The splash of color to the wedding party was fantastic to most, annoying to some, and a horror to others. Eddie's family consisted of the others. And while Sara was not entirely pleased to get red water to splat across her Ralph Lauren dress, she couldn't help but laugh as she saw both Sam and Ben corner her husband at the edge of the cliff and get him drenched in every color of the rainbow.
Jade ran for her life against Lucy who had a new flare of red to her face that only seemed to make her more intimidating to Rosie's eyes as she watched the commotion go on with little fanfare. James and Daniel were watching all of this while joking about pushing Cody over the edge if it wasn't dangerous.
And Eleonora had her lady in staff stand directly in front of her so as to take most of the colored water.
When the wedding transferred over to the reception, all the bridesmaids looked multicolored with only a little bit of white left to show on their dresses. Zoë's skin and part of her dress held the color of the water, making her look even more radiant after the ceremony and Eddie was crying like a baby, saying he was so happy. Cody, Ben and Sam stood judging him from a corner, unsure how their band of brothers could allow such a pip squeak into their clan.
The reception was held in an open courtyard, hosted by a catering company, known for making excellent fish and chips, so naturally, that was the main food on the menu. Eleonora was not exactly pleased with how cheap this idea was but stopped talking moments after she had finished her first plate and went on for a second.
Lucy sat almost totally mute next to her parents while she watched the rest of the Emerson clan write out speeches to each other and mock one another over glasses of champagne and vodka. While her parents noticed the change in tide, neither of them asked her anything, knowing that Lucy always preferred to be angry in quiet. Over on the opposite side of the party, everyone except Ben did not notice Sam's change in mood. It got to the point where his family was so bluntly unaware of his mood that it made him feel even worse which only prompted Ben to drag Sam away from the mess of dinner and get a drink with him. Sam was not in the mood to drink but was fine with leaving the table where he had been watching Jade spend the majority of her time chatting it up to Todd, unaware of her friend sitting quietly with her own family alone.
"What did you do?" Ben asked after getting a pint of beer that he was now only too happy to sip on as he watched his brother. Sam shrugged idly as he watched the people around them, mostly family from Eddie's side.
"Pissed off Lucy."
"And?" Ben went on. Sam turned on his brother, unsure of what else to say.
"Nothing. We are just angry at each other."
"Did you apologize?" Ben asked. Sam shook his head.
"There's nothing to apologize over-"
"Lucy is a girl. There is always something to apologize over. If she's upset just apologize. It doesn't matter if you're in the wrong or if she is, just apologize. It'll make you both feel better." Sam was eyeing his brother in complete disarray.
"When did you become the master about apologizes? Ben took a big swing of his beer before answering the question.
"Do you want to know how many late night calls I've had with Cici so far that just consisted of her explaining the mind of a girl? It is a terrifyingly large number. So apologize to her. She will like you better afterwards."
"Who likes Sam after this?" Cody had appeared, still damp from the water gun battle but in just as good spirits as before. A glass of half filled beer was in one hand and a piece of fish was in the other. He was all smiles as he came up to his favorite nephews.
"Who is it, Sammie?" For once in his life, Sam felt ready to plummet his uncle. Thankfully for Cody, his nephew has some mental discipline left in him. But Ben was still Ben and so he was the one to answer quickly with her name, Lucy.
"Wait really? The pair of you are actually a thing? Wait a moment.. does your mother know? Because I don't think she knows.."
"Will you both shut up and just don't talk about it please,"
"Ah I see her now. Wow she looks angry. What did you do, Sammie?" Cody asked as he went almost on tip-toe to look over his overly tall nephews toward where Lucy sat looking glum.
"Supposedly it was his fault. He needs to apologize or else.." Ben went on. Cody nodded in agreement.
"Boy, listen to your brother. He has learned the rule that all guys must learn at some point. Otherwise they will never get laid." The want to hit his uncle had suddenly grown exponentially to the point where he turned in toward his Uncle with a glare.
"If the pair of you keep looking at her, she's going to notice-"
"You mean like now?" Sam spun his attention over to her table and saw her glaring their way. Cody waved at her making her face go red and taking her glass with her, left the table in a huff of fury.
