Braver Than I Used to Be

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"I'll take the bad luck cake." Marie said.

"It's yours." Ray said to her.

"Matthew, where are you getting the money for all these rings?" I said. He bought me two rings in less than two months, and they were pretty expensive for an eighteen-year-old.

"Well the one now, I have been saving up for from allowance, I was just going to hold on to it once I paid it off. The other one, my mom gave me the money to buy so I could pay for this ring today."

"Your mom knows?"

"Oh yeah, she is all for it." Matthew smiled.

"You should have invited her. She's the only mom I have now."

"She wanted to, I had to fight her off with a stick not to come. She will probably show up soon anyways. She was way too excited to listen to me. I wanted it to be just us and Marie." He looked over at Marie, "No offense."

"None taken, I am being paid to be here."

It was minutes into us eating cake when the doorbell rang.

"There she is." Matthew said and went to get the door.

"Did I miss it!" I could hear Diane from the doorway.

Matthew showed her back to the dining room where we were having cake.

"Hi Mrs. Picton" I smiled.

"Don't hi Mrs. Picton me! Get over here and give me a hug!" She scooped me up into a tight bear hug. "You listen to me, you call me Diane now, no more of that Mrs. Picton stuff, you're family now."

I laughed, "Yes, ma'am."

"Let me see!"

I showed her my ring and she gasped, "Matthew, this one is beautiful."

"Do you want some cake?" I offered her, "We have to eat from the smiley face one. The sad face one Marie is going to keep."

Diane helped herself to some cake and we showed her around the house. Matthew had told me he told his Mom about my Dad, well a made-up version of what happened. Which I was thankful for because I was sure she would have asked about him at some point.

It was still weird, even though my Dad wasn't around much, to think he just wasn't coming back was hard.

I worked my ass off the rest of the school year to get to the top of my class and Matthew worked hard too. For some reason with no adults to guide us or tell any of us what to do, we worked better at life. I think it was because we knew if we failed, we had no one to fall back on. Well Ray and I didn't, Matthew had his parents, but Matthew considered us all as one.

About half way through senior year we all decided to find part-time jobs. Not that we needed the money, but we needed skills, something we have never been made to realize before we were left alone.

It was our first time really being separated since we got together. All four of us worked at different places with different schedules. However, at the end of each day, we all came home to each other and talked about our day. Victor sometimes went home, other nights he stayed. If he stayed too many nights his Mom would call and demand he stay home for a few days because she didn't want him to think he had moved out.

I worked at the local grocery store as a cashier, Ray worked at an auto body shop. I wasn't sure how he got the job, he had no experience at all, but they said they would give him a chance and train him up. Matthew worked at a retail store and sold more credit cards than anyone there. I mean who could say no to him. Victor started working with his Dad laying tile flooring down.

Soon all of our money came together to take care of the bills and groceries and anything else any of us needed. I saved the money in the storage for anything big like getting car parts so Ray could fix the cars. Or the time the TV broke and we needed a new one. I was the only one that knew how much money we had, so when we didn't have money for something, they came to me and I took care of it.

It was funny how I was the one looking to Ray for everything. There was not one decision I could make without looking to him for guidance. All it took was my life completely falling apart for me to realize that I could make my own decisions and be an adult. Now, I was managing our money and held our family's deepest secret. I was equal now.

A week after graduation Matthew and I had planned a small ceremony at our house. Both sides of my family came down and all of Matthew's siblings and aunts and uncles came as well. I invited Janice, it was her first time meeting my family.

I had visited with her a few more times throughout my Senior year and talked to her about all the changes going on. She had become like the mother I wish I had. I spent time with her watching movies and just talking and that was all I really wanted from my real Mom.

Diane and I had planned this ceremony all year and it was perfect. I didn't like big parties, so we kept it to the people that were important to us. Both of our families and Victor's family. It was about fifty people all together. After we said our I Dos we had our first husband and wife dance. Our song was the song he first sang to me in the ice cream shop and that day at the talent show. As we danced, he held me close and I rested my head on his chest and he sang softly into my ear.

When the song was finished, I picked my head up and kissed him after he wiped my tears away.

"I love you so much." I said to him and he still looked at me with that passion in his eyes that told me I was the only person in the world.

"I love you too."

A few members of both of our families thought we were too young, including Matthew's father, but when they saw us together, they laid their doubts to rest. Matthew and I were meant to be together, and there was no way anyone could say otherwise.