XXVII

Music wafted softly from the stereo system and across the backyard of the house as the guests associated with each other with warm and welcoming smiles engraved vibrantly on their faces.

Different gifts of varied sizes crammed the centre table as the celebrant's family delivered more wrapped presents to the already piled heap on the table.

Emerald, Armani, Maggie and Luca, together with Oriana and Logan — who had arrived the day before to help with the preparations — tended to the guests, mingling with them with wide smiles on their faces.

Feeling as though her legs would fall off anytime soon, Emerald walked over to an empty chair, away from the crowd and plopped down into it. She loosened the straps on her heels, freeing her feet from the hellish hold of the three inched devil.

Heaving a sigh of relief, she massaged her feet before setting them down on the cool grass in the backyard of her parents' house, which was the venue for the birthday celebration.

She let her eyes skim through the mass of guests that had attended the party. They had agreed on inviting only a few people which would consist of only a few neighbours, friends and family.

But imagine the shock on Emerald's, Armani's and Luca's faces when the guests kept filing into the house, seemingly neverending. Emerald had heard the doorbell chime so much today that the tone was now engraved in her head. They should've known better than to put Maggie in charge of the invitations.

As Emerald watched the felicitous scene playing out before her, she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift towards a certain someone and almost instinctively, she looked down at her left index finger, a certain memory playing repeatedly in her mind.

Unconsciously, her cheeks began to flush pink, warmth spreading throughout her body as she remembered how warm his mouth had felt around her finger and oddly, Emerald didn't find it weird or disgusting.

At first, she had thought it was unhygienic and had been worried about his health but now that it had been five days since the incident yet she hadn't been able to stop thinking about it, it was affecting her in unimaginable ways.

She looked up and sighed as her eyes swept through the joyous faces of the people again. It was a night of celebration — double celebration even.

The three of them — Luca, Emerald and Armani — had a surprise planned out for Maggie. Finally, Luca planned to make things official between the both of them after many years of dating. They had used her birthday as an excuse to gather family and friends, so she would continue to remain clueless to their main objective.

Emerald was overjoyed like everyone else, she really was, but for some reason, there was a tinge of a particular emotion settled deeply in her heart. It was disappointment, Emerald could tell but why was she disappointed? She had no clue.

What she had always longed for was finally happening. Her mother — the centre of her being — was finally going to be with the love of her life. She would finally be happy for the rest of her life.

Luca had finally decided that her mother was the one he wanted to spend his eternity with and she didn't know that she had been nervous about their relationship all these years until he had informed her of his plan to propose to her mother.

Emerald didn't know that she had been anxious about Luca's decision all these years. Seeing how the years had dragged on with them only dating, she couldn't have stopped herself from thinking of the possibility that maybe Luca hadn't wanted to settle down with her mother.

She knew that if eventually, he chose to break up their relationship after getting tired of her mother, it would leave Maggie devastated and that was the last thing she ever wanted.

Just as the sun was the moon's source of light, so was her mother her own source of life. She didn't know what she would've done if the situation had headed in that direction. But somehow, she had managed to stay calm all these years and let her mother handle things.

Ultimately, it had paid off, seeing as the huge grin that had been plastered on Maggie's face since the commencement of the event hadn't faltered one bit. But still, Emerald couldn't make out her source of disappointment.

Thinking deeply, she thought back to when the sinking feeling had taken root in her stomach. A smidgen of its existence had peered its head the day before, when Logan and Oriana had first arrived.

The first thing that had popped into her head at their arrival had been an unimaginable question — ‘Where was Jordan?’

Up till now, she still couldn't fathom where the thought had sprung up from but for the entirety of yesterday, she had spent most of her time watching the door and attending to every doorbell in anticipation of his arrival.

Eventually, at night when it had remained only her and Oriana, her curiosity had reached its peak and unable to keep quiet any longer, she had asked Oriana about him.

“Logan said he had informed him that he wouldn't be able to make it,” she had replied as she munched on a packet of chips while her eyes had stayed glued to the TV in Emerald's room.

Since then, the unsettling feeling of disappointment had subjugated her guts. Only then did she truly realise that she had been eagerly awaiting his arrival. She had invited all three of them and had hoped he would come but now, she knew it was just wishful thinking.

A few feet away from Emerald's brooding figure stood a lady with blonde hair and a slim yet curvy figure. She held a glass of fruit wine as she was surrounded by a few of her college friends, engaged in a conversation yet she couldn't help but notice Emerald sitting alone and staring blankly at something in front of her.

She tried to follow her line of sight but came up with nothing that was out of the ordinary, other than a man — who she recalled as Logan, Emerald's friend — speaking with a young woman.

Her eyebrows knotted on her forehead as she looked from Emerald to the preoccupied man and back to Emerald again, seemingly attempting to put two and two together.

Her eyes widened in realisation as her mouth formed an ‘O’ shape. “Please, excuse me. I'll be back in a sec,” she excused herself and left the group but not before grabbing another half filled glass of wine from the tray on a nearby table.

