My Groomsmen by Carstairs

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Author's Note. This story follows my last story, The Summer the Clippers "Slipped," and assumes a certain knowledge of it. If you haven't read it, you might want to before you start on this one.

It was a month before my wedding to Kathy. Life was going great. I'd landed a wonderful job after I graduated from college, I was marrying the most wonderful woman in the world, and my groomsmen were coming to spend the weekend with me.

The idea had started several months back. I knew the weekend of my wedding would be hectic, and I wanted some time to spend with these guys when we could relax and have fun. To everyone's surprise, the weekend four weeks before the wedding, we really had nothing major to do. Kathy and I decided to spend the weekend with out attendants. My groomsmen still promised me a bachelor party to remember the night before the wedding, but had jumped at the chance to come hang out one more time as a bunch of single men.

Tim, Ben, and Jon arrived together, which made sense since they lived in the same town. Tim and Ben are my two brothers and my co-best men. I had struggled over whom to pick. They'd even told me they wouldn't care either way. But in the end, I couldn't choose between the two of them.

I could tell they were about due for another buzz cut as soon as they walked in the door. It had been tradition that every summer the three of us buzzed our heads every two weeks. Last summer had turned out differently, but that's another story.

Jon had been my best friend since kindergarten. With how close in age my brothers are, the four of us spent a lot of time together growing up. Most summers, he managed to get buzzed at our house at least once. But most of the time, his hair was more of a business cut, which is what he was wearing now as he grabbed me in a big bear hug. "Four weeks to go. Nervous yet?"

I laughed. "Aren't my groomsmen supposed to encourage me?"

"But how else could we find out we need to?" he retorted.

I shook my head. "Nervous about marring the most wonderful woman in the world? Don't think so. I just hope these four weeks fly by."

We just had time to throw their bags in the living room when the doorbell rang again. There stood my last attendants, Pete. We'd been roommates all four years in college. We met that first year in the dorms and had become immediate friends. After two years, we'd moved into an apartment a little ways from campus. "I haven't missed any of the fun, have I?" he asked as he grinned and stepped through the door. Pete kept his hair the longest of the five of us, but it was still off his collar and just over the tops of his ears. Not that I could blame him. He was a strawberry blond, and it was naturally curly. Women loved it. He didn't spend as long as you would think on it, but it did take a little extra in the shower and with the blow dryer.

Since Pete and I had met in college, he wasn't nearly as close as the rest to this group. He'd met everyone during breaks, but he didn't have the history. I got the sense he wanted to belong to our group, but never said anything to me about it.

"Not at all," I said as I took his bag and added it to the others in the living room. "These guys just got here, too. Now, we just need to order the pizza."

Friday night was a blast. We had pizza, watched movies, soak in my apartment complex's hot tub, and genuinely enjoyed each other's company. It was the wee hours of the morning when we finally collapsed on the living room floor. (You think I was going to miss a minute of the fun by sleeping in my bedroom?) Little did I know the surprise the guys had for me the next day.

Naturally, we woke up rather late, but all at the same time. Jon actually got inspired and cooked us all pancakes. We'd just finished cleaning up the kitchen when Tim cleared his throat.

"May I have your attention, please. We, your groomsmen, would like to show our support of your upcoming marriage by appearing in your wedding as bald as you are. To make sure our heads are tan, we respectfully ask that you do the honors this morning."

My mouth hit the floor. "You guys serious? All four of you?"

Ben grinned. "Yep. Tim and I came up with the idea that your brothers should shave their heads again. I'll admit I was looking for an excuse to shave anyway. We mentioned it to Jon, and he wanted to join us. That just left Pete, but with a little encouragement, he agreed as well."

I looked over at Pete. We'd had several discussions this last year about my shaved head. He had warmed to it over the last nine months, but had stated on more then one occasion that he'd never shave his head. "What gives?"

"Your brothers can be very persuasive. That and the fact that I'd gotten really curious by the time we graduated. And I do believe someone pointed out that it will grow back. Later rather then sooner in my case," he added as he ran his fingers through his locks.

Tim raised his hand. "That would be me. About 20 times," he admitted.

"Well, let's get started. This should prove to be fun."

Jon brought a camera out of his bag, and Ben produced the family clippers, shaving cream, and a pack of razors. We quickly cleaned up the living room and brought in a chair. "Who's first?" I asked after a before shot.

Tim sat down in the chair confidently. "We concluded that the best men would go first, and I won the honors as the older of the two."

"One bald head, coming right up," I declared as I started up the clippers. But I was going to have some fun along the way. When I had shaved stripes all over his head from front to back, I stopped. "Maybe I should just stop there."

The others laughed while Tim went to the bathroom to check out his reflection. He returned with a smile on his face. "If all five of us could go out with crazy haircuts for the day, I'd be tempted. But since you have no hair, mine needs to come off, too."

I obliged. Soon I had it as short as the clippers would let me go, so I grabbed the shaving cream and a razor. Using the dishpan full of water we'd brought over, I completed the job.

Ben was next. He wasn't any more inclined to keep the large "X" I outlined in his head. By the end, he was bald.

The guys not in the chair had been laughing, joking, and teasing my brothers. But I noticed Pete seemed a little more preoccupied then the others. I was wondering if he was having second thoughts. And if so, what the other three would say about it.

