Chapter Three

"Mommy!" Madison Cooper Cohen shrieked as she ran into her mother's clothing store as fast as her legs would carry her. "Mommy!" She breezed past several customers, who just rolled their eyes and smiled. Madison was quite a normal sight of those who frequented Summer Wear, the newest and quite successful clothing bouquet in Newport, which specialized in all types of seasonal wear, not just what the name implied.

Summer Cohen, who had been chatting with one of her frequent costumers and employees, Hailey Cooper, looked in her daughter's direction with a growing smile. The child threw her arms around her mother's waist and pressed her face against Summer's chest, bubbling with excitement.

Even though Madison was almost seven years old, Summer still scooped the child into her arms; she had her mother's petite frame and made it easy for Summer to hold her close. However, she doubted that she would be able to do that for much longer. Madison threw her arms around Summer's neck and smiled at the woman.

"Did you have a good day at school?" Summer questioned after giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

The girl nodded and managed to wiggle out of Summer's arms, dropping back to the floor and retrieving the Spiderman backpack she had tossed aside before colliding with her mother's legs. "I made this for you." She said, wrestling something out of the front pocket and handing it to her mother.

Summer smiled as she took the present, a paper turkey that had been decorated by her daughter with an odd assortment of macaroni noodles and wooden beads. "I love it." Summer told her daughter and, in truth, she did. She would never get tired of receiving the pictures that her daughter made nearly every day in her second grade class.

Madison smiled, proud of her artwork. "That's not the turkey we're going to eat, right Mom?" She questioned, eyeing her mother suspiciously.

Summer shook her head. "We would never eat your turkey." She assured her daughter. Now that Madison was old enough to understand and participate in holidays, other then Christmas, she mind was full of questions. She was convinced that every turkey they happened to see, whether it was real or not, was the turkey that was going to end up on their kitchen table in a matter of weeks.

Madison nodded, seeming reassured by her mother's words. She turned back to her backpack and went digging through again, pulling out an assortment of other Thanksgiving related pictures. She handed a picture of an ear of corn, half colored, half with real kernels messily glued down, to her Aunt Hailey, her mother's first employee. "I did this for you." She told the woman who was always a fixture in her life since she dropped by the Cohen household more often then she was at her own house.

Hailey thanked the child for the picture and studied it for a moment. Madison gave her attention back to her mother. "I made these for Grandpa Sandy and Grandma Kirsten." She told her, holding out wrinkled paper pilgrims. "They're pilgrims, they ate the first Thanksgiving."

Summer smiled and nodded thoughtfully, as though her daughter's words carried new information. "Really?" She acted impressed, though she was more interested to see what other kernels of wisdom her daughter would divulge. She wondered if her daughter was smarter then other children her age but quickly realized that all parents must feel that way; everyone was biased toward their own children and Summer understood why.

"Yep." Madison told her mother. "The pilgrims eated food to show that they liked being with their families and living in the woods." She explained. "They ate turkeys too."

Summer nodded once again and ruffled her daughter's honey-blonde hair. It was the only trait that Madison exhibited that couldn't be traced back to one of her 'parents' but people in New Port had long stopped looking and pointing out how the child was different from Seth and Summer. Madison was a Cohen, if not by blood then by everything else, and everyone in New Port had excepted that fact and moved onto other gossip.

"Speaking of family," Summer said, "where's your father?"

"Parking the car." Madison answered, scampering off behind the counter. She loved to sit in her mother's seat and open the cash register, taking out the quarters to spin on the wooden surface. Sometimes, her mom would even let her have some of the quarters to get gum from the machines out front.

As if on cue, Seth walked through the front door of Summer Wear, a smile on his face that was for his wife alone. Summer smiled back and their eyes met; in that short moment, they expressed their happiness that the work day was winding to an end and their hopes for an evening at home, soaking up the quiet hours together. Summer knew that no one in her life had been able to read and understand her like Seth could and she wouldn't trade those moments of silent understanding for anything in the world.

Seth pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Hey baby." He greeted before stepping away once more, ducking away from the prying eyes of the customers. He looked at his aunt. "Hey Hailey, how's it going?"

