Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie or any of the characters associated with it. The plot is the only thing that's mine.
"What can I get you, sir?" The bartender asked as he wiped out a crystal wine glass with a blue rag. Per Teddy's request, the two bartenders at her wedding reception had to be dressed in the wedding colors, yellow and peach. Under his tan sports jacket the bartender was wearing a peach shirt with a yellow tie. Gabe noted that the color choice was extremely unfortunate for this man, whose ruddy red cheeks did not play them off well at all.
Gabe quickly glanced over the short selection of drinks available and chose a mixed drink, something with a silly name but contained vodka, so he was content. He leaned against the bar while he was waiting for his drink, watching the events of the day unfold.
At a long, elegant table on a platform in the back of the room Teddy and Spencer sat looking ridiculously happy. They were holding hands and grinning nonstop while they chatted to people who stopped by to give them their congratulations. Every so often Teddy would watch Spencer intently as he spoke to some anonymous relative about their future plans. Teddy's eyes sparkled serenely and Gabe could tell that when this happened, Teddy thought she and Spencer were the only people in the room. A shiver went through Gabe as he thought about how much he would love it if Amanda still looked at him like that.
Amanda. Gabe shook his head as he reached for the drink the bartender held out to him. He raised it to his lips and took a long swig that nearly emptied the glass. Amanda Collins, his high school sweetheart. She was a lifetime of miles away in Kenya doing charity work that would greatly improve the quality of life for an impoverished tribe. Gabe was proud of her, but ever since she left three months ago he couldn't help feeling like he was unimportant to her.
When she left their relationship wasn't on the best of terms. The morning Gabe dropped her off at the airport he felt that his goodbye was strained and insincere. Now, he'd give anything to go back to that morning and apologize for the stupid incident that had worn their bond a few weeks earlier.
"Gabe!"
Above the music Gabe heard Charlie calling his name from the center of the dance floor. He finished off his drink and set it down on the bar. Charlie was waving him over as she moved with the music almost effortlessly, something Gabe admired about his little sister. She's always been a gifted dancer and it's something none of the other Duncans can do. Gabe grinned and joined Charlie, glad to have something to take his mind off of Amanda.
PJ sat at a table near the bar, watching Charlie attempt to teach Gabe how to keep time with the song that was playing. PJ shook his head with a chuckle. Gabe was clumsy on his feet but Charlie didn't mind. She grabbed Gabe's hands and moved them rhythmically, instructing him to watch her feet and copy her moves.
Two years ago the Duncan family had had a scare with Gabe and Charlie. It was a winter night and the Colorado roads were covered with black ice and slippery snow. Amy was working a night shift and Bob was out of town for a convention so Gabe had come over to watch Charlie and little Toby. Charlie's dance class ran late and her usual carpool didn't have time to drop her off, so Gabe went to pick her up. He left Toby with Mrs. Dabney and slowly navigated the treacherous roads to the community center.
They were only three blocks from home when a reckless driver ran a stop sign and slid across the ice right into Gabe's car. The car spun around a few times before flying across a patch of ice and into a tree.
PJ shuddered, remembering how scary it was to get a call from his mom at eleven at night saying that she had just admitted two of his siblings to the emergency room. Charlie had three cracked ribs, a broken leg and a mild concussion. Gabe broke both arms and received a four inch gash across his left cheek. Charlie was devastated that she couldn't go to dance class for almost five months while she healed.
The only good thing that came from their accident was their stronger sense of connection. Gabe and Charlie grew closer from the shared experience, though Gabe carried around a huge amount of guilt for a long time. He'd broken his baby sister. It took a few months before Charlie could convince him that she didn't blame him for the actions of the other driver.
After watching them laugh together for a moment longer, PJ stood up and surveyed the dance floor. Bob and Amy were chatting happily and dancing with Spencer's parents near the platform where Teddy and Spencer sat. Ivy, drink in hand, danced her way across across the floor, stopping to talk with just about everyone. Toby formed a group with half a dozen other kids, most of whom were Spencer's cousins. The kids were laughing together and dancing wildly.
Skylar sat alone at a table, a small smile frozen on her pink lips. PJ picked up his water glass and went over to join her. "Hey Skylar," he said cheerfully as he sat down.
She looked up, startled. "Oh, hey PJ," she replied, tucking her shiny dark hair behind her ears. "Great reception, right?" She turned her attention back to the dance floor where Teddy and Spencer had just begun to slow dance.
PJ noticed the sadness in her voice and instinctively put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little but then relaxed into PJ's touch. "What do you say we get out of here?" he whispered into her ear. Skylar's eyes brightened and she nodded, reaching for his hand as he led her outside.
"Oh, I'm getting too old for this," Bob groaned as he settled himself into a chair. Amy laughed as she pulled off her high heels and sat down next to him. She reached for the glass of water she had abandoned an hour ago when they went to dance with Ed and Carol, Spencer's parents.
"You know, we are getting old," Amy agreed, scrunching up her nose. "Our oldest kid is almost thirty and our oldest daughter just got married today. Honey, I think it's safe to say we're over the hill."
Bob rested his head in his hands, his mind racing. He couldn't believe where all the time had gone. One day he and Amy were dancing at their wedding reception, their futures wide open, and the next day it is the future and they're dancing at their daughter's wedding reception. "How did we get here?" Bob wondered aloud, rubbing his temples.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Amy smiled, patting her husband on the back. "Cheer up, Bob, we're supposed to be happy. Our daughter just got married!"
Bob smiled and lifted his head. "You're right, honey. Today is a day of celebration!" He stood up and headed to the bar.
