Forbidden

"Mother, why are you acting like you've never been married before?" I asked, sarcastically, as I saw Mother running around the house barefoot in our tile cemented floor of our home at seven thirty in the morning.

Completely disregarding my statement, she still ran around the house, yelling, "I can't find my wedding shoes!"

I understand that a woman would be excited for her wedding day, because it's the biggest day of her life.

But for the second time?

I mean, clearly, she didn't want anything to go wrong.

I squinted my mouth, seeing her run around like a maniac in her white tank top and black yoga pants. I quickly jogged to the shoe closet, entering and immediately going to her side which was on the right, then grabbed her white sneakers that had socks stuffed in them.

When I came out the closet, Maria ran passed me as fast as a race car on a track, so I stopped to look at these two.

When Mom goes crazy, the maid follows the craziness.

This house was insane.

I place the white sneakers near the couch of the living room, sitting on the sofa to continue watching them.

"You know, I was planning to wake up at 9:30?" I asked, trying to top off their loud yelling.

"My white bra!" She yelled. "Where is my white bra? I put it in the laundry last night!"

"And she ignores me," I said, sighing to myself.

"Boss, boss!" Maria exclaimed. "I have found your bra. I forgot it was hanging on the deck of the backyard last night to dry,"

I couldn't help laugh, looking down at my pajama shorts.

"Mother! Maria!" I yelled, very loudly. "The wedding reception starts at 11!"

Mom finally stopped running, looking at me, and gasped, "Oh my god. How did I forget that? This makes it worse. I thought it was 12!"

Aye.

I laid my head against the top of the couch, groaning.

I can't wait until the end of today, because I will be getting a new family in less than 12 hours.

I am super excited at this moment.



As Mom was getting her hair and makeup done, in this overly large dressing room, I was sitting in the corner by myself playing with my phone.

I saw her from a distance, as she was still in a white, silky robe, pointing at the stylists to get a certain hairstyle done for her.

I noticed her wedding dress hung at the corner, with her white shoes right under it. I smiled, seeing it, so happy that she was having this big day again.

But then, I got distracted when she struck out at one of the stylists making sure that her hair wasn't pointing out.

Then again,

She was the oddest 45 year old woman I have ever known.

As I continued sitting there in my pink ruffled dress with a white flower bow, and white high heels, I thought about how I would meet my new stepbrother today.

Nathan Johnson.

I wonder how close we'll be.

I'm an extremely easy person to get along with, so I was extremely positive that I could be close with him in no time.

I also wish Britney was here at this moment, in this particular corner from me isolated from everyone else, because I was sitting on the floor with no chairs left in this room, thinking all of this to myself.



"I can't make it to your Mom's wedding," Britney stated as she sat down across from me at the lunch table.

I dropped my wrap, completely frozen, looking at her, "What?!"

She pouted her mouth at me, giving me a guilty look, "I'm sawwy. But it's that my parents are in charge of the charity fundraiser going on down at Los Angeles. I have to go, or they'll be pissed at me for the rest of their life. It's their first time being in charge of anything."

I began biting into my wrap again, in a dull mood, "This stinks. I won't be able to stand behind my mother and look at you, who would've been in the front row, and make funny faces of her."

She pouted her mouth at me again, "I'm sorry. But my parents wanna give regards to the-soon-to-be Mrs. Johnson. We'll try to make it to the after party if it doesn't end early."

I snickered, continuing to eat in a dull mood, when I heard Jackson's voice from my right ear.

"But I can go,"

I looked up, seeing Jackson reaching his legs out to sit next to me at the lunch table, immediately picking up his sandwich.

"Huh?"

I don't think I heard him clearly.

I remember him saying that he had a huge baby shower to go to, and his parents didn't let him miss it because it was his sister's.

"Doesn't Mandy have a baby shower?"

He shrugged, "Yes. But, Mom said that you've been to every special event that has ever occurred to me, so I should be there for at least one special event in your life. And plus, I begged her to go until she was weak enough to give in."

