Esther

Chapter 26

When Sunday came, I had to put on a major distraction. And so what I came up with was, Ruby and the other pets would wander into the jungle and get lost. We would take 1 hour to find them. Then, I'd suggest we'd have a photo shoot. Amia and Isis would come into our room and would do her makeup and hair and she'll wear her "gown".

Then we'd blindfold her and bring her to the spot prepared for the occasion. Then, the wedding'll start.

I'm so excited. Now I know how Ashley and Sophia must've felt when it was my wedding day. Time for "operation distract Ashley".

"Ashley!" I called out running to our room. "Yeah?" She answered looking up from her book. "The pets! Have you seen them?" I asked frantically. Or at least I tried to look frantic. "What?" She asked getting up. "They're gone?" She asked. "Well, I looked in all rooms and at the waterfall, but I didn't see them." I explained. "Come on. Maybe they're in the jungle." She said. We ran out and used the back way instead of the ledge to get to the east part of the jungle.

"Ruby! Sasha! King! Meral!" We called out. I actually don't know where they're hiding. All I know is that they have to come out after an hour. Boy is this gonna be tiring.

And so, we searched the east side of the forest for an hour. "Esther, maybe they're in the other part of the forest." She said. "I don't know. I asked the others and they said last time they saw the pets they were here." I said shrugging my shoulders. She nodded and we kept looking.

Meral. You can come out now. I conveyed. We're out. Go to the left a bit. You'll see us. She replied. I went to my left and saw them playing around.

"Ashley! They're here!" I called out and Ashley came. "Oh, Ruby. Don't run away like that again. That goes for all of you too." She said as the pets nodded. "Hey, Ash. Why don't we have a photo shoot? I mean, we're leaving tomorrow, so we might as well enjoy the sights and make them memorable." I said with pleading eyes. "Sure." She said shrugging. The pets led the way back to the "house."

We went up to our room. "Isis? Amia? I mean, mother? Could you help us here?" I called out. "We'll be right up." Amia said. Ashley sat down on a chair and I put on a blindfold.

"Esther? Why do I need a blindfold?" She asked me. "I want to surprise you. Just like the day you did this to me in the salon the day we came here." I replied. She laughed. "Alright."

Amia and Isis came in. I made Ashley promise to keep her eyes close as I removed the blindfold. Isis and Amia got to work. I went downstairs to look at how the decorations were going after changing into my cocktail dress.

It was going to be beautiful. The waterfall already added such a beautiful touch. The streamers and the candles added more beauty. It may seem simple, but it was beautiful. A plastic peach colored arch of was in the middle of it all. It was decorated with mint green and peach flowers.

"It looks beautiful." I said twirling around. "It's simple yet beautiful." "Thanks." Andrew said coming up to me. I put my hands on my hips. "Like you did all the work and designing." I said. "Hey. At least I helped." He retaliated copying my gestures. "Hey. I helped too." I said crossing my arms. He followed me. "Ugh." I said punching his arm. "Ugh." He said copying me. "You copycat!" I exclaimed as he lifted me into the air. We laughed.

"You two are acting like teenagers." Altri said laughing. "Well, we're not an old couple. And we're pretty young." Andrew said nudging me. We all laughed again. "Esther? Is everything ready?" Isis asked from the ledge. I looked around. Everything was in place. Brandon was already wearing his tuxedo. I gave my thumbs up signal. Isis nodded.

We all got into our places. Altri would do the preacher's part while the rest of us would fill in other parts. Isis led Ashley down the ledge. She was wearing the blindfold with Amia helping Ashley with her dress.

Brandon waited for his bride at the arch. Ashley walked down the aisle without even knowing it! All our pets were there watching the procession. We were all wearing a combination of the colors peach and mint green and as for the boys, they wore black tuxedos with a peach or mint green tie. Well, they were Ashley's favorite colors.

Father started talking about marriage and such. And soon, the vows were said. "I do." Ashley said. "You may kiss the bride." Altri said. Brandon first twirled Ashley around and then gave her a kiss. We all clapped and hooted.

"Yay!" I shouted. "Congratulations!" I must've sounded like a kid. I know. Sorry.

Ashley and Brandon faced us. "You know, we never did get to have a honeymoon." Andrew whispered to me. "Really? You're thinking of a honeymoon?" I asked. "Yeah. I mean, this place is so nice and it reminded me." He said. I gave him a hug. "We'll have a makeup honeymoon one day. When all this is done." I said. He hugged me back.

We took pictures with the new couple. A lot. Then, we ate! Jenia had cooked up a buffet. "Can't believe I didn't even get to eat at my wedding. We had to run away instead." I muttered. "Do you wanna have another wedding then?" Andrew asked with a tease. I punched him and rolled my eyes. "It's too tiring to plan it all out again." I said. He laughed. Actually, all of them laughed.

We enjoyed the rest of the time eating and talking. "For the newly wed couples, I think you four should probably have a honeymoon." Sophia said. "Sophia. You know why we can't." Ashley said shaking her head. "I know. It's just, never mind." She said. I looked at Sophia with a questioning glance. "What if something goes wrong? You can't have another chance at having a nice honeymoon in a place like this." She said quietly. "You're right, Sophia." Mother said. "You four need a honeymoon. You may never get another chance like this."

I looked at Andrew and he shrugged. "It's fine with me." He said. I looked over at Ashley. She shrugged too. Great. Now I have to make the decision. "No. We'll enjoy with all of you. We'll just get a makeup one next time." I said firmly. They all nodded.

"Since that's your plan, follow me." Andrew whispered. I got up and followed him. Ashley and Brandon followed as well as Sophia.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "To the beach. We might as well enjoy our time here." He answered. When we arrived at the beach, the boys led us into a slow dance. Twirling and dancing in the moonlight. Sophia took pictures and videos using our phones.

"So, you brought Sophia along just to take pictures." I said. "Well, she volunteered." He said shrugging his shoulders. I laughed.

He put his arm around me and Brandon did the same with Ashley. We smiled and Sophia took a picture.

Andrew held my hand and brought me to the other end of the beach.

"Esther." He said. I looked at him.

"I love you." He said placing something in my palm. It was a pearl inside a shell casing. The words I love you were engraved on it. "It's beautiful." I breathed out. It really was. The moonlight reflected off it giving off a faint glow. "And, I love you too." I said wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a hug.His arms wrapped around my back as if he didn't want anyone to get me. I guess he doesn't. When I pulled away, he pulled me closer.

Andrew was looking at me when they broke away. "Don't even think about it." I said glaring at him. "Alright." He said. He took up my hand and we all made our way back with Sophia behind us.