Chapter 36

“I can’t believe you’re finally married!” Lexi said.

“Right? I can’t believe it either. It’s like a dream come true,” I agreed, nodding my head.

“Don’t wait too long before you have a baby!”

“Definitely can’t wait,” I grinned along with Lexi who’s so much more emotional than the bride.

My cousin, Cassie, laughed at our conversation as we gushed about her being married. “You guys seem to be more excited than us. James and I can’t wait to have a baby as well,”

“Or babies,” Lexi snorted.

“Hey, we never know. I might have twins or triplets,” said Cassie.

I glanced to my side to see Lucy with a scowl on her face. Yeah, talking about kids really isn’t something she enjoyed. I nudged her side with my elbow and she looked at me with a smile. Cassie noticed her reaction and this caught her attention.

“Not a fan of children, Lucy?”

My girlfriend shook her head, “Yeah, I really don’t like them,”

“Maybe you’ll change your mind one day,”

I let out a snort before taking a sip of my magical drink. Cassie’s best friend, Ripley, made this drink and it is delicious. It’s lemonade that changes color because of the butterfly pea flower tea, “Oh I’d doubt she’ll change her mind, but I do believe in miracles,”

Cassie chuckled and glanced to her right. I followed her eyes and saw our other cousin, Sage talking to her friend. But her friend was at her side and Sage’s eyes were fixed in front of her, and there was nobody there. Weird. Our mothers were sisters and we have more other cousins since my mom has tons of siblings.

“She finally brought a friend or maybe it’s her girlfriend,” Cassie thought aloud.

“It’s about time,” I smiled to myself.

Cassie stood up and fixed her gown, “I’ll leave you all now. I need to go find my husband,” Her eyes then landed on Lucy and she gave her a smile.

My girlfriend shot her a warm smile, “Congratulations again,”

Cassie thanked her and took off. The four of us were now abandoned by the bride and then the lovebirds decided to get more food. Ripley walked past us and before she could go any further, I called out her name. She quickly turned around and greeted us with a smile.

Ripley has known my cousin since they were a baby. They’re both older than us by more than 5 years. They’re like our older sisters that we look up to.

“Hey, Rip. Please tell me you’re gonna socialize today,”

Ripley chuckled, shaking her head, “Amber, you and I and everyone here knows how I hate socializing,”

“You’re just gonna sit all alone with no one to talk to? Try looking around and you might find a pretty lady to talk to,” I motioned my hand around the place, earning another chuckle from her.

“Let’s see, Ambs. What about you? How’s your relationship with Lucy?”

I stretched my hands out to take Lucy’s hands, “Good- great even! She’s amazing,”

Lucy blushed at what I said, “Amber is a pain in the ass, but I love her,”

“I’m glad that you’re both happy,” Ripley said, smiling.

“What about you? Any special lady?” I wiggled my eyebrows as I teased her, making her roll her eyes.

“Bye, Amber!” She then walked back to her table.

I smiled to myself as I watched Ripley return to her seat, I grabbed Lucy’s hand, and asked, “How are you? Are you having fun?”

She gave it a caress, staring at me with those light blue eyes. “Very much. Also because this is my first time seeing you in a dress. You look absolutely stunning,”

My light blush became more noticeable. I could feel my cheeks getting warm, “You’re gorgeous,”

“You already said that,”

“I did?”

She hummed in response. “Beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, pretty, captivating, lovely, hot, and sexy. I think you said a lot more,”

“I don’t recall saying hot and sexy,”

“Oh, I added it cause you forgot to say those words,”

“I keep forgetting, huh?” I muttered, leaning closer to her.

“You always do,” She closed the gap between us, kissing my lips lightly.

“Oh no. Kayla, would you mind putting these garlic bread back cause I just lost my appetite,”

Pulling away from Lucy, I shot my best friend a glare. We’re sitting far from everyone and our table was in the darkest part of the place. My eyes scanned the food they got and they widened as I saw how they almost took all the garlic bread, “Lexi, what the hell?!”

“What? There’s no food limit per person,” She took a bite of her garlic bread, leaving the bread on her mouth as she started putting the others on a tissue and placed it in her bag.

“Le- Lex… Oh my god,” I stuttered and did a facepalm.

