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Jack Barakat was on time. We made it to the party. It was at someone’s home, but I did not recognize whose it was. There was music playing and beer flowing; it reminded me of high school. I lost Jack within the first ten seconds. I said hello and had a few conversations with people I recognized from high school. Marc was there and I danced with him for half a song before going off and finding the birthday boy. I had to figure out where to put my gift. It had to be another three or so minutes before I found him.

“Alex,” I called out, slipping through the people in the living room. “Hey Alex, happy birthday,” I said, giving him a hug. I saw Lisa standing beside him and gave her the most genuine smile I could muster, “Hi, Lisa.” I gave her a hug as well. It was time to grow up anyway.

“Aimee, hey! I didn’t know you’d be here,” Alex said with a laugh, going in and giving me a second hug.

“Life’s full of surprises. I had no idea Lisa even had my number. She called me and told me about this,” I replied. “Oh here, this is for you.” I handed him his gift.

“Awesome, I’m going to open it now if it’s cool,” he said, going ahead and ripping the wrapping paper to shreds. “Oh this is great, thanks! I really needed another one too.”

“Yeah, I saw it and I hoped you would like it,” I said, nodding. I pushed my hair behind my ears. I stood there awkwardly as he and Lisa talked about the jacket before backing away to the couch where some of his friends were playing video games. I found myself plopped in the middle between two people trying to pulverize each other. It was less awkward, but awkward none-the-less. This was how the whole night went. I opted out of going to dinner and grabbing drinks afterwards when the majority was out of the house. There were not many, maybe fifteen at the most who stayed and on their way to dinner, I had them drop me off at my house.

As I walked into my bedroom, I sat on the floor in front of my small television. “Idiot,” I mumbled to myself. Quickly, I fished my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Christopher’s number. “Chrizzy, thank god you picked up. We barely spoke at all before I backed out like a chicken. I don’t even know why I backed out! I didn’t have anything planned in the first place to back out of. How could my life get any worse? Oh yeah, Colin could find out about my chronic crush on Alex and then decide he doesn’t want me and calls the wedding off. Why do I make things so complicated for me?” In my mad rush to get my rant out, I did not realize Christopher was not the one on the line.

“Aimee, is that you dear? It seems like you are having some trouble. Christopher came by to visit me and then when he went out tonight he left his phone. I will tell him you called. Oh and Mr. Frazier and I will be attending the wedding with Christopher,” his mother said to me.

“Oh, um, thank you, Mrs. Frazier. I would really appreciate it. Bye,” I said quickly, hanging up. With every passing moment, my life seems to worsen. This is just perfect.

Of course, as time ran its natural course, I forgot about that moment. Things like, “How many courses do we serve at the dinner” and “What cheese tastes better with this wine” became the bigger questions in my life. Before I knew it, March was here and I was getting ready for my bachelorette party. The girls and I were bar hopping in Towson. We had a man from every bar buy me a drink until it was impossible for me to drink anymore. We made it back to my home at two in the morning because I, being the lightweight I am, reached my limit quickly. When I woke up the next morning, I felt like death. It made me appreciate how well Jenna planned it two days before my wedding.

Tonight was going to be Colin’s bachelor party. I did not have any idea what they were doing; I really did not want to know. Instead of snooping around, I decided that I really needed to spend the day with my mom. For the past week, she acted strangely. Just the other day when she was doing laundry, she did the same load twice. Three days ago, she said she was making me a birthday cake. My birthday was not until October and it was March. It worried me.

“Hi, mom. How are you feeling today?” I asked, plopping myself next to her on the couch. My mom sat staring out the window, a glass of red wine in her hand. “You’re drinking pretty early.”

“Aimee, I’m a horrible mother,” she replied melancholy.

“Mom, are you having a mood swing; is this menopause?”

She held my hand and turned to face me. Her face looked old and run down, tear streaks all over her face, and wrinkles appeared on her once wrinkleless face. “I don’t know how to say this… but your father…” My life seemed to fall apart.

