FicWad

~~ Prologue ~~
"Isn't she cute John?"
"Yes, she sure is a little sweetheart, but remember what we talked about? We can't afford to keep her, I know that it is going to be hard to give her up, but by the grace of God we'll see her again. Besides she deserves a better home than we can give her Mary. We have barely enough money to support ourselves, let alone a baby,"
"I know, I know, can't we keep her for a little while? I'm not ready to give her up, not yet...please?" begged Mary.
"Mary, give her a name," John said trying to distract her.
"Your name shall be... Alicia," Mary said to the newborn baby.
"Mary, that name is perfect. But now she needs a middle name, I think it should be Mary. What do you think?"
"I think it would be just perfect," Mary said with unshed tears shining in her eyes.
"I'm sorry honey, but the longer we keep her, the harder it is going to be to give her up, besides, her new parents are waiting to meet her,"
A couple of nurses hustled into the room, "I'm sorry Mrs. Moore, Mr. Moore, the adoption agency wants the child's parents to meet her, we must take her now,"
"No! Don't take my baby," sobbed Mary.

~~ Chapter One ~~
My life had always been relatively normal. I have three brothers and sisters and my parents are still married. I thought my life was perfect. Well, I thought my life was wonderful. I knew that my life wasn't perfect, but it really was wonderful. My name is Alicia and I am 17 years old. Here is my story:
"Hey, how are you doing?" asked my friend Matt as I walked in the front door of my high school.
"I'm fine, how about you? Are you ready for today's history test?" I asked.
"Not really, I barely studied, do you think you could study with me at lunch?"
"Sure, I have to go. I have cheerleading practice, see you later,"
As I walked down the hall, I met up with the captain of the cheerleading squad. I didn't really like her, but if I was on the cheerleading squad, I would have to try my best to get along with her.
"Hey, do you think that we should try out some new cheers?" asked Clarissa, "I think that some of the fans are getting bored and I wanted to try and make the cheerleading more exciting, do you think you could help me?"
"Sure, I guess I could," I said halfheartedly, not wanting to get into a conversation.
Our brief conversation had taken us to the gym where all of the other girls were waiting. The group of cheerleaders was almost all friends, and if there was a disagreement among the squad or its members it was talked out in a group discussion and if it didn't involve all of the squad you either dealt with it or left it outside the gymnasium during practice.
"Clarissa, somebody needs to go down to the office and remind the secretary to announce the Pep Rally on the announcements today," reminded Dixie.
"What are you talking about?" asked Clarissa grumpily, "I already have!"
"I was just reminding you! You don't have to throw a hissy fit!" snapped Dixie.
"I didn't ask you to remind me, did I?" yelled Clarissa.
"Whoa, take it easy, if we want to make it into the Provincial Championships, we have to co-operate and work together, got it?" asked Melissa.
Our squad was extremely nervous, partly because we didn't know whether or not we were going to make it to the Provincial Championships, and partly because our school had the biggest game of the season coming up. An official for the Provincial Championships was going to be at the school this afternoon, while we were cheering in the big game and we would find out at the end of the week if we made it or not, so that would relieve some of that pressure. However, our Senior Football team had also been preparing for their own Provincial Championships. Luckily for them their championship was tonight so they didn't have much longer to wait. We were really nervous. I guess that was why there were some short tempers among the members.
"Okay, come on girls, if we are going to make it to the Provincial Championships, we're going to have to practice, and practice hard!" encouraged Emily.
We did flips, twists, and jumps; nothing could stop us that morning. By the time the bell rang we were all gasping for air.
"Good practice, if we keep working like this, we'll definitely make it to the Championships and we'll blow the socks off 'em tonight at the big game," Aisling exclaimed as we all grabbed our stuff.
"Oh! And don't forget guys, we can get out early today to warm up before the game, everyone meet on the field at 2:30!" Clarissa yelled as everyone was running out the door.
As soon as my friends and I sat down in our first period class, our teacher Mr. Welling walked to the front of the room, "I would like to wish the cheerleaders good luck, they are auditioning for a place in the Provincial Championships tonight, and a humongous good luck goes out to all of the football players who are preparing for tonight's game!" He exclaimed when he finally got our attention.
English seemed to drag by; Mr. Welling droned on and on about metaphors and similes, it was boring. When English finally ended we were giddy with excitement.
My next class was math, my teacher Mrs. Goldman, is really nice and normally I like her class, today was different though, it was even worse than English had been. I think that she knew something was wrong, because she didn't ask me one question. As the bell rang, I could hear her calling my name, "Alicia, will you please come here for a moment?"
"Sure," I said hesitantly.
"I just wanted to sat good luck, and next class, will you please pay attention?"
"All right, I'll try. I've just got a lot of things on my mind," I explained.
"All right, you better go now, or you'll miss your lunch,"
At lunch we were all hyper. We talked non-stop and we were all soooo nervous we couldn't eat a thing. After lunch the day seemed to crawl by. Third period was probably the worst that day, it was my History class and we had a huge test. It was probably as big as the mid-term was going to be. The best part of the day was fourth period because it was my gym class but also my friends and I managed to get out of class at quarter after two.

~~ Chapter Two ~~
"Come on girls, let's get warmed up before everyone gets here,"
We started our warm-up with our easies routine and finished with our hardest. When we were finished we heard clapping from behind us. We whipped around to see Mr. Taylor, the principal, and a lady whose name we found out later was Mrs. McNamara.
"That was excellent! Could you show me that last routine again?" asked Mrs. McNamara, "If you do that perfectly, I think you are an absolute shoo-in,"
"Okay girls, let's do that last routine again,"
We managed to doe the routine perfectly. This time though, it was a little harder to do, because Mrs. McNamara had pulled a video camera out of her bag. She told us later that she wasn't the only one who decided who entered the competition or not, so she had to video tape the hopeful entries to show the rest of the committee members.
"I don't think that the committee is going to turn you girls away though, you are absolutely amazing!" she said, clearly impressed.
"Thanks a lot! Are you staying to watch the game? It's the biggest game of the season," Clarissa said sweetly, as she tried to suck up.
"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it," Mrs. McNamara said giving Clarissa a weird look, "My son is playing, and he goes to Renfrew Collegiate Institute,"
"Oh," Clarissa said abruptly almost like Mrs. McNamara had like a disease or something. You see, R.C.I is our school's biggest rival, the school is a couple of hours away from us, but during the sports season they might as well be next door.
*
The game was awesome! It was really close, but our team managed to get a field goal with 2 seconds left on the clock. Later on after the game when Melissa and I were walking to her car, we saw a bunch of guys hanging out in the parking lot; we'd never seen them before but considering they were completely clad in blue and white it was safe to say that they went to Renfrew, "Whew!" Melissa exclaimed, "I'm glad I don't live in Renfrew and I don't have to go to R.C.I,"
"Yeah, I am soooo glad we go here, what would we do if we went to that school, ours is way better!" I exclaimed realizing that I had a biased opinion but not caring in the least bit!
When I got home from the after party, 1I had a smile on my face a mile wide.
"I was going to ask you how your day was, but I don't even need to ask, I suppose it was good?" asked my mom.
"Terrific! You know how we had to try out for the Provincial Championships coming up? Well, originally we were going to have to wait until the end of the week before we found out if we made it or not, but the lady liked our practice so much, she told us today that we made it, she didn't think the rest of the committee would turn us down. Isn't that great?" I said so fast that I don't think she even understood me. "And our team won! It was awesome! We won by one point with 3 seconds left!
Without waiting for an answer I raced up to my room. I was so psyched I couldn't start my homework. I sat down at my computer and just about started the Internet when my phone started to ring, "Hello?"
"Hi Alicia! Aren't you excited?" shrieked Sam.
Samantha and I talked for almost an hour; we were so excited that we just couldn't' stop talking! Finally I heard my mom yell that it was supper.
"Samantha? I've got to go, I've got to get downstairs for supper, see you tomorrow. Could you give me a ride? My parents can't drive me,"
"Sure," said Samantha.
As I ran downstairs I could hear my parents in the kitchen, "I think we should tell Alicia," I heard, my father say.
"Ah, Howard it would crush her! She's so happy can't we tell her later?" my mom asked.
I ran into the kitchen, "Tell me what? I want to know what you are talking about,"
"Alicia, honey. I guess I'm just going to have to tell you straight out, there is know easy way of saying it. You were adopted when you were just a few days old,"
I sank onto a chair in disbelief. I couldn't believe it; I had always thought that my three siblings were my real siblings. They were my real siblings, and nothing anybody said or did could ever change that, but still! It was so weird. I was the first-born of Howard and Alice Purcell. Now I knew that I wasn't, Joel was, I wasn't even the fourth born.
I tried to act as if nothing had happened; I wanted to deal with this news by myself. "Oh, is that all?" I asked with nonchalance.
"Yeah. Aren't you upset?"
"No, should I be?" I asked. "I know that you are my parents, it doesn't matter to me that the government needs papers to prove it! To me, you are my parents, nothing can change that," I tried to act coolly, nut inside I was ripping apart, these were my parents, yes. It was just weird knowing that all these years I had been wrong about them.
My parents stared at me in disbelief. "Are you sure that you are all right?" asked my father.
"YES!" I said irritably, "I am Alicia Mary Purcell, daughter of Howard and Alice Purcell,"
I turned and walked up to my room. As I walked through the living room, I heard the big grandfather clock chime; I looked at it as I did every time, it's face said 11:30pm.
As I walked past my brothers' room I could hear scurrying feet running away from the door. I knew then that they had been listening at the top of the stairs. I softly knocked on the door, "It's okay, and I know you were listening, but you have the right to know. Mom said that supper was ready, so you had better get down there before she yells again," I said with a big smile. My two brothers and my sister ran past me shoving and jostling each other, all trying to be the first in the kitchen.
My life had always been so care free, but now I knew that it was changing, and at the moment I didn't know whether it was changing for the better or not. When I got to my room, I threw myself on my bed and cried myself to sleep. I know that it sounds kind of ridiculous, but I wasn't crying because I was adopted I was crying because all of a sudden I felt like my whole world was crashing down around me. I was wondering how people would react to the news, really it was none of their business but they might react a little weird.
When I woke up in the morning I could hear movement in the kitchen, then slowly huge wafts of bacon and sausage fumes filled my nose. When I looked at my alarm clock it only said 6:30, it puzzled me because I was the only one in my family who got up that early. I knew that my mother was there, but I also knew that there was someone else because I could hear another voice, I just couldn't place it. Quickly I walked downstairs, when I walked through the living room, I caught a glimpse of a blanket and a pillow on the couch. By the front door there was a pair of sneakers. The voices got louder, but I still couldn't place the second one. As I walked into the kitchen, the voices abruptly stopped.
"Good morning Alicia," my mother greeted me.
"Morning Mom," I said cheerfully, "Samantha? What are you doing here so early?"
"You're mom called me last night, she was worried about you. You went into you're room and never came out, not once; she hoped that I might come over and talk to you. I spent the night on the couch,"
"Did she tell you everything?" I asked.
"Yes, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone unless you want me to," she told me, "Are you coming to school today?"
"Yes, I can't afford to miss any cheerleading practices, and it doesn't matter if you tell anyone, it's no big deal" I told her.
"Don't worry about it, if you don't want to come, you don't have to. I'll tell Clarissa that you are sick and couldn't come," Samantha said reassuringly.
"I'm going and that is final," I said with a laugh.
I ran upstairs to get ready, the entire time I was thinking about how food of a friend Samantha was. She was a late sleeper, and always had been; yet she had gotten up early so that she could talk to me as soon as I woke up.
"Samantha? Are you ready to go?" I asked.
"Yeah sure,"
"Bye Mom," I said as I grabbed an apple.
"Bye honey, see you tonight,"
As Samantha and I walked out the door, she asked me if I wanted the others to know.
"Yes, some of them are my best friends and there's no reason for them not to know, it's not like I've got some contagious disease or something," I said laughing.

