OMV ths is so sad I really hope Beth is okey wherever she is a the moment and I hope she's back at her parents really soon. Thanks for the PM and can't wait for more.
huh... :blink: now that's odd - i can see the epilogue and it's definitely in the HTML code so it just must be your computer not loading it correctly - Just go to Random Fans juju, you're a member - TRT is unlocked now and its in the story corner II section
Chapter 4
Sydney awoke the next morning and for one brief heart-soaring moment, she thought that the events of the prior day had simply been the worst nightmare of her life. However, as soon as she realized she was still clutching Al Bear tightly, she knew it had been a sick reality. She rolled over and saw that Michael was awake and staring up at the ceiling. When she moved, he looked down at her. “It wasn’t a dream,” she said sadly. He shook his head. “Michael,” she whimpered and buried her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head. Neither of them wanted to face starting the day without their baby girl.
Slowly, they got out of bed and made their way downstairs, where they sat at their kitchen table in silence. After a few minutes, Michael got up and made his way to the phone to call the police to see if they had any more information. They told him they were ‘working on the situation’ and nothing more. Defeated, he sat back down and stared down at his cup of coffee, not knowing what else to do.
About an hour after had awakened from their tortured sleep, they were still seated at the kitchen table, just as numb as ever, when Nadia, Eric and April arrived. Surprisingly, Nadia was beaming, but Eric looked even more upset and distraught than he had the day before. Nadia greeted both her sister and her brother-in-law with tight hugs and then she put her daughter in Sydney’s lap. Sydney gathered up April in her arms and hugged her warm body while she kissed her head.
“What’s with the bag?” Michael finally broke the silence between them by pointing to the rather large tote bag Nadia brought with her, which was sitting on the floor beside April’s diaper bag.
“Oh! Well, I decided we needed distractions,” Nadia smiled.
“Nadia,” Sydney sighed.
“No, we do. We’re not going to help Beth by sitting around and moping all day, so we’re going to…. reminisce,” she said as she pulled out a photo album from the bag and waved it enticingly in front of them.
“Your wedding album?” Sydney asked dully.
“Uh huh,” Nadia smiled. “Come on, let’s all go sit on the couch!”
Nobody moved. “See, I told you that was stupid,” Eric told her.
Nadia hit him lightly. “Come onnnn, just for a few minutes? Then you can go back to sadness, I promise,” she told them with a smile.
Sydney and Michael reluctantly followed Nadia to the couch, where she sat down in between them and opened up the book. “See, okay, look at this, remember my first freak out at the church?” Nadia smiled over at her sister.
“First?” Sydney laughed softly. “You mean eightieth.”
“Well… yeah,” Nadia said casually.
“OH MY GOD!!” Nadia wailed for the fifth time since putting on her dress. The first two had been panics about the dress, the third a panic about the rehearsal, and the fourth a panic about Eric’s strange bedroom habits that made Sydney nearly gag.
“What?” Sydney sighed exasperatedly.
“I just thought of something! Eric is the only man I’ve slept with… and… and if marriage is forever then I’ll only get to sleep with Eric! I’m YOU!” she wailed helplessly.
“Nadia, you need to calm down,” Sydney coached her. “Deep breath in, out, in, out.”
Nadia only tried the breathing for a moment before whining once more, “I’ve only slept with Eric. What if there is someone out there better than Eric?!”
Sydney sighed and tried to come up with an answer to that that wasn’t a joke, but instead, something helpful. “Well… it’s not just about the sex, Nadia. It’s the whole package.”
“I could have been with more guys! DAMN YOU!! This is your fault!” Nadia screeched with an accusing finger directed towards her sister.
“Me?!” Sydney gasped.
“Yes, you! If it hadn’t been for you and your Captain Virgin attitude I would have been a slut!” she said in an almost disappointed manner.
“Nadia, listen to yourself. You don’t want to be a slut!” Sydney told her.
“No…,” Nadia said quietly.
“Besides, sleeping with only one guy isn’t so bad,” Sydney smiled hopefully at her.
“Easy for you to say,” Nadia muttered as she folded her arms over her chest. “Your husband is hot!! Mine looks like… the Pillsbury dough boy!”
Sydney and Michael had cracked smiles by the end of the story as Eric began to sulk. “This is horrible! How was this supposed to cheer us up?!”
“Not you, Eric, them,” Nadia smiled. Eric grumbled.