The wedding came and went, as well as the honeymoon, everything passed quickly. My grandfather, on my dad’s side, was too old to walk me, and so Colin’s father was the one to. I couldn’t remember much of the ceremony except for the expressions on Colin’s face. His smile got me through it all. My friends tried to make me smile at the reception. Seeing and dancing with Alex, Rian, Zack, and even Jack did not make me forget why I was sad. Christopher, my best friend since almost the beginning couldn’t help me over my grief. I didn’t enjoy “my day,” as they call it. My honeymoon was spent with me crying the entire time.

The funeral service for my father was the day I came back from my honeymoon with Colin. I sat in the black limo with my mother, her best friends Georgia and Lucas, Colin and Jenna, and my grandparents from my dad’s side. I stared out the window, my hands gripping at the cotton material of my shapeless black dress. It was silent, aside from the sobs my mother and grandmother let out.

When we got out of the limousine, I trekked the pathway through the cemetery to where my dad and his coffin lay. I stood silently beside my mother and held her hand. Colin stood beside me, holding my hand tightly and Jenna was behind me, her hand on my shoulder the entire time. The funeral was a traditional military funeral. There were guards of honor, volley shots, drumming, and the draping of the flag. A bugler played and one of the officers presented the US flag from my father’s coffin to me. My mother burst into another round of heavy tears and I could not help, but follow suit, clutching the flag to my chest tightly.

Colin and I decided that we would move into my old home with my mom. I did not want her to live alone anymore and I felt like she needed me even when she said she didn’t. Though we fought over it, my mother pressed Colin and I to take the master bedroom and she would move into the only bedroom on the first floor. Her excuse was that she was getting older and she did not want to deal with stairs anymore.

London and Kensey sold the apartment at the Zenith and moved in together at an apartment complex in town, but closer to Towson than Lutherville. They were getting more serious and I hoped that it would actually last. Kensey was a sweet girl. She worked at a flower shop every day except Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she went to school at Maryland Institute College of Art and wanted to become an interior designer one day.

Over a lot of time, and much persuasion on Colin’s part, we decided to get pregnant. It was such a nervous experience for me that I had been avoiding it for as long as I could. I was pregnant after the first try and no one had any idea how relieved I was when I gave birth nine months later to a little girl. We named her Charlotte Skye Livesay. She was underweight for a fully developed baby, but we just assumed it was because I wasn’t that big for a fully developed woman.

Time passed on, as it always did. All Time Low and I didn’t talk much anymore, even though they all lived in the same town as I did. I got the occasional tweet and text from Jack or Rian, but that was all. My life was consumed with taking care of Charlotte and work. My mom helped out with Charlotte as much as she could. She still worked at the hospital, but her hours were more appropriate for her age. I needed her because Colin constantly worked at the bar and I had to wait up almost all night just to see him. He would come in, strip down, shower, then crawl into bed with me. Though we didn’t see much of each other as we used to, we were still in love and I didn’t have a care in the world. This changed when Charlotte turned two years old.

“Colin, are you coming home? Charlie keeps asking about daddy,” I spoke into the phone as I mixed Charlotte’s birthday cake mix in the bowl. Her little party wasn’t for another two hours but still. I needed him here. I wanted him here.

“Baby, I’m going to try to, but I can’t guarantee it. I have to be here for Happy Hour later.” He sounded exhausted and I felt horrible for calling.

“Please just try. That’s all I ask. I love you.”

I could almost hear him smile. “I love you so much. Give Charlie a kiss for me.”

I hung up the phone and went back to my baking. After I set it in the oven, I found some balloons and blew them up for the little kids to play with. Three of Charlotte’s playmates were coming over and I had no idea what to do for them to have fun. After I blew up the balloons, I went out to the backyard to fill the kiddy pool with water. Sighing, I went back inside to wait on the cake to finish. My mom came down seconds later and leaned on the counter.

“Hey honey, Charlotte’s taking a nap before everyone gets here. You holding up well?” my mom asked, rubbing my back gently. I sighed, letting out a frustrated noise.

