Life As I Know It (Completed)

Chapter Seven - Happy Families

           It was Saturday and Mum and I were spending the day with Jack and Drew at a carnival. I’d hardly seen her the past few days as she'd had an important case she was working on, and so it was great that we’d get to spend some time together.

           “Come on, sweetie,” Mum called out from the hallway. I quickly swallowed the last bite of my cereal before grabbing this really cute black leather jacket that I'd bought a few weeks ago, and followed her out the front door.

           I opened the door to Mum's Audi and picked up some bridal magazines that were on the passenger seat. I threw them onto the backseat and turned on the radio. I looked at Mum as she smiled happily at nothing in particular as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

           “I know I told you that Jack and I are planning on having a long engagement, but I want to start the wedding planning immediately. I just want to have a spectacular wedding, seeing as I didn't have the chance to the first time I got married," Mum told me. She'd been really young when she'd married my dad, when I was three months old, and they hadn't had a lot of money.

           "That's great, Mum. You should do whatever you want, it is your wedding!" I told her, marvelling at her bright mood, as well as her attire. 

          She was wearing a blue sleeveless button-down shirt that she had tucked into some blue jeans. She looked great even though her clothes were so casual. It was actually really great to see her dressed so comfortably. She worked as a lawyer at a local law firm and normally wore suits to work and didn't bother to change after she got back. She was usually always dressed immaculately, with her hair and make-up done flawlessly. I’m not saying she didn’t look good, she did, but she usually popped by her office every day, and so dressed as though she was going to present a case any minute.

          I think she became a workaholic after my granddad passed away six years ago. My grandma and him had lived in France for as long as I could remember and so I hard hardly known them back then. After he passed away, Mum had taken it really hard, and Grandma had moved nearby.

          "You're such a sweetheart, Ellie. You don't think I'm too old to be having a big wedding do you?" 

           “No of course not. You're still in your thirties Mum, and most women get married at that age for the first time. You're not old at all!"

           “Thanks, darling." She smiled at me with affection, appeased, and for once her eyelashes were without mascara and her lids without any eye shadow. I couldn’t say the same. My outfit was fairly dark and so to counteract that, I was wearing bright red lipstick on my lips, but that was the only makeup I wore.

          The carnival wasn’t that far away from home – it was at a local park – and before I knew it, we were there. After Mum found a parking space and manoeuvred the car into it, we walked towards the park. I saw Drew as we approached. He was leaning against a wall and he was dressed all in black. I could see a few girls eye him up and down as they walked past; he however seemed oblivious to the attention as he scowled at the floor. Jack stood next to him, beaming at Mum.

           “Hey guys,” I greeted them as we walked closer. Jack drew Mum into his arms and leaned down to give her a kiss. Okaaaaaay. That was kind of weird and gross, seeing that. Drew's scowl became more pronounced.

          I smiled at the two, pushing past my awkwardness.

           “Hey, Ellie,” Jack smiled at me in greeting, after pulling away from Mum. His eyes were alight with excitement and he was positively bouncing on his feet. “Come on, let’s go in.”