Chapter 27

At the Mansion - The Reception

Almost an hour had gone by. And couples were still enjoying themselves on the dance floor. By this time, Antonio had followed Sheridan's gaze several times over to Luis and Beth. He decided he wanted answers.

"Sheridan?"

Snapping back to reality, she turned to her husband. "Yes?"

He gazed at her another moment. "Come with me..." he approached the couple.

Sheridan was confused, "Antonio, what're you-"

"Hey, you two," Antonio ignored her to greet his brother and friend.

Turning, Luis and Beth faced the couple. Beth smiled politely. "Hey, Antonio."

Luis glanced first at Sheridan, who offered a confused smile. He nodded, turning to his brother. "Hey, you two. What's up?"

Antonio spoke again, "would you two mind if I cut in?"

Sheridan blinked, but quickly hid her confusion with a smile, as Beth spoke up.

"Um...not at all, I guess..." she hesitated, turning to Luis who kept his eye on his brother.

"Uh, sure Antonio," he answered as he released Beth.

"We won't be too long. Until then, you two can keep one another company."

Antonio concluded as he took Beth's hand. Beth followed him and once they were out of ear-shot, Luis pulled Sheridan into his arms, shooting her a look.

"Are you as clueless as I am?"

"Pretty much," was all Sheridan could offer. "But from the looks of it, something's up."

Meanwhile...

Once they were across the room, Antonio took the lead. Beth fell into step with him, clearly confused by his actions.

"Is everything okay, Antonio?"

He shook his head, "I really don't know anymore."

"What's wrong?"

"I was hoping you'd already know. Or at least have an idea."

Beth shook her head again, "have an idea about what?"

"Whatever is going on between Sheridan and Luis."

Beth froze, scrambling for a good excuse. "What gives you that idea?"

That image of them burned in his mind again, before he shrugged. "Just a hunch, I guess. But am I the only one or do you think something's going on?"

Before Beth could answer, they both turned as they heard the DJ tap the mike.

"If I could have your attention, ladies and gentlemen. It is now time for the bride and groom to cut the cake."

After his announcement, the crowd erupted in a light applause. Then, the guests made a path for the bride, groom and bridal party to make their way through as they headed for the table that housed the wedding cake. The groom's mother, and bride's aunt and uncle followed close behind. The photographers, among them David, stayed in a reachable vicinity to achieve the best shots. Charity reached forward and grabbed the silver cake knife, turning to her husband with a smile.

"You ready?"

"Absolutely," he smiled back.

Together, they cut the first slice and photographs were taken. As Charity set the knife down, Miguel grabbed two forks, handing Charity one. Before he fed his bride the piece, he looked around, getting an idea. He looked at just enough encouraging faces to go through with his plan. Smiling innocently at his bride, who eyed him curiously, he took the piece he was to feed her and smashed half in her mouth, while the other half landed on her chin and cheek. Several snapshots followed. While the crowd laughed, Charity screeched, bursting into laughter as she wiped the cream off her face with a napkin she'd had in her other hand. Smiling deviously at her husband, she told him.

"It's okay. I owe you one now."

The crowd laughed again, as Charity took her piece and retaliated. But before Miguel could wipe it off, she kissed him, smearing cream over the both of them again. Miguel put the plate down and held his bride as a few more snapshots followed. The crowd continued to laugh, but clapped as well. Drawing away, the two wiped one another clean of frosting and cream. Then, they took their champaigne glasses, locked arms and sipped from their glasses. As the audience clapped again, the bride and groom cut three additional slices. Miguel handed two plates to Sam and Grace, his now aunt and uncle-in-laws, and Charity handed the final plate to Pilar, her mother-in-law. As the two did so, they exchanged hugs with the adults. Once they had their plates, the members of the bridal party were next to grab their slices. Afterwards, the rest of the guests grabbed slices.

Fifteen Minutes Later...

As everyone was finishing up, the DJ returned to his post. Adjusting his headphones, Chad spoke into the mike.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Now that we've all had a chance to feast on that delectable cake, what's say we get back on that dance floor for a little while? Dance a bit of this sugar rush off? In about twenty minutes, we'll regroup for the garter and bouquet tosses."

At that, he popped in DJ Casper's "Cha Cha Slide" a pretty popular hit. Once attendees caught on, they quickly rushed to the dance floor. Theresa stood a little too quickly to keep up with Fox. Losing her balance, she fell back into the chair. Hitting a tender spot, she shrieked.

"Ah!"

"Oh God! Theresa, I'm sorry I should've held you tighter. Where does it hurt?"

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault, it was me." Theresa reached around to massage the irritated spot. Fox kept his eyes on her, when he noticed that they were no longer alone. That little yelp that she tried to stifle drew a small crowd.

"Theresa, are you okay?" Whitney asked her as she stepped over.

"What happened?" Eve was now approaching with T.C.

"It's nothing. I'm fine really. I just stood up a little too fast."

Eve looked around, "Theresa, where are your crutches?"

Theresa hesitated, "...inside the house."

Eve gave her a look, and Theresa pleaded her side. "I didn't think I'd need them. I've been walking around just fine."

"Theresa, we had a deal," Eve spoke again.

"Dr. Russell...I didn't go against your orders-"

"-You didn't?" Eve asked her.

"...Not exactly. Last night the girls were with me. And today...I've been with Fox all day. So I haven't walked unless someone was with me."

"But not without the crutches. I know they can be a pain, but they're only to help. You should be using them."

"...I'm sorry," Theresa finally caved.

Dr. Russell brought a hand to her patient's shoulder. "...It's okay. Maybe you should just relax for now."

Theresa opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. "Alright..."

Fox ran his hand over her shoulder, while Eve told her.

"Just for a little while. I just want you to relax. It's been a long day."

Theresa nodded her head again, watching Whitney's parents take off. Then, her best friend squeezed her shoulder.

"Hey. You okay?"

Theresa slowly nodded her head, eventually smiling. "Yeah."

Whitney nodded her head in the DJ's direction, "I won't be far if you need me, okay?"

"Thanks, Whit," Theresa smiled after her as she walked back over to Chad.

Turning to Fox, he rubbed her arm again, "you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just want this healing process to be done with already."

"Well, I think I have a way to cheer you up," Fox encouraged her with a smile.

She giggled, "what're you thinking, Fox?"

"Hold tight. I shouldn't be long," kissing her, he took off.

Theresa watched after him, giggling as she did. Once he was gone, she looked around at the guests, enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Then, she reached over and took a rose from the vase that was sitting on the table. She leaned in, picking up its scent, when a hand touched her shoulder. Smiling, she reached with her free hand to intertwine their fingers.

"That was fast. What were you talking about...?" She stopped, turning to face the person.

"...Ethan?"

In the Next Chapter

Fox and Ivy have a heated discussion.

The garter and bouquet get tossed.


A/N: Sorry about the delay with this chapter. I've been trying to get things settled before classes start again in a few weeks. Also, I landed a second part-time job and training left me pretty tired. But now that this is one is up, the next chapter won't take long.