She made a beeline for the stoic woman and stood before her line of vision, trying to snap her out of whatever daze she was in. Surprisingly, Emerald continued to stare ahead, almost as if she saw through the body that was standing in front of her.

Clearing her throat, the blonde waved her hands frantically while calling out to her. “Mera? Meme? Sis!” she exclaimed lowly, trying not to call attention to herself. Emerald finally blinked back to reality and her gaze lifted to meet the eyes of her one and only soon–to–be sister, Armani Romano.

“Armi,” Emerald breathed. “What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your friends?”

“I've been with them for the majority of today and when I return to school, they'll be there, but not you,” Armani pulled up another empty seat beside Emerald and settled into it.

“I've missed you so much, big sis.” Armani said, still staring adoringly at the woman beside her. “You have no idea,” she stressed the last words, making Emerald chuckle as she joined her. She had been saying that since she had arrived days before.

“I've missed you too so so much, lil sis. You have no idea,” Emerald copied, chuckling.

“Wine?” Armani passed her the second glass of wine she had picked up. “I must say you have really amazing taste in wine, sis.” Armani moaned at the burst of flavours as she downed the remnants.

Emerald had been put in charge of drinks while Luca had manned the food section.

“Thank you, Armi,” she took a sip of the wine and passed it over to Armani, who gave a questioning gaze. “Seems you like it more than I do,” she explained.

“Oh, no, no, no,” she shook her head and stood to her feet. “I brought it for you. I'll just grab another glass for myself.”

She walked away and returned with two more glasses and a sheepish smile on her face, eliciting a laughter from Emerald who shook her head in amusement.

Silence dwelled amidst the two ladies once again as Armani noticed Emerald slipping back into her train of thoughts. The quietude was uncomfortable for her because it seemed as though what she was mulling over was really weighing down on her.

Armani once again, looked in the direction where Logan stood earlier to find him still there chatting with not only one woman but now, two. With a disgusted scowl on her face, she couldn't help but think, ‘this man really doesn't deserve my sister's attention.’

She turned towards Emerald, who was staring blankly at her bare feet and suddenly, a topic of conversation struck her mind. “Killer heels, aren't they?”

That seemed to snap her out of her thoughts. “Oh, they're killers alright. Feet killers,” they laughed together and once again, much to Armani's dismay, the silence returned.

“I must say, you're rocking this outfit better than I would in a million years, big sis,” she pouted. “I'm so jealous.” She initiated another conversation. She didn't want her sister's mood to be ruined all because of a man who clearly didn't deserve her.

Armani and Emerald were wearing the exact same outfit but in different colours. While Emerald donned a yellow long sleeved top with a matching flowery skirt and black heels, Armani donned the same outfit but in the colour green with black stilettos.

“Oh don't flatter me, Armi,” Emerald laughed. “You're even more beautiful than I am. So much that the blonde over there can't seem to take his eyes off of you.”

Armani's eyes widened and a blush crept up on her cheeks when she looked in the direction to which Emerald had gestured.

Emerald leaned closer to her and whispered, “Besides, don't think I haven't noticed the looks you've been passing to each other,” she teased, making Armani's cheeks turn even more pink as she hurriedly gulped down her wine.

Emerald laughed, loving her little sister's reaction. “You have lots of explanations to do later tonight, Missy.”

“And so do you, sissy.” Armani blurted out before she could stop herself. Emerald turned to her with a frown while a small smile stayed glued to her face.

“Oh, do I?”

“Yes, you do.” Armani's expression turned serious as she continued watching Emerald. “Sis, you don't have to mull over a guy that clearly doesn't deserve even a modicum of your attention.”

Emerald was momentarily in shock at her sister's words. “What do you mean by that?” ‘Had she been that obvious?’ She tried to laugh it off but Armani wasn't having it.

“You don't have to lie to me, sis. I saw you staring at him.”

Staring at him? Now Emerald was genuinely confused. What was Armani talking about?

On seeing her sister's confused expression, Armani discreetly pointed towards Logan and the two women surrounding him. Oh! Emerald's eyes finally widened in understanding. She laughed, causing Armani to frown.

“Armi,” she tried to stymie her laughter. “I wasn't thinking about Logan. Yes, I was looking in his direction but I wasn't even seeing him at all,” she explained.

Armani's mouth formed an ‘O’ for the second time tonight as she turned pink in embarrassment. “I'm sorry, I didn't know. I thought maybe you liked him but he wasn't reciprocating your feelings.”

“It's fine, honey. People tend to think that, seeing how close Logan and I are,” Emerald turned just in time to see Logan wink at her while blowing her an air kiss, catching the attention of the two ladies with him, who also looked in Emerald's direction.

She rolled her eyes at the look of jealousy and scorn in their eyes before looking back at her little sister who seemed to be thinking about something.

