Disclaimer: I wish Phil of the Future was mine. But it isn't.
A/N: This is the randomest one-shot I think I've come up with yet. I literally wrote it in an hour, and that includes re-reads and edits. I don't even know where the idea came from. It's mainly a Keely POV.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my other stories! Because of your praise I'm now in the middle of at least two other PotF stories, and one is a (sort of weird) multi-chapter.
Enjoy!
XXX
Pickford, California, June 2013
Today was a very important day for the Teslow women.
Keely woke up early in the morning, too early in her opinion, on the life-changing day. Her surroundings weren't what she was used to opening her eyes to every morning anymore; the purple walls, the gigantic bulletin board full of pictures, the bookshelf filled with young adult literature, the white desk covered in papers and picture frames and little stuffed animals and a desktop computer, the bureau with an assortment of odds and ends on top, the whiteboard with poetry magnets stuck to it, awaiting to be placed together to create sentences, all seemed foreign now, even though she'd spent eighteen years plus a few vacations claiming this room as her own.
These days, she was used to a queen-sized bed instead of a double, cream-colored walls with sophisticated and grown-up snapshots and paintings hanging in specific areas, a bookshelf full of literature written for the demographic of adults as opposed to teens, no desk to even speak of, not just one but two bureaus, each with numerous pictures placed on top of them, plus a door leading to another bathroom and a lot more closet space. The only thing really the same was the whiteboard with the poetry magnets (Keely had insisted she needed one for when she felt creative).
She rolled over to the right side of the bed (her right, the bed's left), her favorite side to get up on. Today was a very special day; she shouldn't begin it by getting up on the wrong side of the bed. She stumbled towards the window, trying to rub the sleepiness from her eyes before opening the shade and emitting a burst of sunlight into the darkened room.
A few minutes later she was downstairs pouring herself some cereal, using the specific bowl she'd always loved to use when she was a kid, her 'good luck' bowl. Today was a big day, the perfect day for old superstitions like 'getting up on the right side of the bed' and using a 'good luck' bowl. Her stomach protested a little as the dry cereal hit the bottom of the bowl, but she tried to ignore the fluttering because she had to eat something. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, her mother had always told her.
A noise came from the hallway and Keely glanced out as she grabbed the milk from the refrigerator to see her mother, clad in a bathrobe just as she was, making her way into the kitchen. Mother and daughter said nothing to each other, but Keely passed Mandy a bowl and they both sat down at the kitchen table a moment later, mouths crunching. Just the two of them, just like old times, but not for long; never would it be just the two of them again.
Today was a Big Deal, so after the Teslow women had dressed in casual clothes, they went together to get their hail and nails done and meeting up with a few other women in the process. The older and younger Teslows' said little to each other (there wasn't much to be said, the event coming later in the day said it all for them) so they let the others carry on the conversation. Sometimes they exchanged smiles or a "that color is gorgeous" or a "I like it more up with a few curls coming down to frame your face" or a "are you getting nervous?". The answer to the last one was always yes.
"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Mandy told her daughter as they exited the salon.
"You do too, Mom," Keely replied in turn as she got into the passenger's side of her mother's car.
By the time Keely and her mother returned to their home, it was early afternoon, and they needed to be out of the house again soon. They went together up to Mandy's room first, gathering together make-up supplies and bobby pins to reinforce their hair do's and a large bag containing a very important article of clothing. Next they ventured into Keely's room, getting together the same things, grabbing another large bag on their way out the door, this one also holding a piece of clothing very precious. Today was a day for dressing up and being fancy, so they both had chosen the nicest dresses (though they were two very different styles) and had bought the most expensive make-up.
They reached their destination in no time, and both began twittering when they noticed the other cars in the parking lot, recognizing a few of them as belonging to people in their party. Keely and Mandy rushed inside with laughter, joking about old traditions of so-and-so not seeing so-and-so before the big unveiling. Once indoors, they were directed to a changing room, where a few women were already waiting. The women began fussing over the mother and daughter immediately, throwing out congratulations and best wishes like it was their job.
