Becoming Mrs. Bryant

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎

Aubrey

May 19, 2023

"Table set?" I asked my wife who had been wearing the purest red ball gown. The shoulders on Nova's dress were bulky like those fancy dresses that you see royal family members wear, and the mid-section was the perfect cinch, with a slit that began at the knee and ran down. Nova was very skinny, skinner than last year at this point, so she looked really good. As for me, I wore a body-con white dress, one that stopped at my knees. I was slim too, but not as slim as Nova, for a fact. I was okay with that though, I didn't look excessively big compared to her in pictures or anything.

"Yes ma'am," Nova said, fixing up the edges of the table as I tended to the door.

"Oh," I said, greeting both Nova's parents and mine. "Y'all came at the same time. What a coincidence."

"We drove together" my mother informed me, which made a lot more sense. "Ohhh. I should've figured."

"Well," I said as I opened the door up more, "come in. Have a seat. It'll just be the six of us tonight."

"Family time," Nova's dad said, flashing me a big smile. I returned the favor, "yes sir."

***

"I've enjoyed tonight" Nova's mom voiced as we all sat at the table, eating lasagna that Nova and I made together. "Seriously. This should be an every other month thing." My mom's facial expression showed that she agreed. "Indeed it should be" she replied.

"How's the boy?" Nova's father asked, either referring to Matt, Nick, or Lewis. "The one that was in some legal trouble not too long ago." Nova rubbed her nose, "he's good" she said. "In the clear, officially, and thank goodness he is. That whole ordeal took a huge toll on everybody."

"Sad that girl died though" my mom added in the conversation, "and at such a cliche time too. I can't imagine what types of theories her family must have." I intertwined my leg with Nova's under the table. The slit in her dress was the only way I was able to do that.

"The only good thing, for Lewis at least, is that he was in the middle of a conference when the girl died. So nobody can say he killed her." Everybody seemed to agree, but my dad had more to say. "That opens the door for ideas of a hitman, however."

"Yeah but a hitman is like, mad money" Nova argued. "Plus Lewis wouldn't risk that, he's on his way to the NFL one day. He knows better."

"I hope he still has a shot at that" my father added, "you'd be surprised Nova, a lot goes on behind the scenes. People are ruthless, and a lot of people don't believe in second chances or redemption. While many people might be looking at a future draft pick, the more important people may be seeing a should-have-been convict that narrowly avoided jail."

"Do you guys believe he's guilty?" I asked, to which it seemed I got mixed reactions.

"As a black man myself" my father-in-law began, "hearing his speech touched me. I believe that he's telling the truth." I nodded, "and you, dad?"

"I don't know what to believe" my dad admitted. "He's a good kid, from what I know. But I also know that many young people live double lives. Just because they're amazing people to your face, doesn't mean that they're always like that." I folded my lips in, "so he's guilty to you?"

"No, baby, he's to be decided to me" my dad corrected me. "I'm just stating a fact. And I think that the hard part about this, the part that makes him look a certain way, is the surrounding factors. Like the girl dying, and the other girlfriend."

"Shouldn't May's involvement make Lewis' story that much more credible?" Nova asked, "because I mean, "Lewis did mention that he cheated on her and stuff. Why would he lie about that? I wouldn't want to be known for cheating." The room got silent for a moment.

"Oh yeah," Nova said, "I already am."

"And Aubrey is okay now," my mom said. I looked over at her, my left eyebrow raised because that was the side away from Nova, and hoped that she got the memo. If this woman remembers correctly, I told her that I wanted the called-off divorce to be private. Thankfully, my mom didn't say anything else beyond that.

"Honestly Nova, cheating is a lot more common than you think" my mother-in-law educated her daughter. "I'm not saying it's a good thing, but I am saying that it's not the end of the world. Your dad cheated on me, and we bounced back. You just need to destroy the bacteria that caused it in the first place."

"Well, I can't kill Nick" Nova joked, prompting laughter from all of us. "That's not what I meant baby" Nova's mom replied once the laughter went down, "I mean, whatever caused you to make that decision, you need to get rid of it."

"I wish impulsiveness could go away overnight," Nova said, "but I'm working on it. I'm trying."

"And that's all that matters" my mom replied to Nova. "I don't have the most favorable opinion of Nick, but I try not to judge as well. I know you guys had this big, tangled love mess last year that he's still probably reeling from." I nodded.

"He grew from this," I said, defending Nick. "He tried therapy for a little, apologized to me a bunch, and doesn't seem to be as annoying anymore" everybody chuckled at that last bit.

"But seriously" I continued, "I'm not bitter about it anymore. I've lived a life that was way too good before this, too good to believe. I should've expected a hardship to come my way. And I feel that in a way, I needed it. My outlook on life and forgiveness changed a ton. Plus, I was kind of the one to instill cheating into Nova's system."

"Well if there's anything I've learned, it's that the journey isn't always about learning," Nova said in regards to the very last thing I said. "Sometimes it's unlearning certain behaviors, and a part of that is facing them head-on. Being raw with them." I looked around and noticed that all the adults were smiling.

"No marriage is ever perfect," my dad said to Nova and I, "but at the ripe age of nineteen, you two have already seemingly mastered the arts of both communication and optimism. That alone will make you girls go this distance. I promise."