She was used to their reaction yet she couldn't blame them. Logan was a really attractive man, but sadly, the joke was on them. “If that's the case, then I have a question.” Armani spoke.

Emerald nodded for her to proceed. “Do you mean you've never, I mean never ever been attracted to him?”

Emerald smiled and nodded affirmatively, causing Armani's eyes to go large. “Seriously?! I mean look at him!” Emerald was full on laughing by now.

“Well, to be honest, back in college, Logan and I had been attracted to each other and we had given dating a try. Everything seemed to have been on track until we shared our first kiss and we both discovered that we felt nothing for each other other than in a platonic way.

Since then, we had settled on being nothing but friends until one day when something incredible happened,” she paused to build suspense and it worked when Armani exclaimed, ‘What happened?!’

Emerald gestured for her to come closer as she leaned towards her and whispered something into her ear.

“No way!” Armani shouted with eyes as wide as saucers.

Unbeknownst to Emerald, there was someone watching and taking photos of her.

▬▬▬▬▬

The sun was starting to set, painting the far horizon in beautiful splashes of colours as rows and rows of clouds hovered in the firmaments, seemingly migrating for the night to rule the skies.

People who were most familiar with each other appeared to have paired themselves up in groups, chatting away as no one knew when they would again get such opportunity to gather and converse.

Noticing the sunset, Luca's eyes began searching the crowd for his two beautiful daughters and almost instinctively, Emerald's and Armani's eyes also collided with his from where they stood with Logan and Oriana. Gaining each other's attention, they gave a single nod simultaneously. It was time to put their plan into motion.

With his wine glass and a table fork in hand, Luca carefully hit the metallic cutlery against the flute. “Excuse me,” he called out, successfully gaining everyone's attention.

He smiled as he made his way towards his soon–to–be wife. Placing a peck on both her cheeks, the guests couldn't stymie their ‘awwns’ — causing her to flush at the PDA — as he snaked his one arm tightly around her waist and faced the crowd.

“We would like to thank you all for honouring our invitation and for making this day even more special for the love of my life here,” he looked into Maggie's eyes as he spoke those words; she flushed even more.

“Is it just me or does Mom look chubbier than usual?” Armani observed as Luca's speech went on.

“I've noticed that too and she's been having weird cravings lately. You know how Mom never does without adding even the littlest amount of chocolate chips to her baked goods?” Emerald asked to which all three spectators nodded. Everyone knew that Maggie was the epitome of chocolate chip fanaticism.

“Well, three days ago, when I reminded her about adding them to the cookies since I thought she had forgotten, she had said and I quote, ‘Aren't you tired of always adding chocolate chips to pastries?’

Initially, I had thought she was kidding until she actually added blueberries instead of the chips. Blueberries! The last ever flavouring on Mom's grocery list. Something has got to be going on,” she concluded, making every one of their eyes shift towards Maggie's direction, just in time to see Luca going down on one knee.

Tears began streaming down Maggie's face as her one hand was over her mouth in shock while the other shook in Luca's hold. “You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, Maggie—”

“No offense, girls!” he called out to Armani and Emerald, causing laughter to erupt from the guests.

“None taken, pops!” they replied simultaneously.

“So, what do you say, Maggie? Do you want to be unfortunate enough to get married to miserable ole me?” Luca asked in a shaky voice. Tears were also brimming in his eyes.

“If being unfortunate means being married to you. . .” she paused, putting everyone on edge. “. . .then, yes! I want to be unfortunate for the rest of my life!” she pulled him in for a kiss, making everyone erupt in cheers for the now engaged couple.

“I love you, Mr. Romano,” Maggie smiled.

“I love you, Mrs. Romano,” Luca replied with a matching smile.

“Mom! Dad!” Armani and Emerald called out as they neared the happy couple and pulled them into a family hug. “Congratulations, you guys.” Emerald sniffed, lightly dabbing the wet skin underneath her eyes. She didn't even know she had been crying.

“Congratulations, auntie. Congratulations, uncle,” Logan and Oriana also greeted and passed them warm hugs.

“Thank you so much, my babies.”

As the guests flooded the family with hugs, handshakes and congratulations, Maggie suddenly called out, “I also have something to say!”

Her face turned pink at the immediate attention that fell on her. She cleared her throat and looked straight into Luca's eyes. “I'm fourteen weeks pregnant. We're having a baby, Luca.”

Silence stretched thickly in the air as everyone's eyes widened before four people — Emerald, Armani, Logan and Oriana — exclaimed, “That explains it!”

Maggie looked at them, confused. “Your chubbiness,” they answered her unasked question and before she could say anything, Luca was already hugging and twirling her with a happy squeal.

“I'm gonna be a father!—”

“No offense again, girls!” Everyone laughed.

“I love you so much, Mrs. Romano.”

“I love you too, Mr. Romano.”

“Three cheers for the happy couple!” shouted Logan.

“Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!” and everyone raised their glasses to the night sky as grins and tears of joy subjugated the atmosphere.