The Aislin Chronicles

Part XX

A/n: Hey! Look! We're at twenty parts! I've never written anything so long, and it's not done. That's so cool! I'm proud of myself. Anyway, at last, the much anticipated wedding chapter. ENJOY!

5-24-03

8:43 PM

Ahhhhhh the wedding is tomorrow! We just got back from dinner because I guess that's what you're supposed to do before a wedding. It was yummy. But, alas, the love birds were forced to separate. Dad's crashing at Weiss's place, Sydney and I get the apartment. Francie is coming over in the morning, and so is Grand-Mere (she's flying in as we speak). Tonight Sydney and I are just going to hang out. She's changing into her pajamas now, then I think we are going to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and probably something else.

All day long I've had one thing on my mind besides the wedding: Ian. Of course. But my goodness, he kissed me. I'm still like so happy because of it. I hope things don't get weird between us at school. It shouldn't, will it? I want… I want to kiss him again. I want him to ask me out. I… Ack. Not tonight. It's Sydney's night tonight. Not mine. Time to go watch movies.

5-25-03

9:47 AM

I just woke up a little while ago, Sydney left me a note that says she's picking up Grand-Mere from the airport and they should be back around 10:20. Francie should show up around then too, then we'll get all prettied up and have a wedding and a reception. I'm so excited!

Last night with Sydney was great. We sort of watched the movie, but since we've watched it plenty of times now we talked a lot through it. When we first started watching she looked kind of… I don't know, worried or something. I asked her if she missed Dad, and she kind of shook herself out of a daze, hugged a pillow shyly and nodded. It was cute. And of course, she asked about last night. When I got home last night they had fallen asleep on the couch, so I wrote a note to tell them I got home all right and post-it noted it to Dad's forehead. Apparently he was very confused when he woke up. But hey, it got the message across. Anyway, I told her that we went to the movies and saw Bruce Almighty. She knew there was more, so I told her straight up about my huge crush on Ian. And that Jess had this plan to hook us up, and that he was at the move theater. And I told her that we sat together and talked with each other like the whole time, and then I told her that he kissed me. And how much I loved it.

And Sydney, bless her heart, she was so into my story, or at least pretended to be. Well I guess she was if she asked this. "Is he going to call you or anything?"

"I don't know. He doesn't have my number, and I don't have his, so I guess I'll wait until school on Tuesday." Tuesday. So far away…

She giggled. "Middle school romance… It's so sweet."

"What do you think Dad would say about all this?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure he's ready. I may have to remind him we're raising a teenager and not a baby girl. But you know him, he'd get used to it."

"Really? 'Cause I want to tell him, I just… I don't know. It's… Weird."

"You tell him a lot more than I ever told my Dad. But we weren't close like you are with Vaughn."

Then speak of the devil, the phone rang. It was him. He missed her. She missed him. Blah blah blah, Weiss wasn't being nice, apparently, I guess he won't cuddle with Dad. Can you imagine? Walk into a room, there's Dad and Weiss on the couch snuggling. "…Whatchya doin'?" Hahaha. Okay, I need to stop with the 'Weiss is gay' imagery. Maybe Jess should find him a girlfriend. She can work on that at the reception. Anyway, I took the phone from Sydney and I was like, "Dad. It's okay. You'll see her tomorrow. Cuddle with Weiss or something." And I hung up on him. Haha. I can't believe I told him that. Neither can Sydney. At least she thought it was hilarious.

Anyway we had a nice evening but then we had to go to bed and, hmm, it appears I over slept. Francie will be here soon. I better eat me some breakfast.

5:01 PM

It's official, they're married! Miss Sydney Bristow is now Mrs. Vaughn, and, well… Hehe. I have sooo much to say. We're at the reception right now. It's been going on for almost two hours now (we're at Francie's restaurant) and there's lots of people here. I brought my journal along with me because I knew I'd have some free time here and I'd be dying to spill something before I forgot it all. And indeed, I so have things to spill. Mwahaha.