When Ben stood up, I called out, "Next!"

Jon looked at Pete. "How about it? You want to go next?"

Pete swallowed. "No. You'd better go. Other wise, I might chicken out."

Jon didn't budge. "You having second thought?" There was silence for a second. "We can just stop now if you want. If the groom and best men are shaved, but the two of us aren't, it won't look that funny. After all, they're brothers."

Pete actually grinned at this. And the hesitation was gone from his face. "Thanks, but no. I gave my word. Still, you'd better get in that chair just in case."

Pete led the laughing when Jon jumped from his seat and all but ran to the chair. I played along and plowed the clippers right into his hair. He didn't want to keep his Mohawk any more then my brothers had wanted to keep their crazy haircuts. And a few minutes later, there was only one person with hair on the top of his head sitting in my living room.

Pete stood slowly and walked over to the chair. After four years living together, we'd learned to read each other pretty well. I knew this look. He was determined to go through with it, but still wasn't sure he wanted to.

I patted his shoulder when he sat down. "Ready?"

"Hold on a minute. Could you give me the clippers?" I handed the instrument to my friend. The room grew completely quiet as all four of us watched him. He flicked the clippers on and slowly raised them to his forehead. At this point, all five of us were holding our breath. Would he chicken out? Of course, it was kinda too late for that now. Finally, Pete took a deep breath and plunged the clippers right down the middle of his head. "Guess I'm committed now."

"True." I took the clippers back from him. "But what kind of crazy hair cut am I going to give you half way through?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Pete was grinning now. The moment of truth had come and gone. Now, he just needed to live with the results.

I took the challenge in stride and gave him an MPB cut. With his slightly red hair and the curls, he looked like Bozo the Clown. Definitely not something he wanted, so I finished him up.

When I'd finished Pete, I rubbed my own head. It had only been 24 hours since my last shave, but I felt the stubble on top just the same. I looked around the room. "Now I'm feeling like a hippie with all this hair on my head." That was met with a roar of laughter. "Anyone want to help me get as smooth as you four are?"

As I figured, I had four very willing volunteers. So I took my place in the chair and let each of them shave a quarter of my head. That might have been the most uneven shave I'd had in a while, but it was worth it.

We continued on with our plan to hit the beach that afternoon. We got a kick out of all the stares the five of us got, but had fun in the surf and sand anyway. The salt water stung our heads, but none of us seemed to mind. And thanks to sunscreen and hats (later in the day only) we managed to avoid any sunburns.

Needless to say, the weekend was a huge success, the memory-making event I'd hoped it would be.

Sunday night, after the guys left, I called Kathy. I let her tell me all about her weekend with the bridesmaids. Finally, she asked what we'd done. When I told her, there was silence on the other end. My heart started to pound. She's the one who had gotten me to shave my head in the first place. But what if she didn't like this? Then again, this wouldn't bother her in the grand scheme of things, right?

"You serious? Those four shaved their heads and intend to keep it for a month?"

"Yep," I confirmed. But I still couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"How do you find such spectacular friends?" she asked. "I think that's the best thing I've heard in a long time."

"Just lucky I guess. And you really should meet my fiancée. She puts them all to shame."

It seemed like forever, but our wedding weekend finally arrived. Everywhere we went, getting our tuxes, grabbing lunch, the rehearsal, the bachelor party, people still stopped to stare. But we just laughed it off. We loved it and didn't care.

At one point, Pete pulled me aside. "You know, I was really hesitant about doing this. I almost pulled out that morning, in fact. But I'm really glad I took the plunge. I finally feel part of this group. My new girlfriend loves it, and I've finally found a decent one, too."

"So are you going to grow it back out?"

"Probably. Jen wants to see the hair she's only seen pictures of. And I'm not committed to it like you are. But this is an opportunity I'm glad I took."

The wedding was beautiful, and Kathy and I love to look at the pictures. If I may say so, we men looked incredibly smart with baldheads above the tuxes.

Pete and the others actually kept their heads shaved through the end of the summer. But come fall, they all grew their hair back again.

That first year of marriage was very busy, but good. We hadn't had the time to see our friends like we'd wanted to, so a week after our anniversary, we invited all our attendants to spend the day Saturday with us. To my surprise once again, my groomsmen showed up bald. Even Pete, who had taken such careful care to grow it back. "What can I say? I'm hooked," he laughed. "I may not keep it this way year round, but I'm going to have to go back to it every so often."

"And Jen?" I asked, referring to his new fiancée.

"She actually loves me, not my hair. Novel idea, huh? She says I can do whatever I want with it, as long as I respect her the same way. And when you've got someone as wonderful as Jen, that's no problem at all."

I nodded and looked at Kathy. I knew exactly what he meant.

Over the next few years, I was a groomsman in all of their weddings. I offered to return the favor and grow my hair to whatever length they so desired, but they all told me no.

I never would have guessed that this one event would have the effect it did on the five of us. But something about that Saturday bonded the five of us together for life. We've gone through thick and thin together. But no matter the miles between us, nothing has separated us. We're actually all planning to get together for the first time in a couple years next month. Who knows, maybe we'll all go bald again. Just in case, I've let my hair grow out just a little. I don't want to miss all the fun this time.

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