Madden Jace Carter has spent his whole life waiting for the day he could finally call his Aunt Sadie his mother.
Having been raised from birth by Sadie - a woman who has unfortunately experienced too much of the darker side of life and love - Madden...
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Eight months later.
I'm not really one for public speaking.
Ironic, I know, considering I am a major smartass like my brother and everyone seems to think I'm a natural comedian. But the reality is, the idea of talking in front of large groups of people scares the hell out of me, especially when these people are my closest friends and family, and it's such a fancy event like my mother's wedding.
At least there was still a few people ahead of me to help me settle and prepare. My uncles and aunt, for example, who are warming up the small crowd with stories of Mum and Ruben from when they were teenagers, like when Ruben used to sneak into Mum's bedroom in the middle of the night and how they felt grossed out watching them kiss for the first time at the beach.
Uncle Landon currently held the microphone, and was regaling everyone with the story of the time he first met my mother.
"I was sixteen when I met Sadie down at our old haunt of Belgrave skate park. Some of you might not know this, but Sadie shreds. Nowhere near as hard as me, of course," he said mockingly, "but she took to skating a lot easier than I thought she would in her skinny jeans and oversized footy jumpers, which I later learned had previously belonged to her now-husband, Ruben.
"Despite being surrounded by people that thought she couldn't do it, Sadie never gave up. She defied all odds and expectations of her, as a girl, as a skater, and as a mother. That's the type of woman she is—fierce and persistent and so incredibly resilient.
"I've seen Sadie at her worst. I've watched her struggle for years and listened to her cry for hours on end. I've seen her deal with heartache and watched her break before my very eyes. But I will never, ever forget the day I saw her become whole again.
"She showed up at my doorstep after work one day, and she smiled the easiest and most natural smile I'd seen in all the years I'd known her. I didn't say anything about that smile because I didn't want to jinx it and I wanted it to remain on her face for as long as possible, because nothing has ever made her look more beautiful . . . until today, of course," he winked over at Mum briefly.
"After a while she said to me: 'Landon, I found him.'
"Even though I never officially met 'him' when we were all young, I knew who she was talking about before she even said it. The only man, apart from my handsome nephew, who could put that smile on her face was Ruben Foster. She didn't talk about him often over the years, but when she did, there was no hiding the way her eyes lit up just thinking about him.
"I admit, being the overprotective friend I am, I struggled with the thought of someone stealing my girl away from me. But if I were to lose her to anyone, Ruben, I would want it to be you every time. If I thought I loved her before when she was just my dearest friend and sister-in-law, it was nothing compared to the love that grew for her when she found you again and became an altogether more complete and stunning version of herself. You made all the beautiful things about her more beautiful, and you made her grow stronger than ever. I can never thank you enough for that," Uncle Landon clasped his hands together in thanks and bowed briefly to Ruben beside me.
