Author's Note: Okay so this is a oneshot of Rick and Evie's wedding. I'm following along with my character Ava. I owe the idea to this oneshot to the writer Tiryn. They had the idea for this oneshot so I credit this writer for this story. It's a little different in writing style compared to my fic, Ava's Grand Adventure. Whenever Ava reflects on her past the story is told in first person. I am not used to writing in that style so I hope it's not too terrible. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fic. Also, I will be starting the sequel to The Mummy with my OC in a month. This was just a reminder that I will be continuing on with these characters. Please enjoy and leave a review. Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Mummy. All rights belong to the writers and creators of the movie.
After saving the world from Imhotep, Ava, Rick, Jonathan, and Evie headed back to Cairo, and not long after found that one of the camels had been carrying a sack of treasure from the temple. Rick had thought Benny had brought the gold out of the temple so he could take off with it, but had gone back in for more. Ava didn't care how the gold had got there. The only thing she'd cared about was getting out of Cairo. While the others argued over how to split the profit they would make from the treasure she dreamed of living in an actual house with an actual bed. She dreamed of having a job that didn't make her feel ashamed of herself. But mostly she dreamed of being a part of her brother's life again.
So she had been quite stunned to hear that Rick and Evie would get fifty percent of the share while she and Jonathan each got twenty-five percent. Apparently, while she'd been daydreaming Rick had managed to propose to Evelyn. Ava had immediately asked them if the two weren't taking things too fast. After all they'd only known each other for about a week. She thought they should give it time. Jonathan had backed her, although only with the intention of re-evaluating the percentage of the profit they were selling. Rick had argued each point she made, and had claimed the wedding was going to happen whether she liked it or not.
Now Ava had no real disagreement with Rick marrying Evie. In fact, she liked Evie a lot. She certainly saw her as the best of all the girls Rick had dated in the past. But she had thought after their adventure ended that she and Rick would go back to how it had been before their fight in Paris. When she'd realized that that was not the case she realized her future was unclear once again. Evie must have realized what was going through her mind and had interceded her and Rick's argument. The kind British woman had assured her that she would be welcome to live with her and Rick, and that if she wanted to live separately that their door would always be open to her. Rick had then realized what her fuss had been about and quickly agreed with Evie. Having been reassured that she was not being left on her own again, Ava quickly gave her approval of the wedding.
After leaving Cairo, and returning with Evie and Jonathan to London, the group sold the treasure and settled into their new lives. Rick and Evie bought something of a mansion with their share of the treasure and Ava moved into a room inside the mansion. Jonathan had purchased his own place in the city, but they saw him often, mostly when bailing him out of some sort of trouble. After Evie had asked her to be her maid of honor they spent three months planning the wedding. It was going to be small. Rick didn't have anyone on his side except for her and Evie and Jonathan only had a few relatives and close friends to invite. Still, the two had put a lot of work into putting the wedding together.
And now finally it was the day of. Ava was currently pinning up a few stray hairs. Evie had asked for her to wear it up in a simple bun, so she wanted to look as neat as possible. She was just relieved Evie had good taste in dresses. She was wearing a flapper-esque dress with its straight waist and beading, but it hit mid shin so it was modest. Honestly, Ava had many dresses that were much more scandalous, but she'd been surprised, albeit pleasantly so, when Evie had picked this dress out of the fashion catalog. The champagne color of the dress was nice too. Classic. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, pleased with her appearance and then walked into Evie's room to help her get into her wedding gown, only to find the British woman a nervous wreck. Evie was pacing back and forth across the room wearing only her petticoats. She didn't even have her hair done.
"Nervous?" Ava asked with an amused smile.
Evie's head snapped up. "Oh, Ava, I didn't see you there," she said fretfully.
"I just got here," Ava replied stepping into the room. "Do you need help with anything?"
"My hair," Evie answered twisting a curl around her finger absentmindedly. "I couldn't get it how I wanted it."
"I can do it for you," Ava told her sitting her down on the edge of the bed and then grabbing a brush and hair pins before kneeling behind her. "How did you want it styled?"
"Oh, I don't know," Evie replied distractedly. Ava stuffed a hairpin into her mouth to hide her smile. It was amusing to see the normally well put together British woman so flustered.
"Well, my hair's up so why not wear yours half up and half down," Ava suggested.
