Love at Second Sight

In-Between 3

That one line got Savannah all misty-eyed. She had her own family now. Zac pulled her backward against himself with one arm.

"Hey..."

She turned around and burrowed her head in his shoulders and just stayed there for a while as his arms enveloped her.

"Hey, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Your mom...she—she...she welcomed me to the family. I have my own family now, Zac. Parents that I lost and two younger siblings to someone who was always the youngest. I am so happy, Zac, so, so happy."

—x—

Zac wrapped his arms around his fiancée's middle as she got ready and nuzzled her neck. She twisted.

"I am ticklish, Zac."

"And you're beautiful." His reflection smiled at her from the mirror, eyes full of adoration and love. For her.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Sifton. But, well, to be honest, I've never worn something this bold," she admitted, studying her outfit in the mirror with nervousness.

Sensing her apprehension, he made a show of checking her out like a stranger at a club would. His eyes lingered longer at the plunging neckline of her black shimmery cocktail gown, and then at the mid-thing slit at her right leg.

She looked gorgeous. Absolutely mesmerizing.

"Well, I couldn't have guessed that. You are absolutely rocking it, ma'am. Killin' it!"

"Thank God then. But seriously, do I look okay?"

"You look gorgeous, Reece. Let's go."

One hour into the party, she hadn't seen one familiar face. All were Zac's friends or relatives, people she's never seen in her life. She just hoped she'd see someone she knew.

"Hey, sis-in-law, looking pretty, huh," she heard Stella whisper behind her. Oh, thank God. Stella was here.

"Thank God for you. There's not one person I know here. Plus socializing isn't my scene at all. And look at Zac, he's doing it all with such ease."

"Uh, yeah. It's some weird innate talent he has. Neither me, nor Rhett have it. The black sheep, our Zacky boy. You bored?"

Savannah gave her a wide-eyed look. She couldn't say she was bored! That was rude.

"Aw, come on, it's not rude. Are you bored?"

"Um, well, yeah, I am."

"Okay." She looked around, and then raised her hand in a wave. "Hey, big bro, is this how you leave your fiancée?" she yelled out loud for everyone to hear.

Complete mortification.

Suddenly Zac nudged her shoulder. "Why are you standing alone here?"

She glared at him. "Hello, sir, you left me here and went around socializing. What am I supposed to do?"

He rubbed the nape of his neck. "I did? I did, okay. Well, come, let's introduce you to my favorite relative. My mom's sister."

Just as the words spilled out of his mouth, someone cleared their throat from behind them.

"So, what, you aren't gonna introduce me to your girl?" a voice very similar to Clair's asked.

"Aunt Clara." As Zac turned around, a spitting image of Clair came into Savannah's view. Literally a carbon copy. "Reece, meet my aunt, Clara. My mom's twin sister."

Twin! That would explain the identical faces.

"Uh, hi."

Zac's aunt laughed out loud and patted Zac's back. "You got yourself a cute one. I like her."

"Right? I know. She's just the sweetest, most adorable person I know."

They spoke for a bit before Clara said she wanted to talk to her sister and left.

"So, Zac, how did you guys differentiate between them when you were young?"

"By their names, obviously." He laughed. She sported such a fine quizzical look at that statement, he had to elaborate. "Sweetheart, naturally, they both know who's who. My mom knows she's my mom, and my aunt knows she's my aunt. So when you simply call them out by their respective names or pronouns, they respond properly. That's it."

"Oh, yeah..." she trailed off. "That's mad smart, Zac," she told him, laughing at her stupidity. "I'm so dumb sometimes. I can't believe myself."

"Oh yes, you can be really ridiculous at times, but then again, you're my dumb, and I love you very, very much."

She simply gave him her signature smile filled with so much adoration and love, he just had to gather her close and snuggle her against him even in a room full of people. He didn't care if people were watching. Actually, on second thought, he wanted them to see and understand that this magnificent woman was his, for now and forever.

Fuck you. All of you. 

—x—

Timeline: Same day as the previous chapter. 

I don't know how many more In-Betweens will be drafted on my end for sure, but I do know I'm surely going to post three more at least, because I have solid ideas for those, and I'm certain y'all are gonna love those three. Also, I know it's been really long since I last posted, but I have my exams going on, plus I'm gonna be graduating highschool in two months so I'm (kinda sorta) studying hard for that. Ergo, the posts further are also gonna be slow, please bear with me, though. 

I hope you enjoyed the third In-Between. Please vote and comment if you did. 

Thank you!!

Until next time...