Author's note: the song mentioned here is called "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", written by Bob Crewe/ Bob Gaudio in the 1960's (?). Yes, I do have a thing for old songs. I don't know why, I just do. The version I like was sung by Lauryn Hill.

Chapter 21: (Extra) Julia's Photo Album

I don't know why, but from time to time, I still like to peruse this particular photo album. Like today, as I sit in my kitchen, still in my bathrobe and comfy slippers (at my age, I am allowed to lounge around all day in my bathrobe and slippers if I want to). I have my second cup of coffee by my right elbow, with a teaspoon of sugar and lots of milk, and a plate of lemon cookies by my left. I baked the cookies myself, with a recipe I got from Mark a long time ago. I have made some adjustments to the original recipe, of course (don't tell Mark: he thinks his recipe is perfect and requires no tinkering). And now, they are finally perfect: thin and crisp, with heavenly smell, looking as innocent as its dusting of icing sugar...

Oh yes, I am sorry. The photo album. This is why we are all here, isn't it? I gently run my finger over the dark blue hard cover, before I finally flip it opened.

These pictures, I tap the first two pictures in the album. I have taken them during Elliot's surprise birthday party...

Mark, Vaughn, Pierre and I have sneaked into Elliot's and Denny's apartment (using Denny's key) to decorate the apartment with colourful streamers and balloons. We had also hung a banner which said 'Happy Birthday Elliot' on the wall, above the sofa. Then we all hid behind the sofa as we heard someone unlocking the door.

"Surprise!" We jumped up from behind the sofa, as Denny and Elliot entered the apartment. Well, okay, Mark, Pierre and myself shouted happy birthday loudly, while Vaughn probably just wished it silently. I didn't hear a peep coming out of him.

"Uh..." Elliot didn't know what to say, at first. He looked at Denny, and said, "Did you organize this?" The red head was turning bright red, of course. He was a shy one, that Elliot.

"Yup," Denny blushed, in an 'aw, shucks, I am just too awesome' kind of way. "Give me a kiss," he said as he leaned his face towards Elliot. The birthday boy gave him a quick, shy peck on the cheek. "Thanks, honey. Happy birthday," Denny hugged Elliot.

"Happy birthday, Elliot!" There was a chorus of different voices, as we were all clamouring to wish and hug the birthday boy at the same time.

"Alright, let's eat! I am starving!" Denny chirped in.

Mark and Pierre unpacked food containers from a few plastic bags. They have purchased the food from the Inn. They were all Elliot's favourite: stir-fried veggies, chop suey, fish and chips, salad, mountain stew and mashed potatoes. Elliot went to the kitchen cabinet to take out dinner plates, and bowls, and set them on the table. He set out few wine glasses and eating utensils as well.

"Anyone wants a beer? Wine?" I asked as I stood in front of the fridge. Everyone shouted their preference. I gestured at Denny, "Denny, come and help me open the wine".

"Sure..." He responded.

After drinks had been distributed, and everyone had food on their plates, we sat on the floor around the coffee table, eating, and chatting. I remembered that I had touched the gold band on Mark's left finger. "I have never told you this, but that is a very nice ring," I said. Mark had stolen a glance at Vaughn, or more accurately, at Vaughn's right ring finger, where a similar gold ring could be spotted. Ah Mark and Vaughn, so much in love, I thought. I couldn't quite remember what I had said next, but there was something in my voice that caused Mark to turn his green eyes back at me, grinning that boyish grin of his, and told me not to worry: one day your prince will come, he said.

"Julia...tell us about this new guy you are dating," Denny asked me, as he sipped his beer.

I put down my wine glass. "Oh, he is awesome! Well, we only had few dates, but they went well so far. He is really my type". I think I had a goofy grin on my face. I was so young then, so full of hope and romantic ideas...

"Soooo...when are we going to meet him?" Denny asked me again.

