The Jones Boys

Chapter 4 - Church & Celebrations

I step downstairs nervously, this is the first time seeing everyone being dressed up to go out, it may not sound it but it is very nerve-wracking.

It's like the girl in a movie's slow entrance, but I want it to be a rapid entrance, no one speaks about it and we just get into the car and drive away.

Instead, everyone looks at me and Kate claps her hands, clearly approving in my choice of outfit. I smile at her sheepishly and look around to see everyone else's reactions.

The older boys are looking at me, some have their mouths open, others like Fin, Jack and Jordan are just grinning at me.

Ben and Tom are jumping up and down, clapping and giggling which is too cute.

They're all wearing some kind of shirt, the top button undone, chino shorts and nice shoes. Kate is wearing a long skirt and top with a light cardigan.

A girl is standing next to John, his arm around her waist. She is wearing a nice long dress, it is navy blue and reaches her feet, she is wearing roman-looking sandals and her brown hair is half-up, half-down.

She smiles at me as I approach them all.

'Hi, I'm Amelia, John's girlfriend.' She says, holding out a hand which I shake.

'Aila, nice to meet you.' I reply.

'Right, everyone, let's go.' Peter says opening the front door.

John and Peter say goodbye to everyone and then get into the truck which has all of the food we farmed earlier in the back, and drive into the heart of the village, the rest of us follow behind, walking.

'I really like your outfit.' Amelia says, walking next to me.

'Thanks,' I reply. 'I've never been to church before so I wasn't sure if this was alright.' I chuckle.

'No, it's so nice.' She says sweetly.

I look down, chuffed with my choice of outfit.

I ended up going with a white skirt that goes down to my knees, covered with pastel flowers. I chose a dark green sleeveless top and a long grey cardigan. I'm also wearing my Old-school Vans with frilly socks because I don't own any sandals and these are my most comfy shoes.

++++

Walking into the church I look around at the beautifully painted walls and stain glass windows.

It's not like any church I've seen before. It's inviting and in a sense, informal. There are pews and an alter and everything but the walls are decorated with paintings of the solar system and the nativity scene. Something different on each wall.

'You like it?' Jack asks me, standing at my side.

'Yeah, it's beautiful.'

'I'm glad, it took us ages.' Jordan states, standing on my other side.

'You two painted all of this?' I ask.

'The pews and all.' Jack says.

'It took about 4 weeks of constant work, after school and on weekends.' Jordan comments.

'We got out of chores though which was great.' Jack says smiling and looking around.

'It is honestly breathtaking.' I say, that's all I can manage.

The twins walk forward towards the pews and sit down next to their older brothers.  Someone locks arms with mine and starts walking forward.  Turning to look at them, I see Joey grinning at me.

'What's got you so happy?' I ask.

'I like going to church here.  I'm not religious or anything but it's so relaxing.' He says with a small laugh.  'You look really nice, by the way.' He says leaning towards me.

I laugh.

'Thanks.' I say, feeling my hands clam up a bit.  'You don't look to sloppy yourself.'

Joey grins at me and walks down the pew to sit near the end of the row.

As I sit down the priest finishes his conversation and walks to the alter.

'Hello everyone, welcome. And a special welcome to Aila Phillips, where are you Aila?' He asks.

Oh no
I raise my hand and smile at him when he spots me.

'Ah, there you are,' He chuckles.   'Would you like to come up and introduce yourself?'

Well I don't have much of a choice, do I?

I feel Joey squeeze my hand and I look up to see him nod his head in encouragement, I give him a small smile and tentatively get up and walk to the front.

'Hi everyone, I'm Aila Phillips.  The Jones' are fostering me for a few months so yeah.  Er, hi.'  I smile, looking around at everyone, although I'm used to talking to large groups of people from drama GCSE and A-Level, my hands still feel sweaty.

++++

'We sold everything!' Peter shouts, running over to the family, who are all huddled in a circle.

We all jump up and shout and celebrate, Peter picks up Ben and Tom and swings them around, then he kisses Kate.  Will kisses Amelia after they both scream in excitement.  Jordan jumps on Newt's back and Newt swings him around as he holds on for dear life.  Fin and Jack run to each other and hug, Fin picks his younger brother up and puts him on his shoulders.  I look around and see Sam, Joey and Zack are all hugging.

Joey notices I'm the only one by myself and runs up to me.  He jumps on me as I turn back so he lands on my back.  He gets off me and hugs me, a great big bear hug.

'We sold everything! Aila, we sold everything!' He shouts excitedly in my face.  He smashes our bodies back together, hugging me again, then he turns around and motions for me to get on his back.

He runs at Newt and Jordan and Fin and Jack, carrying me in a piggyback and we all celebrate in a circle.

Music starts blaring through many speakers and I'm put down, then I'm dragged into the middle of the road - which is blocked off, don't worry - where loads of people, including all of the Jones family, are already starting to dance to the country music.