The Calloway house was in complete disarray on the day of the wedding.
People ran around in a flurry of bodies. Carter asked everyone where his tie was before the wedding photographer told him that he was already wearing it. An alarm clock was going off somewhere in the house, Micah was complaining that the downstairs bathroom was clogged and Lucille complained that she wasn't allowed to touch any alcohol before the ceremony started.
The tent guys had come the day before to set up the two large white tents in the backyard that would be the setting for the ceremony and the reception.
The caterers showed up five minutes late which almost made Carter go into cardiac arrest as he paced on the front porch waiting for the catering truck to arrive. Despite being late due to a traffic jam, they worked remarkably fast. They didn't even stop to lift their heads as they shooed Selene out of the kitchen, too busy piping icing on the three-tier wedding cake.
The makeup artist and hair stylists had arrived at the same time as the photographer and videographer and Selene thought that if her eye wasn't taken out by a mascara wand it would be blinded by a camera flash.
The fifty-two guests had all been seated by two oh one PM-- much to Carter's dismay as he wanted no one to see him before he walked down the aisle and new arrivals meant going back upstairs until the guest was seated and out of sight.
The sun was shining and Carter squeezed Selene's hand excitedly.
Selene squeezed back, giving a smile to Carter before she took her mother's arm and they walked down the aisle together towards her father.
When they reached the end of the aisle, the wedding march began to play.
The crowd all stood and turned to watch Carter walk down the aisle. Carter had worn an all-white suit with a small tulle veil that brushed his shoulders. His mother and father stood on either side of him practically beaming.
Selene turned to her dad whose eyes were watering. She quickly looked away before she began to cry as well.
Carter kissed both of his parents' cheeks and they headed to their seats.
The minister took a deep breath and waited for everyone to sit before starting the ceremony.
It felt like both a lifetime and only half an hour had passed when the minister finished, "I now pronounce you partners in life. You may now seal your union with a kiss."
The crowd cheered as Carter and Micah kissed.
»
It was partway into the reception when Selene tapped on the mic. "Hello," she said softly, getting slightly distracted by the echo of her voice.
She waited for a majority of the guests to turn to her.
"For those of y'all who don't know me; I'm Selene and I'm Micah's daughter." She smiled. "I've basically witnessed this whole relationship from the beginning until now first hand." She took a pause for dramatic effect. "I remember when I first met Carter. My dad was so happy. I loved Carter immediately because it had been a really really long time since my dad was happy." Selene sniffled and looked at Carter. "And I'm not going to call you dad because that would cause way too much confusion but just know that you did raise me and you are like a father to me. So thank you, Carter, for everything you do and for most importantly making my dad happy."
Micah passed a handkerchief to Carter who graciously accepted and dabbed at his eyes.
Selene ran as quickly as she could in her heels to hug him.
Carter sobbed into her shoulder.
"Gross," she joked, letting herself relax into his grip. How many times had Carter hugged her? He had the day that her dad introduced them for the first time. When her relationship with Julian had ceased to be. He hugged her after she had gotten out of the program and when she had gone back up to a healthy weight. Hugs from Carter were her safety net; her cue that everything would be okay.
Carter laughed. "I love you."
She squeezed him harder as her tears fell onto his shoulder. "I love you too," she murmured softly.
Selene probably cried five times during the whole wedding. She had cried during Carter and Micah's vows, once after her own speech, once during Lucille's speech which she said "I would say 'welcome to the family' but Carter is the glue that holds this family together. He's the reason we're a family." She cried again during Carter and Micah's first dance and then again when they both danced with her during their own version of the father-daughter dance.
Declan smiled at her. "You okay, Sel?" he asked.
"I'm just so happy."
He laughed and held her hand.
"I didn't know your dad was gay," Ruby said.
"He's bisexual," she corrected almost immediately. After years of that comment from PTA moms who stuck their noses up while they said it, it's practically become a second nature to Selene to correct them without a thought.
Declan stood. "May I have this dance?" he asked.
Selene nodded and they walked onto the makeshift dance floor.
Declan was a good slow dancer. They moved easily around the dance floor, Declan's grip on her as he guided making her feel like she was gliding; the blue fabric of her dress flowing around legs. When she pointed that out, he shrugged. "My mom wanted me to take ballroom when I was young and I hated it but it helped."
She nodded and let out a small gasp as he spun her out and then spun her back in.
"This could be us one day," he said.
She looked up at him. Though she was wearing silver heels with her maid of honour dress, she was still the slightest bit shorter than him. "What do you mean?"
"A wedding."
"You want to get married?"
"Woah," he said. "Take me to dinner first."
