Keep Your Girl Out of My Shoe Cabinet, Your Wife

I stared at my dad’s lips trying to figure out if he really just had said what I heard. Everyone under 30 seemed shocked. Silence. The voices of the birds felt unnaturally loud and so did the wind in the leafs of the trees. My mom nervously played with the sheet in front of my dad. Trina had the same paper of Sid laying on the table in front of her. Were they for real?

Suddenly Becky’s laughter broke the silence.

“Ha...ha…hahahaha good joke… hahaha so now what’s the real solution you came up with? Abortion? Adoption?”

Furiously my head shot around to her, realizing that she had her hand under Sid’s Shirt caressing his abs. He on the other hand seemed completely zoomed out.

“No Rebecca, it’s no joke. It’s the best for the both of them and the kids. And you also have to regard that both Vivian and Sidney have an image to lose and people love them. I’m sorry for you that there’s no spot left for you but things happen.” Troy said with a firm voice.
The determination made a shiver run over my back. So I hadn’t misheard my dad.

“Dad… there’s no way I’m going to get married to Vivian, I mean you guys can’t decide like that about my life. I love Becks and I want a life with her not with some chick that was to stupid to take the pill. I mean seriously. I’m old enough to live my own life and… I’m not a little boy anymore. I already told her that I can pay but I’m not going to be a dad of HER child.”

The hatred in Sid’s voice made the breath I had just taken stuck in my lungs. What the hell…

“Sidney.” Trina exclaimed.

“No mom. I don’t want to deal with this shit. This is not my fault and you WILL NOT make me marry that person or even make me keep contact with her.”

Trina lowered her head in defeat. Every word he said was like tiny daggers in my heart. What had I done to him? He was the one to leave me alone in the middle of the night and never coming back. It was a high school story but still he once used to be my best friend.

“Sid”, a deep voice suddenly said. Sid’s face fell and he spun around.

“Mario?”

Mario Lemieux stepped out of the Crosby’s house, gave everyone a small smile, placed his hand on Sidney’s shoulder and said: “I think you and I need to have a little walk right?”

Like a little puppy he nodded and went inside. Mario briefly shook hands with Trina, my mom and dad and Troy. “Thanks a lot Mario. You were right. He just won’t listen.”

Mario disappeared into the house and closed the door behind.

“Mom… Trina… why?” I just asked.

“You’ll understand some day.” My mother said.

“Cool… finally you are my real sister” Taylor screamed and hugged me.

“One good thing on a loooong list of downs”

After chatting a little more, my parents and the Crosby’s decided to head inside because it got really hot.
Finally my eyes fell on Becky. She had her arms and legs crossed and stared on me.

“I so will make your life hell. No one steals Sid. That will be the worst marriage ever for you. You might be his wife some when but I’ll be the woman he loves and goes to bed me. I will not leave. I won’t give up. I’ve worked so hard to get him. You will not get a piece of him and not a single cent of his money. You may get his name but I will get him. It’s all mine.” She spit in my direction, got up and walked away also.

“Awesome”, I muttered rather to myself than to anyone else. My life was going to be just great. Pregnant of my best friend from High School, who now –for some reason- hates me, forced into marriage with same person AND having to have his girlfriend around. Sweeeet… wait…

“Mom, Trina… Can I ask you something?” I asked when I found the two sitting in the living room most likely talking about the major topic of the day.

“Sure”, my mom answered.

“Well just in case I WOULD marry him. Would that mean I also have to move to Pittsburgh and be like a trophy wife attending all those things and stuff?”

“Well of course”, Trina answered. “You are going to be his real wife with everything that comes with it. Believe me Pittsburgh is a beautiful city, you’ll love it and Sid’s house is amazing. It may not be your number one choice right now but soon you two will find out that it is just the best for you. You have a safe place to be at and the kid will grow up in a great environment and most importantly it will have its dad around. Well and the major plus for this family is that we finally get rid of Becky. Sid doesn’t want to realize how she’s just into it because of his money and fame.”

I sat down between the two and laid my head onto my knees.

“What have I done to deserve this? I mean… Why is he like that? Why does he hate me? As far as I’m concerned he was the one to leave and never look back. That hurts the most. He has no right to hate me. How can I live with someone who I don’t want to talk to anymore?”

Two hours later I sat in my room in my parents house. Neither my mother or Trina could give me an answer to the questions I had asked and for some reason I was happy to not have gotten any. I was sitting in Indian style on the floor putting pictures of shootings and run way shows into books. In the past I had-due to the lack of time- put some special pictures into my go-see book and all the others lay in some boxes underneath my bed. My mother had bought books for the large pictures years ago and had always wanted to put them in but couldn’t find an order to sort them after.
Now I just put them into chronological order. Jason Mraz was playing in my iHome in a low tune and the late afternoon sun made my room appear orange.
Suddenly it knocked at my door. ‘Weird how’s that’ I thought. My parents were out doing the groceries and I was alone at home.
“Yeah?” I asked. I head the door open and footsteps approaching me. When I turned around I saw Sid sitting down on my bed.

