April's POV
"Where are Emma and Carlos? I haven't seen them ages – they weren't even at the pack meeting."
The boys looked at one another in unison and I frowned again. What the hell was going on with them? "Okay, if you guys are done checking each other out," Donna signalled to the boys who grinned at each other, "then can we get back to the question?"
"I don't know." Beau said, shifting his eyes away. He was lying!
Barbara whispered something in his ear and glared. "I don't know! They've gone down to the coast, that's all I know, I swear!"
Then, as though fate was welcoming them, they appeared at the edge of the woods. Speak of the devils," I grinned. I made a move as though to stand, but two hands grabbed me and pulled me back down again. I turned and glared at Aiden. "I'm going to say hello to them."
"I know."
"So why did you pull me down again?"
He pouted. "Oh come on. I don't think you want to do that. Wait until they reach us. It's worth it."
"What?" I shook my head in exasperation.
"Just wait, they're nearly here." Aiden glanced up again and sure enough, there they were, Emma smiling like a Cheshire cat, from ear-to-ear. Carlos was besides her, his cheeks flushed.
Then, Emma produced her hand from behind her back and it took me several moments to process what she had just done. Upon her finger was a glinting ring – it caught the light and pulsed with colours, winking at us all – a giant sparkler the size of a small pebble. A ring.
My reaction was a tad too slow. Almost instantaneously, Nina and Barbara and an awkward Donna jumped up, making exclamations. Beau and Diego were clapping Carlos on the back.
"What? No congratulations or hugs?" Aiden whispered. I glanced around wildly and found that we were the only two sitting.
"No." I shook my head in a daze. "I'm shocked. And happy. Yes, definitely happy." I jumped to my feet and pulled up Aiden by the hand, turning to face him. "I'm happy for them."
Then, we separated, Aiden veering toward the huddle of boys and I toward the squealing girls, all bustled around the ring. Emma thrust her hand into the middle of the circle so we could all coo at the ring and then, the questions were fired:
"You're engaged!"
Emma: "I know!"
"What? How? When? Give us details, woman!" Nina yodelled.
Emma sighed, her hands trembling ever so slightly – even her voice was shaky. "Well, Carlos said we were going to the coast for a getaway vacation. We reached and it was great, but he was still acting up and so, naturally, I was worried that he came there to tell me something was wrong. But, then, on dinner one night, I had enough and I threw my napkin at him and shouted at him to stop being such a sissy. Then, he pulled out a ring and I fell silent. He wanted to propose all that time and I shouted at the poor thing. It was - it was the best."
"That is adorable."
"At least you weren't spending your time in the woods with nothing but your Calvin's." Donna interjected nervously.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment."
Donna shrugged and her eyes lowered. "Congratulations Emma. You and Carlos deserve it." Emma smiled sincerely in response and a small, welcome silent settled over us before Diego dragged Emma out to give her a bear hug.
I glanced over and found Aiden, actually looking genuinely pleased, hugging Emma and whispering something in her ear. She recoiled back, her mouth agape. "You knew?"
Daniel laughed and answered: "We all knew!"
"Wait, knew what?" Barbara frowned and looked up.
"Well - well the boys knew about what Carlos was going to do." Diego admitted sheepishly.
"What? You knew Carlos was going to propose?" I interrupted, my eyes widening. "Is that why you were acting like total wusses that day?" I recalled, remembering the way Carlos had looked like he wanted to puke up and the boys had rushed off with him somewhere.
"Hey! We were not acting like... wusses!" Daniel retorted. "Whatever that word means," he muttered to himself. I pulled a face at him and rolled my eyes at the so called intimidating look he was now giving me in a bid to make me apologise.
Carlos pouted at Emma's expression and kissed her fully to all of our dismays. Instantly, Diego leaped over to me and covered my hands with both hands. "Hey! We have a minor amongst us!"
"I am not a child!"
"So you're not pissed that we knew?" Aiden asked, ignoring our bickering, his brow creasing. It looked absolutely adorable.
"No." Emma laughed, shaking her head. "I'm just happy. Totally happy." Carlos had stepped behind her now and she leaned against him, his arms wrapping around her. He smiled down at her and pecked her on the lips carefully again, this time with less haste because of Diego's stupid warning.
"Ew. Keep it PG14 – April's in our presence." Beau said, ruffling my hair. I glared at the not funny joke and shoved him in the ribs. Idiot.
"Damn guys. There's no going back now. You're stuck together for life." Daniel tutted, grinning as he brought a beer to his lips.
"We were stuck together for life when we became mates." Carlos replied, not breaking his gaze from Emma.
I felt myself half smile, half cringe at the words. I was never one for words of love or commitment – I rolled solo. And occasionally let Aiden tag along of course now that we were mates.
"When's the wedding?"
Emma and Carlos cleared their throat in unison. "A week." Instantaneously, a ripple of shock passed over us. "I know, I know. It's fast. But it's what we want. Friends and close family only. No-one else. We've waited so long for this – I don't even want a big affair, just her. It'll probably be on the beach, where we met."