"Shit. I hate you both," Sam muttered as he walked off after her.
"Love you too nephew!" Cody called back.
"Ooh that rhymed!" Ben said excitedly. The pair of them laughed, clinked their glasses and then downed the rest of the beer happily.
Lucy on the other hand was down right furious at Sam. First she told him her thoughts which he had been begging to hear her tell him and then he shut her down, calling her insane to think such things. And then, when she had told him the one thing that made her the most upset, the families gossiping about her and him, he went ahead and told Cody, like the smart ass he was.
She was over it. She was done. She hated him. Lucy was done right pissed off with ever looking at him in any light other then brother of friend: no touchy.
She walked out into a fenced off garden area filled with boxes from the restaurants turned around the garden. There was a wall a little over six feet high and next to it a bench, easily climbable.
It wasn't like she didn't know that Sam was coming for her. Of course he would. Cody would make him go talk to her. And she was really not in the mood to hear some screwed up apology at the moment. So, instead of waiting in the garden for him to come find her, she climbed up on the bench and with a large jump up, pulled herself over the fence and jumped out to the other side. She had just made it over when she heard him mutter from the garden "You have got to be kidding me, Lucy."
That seemed to help Lucy's pride a bit. She walked off, along the edge between the two buildings hoping to get lost in the crowd of people before he got over the fence and was close to doing so when he of course ended up right next to her in the street with tourists all around.
"If you are here to say some stupid apology that you don't even mean then keep it to yourself. I don't want to hear it," She muttered darkly. Sam was a little surprised at her knowledge of his plan but also a little relieved.
"Truth is, I don't want to apologize to you. I did nothing wrong."
"If telling Cody about my drama is not wrong to you then let me tell you-"
"Oh stop being a drama queen. I didn't tell him, Ben did. Do you honestly see me telling him about your self-conscious thoughts?" Lucy's turned to glare back at Sam.
"Stop judging me."
"I'm not judging you."
"Yes you are! I hear it in your voice?"
"My voice? It's my voice. We all have our own free voices to use. You're just imagining things."
"I swear to god Sam, if you keep this up I'm going to hit you." Lucy warned as she turned off from the main street and into the grove where the reception was being held. Lucy intended to move on back toward her family's table, now obviously aware that she should never have left when Sam took her arm and pulled her back toward the gate, away from prying eyes.
"I see you're point about Eleonora."
Silence.
"Oh? And what, still going to bash me for believing it?" The two were watching each other expectantly.
"No, I don't believe it but I can see how you can believe it. Trust me when I say, Eleonora has no time for such ideas and better yet, she's a terrible judge of character. That woman has never trusted your family because she finds it weird how your mom and my mom somehow decided to live so close together and still be friends after so many years. She finds that weird."
There was another silence, but this time with less tension.
"Well, she's not wrong. It is pretty weird," Lucy guessed, "but to call us out like that and to just randomly accept Todd-"
"She does that to keep her life interesting, Lucy. The woman has no real friends in her life. All she does now is travel while she still can to visit people who live in those areas. At one point, she'll get too old to be able to travel and then all of those friends will be gone." Lucy frowned, trying to understand the point he was making.
"And so?"
"And so she is trying to reconnect with the family here, one great-grandchild at a time. Todd was her way of connecting back with Jade. I assume that at some point she will do something for the rest of my cousins as time goes on," Sam guessed as he turned back to face Lucy.
"Are you angry at me still?" He asked. Lucy shook her head but kept her eyes to the ground.
"No, now I just feel stupid about thinking all of this through." Sam smiled down at her and chuckled unexpectantly. Lucy glanced up at him and slowly a small smile appeared as well.
"So are we okay?" Lucy shrugged.
"Yes but I don't know about any "we" business. You are leaving soon for college and least I say more about how your mother and my mother will blow this way out of proportion?" Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes making Lucy laugh.
"Like we aren't already used to that?" Lucy shrugged again but she was still smiling, this time seeming much more carefree about standing so near to him.
"But college, Sam. This would not work out there. It's never a good idea to start a relationship right before college starts," Lucy said quickly. Sam watched her start to play with her hands, interlocking them and releasing them again and again in front of her, another barrier.