~~ Chapter Three ~~
Practice that morning was extremely grueling. It seemed like all of the hard work we had done before the tryouts were just like us goofing around. Now that we knew we had a spot in the Championships we had to work ten times harder to make sure that we stayed in shape and to learn the routine.
During math class, Mrs. Goldman gave me a hard time, she yelled at me because I didn't have my homework done, then she yelled at me because I asked Dixie for a pen when she was talking. She told me that she was talking and that I wasn't allowed to talk to my friends during class time. I went ballistic; I told her that I didn't have my homework done because I had had a rough night at home and that if she wanted me to do my work, I needed to borrow a pen from Dixie. Then she told me I was rude and belligerent, she also told me that I had a bad attitude. I told her that from now on I wasn't going to ay one word to anyone, not even her. I don't think she quite believed me, until she asked me to answer one of the questions. I refused to answer the question; she got so mad that you could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.
"Go to the office! NOW!" she yelled.
"If she goes, we go, and it won't be to the office, it will be out of this stupid class of yours!" Dixie said coolly and half the class agreed. "She said she had a rough night last night and she meant it. Now would you just back off?"
With that kind of speech Mrs. Goldman didn't know what to do. She just kind of looked at me and then at the rest of the class. "Your lucky I don't report you to the administration Dixie Cooper!"
"Just teach the lesson!" a voice called out from the back of the room.
"Sure," Mrs. Goldman said. She started her lesson all over again; it was extremely boring. As soon as the bell rang I raced out of the room, I didn't want her sympathy, in fact, I didn't want anybody's.

~~ Chapter Four ~~
The rest of the day passed by in a blur, I didn't speak to anyone unless they spoke to me. All of the teachers knew that I had a different kind of night so they basically knew that I wouldn't have my homework done and they left me alone. I was seriously thinking of skipping cheerleading practice because I had absolutely zero concentration, but I knew that I had to go.
By the time I got to the gym, everyone was already there. As soon as I walked in, the entire group fell silent. I looked around at all of the guilt-stricken faces, and now I knew that they had not been talking about the Provincial Championships. My guess was they were wondering if I was up to pulling my weight in the group.
"What are your problems?" I asked, "Just because I'm having an off day doesn't mean that I can't pull my weight around here! It doesn't really matter, let's just practice, okay?"
"All right, let's start with the Redmen Rock cheer," Clarissa said, "Samantha and Alicia you guys stay as close to the front to be ready for your flips all right?"
"Yeah sure," we mumbled together.
As I prepared for the flip, I knew that I shouldn't go through with it, I needed lots of concentration, a commodity I just happened to be short on right now. As I took off, I knew that my timing was off, but I didn't stop I prepared to finish the flip despite the warning bells that were going off in my head. I flipped...and I landed with a sickening crack.
"YEOW!" I screamed in pain.
"Omigosh! Quick, go and get Mr. Taylor, and call an ambulance!" Shouted Dixie.
All of a sudden people were running all over the gym. Some of the cheerleaders were panicking; they had never been in a real emergency before. Melissa was the only one who kept her head.
"Get her a blanket! We have to keep her warm or she'll go into shock! Has anyone went and got Mr. Taylor? No? GO NOW! Anyone, it doesn't matter who goes! Just go!"
Mandy and Aisling raced out the door and Clarissa ran and got a blanket. I began to feel weird, dizzy, and nauseous. Then I passed out, it probably sounds like I'm a wimp but it just happened. I don't know exactly what happened then, so I'm going to have to rely on other people's stories.
The ambulance arrived about five minutes later and the paramedics rushed me to the hospital. Melissa rode with me in the ambulance as kind of a comfort, although I didn't exactly know that she was there.
When I finally woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed with my leg straight up in the air hanging in a traction.
"Hey! How are you doing? Is your leg-feeling better? I guess you know that you broke it, eh?" my mom asked me.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that, and I'm okay, I'm just a little groggy." I moaned.
"Yeah, that would be those pain killers they were popping into you, I heard you took a bad fall," my dad said.
"Yeah, I tried to do a back flip, but it didn't really work," I said with a laugh, and then a wince of pain.
"I gathered that," my mom said dryly.
"I just wanted to prove to them that I even though I wasn't having a very good day that I could still do what I was supposed to, and I wouldn't let the team down."
"You don't have to prove anything to anyone. Do you understand me?" asked my father. "Everyone has off days,
My father was getting so angry, he didn't want me to be hurt anymore, and I didn't want to pretend that I was fine with the news anymore.
"I know, its just that...oh, I don't know, people are stupid they care about the stupidest things and they place so much emphasis on family ties, and you're family status..." I said trailing off, "Mom, Dad, I have to tell you something. When you told me that I was adopted, I wasn't fine with it, I was upset. I wasn't mad at you, I was mad because I knew that people would treat me like this, and I didn't want to feel like an outcast, besides, you know how you said nothing's changed, you're wrong, something has changed, something I can't explain..." I suddenly stopped trying to gauge the reaction on their faces. My parents looked at each other as I said this and then quickly looked away.
"I guess you want to know what you're real name is, huh?" asked my dad.
"Well, I think that it is time for me to know, if you don't mind," I said kind of hesitantly.
"Okay, you're real name is Alicia Moore," my mom told me, "According to the agency you have two siblings, a brother and a sister,"
It felt good knowing about my second family, I knew that when I got out of the hospital I was going to try and find them. I was really mixed up, but I felt that I had to try and find out about my roots and to see what my family was like. Most importantly thought I had some questions that I needed answers to, like, why I was put up for adoption and my other siblings weren't. I needed some conclusions and it seemed the best way to get those was to go straight to the sources.
"Honey, we have to go now, your brothers and sister will be getting home from school soon, they will want to know what happened," my mom explained. My brothers and sister took a bus to school so they didn't get home until around 4:00.
"All right, will you bring them in later today?" I asked.
"Sure, see you later,"
"Bye, I'm glad you told me about my second family. It makes this a whole lot easier,"
As my parents walked out of the room a nurse came in. "Hello, my name is Heather, and I will be here until around 8:00 tonight, if you need anything ring the nurses station, okay?"
"Yeah. Before you go, I have a question."
"Yes?" she asked expectantly.
"How long do I have to stay in this traction?"
"Maybe a couple of weeks, it all depends,"
"Okay, thanks. I'll ring if I need anything."
I slept until my parents came in; they had brought the entire family. When I woke up they were all surrounding my bed. It felt good knowing that they all cared about me.