"What about a dress? You need a dress! Versace can't make you one in a week, Emma! Oh geez, I feel my blood pressure rising like a bitch." Nina clutched her forehead dramatically.
I laughed awkwardly. "Why Versace?"
Nina stared at me. "April. What kind of a question is that? It has to be Versace!"
"It's a girl's best friend," Donna agreed, nodding her head at a thoughtful Barbara and Nina, now peering at one another curiously as though mentally arranging it in their heads.
"Guys, we'll work it out. Remember, we want it small." Emma shot Nina and Barbara a look here. "April, I'm relying on you to be the antagonist in this – shoot down any unrealistic ideas, okay?" I grinned - it would be a dream to be able to boss Nina and Barbara around.
"So it's on the beach?" Aiden asked, his voice not giving away any hints of excitment. I shot him a glare to mentally tell him to perk up and smile a bit. Honestly, I don't think weddings were really his thing either – or happy things in general... I wasn't sure.
Carlos nodded. "In a week, on the beach. It's only going to be small. Half the pack won't even be invited. We don't want a grand affair." He reinstated as he shot each of us a warning look.
Emma tapped me on the shoulder and I turned, swallowing. "Hey." I greeted awkwardly, not knowing where to look or suddenly knowing how to put my thoughts into words.
"Hi."
"Congratulations," I said.
She stared at me weirdly. "Ap, you already congratulated us."
Oh. Instead, I said: "You're getting married. Wow." An awkward pause, before I sighed. "You and Carlos deserve it, Em. Honestly, you really do." I said genuinely, giving her a small smile.
She smiled uneasily, her breathing quickening. "I guess it's only just dawned on me that planning a wedding in a week is practically nothing."
"Actually," I interjected, "you have 7 whole days, 168 hours and 604800 seconds. I think you'll be just fine. It'll mean you only get the important things done and not the unnecessary things like... I don't know... ribbons."
She laughed loudly. "That's comforting. Thanks. But honestly, Ap. I always knew that a big wedding was something I didn't want. Hell, being mates is practically like being married. You're together for life." I felt my stomach knot up at this, but she carried on, blissfully oblivious to my blind panic. "Me and Carlos have a lot to do, and I know that you guys will help us so much. I have the dress, the bridesmaid's dresses, the process of inviting people. I only have my mum and dad so that's not too bad and Carlos has his brother, parents and grandfather. Then we have you guys and the rest of the general formalities... like making it legal. We also have... the cake." She glanced at me shyly.
"What?"
"I was wondering if you'd do the cake for us. I mean, you said it yourself - you want to open a bakery – you're bound to be a good baker."
I immediately began to shake my head. "No. No way. I can't do that."
Her mouth fell open. "Why not? Oh come on, April, please."
I smiled uneasily, swallowing my selfish thoughts. "I'm warning you, I'm rusty. I haven't baked in a long time. What if I freaking mess up? It's safer ordering one," I mumbled as a warning.
I just hate the pressure of expectations. The prospect of someone expecting something from you and you disappointing is too much for me to bear. Expectations make me sweat like a pig (as gross as that may sound.) "Ap, I believe in you. Please?"
I finally gave in and smiled. "You got it, girl."
"And also.... I was wondering if you'd like to be one of my Maid of Honours." My eyes widened. "I chose two Maid of Honours because I couldn't bring myself to leave anyone out. You and Nina. Donna and Barbara chose to be my bridesmaids."
I leaned back in shock, my eyes bug-like with their wideness. "You're sure?"
She frowned and held me by the shoulder. "April? Are you going to faint on me?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Aiden, who was just walking past, broke in, grinning before he disappeared again.
I mentally slapped myself, scrambling to bring my thoughts together. Bring it together, you idiot.
"I'm dead sure, Ap. You were my first friend, remember?" She said softly, smiling shyly as we recalled that slightly eccentric moment in reminiscence. Then, I felt my cheeks split open into the biggest grin ever.
"Thank you," I whispered, clutching her shoulders and shaking them as my alternative to hugs. Then, I cleared my throat and became serious. "But I'm not too good at organising things and I don't like Bachelorette parties. I'm scarred after watching Rom Com's where a stripper is always hired."
Emma laughed and shoved me gently. "Don't worry. No strippers allowed."
I scoffed, "tell Nina that." I joked, half serious, half playful. No, Nina would actually invite someone called Ramone to be our stripper in honour of the movie, The Proposal.
"Thank you." Emma beamed.
I am a Maid of Honour, I thought, mentally fist pumping, before momentarily conforming to normality and saying:
"Thank you." I smiled back, my stomach churning in anticipation. I was actually looking forward to something – a wedding – I usually avoided attending wedding's because I puked up on the aisle once and then all over the bride's father. It's safe to say they were pissed. So my parents allowed me to stay home whenever there was a wedding. Partially because they were scarred from that incident too and also because I was now known as barf girl.
But hey, I was 17. I was old enough to swallow anti-sickness tablets now and had the responsibility of baking the biggest and best wedding cake. To hell with an upset stomach!