"You speak as if I will be going to college. This caught Lucy's attention, making her stop playing with her hands and drop the nerves for just a moment to stare opened mouthed at him.
"You're not going to college? But Sam you're studies-" Sam gently took both of her hands into his and pulled her forward.
"The cost to go to Carniege on top of the price to fly out to Pittsburgh every year will be something my parents nor I can afford without going into mountain loads of debt that will only set me back more than I need. Trust me Luce, I'm fine with this choice. And you should be too. I get to spend more time with you here. Maybe I can start working full time at the garage?" Lucy stood there, suddenly feeling empty about this. All of this. Yes, she wanted Sam here with her but no, she did not want him to stop his education. She knew he did well with his studies in school and that not going to college will always keep him down lower then he deserves.
"Have you told Eleonora?" Sam stopped midrant to pause in thought.
"She likes me the most for not coming after her for money. I'd like to keep it that way, Lucy." Lucy was still unsure about this plan but Sam had had enough of this conversation.
"Come on, I hear Uncle Cody starting some trouble." And with that, he pulled her along after him, back to the party.
While that pair had been off sorting things out, back at the party, Cody had started feeling the energy of the party slowly drop to an all out low and was getting worried. Zoë deserved better than this if this was her last day as a true Emerson. After taking a good look at Eddie's family he had decided that this wedding was going to be the last big crazy Emerson get to gather for awhile and so he wanted to make it special. He just wasn't sure how. That is, until he counted and then asked the pub boy how drinking games worked at this pub and then a firm plan came in to being.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, May I have your attention."
"Jesus Christ, what is Dad doing," Aria muttered as she stopped to turn toward her father who decided to stand up on top of his chair, looking utterly ridiculous. But even so, he had gained everyone's attention.
"As a last parting gift to my lovely older sister over here," Cody said, nodding to Zoë who was watching this go down with a mischievous smile plastered on her face, "I have come up with an excellent plan that involves alcohol."
Suddenly the entire Emerson clan of the family erupted into hoots of approval and excitement as to what was to come, the bride included.
"I suggest that we make two teams. Parents versus their children. Let us see if the younger generation can drink us under the table or do we still have the power in the room! What do you all think?"
An even greater eruption of laughter and hoots of approval were heard from the children and the adults on the Emerson side while Eddie's family looked flabbergasted at such an idea.
"I don't think that is such a good idea young man," One of the ladies, Eddie's aunt, said quickly, standing up to face the crowd. All the children of the Emerson's side started to boo uncontrollably, all lead by Jade and Ivy of all people. But it was the bride herself who made the last call.
"As it is my wedding night I shall decide what goes on and I think my brother has come up with a perfect idea. Boys!", she said pointing to the bartenders, "set them up!" Immediately the bartenders got to work, setting up pints of Guinness beer while Todd, Cody, Ben and James got to work moving tables together and situating chairs all around. At this point in time, many of Eddie's family members had started to depart, calling this game sacrilegious. The spare few who stayed were only more than happy to join, and even started carrying pints of beer to the tables to start.
"Okay Okay! I have the game. Let me explain," Tobie said, appearing in front of the parents on the right side and the children on the other. All eyes turned to Tobie.
"We will start with the first group here. Lucy and Daniel against both of their parents. The four of them will start by each person chugging their first pint of beer. After you finish you can choose to tap out or continue on. If you vomit, you're out. If you faint you are out. After one family is finished, we will add which side wins and continue on to the next family. Understand?"
Everyone started getting rowdy as Daniel and Lucy sat down on one side of the table and James and Rosie sat down on the opposite side. James was laughing as Cody started to trash talk Daniel from the sidelines and Elle stood right next to Rosie, backing her up while Jade and Ivy stood next to Lucy backing her up.
The first pints were served and when Tobie counted down from three the four picked up their pints and started chugging.
Rosie was the surprise of this round, chugging the pint down all the way first, making Elle scream so loud that it caused Rosie to cover her ears and look at Elle crazily. Daniel was next followed quickly after by James and then Lucy, who all though took her time, was able to stand after her turn just fine, unlike Rosie who immeaditly tapped out, causing Elle to mutter a full string of curse words.
