Thursday, June 2

6:15 am
Terrace

Watching the sun come up over the city.

Prom's over.

And my date and I stayed out all night, ha ha.  Just got home a little bit ago.  Cate's showering, then we're gonna take a little nap.

What a fantastic night.  I haven't had that much fun in ages.  I really did feel like a teenager again for awhile.  At least when I wasn't on punchbowl duty, ha ha.

My Baby Girl was gorgeous.  I swear, my heart almost stopped when I saw her in that beautiful gown she helped Nikki design.  That deep aquamarine color made Steph's eyes just sparkle.  Of course, I think her date had a little something to do with that too.

Steph and Brendan were quite the handsome couple last night.  They laughed and smiled and held hands and slow-danced and looked at each other like they were the only two people in that entire huge crowded ballroom. Watching them made me smile.

My little girl may be all grown up, but watching her with her guy, seeing the flush of young love on her pretty cheeks... it just makes my heart go pitty-pat.

Who knows?  Maybe this is the real deal, Steph and Brendan.  If it is, I'll be happy for her.  Honestly happy.  Brendan's a good kid, he treats her with respect.  And it's pretty clear he loves her, too.  I just hope they don't move too fast, now that they're graduating and going out into the big adult world.  They need time to grow up, together and individually.  Like Dorothea and me.  If it's meant to be, they'll figure it out.

I could do worse than Brendan for a son-in-law.

After Prom Steph and Brendan went off to some afterparty at a friend's house.  The party was being supervised by parents, but it wouldn't surprise me if somehow my daughter and her beau managed to find a quiet place to be alone and really celebrate the night, the way young lovers do.

For some reason that thought doesn't freak me out.  As her Daddy, I'm not crazy about the idea of Steph and Brendan having sex, but I guess I can understand.  She's a young woman, he's a young man.  They're in love, or at least they think they are.  I just hope they're careful.

As for my Son, he wasn't quite as lucky as his sister.  He didn't get to run off to some party after Prom and get under some girl's skirt; he had a curfew.  And a parent on hand to enforce it.  But I don't think Jesse cared one whit about that -- he was just happy he got to go to Prom at all.  And I'll be damned if I don't think his little scheme worked.

I feel kinda sorry for Kayla, Jesse's date.  He didn't pay much attention to her for most of the night.  He didn't ditch her or anything, he was a perfect gentleman.  When he was around, that is.  Jesse and Kayla were seated at a table with a bunch of her friends, and he kept excusing himself to "get refreshments."  But Cate and I saw what he was really doing; he was sneaking away to chat up Bridget.

It's easy to see why Jesse has a crush on that girl -- Bridget was stunning in her dark green dress with all that thick red hair flowing down over her shoulders.  And her smile lit up the room when Jesse was around.  As the night went on she spent more and more time away from her table, talking to Jess and even dancing with him a couple times.

By the later part of the night they were almost inseparable.  I think poor Kayla gave up on Jesse's attention somewhere around the time they crowned the Prom King and Queen; she spent the latter half of the evening slow-dancing with some other dude.  As for Bridget and Jess... well, Cate and I just exchanged a little grin and looked the other way when they slipped out of the ballroom together and didn't come back for almost a half-hour.  And when they returned they were holding hands and smirking.

So I guess things are gonna be okay on that front.  Time will tell.

As for my First Prom Night... it was heavenly.  And let me tell ya -- I WAS the hottest Dude there.  I certainly turned the most heads, ha ha.  Hey, not every almost-50-year-old Daddy-of-Four can rock a powder-blue tuxedo.  Complete with white ruffled shirt and matching brown bowtie and cumberbund.  I couldn't exactly feather my hair like I did back in high school, but I added some big-ass shades and some white patent leather shoes, and I was seriously stylin'.

Cate looked fantastic too.  When I told her what I planned she got in on the act, found a fabulous poofy-sleeved, ruffle-skirted vintage 80's prom dress in some retro consignment shop in The Village.  It didn't quite match my tux but close enough; it was bright blue taffeta.  She rustled when she walked, ha ha.  Cate poofed up her hair with a crimping iron about a half a can of AquaNet (can you believe they still make that stuff?) and looked like she stepped right out of some John Hughes movie.  She was adorable.

And of course we had to arrive in style.  No limo for us, nuh-uh.  We took the Chevelle.  I thought the valet was gonna shit in his pants when we pulled up in the 'Velle and I revved the engine a couple times to announce our arrival, ha ha.

All the other parents and teachers laughed their asses off at our Prom attire, but they all loved our goofy idea. The kids thought it was great too.  Cate and I even got our official Prom photo taken together.  Then we got one with Steph and Jess, and a couple with just me and the kids.

And my Baby Girl wasn't too embarrassed to dance with me.  That was the best part of the night by far.

So after a fantastic night at the dance and after being sure the Bongiovi Bambinos got to where they were supposed to be by the appointed hour, Cate and I decided to continue our Prom night.  We did what Jersey kids do after Prom... went down the Shore.  Took the 'Velle out to Asbury Park and held hands as we strolled along the boardwalk.  I was a gentleman; I put my tux jacket around Cate's shoulders to protect her from the ocean chill.  She couldn't stop smiling and giggling.

There were a few people out and about and I got approached a couple times, but that was okay.  Everybody was cool.  And apparently confused.  I got a lot of double-takes from passers-by, who were clearly thinking "what the fuck is he wearing?"  Ha ha.

But it was all good.  We stopped into Wonder Bar for a drink and listened to a little music, then snuck out and under the pier for a little makeout session.  My date let me feel her up, ha ha.  And then some.

God, to be eighteen again.

Anyway, after we rearranged our clothes and wandered back to the car we decided to go grab some breakfast.  We hit Broadway Diner and had eggs and bacon and toast and coffee, then headed back to the City before the morning traffic started.

When we got home neither one of us wanted to go to bed.  We had to de-Promify, so my lovely date and I took turns peeling off each other's fabulous dress-up clothes.  Then we grabbed some OJ and cracked open a bottle of champagne and toasted the sunrise out on the terrace, snuggled together under a throw on the chaise.  Naked.

Ain't that how Prom night's supposed to end?  You finally get your date naked and watch the sunrise together?  Heh heh.

Well, it took me 30-odd years, but I finally went to the Prom.  And it definitely didn't suck, ha ha.  In fact, it was a night I'll remember for the rest of my life, a memory I'll cherish when I'm old and grey and watching my grandkids go running off to their Proms someday.

But for now I'm just gonna bask in the Morning After-glow.  Besides, I got more champagne and I know my Date puts out... so why let the party end?