Rules To Live By

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

                Within the two weeks that Sarah and Daniel were in Hawaii for their honeymoon, I was stuck packing all of my stuff in boxes. Every day after school, if I wasn’t working a shift at the diner, I was working at the house by lifting, wrapping, or packing things into cardboard boxes. Everyone else helped out my mom and me though, which I was grateful for.

                Even Todd helped out. In fact, it was decided that he would be moving in with my mom and me in our house. Was I shocked when this was first brought up? Heck yeah. Was I angry? Slightly. But then I really thought about it and decided that I was okay with it.

                After all, I met Todd a few times before the wedding and had gotten to know him a little better. I could immediately see why my mom loved him. He was a pretty cool guy. A little awkward at times, but very sweet and caring toward everyone he encountered. Although it would take some more time to get used to having him around constantly, I decided I would make that extra effort because he made my mom extremely happy. Plus, he took my side every now and then. That could be very helpful in future arguments with my mother.

                “We’re back! Don’t be jealous of our lovely tan!” Sarah exclaimed loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.

                I grinned and shook my head, setting another item down into a box. I made my way downstairs to greet the newlyweds. They certainly were tanner from their honeymoon, complementing their glows of joy as they looked lovingly at each other. I’ve always been somewhat romantic, but those looks were starting to get a little sickeningly cute now.

                “You look amazing, Sarah,” my mom told her. Todd greeted the couple too, shaking Daniel’s hand formally. It made me feel better to know that Sarah and Daniel approved of Todd.

                “I missed you Daddy!” Isabelle cried with delight as she hugged her father. After he hugged her back, she hugged Sarah. “I missed you too, Sarah!”

                Sarah looked like she was going to cry. I had a feeling she wasn’t expecting this moment to happen so soon. She looked down at Isabelle, probably feeling like she finally got the daughter she always wanted.

                After greeting Daniel and Sarah, I stood back and watched the Stavros family interact with each other. Honestly, I was a little sad while watching them. Don’t get me wrong, I was beyond happy for them, knowing Daniel found someone to love and the Stavros kids had a woman who would take care of them, give them advice, and love them unconditionally. I was just sad that I wouldn’t be part of their family anymore. I was definitely going to miss Ben’s easy going company, Isabelle asking me twenty questions about anything each day, Daniel’s compassionate personality, and Sarah’s quirky humor. I was even going to miss being around Damien.

                Though for very different reasons, of course. I would rather not fluster myself with those thoughts right now.

                I silently made my way upstairs, almost missing the glance Damien shot me as I left the room. I heard Sarah ask where I went, to which my mom told her I was probably packing. I made it up the stairs by the time they were gushing over our finished house.

                Later that day, I had finally finished packing the majority of my belongings and was ready to start bringing boxes to my house. I never realized how much stuff I brought over to Sarah’s house. I wanted it to feel like home for the months I was living here. Though it was the people who later moved in who really did that, not my belongings.