"All right, bring the next set!"
More pints were placed and the drinking began. This time, Lucy tapped out at half way, unable to finish the next one, causing Ivy and Jade to call her a light weight. Both boys finished, and started talking back and forth about each other's mothers, making Rosie call out her son.
The next pints came and Daniel finished first and stood up with only a slight wilt, unlike his father who upon finishing the pint tapped out, saying he was at his amount.
"Team Young Generation wins this round," Tobie called out. "Next up, the Emersons!"
Two more chairs were set into place on the children's side as the four Emerson girls took their places. Sara was looking widely out of her element but sat herself down next to her gloating husband who was being cat called and flagged down by his nephews and James and Rob.
"Go ClarkBITCH!" Elle called from the crowd making Sara facepalm.
"Hey Cody, try not to get beat by any of your daughters okay? That would be embarrassing," Ben ventured as he patted his uncle on the back supportingly.
"Yeah, thanks for that Ben. Get lost."
The Pints were settled, the count down marked and the drinks were snatched. Cody finished first, followed by Sara, then Scar, Beth, Clary and finally Aria who upon standing up after her first pint, quickly fell back into her seat and tapped out.
"Makes sense. The girl is 15. Hasn't had much to drink yet," Cody stated as he waved his daughter goodbye.
"Next set!"
More beer was placed down and this time when the beer was chugged, Cody and Sara finished at the same time, followed closely behind by Beth, Clary and finally Scar. No one budged this time, causing both Sara and Cody to exchange quick looks of horror and surprise before asking for another round.
This round Clary got out within the halfway mark of her pint and Scar followed after she finished her third. But both girls got clapping cheers at getting through two, causing Lucy to call out she was similar to them and should have not have been booed if they weren't. Jade just stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth and turned back to the game.
The next round (number four), was close, yet surprising. Sara finished first, her face red but her smile still there, followed behind by Cody and then Beth who was quick to tap out after finishing. Both parents clapped for Beth before realizing that team Old generation had won this round.
"Okay, next up we have-"
"Hold up, Tobie. I want to see which one of us is the winner here. Me or Sara. Another round!" Cody called out. Tobie glanced at the crowd for reactions and saw Elle being the most drastic of the lot and so, two more pints were put on the table, as Cody tried to trash talk his wife who was at this point in time laughing so hard, her eyes were watering.
Pints were placed, countdown was marked and the chugging began. As they went, two sides of the crowd showed their allegiance.
"Come on, Cody. Don't lose to your wife!"
"Go ClarkBitch, dominate my stupid brother!"
They both finished, only moments around each other, with Sara leading. They were made to stand up and this time, even though Sara was very wavy, Cody tapped out, causing all of the boys to scream out in defeat while Sara and Elle screamed with joy.
"Cody your wife drinks you under the table. How does that feel?"
"It's why I married her, you giant stack of shhit!" He slurred back before walking off to the side with Sara in tow. Tobie was watching this go down wide-eyed, before turned back to the group.
"Can I have the Landrith clan, please."
This was the big moment everyone had been waiting for. Rob and Elle took their seats and looked at each other with unease as they turned to watch their daughter get pumped up by the crowd before taking her seat followed closely by thing 1 and thing 2, who shared similar glimmering looks of glee and then came Jade who sat stone cold, ready to start.
"Elle, I think we've created a power house," Rob muttered as Tobie started placing pints in front of everyone. Elle shrugged.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, who's on our side?" She called out turning to the crowd. Rosie was swaying happily while calling out to Elle that she would win. On the opposite side, Lucy and Daniel were routing for the kids side, not caring who would win.
"Either way, I expect at least one of them to not stop until vomiting," Tobie muttered, as he turned to Lucy. She snickered but nodded in agreement.
"Three, two one, DRINK!"
It was amazing to say that all six Landriths were able to drink their pints without a sweat for the first three rounds without either one of them needing to tap out. It sure got the crowd going, with the bride shrieking for her sister to win.
Fourth round came around and this time, upon finishing, Rob fell off his chair as he rocked back and so he was tapped out.