I glared at Denny. "Don't pressure me. Besides, I am kind of afraid of him meeting you guys..."

Mark frowned. "Why? We'll be nice to him. We just want to make sure that he is a nice guy, you know. Our Julia deserves the best, right guys?"

"Right! We'll screen him for you. I have a very good bullshit radar," Denny said, tapping his nose.

"Maybe. Let me think about it. I don't want you to scare him away. Like the last guy," I said, while glaring at Vaughn.

"He wasn't right for you. He is too cold, too macho. Not good," Vaughn said. His eyes were defiant.

I looked at Vaughn with disbelief. "Too cold and too macho? Isn't that just like someone I know?"

"Who?" Vaughn asked. There was a puzzled look on his face.

I sighed. "Never mind".

"Seriously, Julia. We really want to meet this guy. You have to arrange something, like a coffee or lunch," Mark said, topping my wine glass. I knew what he was doing, that sneaky Mark. He thought that I would be much easier to convince after I had a few drinks. Well, okay, that was true, but that was beside the point...

"Fine, fine. I'll ask him. Just stop pestering me," I rolled my eyes, and reached for my wine. "Oh, that reminds me. I brought my camera," I said, rummaging in my huge handbag, and pulling out a camera. "I want to take our pictures". I moved to the other side of the room, to set up my camera on a small tripod I had brought. "Okay, everyone sits close, leave me a space. Closer, guys. Pierre, take your hands off Denny. Ha...ha...ha...just kidding. Just kidding. Elliot, I said I was just kidding. Please stop trying to choke Pierre..."

The men scooted and shifted, until I was satisfied. Through my viewfinder I could see, from left to right: Vaughn, and Denny kneeling on the floor, while Mark, Pierre and Elliot sat in front of them. Vaughn wrapped his arms around Mark, while Denny rested his chin on Elliot's head and one hand on his shoulder.

After I set up my camera on a timer, I quickly wedged myself, behind Pierre, between Vaughn and Denny. I threw my arms around Vaughn and Denny, squeezing them closer to me. "Smile!" I said cheerfully, while flashing a perfect one myself. "Wait, don't move! One more time!" I said. This time, I hugged Pierre from behind. "Cheers!" The camera flashed for the second time. After that I had promised to make copies for everyone...

I flip the photo album to the next page. This picture was taken during the dinner I had with my boyfriend and the Welcoming Committee boys. It was a nice dinner, and afterwards, my friends had pronounced the guy "decent". My boyfriend was nervous though. He had a funny, forced smile on his face, as captured on the picture. He always had that grimace whenever he was nervous. We had gone dancing after dinner (Was it Denny's idea? Or, maybe it was Pierre). Oh, yes, I remember the dance...

We turned heads as we walked into the night club. We had always turned few heads whenever we walked into a place as a group. I suspect that it had nothing to do with me or my boyfriend: we certainly didn't invoke that kind of reaction when there were only the two of us. No, it was the Welcoming Committee boys who incited that kind of reactions. They were all looking good and sharp in their suits, and they had gained a certain fame around the island. Especially after the Sunshine Island number one magazine ran a special edition, featuring pictures and interviews with the Welcoming Committee. My mother and I had a section dedicated for our pictures and interviews as well, but I am pretty sure that it was the boys who had garnered most attention. That special edition was sold out within hours of its release, and after that the office was forever inundated with flowers, candies, and fan letters, from both men and women, for the boys.

I caught a few women looking at me with jealous eyes as we sauntered into the night club. That's right, girls, I thought. I have a hot boyfriend and even hotter guy friends. Heck, I would be jealous too, if I was in their shoes.