"Your wife is a slave driver." Hailey answered good-naturedly. "But I'm sure you know all about that." She went off behind the counter as well, where Madison was punching buttons on the cash register and attempting to ring up one of the customers.

Madison looked at her aunt as the woman attempted to scoop her off her seat. "Aunt Hailey," She said in the patronizing tone that only children seemed to have, "I'm with a costumer."

Hailey smiled. "Well, excuse me." She said, before proceeding to ring up the purchase of the woman on the opposite side of the counter. The woman, who was one of the Cohens neighbors, was telling the young girl what a good saleswoman she was. Madison was a focal point for all the older women that frequented the store, because she reminded them of their distant grandchildren; Madison allowed these woman to dote on her and pinch her cheeks because they often gave her candy. And anyone who had candy to share was a great person in her book.

With her job at the cash register taken over, Madison quickly lost interest and hurried back to her parents; Seth was telling Summer little details about how his day had been, nothing of interest to the young girl. Though, she figured she was luckier then most of the kids in her class who had parents that did nothing but talk about work and how miserable it made them. At least her dad never whined about what he did for a living; in fact, he so rarely talked about it that Madison couldn't even remember what he did. All she knew was that her father worked with her Grandma Kirsten and made enough money for the family to live 'comfortably', as her mother said over and over again.

Seth scooped his daughter into his arms and kissed her cheek; Madison smiled, ever the daddy's girl that she had been raised to be. As Seth looked at his only child, he found it hard to believe that the girl wasn't really his, that they shared no blood. That thought rarely crossed his mind, however, for he had spent the last seven years of his life raising the perfect daughter and it was impossible for Madison to be anything but his child.

"Did you tell Mommy what you told me in the car?" Seth questioned his daughter, who instantly screwed her face into an expression of intense concentration. "About what happened at school today?" He prompted, hoping to help the girl's memory along.

Summer looked at Madison expectantly, interested to hear what would come out of her daughter's mouth. As soon as Seth had spoken, Madison's face brightened, her memory jogged. "We're going a pageant!" The young girl practically squealed. "A Thanksgiving one. I get to be the Indian princess."

Even though Summer couldn't remember any Indian princesses in the Thanksgiving plays she had done in her elementary school years, she became an excited mother upon hearing Madison's words. She could finally be the mother that sat in the front row of the auditoriums with her video camera in one hand, waving at her child up on stage. She could finally be the mother that called her friends over to the house to watch the video of her child's performance and nothing made Summer more excited. "That's great honey." She told her daughter, smiling broadly.

Seth let Madison slid back down to the floor and the girl hopped around excitedly. "I have to get a costume." She informed her seamstress mother. "One that's better then Mindy Fisher's!"

Seth couldn't help but roll his eyes; it was funny how grudges seemed to pass from parent to child without verbal prompting. Holly Fisher had gotten pregnant by a man she couldn't remember -it had been a drunk night in Tijuana- shortly after Marissa's death and her daughter was in Madison's second grade class. Both girls despised each other and were carrying out the war that had been suspended during their parents' junior year of high school. Seth figured it shouldn't be all that surprised; this was New Port, after all. Things rarely changed.

"It'll be ten times better then Mindy Fisher's." Summer promised and Seth could see that familiar light sparkle in her eyes. It was just like his wife to want to best one of her high school rivals, even if she was doing so through her daughter. All was fair in war, Seth knew, especially in New Port. He just hoped that his wife and Holly Fisher didn't get the chance to butt heads in public.

Madison jumped in delight, clapping her hands together. "I'll be the best princess." She declared to everyone in the store. "And when everyone sees Mindy's costume they'll say 'ew' and hate her."

Seth laughed and shot his wife a raised eyebrow look; obviously Summer's resentment toward Holly Fisher hadn't been all that silent. Summer gave him an innocent smile and acted as though she had no idea what her husband's look was supposed to entail. Rolling his eyes, Seth looked away from Summer and studied his family with a growing sense of pride. He doubted that there had ever been a happier or luckier man.