"Weak! I married a weakling!" Elle called out to her husbands passed out form. "Now were's my beer?"
Fifth round came and after everyone chugged down their lot it came to Elle first, Ivy second, Sam and Ben came next followed by Jade, who after her fifth, tapped out. She was swaying so bad that Todd had to be there to catch her before she fell to the ground.
"Sixth round coming up!" Tobie said, his smile huge as he passed the drinks around.
"Three two one, Drink!"
It started out mostly the same until Ben suddenly halted and then turned to the side and vomited all over the floor behind him and Ivy. This caused Ivy to gag but continue on. Sam finished first behind his mother with a confident smile on his face.
"We all knew it was going to be Ben who would go too far. We all did." Ivy and Elle both nodded in agreement, causing the rest of the crowd to laugh.
"And now we are going into our seventh round!"
Lucy appeared next to Sam and asked him if he was really doing alright which he answered by turning to her and quickly kissing her gently on the mouth. This was either the stupidest decision Sam had ever made or the smartest one. Because everyone saw and most importantly, his drunk mother saw. She stood up, almost knocking over her new pint and cried out in joy, making Sam and Lucy turn to her both with raised eye brows.
"Oh my God it's happened. Rosie where the FUCK are you?"
"Settle down! Settle down! Seventh round is beginning." Tobie was looking a little less energetic but still held control of the room, making Elle sit back down, her eyes bright with eagerness as the countdown started.
"I'm so proud of you Sam," She muttered as the count down started. Sam only rolled his eyes before muttering,
"Shut up mother and drink your beer."
And so they chugged and chugged and chugged.
Ivy was first this time, followed by Sam and then to everyone's surprise, Elle. But when people stood up, it was Sam who tapped out.
"Looks like it's down to you and me mommy. You ready?" Ivy asked, happily as she and her mother locked eyes. Elle was looking a little less for wear but was totally against tapping out.
"For the love of God, Elle don't kill yourself please!" Rob called from the sidelines. He had just arisen from his demise thanks to the kindness of Eddie's leftover family members.
"Ninth round. Everyone ready?"
Three - Two - One - DRINK
This time when they started to chug, they did so both standing up while the crowd around them screech and called out to them. At first it was unsure who would finish and then the question became who would finish first but then Elle started to wobble as she tried to finish her bottle and then Ivy started to rest more on her hand on the table for support.
Then Ivy slammed her bottle on the table, empty.
Elle didn't even finish, she fell right into her chair, her eyes wide but her smile was big as Ivy started to trash talk her for winning but the crowd went wild as team Young Generation had won.
"And that's the game folks! Good Game!" Tobie called out, hoping to close up but then a voice called out to the crowd, causing everyone to stop and turn.
Eleonora had arrived, standing up with a pint in one hand half empty. There is still one more go left.
"Emily, Where are you? You need to face your three kids!"
Zoë was so for it and Emily was so against it but Elle demanded her to play and sat down in the kids spot, ready to go... even if she was moments from hitting the floor. Cody joined, next to Elle and finally the bride came, sitting down herself. Emily was the last to sit down, looking at her three children with a pitiful look before the beer was placed.
"Here's the rule. Since it's unfair to make you all go through rounds due to your various drunken states, I will have each of you take a pint and who ever is the first to finish wins. Understood?" Emily nodded, Elle yelled a "Fuck Yeah" and Cody and Zoë hit the table loudly. Pints were placed counts were marked and the chugging began.
"Come on, Mom make us proud!" Elle's four drunk children screamed loudly. Cody's kids were next to over power the Landrith children as they routed for their dad. Only Eddie routed for the bride but his wimpy little voice was not heard over the sounds of the two families children battling it out. As this went on, Lucy slinked over to Eleonora and started muttering to her quickly.
Zoë won and was followed by Emily and then Cody and the sloppy last went to the youngest, Elle.
"Mom you ruined us! Disgraceful!"
"Fuck yeah Daddy you beat Auntie Elle!"
"I love you so much babe, you beat your mom!" Zoë turned to her husband and smiled kindly before saying,
"Shut up, Eddie".