Batty clutched her cup of herbal tea and stretched her feet out onto the chair in front of her. The view from the patio really was stunning. The Penderwick women (and Ben) enjoyed a glorious green panorama as they had their breakfast.
Churchie had come back from her daughter's house to attend the wedding, and she had insisted on cooking up a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, gingerbread, fruit and more.
She had ordered Skye and Rosalind to finish their heaping plates. God forbid, one of them faint from hunger on their way down the aisle.
"I would never faint," Skye said.
"Oh, but you have fainted," Iantha was quick to say. "I'll never forget when I was summoned backstage at that play."
Everyone burst into laughter, and Jane started reciting some of her old Rainbow lines.
Batty admired all their smiling faces – Rosalind glowing with joy, Skye as lighthearted as she had ever been, Lydia perched on a chair and grinning at all the stories, Aunt Claire laughing out loud, and Iantha beaming with a look of peace and serenity.
Batty felt good. She and Jeffrey and Alec were going to be the band at the reception, along with her Uncle Turron and her cousins. They had rehearsed yesterday, and they sounded amazing. Batty was thinking of forming her own band when she got back to school. Perhaps a girl group. She could post an advertisement on the bulletin board: Singer Seeks Fellow Band Members. A guitar player, a drummer, a bassist for sure.
For a few moments, Batty lost herself in a fantasy of her band's various outfits and shows, but she was summoned back to the present by Aunt Claire announcing she had a little surprise.
Aunt Claire reached into her bag and rummaged around a bit. A mother of twins, Aunt Claire never went anywhere without half of a pantry, a first aid kid, and duct tape in her bag. She at last pulled out an envelope containing photos from a wedding long ago. The bride was Elizabeth Penderwick.
The sisters all huddled around and gasped at their mother's grace and beauty and joked over the old fashions.
"Holy moly, mom and Skye could be twins," Jane said.
Skye didn't shrug off the comment as she usually did, she just smiled and nodded.
There were some photos of Mrs. Penderwick getting ready, laughing with her bridesmaids. A photo of Mr. Penderwick looking nervous – the girls all remembered how nervous he was at his wedding to Iantha as well. A few photos of the reception.
The pictures made Batty want to cry, not just because she would never see this woman, but also because she had never known her to begin with. No matter how many stories Rosalind or Aunt Claire or her father told, Elizabeth Penderwick was a mystery far more than she was a mother. Batty felt a hand slip into hers, and she looked up and saw Iantha smiling at her. Batty felt a rush of gratitude.
"I'm sorry there aren't that many," Claire said. "It wasn't like nowadays, where everyone can take a million pictures on their phone and save them forever on a computer."
"They're perfect," Rosalind said. "I wish she was here."
"But if she were here, then I wouldn't be," Lydia said.
"Oh, no honey, that's not what I meant," Rosalind said. She scooped up Lydia and dragged her into her lap.
"There's a theory about alternate universes," Skye said. "That argues that even if some events are altered, you still might exist, in a slightly different form. It's the pebble in a river idea. If you throw a stone in the current, that doesn't stop the current, it just diverts the flow of water in a very tiny way."
"Huh?" Lydia asked.
"Skye's right," Iantha said. "I'll give you an article about it when you're older."
Iantha winked at Skye, and Skye grinned with pride. Batty considered Iantha to be her mother, but she knew Skye looked up to Iantha like a hero and mentor.
And just as she thought of mentors, Jeffrey came loping out onto the patio.
"Good morning, ladies," he said. "Your favorite Honorary Penderwick is here."
"Jeffrey!" Ben cried out. Ben adored all his sisters, but he looked overjoyed to see Jeffrey.
"You must not be here!" Jane shouted, even as Skye stood up to hug Jeffrey in excitement. "The groom is not supposed to see the bride on the day of the wedding until she walks down the aisle. Is nothing sacred?"
"Oh please, we already went for a run together this morning," Skye said. "Besides, we care not for societal norms, we're just doing this for the tax break."
"What about being wildly and madly in love?" Jane said.
"That too," Skye said.