The two guests of honor changed into their formal wear and were received with gasps and applause at the beauty of it all. Statements were thrown around, such as "you look marvelous, dear" and "simply stunning!" and "he won't know what hit him" and "now don't you cry, because it will smudge your beautiful make-up".
Today was a day no one wanted to forget, so many pictures were taken. An official photographer had been hired beforehand, and now, with only moments to spare before the big event, he was running around the room, rushing out directions of you-go-there, you-stand-there, you're-perfect-right-there, his camera flashing so much it was as though he were just shining a bright light at them instead of clicking a button.
Keely took one last look in the vanity mirror before it was time for her to go out and stand in front of the gathered crowd, who now were all taking their seats to witness this joyful event. She felt young for her twenty-three years, like she was playing dress-up with her mother's clothes and make-up, and yet the face that stared back at her looked so much older, so much more mature, like the face of a true news broadcaster about to report the story of their lifetime.
"You're on," one of the women said gently, grabbing Keely's wrist and bringing her out of the room, down the hallway, and towards the large wooden doors, not yet opened for her. The woman winked and then slipped through a side door, most likely to take her seat.
Keely couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as another woman standing by handed her a bouquet of flowers to carry and wished her luck with a "don't trip" attached at the end. Her head reeled and her stomach twisted with anticipation. Today was such a monumental day; her life would never be the same after this.
Music began, a nice sound of string instruments playing in unison, which Keely remembered as her cue from the rehearsal the previous night. Her smile grew larger as the doors opened, as all eyes in the big hall turned to rest on her, as the red-carpet aisle stretching ahead of her became smaller with each slow step she took towards the altar at the front, one foot in front of the other to match the pace of the music.
As she reached the last few rows of white seats, she lowered her head a little, letting her eyes fall, trying to savor this moment so she could remember it forever. Today was a day she'd want to keep stored in the back of her mind for forever.
Finally she reached the altar and her gaze met the groom's. He stood proud and handsome in his tux, looking for all the world the happiest man you could find. He was grinning from ear to ear, his teeth impeccably white and nearly glinting from the soft lights lit above them.
Now that she was finally up there, Keely let her eyes stray to the crowd, taking in the largeness of the whole company together. She could hear a few sniffles already, even though the ceremony had barely started. As she quickly scanned the rows and rows of people, she found the person she was searching for. The thoughtful-looking young man was staring up at the altar, but with unseeing eyes, obviously wrapped up in his own thoughts. He was so familiar, a man she'd known for so long, that by just looking at him she could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. He was concocting a plan of some sort, she just knew it. Today was a milestone day, but he seemed to be considering something else, and just by his expression Keely could tell he was imagining another momentous day, sometime in the future, one that would change his life in a way similar to how two lives were changing right at this moment. His brown eyes at last met hers, and Keely blushed a little at his smile and wink, directed and meant only for her.
The one look made Keely's heart melt like butter, but the staring contest of who could last longest before glancing away was broken when the music started up again and the doors opened once more. All eyes in the hall followed the red aisle down to its beginning to watch the bride move easily towards the altar. Keely thought it felt like a lifetime before the woman in off-white had finally joined her groom up at the front. The twenty-three-year-old took the proffered bouquet to hold with her own, and held them down at the waist of her dark-blue bridesmaid's dress.
With tears in her eyes, she and many others watched as Mandy Teslow and David Pratt became man and wife.
Later at the reception, as Keely danced with the man from the crowd, the man who was unbelievably from the year 2121, the man who was somehow her oldest friend, her best friend, and her live-in boyfriend, she couldn't help but picture her own wedding, what it would be like. And then she thought of the fact that she now had a step-father, how her mother was now Mrs. Mandy Pratt, how Keely no longer had to worry about her mom living alone in that big house in the suburbs of Pickford while she was enjoying life in an apartment she shared with her boyfriend.
And someday, maybe sooner than she could imagine, she would have someone to attend her own wedding and maybe even give her away, acting as her father as David had done since Keely had been a freshman in college. She had a guy to give a Father's Day card to, a man her kids someday could call 'Grandpa'.
Today was a very important day for the Teslow women, though for greatly different reasons. But the one thing they did have in common: their family that had been just the two of them for so long was expanding, and that was all right by them.
XXX
End.