This one's a little shorter, but here you go…
Ch 46
"You Ok?" Abby asked smiling at Amelia, giving up on the cavorting at the bar; she was genuinely pleased for Amelia; she looked as though she couldn't be happier.
"I feel like I've been sideswiped a couple of times tonight, but good thanks, you?" Amelia questioned.
"When did you change?" Abby asked, dodging the question, checking Amelia's new outfit.
"What? You think you should get changed, given how little time you were given to prepare for this." Amelia said the irony clear in her face.
"Oh, come on, I was hardly given time to get ready, and besides, if I'd tipped you off I'd be in so much trouble right now." Abby laughed her defence, as they watched Maggie approach, smiles on both their faces.
"Hey." Amelia smiled at her mother.
"Hi." Maggie smiled.
"You having a good time?" Amelia asked still worrying for her guests, despite who they were.
"Yeah, did you really used to do that as a job?" Maggie asked slight laughter in her voice.
"Yes." Amelia nodded, looking slightly embarrassed.
"How long do you do it for?" Maggie frowned continuing.
"Six, almost seven years." Amelia laughed slightly shaking her head.
"I met Jasper's father, he seems like a very nice man." Maggie smiled at her, nodding.
"Yeah, he's a good guy, did you meet his younger brother yet because he may change your view of the Carmichael family a bit." Amelia smiled as Maggie shook her head frowning. "He's the kid that's absolutely wasted, he's around somewhere." Amelia laughed.
"The other best man." Maggie asked.
"Yeah, that'd be him, I should probably find him actually." She added beginning to look around her.
"I wouldn't worry about him, his father went to sort him out." Maggie nodded reassuringly at her, Amelia looked back her eyebrows raised slightly as Maggie confirmed her question for her.
"Hey." Jasper said appearing beside them, his timing perfect as always. "Can I take my new mother in law for a spin on the dance floor?" He smiled a charming, slightly drunk smile. Maggie, Abby and Amelia exchanged smiling glances all looking towards Jasper.
"Oh, no, I don't, I don't think that that's such…" Maggie started
"Oh come on Maggie how can you resist?" He carried on jovially noting Amelia and Abby's expressions. "Come on." He added guiding Maggie towards the dance floor, away from her daughters, shooting a smile back at Amelia.
"I'd say she's having a good time." Abby said wickedly, as Jasper and Maggie started dancing.
"Yep, looks that way, actually it looks as though we've got time to sneak away for a cigarette." Amelia said surveying the packed dance floor, as someone handed them two fresh drinks.
"Sounds like a good idea." Abby replied raising her drink slightly. They made their way around the side of the house, away from the majority of the crowd.
"Are you just doing this because you don't want Jasper to see you smoking or because you need some down time?" Abby asked smiling conspiratorially.
"I'm what three and a half hours into my marriage, if I need down time I'm in big trouble,"
"Then why are we hiding while we have a smoke?" Abby asked frowning.
"Lauren." Amelia explained. "I'm starting on my setting a good example thing, no more swearing, responsible parenting, all that." Amelia raised her eyebrows.
"Oh, I see." Abby smiled. "And dancing on a bar doing shots is the way to do that is it?" Abby smiled at her.
"Yeah well, you know, I don't want her to think I'm boring." Amelia smiled as Abby laughed at her.
"Tell me you have a spare one of those?" Kate said appearing beside them.
"Absolutely, have you guy's met?" Amelia asked, handing Kate a lighter and what she was after. "Abby, Kate, Kate Abby."
"Yeah." Abby nodded.
"Hey." Kate smiled back, "We met on the isle." She explained.
"Oh, right of course, sorry." Amelia smiled.
"And over the phone before that." Abby added.
"So it was you two who set this up?" Amelia said looking between them. They both shrugged, indicating that neither of them was about to tell her as they moved on.
So who are you hiding from?" Abby asked indicating Kate's cigarette.
"My husband." Kate replied, bending her back half way around the corner to check. "I'd quit." She admitted with a smile. "I'm shaking like a leaf after that, jeez, I don't know how we used to do that every night." She shook her head still smiling looking from Abby to Amelia.