Teddy lay her head on Spencer's shoulder, her waist in his arms as they danced together, oblivious to the rest of the world. They circled the same spot on the floor, dreamy smiles plastered on both of their faces. She breathed in his familiar sent, cotton and just a hint of pine trees.
"You're my husband now," Teddy whispered to him, pulling him closer. She loved the sound of that. Husband.
"You bet I am, babe," Spencer told her, bringing his lips to her forehead for a light kiss. "And I'm excited for us to really start our lives together. I know we've kind of already started it, but now it's official."
Butterflies erupted in Teddy's stomach as he said that. The fact that he was as in love with her as she was with him was enough to send her heart soaring.
Right after high school graduation Teddy and Spencer had moved to Seattle to pursue their careers. Teddy went to a local university while working a starting-level assistant's job at the news station. Three promotions later, Teddy is next in line to take over the retiring co-anchor's job when she returns from her honeymoon. Spencer attended community college and got his degree in business management and is now pretty high up in his uncle's PR firm.
Teddy thought about how far they made it together without being married. Now, she could hardly wait to see how far they could go together with an even stronger bond.
Suddenly, the metallic sound of spoons clinking against drinking glasses filled the room, causing the newlyweds to break apart in laughter. Spencer grabbed Teddy's hand and pulled her back toward him. "Shall we give the people what they want, Mrs. Walsh?"
"Come here, handsome," Teddy said playfully, grabbing him by his tie and guiding his lips to hers.
"It's chilly out here," Skylar commented, rubbing her hands over her arms briskly. PJ closed the back door behind them with a thud and took off his sports jacket, laying it over Skylar's shoulders. "Thanks," she said shyly, pulling it tight around herself.
It was a beautiful night. At the end of May, the weather usually wavers between warm and cool unpredictably. Tonight was cooler, but the sky was gorgeous enough to make up for it. The sun had dipped down almost completely under the horizon, but strips of orange-pink sky were painted between the ground and the dark, starry view overhead.
PJ linked elbows with Skylar and they walked a few feet toward a wooden bench that overlooked a pond. They sat silently for a few moments, watching a beautiful snowy white swan float around gracefully.
"Are you happy?" PJ asked quietly, careful not to have his eyes stray from the swan.
"In what way?"
"In the simple, all-encompassing way. Happiness is kind of self explanatory," he said with a short laugh.
Skylar sighed, twirling her hair between her fingers. "I suppose I'm happy," she responded carefully. "I'm very lucky to be where I am in life."
PJ didn't say anything, but he turned to look at her in the waning light. She glanced at him quickly, worried her answer hadn't satisfied him. He just looked at her, as if expecting her to expand upon her response.
She drew in a breath. "I'm successful in my job. I have a wonderful family. I'm doing well financially."
"Skylar, all that doesn't mean happiness," PJ said gently, brushing an eyelash from her cheek. "If you have to rack your brain for something to be happy about, that's not happiness."
Skylar turned back toward the swan, watching it flap its wings twice before settling back into the water. A lone baby duck appeared at the edge of the pond, swimming slowly toward the large white bird. The baby duck was all alone; Skylar searched for its mother but she was nowhere to be found. As the baby approached the swan, the swan moved away, a loud honk emitting from its beak. The baby stopped swimming and sat for a moment, contemplating his next move.
"I think I'm the swan," Skylar blurted before she could second guess her thought. PJ furrowed his brow a little but the easy expression in his eyes prodded Skylar to keep speaking. "I don't know how to love. The baby duck just wanted to join him, but he scared it away." PJ understood where she was going with this and reached for her hand. "I screwed everything up in New York, PJ," she continued, her eyes darkening with tears. "You, the baby duck, came to me, the swan, and I pushed you away."
"Oh, Skylar," PJ whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. "We were just kids. None of that matters anymore. That was so long ago."
"You don't think we had anything real?" she asked, her heart sinking. All these years she's harbored a deep love for PJ, and now it felt like he finally woke her from her daydream. She didn't like that feeling.
PJ shifted, frustrated with himself for not being able to say what he means. "No, Skylar, I mean, we were just kids when we broke up in New York. What else could we have done? It was really our only option." He stroked her hand with his thumb. "It's like I said back then: If you love someone, you have to set them free. Or something like that."
Skylar smiled. "Something like that," she agreed.
"And look," PJ continued, "here we both are. Together again after all these years." He stood up from the bench and pulled her to her feet. She folded into his arms, still a perfect fit. "You know, I have to believe that there is a reason we're both single at this exact moment in time."
Skylar lifted her head from PJ's shoulder and looked up at him with her big brown eyes, the ones that made PJ's heart melt all those years ago. "You might be right," she whispered.
He leaned forward, his lips slightly parted. He got so close to kissing her, but he pulled away at the last second, teasing her. Skylar pouted involuntarily, surprising herself. PJ smiled and unexpectedly kissed her on the cheek.
"I love where my life is going right now," PJ said, staring into Skylar's eyes. "My music career is going really well. I mean, I won't be selling out gigantic stadiums any time soon, or ever, but I enjoy what I do. Can you say the same?"
Skylar looked away for a moment, her mind racing. She thought of her work as a paralegal, how draining it was on a day to day basis. She was constantly being pushed around by lawyers at the firm, asking her why she couldn't be a real lawyer. The money was surprisingly sufficient, and that was the only thing that kept her going to work every day.
"I didn't think you could," PJ said softly, his lips just inches from her ear. "But I want you to."
I really enjoyed writing this chapter! So I hope you enjoy reading it :)