivered to the lodge by 11am, and Korbin's people know to expect it." The living room had become the wedding-planning war room, and Kazumi was in her element with paperwork and schedules all around her.

"Awesome. Thank you again for the help, Miss Nakahara," Haru said with a respectful bow.

"Oh no you don't! I told you to call me Kazumi. When I'm here I'm just one of the girls." She grinned. "And that goes double for tonight. I'm really looking forward to it."

Yuisu turned away and rolled her eyes. As grateful as she was for her mother's help, she still wasn't looking forward to her mother's upcoming shenanigans. With any luck, the sheer number of other women at the bachelorette party would reduce Kazumi's relative impact. If everyone got a little wild, no one would notice Kazumi hitting on every broad-shouldered man she saw, or at least that was Yuisu's hope.

Kazumi reviewed her list of preparations and said, "Perfect, we're right on schedule. We're all clear to leave for the nightclub when the taxi arrives. Are we picking anyone else up on the way?"

Yuisu answered, "Yeah, just Iormu and Quess. I believe Chione and Actia are flying over."

Shortly after, an extra-long limousine pulled into the driveway. Unlike most of the limos that arrived to deliver a wealthy guest to the Inn, this one was there to pick up a group of partygoers. Every resident of the house was invited and they were all able to attend, thanks to Sya filling in at the front desk and thanks to her host for approving the late-night work.

"You're the best, Sya!" Yuisu cheered as she pulled the taller, younger woman into a hug. Yuisu's head barely reached the tiger-girl's chin. "If anything goes wrong, give me a call and I'll take a cab ASAP, or have Haru fly me over if she's sober enough." She turned to Haru and said, "You put that harness in my purse, right?"

As Haru nodded in response to the awkward and easily misinterpreted question, a voice cried out from on top of Mara's head. "Or someone can fly me back. Chione or even Actia could carry me."

"Rem! Are you calling me fat?" Yuisu joked.

Mara joined in, "Well you definitely couldn't ride on top of my head…"

When the giggling finally died down, Sya said, "I'll call you if something comes up that I can't handle, but I'm sure I'll be fine." She waved at all the women filing past the front desk. "Enjoy your night!"

The stretch-Hummer limousine easily accommodated Haru, Yuisu, Kazumi, Mara, Tsuen, Rem, Aluru, and Hakuto. At first Hakuto had wanted to decline the invitation, but the other women assured her she'd have a good time. Even goddesses should cut loose from time to time.

"Okay, maybe not that loose," Tsuen said with a look of concern on her face.

When Rosty had first arrived at the party, she immediately ordered a tray of peppermint schnapps shots, then she and Hakuto downed them all in a goddess-only drinking competition. It ended in a draw, with everyone else wondering how they could both be standing after that much alcohol. Unsatisfied with that conclusion, the Shinto goddesses decided to hold an impromptu dance battle even though they both had zero skill at dancing.

"Hey, they're having fun, and that's what matters," Mara said. She was sitting next to Tsuen on a bench seat with a canned energy drink in one hand.

"Yep," Rem agreed from her seat on the table. She had a straw in a shot glass of light beer and had already gotten tipsy from it. "I think it's great that they got to unwind and not worry about what other people think. Being a goddess must be hard work."

Actia, Chione, and Flare arrived shortly after, as did Mimi. She and Chione had both requested the night off work only to end up at their workplace anyway. It was a strange feeling, trying to relax and get wild when their coworkers were working nearby.

The back room was pretty snug when everyone was present, but they spent far more time out on the dance floor or at the bar. Aluru peeled off from the main group to chat up some liminal ladies that looked single and the romantic couples and trio stuck together in clumps. Rosty and Hakuto, now thoroughly trashed, sat in a corner booth ranting about the difficulties of being gods. Flare and Mimi were hanging at the bar, playing wing-women for each other as they hunted single men.

That left Kazumi to her own devices. She had been looking for a long term relationship, hopefully with kids in its future, since before her previous visit, but she was pretty sure she wasn't going to find that in a liminal nightclub. When long term love wasn't on the menu, why not sample some short term appetizers?

She danced up to a human man who looked perhaps 30 years old. Despite being 40, Kazumi had excellent genes and could pass for 30 on a good night. Tonight was a very good night.

"Hi there, handsome. I'm Kazumi," she said with a flutter of her eyelashes. Her eyes were one of her best features and she knew how to use them.

"Hi Kazumi, I'm handsome," the man replied with a grin. He had beautiful, perfect teeth. It seemed he too liked to open with his best feature. "My name's actually Ken. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. So what brings you here tonight?" she asked, holding eye contact as she shimmied around Ken on the dancefloor.

"Wingmanning for a friend, but it turns out that's pretty hard when your friend's a liminal. I can't be a convincing foil when I can't legally date the ladies he's after." He shrugged. "So here I am, dancing by myself."

"You're not by yourself anymore," Kazumi said with a smile.

"True, true. So how about you? What brought such a lovely lady here, just in time to save me from my lonely dancing?"

"I'm here with a bachelorette party, actually."

"Oh, fun. Are you a bridesmaid perhaps?"

Kazumi almost admitted that she was the mother of a bride, but she caught herself in time. "Nope. And like you, my group's mostly liminals, leaving me on the fringe of things. I don't mind though." She smiled up at him.

"Because it let you meet me?"

"I was going to leave that unspoken, but yes."

Ken chuckled, a deep wholesome sound. "I'm not great at subtlety, apparently. So, what do you do for a living?"

"Secretary for an office building. You?"

"Associate professor at the university. I teach soil science. Boring, I know."

"No, I don't think that's boring. It's brand new territory for me. Want to tell me about it over a drink?"

Ken's cheeks flushed red, barely visible in the dim light of the dancefloor. "Sure."

The other women in the bachelorette group didn't see Kazumi again until dinner was served in the back room. She brought Ken along to meet everyone. He had his arm around her waist and she was grinning broadly. They were both visibly tipsy.

"Hi girls, this is Ken. He asked to be thrown into the deep end, so here he is."

Ken looked around at all the exotic liminal women, a thunderstruck look in his eyes. "That wasn't my exact phrasing, but I guess it works in this case."

Everyone else was sitting at the tables and eating their catered meals, so Kazumi pointed to each girl and introduced them. "This is Haru, Yuisu, Mara, Tsuen, that's Rem on her shoulder, Aluru, Hakuto, Rosty—" She had to pause for a breath. "—Mimi, Flare, Actia, Chione, Quess, and Iormu!"

It was a lot for Ken to take in, at least in his buzzed state, so he only registered maybe half their names. He bowed and said, "It's wonderful to meet you all. So who's the lucky lady getting married?"

"The two of us, actually," Yuisu said, pulling Haru closer.

"Oh, two brides! I heard they were legalizing gay marriage. That's great that you can finally do that. Congratulations!"

Yuisu raised an eyebrow at Kazumi. "C'mon, mom. I'm surprised you didn't at least tell him that much before bringing him to meet us."

"Mom?" Ken said as he tilted his head in confusion. Then he looked closer at Yuisu and back at Kazumi. He couldn't deny the family resemblance.

Kazumi fidgeted. "Uh, yeah, I guess I should have also mentioned that I'm the mother of one of the brides…" She was already preparing herself for the incoming rejection. He couldn't possibly want to hook up with an old woman who had an adult kid.

Ken smiled. "No worries. Allow me to congratulate you, too. You must be so proud!" He squeezed Kazumi's hand, then turned back to Yuisu. "And you should be proud too. Your mom's an amazing dancer!" With that, he tugged on Kazumi's hand and pulled her into the empty space between tables. "Let's show them, Kazumi!"

She felt her face flush so hot she felt like she might burst, but she went with it and showed off some of her best moves. The music wasn't very loud back there but the beat was clear enough to dance to.

Haru nudged Yuisu with an elbow. "He seems nice. And he's a fair bit older than you this time."

Yuisu stuffed a chunk of fried chicken in her mouth and chewed, then finally said, "That's true. Still not sure how to feel about all this. Just because I never had a dad doesn't mean I want a random guy she found at my bachelorette party to fill that role."

"Hey, You got off easy. I'm the one whose mom is dating Agent Will."

"In two days she'll be my mother too." Yuisu paused with another piece of chicken an inch from her mouth. "Oh god, I might end up related to Agent Will…"

"You and me both, girl." Giggling, Haru wrapped a wing around Yuisu's shoulders and said, "I can picture it now… For the rest of our lives, Daddy Will can show up unannounced at our house, make bad jokes and eat our food, and be inexplicably unavailable when we actually need him."

Yuisu covered her ears with her hands and said, "Agh! No more! That's a total nightmare!"