eldia

34 | third time is the charm

"Come onnnnnn," You whine as you use all your strength to pull Ambrose out from his chair. Your head tilts back as your heels dig into the floor.

The chair he sits in moves slightly but he holds his ground. "Ugh, quit being annoying!" His prepubescent voice commands.

Your mother sighs from the table as she rubs at her forehead, a stack of paperwork in front of her. "It'll only take a second, Ambrose. Stop complaining and play with your sister. You don't do it nearly enough."

He stomps his foot hard on the ground. "But I don't want to!"

Her frustration for the lack of quiet snaps. "Why can't you be more like your brothers? Elijah and Malakai are helping her. Why can't you?"

"Ughhhh," He groans loudly before he forces himself up from the chair and out of your grip. Before he passes you up, he sends you the death stare for disrupting his peace.

Regardless of his intimidation, you smile in his wake. "I want a fairytale wedding like in this book." You explain to him as you hold it in your hands.

You lead all three of your brothers down the hall and into the ball room. In a small basket, you had plucked wildflowers from outside and placed them neatly inside. "Kai, you're going to throw the flowers."

You hand Kai the woven basket but before you do, you take out two handmade rings you made from the stems of the flowers. "Ambrose, you will carry the rings."

Finally, you turn to your oldest brother who was no more than 9 years old at the time. "You are going to be the priest, 'kay?"

"This is so stupid." Ambrose snarks. "You're six years old. Why are you getting married?"

"Just shut up and play along." Elijah warns. He had always been so mature for his age, even back then.

Kai scratches the side of his head. "Wait, who is the groom?"

"Uhhhh," You hadn't thought that far ahead yet. You turn your head every which way for the answer. The first thing to catch your eye was Pascal who was a puppy at the time and wagging his tail innocently. "Pascal?" You offer as you lift the dog into the air.

"You can't marry a dog, sicko!" Ambrose crosses his arms.

"Aw," Your lower lips pouts out. "So, then who?"

Almost as if it were divine timing, the doors open and Mama Kirstein and Jean, a decade younger, stumble into the ballroom. She was balancing bags in one arm and holding Jean's hand with the other. "Good morning, sorry we're late!"

All four of them turn to door and see Jean who was still half asleep and rubbing at his crusted eye ducts. Your eyes widen and sparkle all at once when you see him. "YOU!"

You rush up to him and pull him away from his mother. "YOU! Come here!"

He points a small finger at his chest. "Me?"

"Yup." You clarify as you drag him toward the front. "You're the one I'm going to marry."

"Wh-what?" He stutters as his sleepy legs attempt to keep up with you.

His mother giggles as she sets her things down. "How adorable."

You point at the floor next to Elijah. "Stand right there by Eli. Little more to the left... No, to the right. Perfect! Stay right there!"

When he's in the perfect position, you fix your wild locks of hair and adjust your dress. "Okay!"

You rip out a bouquet of flowers from a nearby vase, the vase almost tilting over and crashing unto the floor as you do. You then hold the flowers up to your chest and run toward the back of the room. "Close your eyes! Don't open them until I say so!"