We headed towards the bar and ordered the first round of drinks. We claimed a corner table with a couple of loveseats and a couple of chairs as our base for the night. After we finished our first round of drinks, Pierre offered to go and buy the next round, and headed towards the bar. I noticed while he was there, he got hit on by men every five minutes or so. That's Pierre, a living, breathing man's magnet if I ever see one. He always had men handing him their phone numbers wherever he went (lucky bastard). I am sure that the men would prostrate themselves in front of him, and throw flowers on his path, if they thought that it would help to convince him to call them (it wouldn't). Yeah, I am jealous, bite me...

Some of us got up to dance: my boyfriend and I, Mark, Denny and Pierre. Vaughn and Elliot refused to leave their seats. I don't dance, Vaughn told me, which was a lie. Because we all knew that Vaughn would dance his heart out after few drinks. As a matter of fact, over the years we discovered, that there were not too many things Vaughn wouldn't do after few drinks. In contrast, Elliot showed a great deal of self control, no matter how much he had been drinking. I had to admit that he prevented us from getting into trouble countless of times. Whenever we went out as a group, Elliot was the anchor that kept us safe, and somewhat sane.

We danced through the songs, through the fast ones, and the not so fast ones. We danced as if there was no tomorrow, as if we would never grow old. We danced wearing our hearts and our youth on our sleeves, for the world to see. Our eyes were bright, our spirits aflame. We had our friends and lovers with us. We didn't need anything else.

Denny was of course, a very cool cat on dance floor. That dude could dance. Soon he had girls and guys surrounding him, swooning, cheering him on, as he showed them his moves. Denny took a break once in awhile to make out with Elliot on the loveseat, which I am sure, caused lots of hearts fluttering, and noses bleeding. I remember thinking: hopefully no one would faint from over-excited heart, or blood loss tonight.

Mark was interesting to watch as well. Unlike Denny, he was not a cool cat. His dancing was more...er, the athletic kind of dancing: he was ...doing jumping jacks? Then following his eyes, I saw his intent: he was trying to make Vaughn laugh. I could see that he was successful, as Vaughn was laughing out loud. With a grin on his face, Mark then gestured with his finger, inviting his lover to the dance floor, but the latter shook his head stubbornly. However, Vaughn and I weren't the only ones who had been watching Mark's antics. Few other men did too, and they approached Mark, to ask him to dance. Seeing that, Vaughn had gotten up in a hurry, shooed all the men away, and danced the next song with Mark.

I had sat down with my boyfriend on the loveseat, watching Mark and Vaughn in the semi-darkened dance floor. It was my favourite song playing, but I didn't feel like dancing. I felt like watching my friends, with my boyfriend's arms around me. I felt this protective love towards my friends. I would watch over them forever if I could.

"You're just too good to be true..." The music belted. "Can't take my eyes off you..."

Vaughn and Mark danced closely, but not touching each other. Their bodies swayed with the tune, mirroring each other, violet eyes locking onto the green ones.

"You'd be like heaven to touch...I want to hold you so much. At long last love has arrived...and I thank God(dess) I'm alive".

Vaughn put one of his hands on Mark's hip and pulled him closer. Mark rested his hand on Vaughn's shoulder, his eyes cast down, his forehead almost touching Vaughn's lips. I thought my heart would break as I watched...

"I need you baby, and if it's quite all right, I need you baby, to warm a lonely night..."

Their hips finally met, grinding ever so softly, so slowly. One of Vaughn's hands was still on Mark's hips, while the other tilting his chin up. Mark arched his back slightly, as he wrapped his arms around Vaughn's neck. Their eyes flickered feverishly in the dark. Their eyes seemed to say: you are beautiful. I love you. You are the only one. Their slightly parted lips inching closer...

I shake my head back to the present. Where were we? Oh, yes, I turn another page. My wedding day pictures stare back at me. I must say that I looked beautiful and radiant in my wedding dress, full of hope and joy. My face lit up, and my smile was so bright: it was almost painful to look at. My maid of honour, my best girlfriend, was beside me, but I could see that she was a little distracted by the Welcoming Committee boys who were my "bride maids". I remember when I told my girlfriend that the boys would be my bride maids, she told me to 'get out, are you serious?'. She was so giddy afterwards, the wedding dress shop ladies had thought that she was the bride to be.