“Yeah?” I asked again, reaching over to pick another book that laid next to him on the bed to put more pictures away.

“I’m just here to tell you next Friday, 7pm in my house. I have a deck in the backyard. I don’t want a big thing to it’s just like 5 friends each, parents and grandparents okay? I don’t care if you can get all your things done till then.” His eyes were focused the photo large collage above my old desk. It mostly had pictures from the ‘post-Sid-era’ in Cole Harbour but most likely also one or two pictures of both of of.

“kay…” I answered not really sure what to think about his sudden change of mind. “Why the rush may I ask?”

“Do you want whole Canada to think that I knocked you up. Do you want them to think that we had a random hook up? Both of our agents are making up some long term relationship to tell the press of. That’s why I’m here in person. Do you still have some pics to publish?” He replied coldly.

“What the fuck…” I just muttered. “I’ll check and bring them over kay?”
I felt more and more uncomfortable about having him in my room, checking out all the pictures on the wall and even worse all the pictures on my floor. Not that he couldn’t google them but still it left me a little self conscious to sit here with all those pictures laid out in front of me, in some, barely dressed.

“Sure. We’ll not make a big coverage. Army can tweet or something.” He got up, walked over to the door but hesitated with the hand on the door knob. “Oh yeah this is for you I guess. Make sure you wear it when you’re in public.”
He reached into the pocket of his pants, pulled out a small box and tossed it to me, before opening the door and walking out.

I picked the box up and opened it. In the box I found a diamond ring.

“Yeah… that’s the way I’ve always dreamed of receiving my engagement ring”I whispered and rolled my eyes.

After tossing the ring in the box into the nightstand I went back to my pictures.

In the middle of the night I lay wide awake. There was no way I could sleep now. Too many things had happened today and I wasn’t ready to handle them. Had it really happened? Had I been engaged to someone?
In opened the top drawer of the nightstand and took out the box again and flipped it opened. The ring was really beautiful. Not too big, set on a platinum band. If it hadn’t been from Sidney I probably would be above my head now, wearing it on my finger with all my pride, flashing it to anyone I could. But the circumstances left a bad taste. The diamond shimmered in the light of the lamp next to my bad and reflected rays of the light to the walls.

During dinner my mother had announced, that we were going to go dress shopping in the morning.
Since my girls were out partying late I hadn’t had the chance to tell them yet.

When I woke up I didn’t feel very well. Maybe nervousness, maybe pregnancy hormones. This was annoying me already. Waking up to headaces and the feeling to never eat anything ever again. I felt full and tired. In the kitchen my mother, Trina and Taylor were sitting at the table.
“Morning” I muttered.

“It’s 11am. I already had practice today.” Taylor laughed and took a bite from a pancake.

“What?”

“Well you were sound asleep and Tay asked to join, so we decided to drop the girls of at the airport, pick Taylor up and then wake you up but obviously you managed that on your own just in town.” Trina said.

“Ah cool that you’re tagging along. Can I also take you to Pittsburgh?”

Taylor giggled. “Sure. Tell Ray to sign me and I’m in.”

I laughed with her and suddenly frowned.

“What do you mean you brought the girls to the airport. What girls?”

My mom suddenly looked a little sorry: “Sweety, Jackie and Lisa decided to fly to the Bahamas for two weeks. I’m sorry. They met some guys yesterday. I tried to stop them but they wouldn’t listen.”

Great. That sounded just like them. Doing something without thinking too much. Now reality check. I am getting married in 9 days to a person I didn’t speak to for years. I am pregnant from that person and the person I always wanted to be my maid of honor wasn’t in the country. SWEET.

At some point during breakfast I asked Taylor: “Tay, you know back in the day you were like my little sister and somehow you make me see tiny good things in the marriage. I know it may sound weird but do you want to be my maid of honor? I mean you know you always meant a lot to me and honestly I can’t come up with anyone else right now.”

The tall blonde laughed. “Sure. I’ll don anything to make you happy and get rip of that chick.”

“Okay the deal is sealed.”

I quickly took a showered, got dressed and headed downstairs again.
“Soooo let’s get going” I said in a faked enthusiasm.
The three women were already waiting in the hallway.
“Left hand.” My mom demanded.

“What?” I replied but still placing my hand into hers.
Her eyes shot up and she said: “Go get the ring. I know he bought one. He ran through the house searching for a simpler box to you wouldn’t see it’s from Tiffany’s”

I groaned and walked back it the stairs. So Tiffany’s huh? The boy might have some class. Still I believed that Mario picked it out. Just a female’s intuition.

I took the ring out of the box, slid it onto my finger. It fit perfectly.

Downstairs I held my hand up. “Happy?” the eyes of our mothers just grew big.