~~ Chapter Five ~~
After a couple of weeks in the brace, the doctor finally told me that I was allowed to move around. Heather found me a wheelchair so that when I wanted a break from my room, I would be able to move around the hospital.
One day, Heather took me to the Oncology floor; Heather said that she thought there was someone named Moore there. I had told Heather all about the recent happenings in my life, since she was the only one I had to talk to all day. I knew it was a long shot, but maybe, just maybe this was a member of my biological family.
"So, Alicia. Do you know your brother's name?" asked Heather.
"My parents said that the agency told them that his name was John."
"Okay, let's ask the head nurse if that is the name of the Moore boy, okay?"
Alex wheeled me to the counter and asked the head nurse what the boy's name was. I wasn't really listening, but when I heard the name John, my head snapped up. "His name is John Moore and he has one sister and her name is Alex. Their parents' names are John and Mary Moore,"
I couldn't believe, what were the chances that I was going to find my family so close to me, it was like one in a million, and I had done it...from a wheelchair and over a broken leg! Go figure! Heather wheeled me around the nurses' desk so that I could use their phone to call my parents and ask if they could come down and check it out with me.
When they finally got to the hospital I was shaking with excitement. Heather had called John's parents and they said that they would come down to the hospital. Heather had not told them why she wanted them, all she said was that John was all right, and she had to talk to them. I was so thrilled! I had thought that I was going to have to wait until I got out of the hospital to find my family, but here I was.
In a way, I guess I kind of hoped that they weren't my family, because they told me that John had acute lymphocytic leukemia. John's family lived two hours away...and guess where! Yep, Renfrew, which meant if I was living there I would be going to that school that I had just been so glad that I didn't have to go to. They had brought him to our hospital because it had the best cancer treatment facility in the province. I asked Heather if she had asked John and Mary to bring Alex or not. She said that they were pulling Alex out of school to come down here.
By the time the Moore's got down to the hospital I was a nervous wreck! It seemed that I had been nervous a lot lately. The family was pretty worried too, I mean if you're son was in the hospital with cancer and you suddenly got a call from a nurse saying that you better get down here quick, what would you think? When the Moore's walked into the room, my mom nearly fainted, I don't think she thought I was right. When Mary heard my mom gasp she whirled her head around "John!" she stuttered, "I know them from somewhere, but I can't place it! Where?" By the look on John's face I knew that he recognized them, he just didn't know what to do.
My parents had called an agency worker to come down and help us make sure that these were my parents. I didn't think that we would need her, but my parents insisted. When the lady spoke up, I was glad she was the one who would do the initial talking. "Are you two John and Mary Moore?" she asked.
"Yes, is there a problem?"
"No, no problem. We just thought that you would want to meet someone, but first let's go to your son's room, shall we?"
The seven of us trooped to John's room. Heather stayed behind so that we could have some privacy. I told her that I would tell her everything once it was over.
Once we were all settled in, the lady began again. "Mary, John, this is Alicia Mary Purcell. Actually to you, she would be known as Alicia Mary Moore,"
"What?" asked Mary stunned.
"That's right," I said as tears welled up in my eyes, "I couldn't believe that I would ever find my family in the hospital, but here we are,"
Mary and John looked at each other with looks of pure joy! My parents looked at each other in disbelief. They had wanted me to know that I was adopted, but I think they hoped that I would be satisfied knowing. I think they thought that I would kind of forget about them, well not forget exactly. I think they were worried that I would get so wrapped up in John and Mary that I would forget about them. I think deep down, they knew that I would never intentionally hurt them, them were just wary.
Mary looked at me as if she wasn't kind quite sure what to do. I was kind of bewildered too. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to walk up to her? Was she supposed to come to me? It was very confusing. I knew that I should go and talk to John and Mary, but I didn't know exactly what to do or say. I don't think they knew what to do either. I didn't know how I should talk to them, I didn't know what I should call them. I didn't think that I would call them mom or dad, at least not yet. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I had wanted to meet my parents, but this was just getting too complicated!
My mom and dad suggested that we all go and get some lunch and try to get acquainted. I didn't really feel like eating, but I went anyway. During lunch, we never talked once about any of the things that had happened. John stayed in his room, because he had just had a round of medication and didn't really feel like eating or even looking at food. During lunch, there were a lot of awkward silences. As soon as I finished eating, I got out of there, so did Alex. We went up to John's room to talk without the parents.
"Hi, can I come in?" I asked cautiously.
"Sure, come on. I'm glad we met today, my parents... um... I mean our parents told me that I had an older sister. They just never told me how old you were, or what you looked like. I'm really, really happy that you found us." Alex said. When she finished she was out of breath.
"Yeah, I'm glad I found you too. I found out a couple of days ago that I had been adopted, and that I had two more siblings. I have three other siblings, two brothers, Geoff and Joel, and a sister named Elisabeth.

~~ Chapter Six ~~
Alex and I talked for a long time, at one point we heard our parents coming down the hall, but when they heard us, they quickly walked away. I think that they were glad we were getting along so well.
"So, how old are you anyway?" asked Alex.
"I'm 17 and I am turning 18 in a month. How old are you?"
"I'm turning 17 in about 3 months and I am in grade 11. By the way, I have been meaning to ask you, how did you break your leg?"
"Well, I'm on the cheerleading squad and I was trying to do a double back flip. I was kind of upset though, because I had just found out that I was adopted and the way people were treating me was starting to get annoying. Anyway, I tried to prove that I wasn't any different by doing the flip, I was angry and wasn't concentrating, and I landed wrong and broke my leg," I explained. "I was pretty upset because my squad is going to the Provincial Championships and now I won't be able to go."
John was finally starting to wake up by the time Alex and I finished talking. "Hey sleepyhead," I said.
"Hi, are you going to be my sister now?" he asked sleepily.
"Yes, I am your sister. How old are you John?"
"I'm 7 ¾, how old are you?"
"She's 17 and she is turning 18 in a month," interrupted Alex.
We sat talking for another hour or two. When our parents came in they were laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Yeah! Tell us!" demanded John.
"We were just laughing at the irony of meeting each other in the hospital. I mean we haven't seen each other in any other place. When you were born Alicia we could see each other through the glass window in the nursery and now, we meet again in a hospital. It's too bad it wasn't the same hospital, then we could really call it ironic," explained Mary.
All of us kids looked at each other with eyebrows raised high, we nodded and pretended that we understood. We couldn't understand why that was so hilarious, but I think it was just the tension of the moment.
"By the way Alicia, how did you break your leg?" asked John (senior).
"Oh, I'm on the cheerleading squad at school and I was trying to do a double back flip, when I landed, my footing was off and I landed on my leg," I explained.
"Did I ever tell you that I was on the cheerleading squad in high school Alex?" asked Mary.
"No, you didn't," Alex said.
"While we're all here, we have to talk about a few things." My dad said grimly.
"Agreed," said Mary.
"One of the things that we have to talk about is who is Alicia going to live with? I think that you should go home and pack up some of her things so that she can come down to our house and see where we live." John suggested.
My dad jumped up, "No! I don't think that she should go by herself,"
"Howard, we already talked about this, we agreed that Alicia should have a chance to meet her parents and get acquainted with them, without having to worry about whether she will offend any of us," my mom said quickly.
"Her parents? We are her parents and nobody is going to change that! Not if I can help it!" shouted my dad.
"Howard! This is a hospital. Please keep your voice down! This should not be talked about in front of the children," my mom said.
"What? This is my life you are talking about, and the lives of John and Alex. They have a right to say what they want to do, and more importantly remember me in your decision and at least take our opinions into consideration" I said quickly. "Let me say this, and then John, Alex, and I will leave!"
From the tone of my voice, both of my set of parents knew not to argue. "I think that I should be allowed to go and see their house, I mean what can it hurt? Besides, it will give us a chance to get to know each other better. You already told me that you were going to help me find my parents. This is helping me; I really need to know all about them, and what better way than to spend a couple of days with them? I hope that you take my feelings into consideration when you make your decisions, and not just your own!" After that Alex and I helped John into a wheelchair and wheeled him down to the playroom. It was a room just down the hall from his room, and it was for all of the kids on the Oncology floor.
John, Alex, and I spent the rest of the day in that room. We met one of John's friends, Richard, who was also battling leukemia. Our parents talked and talked. They talked well past midnight; they talked about everything, from my adoption to where I was going to live. I hoped that they were going to listen to what I had said, about taking into consideration the feelings of everyone involved, not just theirs. All of the questions that I had had about the adoption suddenly vanished, it was like just meeting my family had answered them all. John, Alex, and I all slept down in the playroom. Around 1:00 in the morning my parents came to tell us that John was going to have to go back to his room and that the rest of us were going back to my house. We had to wait around for another hour and a half because I had to get discharged, return the crutches I had borrowed, and then buy a new set that I could take home with me.
The next morning was absolute chaos. When I woke up in the morning all of my siblings were sleeping in various places around my room. During the night, the rest of them must have got up to see if we were home and found Alex and me in my room. I didn't think that they knew who Alex was, unless she had woken up in the middle of the night to tell them, which I thought very unlikely. I had a chance to sit up for awhile and think about my predicament. I didn't want to have to choose between my two families, it would hurt everyone involved and I didn't want that to happen.
Once the rest of the kids began to stir, I got up and went down to the kitchen, where I found my parents talking again. "Good morning," I said announcing my presence.

~~Chapter Seven~~
"Morning Sweetie," said Mary.
After a chorus of good mornings I asked the question that I knew had been on everyone's minds. "What am I going to call Mary and John? I mean, I can't keep on calling them by their first names, can I?"
"We've already talked about that, and have decided that when you are comfortable with us, then you can call us mom and dad. Ultimately it is up to you, until you are ready, you can just call us John and Mary. We hope that one day you will be able to call us mom and dad. But until then Mary and John are just fine," said John as he walked over to the coffee pot.
I didn't know what to say, I was kind of shocked that they had already talked about everything. "Were you guys up all night?" I asked as I noticed three empty coffee pots on the counter.
"Yeah we didn't want to go to sleep until we had this all figured out. By the way, if you want, you can go to the Moore's and live there until the end of the school year, on a trial basis only. Then they will bring you back here if they need to, and we can figure that out then," my mom told me.
I was about to say something when my brothers and sisters came in. It was chaotic as five children and four adults all tried to find something to eat, but eventually everyone had their fill and after another three more hours everyone was ready for the day.
As my new family and I prepared to go, I could see the tears in every eye of my family. My youngest brother grabbed my coat as I was putting it on and pulled me down so I was looking him in the face and asked me if I was going to leave him. When I looked in his face, I almost took my suitcase back upstairs to unpack it.
As I got in the Moore's flashy sports car, I paused to look back at the family that I had lived with for nearly eighteen years. I knew that I would be back, I just didn't know when or for how long. During the trip to the Moore's Alex filled me in on all of our aunts, uncles, cousins, and our grandparents. I realized that Alex would probably end up being one of my best friends if we ever got the chance to get to know each other well enough.
When we pulled up to the house, it started pouring outside but I hardly noticed it, as I stood dumbstruck in the front yard. The house was humongous!!! John turned to me, and I can still see his face, and he asked me how I liked their humble adobe. Then he ran inside to get out of the rain laughing uproariously all the way in.
After John and Mary had gone inside I turned to Alex and asked why they gave me up for adoption when they were so wealthy. I think Alex knew that I was going to ask the question because she replied almost instantaneously. She told me that they hadn't always been this well off. She said she could remember times when they had hardly enough food in the house to feed everybody. After she told me that, I knew how impolite it was of me to ask that question.
When Alex and I went inside I found out that Alex and I had rooms that were right beside each other and had a door leading to the other room through the wall. Alex told me that she used to use my new room as a room for slumber parties.
Alex and talked all through the night; it was astonishing how late we stayed up considering that we had only slept for a few hours the previous night. I didn't tell Alex that night, but I made up my decision then, of where to live.
In the morning John and Mary called a "family" conference. I told them that I wanted to try living with them for a trial basis, to get to know them before I made my final decision. We ended up calling my mom and dad that day to try and figure out a fair trial period. We decided that six months would be the fairest, and that I could go and visit my other family any time I wanted, but I was supposed to try and give the Moore's a fair chance and not compare them to the Purcell's. I also decided that while I was living with Mary and John I was going to call them mom and dad, but I didn't tell them straight out like that, I just casually asked mom what time supper would be. All in all it was a good first day and I realized that I loved Mary and John just as much as Howard and Alice.

