Chapter Thirteen: Mamma Mia
It's been 2 weeks without seeing Amelia, she and Carl decided to use the villa we gave them for their honeymoon, and I miss them. We are all getting together for lunch, and they should arrive any minute now. "Emily, Charlotte says they decided on a name" Margaux calls me from the living room, "Oh finally!" I'm so excited; she and Christian have been keeping it a secret for too long. Aiden makes room for me on the couch and Charlotte smiles "so, as you know we had a few disagreements on the name-she says looking at her husband-but we finally decided to call our princess Daniella Emilia Weiss" My eyes are filled with tears and I can't speak "Charlie it's beautiful!" Simone squeals by my side and Josh nods "little Ella" he says. I finally stand up and hug both of them "Emilia?" "Yes Ems, Emilia" Charlotte tells me and Christian takes my hands "and we want you and Aiden to be her godparents" "We would be honored" Aiden answers for both, and as I hug my sister he shakes hands with Chris.
"We are back!" I hear Amelia's voice from the entry and we all laugh when Moon speeds to the door, "Dad I told you to keep her calm" Carl says chuckling and his sister pushes him playfully "you had your time with her mister, now it's my turn" Simone says and holds my daughter tighter than before. "Excuse me, make room for the parents" Margaux scolds her daughter, she just rolls her eyes but lets me hug Amy "I missed you, how was it? Did you have a good time?" "We did mom, and I missed you too" she kisses my cheek and then hugs Aiden, always Daddy's girl. Carl kisses Margaux's cheek and then hugs Jack while Nolan takes Amy away from Aiden. After everyone, including Charlotte, Josh and Christian, hug the newlyweds we sit down to eat and hear all the things the kids can tell us. "I left the house just like it was before you left" Simone assures her brother and sister, Amy takes her hand "you didn't have to Moon, but thank you" "you're welcome sis" Simone smiles and all of us chuckle; "We already know you two are sisters now Moon" Charlotte says, "Charlie let me enjoy it please" I watch delighted how Carl kisses Amy's temple and Aiden puts his arm around my chair "I'm a happy father" "and I'm a happy mother" I kiss him. "Are we still up for Mamma mia tonight?" Jack asks and we all nod "we're staying in the loft, I already have everything ready" I say and Amy's eyes lighten up "we're finally watching it?" she asks me and I smile "surprise" "we should hurry then, I don't want to run the whole afternoon" Carl says looking at Moon, she blows a kiss "you love me anyway".
"Josh wasn't happy to stay with the nanny" Charlotte says and Margaux pouts "I told you, we should have bought tickets for Aladdin or The Lion King" "oh please, he's a big boy, besides he doesn't like plays" I laugh "let's go, before the guys have a heart attack" Amy takes my arm until we find our seats, Aiden smiles at us "come here" he tells me "let's enjoy the show". One hundred and fifty minutes later we stay in the hall to chat, Christian and Charlotte excuse themselves to go with Josh and the Porters decide to go to a nearby club; "Look the actors are coming" Carl says to Amy and when I look ahead all the air leaves my body, "Love?" Aiden asks "Aiden, it's Annie" I say, my voice barely above a whisper, realization dawns on him and he takes Amelia's hand "Amelia…" he starts but it's too late, Annie already saw us. "Aiden, Emily?" she asks, as shocked as we are, and rushes to our side; Amelia looks at us, curious but she chooses to listen, "Annie" Aiden and I say before hugging her "look at you, all grown up" I add, "it's been what? 25 years?" "24" Aiden corrects her. Before we can say anything else Carl steps forward and offers her his hand "Congratulations Miss Parker, it was a beautiful performance" "please call me Annie" she says, "my wife has been dreaming about Mamma mia since she was little, but we were never able to come and watch it, right sweetie?" Aiden squeezes my hand and I close my eyes, I hear my baby laughing "yes, that's true... it was a beautiful play Annie" Amy says and then looks at me, "are you ok mom?" she asks me and Annie's eyes widen, "ye… yes sweetie" I stutter and she looks more worried than before "mom I'll do one call and I'm sure James can see you immediately or would you rather I did?" "Amy she's fine… but we need to talk" Aiden tells her, Carl kisses Amelia's cheek and tries to leave but I stop him "Carl, stay… please". "Mom what's going on?" "Amy, do you remember what I told you about your mother?" she takes a deep breath and leans on Carl, "she's that Annie baby" I say and Annie's eyes fills with tears, "I'm your mot-" "I'm going to stop you right there" my daughter interrupts her, "Amy…" "no mom… I-she looks at Annie-listen, you may have given birth to me and I will always be grateful that you decided for adoption instead of abortion but you're not my mother" "I know that Amelia, I really do… I just want you to know that I'm proud of you, I have everything Emily sent me from your childhood and all the articles of Voulez" "Annie… when I was little all I wanted was for you to answer some questions, now I realized they were never important, mom was always honest about everything and that's all I care about. I have my parents- she lets go of Carl's hand and stands between us- and I truly understand everything you did, even why you decided to sever all ties… so I'm please asking you to understand that I don't need or want you in my life, please stay away from us" Aiden puts his arm around her "Amy, Annie is part of your history…" "Aiden, she's right-Annie stops him- Amelia, I'm just happy to know you have a good life and I don't regret my decision, I knew Emily and Aiden would do a great job" "goodbye then, I hope you have a nice and happy life… Carl, take me to the loft please?" Amy kisses Aiden and I "I'll see you there, I love you".
