Sink

chp. 32

EPILOGUE.

   "Hi, Dad," I said, crouching down with a bunch of white lilies in my hand. They had always been his favourite flowers. "How are you? Things are pretty hectic without you here, but that's the norm. It's been this way for six years, actually."

   I sighed, and laid the flowers by his grave. "I really miss you. Like a lot."

   I sat myself down, staring at the sky. Six years. It only seemed like one. But it's been around six years since my dad died.

   "Oh, by the way, I'm getting married today. In a few hours, actually," I told him, laughing. "I completely forgot to tell you that. Jade's going to kill me, but it's cool. It's sad because you won't be here to walk me down the aisle, but I've got Dylan to do that, so it's okay.

   "He's grown so much, Dad. I wish you were here to see it. Mum can barely believe it either. You should see the amount of trophies he has in his room. It's ridiculous. I go in there and all I see is gold stuff. To be honest, it just reminds me of when I swam. Do you remember that? It feels like only a couple days ago.

   "Everything's gone by so fast," I sighed again. "Sometimes I just want to be able to take a step back and breathe, you know? Ethan's great, but he can be overwhelming. And with working with the children and everything, it's hard. It's hard, and I always wish you were there to help me with it, but I know I have to make it out on my own.

   "I didn't think I'd become a doctor, you know? A children's one, at that. I can't even imagine having one. Like, Ethan wants ten. Ten, Dad. I need to calm him down a bit. He asked to marry me when I turned twenty. Twenty. I said no. You should have seen the look on his face. It was hard, but I knew that I wasn't ready.

   "Then after that, he kept asking me to, but I'd always say no. We got into a huge fight about it, actually. The first time he asked. I screamed at him, remember? I told you this like...four years ago? When it happened, basically. Anyway, might as well refresh your memory. I was like, please respect the fact that I'm not ready, even if he was. And then he stormed off for a whole fucking two days, and I screamed at him. I think I had the right to do that."

   Thinking back to that time, I winced. It wasn't nice.

   "But I'm marrying him, now," I laughed lightly. "That just kind of shows how strong our relationship is, in a way. It's fucking crazy."

   I continue to blabber about my life to my dad, and, because I was an idiot, I forgot the time.

   I only notice that I probably needed to get ready for my wedding when Jade herself popped up in the cemetery, looking like she wanted to kill me.

   "Oh, shit," I whispered. "Dad, Jade's here. She's going to fucking kill me. Fuck. I gotta go. Love you loads. I'll come visit soon."

   I touched his headstone, praying that Jade doesn't kill me.

   "I'm going to fucking kill you," she vowed as we wove through cars five minutes later, to get to my wedding avenue. "If you weren't with your dad, I would've fucking killed you. Bring you back to life later, but killed you."

   "I'm sorry," I said meekly. "But we still have like, four hours."

   "Which was meant to be five!" she screeched, and I winced. "Thank god you've showered and everything, otherwise I would have stabbed you. Multiple times."

   "Okay, okay, I'm here now," I tried to reassure her, but it's no good.

   "It's your wedding day!" she exclaimed, stopping at a red light. "You haven't done your hair, your make up, your everything!"