The Nuisance Across The Hall

Twenty: Diplomas and DS's

13 years later.

The sun was beating down on the field and in the stands. I could feel the sweat beginning to form on my back. I looked over at Zack to see he already had a wet patch on his back, creating a darker shade of blue than the rest of his button-up shirt. 

He looked up and saw me taking in his appearance. "What? I know I'm good looking but that doesn't mean you should stare." He said jokingly. 

I rolled my eyes and said, "It's amazing how you're still that confident in yourself." His hair had started to grey, but he still looked pretty damn good. 

"Well, you sure as hell didn't help by marrying me." He smiled. 

"At least now I can keep you in check." I retorted back. He just laughed and leaned close enough to kiss me. 

"Eww. Why do you have to be all lovey-dovey all the time? It's embarrassing." Chase said, sitting next to his father. He had the same brown hair as Zack but got my blue eyes. He was playing some game on his Nintendo DS. It was so bright outside he had to squint to see the screen. 

"Why does it matter? It's not like you're paying any attention to the real world anyway, Squirt." Zack said, grabbing the DS out of Chase's hands. 

"Don't call me Squirt." He complained and tried grabbing his DS back. "I'm not a little kid anymore!" 

"You're only in fourth grade, bud. You got a while to go until I stop calling you Squirt." 

"Hey, I'm in fifth!" Chase corrected. "And you still call Sophia Squirt and she's about to freaking graduate high school!" Chase complained. 

"Hey, watch your mouth." I butted in. "And why are you in such a bad mood?" I questioned my son. 

"It's so hot! Why do I have to be here?" Chase groaned. 

"Because you need to support your sister," I told him, grabbing the DS from Zack and placing it in my bag so the sun didn't damage the screen. 

"It's not like she the Valid Victorian or anything," Chase grumbled, crossing his arms. 

"Valedictorian." I corrected him. "And Sophia is graduating in the top twenty out of four hundred kids. That took a lot of work."

"Work you'll have to start putting into your grades when you get to high school." Zack reminded him. 

"Eh. I've got three more years to be lazy." Chase shrugged. 

Not long after, the band on the field began playing the graduation music as all the graduates walked onto the field. All the guys were wearing golden gowns and the girls had crimson. I spotted Sophia quickly thanks to her blonde hair and Insanely high heels. I still can't believe she chose to wear those on a football field. 

"Hey, did I miss anything?" Sky ran up the bleacher stairs and sat next to me. She looked out of breath, probably because of the marathon she just ran from her car to here. "Parking was insane!" 

"That's why we left early. I told you too also." I reminded her. 

She just waved me off and began looking for Sophia. Once she found her she said, "Awe, she's wearing the heels I gave her!" 

"You gave her those?" I questioned my best friend. 

"Yeah, she didn't want to feel so short around the rest of the guys and other girls," Sky told me. 

"She isn't that short." I huffed. Sophia stopped growing a few inches after me, leaving her at 5'5. She wasn't that short. 

Soon the principal began his speech, followed by the class officers, salutatorian, and valedictorian. The speeches went on forever and I think I caught both Zack and Chase dozing off. Gotta love my boys. 

Names were finally being called and I felt the emotions begin to rise. Sophia was about to graduate from high school. I knew tears were going to spill. I looked over to Zack who had his eyes locked on Sophia and a smile planted on his face. 

Over the years Zack really stepped up for Sophia. He gave her the perfect role of how a father should act. He taught her how a boy should treat her. He taught her how she should always strive for her goals. He reminded her to always stay focused and be the best version of herself. It warmed my heart how well they got along. Sophia has loved Zack since we were living in that tiny apartment. Zack treated Sophia as his own, just like he treats Chase. 

Sophia's turn was next and my first tear fell. 

"Sophia Jackson, with high honors," The announcer said. Sophia walked across the stage, grabbed her diploma, and shook hands with some officials. 

The tears quickly fell as the four of us cheered as loud as possible, despite the announcer asking us to hold our applause until the end. I was so incredibly proud of Sophia. My heart was full of joy. I watched as the photographer took her photo and she returned to her seat. There are no words to describe what I was feeling. 

-

After the ceremony, we went back to our house to celebrate. We all gathered in the backyard where there was a table with tons of food and a playset along the fence line. Sophia's boyfriend, Tyson, who graduated last year, and his family had also joined us. Tons of pictures were taken and all the food was amazing, despite what Zack might say about my cooking. 

Chase was playing with some of Tyson's younger siblings on the playset and Sky was chatting with Sophia and her boyfriend. I hope she knows she isn't their age. 

I went inside to grab more drinks. I walked into the kitchen and paused. Zack was standing there, looking at the pictures we had hanging in the dining room. I walked up to him and took in the memories with him. 

There was a picture with Chase, Sophia, and I laying on Zack's back with the ocean behind us. It was from our spring break vacation last year. Next was of Sophia and Chase on the first day of school from three years ago. The pictures got older and older as we went down the line. There was one of me holding chase after he was born. He was a much heavier baby than Sophia. There was a picture of Zack down on one knee with a ring in his hand on the night he proposed to me. Eventually, we reached the end of the picture timeline. It was a photo of me and Sophia in my old kitchen from the apartment. We were making snickerdoodle cookies with chocolate chips in them, her favorite. Sky had taken that picture without me noticing. 

Zack looked over his shoulder at me and said, "It's been a crazy ride, wouldn't you say?" 

I nodded and said, "Thank you." 

He looked at me with confusion before asking, "For what?" 

"For coming into mine and Sophia's life, for making everything better. You have no idea how much I love you for that." I told him, grabbing his hand. 

He squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek. "Don't thank me for falling in love with you. That was all your doing." Zack then wrapped his arms around me and picked me up, causing me to squeal. He just laughed and took us both to the living room couch. He sat me down and said, "You know I'd do anything for you, for this family." 

"I know." I almost whispered, looking into his eyes. Those green eyes still gave me butterflies whenever I looked at them. I leaned forward and kissed him lightly. "C'mon, we should get back to the party," I told him shortly after. 

"Ugh, do we have to?" He complained and flopped back on the couch. 

"Well, now I see where Chase gets his complaining from," I said. "And yes, we do. We're the hosts." I reminded. 

"You say that like Sophia doesn't get her sarcasm from you." Zack retorted back. 

I shrugged and said, "I never said that was a bad thing." 

"Oh, I see, that's how it's gonna be," Zack said as he stood up from the couch and basically ran towards me. I took off to prevent him from catching me. We started running through the house like we were little kids, letting our laughter fill the halls. This night definitely deserved a spot on our picture wall. But, somehow, after all of these years, one thing still baffled me. 

How the hell did the nuisance across the hall become one of the best things to ever happen to me?