Hope

"I'm forgetting something," said Franky pulling back from her daughter. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She said. "I cannot believe that you're 18. You make me feel so old."

"Old! You! Mom you're so not old! You're like, you're like the youngest looking Mom I know. Some of the guys I used to go to school with had this thing for you." She said.

"Oh shut up Hope will you, now, I'm going to go upstairs to have a soak in the bath and later on, there's this surprise for you."

She watched her daughter's face as she went to the fridge to get out her usual orange juice. Hope didn't know it yet but they'd had her mother's mini done up. Hope had always liked it, it was old now but they'd had a specialist firm look at it and make it as good as new with a new engine and bodywork. Hope was going to love it.

Lying in the bath, Franky knew she could relax a little, well, for now at least.

As she soaked she thought once more of all the guests that were coming later, it was going to be a great party, seeing everyone here together, old faces and new ones. She thought about each and every one of them.

All together again…

**

Joey

Joey could never quite understand why Franky had left to go to Ireland. It came so suddenly and for her to have stayed for so long, to stay for three long years it had all seemed so very strange at the time. She was meant to be marrying his father, he'd proposed to her at the Green Day reunion concert, she'd seemed happy and they seemed so right for each other and then she just upped and left. He hated her a little then, hated her for making her father so miserable and moody but he couldn't hate her for long because she'd always kept in contact with him while she was in Ireland, texting and emailing and just checking that he was OK. Although she wasn't around, Franky had always been in contact.

Franky had been his first crush, well, his only crush really. He'd loved Franky once and he didn't care that people had told him he didn't love her. Because he did. He loved her and had worshipped the ground she'd walked on when they were younger. It had got him into trouble because he'd obsessed over her, had kept photos of her, even stole her belongings until his mother had found out. How embarrassing was that? Then there was the gun, the gun that had been given to him. It had all been embarrassing and scary back then but that was then…

…And now, now he still thought of Franky as this amazing person, she was talented, a great Mom and a good friend. He didn't understand how his father and her hadn't got it together, he was sure they loved each other, sure of it but then... maybe they didn't love each other after all or they'd be together by now. Wouldn't they?

Franky had helped him in all his relationships, especially the girl he was in love with at the moment. She was so special to him and today, today he was going to ask her to marry him.

He couldn't wait for Hope’s party, because all his favourite people were going to be there and it had been a long time since they’d all been together.

He went to his jeans pocket once more just to check that the ring was there, tucked away in this little velvet bag.

It was. He smiled to himself, he'd wasted too much time, he'd been an idiot, he should have done this years ago, should have listened to Franky just a little more.

He hoped she'd say yes.

She had to.

Jakob

Jake couldn't wait to get together with everyone at Hope’s party. He'd been working as a photographer for some time now and it had kept him away from home so often but this weekend was going to be great, he was going to catch up with everyone again.

Lying next to him was his partner, his partner of only a few months, they were so good together he had never believed he'd have found love like it but he had and he was the happiest guy alive and it was all thanks to Franky.

He loved Franky, she'd advised him well over the years and had given him the best piece of advice before she'd left for Ireland, she'd told him to talk his problems over with his father.

His father! How could he possibly speak to his father about what was bothering him? Franky seemed to think he'd understand.

Well...he'd not said anything straight away, not until the night his father found him crying. That's when he'd finally talked to him and Franky was right, the feelings he'd had for other guys were perfectly normal, apparently his father had had them when he was young, it was normal and there was nothing wrong with it.

Talking to his father had cleared everything up and had made sense of it all.

"You'll be fine Jake," he remembered his father saying. "Just go with your emotions, don't be scared of them, don't be scared of what others think, just do what you feel is right." He remembered his father’s words, over and over and he had been right, he'd confronted his feelings and found out that he wasn't gay after all and now...now he was in love with the most beautiful girl in the world.

Millie.

Ramona

Ramona was looking forward to Hope’s 18th party. She loved Hope like her own daughter; they’d had so many conversations over the years when Hope had stayed at hers and talked late into the night. Hope often asked her questions about Franky and of course Ramona answered them – well when she could and what she thought was appropriate for Hope to know.

Franky and Hope were pretty close but there was things that Hope wanted to find out about her mother and Ramona wasn’t surprised, sometimes Franky lived in the past and she needed to get her act together and think of the present time instead of looking back over things and worrying about what had and hadn’t happened.

Checking herself in the mirror Ramona knew she looked good at the moment, not thin and not fat and definitely not anorexic like she had been once. It had happened after Franky had left for Ireland all those years ago, she’d had this thing for Joey but he hadn’t seemed that interested so she guessed it was because she was overweight. Of course she wasn’t but she couldn’t see it, every time she looked in the mirror, all she could see was a fat person. She’d lost more and more weight and hardly ate anything, nobody, even her father or her best friend Emily had known what to do for the best until Franky came home and talked to her and had told her she was beautiful and talented and she’d kill herself if she didn’t look after herself. Franky had made her see sense and since then Ramona’s confidence had grown. She now did the thing she loved doing most, writing and illustrating children’s books, under a different name of course. Her father was proud of her, they were closer than they’d ever been and she was happy apart from one thing.

She couldn’t find anyone to love her.

She was still hung up slightly on Joey, she’d become fussy, no one matched up to him; no one shared her sense of humour like he did. She’d had a couple of relationships that had failed because she always compared them to Joey. Joey who always seemed happy, always made her laugh and still gave her butterflies every time she laid eyes on him. She’d have to get over him if she wanted to move on.

It would be good to see him today, it had been awhile, she’d been in New York promoting her new book but they were constantly in touch with each other, they were such good friends but she knew now that was all they were ever going to be and the sooner she found someone else – the better.

Tre

He couldn’t believe his granddaughter was 18 today. He didn’t feel any older, just looked it a little…maybe. It was going to be great catching up with everyone at the party; his two best buddies Mike and Billie were going to be there. He couldn’t work out how long they’d been friends now, so long, lifelong friends who had been through so many ups and downs and highs and lows together but he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

He was so happy at the moment with Julia but he hadn’t been able to give her what she’d really wanted, his child. Still, they were happy, wealthy and had their family around them. What more could he ask? Well, he could ask for Franky to be happy and he was sure she wasn’t. She was successful, she’d written loads of songs and was famous in her own right, she’d had beautiful little Hope who was destined to go far but she’d never settled and he couldn’t work out why she and Billie hadn’t got it together. He’d always thought they would, especially after Billie had asked her to marry him but then she’d done this stupid thing and gone off to Ireland for three years and that had changed it all. While she was away he and Julia had had the tests done to find out who Hope’s father was. He was sure this was the core of the problem. She needed to know and she should have told Billie all those years ago that he could be her father. But he wouldn’t interfere anymore; he’d brought it up so many times over the years and had now given up on it. It just made him sad that she hadn’t found out and been open with Billie.

He knew Franky still missed her mother even after all these years. He missed Sammi too and thought of her sometimes but he couldn’t change things, he was happy now, he just wished that both his daughters could find love and be happy.

That was all he wanted now.