Of course, I say yes. As we dance, he asks, “Jackie, would you mind if I ask your mom to marry me?”

His question catches me off guard and surprises me enough that I mess up the next step, but I quickly recover. “Do you really need to ask me that? Especially since Megan and I have been constantly telling you to ask her. It’s patently obvious to anyone how much you care about each other.”

“I’m simply making sure that you are okay with it.”

“Of course, and Megan is going to tell you the same thing!”

We soon finish our dance, and he asks Megan as I sit down and beam at Mom.

She looks at me quizzically and asks, “What’s with you?”

“Nothing~” I reply, still smiling.

“Uh-huh. Do you want to explain the nothing that has you smiling like that?”

“Nope!” I reply and giggle like an idiot. “I’m just happy.”

Mom rolls her eyes and mutters, “Teens,” which only makes me giggle that much harder.

After the song, Steven and Megan return with her smiling just as big as me. She looks at me and winks, which I return. Steven bends down and says something to Mom. Then he takes her hand and leads her toward the garden door. Megan and I look at each other, and she merely nods, tacitly agreeing that we should follow them.

As I stand up, I tell Ben, “We’ll be right back,” he nods, and I kiss his cheek.

We follow them out the door, stopping behind a tall rose bush near the gazebo they walked to. We watch as he helps Mom sit down.

“Scarlett, we haven’t known each other for long, but I think I fell in love with you the night we met. That feeling has only grown stronger. I love you, Megan and Jackie. I can’t imagine a life without the three of you in it.

“The kids know I adore you. Did you know they’ve been pushing me to propose to you?” She shakes her head. “They have, so,” he reaches into his pocket and removes a box, then kneels down. She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. “Scarlett Marie Ward, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Yes!” She cries out. He stands up, pulls her up to him, and kisses her.

Megan and I are smiling brilliantly when we look at each other. We step around the bush, and I call out, “It’s about damn time!”

They laugh at my pronouncement for a few moments. “Language, young lady,” she playfully admonishes me as if I care about my language right now. Megan and I rush over to hug them both.

We continue our hug for a minute. Then Steven steps away. “Now, I have a question for you two. Do you want me to adopt you after your mother and I get married?”

Neither of us ever expected this, but the answer should be obvious. We both cry out, “YES!”

Both of us hug and kiss his cheek, then dab our eyes with our handkerchiefs so we don’t end up looking like raccoons.

We soon head back into the ballroom. When Ben sees me, he asks, “You sure look happy.”

“I am. Steven asked Mom to marry him, and she said yes. Then he said that he’s going to adopt Megan and me.”

Smiling, he over and lightly brushes his thumb along my cheek. “I’m happy for you.”

I kiss his palm and hold it. “Thank you.” Then, I take a sip of my drink and set it down. ”Dance with me?”

He stands up, offers his hand to help me up, and we spend several songs out on the floor until the band stops and the MC announces, “Folks, it’s 2 minutes until midnight. So, get yourself a drink and someone to kiss!”

We quickly make our way back to our table to be with everyone when the clock strikes midnight. We count down with everyone else, and Benny gives me a long, deep kiss at midnight. After we break our kiss, we pick up our sparkling cider and toast each other. Then I hug and kiss Megan, Mom, and my soon-to-be Dad.

Seeing Harriet standing there looking a little forlorn, I walk around to hug Harriet, wish her a happy new year, and give Benny a pointed look. Normally, I’d freak out if he so much as touched another girl, but tonight, and it being Harriet, is different. He steps over to her, gives her a short, chaste kiss on the lips, and wishes her a happy new year. She has a dazed expression as she touches her lips for a moment, then smiles dazzlingly. Yep, we did the right thing.

During a break from dancing, Ben makes his way through the crowd to get us something to drink at the bar as I edge along the crowd, heading back to our table. Along the way, a painting catches my eye, and I stop dead in my tracks, then walk over to the alcove that it hangs in.

It’s a little boy standing in a field, staring out across it. I can’t tell you why it catches my attention, but I drift closer and stand there staring at it. I feel sad, uneasy, and a little lonely looking at it. It’s as if the little boy is hopelessly looking for something or someone. Who knows, maybe he’s looking for himself.

I’ve never been into art or anything like that, but this painting has completely captivated me. Looking at it makes me sad enough that I want to cry. I don’t understand why, either. Why does a picture of a lone little boy affect me this way?

It takes a bit of me thinking about it, but then it hits me. This is me before I found out who I really am. Lost, alone, and depressed. Wanting and needing something I couldn’t quite define, all while trying to live up to others’ expectations of me.

I can’t begin to tell you how long I stand there gazing at the painting, but Ben startles me when he comes up behind me, slips his arms around my waist, and murmurs in my ear, “Are you alright?”

I turn to look at him, smile reassuringly, and say, “I’m fine, just looking at the painting. Shall we rejoin the others?”

He nods. I allow myself one final glance at the painting, smile to myself, and silently say, ‘I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.’

Several days later, school begins again. If I thought that Megan and I were busy before with everything we do, it’s nothing compared to now. We still have ballet, yoga, the gym, and cheerleading, but add to those a whirlwind of activity from planning for and setting up the wedding. Mom asks, or really, it’s more like tells us, that we are her Maids of Honor. Trust me, we don’t have an issue with it, even if we barely have time to breathe with everything going on.

