I am so sorry this took so long. I have my eye on Undeniable too, so don't give up hope. However, for this one, my baby, the end is near...but I think this story's had a great run. Probably one more, so I'll save my grand speech for the last chapter. Once again, italics are flashbacks. Stars indicate the end of one. Nothing here is mine. Except Brendan. And Jenn. And Chris. And most of Mrs. Cabala. But besides that, nothing.
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Summer smiled. It wasn't a comfortable smile, but it was there. Marissa smiled, a little more secure, and looked back into the mirror.
"You look beautiful, Coop." Summer said shakily, and Marissa laughed.
"Sum, you don't have to worry. It's Brendan. He's a good one."
"I know. And...he makes you happy, but...but why aren't you nervous, Coop?"
Marissa shrugged, her hair gliding against her bare back and the string of small pearls lying against her neck. She stared at the mirror, wondering herself why she wasn't nervous.
Summer had started pacing, nearly tripping on her pale peach floor length. "This is just...the end of an era, you know?"
"I know."
"And you're not...scared? Of change?"
"Well, yeah, I guess. But I have to do it. I can't run now."
"Technically..."
"I'd be hunted down by a few hundred people."
"I'd fight them off."
"Sum, do you not want this to happen?"
"No. I do. You're going to be so happy, and you're going to make him the happiest man in the entire world. And it shouldn't even matter what I want or...any of that. Because this is your day."
"It's going to happen for you too, Sum."
"Yeah, well, I don't know."
"And if it comes to it, you know Luke would marry you without batting an eyelash."
"Don't say that, Coop."
"You know it's true, though."
"Doesn't mean we have to say it. But this is your day. Why are we talking about Luke?"
"Where's my nephew?"
Summer smiled and untwined her hands. "He's with Kirsten. You should see her with him, it's just so...I don't know, good for both of them. She just lights up, and he starts laughing. It's like they have this amazing, hilarious private joke as soon as she touches him."
"She misses him."
Summer looked back down, her hands coming up to her head. "Happy day. It's a happy one. We shouldn't be talking about..."
"Summer, there are no rules as to what we can and cannot do on my wedding day. And if there were, I would be the one to make them."
"I just wonder what it would be like if he was here. That's all. He'd probably be crying; he's like that."
"So are you." Marissa giggled, sitting down on the floor next to Summer.
"Coop! What are you doing? You'll get your dress dirty."
"You know, tomorrow, you won't be able to call me Coop."
Summer giggled too. "That's right. You'll be Mrs. Brendan Harren. I'll have to call you Hair."
Marissa laughed. "That might get confusing."
"I'll have to come up with something else."
"Yeah. What time is it?"
Summer shook her head. "Marissa, they're not going to start without you."
"I know. I just want to know when we can get this over with."
Summer raised an eyebrow. "A rush of nervousness? Cold feet? Because I can..."
"I'm fine, Summer, I just don't want to keep people waiting. Where's my veil?"
Summer pulled Marissa up, grabbed a tiara and placed it over her face, smoothing the creases in the gauze.
"You look so beautiful." Summer bit her lip, smiling with the other side.
"You said that already."
"And I'm going to say it again. You're beautiful."
Marissa smiled. "God, Sum, don't do that."
Summer giggled again, wiping her cheek and Marissa's. "Don't cry. You have to take pictures later."
A string quartet started playing, and Summer wiped her cheeks furiously. "I have to go, Coop. I'll see you soon." She grinned and grabbed her bouquet of white roses. She walked towards the doorway and turned back. "Hey, Marissa."
Marissa looked up from the white invitation on the counter.
"You're getting married."
Marissa smiled. "I can't believe I'm old enough to do this."
Summer giggled one last time and walked out the doorway of light peach and blue roses. Everyone on either side of the aisle was staring at her as Summer held the arm of Brendan's brother. Kirsten, Ryan, and Sandy were in the second row, Kirsten with Seth Christopher on her lap, Ryan with his own three year old in his lap. Ryan raised his eyebrows, but was seeming to slip back easily into his first Newport event since Theresa's mother had announced her daughter's departure, and Summer nodded. Matthew Harren bowed as she walked to the left of the altar.
Summer sighed, her white gloves feeling sticky over her skin. She stood next to Kaitlyn who was barely moving, but found enough energy to smile at Summer. Next to her were Hailey and one of Brendan's sisters. She watched the doorway, wondering how she could get through a long service when it felt like something, or someone, was missing.
Luke winked at her from the sixth row, his parents and step parents next to him. She smiled back and looked to the moving lace, revealing Marissa and Jimmy, both beaming at each other. The music had increased in volume, and everyone was standing up. Summer watched Marissa come nearer, Jimmy crying, but Marissa's cheeks dry again. Brendan had his fingers crossed behind his back, but the grin on his face was growing by the second.
