Chapter 1
Here we are, at one
of my favorite places in the world: Universal Studios. Might not seem that
exciting to everybody else but I don’t get out much, so it was all I had.
Universal Studios to me was the equivalence of Disneyland to a child. It was 11
o’clock in the evening on New Year’s Eve and Tony and I and my
little gang (my cousins Steph, Jess, Jason, and brother Jeff), were in the City
Walk sitting in front of Tommie’s eating burgers and fries. It was a clear
night and there were people everywhere you looked. We managed to find two tables
and moved them next to each other so that we could all sit together. The only
thing was the lack of chairs, so I had to sit on Tony’s lap, which
wasn’t a problem for either of us. Most of the time it was just the four
of them talking and joking while Tony and I were busy feeding each other French
fries.
“Hey Fer! We’re gonna go look around, okay?”
said Steph as the others stood up from their chairs and began walking without
her.
“Okay, go ahead. We’ll catch up to you guys or
whatever,” I said as I fed Tony a French fry. Steph went off to join the
others.
“Don’t you feel out of place hanging around us
teenagers?” I asked Tony. He smiled and said, “Not really. I love
hanging around all of you guys. I get to see the other side of you.”
“And which side would that be?”
“Your
child-like self. The way you argue with that little one, Jason. It’s
amusing.”
“He’s been an annoying little twerp ever
since he was born. Twelve years old and still such a pain in
the—“
Jason and Jess, who came running up to the table,
interrupted me.
“What’s going on?” I asked the both of
them.
“Jeff needs some money from you,” said Jess.
“Don’t give it to him!” Jason said as he sat down in a chair.
“He’s just gonna waste it again!”
“What does
that boy want now?”
“He wants to buy a hat!” said Jess
as she sat down also. He wants another hat? Ugh, my brother is such a spoiled
brat. He said he couldn’t ever find anything good under twenty bucks. One
of these days I’m just gonna smack him.
“Ugh what is his
problem? He doesn’t need another hat!”
“Exactly! So
don’t give him any money!” Jess said as Jeff and Steph came back.
“Fer, let me borrow some money,” said Jeff as he and Steph
sat down. I looked at Steph and she was shaking her head at me.
“How much do you need?”
“Fifty dollars.”
“Fifty dollars?!” Okay I should be used to this by now.
“Why that much?”
“In case I find something else to
buy.”
Jason, Steph, and Jess were all
shaking their heads at me. Ugh I wanted to explode inside! Tony noticed and he
began patting and rubbing my back.
“Look. You don’t need
that much money, Jeff.”
“Yeah
but—“
“You don’t really need a hat, do
you?” asked Jess. “Yeah I know. And you really don’t need
fifty dollars!” added Steph. Then all at once they all started arguing and
begging me to do something about it.
“Okay! Stop it! No, I’m
not giving you any money! Now go look around some more and stop bothering me for
money!”
Tony rubbed my shoulder and said,
“Okay here. I’ll give you twenty. That should be enough for a hat. I
don’t think Jen wants you to buy anything more than that, okay?” He
took out a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to
Jeff.
“Thanks, Tony!” said Jeff as he walked off and the
others followed him.
“Tony you didn’t have to do
that.”
“No, it’s okay,” he said as he gave me a
hug and began laughing to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“Well you were so controlling, almost like a mother yelling at her
own kids.”
“Yeah well he deserved it. Besides, I don’t
think I can handle going through that whole process of having children.
I’ve seen that whole pregnancy thing and it doesn’t look pretty to
me.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about any of
that. I’m not planning on having kids anytime soon either. Besides,
you’re only a child yourself! Now how would that look?”
I playfully gave Tony a little shove on his
shoulder. “Shut up, old man!” He wrapped both of his arms around me
and kissed my neck.
“So Tony when’s a good time for the
wedding?”
“You want to discuss that
now?”
“Why not? We need the time to get everything prepared,
plus I’ll have something to really look forward to. What if we’re
not ready by the day of the wedding?”
“Exactly. See the way
I see it is that we should just let everything go along, you know, the planning
and stuff, and set a date once we’re done with all that. See that way
there’s no pressure and no deadline to worry about.”
“Okay…well how about a rough estimate? Say…sometime
in October?”
“Hmm…that’s a long ways away.
Yeah, I think that’s good enough for me.”
All of a sudden people started screaming and
cheering. I looked at my watch and noticed that there was one minute left until
the New Year. Steph and the others pushed through the crowd to join us at the
table.
“I’m guessing it’s almost New Years,
isn’t it dahling?”
“Yes it is, Tony. You know it would
already be 2001 in Scotland.”
“Oh, so you owe me a New Years
kiss!”
“Not yet! Wait a few more seconds!”
The countdown had begun. Everybody was shouting
and counting down the minute, ready for the New
Year…5…4…3…2…1…There was a loud roar
of screaming and cheering and paper flying everywhere. Tony put his hand behind
my head and guided me to meet his lips. The kiss was long and very passionate
and I imagine that the others were wondering when it was going to end. I think
it could have lasted the whole first minute of the year. We finally let go of
each other.
“Happy New Year, dahling,” Tony said as he gave
me a kiss on the cheek. I did the same to him, then wished the others a happy
New Year. Everywhere around us, people were wishing each other a happy New Year
and everyone was in such good spirits. I was with my favorite family members, my
soon-to-be husband, and sitting in Universal Studios with a bunch of happy
people. Yes, it was a perfect night for me.