Sold #3 - A Haunting Hope

Chapter 9

Tai could barely believe what he was hearing, choking on the sip of coffee he had taken just before he had been told the oh-so shocking news. He could clearly see the confusion on Lani's face as she stalled beside the sofa after returning from the kitchen with some breakfast of her own, happily looking quite settled in the house with him and yet, though she was obviously curious as to what had caught him by surprise she stayed silent as she took her seat and savoured the time she had with him before he had to leave for work. But he didn't know what to tell her, it had seemed a big enough shock that not only were Michael and Darcy getting along but they were engaged. Everything that had happened to her, since the moment she had last walked out of his house had been upsetting for her, he didn't want to shock her by telling her that her best friend had gone and got married without her. Not to mention the fact that he was sure Darcy and his brother would love nothing more than to tell everyone, personally, of their marriage and let them see for themselves how happy they were to be together, regardless of the length of their relationship. "Did you just say what I think you said?" Tai asked, making sure that with the time delay and with how late it probably was in Tokyo, he hadn't misheard a plan for them to get married in the morning as a mistaken thought that they had already gone ahead with the all important ceremony. But sure enough, Michael's laughter alone was enough to let him know how crazy the thought had been for them at the time, to go ahead without anyone's input or opinion and have the perfect wedding they had wanted and talked about for days.

"Yeah kid...Darcy and I got married. We just jumped right in and did it." Michael laughed to himself, a persistent smile on his lips as his new wife left a gentle kiss on his cheek and whispered a sweet sentiment of happiness in his ear, admitting once more to how much she loved him and how surreal their entire day had been. It wasn't just her words or the thought of having her as his wife that made him so happy, it was the girlish way she turned the radio on and left it as a soft background noise, all the while lifting her brush and brushing her hair, humming along to the tunes she had never heard before. She probably didn't even know what any of the singers were saying but she seemed to be in love with the gentle, mellow tune all the same. "I know it's kind of a shock but it really felt like the right thing to do. We just didn't want to come back home and find everything falling apart. We wanted you to be the first to know but when I couldn't get through to you last night, we had just arrived at the club and she didn't mean to, but Darcy ended up telling the guys." He explained their reasons as clearly as he could so that his little brother would understand why, if he ended up talking with Ben or Ronin anytime soon, he would find out second-hand that he hadn't been the first person to find out about their marriage as they had wanted him to be.

"So wait...they weren't there? Man, you sure know how to spring a surprise, don't you...you don't just want to surprise a few people, you really go all out." Tai teased him openly, knowing that for Michael to have refrained from telling his friends of their impending, last minute wedding ceremony, then they must have already shown that they were unable to understand their lightning quick relationship. It didn't matter how long they had been together, how long they had known each other or even whether they wanted to invite anyone to their wedding, it was their big day, if they didn't want anyone there that was their prerogative. He was just happy that he could say what he had to say to his brother and know with no uncertainty that the newly married couple loved each other more than he could comprehend. That was really all that mattered and, however unlikely it sounded from the secrecy surrounding his brothers marriage, he hoped that his friends were able to understand that and lay off the usual criticism and torment that they loaded him with as to sorting his life out. "Seriously though, that's great Mike, I'm really happy for you. I know how much it means to you...and Darce isn't just anyone, I know how much you love her and you couldn't have picked anyone better to spend the rest of your life with." He congratulated him with ease, knowing that there was no-one who had ever made his brother so happy and for that he was glad that she had come along to brighten up their lives just when they each had needed it. And he genuinely wanted to ask Michael to pass the phone over to Darcy so he could thank his new sister-in-law for the girl that sat across from him, in recognition of her close friendship with Lani that meant she had felt safe enough to come back to the house, when she had really needed someone to listen to her and help her out.