Not long after I ate my bowl of Cheerios this morning, Francie arrived, slightly bummed that Sydney wasn't back yet. But I showed her the dresses and she cheered up greatly. She decided to start on my hair, and she did a great job with it. She made a pretty up-do, I think that's what it's called. Anyway, I love it. I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I wish Ian could see me… Haha. I'm so silly. Francie had curled about half my head when Sydney and Grand-Mere arrived. She's such a lovely lady, she was so excited to see me, too. She doesn't look like Dad at all, but then again, he is supposed to look like his father.

We all got ready and stuff, Grand-Mere wanted to know more about me so I told her about what I do for fun and my friends and such. I'm not sure if she knows about my father. I'll have to ask about that before I say anything. I like how she tells me stories about Dad when he was younger, so does Sydney. Like how when he was three he and his neighbor decided they were ducks, so they took off all their clothes and wore rubber gloves on their feet and walked around in circles quacking.

Hahahahaha, sorry, I was just picturing that. Anyway!

When we were all ready we drove over to the little church. Sydney looked so beautiful. And I remembered my camera, so I have documented this event. Finally, I remembered it. Francie and Grand-Mere and whoever else were off making sure everything was ready, and Sydney and I were alone in this back room. She sat down and a couch and beckoned me to sit with her. We were quiet for awhile, just thinking about the event to come I guess. I really wanted to ask her something, I had been thinking about it last night. "Sydney, would you mind if… if I called you Mom?" I've never had one before. And Sydney, she's so special to me. I know what she did to Father and it still hurts sometimes, but I've never had anyone be a mother figure to me, and… I don't know. That's how I think of her.

She turned to me and looked me straight in the eye, and took hold of my hands. "I would be honored if you called me that." I had to smile, it made me really glad. Then she smiled back at me, and whispered, "Can I tell you a secret?" I nodded, eager to know. She took a deep breath and admitted to me with a slight smile, "I'm pregnant."

Ahhhhhhh little Syd-and-Vaughn baby! Sibling! Ahh! "Really?"

"Yeah."

I think I was grinning from ear to ear. "Does Dad know?" No wonder she's been so tired lately.

"Not yet." Hehehe. "I'm telling him right after the service." She told me she found out just the other day, which was why she looked weird before the movie started last night. She said she hadn't been sure how to react to it, but now she was really happy and couldn't wait to tell Dad. She said she was about six weeks along, due in January.

5:33 PM

Hey, wait a second, six weeks ago was Spring Break. Ick. That must have been some shower…

Anyway, shortly after that Francie came and got us and it was time to start. I tossed my little petals down the aisle, Dad smiled at me, one of those proud parent smiles. Once I stopped and Francie and Weiss (made of honor, best man) started walking down, I could see in his eyes that he was thinking, "Hurry up, I want my Sydney." I thought it was funny. There weren't many other people there. Just Will, the Dixons, this guy named Marshall, and Grand-Mere. So many more people are at the reception.

Then I saw Vaughn straighten up and his eyes fixated on something. We all turned around, and there was Sydney, just beaming and beautiful. When she walked up the aisle with Jack you could seriously feel the connection between her and Dad. And when they recited their vows for each other I started to cry. They are so in love with each other. It's incredible. I hope one day I'll have what they have with some man. And now they're married. My parents. My mom and dad. My family.

There were so many people here already when we arrived. Jess and Kathleen found me quickly, I'm so glad they are here. There are a lot of people I don't know. There are a lot of people from work, I guess, and some of Dad's hockey buddies, and some of Sydney's friends from when she was still in school. We watched my parents have their first dance, and later joined in on some more. I danced with Dad, I'm glad I finally got to talk with him, it felt like forever.

We danced a lot, I guess. We tried to teach Jack the Chicken Dance, but he just wasn't working it. I pray to God someone got it photographed.

5:58 PM

Jess just got back from talking to Weiss. She said he was sitting at a table with Will and Francie, and she just went up to him and said, "So I hear you're taking credit for getting Sydney and Vaughn back together." And he was like, "Yeah…" And she said, "Well, stop. I'm the one who got her phone number in there. So I'd appreciate it if you stopped stealing my spotlight."