~~ Chapter Eight ~~
I was really super nervous about starting a new school so late in the semester, but it wasn't exactly the schoolwork I was worried about, I had always been a good student, it was more the social aspect of things. I'm not one who really cares about having a lot of friends, but I like hanging around with more than one person. Lucky for me, Alex did a good job of talking me up and when I started school after I was registered I already had a good reputation.
There was one highlight of my first day. I had to go to the office to confirm my enrollment and my schedule, anyway while I was there I almost got plowed over by this really cute guy! He had the best smile ever! It turned out his name was Eric Morrison and he was also in grade 12, although I didn't find that out until first period when I found out that he was in my Canadian Law class. I also found out that he had a girlfriend, Caitlynd, she was captain of the cheerleading squad. Despite that Eric and I really hit it off, and we became really good friends, really fast. Well, we basically had no choice, it turned out that everyone in the Law class was assigned a partner and Eric was the only one who didn't have one because he transferred into law a little late in the semester after dropping a French class. The teacher thought it would be a good idea if she partnered us up, she also asked Eric to make sure that I knew where I would be going for the rest of the day.
That was the only class that I had with Eric, but it was enough. He introduced me to all of his friends and between him and Alex I was settled into my school faster than I thought I would be. I also managed to snag a place in the "popular" group, which is a really good place to be when you are new at your ex-rival school. I still couldn't quite believe that I was going to R.C.I it was a hard concept to grasp.
So I spent a lot of time hanging out with my new group of friends, and that was how I met my first boyfriend there. His name was Tyler Johnson and at first he was everything a girl could want. He brought me a bouquet of flowers for my birthday, and had a huge amount of helium balloons delivered to each of my classes. However, Eric who came to be my best friend next to Alex, got a bunch of the guys from our crowd to come to my last period class and sing me a song. At the same time, he sent me a dozen roses. It was really sweet, but everyone knew that he was only doing it because he was my closest friend next to my sister. Besides Caitlynd fully approved of his plan, she had also become a good friend of mine. So for a few months everything went great, until Tyler started fooling around with other girls. It started harmlessly enough, he was a flirt, it didn't bother me that much, but then one day after school I just happened to take a shortcut across the football field and what I saw made me so angry I practically put holes in the ground as I stalked across to the other side.
It turned out that while I was busy working on the yearbook Tyler had been keeping busy too. With my so-called friend Maria Buenos, lucky for me my meeting just happened to get out early. While I was walking across the field I glanced up and saw Tyler and Maria kissing at the top of the bleachers. I was glad that I had finally seen his true colours, unfortunately it had taken a long time and I had wasted a lot of good times with him.
When I got home, I called every single one of my friends and it turned out the Maria and Tyler had been seeing each other for the last month and a half. In fact, tonight we were supposed to go to his house and watch some movies, but instead Alex and I are going to a party.
"Alicia, can I borrow some of your make-up?" yelled Alex.
"Sure, just a second, and if you want it you have to come get it!" I hollered back.
Alex came floating in wearing a denim skirt and a semi-formal white blouse, which looked incredible! "Okay, now let's see you, I haven't even saw your dress yet!" I was wearing a white spaghetti strap dress that went perfectly with my golden tan. The only reason Alex and I were going to this party was because our parents were out of town visiting John; or otherwise we would be spending some "quality" time together.
"Are you almost ready to go Alex?" I asked her an hour later.
"Yep, ready and waiting!"
We hopped into the car our parents had loaned us and raced to Eric's house, (he was the one throwing the party). By the time we got there, the party was already in full swing. One of my friends, Robert came and handed Alex and I each a glass of Coke and then walked away. As I went to walk away, I stopped and looked back at Alex, "Alex, no drinking, okay?"
"Yeah, same goes for you too," she called back.
As I turned and walked away, I nearly bumped into Eric. "Oops, sorry," I said smiling.
"That's okay," he said, as he started to walk away, "do you want to dance later on Alicia?"
"Sure!" I exclaimed, just as I caught sight of Tyler, "Uh oh," I said under my breath.
"Hey! What are you doing here? You said that you and Alex were going to come over to my house to watch some movies, and then Alex calls me and says that you're coming here instead."
"You know Tyler, I don't even want to talk to you right now" I said trying to maintain my self-control.
"Why?"
"Because I can barely stand the sight of you! By the way...where's Maria?"
"Maria? What are you talking about?"
"Don't play innocent with me! I saw you two in the bleachers Friday at lunch!" I practically yelled, I didn't even care that everyone around me was staring at us.
"Alicia, stop! Just listen to me, would you? I can explain! And keep your voice down, everyone's staring!"
"So? Can you explain it, Tyler? Can you really?"
"I didn't kiss her, she just kissed me, I swear!"
"So what were you doing there in the first place? And how come you didn't pull away from her when she was kissing you? Oh, and just to let you know, there's like thirty people who say you've been spending a lot of quality time with dear sweet Maria. I'm not listening to this crap anymore see you around Tyler. Oh, and by the way, this relationship is over!" I said as I walked away.
"Eric, can I talk to you in private? Over here?"
"Yeah, uh... sure," he said tentatively.
"I don't really know how to say this, but I like you... a lot, and I have since I first saw you," I said suddenly.
"Really?" He asked incredulously, "Because, I've liked you ever since I ran into you in the office on your first day of school, I thought you just wanted to be friends"
"No, what about Caitlynd? When I first moved here you were going out with her, I thought you liked her?" I asked amazed.
"I did, well I still do, but not like that. We've been having some problems and I'm going to talk to her right now, I'll meet you back here in ten minutes," he called as he walked away.
I felt bad, that he was going to break up with Caitlynd, and I didn't want her to get hurt, I mean I liked him, and I was glad he liked me, but I'm not cold-hearted, she's my friend.
"Caitlynd, we need to talk," Eric said when he walked over to her.
"Oh, hey! You're right, we do" Caitlynd said seriously.
"I don't know how to say this but this relationship isn't working anymore, I'm sorry," he said as he dropped her hand.
"You're right, we both know that this wasn't going anywhere but down, and I think you're interested in someone else, right?" Caitlynd asked with the smallest trace of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah, you're right," Eric said grinning sheepishly, "You know me too well!"
Then Eric walked over and took my hand and led me to the dance floor. I was really happy but that's normal, I mean anyone would be happy if they found out that the person they liked, liked them back. So Eric and I danced a while and then we went inside to find some drinks.
I left Eric to get the drinks and I went over to Alex to tell her what had happened.
"Alex, do you know what just happened?" I asked excitedly.
"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me," she said dryly.
"You know how I like Eric right? Well...I found out that he likes me too! Isn't that great? I'm so happy! I mean I'm happy I finally found out. We just danced for like a half hour and I got so thirsty, am I making any sense?" I asked suddenly noticing the blank look on Alex's face.
"Kind of, I understood that whole part about Eric, but what the heck are you babbling about now?" she asked laughing. "Oh, you better stop yapping he's coming back."
"Thanks," I whispered.

