2.5: Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter 11: The reception and the aftermath.

An hour later and the reception party is well under way, it's around six pm and Sera and Luis are in the nursery napping.  They look like two adorable little dark haired angels. Seb and Hadriana are too busy trying to talk with everyone, she is introducing him to her family that he's never met before and will likely never meet again, whilst he struggles to remember who they all are.

Alexander just hides in the corner of the room by himself quietly getting drunk, watching everyone go about the day like blue arsed flies. He hates it, he's happy for Seb and Hadriana but all in all, he hates the pomp and circumstance as a result of his old job. He's not sure if it's the resentment or the alcohol making him feel this way so he puts it down to both and carries on drinking anyway. A few minutes after this, Joseph comes into the house and calls everyone outside. The tables and dancing area are outside as is a complimentary bar and food table, he taps the side of a glass with a fork, being careful not to break it.
"Can I have everyone's attention please?! Thank you... The bride and groom will be cutting the cake shortly so if you want any, you'd better get out there! Oh and after that, there will be a speech, featuring yours truly of course..."
That solicits a chuckle and random murmers from almost everyone and then they all follow him out into the garden. It's a beautiful evening, the crickets are chirping in the grass along to the violin music being played. The sky looks like a delicate watercolour painting with splashes of orange, yellow, lilac and pink as the sun melts into a spectacular sunset.

Alexander takes his drink outside and leans against the wall of the house, again, just people watching. He sees Seb and Hadriana looking blissfully happy as they cut into their cake, Seb of course is a big child and smears some icing on her nose, so she decides to smear some on his lips, she then leans in and kisses it off of his lips again, this solicits a mixture of 'Aww' and giggling sounds from the gathered crowd. He smiles a little for them but this smile is tainted with envy. He then gets back to people watching.

About ten minutes later, Seb and Hadriana take their seats as Joseph taps his glass again.
"Attention please?! I told you all that I'd be gracing you with a speech and I always keep my promises... So here it goes... If I stutter a little, it's because I honestly never thought I'd be in this position... But I am... because my son, my beautiful boy Sebastian is always surprising me... Sometimes they are good surprises and sometimes, more frequently than not, they are bad... But he always keeps me guessing... As a boy, up until age four or five, he was well behaved but after that... He was unpredictable... A naughty, spoiled brat if I put it kindly..."

Everyone laughs warmly before he carries on.
"He often brought relief to tense situations by being the family comedian and a general wise arse... That only got worse after his mother passed on... Or better, depending on how you look it... but good Gods, Sebastian... You as a teenager were a relative nightmare compared to your cousins... Alfie... Lou, Azreal... you all had it easy with Andreas and Sylvanus!"

Alfie raises his glass.
"I'll drink to that! Hahah."
Louise stands up and pulls Andreas stands up with her, he shyly stands and waves as she proudly says.
"And here is Golden boy himself!"
The crowd giggles along with them before they sit down again.
"What with the drinking, the general overindulgence, the womanising, the constant defiance, I was on my last tether... But as he and I got older, the more I realised that he is just like me... I too was an overindulged little bastard who drank too much and slept around... That all stopped when your mother and subsequently you came along, though son... So you changed my life for the better... I was and still am often annoyed at you because I see myself in you and didn't want you to make the same mistakes that I did... But you did it and made those mistakes anyway... You became a better person for it... At sixteen I defied my mother by becoming a traveling scholar, at seventeen you defied me by not going to mages college and focusing on your archery instead... At twenty I defied my mother again when I decided to marry an elf and start a family... At twenty, you defied me again by choosing to become a smith and opening your own shop... But when I look back on it... It wasn't really defiance... It was just you growing up, taking responsibility, making your own choices and ultimately making your own life, building it exactly how you wanted it and in your own way... And now, Sebastian I just want you to know, on a day I never thought I'd see... That you make me so proud, you always have and you always will...
So keep on defying me, you stubborn little git... But always remember that I love you... I wish you and your beautiful new wife Hadriana and of course my gorgeous grandson Luis and any other grandchildren to come, all of the happiness and joy that life can bring you... Let's all raise a toast, to Seb and Hadriana!"