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She looked back down at her paperwork and cleared her throat. “I’m also assuming my invitation got lost in the mail.”
“Your invitation…uh, right. Yes, of course. Your invitation definitely got lost in the mail.”
“Then you better make sure I have a seat at a table. Send the information to my assistant. I don’t require a plus-one, but I’ll be in attendance.”
“Why?”
She looked up eerily slow and cocked an eyebrow at me, forcing me to speak again.
“Whythat is wonderful news,” I said, trying to shift the why that left my mouth.
“Why are you still in my office?”
“Right. Of course. Goodbye.”
I left a bit stunned, uncertain what to say and unsure of how I should’ve felt. Had Maiv just invited herself to my wedding? Had she said she was coming? Oh gosh, the seating chart was already done. I’d have to call to get that shifted around. Luckily, right after work, I was on the way to my soon to be mother-in-law’s home, where she’d help me fit Maiv into the chart without issue.
* * *
If I’d ever gottena shot at having my own mother, I’d have wanted her to be just like Marie Rollsfield. When I first met her, she talked about her son a lot, about how she and her husband adopted him when he was five-years-old. I told her about how lucky he was to be adopted by a great woman, and I’d never forget how that comment made her eyes fill with tears.
“I’m not a great woman, but I try to be a good mother,” she explained, wiping the emotions away from her eyes.
I disagreed, though. Anyone kind, filled with love, and willing to take in a child who wasn’t biologically their own was a hero in my mind. I would’ve killed to be adopted by parents as loving as Walter and Marie.
Mr. and Mrs. Rollsfield were my favorite kind of love story. They’d just celebrated thirty years of marriage the summer before, but if you looked at them, you’d think they were still squarely in the honeymoon stage. I’d never seen two people who loved so loudly at all times. From the handholding to the forehead kisses, Marie and Walter were relationship dreams come true.
It wasn’t until Marie invited me over for Christmas dinner that I was introduced to Jason. Marie recalled it better than either of us did, but I remembered being in the Rollsfields’ home and feeling as if I belonged.
Sometimes I wondered if I loved Jason’s parents more than I loved him. Especially his mother, Marie. She was the definition of motherly love, and she welcomed me into their family with arms wide open. When I still worked at the coffee shop, she was the one who actually called 9-1-1 for me when I had the episode, and from that moment on, she had a special place in my heart. After that, to keep myself distracted from my health situation, I joined Marie’s book club, and we grew closer and closer.
The best part of Jason’s and my love story? Not only did I find a fiancé but I also received two dedicated future in-laws who made me feel like I had always been a part of their family. Being welcomed with arms wide open was the dream I’d always wished for—to have a family, to be a part of a strong unit, to create traditions we could share with one another. For example, Marie and I still had our weekly coffee dates. I always looked forward to them, too. If I could’ve grown up with a mother, I would’ve dreamed of one like Marie.
“I cannot believe it’s really happening!” Marie squeaked as we stood in her living room while I got my last fitting done for my wedding dress. Every detail of the wedding had been handled by Marie and the wedding planning team she’d hired. She was hands-on in walking me through all the details I didn’t really care about.
All I wanted, all I’d ever wanted was to walk down the aisle and say the only two words that mattered—I do.
I didn’t care about all the ins and outs of the wedding day. I cared about the happily ever after that came afterward.
I smiled at the overzealous Marie. For the past few days, she’d been jumping up and down over the excitement of Saturday. “I can’t believe it either.” I stared in the mirror, feeling every butterfly form as I stared at the white gown custom-designed for me.
Marie and Walter had covered the cost of the gown. They’d covered the cost of the whole ceremony and reception. If it had been up to me and my wallet, I’d have gone down to the courthouse with a dress from a thrift shop.
“I can’t thank you enough for everything you and Walter have done for this wedding, Marie—for me. I don’t deserve all of this.”
She walked over to me as the seamstress finished working on the hem of my dress. Marie placed her palms against my cheeks and smiled that bright smile she always shared with me. “You deserve the world, Aaliyah. You will never understand what you coming into our family has done to my heart. You are nothing less than the light we Rollsfields needed, and soon enough, we’ll share the same last name.”
I fell into her arms and hugged her tightly. When she pulled away from me, I laughed at the tears flooding her eyes. “You can’t start crying yet. We still have to make it to the wedding day.”
She waved a dismissive hand my way. “I think we’ll just have to realize I’m going to be a hot mess that whole weekend. Thank goodness for waterproof makeup and a makeup artist on staff for the entire evening.”
As I gazed at myself in the large mirror in the living room, I took a deep breath. A million emotions rushed through my mind, but only one was sitting at the forefront. And that was the fact that after all these years, I was finally going to be a part of something bigger than me.
I was finally going to have a family.
That alone made me want to tear up, too.
“Hello?” a voice called out, breaking me from my stare. “Mom! Where’s Dad? I’ve been calling him for—”