~~ Chapter Nine ~~
So when we went back outside Eric and I danced for almost two hours straight, and we would have kept going if Tyler hadn't come up and interrupted. We were dancing to a fast song and Eric had his back to Tyler, he just came up, tapped Eric on the shoulder and when Eric turned around he punched him right in the jaw!
"What are you doing with my girlfriend?" Tyler yelled.
"Uh...dancing, what does it look like?" Eric asked innocently. "Oh, and by the way word around town is that she's not your girlfriend,"
"Oh, yeah?" Tyler asked threateningly.
"Yeah!"
"Then whose girlfriend is she? Yours?"
"I don't know, but I don't think that's any of your concern!"
"STOP!!!!" I yelled, "Stop arguing about me as if I am someone's property, I'm not! And as far as I know, which I happen to think is most important; I'm not anyone's girlfriend Tyler. Eric, can you please drive me home, Alex is taking our car tonight,"
"Sure,"
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Tyler as he wound up to punch Eric. This time though, Eric was ready; he skillfully blocked every punch Tyler threw at him. "What...?" Tyler yelled. "Since when do you know how to fight?"
"Didn't you know that I have been boxing since I was seven? " Eric asked without missing a beat.
I stood there too astounded to do anything, by the time I realized what was happening a couple of the guys had pulled Tyler off of Eric. It took three guys to control Tyler who was still yelling and swinging at anyone around him. I walked over to Eric who was still watching Tyler. When Eric turned around, Tyler managed to break loose.
"Eric! Lookout!" someone shouted.
Eric ducked just in time, but someone else caught the punch right smack in the middle of the face...ME! I stood there stunned, not fully realizing what had happened until Alex came and handed me a tissue and told me that my nose was bleeding. Then Tyler came over and put his arm around me and said that it was Eric's fault that I had gotten punched. He was so intent that he didn't even see my right hand ball up into a fist. I wound up and I punched him the hardest I've ever punched anyone.
"Way, to go Alicia!" someone in the crowd yelled.
"Tyler, you are the stupidest person on Earth, don't you ever give up? I'm not your girlfriend anymore! I never want to be again, get it? I never want to see you again; you're such a jerk! And why do you even care? You're the one who went behind my back and did who knows what with Maria!" I yelled.
"Oooohhh, I think Tyler just got burned," the same voice called out from the middle of the crowd. I didn't waste any time watching the stunned look on Tyler's face I just stormed away.
Alex and a few of our friends followed me into Eric's house and started laughing about how astonished Tyler had looked at someone turning him down, and hurting him the way I had. I could hear a bunch of cheering still outside, so my friends and I decided to take another look at what was going on.
This time, it was my turn to be amazed. In spite of the previous minute's events Tyler was still trying to attack Eric, and Eric just stayed there blocking the punches, he didn't even try to walk away. Then as I watched Eric started punching Tyler.
"HOLD IT! STOP NOW!!" I yelled. Eric turned to look at me so he didn't see Tyler winding up to punch him. "Eric! Look out!" I yelled as Tyler's fist hit him square in the jaw sending him flying back into a nearby table. As I stood there waiting for Eric to move or try to get up Tyler came and put his arm around me and started guiding me to his car. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked as I twisted out from under his arm. "GIVE IT UP! I...don't...want...to...see...you again!" I said very slowly, "Was that slow enough for you to understand?" I asked sarcastically.
"Alicia!" Alex gasped, "Eric's not getting up!"
"What?" I cried as I ran over to the table. "Someone call an ambulance and bring me a blanket, we need to keep him warm so he doesn't go into shock." When the ambulance came they said that he had a serious concussion and that he would have to go to the hospital, "Can I ride with him?" I asked.
"Sure," said one of the paramedics.
When we got to the hospital the paramedics wheeled him into an examination room and I was told that I had to wait until he was given a room or released. Eventually I was told that I could go in and see him, unfortunately he was sleeping so I just pulled a chair up to his bed and sat down in it.
When I woke up the next morning Eric was sitting on the edge of the bed just watching me. "Morning Sleeping Beauty," he said brightly.
"Morning" I said groggily. "How are you feeling?"
"Good," he replied cheerfully.
"Are you always this cheerful in the morning," I asked blinking at the bright lights.
"Nope, only when the first thing I see is something as beautiful as you," I couldn't believe the way he just spit that out, I was even more amazed that he was able to just continue on with the conversation, "The doctor says that I can go home now and my parents were here this morning to check on me and-" he started to say.
"Why didn't you wake me up instead of allowing me to sit there looking like a bump on log?" I asked interrupting.
"My parents said not to, they said that you guys could meet another time. Umm, do you want a drive home?"
"Sure," I said suddenly nervous. The drive home was very quiet, we didn't talk about any of the past night's events, and the ride was kind of dull and awkward. It was so frustrating because I really wanted to talk about what had happened I just wasn't sure where or how we fit in together anymore. I didn't want to ask and see too interested because I might be totally reading in to this and I might seem too eager. So, for the time being I held my tongue hoping that maybe this would sort itself out.
Later that afternoon, after I got a phone call from Tyler and he was acting charming and just so pleasant, even better than when we had first met. But then, when I mentioned Eric he got hostile and turned offensive.
"You know, Tyler, I don't think you are really over your whole fight with Eric yet, and I don't want to hear from you again until you grow up and realize that you screwed up and that it's over!" when I said that, he started laughing. "No, I am completely serious and if you're just going to laugh at me, I don't want to hear from you ever again!" I said slamming down the phone.
About ten minutes after Tyler called, Eric called. "Hi!" he said, brightly. "I just wanted to thank you again for coming with me to the hospital."
"No problem. I'm just sorry that this happened,"
"It wasn't your fault, it was bound to come out anyway. Besides, I didn't want to fight Tyler last night, but I knew that if I didn't someone would end up getting hurt...stupid comment eh?" Eric said after an awkward pause, "I didn't want to walk away, because I knew that if I did that he would never let it rest, and he would keep pestering us...uh, me. I was going to stop, until he ended up punching you in the face, and then I didn't want him to think that it was okay and all that, and then he got me even madder when he didn't apologize after doing that, he just tried to blame it on me. Alicia, I really am sorry."
I actually believed him too, I didn't think that he was putting on an act and I was right to think that he wasn't. "Okay, I believe you, how about you come over later and we can talk more, besides I think that we need to figure this out, we said some stuff last night and I think it should be talked about face to face. So, what do you think? Can you come over?"
"Uh, sure. What time? Is four okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine, I'll be looking forward to it. Bye Eric,"
"Bye Alicia. I'm looking forward to it as well."

~~ Chapter Ten ~~
Later at around quarter to four, the doorbell rang. When I opened it I was expecting to see Eric, but instead it was Tyler.
"What are you doing here?" I asked shortly.
"I wanted to come by and tell you that I was really sorry," he said hastily.
"Alicia invite him in," my mom whispered into my ear.
"Would you like to come in?" I asked sarcastically.
"Uh...sure," he said apprehensively.
"You can't stay for long, Eric is supposed to come by in around fifteen minutes," I told him quickly.
"Him again?" he asked rudely.
"Yeah him, and you better watch it because you're walking on thin ice,"
"You're not still mad are you? I thought you would have been over it by now,"
"You expected me to be over it? What is your problem? Two guys, who I thought I liked ended up in a brawl last night, and then one of them punched me in the face, and didn't even, say sorry! And you expect me to be over it? You are an idiot for even coming over here, what were you thinking?"
"I thought maybe you and I would make up and go out for pizza or something. I'm really sorry, I know that what I did was wrong, and I know I hurt you, I don't know what I was thinking..." he trailed off.
"You're right, what you did was wrong, but you know what you didn't hurt me, I knew something like this was going to happen. Besides you opened a new door for me, I had a chance to talk to finally realize that I had feelings that needed to be dealt with and for that I thank you, but that's the most I want to say on that issue." I said calmly.
"Well, are we good? Do you want to go out and get something to eat?"
"What? Did you not hear anything I just said? It's OVER! FINISHED! DONE!" practically yelled, "And do me a favour..."
"Yeah?" Tyler asked hopefully.
"Never come here again, Try not to talk to me again!"
Just as I finished yelling at Tyler, the doorbell rang. As I raced to get it, Tyler pushed past me and out onto the porch. He threw is shoulder into Eric as he passed him, making him fall back on to the driveway.
"Holy CRAP!" yelled Eric. "What did you do that for?"
"Eric!" I called, "Are you all right?"
"I don't know, I think I might have sprained my ankle!" he said,
"Oh, shut up! You did not! You're such a wimp... I barely touched you!"
"Tyler! Get off of this property! RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. "I don't want to ever see you around here again! Alex! Can you come here?"
"What's a matter?" she asked as she came to the front door.
"Um, Eric's hurt, I need an ice pack,"
"Oh, it's you," she said with disdain her eyes glued to Tyler.
"Yeah, it's me, what of it?" Tyler challenged.
"Don't you dare start challenging my sister!" I warned
"Why not? Are you going to get your sissy boyfriend after me?" he taunted.
"I don't have a boyfriend! I thought I told you to get off this property?" I yelled. "Can you walk Eric?"
"Yeah, no problem, just support me, okay?"
"Yeah sure, come on" When I got to the door, I turned around to see Tyler still standing there. "Do you have a problem understanding English?" I asked sarcastically. With that he scowled and slunk away grumbling all of the way. When my mom checked out Eric's ankle she determined that it was sprained.
"Why would Tyler do something like this?" she asked.
"I broke up with him last night, and then he attacked Eric because we were dancing, and then Tyler punched me in the face, he didn't mean to, he was aiming for Eric but he ducked and didn't know that I was behind him. Then Tyler didn't apologize and I got mad and stormed out... you get the picture. So Tyler and I are finished, and he won't get over it."
"Oh, I see," said my mom. "I think that you are going to be needing crutches for awhile. He can use your old pair, eh Alicia?"
"Yeah, of course," I said. When my mom left I turned to Eric and said, "After this, let's go out and do something okay? I've only got two weeks, and I want to make them good,"
"Sure, anywhere you want,"
So Eric and I were out for half the night just sitting in a coffee shop talking, we talked about everything and by the time I got home I had heard everything about his childhood and he had heard my story.
Eric and I spent the next couple of weeks going to the mall, the movies, the arcade, going to dinner and going to lots of parties. We were officially declared an "item" at school and it seemed that Tyler was finally over his grudge. During the time Eric also came over my house quite a bit to have dinner with my family, something Tyler had never done. The two weeks went by so fast and before I knew it, it was the night before the big "gathering" between both of my families. "So, do you know what you're going to say?" asked Alex sneakily.
"I'm not sure," I replied seriously.
"Do you want to practice in front of me?"
"I don't think so!" I said, "You're just going to have to wait too, I still have to figure out my decision,"
"Oh, sorry." She said quickly.
"Don't worry about it, if I were you I would be just as curious,"
"Alicia!" called my dad, "Phone! It's Eric"
"Thanks," I called back as I grabbed my phone, "Hey Eric, thanks dad, I got it," I said as I heard the click of a phone being put on its cradle.
"Hi! I just wanted to call and make sure that I had the right time, I have to be at your house for 8:00am right?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, that's right," I said softly.
"What's the matter?" he asked concerned. "Having difficulty making up your mind?"
"Yeah, sort of. I just don't want to hurt either of my families, or any of my friends." I said quietly.
"I want you to know," Eric started, "that whatever you decide, I will support you, as long as you promise that wherever you choose to live, we can still see each other,"
"Of course we can, and I never want to forget the time we had together Eric,"
"Neither do I," he said.
"I better go now, I have to get to sleep, and I'm really tired. Night," I said yawning.
"Night,"

