Laila

      I could tell Mitch and Ashleigh were crazy in love by the way they were gazing into each other's eyes while the pastor in front of them had them recite their vows. And when the pastor finally pronounced them man and wife, Mitch dipped Ashleigh into his arms and kissed her.

  I smiled like a maniac, clapping along with the rest of the wedding guests as Mitch lead Ashleigh down the aisle, their fingers entwined. Everyone rushed after them, demanding to take pictures and shouting out congratulations.

  My mom, the Richards, and the Petrolases were out of their seats after everybody else, too, while Justin and I stayed behind, lounging comfortably in our chairs.

   "That was a nice wedding," I said with a grin. "They definitely love each other."

  "Yeah, I'm surprised the poor sucker was still standing there," Justin said conversationally. "What with Ashleigh and everything."

  "Justin!"

"What?" he said, giving me an innocent look.

  "Ashleigh's a great woman," I said to Justin. "Mitch is lucky to have her."

Justin grinned crookedly, looking devilishly handsome with bright sunlight glinting off of his dark black hair. 

  "Oh, I know," he said with a wink. "It runs in the family. Or so I've heard."

I gave Justin a look, resisting the urge to shove him off his seat.

  "So," Justin trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "In a Jewish wedding, what would happen now?"

  "The bride and groom would be put on chairs and lifted in the air while all the guests dance around them and play crazy music."

  "Really?"

 I smirked.

  Justin fell silent for half a second (a real accomplishment for him, trust me) before he blurted, "We're gonna have to try that sometime tonight."

  And before I could even object to that, Justin was up and out of his chair, tugging me after him, leading us over towards the jumble of people crowded around Ashleigh and Nick.

  Ashleigh's face was flushed with color, a pleased look on her face while she laughed as different guests babbled at her. Mitch was watching Ashleigh with a slightly awed look on his face, like he couldn't believe he actually just married her.

  "Congratulations, Ashleigh," I told her with a smile when I finally managed to reach her.

Ashleigh laughed and gave me a small hug.

  "Thanks, Laila," she said with a grin. "Oh, and by the way?"

"Yeah?" I said slowly, a little cautious.

  "Tell Justin to keep his mouth shut when he looks at you, okay?"

Before I could even ask Ashleigh what the hell she meant, Justin was behind me, his hands at my shoulders, a slight smirk on his face.

 "Thanks, Ashleigh," he said in a pleasant voice. "But you might want to tell Mitch to follow your advice, too."

  Ashleigh's mouth opened in surprise and she instantly blushed before somebody kicked Justin in the shin, banging into me slightly.

 "Out of my way, Justin," a little girl's voice barked in indignantion. "I want to congratulate my sister."

I grabbed Justin's forearm and tugged him out of the way as a howling little devil in a pink dress stomped up to Ashleigh.

  "Could've been more pleasant about that, Nani," Justin told his cousin dryly.

The little girl called Nani stuck her tongue out at Justin, looking insanely pleased with herself.

  "My advice, Laila?" she said to me. "Dump him before he does something stupid."

I slapped a hand to my mouth to keep from laughing, thinking that Ashleigh and her little sister definitely shared the same sense of shocking humor.

  But seriously. She was how old?

"Let's go before she insults me anymore," Justin muttered, sounding offended. "She does it all the time."

  I didn't doubt that.

  By the time the sun had sunk low behind the pretty mountains that surrounded Silverton, delicate little paper lanterns that had been hung up around the tents were giving off a soft golden light as wedding guests sat about in chairs around tables full to the brim of plates upon plates of delicious looking food. 

  I could barely finish the small plate of steak in front of me, along with the mashed potatoes, buttered rolls, green beans, and a small portion of fruit salad. Everyone else at the table - the Richards, the Petrolases, Mom - had finished everything off on their plates, and Emma was even asking when we were going to get cake.

  I had no idea how anybody could possibly want to eat anything after a meal like that.

I layed my fork down against the pristine porcelain plate, listening to the inane chattering around me with a rather lazy manner. I was fairly certain my stomach had already expanded three inches. 

  I needed to stop eating, that was for sure.

"Did you enjoy the wedding, Laila?"

 I glanced up in surprise at Laurence, managing a small smile.

"Yes, I did," I answered politely. "Ashleigh looked beautiful."

 My eyes flickered up towards the high table at the front of the dance floor, where all of the bridal party was sitting. Ashleigh was absolutely glowing as she laughed delicately, sipping at a glass of wine in her her hand. Mitch looked just as bemused as his new wife did, watching her every move, a slight smile on his face that didn't seem to go away. 

  Of course, professional photographers had been capturing the entire day, but this wedding looked like it belonged in some Hollywood movie or something. My family's Jewish weddings have never been this put together or magazine worthy.