Summer had seen The Lion King so many times in the past seven years that she found herself flawlessly singing about how "Hakuna Matata" meant 'no worries' as she went through her shop's records for the day. Even though she had started Summer Wear five years ago, it was still hard for her to believe that she actually had a successful clothing line, let alone a store that hadn't gone belly-up standing next to American Eagle and Aeroposle. Every night when she went over the inventory and sales records of the day, she was reminded once again just how her life had seemed to work out the way she had always hoped. Though it was true, she had lost her best friend years ago and it was a friendship that Summer had never been able to replace or even come close to doing so, she was thankful that she had at least one piece of Marissa to help her stay afloat in New Port society. Though Madison was no longer just a part of Marissa; Madison was her daughter, the light of her life, half her reason for living. Marissa was nothing but a memory, a wistful smile every once and a while, her beautiful teenage friend in her photo album. Life had gone on, just as it always did.

Seth entered the master bedroom, which he knew every angle and corner of after having helped his mother design the house after joining the New Port Group shortly after accepting guardianship for Madison, and smiled at his wife. Summer didn't look up when he entered, continuing about her new problem-free philosophy as though she didn't even notice his presence.

"That's good baby." Seth said with a wiry grin, causing his wife to look up. "You should try out for American Idol."

Summer waved her hand dismissively. "Please, I doubt I'd get very far singing old Disney songs." Besides, she was never the one to get caught up in the reality television craze, especially not when it came to a show that had been around when she had been a teenager. Didn't people ever get tired of people trying to be the next Diana DeGarmo?

Seth flopped onto the king sized bed, upsetting his wife's files and resting his head in her lap. "Your daughter is just full of questions today." He remarked, yawning. He looked at the dark-haired woman. "She must get that from you."

Summer rolled her eyes. "Please. She gets her constant mouth from you." She tapped Seth's nose lightly with the sheet of paper in her hand. It was true, Madison had become more and more talkative later, constantly relating some event or story, even if it came from a Disney movie, or asking whatever question could come to mind. Maybe it was just the age but Summer was already eager for it to stop; it was nearly eleven thirty and it appeared that her husband had just gotten their daughter to sleep. And that made for a very cranky Madison in the mornings.

Seth grinned at her, sitting up and kissing his beautiful wife. Summer smiled as well, abandoning her files and slipping her arms around her husband's shoulders. She found it hard to believe that there had ever been a time in her life when she hadn't been in love with Seth Cohen. It just seemed possible, judging by how much she loved him; it was as though she had been in love with him her entire life. And that was just fine with Summer.

"Do you think everyone else is as happy as we are?" Seth questioned once the kiss was broken, looking at his wife. "Because I find it hard to believe that everyone has a beautiful wife and a perfect daughter."

Summer smiled and shook her head. "No, we're definitely the lucky ones." She told herself this every day, every morning when she woke up. She didn't need Seth to tell her how lucky she was to have a loving husband like him and the epitome of the perfect daughter.

Throughout her entire life, Summer had always managed to convince herself that she was happy when she was anything but. She made herself believe that she was smiling when there were tears running down her cheeks and that she had found true love with whatever jock she had on her arm at the moment. She thought she was happy; she lived in New Port, after all, everyone was happy.

But Summer knew how wrong she had been. Seth had showed her that she didn't need to smile when she wanted to cry and had made her understand just what true love really was. Summer knew that she was happy now, with the family she had always wanted, with the man of her dreams and a daughter she fell more and more in love with every day.

After her miserable upbringing and horrid teenage years, Summer figured that she deserved her happy ending. Didn't everyone? But she knew that the answer to that question was no; all she had to do was think back to her best friend and realize that not everyone woke up every morning with a thousand reasons to smile.

And so, Summer wondered if her happiness was destined to last. A quick look at Seth brushed those thoughts out of her head quickly. Her husband loved her and her daughter and would do anything for them. That was happiness right there and that would never change.

So, sorry it's been so long since I've updated, it's been craziness over here. Thank you so much for all the great reviews! It means so much to everyone is loving this story; I'm happy to write it. Keep those reviews up and I'll try and have the next chapter in a shorter amount of time. Thanks again!