“For my midnight snack, Ambs,” She waved a garlic break in front of my face while Kayla started helping her “pack” the food as well.

“Lexi, you might want to put some ba-“

“Oh I love this song! Babe, let’s dance!” Lexi dumped everything in her bag and dragged Kayla to the dance floor, leaving me and Lucy once more.

They didn’t dance though. They went back to get more garlic bread.

After the bride thanked everyone for coming and for making this wedding possible, she called her best friend for a speech, which Ripely had no clue about. Weddings weren’t her thing but she still delivered a beautiful speech. Some people shed some tears because of how moved they were by what she said. The bride and groom started dancing together, slicing the cake and feeding each other. After that, people began going to the dance floor to dance, and a song started to play.

Lucy then stood up and grabbed my hands. Knowing what she’s about to do, I tugged my hands back but she held it firmly.

“Lucy, no.”

“Amber, yes.”

“How many times have I told you today that I’m not gonna dance?”

“But I want to dance,” She pouted as she sunk into her seat.

“These heels are killing my feet,” I whined as I massaged my sore feet. Lucy rolled her eyes at how dramatic I was. It’s not my fault, I wasn’t used to wearing these death traps, unlike her.

Lucy released a long sigh. “Fine… I’ve noticed that guy has been staring at me for a while now,” following her gaze, I saw this dude ogling at her, “He looks like he could take me for a dan-“

“Dancing sounds great! Even greater when I’m dancing with you! How come you just suggested it now?” I yanked her hand, making her stand up. My eyes darted towards the guy and he was still checking her out. In a swift movement, I turned around and went to her side, putting my arm around her and we walked together side by side.

“Don’t mind him,  Amber,” Lucy whispered.

“Yo, bro!” His attention was now on me, “She’s into puss-“

A hand covered my mouth as Lucy spoke for me, “Please excuse my girlfriend, sorry.”

Both of us laughed on our way to the dance floor as we recalled the look on his face when he realized that Lucy was gay. Seeing my cousin, Sage getting pulled by her friend/date and Ripley leading this girl too, I was surprised that those two were going to dance as well. As much as we hate to admit, but we really do love dancing. We were just embarrassed to do it around a lot of people.

As we got there, I was teasing Ripley for finally talking to someone and she changed the subject. Not letting her get away with it, she asked for help from Lucy and the latter led me away. Her arms were locked around my neck while my hands were on her lower back. Her hair was now blonde and straightened while mine was curled because of my friends. They wanted to spice up my boring hair and I had no choice.

They also picked my dress, cause I don’t have a good fashion sense unlike the three of them. The theme color should be dark so they picked this Indian teal dress with spaghetti straps. Lucy chose this beautiful scarlet off-shoulder dress that matched her makeup and hairstyle, bringing out her features.

She’s so beautiful. There wasn’t a perfect word to describe her, or maybe ‘perfect’ was the word I was looking for. But even that word couldn’t exactly describe how she looked tonight. She was simply breathtaking.

I was snapped out of my daze when I felt her hand brush the hair away from my eyes and then caressed my cheek. Lucy was just staring at me with those amazing eyes that I love. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at you. I’ve probably memorized each part of you,” I told her.

“When did you become so cheesy?”

“Oh god, I hate it, but I also can’t help it. You’re just so goddamn beautiful,” I blurted, making her chuckle.

“You made my day, Amber. As you always do. Thank you for the kind words. You’re beautiful as well,”

I let out a snort, “I wish, I look like a cornball,”

“A cute cornball. But seriously, Ambs, you’re very pretty.”

My cheeks turned red and I looked away from her stare. A hand touched my chin and pushed it towards her direction, once again making our eyes meet. She had this look like she’s waiting for something, “Thank you,”

She leaned closer to kiss my forehead and smiled, “You’re welcome,”

“But really though. A pretty lady like you, known at the university for your beauty and brain, and yet you’re stuck with someone like me,” We pulled away from each other, hands still linked, then she spun until her back was pressed against my chest.

“Oh Amber, I’m so happy that I’m stuck with you. I wouldn’t have it any other way,”

Planting a kiss on her bare shoulder, I then pressed my cheek against hers, “Good thing you can’t see me blushing,”

I could feel her body vibrate as she laughed. She raised her hand to hold my blushing cheek, “I can’t see it but I definitely could feel your cheeks get warm,”

Spinning her back to face me, she locked her arms around my neck while I made a heart shape from my hands and pointed a finger at her shyly. Her eyebrows narrowed so I did the action again.