He stretched a little, then continued, "But I gotta be there for at least thirty minutes of the shower. She'll flip if her little brother wasn't there to give her a present."

I began shrieking, giving him a huge hug, while he leaned away from me, holding onto his sandwich very tightly.

"Ahem," He coughed. "I'm very hungry today. I'd rather not drop my sandwich."

I pulled away in a sarcastic mood, hitting him on the upper arm.

I began smiling again, eating my wrap in a better mood. I saw Britney chuckling at us, so I winked at her.

"Have you met your soon-to-be stepbrother yet?" She began asking.

I shook my head, "Nope. It kinda stinks cause the wedding's like in three weeks, and I still haven't met him. I'd like to know who I'm going to be living with."

"If he's a hottie, you know who to hook him up with," She began joking.

I puckered my mouth at her and Jackson coughed on his sandwich. We both looked at him and he smirked, "Whoa. If the stepbrother's good-looking, where are you gonna keep this good looking boyfriend?"

Again, I hit him on his upper arm hardly, continuing to eat.

He was honestly the best.



So, basically I was isolated into this corner of this overly large dressing room, texting Britney and waiting for Jackson to call to say that he has arrived.

I glanced at the digital clock on the wall which was displaying 10:05 in huge, bold letters.

The wedding reception started at 11, Jackson should be here by 10:30, or something.

Continuing to wait for his call, I glanced at Mom who was still at a distance from me so I said softly, "Mom,"

No response.

Louder, I repeated, "Mother..."

Still no response.

I talked in my normal voice, repeating, "Mother."

And still no response.

So that was my cue to turn on my front camera. I quickly pulled out my headphones from my small pink purse, plugging it in and placing one headphone in my left ear.

I fixed my hair before recording, placing the microphone to my mouth, then recorded.



Aylo.

It is Saturday, June Fourth, Two Thousand Eleven. And it's Mommy's big day!"



I made sure that no one had looked my direction, so I continued.



So yes, Mom is getting married today. The reception starts at 11 and is probably going to end at 12:30 to 1 ish. But the wedding party begins at 3 in the afternoon, until god knows what time in the morning.

I haven't seen Michael today, but I'm sure he has to look specially handsome because he's already such a handsome man. I'm so proud to have a handsome guy for a stepdad.



I looked over again, to see that Mom was still pointing at the stylists to change the hairstyle.



Anyway, my eyes are a little baggy because I woke up at 7:30 instead of 9:30, which was my plan, because Mother decided to look for her wedding shoes at this time of the day and wake me up.

And the shoes were already at the wedding chapel. I swear the older she gets, the more she forgets.

So I'm meeting Nathan today. I actually was hoping to meet him before the wedding, because I want to know the person that is going to be my stepbrother and actually know the person who is going to live under the same roof as me. But I'm sure he's going to be fine.

Mom states he's a quiet person, and she won't give me any other information. But I'm sure he's going to be cool.

Otherwise, Mom wouldn't be marry his Father.



Mom started getting up, and my eyes widened.

Crap.



Shoot, Mom's getting up. I'll record when I get the chance.

By the time I get the next video in, Mom will already be Mrs. Johnson and I will have already met my stepbrother...

I'm so, so, so, so excited, you have absolutely no idea.

Bye now!



I quickly stood up, rolling up my headphones around my phone, placing it back into my pink purse.

She motioned me to come near her, so I walked towards her, as she placed her hands on her hips.

"My hair look good?" She asked as I reached her.

I noticed her dirty blonde hair in a wavy half pony, and the upper pony part in a slightly messy bun, which is exactly what she wants. There was a headband in her hair which matched the color of her hair, but had three aligned sparkly beads that was attached.

"Amazing," I replied.

"You do," She began mouthing.

I glanced at the mirror, noticing that I left my hair down, but a little wavy. But I enjoyed doing it all by myself; Mother on the other hand, enjoyed having other people doing it for her.

