CHAPTER 24: PLAYING HOUSE

My mother had been very insistent that I accompany her on her walk down the aisle. I thought it would be a bit much for me to hold her hand as if I was her father sending her off to her groom, so we negotiated for me to hold the train of her wedding dress as if I was her youngest sister. I thought it was such a sweet and sentimental idea.

"Please be on standby. You will need to make your entrance in around a minute," the woman informed us with a smile after listening to her other teammates through her headphone.

"I feel so nervous that I might faint," my mother whispered to me.

"Now is definitely not the time for you to faint, mom. It’s the time for you to finally get married," I said teasingly and succeeded in drawing a laugh from my mother.

Suddenly, the woman signaled to us, and a few seconds later, we heard the band inside the church start playing The Wedding March, and we knew that was the signal for us to make our entrance. We both quickly got in place, and then the door slowly began to open.

Although only close friends and family members were invited to the wedding, all the seats in the church were filled due to the small size of the venue. The moment I entered, I could feel all eyes on us as the band continued to play. My mother walked quite slowly, given the weight of her wedding dress. That day truly felt like the dream wedding that my mother had described to me. The atmosphere was cozy and filled with love. The guests applauded and cheered quite loudly as my mother walked past.

Bennett, dressed in a very expensive-looking white tuxedo, stood in front of the altar with a wide smile on his face. He truly looked like a man in love, and I thought that my mother had made the right choice. I could feel love in the air, and I silently prayed for my mother’s happiness and a great future for their marriage.

"Please take care of my mother," I said to Bennett softly as a way to send my mother off.

Bennet took my mother’s hands in his before he turned to smile at me. Now that I was done with the main part of my job for the wedding, I went to the bench to join the rest of the guests in the front row where I could watch my mother exchange her wedding vows with Bennett. I tried to avoid Raphael’s gaze as I stood next to him as was planned. I tried my best to concentrate on the sweet romantic scene unfolding before me as the bride and groom exchanged their wedding vows and then exchanged their rings. Everyone cheered loudly, and I clapped my hands when the groom finally kissed the bride.

"Your mother looks so happy, and so does my father," Raphael said from close beside me.

I glanced up to see that he had his eyes on me rather than the bride and the groom. I nodded my head in agreement because I didn’t know what to say. Sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder what Raphael honestly thought about his father’s decision to marry my mother. Despite the troublesome way that we met and the secret that we shared, I found myself feeling thankful that Raphael didn’t seem against our parents’ marriage. He seemed to always treat my mother with respect, and it felt like he was genuinely glad that his father had finally found happiness in my mother. In that respect, it seemed like we shared the same feelings. I didn’t even want to begin to imagine how hard it would be for both my mother and me had Raphael been against their union.

Suddenly, I felt a warm brush against the back of my hand, and when I looked down, I saw Raphael’s beautiful fingers stroking the back of my hand before he firmly took my hand into his. My eyes widened as I immediately tried to pull my hand away in fear that someone might spot his inappropriate display of affection.

"Raphael," I called his name with a hint of warning. Instead of letting go of my hand, he only held it tighter than before.

"Welcome to the family, Abigail," he said to me before showing me a smile that looked so sweet and innocent.

"What are you doing?" I hissed as I looked around to make sure that no one saw his inappropriate behavior. Thankfully, everyone had their attention on the bride and groom.

"Make sure to stick by my side," he said as he tightened his hold on my hand.

"Are you crazy?" I asked accusingly as I tried my best to shield the sight of our joint hands by using my body.

Finally, the ceremony came to an end, and everybody headed outside into the garden where the reception would continue informally.

The informal part of the celebration that continued outside in the garden was the perfect opportunity for everyone to get their photos taken with the bride and groom.

"Come this way, Abby!" my mother called out for me as she waited for me to join her.

"Come here, Rafa!" Bennett called out to his only son almost at the same time.

Raphael and I approached our parents and took a natural place by their side. I stood next to my mother as Raphael took his place next to his father for our photographs to be taken.

"Now, please smile this way," the photographer said. I tried my best to smile naturally while the photographer took many photos of us together.

"Don’t they look like the perfect family?" I heard someone say from behind the photographer.

"Surely, they look so happy together," another person chimed in.

I was relieved that we did resemble a perfect family with my mother and his father and the two of us as the perfect siblings. I told myself that everything would turn out well and that we could keep up our appearance as the perfect family for the sake of my mother’s happiness as long as I could keep Raphael under control.

–To be continued...