The Unexpected Has Arrived! (Unexpected, #2)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

"Far out Courtney! Will you make up your mind already?"

For the past four hours, Courtney had locked me in the bathroom with her, and was 'preparing' me for the wedding tomorrow.

"I don't know if the curls should be pinned up in an intricate style" - she lifted various parts of my newly-curled hair higher - "or whether they should be simple, and kept down" - she released the strands of hair, letting them flow freely to my shoulders.

"Well, do you want to hear my opinion?" I offered.

Courtney smiled. "Not really. You'd tell me to just put it in a ponytail or something ridiculous."

I couldn't help but laugh in return. "Probably."

Both out heads turned when a knock sounded on the bathroom door.

"Who is it?" Courtney asked as though this were some English film.

"Can I have a look, please?" my mother's voice asked.

Courtney looked at me for an answer. "No, Mum," I called back, "no one's seeing it until tomorrow."

Mum groaned before walking down the stairs loudly.

"Seriously, what's with your mum showing up all of a sudden?" Courtney asked as she gave up on the topic of hair and began on my make up.

"Honestly, I have no idea," I answered truthfully, "I mean, one day she's kicking me out of home, and the next, she's acting like none of that ever happened."

"I think she's guilty that she threw you out the way you did, Nas," Courtney suggested.

I scoffed. "I don't think that she's guilty. To this day, she's still glad that she kicked me out of home."

"Yeah, well maybe she thinks that when she threw you out, she did you good," she amended, "Because once you came to live here with your dad and Becky, your life did turn around for the better."

"Maybe, but I'm seriously not sure. It would be impossible for me to even begin to try and explain the workings of my mum," I laughed. Courtney laughed with me.

"Ugh, mothers," Courtney laughed still, "Get ready for when Tahlia bitches about you like you bitch about your mum."

"Oh, don't worry," I said, slighty shaky, "I've got bigger things to look forward to that Tahlia and her friends bitching about me," I said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" she asked as she began to smother my face in make up.

"Like when Tahlia comes to realise that your brother is not her biological father," I said solemnly.

She stopped and put down her make up utensils. "Nas, why do you think that's going to happen?"

"Surely she'll realise. I mean, she won't have Tay's darker skin, she'll have blonde hair, blue eyes, when neither Tay or I have those attributes-"

"Nas," she cut me off, "she won't realise any of that if you don't focus on it. If you're constantly dwelling upon what makes her different from my brother, then of course she'd realise. But, if you act as though nothing is out of place, and that Tahlia is biologically tied to my brother, it would not bring to mind the differences in which you share."

I was shocked at my almost sister-in-law's lengthy speech. "Wow Courtney. You put some dedication into that," I marvelled.

She smiled and picked up her make up tools again. "Well, when you're the aunty of an adorable little girl who has the ability to lighten anyone's day, you've got to be ready for any situation that could occur in her precious life."