Take Two

19. Hailey

Three months later

"Where the hell are my flowers? I ordered the red ones! Red!" June yelled to some poor guy over the phone.

Even though she graduated at the top of her class, she decided to become an event organiser. She had already applied to several colleges for the same, but I could see that she didn't really need formal training for that.

I chuckled.

"You can't do that, mommy!" Carwyn gasped. She was dressed in a pretty pink coloured dress carrying a basket of flowers along with her. "Don't laugh, the makeup is getting ruined."

"Hailey, don't worry about it, I have got everything under control," June reassured me as she stomped out of the waiting room yelling at another poor man.

This is the day. My wedding. My second take on life.

The big doors of the hall opened up. I glanced up at my dad, who held my hand in his. I watched as his eyes watered, and it brought a smile to my face. He broke down and cried before me when I asked him to walk me down the aisle. I had been unfair to him all this time. I was glad I got another opportunity to make up to him.

We stepped on the white carpet, and the wedding march started playing. I looked to the side and noticed Landon on the piano and smiled. He grinned back at me, and for a moment, it felt a little suspicious—the next minute, the music was replaced with an evil horror movie theme. The sudden change made me stumble on my feet, but my dad held me. Honestly, how did I ever expect an ordinary wedding? The thought made me laugh.

June glared at the laughing Landon who got joined by his brother. She strode towards them and dragged them both out of the hallway by their ears, apologising to everyone on the way.

Christian sat down on the piano stool next and resumed the music. This was probably one of the most iconic moments of human history; the bride's ex-husband was happily playing the wedding march in her second marriage.

We started walking again. I was slowly approaching Noah, who stood there at the altar, waiting for me, smiling and offering me his support and kindness. I had wanted to be the girl in the red dress in his song, and I was glad it was me in the end. I couldn't imagine my life without him any longer. He was my family, my world, my everything.

"I do," I repeated after him.

***

"I would like to say a few words," August announced with the clinking of his wine glass at our reception dinner. When he had everyone's attention, he cleared his throat and continued. "First of all, I would like to thank everyone for making it to the wedding. Your presence will be a blessing for this couple..."

August giving a speech was really unusual. I had half expected him not to be even noticed throughout the wedding. He was the kind to always remain in the sidelines and only appear with data and analysis. But he was still a very caring boy. Christian unexpectedly took a great liking to him. Perhaps because he saw himself getting reflected in him. I was glad he found another Christian to train.

"... FYI the speech today has not been written by me but by June. However, since I am the most responsible person in the family, I was asked to read it..."

"He is lying people, we decided it by a game of rock paper scissors." Brandon interrupted, and everyone burst out laughing.

"And FYI people, we have no clue what he is going to say because he prepared everything on his own. He is just too embarrassed to accept that he loves Hailey and Noah." Landon chipped in.

I chuckled along with the guests at the twins' words. I still cannot believe that they were once delinquents and almost gangsters. They were the ones who welcomed me into the family first. They made me forget about my misery. They hid their loneliness and pain behind that smile. I was glad they found someone like Noah to look after them.

".. Hailey entered our life like a sudden hurricane, creating havoc.."

"What the hell are you saying!" I watched June mouth to him.

June and her temper. She was the last person I expected to get along with. She always seemed ready to kick me in the face, but honestly, she was just too fed up with the preaching adults. She had given up on them. I was glad I could be a mentor to her. Her trust meant everything to me.

I watched as Carwyn giggled at the banter. My lovely star, my angel. Even if she wasn't Noah's daughter, she definitely received his traits. Kind, loving unconditionally, I was already worried about what type of guy she would end up dating. I wanted to be the best mother to her.

My eyes wandered about and settled on Natasha. She was sitting at a separate table, away from the family. She got a day off from the rehabilitation centre to attend the wedding. I watched as she longingly stared at Carwyn. She gave up all rights on her to Noah, never introducing herself to her.

Maybe someday, for sure.

At the far end of the room, some men at a table were stuffing their mouths with the food, as if they had gone hungry for a decade. I narrowed my eyes at the man in the centre and recognition dawned upon me.

Graham? The loan shark? Who the hell invited him here?

He noticed me staring at him and flashed his white teeth at me and gave me a thumbs up. All I could do was give away a nervous laugh.

Well, I do owe him my wedding to some extent.

"Just sit down, you are embarrassing yourself," Christian muttered to August.

This horrible man. I will always have a love-hate relationship with him. He wasn't particularly my best friend and definitely not my boyfriend. But maybe someone in the middle? I don't know what's that called, but if not for him, I probably would have never gotten together with Noah. So, I give you a free ticket ex-husband.

"Everyone, please enjoy your food, forgive the interruption." Sebastian got up his seat and announced.

My dear elder brother. I would have choked him to death if I hadn't found love amidst the drama he created. I almost considered suing him. But I know I still can never repay him for the lesson he taught me.

Live every day like it's your last.

Let the people you love know that you care about them.

Because at the end of the day, how much money you earned would be meaningless. What you would really count on your fingers would be the people you connected with, people you loved, people you built a family with.

And you need not be connected by blood to be family. Blood may be thicker than water, but you can add a lot of stuff to water to make it thicker than blood.

Like glue maybe?

I glanced up at Noah, who was already gazing back at me. He gently lowered his lips to my head and softly placed a kiss on it.

I looked towards the table occupied by my lovely people.

Dad

Sebastian

Christian

Carwyn

June

Brandon

Landon

August

Then I glanced back at Noah. My family. My love. My world. My people, who helped me grow and hopefully I helped them grow as well. I may not have had a real brain tumour, but I still owed my life to them.

Because they helped me gain a second chance at life. My second take.

This is not the end; it's a happy beginning—a second happy beginning to my life.

Thank you for reading till the end. Until next time...