“Well, it was fine… until Michael fell down in the aisle,” Sydney said, barely able to keep her lips from cracking into a smile as she pointed to the picture of her husband flat on his face.
Michael’s expression turned to stone. “That kid tripped me,” he said bitterly.
“Sure he did, Michael,” Nadia told him with a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. He glared at her and Sydney couldn’t help but let out a tiny giggle at recalling that hilarious image of her husband.
Right after the ‘I Do’s, the wedding guests began to clap and cheer as a smiling Nadia and Eric made their way back down the aisle. Sydney, who was the maid of honor, took the arm of her husband, who happened to be the best man, and they began to follow Nadia and Eric.
They had only walked a quarter of the way down the aisle when, all of a sudden, Michael wasn’t walking beside her and Sydney’s arm jerked violently. She looked down and saw him sprawled out on the ground as the entire church burst out laughing. “Oh god Michael, are you alright?” Sydney asked, crouching down beside him.
“Kill me,” he whimpered helplessly.
“Why? Are you alright?” she asked.
“You mean, aside from mortified,” he grumbled as he pushed himself up off the ground. As he did so, he noticed a little boy around the age of seven smirking and trying to hide his giggles. Michael was about ready to attack him, but Sydney pulled him down the aisle to keep the wedding party moving.
When they reached the end of the church, Eric was doubled over, resting his hands on his knees, laughing hysterically. “That was smooth man, really smooth.”
“Shut up,” Michael growled.
“I can’t believe you guys kept that picture,” Michael grumbled.
“Of course,” Nadia smiled.
“Hey, you guys remember when I taught Beth to say ‘Daddy go boom’ after he fell?” Eric laughed. The room fell silent at the mention of the missing little girl and Eric only felt worse, so he shrank back against the couch and decided not to say anything else.
After a few minutes of silence Nadia cleared her throat. “Anyway, remember when Mom put cake on Dad’s nose?”
“Oh god, I thought he was going to kill her!” Sydney exclaimed.
“I know it was great!” Nadia smiled. Just as she turned the next page, April began to grunt and squirm in Sydney’s arms. She crawled over into her mother’s lap and placed her chubby hand in the photo album at the picture displaying Beth dressed up in her pretty flower girl dress.
Sydney looked away as a tear fell from her eye and Nadia just hugged her daughter tightly.
Just as she turned the next page, April began to grunt and squirm in Sydney’s arms. She crawled over into her mother’s lap and placed her chubby hand in the photo album at the picture displaying Beth dressed up in her pretty flower girl dress.
Sydney looked away as a tear fell from her eye and Nadia just hugged her daughter tightly.
Great update!
I loved that Eric and Nadia tied to make it a little better and the flash backs were awesome Vaughn tripped in the church OMV awesome :lol: I hope Beth is okay and I can't wait for more.
you really did do an incredible job of interspersing humor into an emotionally charged/draining story.
and your av...seriously....every single time I see it, I freak out. It takes my breath away and I have moment of panic. Uh huh...I do. It is very tragic. I promise to stay by your side....please don't do it....after all, we still have Kamil.
April began to grunt and squirm in Sydney’s arms. She crawled over into her mother’s lap and placed her chubby hand in the photo album at the picture displaying Beth dressed up in her pretty flower girl dress.
Sydney looked away as a tear fell from her eye and Nadia just hugged her daughter tightly.
and your av...seriously....every single time I see it, I freak out. It takes my breath away and I have moment of panic. Uh huh...I do. It is very tragic. I promise to stay by your side....please don't do it....after all, we still have Kamil.
Slowly, they got out of bed and made their way downstairs, where they sat at their kitchen table in silence. After a few minutes, Michael got up and made his way to the phone to call the police to see if they had any more information. They told him they were ‘working on the situation’ and nothing more. Defeated, he sat back down and stared down at his cup of coffee, not knowing what else to do.
Aww at least Nadia tried to help them feel better!!!!
-I loved Nadia's little freak out about Eric...too funny!!! :lol:
Loved all of the flashbacks!!!
-Great update!! Loved it!!
Wow! This chapter was awesome! You didn't want to laugh because of the circunstances but you had to... you felt like to, just as the characters did. And then, at the end... bam! You want to cry again.
Great emotional rollercoaster.
I really hope Beth is okey wherever she is a the moment and I hope she's back at her parents really soon. Thanks for the PM and can't wait for more.
