Sweet Serendipity (33 page)

She snickered at his comment. “You have no idea.”

“Ethan is a great guy. I hope you’ll be happy together.”

She knew it took a lot for him to say those words out loud. She looked over at the house one last time. “It’s going to be strange not coming here anymore. There will be a new family living within these walls.”

He locked the back of the POD and signaled for the waiting truck to come and pick it up. “This place deserves to have new memories in it. It was a great home, so it will be for the right family.”

Jack walked up to her and held his arms out. “This is it kiddo. This makes everything real.”

She walked into his arms and he wrapped them around her.

“We’ll still see each other Jack.”

“I know. But you will be someone else’s wife. I can’t call you that anymore. Even after the divorce I still referred to you as my wife. That’s what’s going to be the hardest thing to let go of. You’ve been my wife for a lifetime, now you won’t be.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “We’ll always have a special bond no matter who we’re married to. We will always have our memories and our little quirks that only we know. Someday Ethan will learn all of mine, and someday you’ll meet someone to share yours with, but we had a lifetime together. That will be our bond.”

“Ok Becky. I’d better go. I promised Adam I’d take him to the Art Museum. Who would’ve thought he’d be so damn good at it.”

“Who would’ve thought?”

The sound of a horn honked and Rebecca noticed Ethan pulling up to the sidewalk.

She pulled away from Jack and rubbed his back. He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead as Ethan came bounding up the driveway. He shook hands with Jack and turned back to Rebecca.

“I hate to interrupt but Riley, mother, and sisters are all at the dress shop waiting for you. If you don’t hurry they may choose without you.”

“We’d better hurry then.”

Ethan turned to Jack, “So we’ll see you on Sunday?”

“I wouldn’t miss it. I’ll be the one giving her away.”

Rebecca wrapped her arm around Ethan’s waist and they walked to the car together. Jack smiled as he realized just how happy she really was. He got into his truck and took one last look at the home he had created with Rebecca. He had left a bottle of wine on the counter with a welcome note to the new family:.

“This house was once filled with love, hope, and happiness. It’s a good house, a solid house. I hope you make some amazing lifetime memories in this house. Welcome to the rest of your life.”

He drove off down the street for the last time. His heart felt lighter than it had in a long time.

“Mom, I can’t find my shoes,” Riley yelled out from across Tasha’s house.

“Mom, I don’t know how to tie this stupid thing around my neck,” Adam called out.

Tasha walked to the stairs and yelled up, “Riley, your shoes are in my room, Adam, it’s a clip on and there is no tying. What are you trying to tie?”

Adam popped his head around the corner and his face was red.

“It was the belt. Oops!” He laughed.

Riley and Ashlee walked into the doorway and laughed, “Nice one Adam.” They said in Unison.

All three kids walked down the stairs and smiled at Tasha. They were all in Champagne colored dresses. Emily yelled out from the kitchen, “The limo is here, we need to go.”

Everyone stood in the kitchen pointing and smiling to one another about how pretty they looked. Adam rolled his eyes, “Ugh, girl stuff.”

The door to the den opened and Rebecca came out. The room fell silent. Emily started getting weepy and Tasha threw a tissue at her. “Don’t mess up your make-up. We haven’t even started yet.”

Emily accepted the tissue and smiled, “You have tissues in your bag?”

“Um yeah, who else is going to hand them to you while we are standing with her?”

“Ahh Tasha you know me so well.”

She burst out laughing, “We’ve been through this twice already. I’m prepared. Between you and Becca it’s a hormonal mess.”

Rebecca grinned at her two best friends. Who meant more to her than if she had had sisters of her own. “Did you guys ever think we’d be doing this?” she asked them.

“Absolutely” Tasha said.

“Oh I had so hoped since we first met Ethan. We knew he was right for you. He’s a great man.”

Rebecca smiled. “He is isn’t he?”

Even though it was October, the sun was bright and the air was warm. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect fall day. The limo drove through Plymouth Harbor and everything appeared brighter. The limo pulled up in front of Brewster Garden and Rebecca smiled. The park was full of flowers. She saw kids dressed up and running around with balloons. She noticed everyone walk to their seats and then she spotted Ethan standing under the arbor with the Justice of the Peace. Her heart thudded in her chest. Not because she was nervous, but because she was excited. There was a knock on the window, and Jack opened the door. He helped Ashlee out first and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Then out came Riley. “You look beautiful baby girl.” She smiled at him and took her place beside Ashlee. Emily and Tasha stood behind Riley and Ashlee. They all were holding their bouquets in their hands.