"Yes, that sounds good," Evie answered briskly. Ava wondered where her friend's mind was as she began teasing Evie's curls with the brush and then pinning them into place. The room was completely silent as she worked, and she quickly got lost in what she was doing so she jumped when Evie finally broke the silence.
"Ava?" Evie asked. Ava looked over at the mirror that they were sitting across and met Evie's eyes in their reflections.
"Yes?" she prompted her friend as she began braiding her friend's hair.
"I was wondering…well I was just curious as to…to how I compare to the other girls Rick has dated in the past," Evie stammered.
Ava raised her eyebrows and paused in her task. She looked back over at Evie's reflection before slowly continuing to style her hair. "Are you really asking about all the girls Rick has dated over the years?" she asked. She saw Evie's reflection nod in the mirror and sighed. "You're aware the wedding starts in only two hours, right?"
"He's dated so many women you can't name them all in under two hours?!" Evie gasped.
"Evie, I couldn't name them all if I tried," Ava replied. "Most of them I didn't know for longer than a week."
Evie moaned and placed her face in her hands. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea," she said, her words muffled as she spoke into her hands. "I mean what makes me different from all the other women Rick has dated?"
Ava snorted. "That's a rhetorical question if I've ever heard one," Ava replied briskly. "But if you really want it answered than I'll tell you about some of the girls he's dated. We'll start with Akila."
"Was she pretty?" Evie asked dreadfully.
"Very," Ava replied. "She was a girl at the orphanage in Cairo. I don't even know how Rick met her. They kept the girls and boys separate as much as possible. The only reason Rick and I got to see each other was because we're siblings. Anyway one day when I was outside hanging up the laundry…
"Hey Ava," Rick called. I smiled as I turned around, the bedsheets I had just washed slung over my shoulder. I was glad I would finally see my brother. I hadn't the past two days since the workload for everyone had been so full. Inspection was coming up and if the matron of the orphanage wanted to meet the codes some major cleaning had to be done. Of course, she just made the orphan kids do it so I had been kept very busy. I was glad now that I'd finally be able to spend some time with my brother, only when I turned around and saw him I saw a girl hanging onto Rick's arm.
I knew the girl who was currently hanging all over Rick. 'Akila,' I thought remembering the girl's name. She was one of the older girls in the orphanage, probably only a year younger than Rick who was seventeen at that time. I wasn't particularly fond of Akila. I thought she was very vain and, well, a witch. She was never nice to us younger girls and often complained that we mucked up her belongings. I was always tempted to point out that as orphans we didn't have any belongings, but the best way to deal with her was just to smile and nod. If she wanted to put on airs then let her. At least that was my thought until I saw her walking towards me with Rick.
"Hey Ava," Rick said again stopping in front of her. "You didn't tell me Akila was such a hot tamale. I was surprised when she told me who she was. From the way you talk about her I was expecting a snake, not an angel." I felt like killing him. I could feel my cheeks redden, and when I glanced over at Akila she was glaring daggers at me. Suddenly, I wasn't so happy to see Rick.
I frowned at him before turning back to the laundry line. "I don't remember saying much about her at all, Rick," I said draping the sheets over the line. "But I think you must be exaggerating. I can't imagine I'd have anything bad to say about Akila." I was just trying to appease the girl. After all I'd never meant for her to hear what I'd said about her. But Rick, being the dense bastard he is, just made things worse.
"Nah, I'm positive she was the one you were telling me about," Rick replied.
I sighed and turned back around to face them. "Is there a real reason you came over here, or are you just trying to annoy me, because you see I'm very busy," I said.
Rick shrugged. "I only came over here to tell you that you should try and get along with Akila," Rick responded. "Me and her are together now." For a second I thought about decking him, but decided it wasn't worth it.
"Fine," I replied picking up the now empty laundry basket. "Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do." I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have, but I bumped into Akila as I stormed past her, hard enough to knock her down. I remember I threw a fake apology over my shoulder as I continued on. Naturally, I paid for it. That night at dinner the matron chewed me out for not washing the sheets. I told her I had washed the sheets, but she just held one of the sheets, that I HAD washed, up and pointed to dirt stains on it.