  The only damper on the rather pleasant evening, though? 

Maggie was sitting across the circular table from me and had childishly been shooting me sour glares throughout the entire dinner. I swear, if I even so much as glanced at Justin as he spoke, she'd be leaning forward in her chair, gripping her fork so tightly her knuckles would turn white.

  At this point, my patience was wearing thin and I was surprised she hadn't gone as far as to kick me underneath the table with her perfect designer heels.

  However humorously enough, I happened to be sitting beside Nick and Justin. Even though I thought I might have permanently damaged hearing, I had to admit I was enjoying myself. And if I'd thought that Justin talked too much, he had nothing on Nick, once he really got going.

  Just like his father, Dimitri, Nick had a tendancy to slap his hand down on the table with a particularly loud exclamation whenever something got a rise out of him that would make me wince and grab for my glass of lemon water.

  Justin and Nick bantered back and forth, exchanging childhood stories or memories from middle school while the rest of us tried hard not to crack up laughing. For ones so young, they certainly did have rather inventive and crude ways of getting a teacher's attention in third grade with arts and crafts supplies.

  "So, tell me," Nick said, leaning over with a suggestive look in his honey colored eyes. "Did you ever do anything to get in trouble when you were younger?"

  Mom snorted none too gracefully into her glass of wine, reaching for a napkin. "I'll say she did."

Nick went all wide-eyed and innocent looking. "Really?" 

  Mom gave a pointed look towards Justin. "Ask him. He ought to remember."

I felt my cheeks flooding with color as I stiffly reached for my glass of lemon water, trying hard not to pay attention to the furious glare Maggie was now giving me at the mention of Justin.

  I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from sighing.

Was it too juvenile of me to say that I really hated her?

  Or was hate putting it too lightly?

"You look a little pale, sweetheart. You all right there?"

I glanced over at Justin dryly, arching an eyebrow.

 "I'm fine," I told him. "Are you all right, Richards?"

 Much to my surprise, Justin's arrogant smirk faded slightly. He tugged at his shirt collar, sipping at his own glass of water.

 "A little nervous," he admitted sheepishly.

I bit back a smirk, both my eyebrows raised now. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

 "You'll see," was all he said, sighing heavily.

 And with that, the Richards dragged himself to his feet before walking across the dance floor in the direction of the band off to the side. 

 Guests' eyes traveled to Justin as he walked, probably wondering what he was doing. Hell, I was wondering what he was doing, too. What did he want with the band?

 "Say, Kim?" I said hesitantly. "What is your son doing?"

Kim whipped her head around and saw Justin talking furiously with one of the band members across the dance floor, and I could've sworn he was flushing.

  Oh, no way. This had to be good.

"The Lord only knows, Laila," Kim sighed, a hand at her forehead. 

  "Just wait and see, Kim," Nick said, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Your son is very talented."

  Kim and Laurence exchanged perplexed looks.

"Well, we already knew that," Maggie said with a sigh. "Just look at him."

  "Shut up, Maggs," Nick said in a rather blasé manner, rolling his eyes. "I'm bored listening to you."

Maggie flipped him the finger across the table when Dimitri and Patricia happened to be looking the other way. 

  I choked back a laugh, trying not to slop water all over the downright gorgeous golden dress I was wearing. God only knows how embarrassing that would've been.

  All of our attentions were snagged yet again when somebody picked up a microphone, clearing their throat.

  It was one of the band members, who seemed to be grinning as he spoke into the microphone.

"Can I have everybody's attention, please?" 

  That was rather unncessary, since we were already fixed on him intently.

He ran a hand through his reddish brown hair before continuing. "We have a rather unsual request here, but could the bride and her father please come to the floor for their first dance?"

  Ashleigh looked thoroughly confused as she set her wine glass down on the table before stepping down to the dance floor, her hands grasping bits of her gorgeous dress. James - Kim's brother and Ashleigh's father - met her in the middle of the dance floor, looking as put together as ever in a dashing black tux. 

  I thought I was about to tip backwards in my chair when I saw that Justin Richards of all people had started playing one of the band member's guitars, his long, thin fingers strumming at the strings with skilled precision. The tune was one that I didn't recognize, but one that the band members obviously did, since they came in as back up a moment later. 

  "He plays the guitar?" I whisper-yelled at Nick, my eyes wide. "Is there anything he doesn't do?"

Nick smirked, giving me a knowing look. "That's not in my place to tell you."

  But then what was even more shocking than Justin playing the guitar was the guy himself actually singing. It made me freeze, watching him in awe.

  As cliché and ridiculous as it sounded, Justin Richards had the voice of an angel.

His voice was husky and deep like it always was when he was talking, but there was a richer, smoother note to it while he sang that wasn't there before. 