"Booze." Amelia half smiled at her. "You still do it every night." She laughed, shrugging. "Kate dances on Broadway." She added leaning over towards Abby eyeing Kate who was surreptitiously looking around the corner for her husband again.
"I thought you went to college together." Abby said frowning.
"We did." Amelia told her, "And NYU." She said.
"What did you get your degree in?" Abby asked.
"She's the only dancer on Broadway with a Biochemistry PhD." Amelia said her eyebrows raised resignedly, a laugh in her voice.
"Really." Abby said almost impressed.
"Yeah." Kate nodded smiling.
"She's desperate to be an unobtrusive overachiever, one of those people who have like a million letters after their name but do a completely non academic job." Amelia smiled as Kate began to speak to Abby.
Amelia felt like her whole life was here, now; she had everyone who meant anything around her. She felt content in her position for the first time in a long time; Maggie was there on the boundaries, but there nonetheless, dancing with Jasper in fact, she'd accepted her now more than ever before, she had Jasper and Lauren who were her family, Birdie and Ed were a given, her old friends who were committed to them enough, or committed to the kind of party people knew they'd throw enough to turn up, she suspected that it was the latter, and her new colleagues, all of the people from county who'd thought enough of their obvious invitations to come, it meant a lot. And then there was Abby, and with her, Amelia was torn, she felt she knew Abby, as well as anyone could 'know Abby' at least, and in all honesty she valued her above all other new people in her life as a friend, not only because they were sisters, more because she'd heard some of Abby's problems, and she'd always been there to hear her own, she'd wanted to hear them, they shared some history, some fears, but it was much more than that, she smiled involuntarily as she looked at her sister. She needed to talk to Nick to make sure he didn't balls this up, to find out if he'd spoken to her already, she didn't think he had, but she wasn't sure, Abby looked happy though as she laughed with Kate, in a way she hoped he had spoken to her already.
"You think anyone's gonna be missing us?" Abby asked, stamping out her cigarette, leaning in towards Amelia, looking around their quiet corner.
"Shit, Matt's got his eye out." Kate noted spying her husband.
"We should probably head back." Amelia smiled.
"You are the hostess after all." Kate grinned.
"Um, hey, hello, hi, sorry." Jasper started standing on top of the bar, with Amelia by his side, attempting to get peoples' attention, "Hi yeah," He continued as the now dispersed crowd turned towards them. "We, um, we thought that since you've all turned out tonight that we should probably say a couple of thank you's." He started turning to Amelia, looking at her crouched form for a second as she spoke to someone standing around her feet with a smile on her face. "Since my wife seems to be preoccupied though…" He paused laughing as Amelia straightened her back, pulling out of her conversation, as she grimaced apologetically at the crowd, before a smile plastered its self back on her face and Jasper continued. "Amelia keeps telling me that she knows that I didn't put this whole thing together myself, and I'm not admitting that I didn't but thank you, to those of you that I may have cajoled into assisting me with this in all it's somewhat rushed preparation over the last ten days and in some cases pulling me back into reality a bit when my plans spiralled out of control." He placed his hand over the top of the mike, muffling the sound. "NickAbbyKateEddieTomandEm" He said in one breath as he released the mike. "Anyway" He said ignoring the 'I knew it' smirk that was crossing Amelia's face, continuing. "I think that we also want to thank you all for coming…" He paused again. "Some of you have come a hell of a long way for this, I think that my sister, Emma and Luke have come the furthest, from Botswana, which we're astonished and thrilled about, when I spoke to you I didn't actually think that you'd come but it's great to see you and Amelia thinks that I should pay for your flights which I'm actually not going to do but y'know it's the thought that counts." He smiled laughing slightly as he shrugged. "And all the people who've come from just up the road or that we work with every day or that pop by here every other day." He smiled pointedly at Abby and Nick "It's fantastic to have you all here, so thank you, and Dad, you made it, it's actually been the most hectic thing in the world trying to get my father here for this, especially when I got a phone call at two o'clock this morning from one of my brothers telling me that he'd managed to leave his passport in the cab he'd taken to the airport, you missed your flight, you missed our wedding, but you got here eventually so it's good to see you." He tipped his glass in his father's direction as his father tipped his glass back. "So thank you all very much." He nodded raising his glass out in front of him, handing the mike to Amelia, kissing her quickly.