The stylists took her dress off the hanger, starting to have her wear the wedding dress.

I clapped my hands in excitement, knowing that the time was going to come soon.



"Sweetie, where's Jackson?" Mom asked as we were standing in front of the wedding chapel at exactly 10:57.

I frowned, shrugging, "He said he would make it for 10:30, but I don't see him anywhere."

After Michael and his people entered the chapel, it was Mom's turn and her crew to take some pictures. I was hoping Jackson would make it in time for pictures, but sadly, he wasn't able to.

Three minutes, how the heck was he going to do this?

All of Mom's friends and my cousins began going in one by one, while I still stood there waiting for my extremely late boyfriend at this moment.

Kerry patted my shoulders and sighed, "The reception is gonna have to start soon, Janie. Two minutes. The bridge's gotta be in by 11:01."

I gulped, beginning to get nervous a little, so I turned around looking at Mom's maid of honor. I frowned at her, looking down, "I guess the reception's gonna have to go on without him."

She gave me a sympathetic smile, but then I heard, "Janie!" from a distance.

I turned around, seeing Jackson up in a black tuxedo with a white shirt tucked inside, sprinting from across the road, up to me.

"You made it!" I exclaimed, cheerfully.

He panted heavily, bending down, managing to say, "Long story,"

I turned back to look at Kerry and Mom who were waiting. I grabbed his shoulders and sighed, "It's okay. Go in first. There should be a front seat reserved, I saved it for you. Explain to me later."

He smiled, his amazing smile, kissing me on the cheek before running up the two steps of the chapel entrance.

Before he opened the door, he pointed at Mom, "You look amazing, Ms. Anderson." Then he opened the door, entering the chapel.

I sighed in relief that he was here and Kerry nudged her head to the door, "He gets best boyfriend award for the month."

"And a kick in the ass later," I corrected, sarcastically.

Mom dragged me up the stairs, and made me stand in front of the entrance door, handing me a wrapped purple bouquet.

She made me stand next to a guy, I would want to guess, around the age of 40, who belonged to Michael's side of his family. I remembered his name was Phil, and he was going to be my escort for walking down the aisle.

He smiled at me, greeting, "Hey Janie,"

"Phil, right?" I asked, politely.

He nodded his head at me, so I stood straightly next to him, replying, "Hi there."

"Ready?" Mom asked.

I looked at her, grabbing her hands, kissing her on the cheek.

"I love you," I said in reply.

She gave me a warm smile, that made me understand that she was truly in love again.

I glanced at my skinny, plaid watch, seeing the minute hand go straight towards "11".

I sighed to myself, closing my eyes.

Phil lifted his left arm up for my to grab, so I grabbed it, smiling at him, as I sighed once more to myself.

I actually expected Nathan to be out here, because he would have to walk in at some point. But I guess that didn't happen.

Michael didn't really tell me the structure of how we were going to walk through the aisle.

Phil pushed the entrance door opened, which is where I noticed the decorations of the entire chapel was filled with gorgeous decorations of pink and white.

I smiled, as Phil and I took our first step in the chapel, seeing everyone's heads turned to me.

I noticed Michael's side of the chapel, wasn't so full, but when I turned to my side, which was on the left, it was filled with my cousins, my aunts and uncles, and Mom's close friends.

I began grinning, walking step by step down the aisle, while I brought myself up to look right at the middle of the aisle.

The front of the chapel.

Where I saw Michael, looking super handsome, in his black tuxedo with a white shirt tucked in a small blue bow on the front collar of his shirt.

I noticed he was looking at me, so I shot him a smile, while he just nodded at me.

As I continued walking down the aisle, I smiled to my left, waving at everyone that I knew, then I turned my attention back to the front, walking closer and closer.

When I came so close to seeing Michael's face clearly, my heart literally dropped when I saw the person who was standing behind him.

This had to be Nathan.

He had the same exact eyes as Michael.

He stood with both his hands together in front of him, slightly looking down.