Jack reached his hand out and Rebecca took hold of it. When she stood outside the car, she caught Jack getting teary eyed. “You look stunning Becky.”

“Thank you for doing this Jack. I know it must be hard.”

“It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

Adam took one side of her while Jack took her other arm. The musical quartet began to play music, signaling that it was time. They made their way to the white runner and she took a deep breath.

Jack leaned over and teased, “Last chance, if you want to turn and run, the limo is right behind us.”

She playfully smacked his arm with her gloved hand.

“Not funny.”

“I’m just kidding. Just take a deep breath and relax, because that man standing over there in the monkey suit is waiting to begin a new life with you, a life that you deserve to have. You will have many years of happiness ahead of you.”

She didn’t take her eyes off of Ethan, “Thank you Jack. I’m ready now.”

Ethan stood straighter as he watched Rebecca walking down the aisle. Adam took his place beside Ethan and his brothers. Jack took Rebecca’s hand and kissed it gently as he handed her off to Ethan. Ethan nodded his head to Jack, and Jack gently patted him on his back before he took a seat.

Rebecca didn’t pay attention to anything the J.P was saying. All she could see and hear was Ethan. They exchanged their vows and he kissed her. “I would like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Roberts.” The J.P announced.

There was a roar of applause as they made their way back down the aisle. The smaller children released balloons into the sky while everyone else threw white rose petals in the air as they passed. They reached the limo and turned back toward everyone. They gave a wave and they heard Ethan’s family make hooting sounds.

He helped her inside the limo and pulled the door closed. He leaned over to her and kissed her.

“Well, Mrs. Roberts, you have just made my dreams come true, now let me do the same for you for the rest of your life.” He leaned in and kissed her again.

Rebecca put her daughter Peyton down to take a nap in her playpen. Emily held her son, Jackson while she fed him. Layla was chasing the cat around the house. Emily giggled. “You know maybe Jackson and Peyton will grow up and get married. Wouldn’t that be cool? We’d be in-law.”

Rebecca snorted. “Can we get them out of diapers before we plan their wedding?”

The door to the kitchen opened and they heard, “speaking of weddings….how about another one?” Tasha and Micah came waltzing in. Tasha was sporting a new diamond on her left hand.

“I got a clean bill of health today. The doctors called it a miracle, but I know the truth. My cancer is in remission thanks to Tong Ren. So, to celebrate, Micah and I are going to get married.”

Rebecca and Emily screeched in delight. Ethan walked in the room with Adam. They were both covered in paint. He took a look at Tasha and smacked his hand on Micah’s shoulder. “Ha! Welcome to the craziness, brother.”

Riley graduated from high school and decided to attend the Art Institute of Boston. She came home every weekend to spoil her baby sister.

Adam was doing well with his medication and therapy. Rebecca couldn’t help but notice that he seemed happier. There were no more mood swings; he was back to his normal social self. He spent most of his time painting. He had found his niche with it. Ethan had told him that if he kept up with it, he’d let him hang a couple of his painting in the gallery. It was all the motivation he needed to keep busy.

Jack became a good fit in their crazy extended family. He’d come to dinner on Sundays with the rest of the crew. He began bringing Kelly along with him one Sunday, and she slowly became a permanent fixture to the gang.

They had holidays in their beach home. All of Ethan’s family made the trek every Christmas. The family was slowly extending as some of the oldest children started bringing significant others with them.

Rebecca loved her crazy life. She loved the chaos and the late night phone calls to talk about what to wear. She finally had the family she always wanted.

A Fed Ex truck backed down their driveway and the driver walked to the front door with a box in his hand. Rebecca quickly threw open the door with a huge smile on her face. She grabbed the box and ripped it open before she even signed for it. The driver looked at her a little strangely. She pulled a hardcover book out and burst out in glee. She looked at the cover “Modern Family.” She handed one to the Fed Ex man. “Here, have the first copy.”

He looked at the book and grinned, “You wrote this?”

“Yup, and my husband did the illustrations.”

She thanked him and pulled the box inside. She called out for Ethan and the kids whom all came running. “It’s here” she told them.

They flipped through the book and saw images of themselves. On her acknowledgment page she read aloud:

“Families are not always those in which you were born into. Sometimes you marry them, sometimes you divorce them. Sometimes you choose them, sometimes they choose you. In today’s life, there is no one definition of family, so I thought I’d share a few moments in the day in the life of mine. Enjoy!”

The humorous stories of her extended family mishaps turned into a bestselling success. Her books sold out and the fans kept waiting for the next installments. Warner Brothers contacted her about adapting her books into a feature film.