~~ Chapter Eleven ~~
Bright and early the next morning our house was full of activity. Everyone was kind of nervous, because no one really knew what the day would bring. Eric showed up promptly at 8:00, just in time to share breakfast with my family.
I was still a little nervous, but I was sure what I was going to say. I was up until 2:00am because no matter what I did I couldn't sleep so I spent the time finalizing my decision and then I tried to write out my feelings and decide what I was going to say. It was difficult because no matter what I said I knew that people were going to be hurt. I wrote down everything I was thinking and all of the reasons that I had to take into consideration.
When we were getting ready to go I pulled Eric aside and asked him, "Eric, if I am too nervous to say what I have planned, will you?"
"Of course," he said quickly.
"Even if it's not what you want to hear? Because I am still not positive on what I want,"
"Yes. Definitely, I said I was going to support you no matter what you chose, and I will. I love you, but if you are going to be happier with your other family, live with them. We'll work out a way to see each other, and so will this family,"
"Thanks, it means a lot to me to have your support," I said softly. "And I love you too," I turned around to go but Eric grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, he leaned closer and closer...then I heard my dad calling. "Uh...we better go," I said hastily.
"Yeah," he said laughing a little. It was weird to think that I had only really known this guy for only like, 6 months and we had gotten to know each other so well.
The trip to Arnprior took a lot longer than it should have because we stopped for like 4 coffees, lunch and Alex saw a sign for a going out of business sale, and everyone thought that would be a good way to get our minds off of the meeting that would take place later that day. While we were there Eric bought me this gorgeous bracelet. He said it was to remember him by if I moved back to Arnprior, and if I didn't it was a "token of his affection." I laughed when he told me that and Alex told him he was the corniest guy alive, he just laughed and said he heard it on some movie. By the time we finally got to the Purcell's house I was a so anxious. I completely forgot everything I had planned to say.
As I walked into the living room, I was surprised to see how many people were gathered around. Before I even had time to collect myself, I heard a shriek from the other side of the room, "ALICIA!" screamed Sam, "I thought you would never get here! The entire squad skipped school to come down here! I can't believe you're back!"
"Whoa!" I said, "Calm down, how do you know that I am back for good?"
"Where else would you choose to live?" she asked, dumbfounded that I would even consider living anywhere else.
"I don't know? Maybe with my other family?" I asked a little annoyed that she assumed I hated it there and wouldn't even think about leaving Arnprior.
"You're not moving there...are you?" she asked stunned.
"I don't know for sure yet where I'm living," I said. "Oh! By the way, this is my boyfriend!" I said hastily changing the subject.
"Tyler?" she asked, "Nice to meet you." She said even though he had walked over to talk to Alex and hadn't even heard her.
"Uh, that's Tyler, his name is Eric," I said.
"You've only been living there for six months and already you've had two boyfriends? One who I might add is totally hot! Was the other one cute too?"
"Yeah, but he was a total jerk, do you know that I saw him kissing another girl, like two weeks ago, then he had the nerve to deny it,"
"Oh, maybe I should move there, it seems that there are a lot of cute guys there!" Sam said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, you know you really haven't changed, you're still as boy crazy as before," I said laughing. That's when my other family finally realized I was there "Mom, Dad! I can't believe it!"
"Hey sweetie!" my mom exclaimed. "How are you?"
"I'm fine! It's so good to see you! I missed you so much!"
"Well I think that is a good sign!" my dad said. "It's about time to start, let's find a seat,"

~~ Chapter Twelve ~~
When I got up and walked to the fireplace, which was where I was going to say my speech, I had to pull up a chair to sit in before I worked up the courage. Eric came and quietly asked me if I wanted him to read my statement. I said no, this was something that I had to do, because if I couldn't say my decision I didn't think that I should be able to make that decision.
"This was a very difficult choice because I knew that no matter what I chose I would be hurting people that I loved very much. But...I have decided that I should live with the Moore's," at this I stopped and looked up to see what the different reactions were "I want to live with them because I have spent 17 years with the Purcells and I want to be able to spend some time with the Moores before I go away to school and gets married," As soon as I finished I broke down in tears, I could hear sniffling all through the room. Some were tears of joy and some were tears of sorrow. I can't say exactly what mine were, because I'm not sure myself.
As soon as I had the chance I snuck out of the house and made my way through the downtown core until I reached the beach. When I sat down on a bench, a flood of memories came back to me. Like the first time my family ever had a picnic here. I can still remember playing in the sand with Joel and Elisabeth, Geoff had not been born yet. I remember how much fun we had, laughing and playing in the sand and water, we didn't have a care in the world. I also remembered the time my friends and I had a beach party down here. There were hundreds of people. I met my ex-boyfriend Andrew there, and the good thing about our relationship is he and I are friends now. I remember having our pictures for semi-formal taken here, because the hall the school rented was right next-door. I was happy to have some good memories of when I was growing up at the Purcell's but I was also glad that I was going to have the chance to make some good memories at the Moore's. As I was finishing my walk down memory lane and getting ready to go, I felt a hand on my back.
"Hey," said Eric, "Samantha told me I would probably find you here. I'm glad you chose what you did; I don't know what I would have done without you. I want you to know that I love you, more than words can say. When you were up there I realized that you are one of the most important things in my life and I don't want to lose you! Will you wear my class ring...as a promise?"
"A promise of what?" I asked stupidly, not grasping the idea behind the ring.
"Let's just say we'll wait until after college or whatever, and I'll buy you a diamond..." Eric said trailing off sheepishly.
"Oh, Eric." I said, laughing through my tears, "Of course I'll wear it,"
"Good! Then it's settled, we'll wait until after we finish school, and we'll get married!"
As Eric and I walked back to my old house, I kept thinking how lucky I was, I had two great families, and I had a terrific boyfriend, whoops, fiancé. It felt weird saying that just because I was still in high school, I felt so young to be engaged but I know its what I wanted. When we got to the house I was smiling so much that I think some people thought that it was rude being so cheerful after hurting so many people.
When my biological mom asked me why I was so happy, I didn't know what to say, because I didn't want everyone telling us that we should wait, but Eric nudged me in the back as if to say tell them. "Well, Eric gave me this," I said holding up my left hand, "Just until he can afford a real engagement ring,"
"What?" cried about half a dozen people at once.
"Alicia, we need to talk," said all my parents at exactly the same time.
"Let's go into the kitchen," my first mom said.
As they were walking away, Eric tried to duck behind some of the other people, ""Un uh, you're coming with me to face the firing squad," I said laughing.
"Why? Do I have to? I don't want to get on their bad sides before we're even married!" he whined like a little boy.
"Come on!" I said as I pulled him into the kitchen.
When we got into the kitchen we saw four grim faces looking back at us. Then all of a sudden their faces became cheery. "Alicia honey, we couldn't have picked a better husband for you, we just want to make sure that whatever you do, you go to school first," my dad said.
"Of course, that's what we were planning anyway," I said, "Eric's already been accepted to the University of Waterloo, and I've been accepted into a police foundations course at Niagara College.
"So how well do you know each other?" asked my first mom skeptically. "What is Eric going through university for?"
"Computer engineering," I said straight off.
"And Alicia's going through to be a police officer," Eric said mock seriously.
"Well, you sure picked a smart one Alicia," my father said dryly.
"Okay, if that's all, I promised Eric I would show him around town before we left,"
"Yep, sure go ahead,"
Eric and I spent the next two hours touring my former town, it was kind of a farewell thing for me, I didn't know if I would ever come back to stay.
My family and I left at around 11:00 that night; I knew that I would never live with them again, not now that I was going off to college, and then getting married. It was very depressing, until I looked at Eric, and all my troubles seemed to float away, he was so strong, sweet, and caring, I couldn't believe that I hadn't known him six months ago, it was unbelievable! He caught me staring at him and when I turned away, he laughed and pulled my chin around again, "What were you staring at?" he asked laughing.
"Nothing much," I retorted. "Seriously though, I was thinking how lucky I am, two great families, and a fiancé who is the sweetest guy alive,"
"Okay... cut the mushy stuff!" Alex shrieked, "You can go back to the great families part though, I don't mind that,"
"You wouldn't," I said laughing.

