Chapter 182 - Artem - Tuxedos Needed
~~
Artem
~~
Chay and Star were busy planning the wedding for next month. But there was something that I wanted to be in charge of. I was the guy of course, so getting the tuxedos for the wedding were going to be my responsibility. And I had a lot of tuxedos to plan for.
I was getting a tuxedo for myself, Aaron, Kent, Toby, Morgan, Reed, Bailey, Doc, Nico, Daniel, and all thirteen of my boys. That was a lot of tuxes that needed to be rented. And there were no places in the City that could handle the order for it all.
Since there was no one that could handle it all around here, I decided that I was going to just take everyone with me to LA to get something there. The prices would be higher, but the quality would be worth it in the long run.
That was quite the hike to travel for this though, so I needed to have us all fly. Thankfully, I knew someone who could help me with that as well. I had called up Reece and asked him if I could use his plane. He said he was more than happy to lend it out since they didn't fly often enough, and the pilot ended up getting bored and lazy when he wasn't working.
Two days after asking Star if she would marry me, I had us all loaded up into various SUVs to head to the airport. The people at the airport gave me some weird looks when the kids were calling me Dad and Daddy. When one of them decided to give me a snarky remark I shut them down in a hurry.
"Either he is a young looking man whore or he's a fucking pervert." I heard the whispered words and felt my blood begin to boil.
"Or, I am a generous and caring man that has adopted thirteen children to give them a better life." I glared at her and watched as she paled.
"I..I..I didn't, I..I mean I, that's n..n..not, I..I..I..-"
"Unless the words you're looking for are 'I'm sorry' I don't want to fucking hear it. Keep your judgemental shit to yourself and away from my kids. Got it?" She just nodded and didn't say another word, that allowed me to take my family to the gates and the private plane waiting on the other side.
The flight was short, but the kids all loved it. Even Nico, who tried to act older than all the others, was like a little boy as he excitedly explored the plane. I was glad that all of them had been saved, and none of that stuff was happening to them anymore.
Reece had been to LA several times, for business and pleasure, so he of course had a recommendation for where to go. There was a boutique that had been open for about fifteen years and had a great reputation. The place, Vivvie's Special Occasions, was tucked away on a side street and away from the hustle and bustle of the busy areas.
I had called ahead so that there were four large SUVs waiting for us with private drivers. The children and the adults were divided as evenly as possible before I instructed them to take us to the boutique.
I saw that the shop was larger than I expected. I was thinking about something small and quaint given what I had heard about it. Still, it was a nice shop and I was pleasantly surprised when we went inside.
There were a few different girls that were working the front when all of us went in. I think they were a little shocked that so many of us came in at once, twenty-three people were a lot to see at once.
"Welcome to Vivvie's, what can we do for you?" One of the young sales associates smiled at us, paying the most attention to Doc since he was the one who looked to be the right age I guess.
"I'm here to get some tuxedos for all of us for my wedding." I answered her instead of him.
"Oh, for a..all of you?" She looked even more shocked.
"Yes, and we need them by next month."
"That's not a lot of time. A rush order like that will cost more." She raised an eyebrow at me as if daring me to contradict her.
"As would be expected. Now, could you please help me with getting everyone sized?"
The three women got to work immediately. I had her size the kids first since theirs would be the quickest. The kids chatted excitedly as they stood on top of the small platforms. They were enjoying this because they were being fussed over in a way that they never were.
It took a lot longer than I thought it would to get everyone set with their measurements. I heard two of the women complaining as they draped the boys with different clothes and worked on what they needed to do.
"This would be so much easier if Vivvie hadn't taken the morning off."
"I know, it would be, but she had a lot to do."
"Well now we're the ones that are super busy with a lot to do."
"Just hush, you two. I don't want to hear it." The one that seemed to be in charge snapped at the others.
After the boys, it was time for all of us adults to be fitted. Daniel, being the oldest among us, was measured first. I was trying to imagine the old man on the day of the wedding, dressed in a black tuxedo with the accent colors that Star had picked out. I was imagining this massive wedding party filled with matching tuxedos with just Star in front of them looking wonderful.
The rest of the guys insisted that I go next after Daniel was done. I had to take a few layers off to get the measurements right but that was fine. They measured around my neck, from shoulder to shoulder, around my chest, hips, and waist, around my arms, the length of my arms, around my legs, the length of my legs and my inseam, and several other places. It was all quite invasive but it was also their job.
I was just imagining my wedding day the entire time they measured me. I think the seamstress could tell too because she commented on my grin.
"So, you're the one getting married, huh? You're kind of young for this, aren't you?"
"I'm almost twenty-four, not too young in my opinion. Plus, when you meet the right person it doesn't matter now, does it?" I wasn't going to let any negativity ruin the way I felt right now.
"You sound really happy, and wise. I hope it all works out for you. Are all these boys your brothers and cousins?"
"Nope, they're mine. Well, they're adopted, but my fianceè and I are raising them." I was still smiling even though she was looking at me like I was insane.
"That is quite admirable."
"Yeah, well, Star and I had the same thought about them when they needed a family. They were ours from the moment we met them." Her face still looked surprised, but it seemed like it was for a different reason.
"Huh, that's not a name you hear very often. I didn't think that I would meet a client with the same name as the boss's daughter."
That was interesting. My mate was the only person named Star that I had ever met before. I shouldn't be surprised, with all the unique names that there were in the world now. Her name couldn't be the only one like it.
"That's pretty cool. I never expected to find out that someone I would be meeting soon would have a daughter with the same name. It's quite the coincidence."
"Oh, don't mention her to the boss though. Her daughter died sixteen years ago, and she has never gotten over it. I don't blame her, having your little one killed like that."
The look on her face now was one of fear. I think she thought I was going to get her into trouble.
"Don't worry, I won't mention her. And I won't use my fiancè's nickname. I will call her by her first name if I have to so that it won't upset your boss at all."
The seamstress finished up with me, and I got dressed. They went through my friends first, Kent, Toby, Morgan, and Doc. After them two of the women got done at about the same time and started to measure out Reed and Bailey. I don't know if Aaron wanted to go last on purpose or not, but he seemed content just sitting here in the shop.
For some reason he was smiling. It was like he had found something that he had been trying to find for a long time. I just realized that he hadn't said a word since we had come into the shop either. What was going on with him?