Forever RiverCreek

Chapter 34 - The Time Has Come

The hours tick by, and Tara can barely sleep. Before the sun kisses the ground, she heads to her mother's house to start getting ready while Janet feeds the kids breakfast. Nervous, Tara stands by the large window in the living room until she hears her mother's alarm go off. Surprised to see Tara, Olivia notices that something has Tara's attention.

"Good morning. Are you ready for today?" She asks, trying to get her daughter to turn away from the window.

"No," she replies, with her lips beginning to quiver.

Taking a cover draped over the couch, Olivia steps to see what Tara is staring at, "Ah, you've noticed the for sale sign."

"Did I miss it yesterday?"

"No. The real estate agent put it up about five minutes after you left. If you want, we can take a quick walk around to see if you like it." Knowing Tara is falling in love with the house on the corner across the street, Olivia offers.

That's all Tara needs to hear to make her way outside, walking with a quick pace to the beautifully built taupe Victorian house with dark blue shutters and a wrap-around porch with an enclosed weatherproof back deck. She's smitten with the house, but it's when she sees the price tag from the printout in the clear plastic box that shatters her heart.

"Damn! We can't afford to put almost three hundred grand into a home," she says to her mother when she walks over from her house, "Why do I get teased like this?"

"How much do you like it?" Olivia asks.

Looking up at the house with a feeling that it should belong to her, Tara takes her mother's hand to walk on the porch, "This is my home. I can see bringing the baby home here and CJ having fun in the backyard. Maybe I could convince Cory to get a dog because a home like this needs all the happiness it can give. But like I said, we can't afford this plus put back for college funds, emergencies, doctor appointments, vacations, and whatever else."

Olivia plays with an offer to test the waters, "What if I give you the down payment to help lower the payments. Your father made sure he left enough in savings with two life insurance policies to help with things like this."

All Tara does is shake her head no. She's never heard how much her father left them with his life insurance, but she knows her mother needs as much as possible to help with therapy and more since she's relying on a cane to walk, "No. Come on; I need to start getting ready to get married."

While Tara jumps into the shower, Olivia goes behind her back to contact the real estate agent to set up a time to walk through the house after the wedding. After she schedules the secret appointment, Olivia makes her way to her bedroom to prepare her dress and makeup. Olivia walks to the bathroom to see Tara applying her eye shadow when she's finished. That's when she begins to cry, knowing it's the final hours she has Tara to herself as her little girl.

Seeing her mother crying, Tara tries not to cry so it doesn't mess up her makeup, "Mom, don't cry, or I will too. What's wrong?"

"This is the last time you're going to be my little girl. You're so close to getting married, and you're already looking so beautiful."

Almost moved to tears, Tara drops the eye shadow to hug her mother, "I'll always be your girl, momma."

Not too far away, Cory and Rick wake up. They get a shower and then enjoy a bowl of frosted flakes before going for their suits as Cory tries to hurry to make it to the church. Rick walks next door to help Janet get the kids ready to focus on how she looks. The kids don't give them a hard time as they're excited to be part of another wedding, with Charlotte being the flower girl and Dawson being the ring bearer, but CJ feels all grown up being his dad's best little man.