A/N The end! I know this hasn't exactly been a successful fic (in comparison to some of my others!) but thankyou to everyone who has stuck by it faithfully :-) I'm going to be taking The Stroke of Midnight off hiatus now, so maybe you guys wanna check that out??
Thanks again! Me xxx
TODAY'S HEADLINE: DE SILVA BACK IN BUSINESS
Teen star moves back to L.A, accompanied by his lady friend
Chapter Thirteen
The End
Two Years Later
"Mom?"
I bang hard with my fist on the door of the vestry, panicked. My mom should have had her ass down that aisle ten minutes ago.
"Mom? Do you plan on getting married today or what?"
My mother appears, pink-faced and a little watery-eyed. I pull her into a hug, patting her on her shoulder. "You'll be fine," I assure her, leading her good-naturedly to the huge double doors that should be opening any second. "Honestly. Andy's a good guy. You told us so yourself, didn't you?" My mother sniffles in agreement, before righting herself. I let go of her arm. "Are you O.K now?"
She nods.
"Good."
I make it back to my seat in the front pew just as the dum-dum-dee-dum begins, and squeeze Jesse's hand excitedly. My mom is getting married, and she's the happiest I've seen her in a long time.
Well, you know. Before she starting crying seconds before her wedding.
"Is she O.K?" Anna hisses from Jesse's other hand, leaning forward.
"Well, considering she's coming down the aisle right now," Jesse says, conversationally. "I'd say she's fine." Anna sits back in her pew, snuggling up to Hector. Yes, I have reminded them that this is a church.
"You look beautiful," I mouth to my mom, whose eyes begin to well up again. I shake my head frantically, and she smiles, before mopping her eyes with her bare wrist and taking Andy's hand at the altar. The priest – mine and Anna's principal, Father Dom – greets the congregation, and invites us to join in with the first hymn.
Personally, I hate to sing. Especially hymns. Still, I move my mouth energetically in time… at least until I catch Jesse smirking at me. "What?" I ask. He shakes his head, and continues singing 'All Things Bright and Beautiful.' I nudge him in the ribs. "What?"
"You're not singing," he says, with a grin. "Why aren't you singing?"
"I hate hymns," I tell him. "Especially this one." He shrugs, turning back to his little leaflet thingy. "Anyway, you're not singing either."
"I hate hymns," he replies, mimicking me. "Especially this one." I scowl.
"You do not get to mimic the wedding planner," I inform him, firmly. "Now you sing at my mother's wedding, you hear? Or I won't dance with you at the reception." He snorts with laughter, before singing very loudly and very embarrassingly. I hang my head in shame.
"Nice," I say as we sit down.
"I try."
"Do you, Helen Jayne Simon, take this man, Andrew Jay Ackerman, to be your lawful wedded husband?" Father D asks my mom. She smiles prettily, before squeezing her husband's hand.
"I do." Cue the 'aww's from the audience.
"And do you, Andrew Jay Ackerman, take this woman, Helen Jayne Simon, to be your lawful wedded wife?" Andy agrees that he does indeed, and the two kiss – after Father D gives the go ahead of course.
The reception is a little more eventful. Hector spikes the punch, and then proceeds to consume most of it, along with an unsuspecting Father Dom. Needless to say, the events that took place on the dance floor will probably stay with me for a long while.
I guess I must have zoned out, a little while after Hector and Father D had participated in "The Macarena", with exaggerated hip movements. Twice. The next thing I knew Jesse's hand was on my shoulder and his warm breath in my ear.
"May I have this dance, querida?" It's a slow one; kinda resonant of the one playing on the radio the first time I'd realised I liked him. I smile, before taking his hand and letting him lead me onto the floor. My knee-length dress swishes as he spins me around, and then he pulls me close to him so that my head rests on his chest.
"How does it feel to have a new stepfather?" he asks me.
"You mean with the added bonus of three stepbrothers?" I quip. "O.K, I guess. Maybe it would be worse if I wasn't moving out to live at college, and I'd be stuck with three stinky boys." I consider this. "Poor Mom."
"Your poor mother indeed," Jesse agrees. "Still, it could be worse. She could have you living there aswell." I poke out my tongue playfully.
"Well, now you have that honour," I tell him. "You're gonna be under the same roof as me when we move into the dorms." He nods.
"Perfect."
I'm not exactly sure if he was being all teasing sarcastic or not.
"Just one more."
"Mom!" Anna wails, but she drops her suitcase on the floor anyway and hugs my mom again. "Mr. and Mrs. De Silva are waiting," Anna says into Mom's shoulder.
"Oh, honey. Be good, O.K?" Anna sighs, before stepping backwards and picking up her bags again.
"I'll be fine," she assures her. "I'll be back for Christmas, you know that." This sends my mom into a fresh round of hysterical tears. She turns to sob into Andy's chest, who pats her good-naturedly.
"Good luck, kiddo," he adds kindly, to an unsure Anna. I decide it's my turn to hug my sister goodbye.
"You're gonna have so much fun," I tell her. "L.A? Fun." She smiles sadly. "Oh, come on. Please don't tell me you're actually gonna miss Carmel? You should be feeling sorry for me; because Mom can't bear to have two daughters leave the town. Feel sorry for me, stuck in this place, at a community college!" This cheers her up slightly. I squeeze her tight. "Have fun at all those movie premiers. And take care of Hector. God knows what could happen to him when he gets back in the city." She sniffs, stifling a laugh.
"Hector?" My mom calls, and he appears from the lounge.
"Yes, Mrs Simon? Er, Mrs. Simon-Ackerman?" My mom smiles. I don't think even she's gotten used to her married name yet.
"There's a box of glazed doughnuts in the cupboard. They need to be eaten by today…" He's halfway across the kitchen before she's finished the sentence, inspecting the cupboards.
"I'm on it."
"Take care of him," I repeat to my sister, who grins.
"Anna? Hector?" Jesse is in the doorway. "My parents are getting impatient now. Is everybody ready to go?"
"Everybody's ready," I confirm, before my mother can bid farewell to Anna again. Jesse takes Anna's suitcase out to the car, whilst the rest of us wait at the front door to wave good-bye.
"See you at Christmas!"
"Have fun! Good luck!"
The car is finally out of sight, and I'm surprised to see that I'm crying. I guess it goes to show how close I've grown to my sister in the past year.
And what's happening to me next year, you ask?
I'm taking classes at the local community college, undecided major. Jesse is taking Biology; he wants to be a doctor. We're living in the same dorm, but I have to come home on weekends – Mom's orders. I don't know what she has to worry about. I mean, Jesse is very traditional. He'll only go further than kissing me when we're married.
That's right. When. We're unofficially engaged – unofficially because I refuse to wear a ring. I mean, who gets engaged straight out of school? We're waiting until after college, but my mom's totally psyched about me being a taken woman. She had this big conversation to Grandma the other day about a big white lacy wedding…
Remind me to elope.
Anyways, I'm starting college pretty soon.
And you wanna know what my first class is? It's kinda weird really, seeing as it's the subject that got me and Jesse together in the first place.
Mathematics 101.
THE END