“Mommy,” I said, holding out the ‘y.’

“Uh-oh, I know that voice. What’s wrong?”

“Colin might be missing Charlotte’s birthday, again. I really need him here.”

“Would it make a difference if I called some friends of yours over already and they agreed to help?” I looked up at her curiously. “They’ll be here in an hour.”

“Mom, who’d you call?” I asked, picking up a dishtowel and folding it nicely. I set to work on the dish mountain I had managed to erect from the day.

She smiled and shook her head, her wrinkles showing more prominently. “Just some old friends. They’re good with kids, I believe.”

I didn’t say anything back. I spent the rest of my time setting things up here and there. Finally, before I knew it, the doorbell rang and I went to get it. “Hello,” I said, as I opened the door, but my jaw immediately dropped from seeing them. “Boys!” I grinned happily as Alex, Jack, Rian, and Zack stood on my doorstep casually. “Oh, I’ve missed you four,” I said, hugging the closest one to me, which was Rian, followed by Zack, Jack, and lastly, Alex. “Are you guys here for Charlotte’s birthday?”

“Yeah. We didn’t know you had a baby, baby-face,” Jack said, giving me a stern look in a playful manner. A smile easily fell back to place on his face again though.

Zack spoke up, smiling, his nose ring glinting from the sunlight. “How old is she turning?”

“She’s two years old now. Come in, I want her to meet her uncles, if you don’t mind her calling you that,” I replied, stepping aside and opening the door wider.

“No problem, where is she?” Jack asked. He seemed to be the most eager to meet her.

“I’ll go get her now. You guys can have a seat in the living room. Sorry if it’s a mess, I haven’t been able to see if it was clean or not yet,” I replied, heading up the stairs. I found Charlotte in the little crib in my old room playing with my old stuffed lamb that played music. It was close to getting time to move her into my old bed that we left in the room for her. Colin and I decided that we would move her once she began trying to climb out.

“Mommy!” Charlotte cried happily, holding her arms up to me.

“Aw, did you miss me birthday girl? Did you miss mommy?” I asked her sweetly, reaching down and picking her up. “Mommy has friends for you to meet, okay? Now let’s get you dressed.” I set her down on the real bed and went through the closet, picking out a dress for her to wear over her blue, Little Mermaid once-piece. Rather than getting a princess dress out, I got a less fancier one and put the dress on over her swimsuit. I picked her up and carried her down to the living room.

“Look at that beautiful girl,” Jack said, hopping up and running over from the couch. I giggled as Charlotte grabbed onto my large dress. I had to use a simple rope belt around my waist to make the gown look as if it was meant to be that big. Charlotte hid her face in my hair, blushing as Jack smiled at her.

“Aw, honey don’t be embarrassed, this is Jack. He’s handsome isn’t he? Say hello to him for me,” I spoke soothingly to her, smiling at Jack, who in turn, blushed like a tomato. The next thing I knew, Charlotte was ready to hug everyone without being told.

Her playmates soon came along and we now had four little kids, playing around in the kiddy pool out back, Jack sitting in the little pool with them, Charlotte on his knee. I think she had toddler crush. Rian was talking with my mom while Zack iced the cake for me inside the kitchen. I was on the porch making the lemonade with Alex, pouring some into each Sippy-cup.

“She’s beautiful you know,” I heard Alex speak up for the first time since he got here. “She looks like Colin, but I see more of you in her.” I stared silently at the lemon half in my hand, not knowing what to say. “Aimee you know Lisa and—” My cellular phone sounded, cutting him off.

“Hello?” I asked, my voice shaking slightly. I cleared my throat.

“Mrs. Livesay, this is Maryland General Hospital. Your husband Colin Livesay has been placed into our ICU.”

“W-what?” I gasped out, dropping the lemon in my hand. “Wait, wait, repeat that again, please?” I asked, desperately hoping that I had misheard it all.

I didn’t.