Page 151 of Forever

I couldn’t stop the tears now. They started streaming down my cheeks. I grabbed a napkin and blotted my face as Matt put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

“We love you both,” Mr. Caldwell said. “And we’re so happy for you. Here’s to the happy couple.” He lifted his champagne glass.

Matt tapped his glass against my water glass.

I laughed and patted away the rest of my tears. But I knew they’d be back as soon as Mrs. Alcaraz stood up.

“Mi amor,” she said. “I know you wish people who are not here could be. Your uncle would have had some words tonight in place of your mother. So I hope I find the right ones in place of both of them.”

I was already crying.

“I know you are not my daughter, but you know I love you like my own. Both mis niñas mean the world to me.”

I smiled at Kennedy. I smiled even more at the way Felix was staring at her. With stars in his eyes.

“When we lost you, we all broke,” Mrs. Alcaraz said. “Everyone at this cena. And now we can heal. Together. And celebrate together. Matthew,” she said and turned to him. “I thought you were trouble. Muy problema.”

I laughed through my tears. Matt had been trouble in high school. But God I loved him.

Matt’s parents found that line extra funny too.

“But I see your corazón.” Mrs. Alcaraz tapped the center of her chest. “You’re a good boy. A good man. And good for my Brooklyn. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness. Felicitaciones!” She raised her glass.

“Thank you, Mrs. Alcaraz,” I said through my tears.

Matt leaned over and kissed my tearstained cheek, chasing away my tears.

“Do you think now is a good time?” Rob whispered beside me.

I ignored him.

“Pst. Brooklyn.” He elbowed my side.

I wiped away the rest of my tears and stared at him. “No.”

“I think it’s a pretty good time.” He made an exploding motion with his hand.

What was he going to make explode?! I’d tried to get more details from him, but he said he wanted it to be a surprise for me too. The only thing he’d said was that he had to pull a lot of strings. And now I was wondering if he meant a literal string. Was there a string somewhere that I could hide so that nothing bad would happen? Because if there was, I could stop this whole thing. Whatever this thing was. I pretended to knock my knife to the floor and then bent down to pick it up. My head disappeared beneath the tablecloth as I crawled onto the floor. I looked around for some kind of string dangling from beneath the table. But there was nothing down here. I was just about to look under Rob’s chair when he slid under the table too, almost sitting on my face.

“Damn, Sanders. All you had to do was ask if you wanted to have the honor of sucking my dick for your wedding present.”

I pushed on his thigh so the front of his pants would get away from my face. “That’s not why I’m down here.”

“Oh, right, the prank,” Rob said as he crouched down next to me. “This way we can talk freely. So is it go time?”

“No. Rob, please don’t do this. We’re all having such a good evening.”

“I mean…you were just crying. I think crying from laughter is always better. I like it when you smile, Sanders.”

I smiled. Honestly, both ways of crying were good for the soul. But the last time he’d pulled a Thanksgiving pudding prank, a lot of people had cried for all the wrong reasons. And my life had taken a very traumatic turn. “For my wedding gift, I want you to call this off,” I said.

“Too late. Daphne already picked something out for you guys. I’m still offering my cock if you want it though.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I love words that have dick in the middle.”

I sighed. “I don’t know why you’re hell bent on doing this prank tonight of all nights. Please don’t ruin this for me.”

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