Chapter 9 – The Big Moment

Seth stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie. He usually wore tuxedos to these type of ceremonies, but Summer had thought that this year, tuxedos were cliché. Seth didn't quite see her point, but not wanting to view another one of her infamous blackouts, he agreed to go along with it. The kids didn't have babysitters so Seth had called up a few contacts of his and bought extra tickets. He wasn't quite sure how it would turn out; Summer and he had never brought the trio to any formal event.

Seth already had a bad feeling about this. . .

He could imagine it right now. The red carpet was notorious for its glamour, glitz, and paparazzi. Then, his three small children would be scrambling around to ruin the image. Heidi, the Swedish nanny, just had to pick a perfect day to be sick. The kids wouldn't deal with any one else. She had some magical picky dust around her. Who knows what she puts in their food. Seth thought to himself. Seth looked over his shoulder. Ryan was adjusting his tie in front of the long mirror.

"I still don't know how you got three extra tickets, for kids, on the night of the event." Ryan said.

"Ahhh, I'm just famous, rich, and powerful in that way." Seth smoothly replied.

Ryan just rolled his eyes.

Marissa's stylist, wardrobe manager, and publicist came to help her out for the night. Summer's personal assistant, who did everything for her, was also there. Then there were the other emergency stylists to help the three very anxious and extremely hyper kids. There were racks of clothing, heaps of jewelry, and stacks of makeup. Between all of them and everything, the room was very crowded. Seth and Ryan had decided to stay out of that portion of the suite. The door and revealed the very gorgeous looking girls-and boy. Marissa came out first. She had a Versace dress that had went to her feet. It was black and many different straps going down the back. Ryan's was speechless. She waltzed over to Ryan and took his arm. Then Summer came out. She also had a Versace that was red and had many layers at the bottom. Flanked by the girls, who looked very adorable and cute, they went to Seth. Then Marissa's publicist, Jane, came out holding a screaming, kicking Ethan. He apparently had a temper tantrum and was kicking in a black suit that had a little red clip-on tie. At the site of his father, he stopped crying, hopped out of Jane's arms and nestled himself it Seth's arms. Marissa looked over at Summer, Seth, Madison, Ethan, and Emma and took a picture in her brain. They were the picture-perfect family. Maybe one day I'll have that with Ryan. She looked back at Ryan. He smiled at her.

"Ready to go everyone?" Marissa announced.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They piled into the elevator and went to the lobby. They saw several other famous stars who were staying at the hotel. They were all waiting with their flanks of bodyguards and stretch limos. The whole hotel driveway was congested with the limos of the stars. They walked out of the hotel to be greeted with a comfortable breeze of California. Walking along, Marissa waved to the nearby paparazzi. Finally, they stopped at their own limo. They all clambered in, carefully trying to avoid ruining their dresses.

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They were about to arrive at the Kodak Theater where it was about to be held. Adoring fans were at the sidelines of the carpet, trying to get glimpses of their favorite stars. Ethan seemed a bit taken back by all of this.

"It's showtime." Jane announced as they stopped in front of the theater. She handed each one of them a VIP pass to put in their purse or hang around their neck. They stepped out. Ethan seemed really shaken by the flashes of cameras and the screaming. Marissa held on to his hand tightly and grabbed Ryan's hand as well.

Instantly, swarms of cameras and those pesky reporters on fashion came up. But, almost immediately, Marissa's swarm of burly bodyguards stopped them. Marissa just pleasantly strolled, waving occasionally to the fans and posing for pictures, just herself or with other celebrities for publicity's sake. Summer strolled along too, with Seth and Emma and Madison in tow. She didn't really mind that Marissa was getting all the attention for being the actress she was. She got a lot of attention too because she was Seth's wife and was about to start a new line of clothes, makeup, and accessories so Seth's company could widen their horizons. Seth was so the new Donald Trump. Several people from CNN and MSNBC stopped Seth. How are the stock prices? What about the merger? How will it affect your company? Blah, blah, blah. Summer tuned them out. She looked at her girls. Apparently, they were tuning them out too. Several actresses were coming over to fawn over them. Suddenly, the conversation reverted back to Summer. How are you doing/ Fine. You look gorgeous tonight. Thank you. How is your new upcoming business going to help your husband's business? It'll bring more revenue to the table and expand their horizons. That's great! Thank you.  Have fun!  Summer liked that she got to be interviewed by these much more prestigious channels. She hoped her father was watching it. Summer tugged the Seth's hand and the girls walked along with them, talking animatedly to young 20 year-old actresses. Pretty soon, they were inside. All of them were ushered in. In the lobby, they spotted Ryan and Marissa, who was holding Ethan's hand. They were standing next to a potted plant. Ethan looked visibly happy.

"Mommy! Someone called me cute!" he gushed.

"So what, someone called me and Emma cute too!" Madison shot back. "So there!"

Emma stuck her tongue out at Ethan.

"Mommy!"  Ethan whined.

Summer just rolled her eyes and pushed them to the entrance of the doorway. They didn't need to show their I.D.'s since they were already pretty famous-except Ryan and the kids, but they were holding Marissa's hand or Seth's hand, so they were let through. They quickly walked and found their seats. There was some buzzing going on. The whole room was draped in gold with sparkling chandeliers at the top. Two large Oscar statues were on either side of the stage. Summer was quite pleased at their seats. They were quite close to the stage since Marissa was nominated, and if she won, she would need to be near the stage to walk up and get their award.

The lights dimmed…

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Billy Crystal who had hosted this show about 12 times was on a roll. They had done most of the performances and categories. Marissa squeezed Ryan's hand because she knew her category was going to go next. Ryan gave her a reassuring smile. And here is…

Sean Penn to present the Best Actress…

"Each one of these actresses are truly gifted and portray these onscreen characters effortlessly. The nominees for this year's Best Actress are:

Nicole Kidman-The Lovers

Glenn Close- Fantasy

Marissa Cooper- Dreamland

Charlize Theron- United We Stand

And Amber Halin- Standing Under the Sun.

And the winner is...

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Will Marissa win? Review and I'll decide. . .