Authors: Criss Copp
“You’re
serious!” Summer said, her eyes opening, her eyebrows rising.
Sally’s
smile was huge, and so she covered it with her hand.
Her eyes remained big.
“Of course
I’m serious!” I reasoned passionately.
Sally
started laughing.
Summer
looked at her sister, “What about our families?
What about the money?” she asked.
“I don’t
give a fuck about the money... and we’ll invite our family.” I said.
Yes,
this could work!
“I...”
Summer just stopped, flabbergasted.
“Come on
Summer
... don’t wait forever like me!
Besides, do you want to be fat in your
wedding photos?” Sally asked.
That got
Summer’s
attention.
“We can get
a license today... and we can work out a date with everyone after that.” I
argued.
“You
haven’t even told your parents about the babies!” she argued back.
“I think I
should tell them all the news at once.” I reasoned.
“I don’t
know... they may have heart attacks.” She smiled.
“Summer...
I want to take my
wife
to the
appointments... my
wife
to the
hospital.
I don’t want to be considered
less than your
husband!
” I reasoned.
“Okay?” she
squeaked.
Sally
screamed, and hugged
Summer
fiercely... I moved in and
grabbed my woman away from her... pulling her up into my arms and kissing her
senseless.
*
By the end
of the weekend, despite
Summer’s
hectic schedule,
everyone knew about the twins... and they were ecstatic. We were getting
married on Saturday, 7th January... in a small family filled ceremony at a
charming venue in Centrepoint.
Debbie
and Max insisted on paying, and my Mom and Debbie were in charge of organizing
everything!
Julie was
to be my best man... Sally was the bridesmaid.
Everything was to be low key and as
Summer
put
it... sweet!
Summer was
getting married in
Winter
... perfect!
Summer.
On
Christmas
eve
, Blake and I were waiting on Sally and
Henry to show up at Debbie and Max’s, alongside everyone else.
Phoebe and Elspeth were already there asking
me again about the pregnancy, and again offering their assistance as aunties
once the babies arrived; as they both had been since the news was announced the
previous week.
I had always had contact
with the two of them, but it seemed this last week I was never off the phone
outside of bedtime with my family.
It
was driving Blake mad.
“You know,
I really want to thank you
Summer
.” Phoebe announced,
flopping down onto the couch beside me.
“Why’s
that?” I asked.
“For taking the pressure off me to reproduce and give Mom and Dad
grandchildren.”
She laughed.
“I second
that motion!” Elspeth cheered, raising her glass of wine.
I looked at
the two of them, grinning over at me.
They had high profile careers and mega bucks incomes.
A family right now, or possibly ever, was way
off the mark for either of them.
They
were driven in a whole other direction.
“You two
have time left to have children... I would really liked to see you girls have
families of your own.” Debbie said, meandering in to present us with a platter
of cheeses and biscuits.
“Mom!”
Elspeth said warningly, “I have never been the domestic type... not that there
is anything wrong with that!” she clarified to me, before continuing. “I
really, really don’t want a family beyond what I have here!
I will thoroughly enjoy being an aunt!
I can categorically state that these kids
will be my outlet for anything motherly.
It works out perfectly!” she explained.
Debbie put
on a pout and a sour face.
“I am
definitely on the same page!” Phoebe agreed.
“I’m definitely keen to spoil these little brats and spend all my
motherly instinct on children I can hand back at the end of the day!” she
chuckled, touching my arm and smiling enthusiastically at me.
“I think
it’s time to formally adopt
Summer
and Sally so that I
really do have a true claim on their kids!” Debbie grumbled.
She appeared to be serious.
I just
baulked...
Adopt?
Can that even happen?
I’m an adult!
“I think
you should!” Elspeth, a high flying corporate lawyer, agreed with a huge grin.
I
laughed... weakly!
Blake and
Max had been in Max’s den, discussing whatever ‘man’ things they were up
to.
As they left the room, I could see
Max shaking Blake’s hand and lean in to say something to Blake.
Blake pulled back, still clasping Max’s hand
and laughing heartily.
I was so
happy that Blake got on with Max... and Debbie.
For all intents and purposes, they were my parents.
Just before
I had turned eighteen, a letter came from Child Services, addressed to me - it
explained my rights as I exited the foster system.
When I had approached Max about it all, he
took one look at the letter, asked me if I wanted to continue on with them as
before; and when I said I did, he took the ‘offending letter’ as he referred to
it, over to the fireplace in the family room and set it alight.
It had made me cry, so he hugged me and told
me that I was his daughter regardless of birth... which of course made me cry
even more.
It was hard
to reconcile that that event happened only eight months before... so much had
happened and changed since then.
A whole
lifetime had occurred in the subsequent months.
*
Sally and
Henry rocked up at the house three hours late.
Sally looked exhausted and her eyes looked puffy, like she’d been
crying.
Henry
looked agitated.
After
sitting down for dinner, we all retired to the Family room, where the Christmas
tree stood, and a warm fire was roaring.
Pulling
Sally aside, I moved in to ask her about her and Henry.
“What’s
going on?” I asked.
“What do
you mean?” she sighed.