"I, I um…I'm awful at these things so just bare with me for a second." Amelia started frowning slightly, laughing. "I actually wanted to say a couple of things on Lauren's behalf because she crashed out on the couch." She paused, "Or maybe on my behalf for Lauren, I'm not sure, I'm thrilled about tonight, but I didn't know anything about it so yeah…thank you and it's great to see you all, and Emma I will get him to pay for your flights." She smiled and coughed, shrugging holding out her hands, smiling a 'what can you do' smile. "Um, I want to say a couple of thank you's to all of you who came to the party we had for Lauren this afternoon, and there are a few of you who said that you wanted to come for her this afternoon but had been told that it'd give the game away" She laughed slightly, "This past year's bit a big one for Lauren," She paused, smiling, "She's got two aunts here, one of whom she's desperate to visit in Africa, and I think might be in quite big trouble for not bringing her a lion cub. "She smiled at Emma and Luke. "I'm quite pleased you didn't though" She asserted smiling "And the other one who she's known for a little under a year and absolutely cant handle, and was all over from the day she met her, and she keeps coming up with ways for her to get into more trouble at school." She smiled at Abby, taking another breath, "Two uncles, one of whom I'm eternally grateful to for passing out because she agreed to go to sleep as long as she wasn't the first one." She smiled, "And the other of whom knows every story about Jasper that I can use in future bribes so Tom you and I will be having a chat later." She smiled at him, laughing slightly, "A grandmother, which is a big deal in her life and mine." She nodded at Maggie, her eyes honest, Maggie looked as though she was about to burst into tears, as Amelia smiled at her, "A grandfather, who I'm very glad found his passport." She laughed, "An honorary godmother who had her dancing on bars at the age of two, and well, Nick, you kept me sane through the early days when I thought I was going to loose my mind and you're my one remaining hope because I will never, as long as I live know more about kids movies than you, and you've promised to take on the juggling lessons which I'm incredibly grateful for and she's very excited about." She shrugged laughing a little as Nick grinned, his arm around Abby, "Birdie and Ed, who… well you guys know." She smiled momentarily at them, scratching her forehead for a second. "And she has her Dad." She paused looking at Jasper. "She's a huge Daddy's girl and I never thought she's have that either, so…" She nodded at Jasper and paused as they looked at each other, she took a deep breath and carried on. "Five years ago today I, um, I thought that it was always going to be just her and me, and not very long ago, I, well I guess we thought that we were going to loose her then, and I think that both of us." She glanced at Jasper again who looked back at her his eyes full. "I think that we would both have fallen apart completely if all of you, and you know who you are I think, if you hadn't been there to pull us together again, if we hadn't got the phone calls, James, Tom, Em, Kate..." She shook her head at them appreciatively. "Or the people who came to the hospital for her, and for us, or the people who brought me endless cups of coffee." she raised her eyebrows pouting, smiling a little pausing, breathing deeply. "There are more people than I ever possibly hoped for her to have, or hoped for myself to have, and I'm thrilled for her that she has them, so thank you." She paused swallowing again, breathing in deeply. "She told me this afternoon, that she thought that things were good, and I think she was spot on with that assessment, they are, so thank you so much, for being here, now, for this, and before." She nodded finishing quickly smiling at the ground for a second, as Jasper lased his hand around her back. "And she also has the biggest ego in the world and keeps telling me how much everyone likes her so thanks for that as well." She smiled, laughing as Jasper jumped off the bar, and reached up to fetch Amelia as well. "Oh, actually there was one other thing." Amelia said standing back up, "If anyone wants to offer to take my twelve to twelve shift tomorrow, then I'm all ears." She smiled and she hopped off the bar, heading for Maggie, who was being comforted by Birdie, happy tears streaming down her cheeks as Jasper, Nick and Abby exchanged glances, they knew there was something they'd forgotten
Let me know…Kay