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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Jet and I were informed by Tanner that it was customary for the groomsmen to make a speech at the reception; however, we hadn't told the bride and groom about that in all our planning. So, when Tanner held the microphone out to the two of us to choose who went first, Mum cut in. "Tann, they don't have to say anything. You guys have already said enough lovely shit about us."
"We want to, Sade," said Jet, standing up and taking the microphone from Tanner's hands. "We both have speeches prepared and everything." He held out his hand to drag me up, which he actually needed to put some effort into considering I turned rock solid and heavy as hell with the resistance I was putting up.
I looked at the room in front of me, which wasn't really all that big, and was only filled with people I knew fairly well or had at least met once or twice. Ruben's footy mates, for example, I now knew as I had so far been to all of Ruben and Jet's games this season considering they were now playing on the same team. His work mates I also knew, as he sometimes took me to work during the school holidays if he didn't get time off and I promised to stay out of harm's way and wear a hard hat and my work boots at all times. Some of Mum's work friends I didn't know so well, but that was really it. So I don't understand why I was feeling so afraid.
"You've got this, little bro. And I'll be right next to you the whole time," said Jet, squeezing my hand gently. I wondered how long the 'little bro's from Jet were going to last. He was eighteen in a few months, and I would be thirteen a couple months after that. He was almost an adult, and I was almost a teenager, as scary as that seemed, so it didn't seem like there would be all that many left. It made me a little sad, so I tried to avoid looking at him. I'd already cried an ocean worth of tears today, and I didn't think my bloodshot eyes could take losing any more fluid today.
Jet squeezed my hand again and gave me a little tug. "I promise I'll finish it for you if you can't do it, okay?" He was trying so hard to make me as brave as him, but I just had a sinking feeling that I wouldn't be able to do it, and I was even more terrified of Jet reading my speech out because some of it was about him and that would just be weird. He had previously asked me whether I wanted to practise my speech to him to feel more confident, but I refused for that exact reason, and now I'm thinking I either should have done a trial run, or just should have prepared something easier to avoid all this drama.
"Just speak to us, buddy," said Ruben, letting go of Mum briefly to wrap his hands around both Jet and mine together. There was always something magical about Ruben that I could never describe with words. Just like it had when we were waiting for Bree at Greenies last year, his touch instantly soothed me and made the prospect of public speaking so much less daunting, and I willingly walked with Jet away from our seats.
"Yeah, Madd!" praised Jet, patting me on the back. We stood just to the side of the table where the other speakers had been, both unfolding our respective speeches slowly. It was reassuring to know that Jet's hands seemed to be shaking as much as mine were. "Want me to go first?"