“You and Henry!
Something is definitely wrong!”
I explained.
“Oh... it’s
nothing!” she answered, pouting slightly.
My eyebrows
shot up...
nothing my ass!
“Do you
wanna try pulling the wool over someone else’s eyes Sal?
I mean I’m not stupid!” I argued in a fierce
whisper.
Sally
looked at me with sad eyes.
She sighed,
“Henry still isn’t ready to get married, and we’ve been fighting about it
non-stop.” She admitted.
“Not
because of me?” I asked worriedly.
“No...
and
yes!” Sally began.
“I’ve been asking him to commit to a date for the last 6 months,
however, when you two announced your wedding date; he just kind of got all
worked up, like I was trying to make him uncomfortable about us not moving
forward.
The thing is, I hadn’t said
anything different from before; he’s the one that sees it all as a slap in the
face!” she looked up at me a little broken.
“I’m
sorry!” I said apologetically.
“No!” Sally
gasped, “Please don’t be sorry! I’m thrilled by your wedding and the
babies!
He’s the one that isn’t!” she
smiled.
“I want you
to be happy!” I explained.
I knew how
she felt about this... her greatest dream was to have a functional family of
her own.
“I will
be... he’ll come around eventually.” She smiled.
Blake.
I watched
Summer
mingle with her family and felt a huge warmth radiate
through my chest.
My girl... my woman...
was carrying my children, and wandering around talking to everyone she held
dear.
I wondered if she knew how
absolutely beautiful she looked right at that moment.
Sally and
her
were quietly discussing something.
The looks on their faces made it obvious it
was a slightly painful discussion.
I
wanted to go over and intervene, make things better, but just as I had decided
to move across to them, Henry sat beside me and addressed me.
“So...
you’re going to be a father and a married man!” he said.
I was
unsure about his tone... it was jovial, but there was an underlying current of
unease.
“Yeah man!”
I enthused.
“And you’re
okay with all of that?” he asked perplexed.
“Of course!
I did ask her!” I explained.
“Yeah, but
you don’t have to get married because she’s pregnant!” he stated.
He must of seen the incredulous face I was
presenting, because he added, “just saying!”
“I proposed
to
Summer
before we got pregnant... and sure,
I
sped up the wedding because of the
babies, but it wasn’t because I was trying to make an honest woman out of her
or anything.
I did it for completely
selfish reasons!” I explained, sitting further back into my seat.
“Oh!
Okay... I just find the whole marriage thing
scary... you know?” he chuckled nervously.
“Nah man...
can’t say I do!” I answered, taking a sip of my beer.
“I am so desperate to make sure that woman is
mine... I can’t stop thinking about it!
And the fact that she’s carrying my kids just makes me even more
desperate!” I enthused.
It was true!
I wanted to be sure that everyone around us
knew that this woman was everything to me, that she would be
my
everything
forever!
“Good for
you!” Henry nodded.
His face still
carried a generous amount of confusion.
Obviously he didn’t feel the same about Sally.
I couldn’t understand that... Sally was a
seriously gorgeous woman in her own right, and she was sweet, kind and a
domestic goddess as well.
She was the
whole package.
The guy needed to wake up
to himself.
“Sally’s a
keeper you know.” I risked saying.
“Hmmm...”
Henry mumbled, looking into his beer and guzzling the second half of it
promptly.
“You’re still in the honeymoon
stage of your relationship... things change after a while, you’ll see.” He
outlined bleakly.
I
laughed.
It was definitely not the
response he had expected; he looked at me like I was nuts.
“No way,” I
began, “I’ve been in love with
Summer
for 11 years;
and I’ve been manufacturing ways to get her to be mine for the last 4 of those
years.” I smiled.
“Now I’ve got her,
there’s no way I’m ever gonna question my decisions to be with her.” I
explained.
Henry
raised his eyebrows at my declaration.
“You and
me,” I said, indicating the two of us with the beer bottle in my hand, “We’re
cut from completely different cloth, I believe!” I offered.
“Obviously.”
Henry replied bleakly, before getting up to go to the kitchen and
gather up another beer.
*
Christmas
morning was to be spent with Max and Debbie, as was the previous evening, but
from
10am,
my parents would have us all to themselves,
alongside Julie and Helen.
It was going
to be the first time my parents had contact with Helen as anything more than
Julie’s friend.
Since
Thanksgiving, they’d been working out their feelings about their daughter’s
outburst.
They were doing well... and it
probably helped that Summer was pregnant, which eliminated their whole lament
of Julie choosing a lifestyle which may make her not want to have a family,
though that wasn’t a deal set in concrete... she may find the right girl and
settle down.
Perhaps Helen was the right
girl!
Christmas
morning at Max’s and Debbie’s though was a riot!
Phoebe and Elspeth gave both of us joint
gifts of baby items and expensive gift vouchers for baby furniture and
supplies, from several up market baby boutique stores throughout the Manhattan
area.
The amount that they’d spent was
completely outrageous!
It was suffice to
say that we wouldn’t need to buy anything ourselves, and I hoped that my parents
had not also purchased anything, because the thunder had been completely stolen
right out from under them.