He had messy, dirty blonde hair, and probably the same 5'11 height as Jackson.

Michael smiled at me once again, but then Nathan looked up.

I noticed that his eyes were an amazing color of dark green, and we finally met eyes.

He separated his hands when our eyes came in contact with each other, which made me notice that he was an extremely looking person.

There was nothing wrong with his face.

His eyes, his nose, his cheeks, his mouth... Was perfect.

As I came very close, I noticed he was wearing the same exact thing as his father's, but he wasn't wearing the small bow tie at the collar.

We looked at each other, but I wasn't getting a good vibe.

I thought I would be super excited to finally meet him.

But why the heck was I not smiling?

He certainly wasn't smiling.

After meeting eyes for what felt like an eternity, he finally looked away, bringing his hands to meet again.

He stretched his neck towards both sides, while Phil and I finally separated from each other.

He smiled at me, nodding, then stood behind, who I thought was Nathan. I shook my head, heading towards Mom's side, standing in front of Caroline, another bridesmaid's of Mom's.

I brought myself to look up at Nathan again, who didn't even bother to look my way.

I shifted my head towards Jackson, giving him a small smile.

He blew me a kiss with only his mouth, so I turned to look at Nathan again.

Still looking away.

Was this the guy who was seriously going to be my stepbrother?

As the rest of the bridesmaids walked in, Kerry was the only one who stood in front of me.

But then the song that everyone knew of came.

The part where the bride was going to enter.

Everyone in every aisle of the chapel, stood up, standing up formally, as the doors opened, revealing Mom in her beautiful self and wedding dress.

The smile came back widely across my face, and I almost clapped my hands in joy. But Jackson kept me under control.

I winked at him, as he leaped his head over to look at Mom again. People at the edges of the aisle, pulled out their cameras and phones and took pictures. Jackson excused himself in front of the lady who was at the edge beside him, and took a video of Mom walking down the aisle.

I smiled, because I knew he was going to send it to me later.

I brought myself to look at the handsome stepbrother of mine again, and when we met eyes, I had that feeling that he had already been looking at me before.

I grinned at him a little, but he didn't respond. He only looked away.

There was something about him, when we made eye contact.

I don't know what it is.

But it was strange.

Mom finally reached Michael, as he took off her veil, then lifted his left arm up for her to grab.

They stood in front of the priest, as the priest put on his glasses, opening the book.

"We are gathered here today, in this beautiful place, to witness the joining of two lives..."

This was it.

The new life was about to start soon.



"... I, therefore, by the powers vested in me, pronounce you, Husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!"

Everyone began clapping, as Michael grabbed Mom by the waist, bringing her in to a kiss.

Then everyone began standing up, while they were still clapping, then Mom and Michael pulled away from each other. I began clapping, with the bouquet in my hands, and I smiled, being so happy for her.

I laid my eyes back on Nathan again, who clapped only three times, before placing his arms to his side again.

The look on his face was like someone who did not want to be here at this moment.

I didn't know Mom's definition of quiet meant it came with a sappy face.

We met eyes again, making me come to my senses that he was a really good looking person.

I saw an available seat next Jackson's left, so I quickly went to sit down.

"Hey," I started.

He smiled, "I forgot to mention how gorgeous you look today."

"Ah, and I forgot to mention how I'm gonna kick your ass for being late today."

He narrowed his eyes at me, clapping continuously, turning back to look at Mom.

My eyes focused my attention to Nathan again, who stood there with a solemn face.

We didn't make eye contact at this point, but he went up to whisper something to Michael, then immediately went to the back of the chapel.

I looked after him, wondering where he went, extremely puzzled.

"That's the stepbrother?" Jackson asked.

I looked at him, squinting my mouth, "I think so. This is my first time meeting him. But I'm sure that's him. There's only one young guy that's standing close to Michael."

Jackson pouted his mouth in satisfaction, looking at me, "I'm not going to lie... The dude's pretty good looking."

