Perfectly Ourselves

Chapter 38

My parents were surprised that Riley and I decided to just go ahead and get married as soon as possible, but weren't upset. So now Riley and I, plus my close relatives, are all in the small little court house.

"Are you two planning a honeymoon?" My grandma asks.

"Uh, we never even thought about that." I say.

"We should probably finish our semester first gran." Riley says.

"Oh, right. I forgot college starts back up in a few days." Grandma says.

"My head is about to explode with happiness!" Zoey squeals. She has been so excited for this day. Almost as much as me. And it's understandable since she'll be getting a dad.

"I can't wait to see the new house too! Oh my gosh, can Tristan come hang over at our house?!"

Riley chuckles and picks Zoey up. "Of course Zoe." He then whispers something in Zoey's ear. And she slaps her hands over her mouth to scream.

"Oh my gosh!!" Riley smiles and sets her down. Zoey can't stop from jumping up and down after that. I raise and eyebrow at Riley, and he just smirks at me.

"I can't believe my baby sister is getting married!" Chris says, pretending to cry.

"Oh please. We all knew she and Riley would get married." Wyatt says waving his hand.

"No Wyatt, I was the one who said that. You three morons just agreed with me because I'm smarter." River says rolling his eyes.

"Hey! Did you just call me a moron?!" Noah yells in a joking matter.

"Yes, I did. Why does that come as a surprise brother?"

Noah glares at River. "Well at least I'm Keely's favorite brother." He says like he just became president of the world.

"Really? Because you two aren't even related. I'm her biological brother, so she has to like me better." Chris says crossing his arms and glaring at Noah.

"You may have that on me, but toddler Keely liked me better." Wyatt says, only to be slapped by River.

"She liked me better."

"Toddler Keely might have liked you better, but current Keely likes me better." Noah says smirking.

"Oh shut up. You adopted kids thinking you own everything." Wyatt says rolling his eyes.

"Well at least I wasn't a mistake!" Noah says laughing in Wyatt's face.

"Dude! You're adopted! If you weren't a mistake your biological parents would still want you!" Wyatt laughs.

Noah's jaw drops. "Wyatt! My parents died! That's why I went into the system!"

Wyatt stops laughing. "Oh right, that was Chris. Ha! Mistake!"

Chris towers over Wyatt, and glares down at him. "If I'm a mistake. Then what does that make Keely? I swear if you just called my sister a mistake-"

My mom groans and hangs her head. "What have our kids become?"

Dad laughs loudly. Wyatt and Chris start debating on if Wyatt called me a mistake too, when the judge comes in and everyone shuts up.

"I need the two getting married to come up here." He says. So Riley and I walk over to him.

"I just need you two to signs these papers and then you'll be married."

Riley signs it first, and I sign it. It didn't feel like I thought it would. But at the same time it feels magical.

"Alright, you two are officially married." He says tiredly. Riley smiles at me, and I know how badly he wants to kiss me, but he stays away because he knows PDA around my family makes me uncomfortable.

My family claps, and then we all exit the small courthouse.

Before I can get far, Riley stops me and puts a little box in my hand. "It's your first wedding gift."

I said I didn't want gifts, but I open it anyway. My jaw drops when I see what it is. "Riley you did not!"

"Hey, it was my fault after all. It's time I got you a new one. Thanks Zoe, you've got my back girl."

I turn to Zoey, who smiles sheepishly at me and runs to my grandparents. I look back to the hearing aid Riley got me. I remember the reason we met again was the moron ran into me, ending in the crushing of one of my hearing aids.

"I want you to be able to hear me say how much I love you clearly." I hug Riley tightly, after putting in the other hearing aid of course. And everything sounds so much better.

"That wedding was not what I was expecting, but congratulations!" My mom says looking at Riley and I while my brother go back to arguing.

"This is a sad day. You're no longer Keely Short anymore, Keely Trone just sounds so weird!" Dad says.

Mom keeps bouncing up and down, like she's ready to run me and Riley over. Before dad can try to hold mom back, she basically tackles Riley in a hug. "I'm so happy for you two."

Riley smiles and hugs her back. Then mom looks at me. "I'm really happy for you too Keely."

For a second, I was happy with just the happy looks she was giving me. But then I decided it wasn't enough, so I did something I haven't done in over 7 years. I hugged my mom.

My mom stiffens for a split second, then holds on so tight to me I can barely breathe. But that doesn't matter to me. I can't believe I haven't hugged my own mother in over 7 years. I was so stupid. I can think of hundreds of moments where I could've used a motherly hug. I can't imagine not hugging or even touching Zoey for over 7 years.

We stay like that for several minutes, and I don't miss the fact my mother is crying now.

We pull away, and I go and hug my dad too. His hands slowly rub my back up and down, as he holds me close to him.

"I love you both so much." I whisper when my dad and I pull apart. My dad's smiling so big, as a tear or two are in his eyes.

My brothers had stopped jokingly fighting when they realized I was hugging people, like I said, I had only let Zoey hug and touch me for the past 6 years, then I let Riley onto the train too a year ago.

I open my arms for them, and all four of them quickly run into my arms. Hugging me so tightly.

"Just so you guys know, I don't have favorites." I whisper into the group hug, making them all laugh.

We pull away, and I go hug my grandparents.

At that moment, I swear to myself I'll never forbid my family from hugging me or touching me. There's no reason for it anymore. Everything is perfect now. We're all perfectly ourselves.

THE END