~~ Chapter Thirteen ~~
The next day, when I woke up at 12:00, I had another surprise waiting for me. My parents, Alex, and Eric had all went and planned a big party in case I chose to live with them. The party started at 2:00 pm, and never stopped until nearly 2 in the morning. Eric and I danced, and danced, and danced.
We had a big barbecue with like 12 barbecues going at once. Then someone noticed that Eric wasn't wearing his class ring, and he told everyone I had it because we were engaged, and guess who walked by right then? TYLER! I guess my father had invited him, not realizing that we weren't exactly talking.
Anyway, I tried to avoid him as much as possible, but sometimes I just happened to run in to him. At one point I thought that we were going to have a repeat of Eric's party, because Tyler came over and interrupted Eric and I when we were dancing.
"Mind if I cut in?" he asked pleasantly.
"Alicia...is that okay with you?" Eric asked.
"Uh...yeah I guess," I said uncertainly. When we started dancing Tyler was really sweet and nice, like the way he was when I first met him, but then when he heard someone mention my engagement he became very hostile.
"You're not actually considering marrying that slime ball...are you?" he asked.
"No, I'm not even considering it," I said honestly.
"Good, I knew you wouldn't,"
"Nope, not even considering it," I said seriously, "I've already made up my mind, I am marrying him, I love him," I said simply.
"Wait until I get my hands on that son of a-" Tyler started.
"Tyler, I think you better leave, it's not Eric's fault that I love him, and if you even go near him I swear I'll call the cops," Then I turned and walked away not even stopping to see what his reaction would be.
The rest of the night went smoothly, I danced so long that I was practically falling every time I stood up. I saw Tyler leave at around eight o'clock and then he didn't come back, so I hoped the trouble was over. It was great having a bunch of people around who really cared about me, and I knew that I had made the right choice.
The rest of school passed without incident and by the end of the year Eric and I were closer than ever. It was nice having a constant something in my school life, it was also good to not have any stress about dates and things like that; I always had one, for everything.
The day of graduation was spent primping, at 1:00 in the afternoon, I went to have my hair done, and at 3:00 I had my nails done. So graduation came and went, it was beautiful, and after the ceremony there was a huge party at Eric's. Everyone in the entire twelfth grade was invited, it was a ton of fun, until Eric bumped into Tyler and spilt pop all over him, I felt kind of bad for Tyler, considering he had his suit on and all, bit it was hilarious because Tyler was fuming. Surprisingly though, Tyler just sputtered a bit and then walked away. The rest of graduation night passed without further incident, and in the end everyone ended up having a great time.
Summer came and there were non-stop parties, Eric and I went to most of them, and we went to the movies. We spent a lot of time together because we knew that once September came we would not see each other for a long time. We had candlelight dinners for two, and long moonlight strolls on the beach, it was wonderful. But college came too soon, it was hard leaving each other and our families, but we worked our way through the separations.
For two years Eric and I attended our different schools without seeing much of each other. Occasionally one of us would drive down to the other and spend the weekend together, and we always saw each other on holidays, but it wasn't the same as living in the same town and being able to see each other whenever we wanted too, but we survived. Our relationship was a lot stronger after those two years because we learned to appreciate each other more, and not take our time together for granted. Plus we had better communication skills since the only thing we could do together was talk on the telephone.
The weekend of my graduation I got a call that Eric wouldn't be able to make it because he had a big exam that he couldn't miss, I was sad because I was going to be attending a party afterwards and I wanted some friends of mine to meet him, but my father said that he couldn't possibly make it. So, I spent the day getting ready for my graduation knowing that it wouldn't be the same without Eric there, but knowing also that if I didn't graduate with my class I would regret it later in life.
When I got to the auditorium and was looking around for my family, I turned a corner and had a huge bouquet of roses thrust in my face, when I angrily pushed them away, the person behind them moved them away from their face. I was astonished to see that it was Eric.
"Eric!!!!" I yelled, not caring about the ton of people all around. "You came!"
"Hey honey! I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said casually.
"I thought you had..." I started to say, but was abruptly cut off when he leaned down and kissed me so I couldn't continue. "I'm so glad you came, it wouldn't have been the same without you!"
"Yeah. But you'd better go now if you are going to be ready to go onstage!" he exclaimed.
"Okay! I'll see you later, and tell my parents that I'll be looking for them," I said before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Oh! Tell them that I will meet you guys right here after the ceremony."
The ceremony was perfect and so was the after-party. Eric's commencement happened pretty much the same way, except when we got back to his dorm after the party, there was a romantic dinner for two prepared that was delicious! But the best part was dessert. There was chocolate cake with a little bit of whip cream on it and nestled in mine was a diamond ring!
"I told you that I would get you a diamond," Eric said kind of sheepishly.
"So, does this make it official?" I asked suddenly nervous.
"Yeah, if that's what you still want," he said softly.
"Of course it is... I love you. Let's go tell everyone!" I cried happily. "We can tell everyone you want to here, and then we can go back to the hotel and tell your parents, and call mine!"
That night there were a lot of long-distance telephone calls. Eric and I did a lot of talking between ourselves also, trying to decide on the best possible place & time to have the wedding, but we couldn't really find one so we waited until we were both home with our families to make a joint decision.
When we arrived home the next morning there was a big homecoming/engagement party, with all of our family and friends gathered around to welcome us home and congratulate us on our engagement. It was nice to see all of the people who cared so much about us all gathered in one place. After everyone had left but Eric and his parents we all sat down to talk about a possible date. Eric and I both wanted the wedding to be in mid-fall just when the leaves were starting to turn colour, so then we could have it outside. Plus, it would provide a beautiful setting. Also, we decided to have it in the evening so that most of the light came from the stars. With that in mind we decided to have the wedding the weekend after Thanksgiving at my house because we had big sweeping lawns.
After that I had to decide what kind of décor I wanted, which turned out to be purple and white, and not bright purple, pastel. Next I had to decide on my bridesmaids. I chose Samantha, Alex, Melissa, Stephanie (from college), and Elisabeth. Eric's groomsmen were going to be Billy a friend from college, his two brothers Mike and Jon, and Joey, a cousin of his that was the same age. Finally, his best man was going to be Tom, his best friend since they were like three.
When I called my other family my mom picked up and asked me why I was calling, I think she thought there was an emergency or something. Anyway, when I told her, she practically shattered my eardrum when she called for my dad. Before he picked up she quietly asked me who I wanted to walk me down the aisle. When I told her I didn't know she told me that I had better make up my mind fast because that would be one of the first things my father asked me. When she said that I dropped the phone on the cradle like it was on fire. When he heard the clatter Eric came over and asked me why I was angry. When I told him, he said that he had already thought of that and that he had come up with a solution that he though I might like.
"Oh?" I asked, "What is it?"
"Why don't you walk down with one on each side of you? Then no one gets hurt if you don't pick him, and you get to have both your fathers giving you away."
"Eric you're brilliant!" I exclaimed, "That's absolutely perfect!" I cried with an excited squeal. Before I picked up the phone to call my parents back, Eric grabbed my chin and pulled my face towards his and gave me a long kiss.
"I love you," he said tenderly, "More than anything in this world, I hope you know that,"
"Of course I do," I replied, "and I love you too!"
This summer was completely different than last summer, it went by slower than I could ever have imagined. I ended up getting my first assignment in town, so I could stay at home for the summer. Eric got a well-paying job at a local computer company that had offices all over Canada, which meant that no matter where I was posted he would probably be able to transfer.
So with both of us working we didn't get to see too much of each other because Eric did a lot of overtime trying to save money. Both of our parents told him that he didn't have to, but he insisted. The funny thing was that he wouldn't tell anyone why he was saving. Plus when Eric and I did have some time alone together it was spent looking for a place to live. It was hard because there were not a lot of places that were available, and we wanted a place close to our parents. When we found a place, the landlord said that we could have it whenever we wanted it, which meant that we could start moving our furniture in so it would be ready for us after our honeymoon. By the time the end of the summer did roll around I was a nervous wreck.
My mom came down from Arnprior to help me find a dress, and when we did finally find one she took it back to Arnprior with her so that I wouldn't be able to give in and show Eric. I had made a promise to both of my moms that I would show no one but them my dress until the day of the actual wedding. The only people who would see it before I actually began walking down the aisle were my bridesmaids, because they would help me dress, and my fathers because, well it's obvious, they would have to see it when they walked me down the aisle.
Well September came and went, and then the perfect thing happened. About two weeks from the wedding my little brother John went into remission. The doctors said that if he stayed free of cancer for five years, they would consider him cured. It was awesome because now he could be the ring bearer.
All of my bridesmaids, except Elisabeth stayed at my house with my parents. Elisabeth came down a little later with my other family and they all stayed in a hotel. Everyone at my house insisted that they stay with us but my mother and father were adamant that they stay in a hotel. The day of the rehearsal was very nerve-racking because I knew that the next time I walked down the aisle I was going to be doing it for real.
The rehearsal dinner was great because it was a time for our families to get to know one another better. By the time the party wrapped up everyone was exhausted. I was so happy that the wedding day was the next day and the preparation would be over.