I glared at him, leaning my face closer to his, "Are you getting thoughts?" I joked.

He leaned his face closer to mine and replied, "I'm not..." He licked his lips a little, chuckling, "But are you getting any thoughts?"

Offended, I hit his chest to make him fall back into his seat and he laughed. He stood up, grabbing my hands, so I stood up next to him to continue clapping.

As Michael and Mom began walking back down the aisle, out of the chapel, I noticed that Nathan didn't even come back.

I stood up, going behind Kerry again, while she gave me back my wrapped bouquet.

They exited the chapel, which was our cue to walk out following them, so I motioned Jackson to come and stand beside me.

Mom was finally married...

I had a stepfather, and a stepbrother.





It was supposed to Saturday, June Fourth of Two Thousand Eleven but since I just got home and it's like three in the morning, it's officially Sunday, June Fifth, Two Thousand Eleven.

Mom is officially Samantha Christine Anderson Johnson, but I don't have to change my last name... In which I am grateful for.

The wedding went well, except for Jackson was a little late, but I was able to kick his butt during the wedding party. The wedding party was super fun. It's not everyday you see Mother dancing to Sexy, And I Know It. And plus, Michael and her got to dance I Know You Want Me together. That's the part where I closed my eyes.



After washing my face, I grabbed the towel that was hanging on the bar, washing the water off my face.



So, I finally saw who Nathan Johnson was.

He's blonde.

He's tall.

He's handsome.

He has dark green eyes.

If he sounds perfect, he is perfect.

Well, his face is anyways. He left right after Mom and Michael were announced to be husband and wife. He didn't even make it to the wedding party. Like how busy do you have to be to not make it to your Dad's wedding? It's not everyday that one of your parents will have a wedding, I mean... At least try to make it an effort.



I walked out of the bathroom, going straight to my bed, holding my phone with me. I sat straight up on my bed, sighing to myself. I held up my phone, fixing my bangs a little, then continued.



It kinda annoys me how he wasn't at the wedding party. I mean, it is kind of rude not even to wait until everyone is out of the chapel.

He doesn't care.

He just leaves right when everyone is clapping.

People like this just annoys me.

Handsome, but so rude.

Always tends to go together.

Except for my Jackson... He's absolutely amazing.

Alright, I'm gonna go to sleep now. I probably will record in a few hours, when I get up.

Gooooood night.



I blew kisses at my phone, turning off the recording, then charging my phone to the attached alarm clock.

I pulled the covers up to my face, thinking about the wedding party.



"Who are you looking for?" Jackson asked, as I was leaping my head towards the entire dining room.

"No one," I replied, taking a sip of my soda.

He sat down next to me, while I was still looking for Nathan, but he didn't show up.

Why was he so weird? He should've been here.

I turned around to see Jackson smiling at me, so I only grinned at him. He gave me an odd look, as I continued to look at the entrance door of the dining room.

"Janie!" I heard Michael's voice from behind me.

I turned around, seeing Mom and Michael, standing there in their bride and groom outfits, holding hands.

"Hey guys," I replied.

Mom bent down, whispering, "There's an extra coconut cake in the back of the bar. I told the bartender to save it for you. You should go claim it." She lifted herself back up, grabbing Michael's hands.

I giggled, giving her a hi five.

"So, how's it feel to have a new stepfather?" Michael asked.

"Umm, I love you?" I replied, jokingly.

They stood there, so I shifted my head a few times, asking, "Michael. Where's your son? I wanted to meet Nathan today."

Jackson shot a look at me, frowning, so I only grinned at him.

"Oh, Nate?" He asked.

He goes by Nate.

Check one.

"He's a little busy," Michael continued. "The kid doesn't enjoy big parties like this. But you'll meet him on our move-in day. Don't worry."

I nodded a little, kind of offended that he wasn't here for his Dad's wedding party.



I dug my head into my pillow further, closing my eyes.

The last picture I had in my head was this Nate Johnson kid.

Was he really going to live under the same roof as me?