Jimmy lifted the veil Summer had rested over Marissa's face, and he kissed her.
"Who gives this woman to this man?"
Julie stood up from the first row and stood next to Jimmy. "We do."
"You may be seated."
The priest looked like he was performing a funeral. Summer decided if she ever did get the chance, she'd have a friend perform the service. Marissa didn't seem to notice any of it, though. She still wasn't able to lose the smile or release a tear. Brendan wasn't as lucky with keeping up his masculinity.
But when Summer looked at both of them, they were both smiling through tears and adoration. They were happy. The kind of happy people get jealous over. This is what a wedding is supposed to be like, Summer decided. It didn't matter that Marissa couldn't believe her mother had the nerve to show up, the priest looked like he was about to die, or that Marissa had two of her ex boyfriends in the room. It was perfect.
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"Happy birthday, dear Jenn. Happy birthday to you."
Jenn grinned and leaned over the white cake, blowing out the candles. Ryan's arm was around her waist to make sure she didn't fall in, but he was laughing with the rest of them. Her friends clapped, and Ryan pulled her against him.
"I love you, sweetie."
"I love you too, Daddy."
"What'd you wish for, babe?" Summer asked as she cut the cake.
"I can't tell you, Aunt Summer. Then, it won't come true."
Summer grinned and handed Jenn a slice. "Are you excited about being six?"
Jenn nodded as she licked her ring finger. Ryan leaned down and got her middle finger before she did. Jenn giggled.
"Dad! I was going to eat that."
"Oops." He grinned back at her.
"Okay, okay. I think a certain six year old might be ready for her presents." Sandy placed down a huge pile of neatly wrapped gifts by Jenn's feet as her eyes lit up.
"Ooh, Daddy, can I?" Jenn asked as she picked one up.
Ryan nodded as Jenn tore open the paper. She held the dark blue box in her hand, looking up at him.
"You got me something expensive, Dad."
He shrugged. "Open it."
Jenn sighed as she popped open the box. Ryan searched her eyes for something.
"Dad...how much did this cost?"
"Do you like it?"
"Dad, you shouldn't have bought it."
"Do you like it?"
Jenn sighed again at the sparkling, silver necklace. "Yeah, I like it."
"Good. It's almost as pretty as you."
"Daddy..."
"Don't worry, honey. Put it on."
Jenn smiled, letting her arm drape over his neck. "Would you?"
Ryan smiled back at her and flipped her hair over her face. He clasped the back of the necklace and traced the small angel around the chain to the center of her neck.
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Seth woke up to a mess of too blonde hair and groaned. This wasn't what he had planned. Not that he had been planning anything anymore, and he welcomed things to 'just happen,' but this was one thing that wasn't supposed to happen no matter the new set of rules he lived by. This was bad.
"Mmm...good morning." The blonde hair turned revealing a sleepy smile and fluttering eyes.
"Good morning."
Brittany smiled. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Okay."
She stood up, carrying the sheet around her, letting it drop right before she walked into the bathroom. Seth stood up and looked outside. White and pink roses were scattered around the pavement, workmen attaching them to a huge wooden arch. Brittany loved pink, but her favorite color was blue. But 'blue roses look so...strange.' This was bad.
"Hi, Seth, how are you doing?" A woman with equally as fake blonde hair smiled as she walked towards him.
"I'm good, Mrs. Ronso."
The man at the truck behind her shut the trunk and grinned. "You're treating my girl well, son?"
"Yes, sir."
"Now, Seth," Mrs. Ronso took his arm and walked him toward the arch. "Brittany told me your parents weren't going to be able to be here. Now, I can understand if your relationship with them isn't the best, but I'd still like to meet the two of them. There are two, yes?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"What is this ma'am? We're family. Is there a reason they won't be here?"
"We've kind of...well, we went our separate ways."
"A falling out." Mr. Ronso nodded. "You know what those are like, Tracy."
"Yes, yes, Paul, but they are your family, Seth. Happy occasions are good times to patch old wounds."
"I haven't seen them in a while, Mrs. Ronso. I don't think they'd...well, I haven't talked to them for eight years."
"There's no time like the present, son. I'm sure they'd love to be here."
Seth opened his mouth, but Brittany came out in her white bathrobe with her smile interrupting him.
"Mom." She kissed her cheek. "You're not harassing him again, are you?"
"No, sweetie. Seth, it's good to see you as always. And remember, if you need my help with anything, or anyone, I will. I'd love to help."
"Yes, ma'am."
She let go of his arm, and Brittany started giggling.
"God, I swear, Seth. She means well." Brittany took his hand and walked him down toward the ocean. She was always walking him places, like a dog.
"Are you scared?" Seth's head snapped when he heard her voice again.