"You call tossing them in the dirt cleaning them!" the Matron had screeched. "The inspector will be here tomorrow. You'll spend the night cleaning these sheets until they look brand new. And you can forget about any food tomorrow." It was her typical punishment. She was too kind of a woman to actually hit a child so she'd just take away your meals. Still, for an orphan whose meals were usually pretty meager it had just as much effect as being switched. I had managed to hold back my tears until I got outside and began washing the sheets over again. I knew Akila had knocked the sheets off the line to get back at me, but I didn't care about her. What I cared about was that Rick had to have known and he didn't say a word. For the first time in my life I hated him.
And that terrified me. We'd always been close. We relied on each other because we had no one else. But suddenly, Rick had a girlfriend and he'd taken her side over mine. I was afraid he wouldn't need me anymore if Akila stuck around so I vowed that night to get rid of her. Of course, I didn't know how exactly I planned to do that. There just weren't many good opportunities. I think luck is more to thank than any of the schemes I'd cooked up."
"Luck?" Evie questioned. "Do you mean she just lost interest?"
Ava paused for a second. "Not exactly," she answered.
"Then how-"
"Give me a minute. I'll tell you," Ava said interrupting her. "I was at the market one day…
"I rarely got to go to the market. I was rather young and the market can be a tricky place but there was no one else to send that day. A cold was making its way through the orphanage and all of the older girls who'd normally of gone to the market were sick in bed, including Akila, so I got to go instead. Anyway, I got everything the matron wanted from the market and was heading back to the orphanage when there was this ruckus in the street. Women were screaming and people were thrashing about. I was curious so I wandered over to the commotion to see what was going on.
Well, it turns out an Egyptian Cobra and slithered in from the desert. They're poisonous so people were afraid of it. It wasn't hurting anybody, but everyone screaming and running around it was aggravating the snake. There were a few people throwing rocks at the poor creature too. Anyway, it was coiled up with its hood spread wide and ready to strike when someone with good aim managed to hit its head and killed the snake. Everyone calmed down after that and started to get back to business. A few men were still huddled around trying to decide what to do with the snake. While they weren't looking I snatched the dead snake up and wrapped it up the linen cloth I'd placed over my basket and ran back to the orphanage.
I gave the matron the basket of food and headed up to the girls' dormitory and carefully placed the snake under Akila's sheets while she was sleeping-"
"You put a poisonous snake in the girl's bed!" Evie exclaimed, her eyes wide in terror.
Ava shrugged. "It was already dead," she replied continuing to style Evie's hair.
"But a snake?" Evie shuddered. "Well what happened next?"
"Well, when she woke up she screamed so loud I'm surprised she didn't bust any windows," Ava answered with a wicked smile spreading across her face. "The matron was furious of course, but she didn't know who'd done it so she couldn't do anything about. Akila knew it was me of course and when we were alone later that day threatened to tell Rick on me."
"Did she?" Evie asked."
"No. I told her that if she didn't end it with Rick next time it would be a live snake in her bed," Ava replied. "The next day the two were no longer an item. Rick was pretty down about it, but he got over it soon enough." Ava pinned the last strand of Evie's hair in place and set the brush down. "Do you like it?"
Evie inspected her reflection in the mirror for a moment before smiling. "Yes," she replied. "You did a very nice job."
Ava nodded. "Well, you better get dressed then," she said standing up. "I'll help you into your dress."
"Yes, that would be helpful," Evie murmured still looking a bit distracted. Ava didn't say anything as she took the wedding dress of its hanger. "What about the other girls?" Ava smiled, having expected her friend to ask.
"Well, there was Farah," Ava said.
"And I suppose she was pretty too?" Evie asked a little snappishly.
"Beautiful," Ava replied.
"And how did you get rid of this one?" Evie asked.
"Oh this one was too easy," Ava answered. "You see she was very superstitious…
"Honestly, it was like she was terrified of life. It was her only problem. She was nice and I had originally liked her, but after seeing her freak out and run in the opposite direction just because she saw a black cat I just thought she was ridiculous. Actually, I had expected that incident to snap Rick out of his infatuation with her…"
"He was infatuated with her?" Evie asked abruptly, interrupting the story.
"I already said she was very beautiful," Ava replied buttoning up Evie's wedding dress. "Even I was a little infatuated with her. Anyway…
"Rick hadn't lost interest and had actually scolded me when I poked fun at her over the cat. Well, that settled it. She couldn't stay in Rick's life so I set about getting rid of her. She was much easier than Akila. She'd shown me the best way to get rid of her. I made sure every time she went out with Rick that he'd get her superstitions going. Once when he took her out to lunch I walked behind Rick and bumped into his back while he was shaking salt onto his food. He dropped the salt shaker and all the salt spilled onto his plate and the table when the top fell off. Farah freaked out. She screeched and made him throw all of the spilt salt over his shoulder.