My groom had his female cousins and one male cousin to be in his wedding party. The male cousin turned out to be this good-looking, tall and quiet guy. And he didn't hit on Pierre, which vexed him very much. If there was one thing Pierre couldn't stand, it was handsome men who didn't find him attractive, so he started to flirt with my groom's cousin, only to be given a cold shoulder. A cold shoulder! Pierre told me angrily, once. At that time, Pierre didn't know that my husband's cousin had liked him as well. But the clever cousin had decided to conceal his feeling, because he had heard how Pierre would quickly lose interest, whenever a man reciprocated his advances. It took a few months of cat-and-mouse game before those two got together properly. But that was another story.

My "bride maids" of course, refused to wear anything other than black tailcoat tuxedo, except for Pierre, who gladly donned the lavender suit to match my maid of honour's lavender dress (it was a very nice and elegant dress, really). I let the rest of the group to wear their tuxedos as I didn't have time or energy to argue with them, especially with Vaughn, who told me that under no circumstances would he ever be caught dead wearing a lavender suit. It's garish and I am not a freaking girl, he growled at me, with the kind of ferocity, that made other people thought that I was asking him to cut his right arm out, instead of wearing a lavender suit (it was a very nice colour, really. Not garish at all). I settled on purple orchids boutonnieres for my wedding party, as a way to keep lavender in my colour scheme.

I didn't let Mark sing in my wedding (although he really wanted to). Vaughn had warned me.

Back in the present, I flip to the next page. Yes, this was the day my daughter was born. It was the most painful, and the happiest day in my life. Look at my daughter. Look at how beautiful she is. She has my hair, and her father's eyes. My nose and her father's chin.

My Committee boys were there of course. My husband had called them in the office when I went into labour, and they had dropped everything at once to race to the hospital. My husband was so nervous that he had somehow convinced Mark to accompany him into the birthing room. I couldn't remember much since I was too much in pain trying to push my stubborn daughter out of me, but I remembered screaming at both Mark and my husband, blaming them for all the evils in the world...

I heard that Mark was quite shaken afterwards, and told Vaughn that he was glad he was not born as a woman. Giving birth would surely kill him, he told Vaughn.

But a couple of days after, when he and Vaughn visited me back in our house, Mark fell in love with my baby (who wouldn't?). He cooed at my baby girl, as he held her tenderly in his arms, telling her how pretty she was. So I asked him and Vaughn to become the baby's godparents. To my surprise, they accepted. Or should I say, to my surprise, Vaughn accepted. I thought I would have a harder time convincing him.

I love being a mother. I didn't think I would. It surprised me when my daughter was born, how much love I felt for her. Some days I felt strong; I could move heaven and earth for her. Some days I felt weak, knowing that she depended on me, and it had scared me to pieces. But throughout all those days, the strong ones, and the weak ones, one thing was sure: I would die for her if I had to. I decided to quit my job and become a full-time mother, because I wanted to watch my baby girl growing up. I didn't want to miss any of her shining moments...

The next pictures show strings of birthdays, festivals, and graduations celebrated in my house for my baby girl. Her godparents were there too, always, like a pair of faithful guardian angels (clad fashionably in nice suits and the trendiest silk ties, instead of robes of course). The rest of the Welcoming Committee would usually come as well, to fuss over my little girl. Yes, she was the luckiest little girl in the world to have so many people dotted on her. She grew up very close to her godparents. When she had her first broken heart, she called Mark, before she came to me. Can you believe that? Tsk!