"Scared? Of what?"
"This. It's coming soon, you know."
"I know."
"Are you nervous? You can tell me."
Seth shrugged, kicking a wave. "I guess. I should be, though, right?"
She nodded, holding tighter onto his hand. "And...you're sure you don't want anyone there? Not a...friend from high school, a sister?"
"I don't have any sisters."
"But you have a brother, right?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
"You miss him, right?"
"It's hard. He has this new life, anyway; I wouldn't want to bother him."
"I doubt inviting him to your wedding would be considered bothering him."
"It's not that easy. He'd ask questions."
"But he'd be here for you."
"I...it's okay."
"You sure, baby? I can understand if you don't want your parents there..." She glanced slightly at her own parents. "but there's really no one?"
"No, B, it's fine."
She sighed and kept walking. "Don't say I didn't ask."
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"Don't you think light blue table cloths work better than the white ones? They're so...fresh, so different. Ms. Roberts? Ms. Roberts."
"Summer?" Kirsten's hand was on her knee when Summer shook her head.
"What?"
"Tablecloths, my dear. Light blue would be very eye catching." Miss Martini said, the drollness back in her voice.
"Light blue? Yeah, that would...yeah, that'd be good. It would match the bridesmaid dresses."
"Oh really? Excellent. What about flowers?"
"Mostly dark purple. Irises, lilies, hydrangeas, and then white roses." Summer spoke evenly as she turned her head over her shoulder.
"Summer? Are you looking for something?" Kirsten tapped her knee.
"Um, yeah, could you ladies hang on just a second?" Summer smiled, smoothed her jeans over her legs, and excused herself.
Seth was sitting by the pool, his cell phone attached to his ear. As she came closer, he raised his eyebrows and nodded. Summer breathed in and sat next to him, watching his eyes change.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yes, sir. I'll be right there." Seth hung up the phone and lost his fake smile.
"So are you going to go?" Summer threaded her arm over his, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"That's what 'Mr. Neil Roberts' thinks. Secretly, I'm headed to Reno so I can get my Elvis suit."
"I can't believe he called."
Seth shrugged, his chin bouncing off the top of her head, and tightened his arm against her.
Summer lowered her voice, nearly closing her eyes. "She's coming too?"
"Yeah."
"Because she cares a lot about what happens to me."
"That and the free food."
Summer giggled. "God, I hope she got fat."
Seth laughed at her seriousness in the statement. "Well you can always hope. Her kind of fat would probably mean you would have a darling little half brother or sister."
Summer shuddered. "With Lara blood. Aw, poor kid."
He nodded. "I should go, though. Wouldn't really be that good if I was late."
Summer lifted her shoulder. "I love you."
Seth kissed the top of her head, and said into her hair, "I love you too."
He smiled into her forehead, steadying himself on her shoulders as he stood. Summer watched him touch her chin with his finger and walk very slowly towards his car. She giggled at his eyebrow rise as Kirsten and Miss Martini walked up to her.
"Shall we continue, Ms. Roberts? Now that the boy has gone?" Miss Martini was turning through an amazingly thick stack of magazines.
Summer smiled silently, noticing Kirsten was doing the same. Miss Martini didn't really have a taste for Seth after his theory on why she wasn't married. "Yeah. Yes, what's next?"
"Your dress, gorgeous. It has to be perfection, for you know it's all everyone will be talking of."
"Um...make it...simple?"
Miss Martini obviously didn't approve, in fact, she just disregarded it altogether.
"I had my eye on this Versace. Obviously when you think wedding dresses, you think Vera Wang, but I absolutely adore the Versace, and I think it would compliment your body type perfectly."
She handed Summer the thickest magazine showing a nearly backless white gown. The front shot showed a satin front swirling up into a thick halter. Summer lowered her shoulder to show it to Kirsten as both women shook their heads.
"Ms. Martini, don't you think it looks a bit more like...not a wedding dress?" Kirsten asked, her brow furrowed.
"I think it's just the right thing to get the people here talking, but if that's not what you're going for," she eyed her nails, obviously oblivious as to why anyone wouldn't want to use a wedding dress as debate topic, "I guess we could try the Badgley Mischka."
Half of Summer's mouth curled as the woman, or The Spinster as Seth called her, handed her another magazine.
"Hey, Mom." Chris walked out of the pool house, strolling towards the house. Summer's face lit up.
"Honey! Do you need some help? Sorry, Miss Martini, my son...I'm coming, babe!"
Summer placed the magazines on top of Miss Martini's pile and hurried in after Chris.
"Mom?" Chris called out behind him as he walked into the kitchen. "I don't need help to pour a glass of water."
"I needed help."
"I don't get it. You like making weddings."
"It's weird having someone telling me how to do it."
"Then why don't you do it yourself?"