She punched his shoulder lightly.
"Maybe," he finally answered, his tone serious as he stared somewhere over her left shoulder. "I don't know. My dad's been married so many times that the whole thing just seems useless."
She nodded and moved closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder.
"But with you it makes sense," he said, almost a murmur.
"I feel the same way," she said.
"Plus seeing your dad and Carter..." he trailed off. "They're really good together. And your speech was really nice too."
"Thank you."
"I want that someday," he said. "And I could see it with you."
The song ended and they walked back towards their table.
Their whole friend group took up one small circular table. Verona and Roman next to each other, Carlos next to Roman, Ruby next to Verona and Eden next to her eating chicken nuggets.
As they approached they could hear Ruby say, "She's coming. End of discussion," with a tone of finality that caused Roman to put his hands up and Verona and Carlos to become very interested in the table cloth.
"Who's coming?" Declan asked. The hand on the small of her back guided her towards the seat next to Eden rather than the seat next to Carlos.
Ruby paused. "Nyx is going to be my prom date."
"And she wants Nyx to stay at the cottage," Verona added.
"Over my dead body," Selene scoffed.
Ruby tilted her head. "Would you rather be stabbed or poisoned?"
"Ruby," Roman warned.
"What is your problem with me?" Selene asked Ruby. "From day one; you've hated me and I've done nothing to you."
"You're the reason I can't hang out with Nyx!" Ruby said. "She's my best fucking friend."
"Put a loonie in the swear jar," Eden chimed.
Everyone at the table turned to her.
Ruby pushed her chair out and walked around the house to the front yard.
Selene stood.
"Selene," Carlos said. "Don't make it worse."
She made a face. It was hard to see him with Declan in between but she craned her neck so he could see her when she said matter-of-factly, "I'm not. She's the one that caused a scene at my dad's wedding."
Everyone at the table sans Eden--those chicken nuggets were highly distracting--gave her a look.
"Fine," she said. "I'll play nice."
She hiked up the skirt of the dress and headed to the front yard.
Ruby was sitting on the porch swing, looking at her phone.
"Hey," Selene said.
Ruby looked up. Her shoulders slouched. "Don't worry, I'm about to call an uber."
"You don't have to," she said, going up the porch steps. She gestured to the space next to Ruby. "May I?"
"It's your house."
Selene sat down next to me. "I didn't mean to push your best friend away," she said after a breath. "I understand what it's like to lose a friend."
Though it was barely past six, the sun was just beginning its descent painting the sky in a pink-orange glow.
"Aren't you dating your best friend's ex?"
Selene clenched her fists. "Like I said I know what it's like to lose one."
"She's more than a friend," Ruby said staring at the horizon. "She's like..." Ruby trailed off. "Do you ever meet someone and they finish all your sentences and they make you feel whole kind of like 'wow! How could I ever live without you?'"
"Yeah." The syllable came out of her mouth before Selene realized she was thinking of Declan.
Ruby lowered her head. "I love her, Selene," she confessed. A hand swiped across her face. Selene couldn't tell if she was doing it out of frustration or because she was legitimately crying. "Rome says it's not healthy for me, you know? I can't think that if I stick around her and stand by her that I'll eventually break down her walls and she'll love me back. But I can't help but try."
Selene stayed silent. She sensed that Ruby didn't really want her to speak.
"And maybe that makes me an idiot. But I can't help but have hope. I could never talk to her when Declan was dating Zoe so when they broke up, I thought," Ruby took a shaky breath before she continued as if talking to her past self, "'This is the time, Rue. Make your move, girl'." Ruby smiled, lost in the memories. The smile fell from her face and she looked down at her short white nails. "And then you showed up. And Nyx stopped coming around."
Selene sighed. She was going to fricking regret this-- "She can come to prom," she said.
Ruby turned to her, her eyes lit up.
"But," Selene continued, "she's not coming to the afterparty or the cabin."
"Deal."
"Good." Selene smiled. "Friends?"
Ruby scoffed. "Let's not go that far, sis. Give it some time to simmer, yeah?" She stood.
Selene followed her lead, nodding. "One day."
"Who knows?" Ruby said as they walked side by side towards the backyard. "I mean I am going to Ryerson."
"You are?"
"I'll keep an eye out for you in Toronto." Ruby winked at her as they approached the seats.
"Everything good?" Verona asked.
Both girls nodded, sharing a secret smile.
"We just needed to talk," Ruby said.
Selene nodded. "And now we understand each other. We might even be becoming friends."
Roman shook his head. "I don't care what drugs the both of you are on as long as you stop fighting."