Being a mother is hard, let me tell you. Godparents have it easy. As her mother, I represent discipline, while her godparents represent fun and gifts. As she entered her teenage years, we fought more often, my daughter and I. We said hurtful things to each other. She thought I was not as understanding as her godparents. That's because I am your mother, I told her. It is my job to worry over her, and to make sure that she wouldn't get in trouble. It is my job to see shadows of danger lurking in every corner, threatening my little girl. All I ever want is to keep her safe and happy. She is my life, my world. She is my everything. Back then she couldn't understand my point of view of course. Not until she had her own child, my grandson, did she understand.

After we fought, my daughter would always run to her godparents, which made me feel somewhat relieved. At least, she wasn't running around in the streets. Mark and Vaughn had always managed, somehow, to convince her to come home every time she ran away to them. For that I am forever grateful...

Where are they now, the boys, you ask? Well, Pierre quit the Welcoming Committee, a few years after the birth of my daughter. He had been offered to star in a cooking show. I watched all his shows; he was quite entertaining. He invited Mark, Denny or Elliot to be a guest in his cooking show from time to time, knowing that their appearance would definitely spike the show rating up. Vaughn had refused, of course.

Denny had decided to open a professional fishing school, teaching people how to fish. Elliot had also quit the Welcoming Committee to help Denny with the school. The fishing school had a rough start for the first few years, before it started to flourish, and faithful Elliot had stuck by Denny through the good times, and the bad times. Now the school is so famous, even some of our VIP guests often request a lesson from Denny's Rockin' Fishing School whenever they visit Sunshine Island.

After my mother retired from her job, they had promoted Vaughn to be the new chief of the Welcoming Committee. Since then the Welcoming Committee had grown in numbers, from seven people to a hundred staffs or so. Mark had been promoted to vice chief. I have to say that I don't know anyone who loves his job more than those two. I don't know if they would ever retire, although lately, I heard them mentioned the possibility of moving to a small farm in a rural area in a few years. So they may retire after all...

There was a time, a long time ago, when Lord Charles from Leaf Valley was still actively pursuing Mark, and he had flooded him with gifts, flowers, and dinner invitations. I guess one day Vaughn couldn't take it anymore: he blew up and took it on Mark. To everyone's surprise, Mark had fought back; we thought he would just meekly submit to Vaughn's anger, like he would usually do, being the peace keeper. But something snapped in him that day as well, and he had fought back. They argued. Boy, did they argue. Back and forth, passionately, heatedly. Cruelly. Sometimes you couldn't help but hurt the person you love the most, I suppose. Vaughn moved out of their apartment, and the atmosphere in the office became so chilled. They did make up and apologize to each other a couple of weeks later, and Vaughn moved back in. They took a week off after they made up, and went on a vacation somewhere, just the two of them. They hadn't argued like that since, thank goddess. But during those chilly couple of weeks, we were all worried for them. After awhile, Charles seemed to get tired of waiting, and he went on to chase other young, pretty things. But that's another story, I digress...

Is that the doorbell I hear? Oh yes, it is. I shuffle towards the front door. My prince is already there, opening the door. On the other side of the door, our daughter and grandson are smiling brightly at my husband. Today is the boy's day to spend with grandma and grandpa. I crouch and open my arms, and my grandson toddles into them. I scoop him up, and kiss his bright baby cheeks. My daughter hands my husband our grandson's bag, and air kisses me before turning and walking away.

"Where do you want to go today?" I ask my grandson, as I breathe in his wonderful baby smell.

"Aquawium," he says solemnly. He is not able to punctuate the "r" in aquarium as yet.

"Alright, you play with grandpa, while grandma change. Then we can all go to the Aquarium," I hand him over to my husband.

After I changed and went back downstairs, I find my husband sitting at the kitchen table with our grandson on his knees, munching on cookies, and flipping through my picture album. The boy looks up when he hears me coming.

"Nana," he says. "Stowy time?" His chubby fingers point at Mark and Vaughn.

I smile and sit beside them. I flip to the first page. "These two pictures". I tap them. "They were taken during a surprise birthday party..."

End of Chapter 21