Summer shrugged. "That would be weirder."
"But it's not going well with The Spinster."
"Honey, don't say that. You don't even know what it means."
"Yes, I do. It means The Old Lady That No Man or Woman Would Ever Want to Date and Few Would Even Want to Look At. Seth told me."
"Well, Seth might get in trouble too."
Chris snorted and opened the refrigerator. "When's she going, anyway?"
Summer sighed. "Sooner rather than later."
"I hope so."
"Why do you care? When does she ever talk to you?"
Chris shrugged. "She talked to me once. I don't like her. Neither does Seth. He said she doesn't like him either. What kind of lady comes in and doesn't like people?"
"Maybe she doesn't like Seth, because Seth doesn't like her."
"I guess. But he doesn't like her for good reason."
"Oh, and what's that?"
"She's mean," Chris said matter-of-factly, gulping down his glass.
"Hey Chris?"
"Yeah."
"You know, you don't have to not like someone just because Seth doesn't."
"I...don't." Chris's cheeks turned pink, and he poured another glass of water.
"I know. I'm just saying. And Miss Martini will be gone soon, so you don't have to worry about it."
Chris nodded and started to walk out of the room.
"Hey, baby?"
He spun around, and Summer gestured for him to come closer. She wrapped her arms around his hips and pulled him next to her.
"You happy, baby?"
Chris smiled with half his mouth and nodded. Summer kissed him and smiled.
"Me too."
"I know." He grinned, resting his forehead against hers. "Mom?"
"Mmm?"
"Do you think this is going to stay?"
"This what?"
Chris shrugged, his head bumping against hers. "Both of us being happy."
Summer giggled and nodded. "I think so."
"Good." Chris kissed his mother's forehead and walked upstairs. At the top, he nearly fell backwards as Ryan walked down.
"Oh shit..." Ryan caught him, though, his strong hand on Chris's back.
"Hey. You okay?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
"No, it was my..." Ryan's head turned as the bathroom door opened but slammed shut.
"Jenn's still not talking to you?" Chris asked.
"It's stupid." Ryan shook his head, leaving ideas of going downstairs and just sitting on the top step. Chris sat down next to him.
Ryan craned his neck to watch the bathroom door as he spoke. "Chris? If someone important to who you are wanted to meet you, just see you, you'd see them, right? It wouldn't hurt you."
"I don't know, Uncle Ryan. Jenn's mom hurt you bad. She knows that." Chris nodded to the bathroom door.
"But she just wants to see her. I can understand that. I mean, you can't, and Jenn can't, but Luke can. And Kirsten can. She wants to see what happened to someone she made. And Jenn won't even talk to her on the phone. Doesn't that seem a little too harsh to you?"
Chris shrugged. "I'm not Jenn. She'd do anything to protect you."
Ryan laughed hollowly, letting his head fall into his hands. "I don't know what I'm going to tell Theresa."
"Then, don't call her."
"It's not that easy."
"Yeah, it is. You don't want to talk to her, so avoid her. My mom does it all the time."
"But Chris, I want Jenn to talk to her."
"Why?"
"Because she needs a mother."
"She has you."
"But I'm not enough, Chris. She needs more."
"She doesn't think so. She thinks you're so enough that she wants to fight to stay away from her mom."
"I still can't do everything for her."
"Uncle Ryan, look at this house. The women are everywhere. She has my mom, Grandma, Aunt Marissa. You know they wouldn't be like 'no, Jenn, I won't tell you'...woman things."
Ryan smiled, lifting his head to look at Chris smiling happily to himself. Ryan laughed and wrapped his arm around Chris's shoulder.
"You're a good man, Chris."
"I try." Chris leaned his elbow on Ryan's nearest shoulder.
"I love you, you know that?"
Chris nodded into the crook of his own elbow. Ryan squeezed him tighter for a second and let him go, ruffling his hair, as Ryan made his second attempt at going downstairs.
Chris looked around for a second, then walked up to the bathroom door, and, finding it unlocked, opened it and sat on the counter. Jenn was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, looking down again when she saw it was Chris.
"Hey, Chris."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm scared."
"About what?"
"My dad. I think something's wrong with him."
"Jenn, just because he doesn't think the same like you doesn't mean something's..."
"I think he's lonely."
"Why?"
"Because he wants so bad to have these people who abandoned him...it's like he just wants someone." Jenn looked up, slipping off the side onto the carpet by Chris's feet.
"But how could he be lonely? There are so many people here."
Jenn shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want him to be talking to her, though."
"Jenn, isn't it possible that she just made a mistake?"
"It's a hell of a big mistake."
Chris looked hard at her cheek as a tear rolled down. He hopped off the counter and sat next to her with their backs against the wall. He awkwardly put his arm around her shoulder and sat still.