I watch my daughter and godson exit the theater before I take Annie's hands "I'm sorry Annie" "Don't, I asked for it… you kept the contact for years, until she was a teenager and I didn't even wrote back-she sighs deeply-just thank Margaux for her help… she's beautiful guys" she leaves before any of us can tell her anything and Aiden wraps his arms around me and kisses my forehead, "I never expected that" "I don't want her to be angry with Annie" "I don't think she's angry Ems, but we do need to talk with her" I kiss him and we go outside to get a cab, my phone is ringing but I don't feel like answering. Aiden takes my phone out of my purse and answers for me "Hey, we're going home… oh that's good, 10 minutes top. Great, bye Margaux" I hear Aiden ending the call, "Margaux said Amy called Moon before they entered the club, they are on the loft now" "good".
We arrive 15 minutes later and I rush to hug my daughter, "We'll leave you alone" Carl kisses Amelia's head and then goes with Simone to his room. Aiden sits beside Amy to leave her between us "Amy" I whisper but she shakes her head and kisses my cheek, "Mom I'm not angry" "we know that-I take her hand- I just never expected it to be like this" I say, and it's true… I always hoped that when they met they would be able to talk more, to get to know each other. "I still remember our conversation all those years ago mom, everything I said today it was true… I'll be forever in debt because she gave me to you but I never wanted a relationship with her, not when I was little and definitely not now. I wanted answers and I have them, that's it ok? You have always been my parents and biology doesn't change that, I get that maybe she regrets her decision or maybe she doesn't but I don't care, I don't resent her either… she did the best she could with the options she had, she easily could have opted for abortion but she didn't and… again, I understand her. Do you understand me? I don't want a relationship with her because I don't need it, I love you". We are all crying by now and Aiden and I hold our baby as tight and as close as we can "we understand" my husband says, "and we love you too Amelia" I say, kissing my daughter.
"I'm glad Annie made her dreams true" I say later, I'm in the safety of Aiden's arms and the storm of emotions tonight was, it's finally over. "Me too, but I'm mostly glad for Amy…she needed some sort of closure with her" "yeah, thank god we were with her and Carl too" "she has her family supporting her, everything is fine now". The next morning I find my husband, Charlotte, Jack, Margaux and Nolan already awake, the girls hug me tight and Nolan kisses my forehead "Moon told us what happened", Jack says "she took it pretty well…-I sigh-she thanked Annie for choosing adoption instead of abortion and then told her she didn't need her or wanted her in our lives" Margaux puts her hand on my shoulder and Charlotte smiles sadly at me, I know they're also sorry their encounter was like that… they were close to Annie too; "It's her decision" Jack says, "we are just glad she got closure" Aiden says. Margaux smiles "yeah that's good, I can't believe Annie is part of the Mamma mia's cast!" "she said thank you, by the way".
Amy, Simone, Margaux, Charlotte and I do some shopping while the guys go to a game before heading back to The Hamptons. "Charlie look, this will look great on little Ella" I hear Moon's voice while Amy shows Charlotte a pink dress and little black flats, "Aw!" Margaux and I melt, it feels like not too long ago we were shopping together for our bundles of joy and now I'm watching them fight over who will pay for the dress, and apparently the doctor wins. Charlotte laughs "and to think I used to buy things for you two" she says, and I smile… I'm so proud of all of us.
~A&E~
I didn't thought I would write another chapter but I was re-reading this story the other day and I felt like adding this chapter :)
As always I hope you like this chapter, as much as the rest of the story… I don't know if I'll write more, but the option is open.
Let me know what you think, or what would you like to read !
Kisses, Cami