Mom originally wanted a simple chapel wedding with just the four of us. Steven wasn’t having any of that, though. He wanted the whole enchilada platter for their wedding. I believe Mom did too, she simply didn’t want to admit it.

We had fun shopping for Mom’s dress. Since, as she stated, she isn’t an 18-year-old virginal bride, she is not wearing white. What she did get is a backless, floor-length halter dress in very pale pink, which, in the right lighting, you could easily mistake for being white.

Shopping for Megan’s and my dresses was frustrating. Mom wanted us to have matching dresses, and we were all for that, but finding two dresses of the same style in our sizes was an exercise in futility. She finally gave up and took us to a seamstress to have them made, which was a new, and rather embarrassing, experience for us. I don’t remember ever being measured in so many places before.

After much discussion between the two of them, it was decided that our dresses will be in Chiffon. They are forest-green floor-length cowl-neck, backless dresses that have a split up our left leg that goes up to mid-thigh. We talked about it, but it was decided that we’ll wear glossy nude stockings and silver open-toe sandals with them.

So, two months later, it’s finally time for their wedding. Lots and lots of people will be attending. Steven and Mom have a lot of friends, and of course, Steven’s family, all except Keith, are here, too. Steven’s older brother, Alex, is his best man. He seems to be nice even if he is a bit intimidating because he’s huge. When I say huge, I mean it. He’s 6’5” and is a solid block of muscles. He’s a Sargeant in the Marine Corps. When I first saw him, I looked up, then up some more, and almost fell over backward when I finally looked into his eyes, which he thought was funny. I really do like him, other than his bad tendency to mess up our hair, which irks me to no end.

This is the first time that Mom, Megan, and I have met his parents since they live in Montana. Our soon-to-be grandparents positively fawn over us. I’m really happy that we like them, and that they like us since they will be staying with us for a week to care for us while Mom and Steven go on their honeymoon.

Megan and I pout a bit when we find out that they’re going to Aruba, but not for too long since we were told that they would take us there sometime.

The next day, we are up and about at 6:30. Today is going to be extremely busy, and we have a lot of preparations to accomplish before noon. So, after we clean up, dress, and eat breakfast, the three of us load up and drive over to Gina’s salon. We’re getting the full package. Hair, makeup, mani-pedi, and nails. A few hours later, we head back to the house, dress, and load into the limo for the short ride to the church.

Ben, of course, is my wedding date, and I think he looks dashing in his suit. Of course, I honestly think that he’d look good in nothing at all.

The wedding was lovely, and the little flower girls and the boy who was the ring bearer were simply too cute for words.

The reception is a lot of fun, and I dance my little butt off. It’s also my first time having alcohol. Champagne is nice, even if I do get a bit silly after a couple of glasses.

I don’t remember anything else until I wake up in bed with Megan. I have a headache, and my mouth tastes like I’ve been eating ashes. I also have no idea how I got here. I do not like not being in control, so I don’t think I’ll be drinking very much, if at all. If my family and Benny weren’t there with me, then who knows what could have happened. Imagine if I was out drinking and overindulged. It would be all too easy for some guy to take advantage of me. That’s not something I want to think about.

Extricating myself from Megan, I pad into my bathroom and quietly close the door. My first considered action is taking aspirin, closely followed by brushing my teeth. Undressing, I take a long, hot shower, which goes a long way toward making me feel human again. After I dry myself off, I blow dry my hair and brush it out, then wrap a towel around myself and head back into my room to find Megan awake and waiting for me.

“You really hung one on last night.”

“Mhmm~. What happened? Are Mom and Dad mad at me?”

She shakes her head. “Disappointed, but not really angry. You really shouldn’t drink.”

Turning around, I look at her sheepishly as I ask, “What happened?”

“Oh, not much, you danced, had several glasses of champagne, and were generally quite silly. Mom and Dad never said anything until you tried to take your dress off on the dance floor because you were hot. Thankfully, Ben stopped you. He picked you up and carried you out to his truck. I went with him, and we brought you back here.”

“Oh my God,” I groan. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Oh, it wasn’t too bad. Benny stopped you before you could do anything you’d regret. You owe him a huge thank you for that.”

“I’m never drinking again,” I state, which makes her laugh.

“That’s prolly for the best. You don’t handle alcohol very well.”

“Ugh! Tell me about it.”

I’m absolutely mortified that I would do something like that, and even more worrying is the fact that alcohol loosened up my inhibitions enough for me to even think about it. Look, I’ll be honest, it probably wouldn’t bother me if it was just Benny and me and I decided that skinny dipping was a great idea. My bikinis don’t leave much to the imagination anyway, so I wouldn’t be freaking like I am now if that happened and Benny saw me nude. However, trying to strip in front of my family and their friends? Nuh-uh. That’s patently humiliating.

When we went downstairs to eat, grandpa merely shook his head, but grandma? Well, let’s just say she had some really choice words about my behavior. At the very least, I deserve the tongue lashing she dishes out, so I meekly sit there as she does.

Finally, she comes over and hugs me. “Sweetheart, I’m not really angry with you, I’m moreso worried about what could have happened in a different setting. You’re a beautiful young lady, and there are plenty of men who would take advantage of you in that state. I don’t want to see that happen to you, understand?” I merely nod. “Good. Now, what does everyone want for breakfast?”