May I remind you, he is definitely drunk at this point, so are Francie and Will, and they find this extremely hilarious. "Now, on another topic," Jess continued, "Aislin and I decided that you need a girlfriend. So which of these fine ladies in here are you interested in me hooking you up with?" He laughed at her. "How about that lady over there? She looks nice."

I think she's off talking women into flirting with him now. She's so funny, I love her. Oh, I'm pretty sure Dad knows about Sydney being pregnant too, because when they aren't dancing they are off to the side swaying together, her back to his chest so they can look out at everyone. His hands are covering her stomach protectively too, it's sweet. Aw. We're going to be a little family. That's a nice thought.

6:37 PM

Jess cracks me up, she just said to me: "Go ask your 'rents if you can spend the night at my house. We need to let them get their groove on tonight." It's not a bad idea. They should… "get their groove on" tonight. Giggle. Well, they aren't dancing right now– they're swaying again, ooh so cute! –so I'ma go ask.

6:49 PM

Oh, my daddy! So I walked up to them, and they smiled at me, both gave me hugs, asked if I was having fun. Of course I was, I told them. Then Dad started grinning like mad. He grinned like mad, pointed at Sydney, and leaned towards me and whispered, "She's got a baby in there."

"I know," I laughed. Sydney asked if I had told Jess yet, and I hadn't, since I didn't know when Dad would find out and I didn't want her to know before him. Oh, whoops, I'm supposed to be calling her Mom now. Oh well. It'll take time to adjust.

Anyway, she asked if I wouldn't tell anyone just yet. Then she was like, "We want to keep it to ourselves–"

Dad cut in, "She means we don't want Jack to know."

I promised I wouldn't say anything. And they said that I could go to Jess's. Yay! Now they can… I was going to say now they can make babies but it's a little too late for that, isn't it? I guess "get their groove on" shall work.

People have started to leave, the numbers are dwindling (good word, no?). Kathleen had to leave about ten minutes ago. Whoa- Dad and Mom are dancing again. I have to go watch. Then dance with Dad again. Maybe teach Jack to hokey pokey. Yeah right…

5-26-03

9:45 PM

Yay, I'm back home! With my family! I'm home with my family. I'm not sure I've ever been able to say that and really mean it before. I got home sometime this afternoon (yesterday I told them to call me when they decided they missed me too much). They wanted to hang out with me, you know, be the family that we are. So we did. We just kind of chilled, really. Sydney needed a nap around five, poor exhausted pregnant lady. Dad must have kept her up late last night.

Oh God. Let's not talk about that.

So Sydney went to sleep and I talked with Dad. We had a good, deep conversation. Somewhere in there I worked in about my crush on Ian, and… Our first kiss. (Eeeee!) Slash my first kiss.

He just kind of looked at me. "Boys are jerks, Aislin. Just… Be careful."

Sound advice, Dad, I'll keep that in mind. Then we talked about Sydney being pregnant. He realized we are going to have to buy a house now. Hm. A house. Moving will be icky. But I know he's so excited about having a little baby, and me too, I mean, come on, Syd-and-Vaughn baby. Who could say no? I can just picture him holding little Syd-and-Vaughn junior (that's what I'm calling him/her as of now) and singing to it and, awww. I can't wait! I told him, "Dad, you're gonna be a daddy!" and he just laughed.

He had to go wake Sydney (Mom) up because we were going out to dinner with Grand-Mere. We met her at her hotel, where she insisted on staying. I don't blame her for not wanting to intrude on the love-birds. We asked Syd how she was feeling on the way over there, she said just a little tired for now. I'm glad she's not puking yet. Puking is no fun.

They decided to tell Grand-Mere about the baby, because it's not like she's going to tell Jack anytime soon. And she is positively thrilled. She started gushing happily in French and I got way confused. But apparently, she's happy and I guess that's all that matters. She's only in town for a few more days. And I'm told she wants to do things with me, get to know her granddaughter. Dad explained to me how that meant she plans on spoiling me. Well, I can't complain. I like her a lot, and if she's going to spoil me then splendid! And unless she's going to capture me from school (oh, please God, let her!) then we'll have to do stuff after school. I hope I don't have much homework.

Oh my gosh! I totally almost forgot about last night! Huge things! Whoa, I feel dumb. Okay, so after the wedding reception was over, I said bye to my lovely parents, picked up some stuff at the apartment and headed on over to Jess's humble abode. It wasn't supposed to cool down too much overnight, so she got this crazy idea in her head that we should set up a tent and sleep outside. Somehow we exploded into a wicked case of the giggles, and became happy, hyper, bouncing kangaroos. Then Krissy suggested we try putting the tent on the trampoline. I don't know where the heck she got that idea but it was genius.

For some reason or another Krissy went inside and just never came back out, so we got settled in the tent without her. And that was when I decided I would tell Jess more about my past. Over the past couple of days I'd been thinking a little bit about what exactly I would say, and what things should be left out and kept in and such. Like I can't tell her about what Sydney did, she couldn't possibly understand. And I can't tell her that they work for the CIA. I doubt she'd believe me if I said that anyway. But I think I told her what was necessary.

We finally had quieted down enough to be serious. We got to talking about the wedding and how happy we were for them, especially after all that they've gone through. I wish I could tell her about the baby, but I just know she's let that slip. There are some secrets that you just keep, and there are some that bubble out of you. The baby is the bubbly kind, and what I told her was one of those lock-it-in-the-vault kind.

"I have something really important to tell you." I almost chickened out after I said that. "You have to promise me that you will never tell anyone. Ever." She promised. "Not Kathleen. Not even Krissy." She hesitated but promised again. The story that I told her was that when I was born in Ireland, my mum died giving birth to me, so I grew up with my father. Not Vaughn, but my real father. He worked as a guard for this big technology lab in Ireland all the time, like I hardly got to see him. But it turned out that he wasn't just some guard, he held high status for a bad organization. One day after school I went to visit him at work. And when the elevator door opened, he was dead. Shot. I cried and screamed and laid down with him, seeing if he would wake up. In a few minutes, there were two other people in the elevator with me, and they were Sydney and Vaughn. They were there on bank business. Dad scooped me up in his arms, took me to America. He got me through it, he helped me so much. And Sydney… We didn't get along at first because she told me what my father really did, and I wouldn't believe her. She saw his murder happen and couldn't stop it, but I was mad anyway. I thought she should have tried. But Dad helped us get passed that too. And since I had no other family, he adopted me. And that's how I ended up here.

Jess was really shocked. I made her promise me again that she would never say anything, and she promised never to tell a soul. I think I scared her a little, but I told her that she was the best friend I ever had and that I thought she deserved to know. She asked me a few questions, like if I missed Ireland, and if I was really okay, and how I am with Mom and Dad. No surprising answers there. Yeah, I'm just peachy, and I love Mom and Dad, and Ireland, yeah, I miss, it, but I'm very happy here.

We were quiet (except for me sniffling a little bit, finishing up a bit of crying, nothing big), just thinking for awhile, when Jess said, "Now I wish I had some big, dark secret to tell you." I laughed at that, it felt good. "You're the best friends I've ever had too."

"Really? Not Kathleen?"

"Well… It's different somehow. She's a lot of fun, but I'm just more myself around you, you know?" Yeah, somehow I did.

I really can't wait to tell her about the baby. I wonder how long I'll have to wait, and I hope it doesn't bubble out of me. It shouldn't. I think I'm pretty good about things like that. Only two more weeks of school until summer. That's it. Two. Then the kids are off to their honeymoon and I'm off to Jack's. Man. I hope they tell him before then…

A/n: So, what do you think? Syd-and-Vaughn baby on the way! Wahoo! I'm just as excited as Aislin, if not more. Not really sure when the next chapter will be out, but I'll try to make it soon. Anyway, please review!