 "Awh!" Kim squealed, her hands flying to her face. 

"What?" Maggie, Patricia, Mom, and I all demanded in unison.

 "This is Ashleigh's favorite song," Kim explained, her eyes shining. "I'm surprised Justin even remembered that she wanted to dance to this song with James at her wedding."

  As Ashleigh and James danced rather gracefully and I listened to the lyrics, I realized how fitting they were for the moment - 

 On behalf of every man, looking out for every girl

You are the God and the weight of her world

 I tried hard not to think about how slim to nothing the chance of my dancing with my father at my own wedding was going to be. 

  "Kim, can I ask you something?" I blurted before I could stop myself, my eyes fixed on Ashleigh and James.

Kim glanced over at me with a curious expression. "Of course, Laila."

  "Why did you decide to adopt Justin?"

I had no idea where the question had come from, but it was one that I'd been thinking about a lot lately, and I hoped that Kim didn't think I was broaching on a subject that was going to make her uncomfortable.

   But to my surprise, Kim didn't looked phased at all, even if I felt overly embarrassed.

"Lots of reasons, mainly," Kim sighed, a grim look on her face. "Laurence and I had been married for almost five years, but we were having trouble getting pregnant. The doctors thought that I'd never be able to carry a child to full term. Lots of miscarriages, you see."

  "Kim, I'm sorry," I said, feeling horrible.

I couldn't imagine going through that kind of pain, loosing a child like that. Not just once, but several times.

  Kim gave me a small smile. "Don't be. It was years ago, Laila."

"I know, but still..." I trailed off, biting my lip. 

  Kim gave me another reassuring grin before continuing on with the story in a quiet voice. "Well, since the possibility that Laurence and I would never have any children was highly likely, we decided to adopt. We went through a private adoption agency in Maine - that's where we were living at the time, close to my parents - and found a couple from Ohio who we liked and who seemed sure that adoption was what they were going to choose. We offered for an open adoption, but the girl - she refused. Said she wanted a closed adoption."

 I frowned in thought, wondering why that was. From what I knew, what mother would want to be totally cut off from her child, adopted or not?

  "Why?" I asked Kim slowly.

"Oh, she was so young, Laila," Kim sighed, waving an airy hand. "Probably a little older than you are now. I imagine being in high school and stressing over a child wasn't something she thought she could do."

 So I'd been right, about what I'd said earlier. 

"But she loved Justin."

 I'm not sure where that statement came from, but somehow I knew I was right in saying it.

Kim gave me a leveled look, a curious glint to her brown eyes. "Yes, she did. Very much. It was hard enough being in that hospital room with her when Justin was born. I'm sure not a day goes by where she doesn't think about her son."

  I sat back in my chair, letting all of what I'd just learned sink in. And it was a lot, there was no doubt about that.

   "You don't seem surprised I know," I finally said to Kim with a wry smile.

Kim grinned, taking a sip of her wine. "It was only a matter of time before he told you, Laila."

  Granted, I hadn't learned about his adoption in the most conventional way, but still. 

And that's when Ashleigh and James's father/daughter dance ended, as well as Justin's more than amazing rendition of John Mayer's "Daughters". Yeah, that was going to take a little while to get used to, his whole angel-voice thing. 

 Every wedding guest was clapping profusely and cheering as Justin did a rather exaggerated bow, handing the guitar back to one of the band members.

  You could tell that what he'd done had meant a lot to Ashleigh, since there where tears running down her cheeks while she mouthed a silent thanks to Justin.

 "Sorry if that wasn't up to par with John Mayer's version, Ash," Justin said into the microphone with a grin. "But that's my present to you."

  He made his way back down across the dance floor, towards our table, while the band leader asked Mitch and his mother - Dorthea - to take their turn on the floor. 

  Just as I was about to get to my feet to congratulate Justin on his more than admirable wedding present to Ashleigh, an annoyingly loud preprogrammed ringtone started blarring out of nowhere.

 "That's my cell," I said, completely blank.

  Mom scowled as she grabbed for her purse and came up with my cell phone, still ringing loudly.

"Who is it?" Maggie asked with geuine curiosity. 

  Not that she needed to know.

My fingers were shaking as I forced myself to flip open the phone, swallowing back the lump that had formed in my throat. The last thing I wanted to do was to start crying in front of hundreds of wedding guests.

My voice was barely above a whisper as I held the phone to my ear, listening intently.

  "Dad?"

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   I'm back from vacation early and I managed to find some time to write - which believe me wasn't easy - so I'm hoping this chapter (part) makes up for it somehow. It's insanely late as I'm writing this, so I apologize for any typos ahead of time, and hopefully I'll be able to write more soon.

  Sooo, comments, anybody? (:

Rates, comments, and even reads are so greatly appreciated! (: