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“Max did a great job with the vows, didn’t he?” said Marge, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Yeah, he sure did.”

“What did Max do?” asked Scarlett. “I heard a lot of meowing and figured he was either objecting to the wedding, or suffering some kind of medical emergency.”

“Odelia forgot to bring her vows, so Max played prompter,” Vesta explained.

“That’s amazing,” said Scarlett. “I wish I had a cat like him to whisper to me at those crucial moments when it really counts.”

“What moments? You were never married.”

“Other moments. Important moments.”

“Like what?”

“Like when you’re at the grocery store and you forgot to bring your grocery list.”

“I’d consider that a gross misuse of Max’s talents,” Vesta grunted. “Those cats are far too valuable to use as a mnemonic device at your grocery run. In fact I was thinking that maybe we should get them all insured.”

“Insured?”

“Yeah, like those actresses that get their legs insured, or their lips or their boobs. I think we should get our cats insured. They’re so much more to us than just pets. In fact I don’t think Odelia would be the reporter she is today without the help of those cats.”

“I don’t think anyone in their right mind would insure your cats,” said Scarlett.

“And why not? If Miley Cyrus can get her tongue insured for a million dollars, why can’t Odelia have her cats insured?”

“Can you two just shut up for five seconds?” asked Alec, leaning forward again.

Vesta turned, a fiery rebuke on the tip of her tongue, but then she caught sight of Odelia’s happy face as she did the rounds and hugged each and every member of her family, and her heart warmed and she told her son, “You’re absolutely right, Alec. I’ll shut up from now on.”

The look of surprise on Alec’s face spoke of his utter astonishment.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” she heard him mutter to Charlene.

And it was with a smile of satisfaction that she’d still been able to flummox her offspring that she got up and joined the others in congratulating her granddaughter.

There had been a few hitches along the way, but in the end everything turned out okay.

There was a rush to congratulate the bride and groom, and as Vesta joined the crush, she saw that the cats had all decided to take a few steps back, lest they be overrun or trampled underfoot. So she placed a couple of chairs together, and then beckoned to Max and the others. Gratefully they all hopped onto the makeshift safe place, and as she patted their furry little heads, she said,“You did so well, you guys. I’m proud of you.”

“So can we organize Harriet and Brutus’s wedding now?” asked Dooley.

She laughed, until she realized Dooley was actually serious.“Um, well, let’s see about that later, shall we?” she suggested. “Today is Odelia’s day. Let’s not forget that.”

“Okay, Gran,” said Dooley. And as she turned to join the small throng surrounding the happy couple, she heard him say, “I don’t think you’ll be able to get married today, Harriet.”

“Of course we’re not getting married today, Dooley,” said Harriet, sounding a little peeved. “Do you really think I’d want to be married by some bozo in an Elvis costume?”

Vesta smiled. The bozo in the Elvis costume had done a great job, she thought. After all, it wasn’t the clothes that were important, or the venue, or even the fact that you’d forgotten your little note with your vows scribbled on them. The important thing were the people present: your family and friends. And it was with her crusty old heart overflowing with joy that she pressed a kiss on her granddaughter’s cheek and followed suit with an equally heartfelt smooch on her newly acquired grandson’s cheek.

“Congratulations, sweeties,” she said as she pressed Odelia’s hand and Chase’s both. “You made an old woman very, very happy today.”

“Happy that you’re happy, Vesta,” said Chase.

“Thanks, Gran,” said Odelia, and gave her a bone-crushing hug, then whispered, “I’m glad it’s all over!”

“Oh, honey,” she said, patting her granddaughter on the back. “You can relax now, and start enjoying the moment.”

“I will—I do!”

“And now,” she said, “for the best part: let’s eat!”

4

“Why is everybody crying, Max?” asked Dooley. “I thought this was supposed to be the happiest day in Odelia’s life and she’s crying all the time, and so are all the others.”

It was true. I’d never seen so many humans cry so much before, except in movies where everybody dies at the end.

There was a note of concern in Dooley’s voice. “They’re not going to die, are they, Max? Maybe Odelia has cancer and she just found out and she wanted to get married just before she died! Just like in that episode of General Hospital where Mrs. Harper gets married to Doctor Parker on her deathbed, only to discover he mistook herbunion for a tumor, and in the next episode she decides to divorce him and sue him for malpractice.”

“Nobody is sick and nobody is dying, Dooley,” I assured my friend as we watched people go from laughing to crying and back again in a weird display of emotion.