Of course the maître d was furious over the salt being thrown on the floor and made them promise to never come back to the restaurant. I had hoped that would be enough to get one or the other to break it off, but after a little squabble the two remained an item. So I tried again. One day while they were taking a walk through town I followed along. As they turned down an alley I noticed a ladder was leaning against the side of a building. Someone must have been doing work on their home. Well, while they were stopped at the side of the rode bargaining with some street vendor I ran ahead and pulled open the ladder and set it up in the middle of the sidewalk. Sure enough when they continued on Rick walked right under the ladder.
Farah freaked out once again and this time I thought I had gotten rid of her. She accused, loudly I might add, that Rick was bad luck and to stay away from her. After watching this display I hurried back to the hotel room Rick and I were sharing and waited for Rick to come home and then act shocked when he told me what had happened. He moped around for a few days but I knew he would snap out of it and move onto the next girl…except he didn't. On the fourth day after Farah had called it off with him Rick came back into the room after having gone out and announced that Farah would be coming over.
I was stunned, and furious. Rick could charm his way into any girls' pants. I couldn't have her back in the picture. I knew I'd have to go to an extreme measure. The hotel room had a floor length mirror that you could move around if you wanted to put it in a new spot. While Rick and Farrah were talking in the sitting room outside of the bedroom I carefully pushed it into the room behind Rick. Neither of them had noticed. Rick was waving his hands around trying to convince her that superstitions were nonsense and he wasn't bad luck. I went over to the kitchenette and made coffee for the two and gave them both a mug of it. Predictably, Rick continued to flail his hands around and accidently smashed the ceramic mug into the mirror shattering it.
You can imagine Farah's response to this. She immediately tried to leave. Rick had grabbed onto her arm and pleaded with her to listen to reason, but luck was not on his side, but on mine. A bird flew into the room from the open bedroom window. Farah yanked her arm out of Rick's grasp and fled the hotel."
"Why had she freaked out over a bird?" Evie asked confused.
"Oh there's some silly saying that if a bird flies into your home someone is going to die," Ava replied with a shrug.
"But that's nonsense," Evie declared. "I'm sure no one died just because a bird flew into your hotel room."
"Well actually," Ava said as she turned Evie to face the mirror, "Farah's father died of a sudden illness just a week later."
Evie's mouth dropped open. "But it couldn't have been because of the bird, could it?" she asked.
Ava smiled ruefully. "I never thought so," she answered. "But after the whole incident with Imhotep I don't know what to think now." They were quiet a moment as both their thoughts swam through their adventure in Egypt. Ava was the first to snap out of her reverie. "Anyhow, it doesn't matter now. What do you think? Don't you look stunning?"
Evie's attention refocused on the mirror and she smiled at her reflection. "I suppose I do look rather attractive, don't I?" she replied bashfully.
"You're a dish," Ava agreed bluntly. "Now, we should really head downstairs and wait for the carriage that will bring us to the church."
"That won't be here for another hour," Evie replied. "And you've only told me about two of Rick's past girlfriends. I'm sure there were more."
Ava laughed. "Oh alright," she sighed sitting back down on Evie's bed. "I'll tell you about Marisol."
"Let me guess, she was beautiful too," Evie said sitting down next to her.
"You have to ask?" Ava teased.
Evie smiled. "What was wrong with this one?" she asked.
"She was such a half-wit," Ava grumbled. "I didn't think it was possible for a grown woman to be so clueless…
"I dreaded spending time with her, but I was often forced to. See Rick and I had traveled to Spain and lived there for a brief amount of time, but neither of us knew the language too well. Marisol, knew English and acted as a translator for us. Of course, most of the time she misunderstood something that was said herself. Anyway, one day while I was out shopping her and Rick come strolling up to me arm and arm and Marisol was smiling as if someone had just offered her the world. I didn't fail to notice the ruby necklace she wore around her neck. The very ruby necklace I had claimed for myself on our last adventure.
"Look, what Rick gave me!" Marisol exclaimed when they reached me. "Isn't it the most beautiful necklace you have ever seen?"