~~ Chapter Fourteen ~~
The morning of the wedding I got up at like 5:30 so that I could have some peace and quiet. The wedding was going to start at 6:45pm so it would just be getting dark. So while I thought that I was the only one up I was completely wrong. It turned out that Eric had also gotten up early and he came to my house. The thing is that he didn't call me or come to the door. He picked up a few pebbles from my driveway and threw them at my window so that he wouldn't wake anyone else up. When I leaned my head out the window he told me to get dressed and come downstairs. When I got there he ushered me into his car and sped off down the street. When I asked him where we were going he just said "Someplace very special,"
Eventually I realized that we were going to Arnprior. "I thought it would be nice to visit your old town once more before we get married," Eric said sheepishly.
"What is everyone going to think?" I asked laughing.
"Oh, I think that they'll realize we're together and then they'll figure out where we are when my parents find my note,"
"You're so sweet and I am so glad that you're going to be my husband," I said softly.
"I know I've told you this like a million times but I need to tell you all the time because I can't express it, I love you more than anything in the world," Eric said as he turned to look at me.
When we got to Arnprior Eric and I drove through the town, which took like 15 minutes and then he pulled to a stop in front of the beach. "Come on," he said laughing, "I've got to talk to you," He grabbed my hand and pulled me across the beach and over to the bench that he had proposed to me at. "I know you want to know why I have been working overtime so much so...I'm going to tell you," he said mysteriously, "I have been saving up and I have booked us a spot on a Caribbean cruise that ends in Maui, Hawaii, and a honeymoon suite at one of the most luxurious resorts on the beach, whaddya think? We leave tomorrow at 6:00am. We have to catch a flight to Miami and we'll start the cruise from there,"
"Oh! I can't believe you have been working so hard just for that!" I exclaimed.
"What do you mean just for that? I wanted to give you the perfect wedding and honeymoon, because anything less isn't suitable. A perfect wedding and honeymoon for the perfect girl!" he said, "Now, not that I don't want this to go on, but I would rather get home so I can marry the woman of my dreams and make it official," he said laughing.
"All right," I said not wanting the moment to end but knowing the best was coming in about seven hours.
Our drive home was spent quietly, both of us thinking about the future and wondering what it was going to be like. All of that quietness stopped once we pulled into my driveway, everyone came rushing out admonishing us about scaring them all half to death, and then all of the women pushing me into the house before I could even say good-bye to Eric. "What were you thinking leaving like that?" my mom asked. "You should have stayed here and waited to see him waiting for you at the end of the aisle."
"Ah, I couldn't wait, besides he had something special to tell me," I said excitedly.
"Oh?" asked Samantha surprised.
"Yeah! Guess where we're going for our honeymoon...a Caribbean cruise and then to Maui!"
"Really? No way! Awesome!" Everyone started shouting at once.
"All right, enough goofing around now, we have to get you ready!" my mom exclaimed.
So the next four hours were spent pretty much the same way the hours before graduation were except this one was done with way more excitement. The last 45 minutes before the ceremony were probably the worst because I was sitting there with nothing to do. When the time finally came I surprised myself in not being nervous at all. My fathers came and knocked on the door and gasped when they saw me. I had my hair all done up with little curls down around my face. I had very little make-up on and I was wearing a veil. My dress was a white-white colour, with an A-line cut, it was strapless, and very long. It wasn't puffy it was straight all the way down and it was a satiny material. Just before I walked out of the door Samantha came up beside me and whispered in my ear, "Are you ready?"
"Of course I'm ready, I have never been more ready for anything in my entire life," I said without hesitation.
"Good," She said before getting into her place in line. When we started walking towards the patio door I became surer that this was the right thing for me, and when I got to the door and heard the opening of the wedding march I was completely positive. When we paused at the door, the aisle seemed to grow longer and longer and it seemed like I would never get there. When I did I was awed at how handsome Eric looked. He was always cute, but standing there in his tux he looked so tall and strong. When I finally got right up to the altar he raised his eyebrows at me as if to say, "Well, we made it!" I didn't know what to do so I just stood there looking at him. I didn't hear much of what the minister was saying until the vows came. We had decided to do traditional vows and now that I think about it I can't remember saying them. The only thing that sticks out is when the minister asked if anyone objected, I expected silence, but that didn't happen. "I object!" said a voice that I recognized right away. "Alicia should be marrying me!"
"No!" I cried. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"I don't think that's possible," Tyler said seriously. "I think Eric here should know what's been going on while he's been working overtime, don't you Alicia?" When Tyler said this Eric dropped my hand.
"What's he talking about Alicia?" Eric asked me quietly with disappointment written all over his face.
"I don't know," I sobbed, "I promise you I don't know!"
"She's been with me!" Tyler yelled. "Everyday you worked overtime she came to my house and told me that she really wanted to be with me, and that she didn't love you as much as she loved me, she said the only reason she stayed with you was because you were rich!"
"You liar!" Eric yelled. "I've had just about enough from you and if you don't leave us alone I'll kill you, I swear it!" He said threateningly. "Alicia can't even have a day of happiness without you interrupting and ruining it for her! Get him out of here!"
"Eric," I sobbed, "I don't know what he's talking about! I would never cheat on you! I love you!"
"I know," he said, as he pulled me into his arms, "I know,"
"I love you," I cried over and over again.
"Can you just finish this?" I heard Eric ask the reverend quietly.
"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride," the minister said quickly. When we finished it felt like all of my problems had disappeared once again. When we were walking down the aisle Eric told me that we didn't have to show up at the wedding reception for another half an hour so we could take our time and have a talk our whatever.
"Well Mrs. Morrison, where do you want to go?"
"Let's go to my old bedroom. We can talk there," I said quietly.
"Okay,"
When we got to my bedroom it finally hit me, I was actually married and to the most perfect man on the earth. "Honey," Eric started, "I want you to know that I'm really sorry for doubting you for even a moment when Tyler first started. I know you would never cheat on me, especially with Tyler."
"It's okay," I said, "It was natural, anyone would have done the same."
"Yeah, but I just feel so bad..." he trailed off.
"Don't, this is our wedding day! We're married, you're supposed to be happy," I said cheerfully.
"Oh, I am, believe me... I am," he said laughing, "How could I not be with you as my wife?"
"I love you so much, I just wish I could tell you how much, there are no words-" I began only to be cut off by Eric pulling my face up to his and kissing me.
"I know exactly how you feel, I feel the same way," Eric said, "Now I think that we had better make an appearance at the reception so we can head off on our honeymoon,"
"Yeah, you're right, I just don't want to go and face everyone after what happened. I just want to stay here with you,"
"Well, it doesn't matter how we feel, we're expected to be there, and after all it's for us, so chin up, Beautiful."
"Yeah, let's go," I said. Just before we walked out the door I pulled Eric down to me and gave him a long kiss. "I love you soooo much,"
"I love you too, and if I had known that you would start kissing me like that once we were married, I would have picked right after graduation to make it official,"
"Hmm, there's more from where that came from..." I said teasingly.
"Well than prove it," he said pulling me close.
"...But you'll have to wait, because I have an appearance to make," I said as I pulled free and started down the stairs.
"Why you little..." Eric said laughing as he started down the stairs right behind me. I think we surprised some of the guests when we entered the hall and we were smiling and laughing and not upset; but I don't really care what they think.
As soon as we walked through the door Tom took the microphone and said, "It is my pleasure to announce Mr. and Mrs. Eric Morrison for the very first time in public." This was met with clapping and whistling.
For the first dance Eric and I danced to A Moment Like This, which we had dubbed our song. The whole time we were dancing my attention was focused entirely on Eric and our eyes were locked the entire time. The reception started at 8:30pm and didn't end until a little after 11:30pm.It would have kept going but everyone knew by then that we had a plane to catch and we had to pack.
When we left the reception Eric came with me to my old house to pack and I went with him to his. That's when Eric told me we were taking the train to the airport so we didn't have to take either of our cars (he lived within walking distance to the station) and no one would have to drive us. Except just as we pulled up to the station we heard the whistle and saw the train just starting to pull out.
"We better call our parents. They're going to have to drive us if we're going to catch the plane," Eric said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
Luckily, we managed to make it to the plane on time and without anymore major catastrophes.
"It's like somebody or something didn't want us to get married, you know?"
"Yeah, but look at us now, on our way to our honeymoon with everything under control." He said comfortingly.
"Yep," I said as I snuggled into the crook of his arm, "Everything's just perfect,"

~~ Chapter Fifteen ~~
We were on the plane for close to 4 ½ hours and I slept practically the whole way there. The only time I woke up was when Eric moved me off of him so that he could go to the bathroom. When we got to Miami there was a car waiting to take us to the boat so it didn't matter that we were only half awake.
The room was totally awesome! Eric must have spent an absolute fortune on it. The room had a spectacular view of the ocean, a mini-bar, even a Jacuzzi! I didn't take too much time looking around though because I was soooo tired! Then once I was ready for bed I didn't feel like going anymore. To be truthful, I was kind of nervous, I mean now all of a sudden I was going to have to start sharing my bed and that was the weirdest feeling ever! Like I said before, Eric is the sweetest guy I know, when he saw how I was acting he offered to bring in one of the deck chairs and sleep on it.
"Oh, you don't have to do that," I said embarrassed. "It's okay, we're married it's just going to take me a little bit too get used to the idea that's all,"
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Of course I'm sure I love you,"
"All right," he said hopping into the big bed, "Come on in it's very comfortable," he said as he was patting the spot beside him. When I got in I laid down so that my back was to him. "Hey! What's this?" he asked laughing. "Am I being shunned on our first night of marriage? Turn over here so I can see that beautiful face of yours,"
As soon as I was like halfway over Eric pulled me into his arms and kissed me, I barely had time to catch my breath. "I love you soooo much," I murmured. "You don't know how much,"
"Oh I think I do," he said. We stayed up talking for like half an hour and when I woke up in the morning I was still in his arms. I quietly slipped out of the bed trying not to disturb him.
"Hey, where you going?" he asked sleepily reaching for me.
"I'm just going to order some breakfast and have a shower, go back to sleep," I told him gently.
"Yes ma'am," he said with a little chuckle.
I ordered breakfast from room service and then I went to have a hot shower to help wake me up. Just as I was finishing my shower Eric knocked on the door. "Honey can I come in?"
"Yep, just give me a second I have to grab a towel,"
"No problem, just hurry up,"
Just as Eric was heading into the bathroom the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," I said squeezing past him. "That's probably room service," It was room service and the food was absolutely the best I have ever tasted. I don't know the name because it was some tropical dish, but it was extremely delicious! After breakfast Eric suggested that we go explore the boat. "That would be really great," I said enthusiastically.
"Good, we'll start at the top of the boat and work our way down, okay?"
"Sure," Our honeymoon was pretty cool and we did a lot of different activities that the boat offered. Once we got on land we went to a lot of fancy restaurants and we did a ton of shopping. We also took in some cool historical sights like Pearl Harbour, and the house of the last Queen of Hawaii. We also did a lot of fun stuff like trying to learn how to surf, and going water skiing. It was a nice chance to get used to the fact that I was married. Most nights though we just stayed in our room. Sometimes I would see girls checking Eric out and if they were in earshot I would mention something about our wedding, and if they weren't I would put my arm around his waist or give him a kiss on the cheek or hug him. Something to say that he wasn't single. And if guys were checking me out Eric would glare at them or casually take my hand and swing it in the air to show off the wedding ring. We were both trying to do it without the other one noticing, but it never worked. Our honeymoon lasted a week and a half. We got to Maui on Sunday night and left Wednesday afternoon.
So, when we arrived home both sets of our parents were there to greet us (only the Moore's, the Purcell's had left they day after us). It turned out that while we were away our parents had become good friends and they had all come in Eric's parent's van.
When we got to our apartment our parents offered to bring in our luggage for us. When Eric finally got the door opened and flipped on the living room light switch, we were greeted with a huge "SURPRISE!" It turned out that everyone had organized a huge house-warming party and almost everyone we knew had come. The apartment was practically bulging because of all of the people. After the initial shock had worn off I realized that the entire place had been re-decorated.
"What the..." I trailed off as I walked through each room looking at the decoration. It turned out that Alex; a bunch of friends, Eric's parents, and my parents had all slaved over it for the entire time we were away. The cool thing was that everything was done exactly the way I would have done it. They had gotten the ideas from some Home & Garden magazines I had had in my room. Alex flipped through them and found all of the dog-eared pages and then if they had say, two designs for a kitchen they picked the most recent issue to go by.
The party only lasted until around 10:00 because Eric and I were tired from our trip and the rest of the gang was tired from all the painting they had done. So for a while everything was normal and nothing spectacular happened.