“Please say it while doing that,” She ordered.

“I love you,” I did the heart shape again and pointed a finger at her sheepishly.

Pulling me closer and wrapping her arms around me, she whispered in my ear, “I love you too, Amber.”

My cheeks won’t stop blushing, “Lucy! Stop making me blush!”

She started laughing making me chuckle as well, “I’m not making you blush,”

“Yes, you are,”

“Then make me blush too,”

“Bu- you barely blush,”

“True.”

Cassie suddenly approached us with her husband, swaying softly to the music, “You know, Amber, I just realized something,”

“You’re already regretting being married to James?” I joked.

The newlywed couple laughed, “We’re surrounded by gays,”

Looking around, I saw Lexi, Sage, and Ripley dancing the night away. Cassie was right, “Seems like everybody’s gay,”

Because of that, we laughed all together.

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship started playing. That made me push my head back as I laugh in glee. It was my favorite song.

“Alright now I want to dance to this song,” I told Lucy.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself,”

“This song is my jam!”

“You always play this song at home and you always, always dance to this,”

“I will never get tired of listening to this song.”

Instead of dancing with her, I was dancing along with the others. Lexi and Kayla joined us as we all sang the lyrics out loud too. Lexi and I sang the male part while our girlfriends sang the female part, then we all sang the chorus.

Lucy rested her head on my shoulder while I leaned mine on the top of her head, laughing quietly when she tripped on my feet. The sound of her laughter made me smile.

“Hey Lucy?”

“Hmm?”

“Where do you want to go for your birthday?” I asked.

“Anywhere,”

“I don’t know where anywhere is,” I joked, laughing at my own joke.

“You’re so corny. We can go anywhere you want to go, Amber.”

“How about… Staying in an isolated cabin?”

Lucy removed her head from my shoulder and faced me, her eyes lighting up, “That’s actually perfect!”

“And maybe I’ll add a plus one?”

“Plus one? Won’t it just be the two of us?”

“I uh… It’s supposed to be a surprise but you know how I can’t keep quiet. I got you a puppy,”

Her eyes widened at the announcement, “You got me a puppy?!” She repeated excitedly.

I bobbed my head vigorously, “I went to an adoption center and I adopted this cute all black Dachshund,”

“No way! Are you for real?” She gasped.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Amber, last time you told me you got me something, you said you bought me a BMW car and it was parked outside of my house and when I got there, I saw a toy BMW car,”

“Shh. It’s the thought that counts,”

“It’s a toy car. I couldn’t drive it,”

“At least you have a car,”

“Are you serious about the puppy?”

“Dead serious.”

She pursed her lips as it quivered, Lucy looked like she was about to cry, “Thank you so much!”

“He doesn’t have a name yet, though. You get to choose,”

“We’ll decide.”

The fact that it’s her puppy and still included me to name the puppy showed just how much she truly cares for and respects our relationship, “Then we’ll choose the name together,”

Her mind wandered off quickly to think of a good name for the puppy, “How about Lena?”

I cackled, “Lena? The puppy is a he,”

“Why not?”

“Mean… Okay, how about Lucy?”

“I’ll do you one better. How’s Amber?”

“I think it’s a beautiful name,”

“Right? I’ll have 2 Ambers who’ll annoy me to death. How about… River?”

“River?”

“Are you okay with that?”

“It’s perfect,”

“River it is!” Her grin was so wide that it reached her eyes. She always talked about getting a puppy but never had the time to look for a dog to adopt. She’s very busy with college and work. I was able to get some free time two days ago and I thought of adopting one for her birthday gift.

When the instrumental part of the song was playing, we were all just laughing and having fun. I was holding Lexi’s hands while Lucy and Kayla had their arms around each other. We were singing out loud along with the song.

It was so amazing to be here with the people that I love. To see their smiles so wide, their eyes wrinkled, faces were all lit up. Life can be great.

Everyone was enjoying as we danced the night away.

Lucy ended up in my arms, flashing me a sweet smile before kissing my cheek, “I love you so much, Amber.”

“I love you more, Lucy.”