"Yes, it's stunning. I wish I had one just like it," I replied tersely. I saw the girl open up her mouth to say more but cut her off. "Marisol, I hate to ask, but we need bread and I don't have the vocabulary to talk with the baker yet. Would you be so kind as to speak with him for me?"
"Oh, of course," Marisol replied brightly and hurried over to the baker's shop. I waited until she was out of hearing before turning on Rick.
"That is my necklace!" I hissed hitting him on the upper arm. "Why would you give my necklace to her?"
"Oh come on Ava, don't be so selfish," Rick replied rubbing his arm where I'd hit him.
"I'm selfish!" I cried landing another hit to Rick's arm. "The only one who is selfish is you. You had no right to give her that necklace."
"Well sorry," Rick replied. "We'll get you a new necklace on our next treasure hunt."
"Oh so you can give that necklace away to the next pretty girl that walks by. Just forget about it," I yelled and began to storm off.
"Ava, your bread!" I heard Marisol call out for her, but I just kept walking. Rick brought the loaf home later, but we didn't say a word to each other for three days. And even then we didn't say anything about what happened. Which was fine with me because I'd already decided that I could not allow Marisol to have my necklace. I just couldn't. So to fool Rick into thinking I was over it and was getting along with Marisol I went out riding with her. We rode out to the country side and were having a little picnic.
I let her chat away about nothing for a bit. I was pretending to act slightly distressed. "Ava, is something wrong? You look very perturbed by something?" Marisol finally asked.
I had glanced over at her and then quickly looked away again. "No, I'm fine," I replied unconvincingly.
"Ava, I can tell something's wrong," Marisol said and shifted so she was sitting closer to me. "You can tell me. We might be sisters someday after all."
"Hell no," I thought before faking a smile and turning back to her. "I just don't want to worry you, that's all," I replied.
"Worry me?" Marisol asked. "Did something happen to Rick?"
"No," I replied quickly. "But it's, well I just think he was a bit hasty giving you that necklace. I don't think he knew about it."
"Knew about it?" Marisol questioned.
"You know it was a part of the treasure Rick and I discovered in Bangladesh, right?" I asked. Marisol nodded her head. "Well the treasure included a book that gives details about all the artifacts in the treasure, and well…that necklace it's…it's…"
"It's alright, Ava, you can tell me," Marisol said reassuringly.
"That necklace is cursed," I forced out quickly, and then to my shock she burst out laughing.
"Oh, Ava, you don't really believe in curses do you?" Marisol laughed.
"Yes, I've seen them happen," I replied seriously and watched in satisfaction as the laughter drained from her face.
"You have?" she asked nervously. I nodded solemnly. Marisol's hand came up to rest on the ruby necklace. "What happens to the person who wears the necklace?"
"Well, it used to belong to an old witch you see," I told her. "But one of her fellow townsmen turned her in for her witchcraft and on the day she was hanged that same townsman stole her necklace from her. When the priest asked if she had any last words she put a curse on the necklace claiming that any who wore it would be visited by her spirit and she would choke them to death unless the necklace was destroyed or returned to her."
"But I've been wearing this necklace for five days now and nothing has happened," Marisol replied.
"That's because the witch's spirit cannot crossover into this world except for the night when the moon is full," I responded.
"But that's tonight," Marisol gasped.
"That's why I had to tell you," I replied. "I know Rick didn't know about the curse or he'd have never given you the necklace. I'll explain why you had to give the necklace back to him tonight."
"Give it back! Oh I can't do that. It would hurt his feelings tremendously," Marisol exclaimed. "You should have heard him say how badly he wanted me to have this necklace."
I gritted my teeth before twisting my face into a pleading expression. "But if you don't give it back the witch will come for you tonight!" I cried.
"I know," Marisol replied grimly. "But I can't insult Rick by giving the necklace back." Marisol stood up and began packing up our lunch. "Let's ride back to the village now. I want to spend my remaining time with my family." I seethed silently as we rode back. I had really thought she'd hand the necklace back over in a flash. After that I was resorted to…"
"Ava, please tell you didn't dress yourself up as a witch to scare the poor girl," Evie cut her off laughing.
"I had to!" Ava cried. "It's her fault! What kind of idiot keeps a necklace when they know some ghost is coming after them to kill them?"
"The kind of idiot that believes that tale in the first place," Evie pointed out. "Alright, so what happened when you snuck into this poor girl's room dressed like an old hag?"
"Well, I crept over to her bed and gripped onto her shoulder with my hand…"
"I had expected the sight of me disguised as I would terrify the girl and make her pull of the necklace and give it back to me immediately, but to my surprise she actually decided to fight me off. She landed a hard punch to my jaw knocking me backwards. She hopped up off the bed and rushed at me. We got into a bit of a squabble and at some point I got my hands on the ruby necklace and pulled at it, but when the clasp broke it flew out of my hand and through the air before crashing into a dresser. I writhed out of her grasp and crawled to the necklace only to find the ruby had been cracked.
Well I figured now the necklace was worthless to the both of us so I just scooped it up, gave Marisol a hard glare, and went out her window. I tossed the broken necklace into a well outside someone's home before heading back to the hotel. The next day I woke up late, but I woke up to the sound of Marisol crying hysterically. I listened from my bedroom as she cried how she wasn't worthy of my brother and how he deserved someone better.
"And that was how I got rid of her," Ava finished.
"Was she your fastest conquest?" Evie asked laughing.
"No, my fastest conquest was a girl from India," Ava replied.
"What was her name?" Evie asked curiously.
"Oh, I have no idea," Ava answered shrugging. "I was at home alone when there was a knock on the door and…
"I opened it to find some pretty young girl standing on the stoop. The girl took one look at me and blanched. "Oh dear! Are you Rick's wife?" the girl asked.
I blinked in surprise but quickly determined that this must be my brother's latest girlfriend. I took the opportunity to get rid of her and arranged my face into a glare. "Yes, I am," I replied hotly. "And who are you?"
"Well, I'm…"
"You're that floozy he's been sneaking off with!" I cried angrily and took a step towards her. The girl backed up immediately, nearly falling backwards off the stoop. "I suggest you leave immediately!"
"The girl hightailed it out of there so fast I was amazed she didn't fly," Ava laughed. "But she was my fastest conquest." The sound of a carriage suddenly came in through the open bedroom window.
"I guess it's time to go now," Evie said standing up.
"It is," Ava replied. "Are you feeling better now?"
"I am," Evie answered. "But I was wondering something."
"Oh? And what's that?" Ava asked with a smile as they walked towards the carriage.
"Why haven't you ever tried to get rid of me?" Evie questioned.
"Because I have never seen my brother look at another girl the way he looks at you," Ava replied helping Evie into the carriage before sliding in beside her. "Because our mother would have loved you. Because I love you too."
Evie smiled, her eyes watering. "I love you too," she whispered and the two women embraced.
"You know," Ava replied letting go, "I've always wanted a sister."
"Me too," Evie agreed. "Brothers are the worst."
"You can say that again," Ava laughed.
Hours later after the wedding ceremony, Ava was sitting down at a table and watching her brother dance with Evie. The wedding party was at a hotel not far from the church. Everyone was having a good time. Ava herself had been enjoying herself, dancing with many of the guests. Now though, as she watched Evie and Rick danced, she felt a tad envious and her mid wandered far away to the golden desert which was home to the man she couldn't stop thinking about.
"What are you so deep in thought over?" a cheerful voice asked snapping her out of her reverie. She glanced up to see Jonathan sitting down next to her. She smiled brightly at him. Over the past few months the two had grown to be great friends. They often went out at night together for a night of gambling and debauchery.
"Oh nothing," Ava replied. "I was just thinking about how beautiful the wedding was."
"You can't fool me," Jonathan returned. "You get that look on your face whenever you think about a handsome desert man."
Ava blushed and turned her gaze back to Rick and Evie. "It's pointless to daydream about a man you can't have," she said softly.
"If it's any consolation, I think he liked you back," Jonathan told her. She glanced back over at him to see him smiling at her. "I bet he's looking up at the night, desert sky and daydreaming about you."
She gave him a grateful smile. "I just think it would be nice to have what my brother and your sister have," she said. "I think it would be nice to be married."
"Well, I'm not sure about the whole marriage thing, but depending on the girl I guess it wouldn't too horrible," Jonathan replied.
"Well you'd definitely have to like the person you're marrying," Ava agreed.
"Yes," Jonathan hummed and then gave her a pointed gaze. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we make a deal?"
Ava laughed. "What deal?" she asked curiously.
"In ten years, if neither of us are married," Jonathan proposed, "we'll marry each other."
Ava smiled and raised her glass of champagne. "You've got yourself a deal," she replied and the clinked glasses before they both got up and began to dance.