InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (19 page)

            It was. Tia
fell in love with Dylan’s family—aunts, uncles, cousins, close friends—and she
cherished every minute of the next few days with them as they came in couples
and small groups to welcome Dylan home and to meet the woman who’d captured his
heart. On Christmas Day she chatted easily with the ladies as they moved around
the large kitchen preparing the meal, Dylan strolling in every few minutes to
steal a kiss and something off one of the many plates and platters that were
filling the countertops; laughing as his mom or an aunt playfully scolded him
and slapped his hand away from the food. The day was clear and bright, and Tia
reveled in enjoying Christmas dinner outdoors for the first time in her life,
and in playing games on the lawn with the children. She felt her heart flutter
as she watched Dylan interact with them as well, chasing, twirling, and tossing
them into the air as they squealed with delight. Remembering Kelley’s comment
about fertility, an image of him as a father burst into her mind and burned
there brightly. She couldn’t help but smile.

The
next day was Boxing Day, a national holiday Tia knew nothing about. The Miller
family tradition was for all of the men to head over to the Melbourne Cricket
Ground for the start of the annual matches, and Tia insisted that Dylan go.
After the joyful noise of Christmas Day and the arrival of the other men as
they joked good-naturedly about the rivalries among the teams playing, the
house was blissfully quiet when the caravan of vehicles pulled out of the
driveway.

            “Ahh,” Kelley
sighed, stretching her arms over her head, “peace and quiet at last. It’s been
such a whirlwind, I feel like we’ve barely had time to really get to know each
other. Why don’t we go into my studio so we can chat?” She poured some steaming
tea into two mugs and handed one to Tia.

            “I’d love
that,” Tia said, following her into the warm and inviting space and taking a
seat on one of the large comfortable chairs.

            “Now that the
boys are out of our hair, I really want to thank you, Tia,” she said sincerely,
“for everything you’ve done for my Dylan.”

            Tia crinkled
her eyes in surprise. “I’m quite certain I can assure you that he’s done much
more for me than I’ve done for him.”

            “I’m glad to
hear you say that because that’s the way I raised him,” she smiled, “but you’ve
done more for him than even he knows, and it goes back a long way. I know he’s
told you his version of the story, but when Shelby got sick…he had a really
tough time with it.”

            “I know,” Tia
said softly.

            “You of all
people do,” she said, “and the fact that you share that common bond of loss
brings you closer—you can’t understand it unless you’ve been through it
yourself. Then it takes on a whole life of its own.”

            Tia nodded.
She knew it all too well.

            “They were
close, the two of them,” she continued. “Oh, they had their usually sibling
rivalry moments, of course, but he doted on Shelby, and she just thought the
sun and moon set on her big brother.” She sighed, her eyes traveling away as
the memories came flooding back. “Dylan suffered a lot during that time. Not
only was he facing the loss of his sister but we were moving him to an entirely
different country and he had to leave everything he knew behind. Plus, Shelby
required so much time, so much care, and although he’d never admit it, he felt
a bit neglected.”

            Tia reached
out and touched her lightly on the arm. “He has only the very best things to
say about his childhood, aside from losing her.”

            “Oh, I do know
that,” she sighed, “but he had to grow up pretty quickly once we got to the
States. Steve had to find work, and his long hours meant that Dylan had to kind
of be the man of the house a lot of the time. I was a wreck, and Shelby needed
so much. I just wanted to spend as much time with her as I could; knowing that
I’d lose her;  but at the same time, it was almost more than I could bear,
watching her slip away day by day. It was a lot for a teenager to have to deal
with. But he was so good with her, you know? He seemed to know exactly what she
needed when Steve and I were at a complete loss. He spent so many hours sitting
with her, playing his music for her, and even though I envied it at the time,
he was what she really needed to deal with it all. I’ll be honest and tell you
that too often I wished desperately for the relationship the two of them had—he
always knew just how to make her smile while I was floundering around trying to
keep a smile pasted on my own face.  And then she asked him to write her a
goodbye song…

            “It was so
hard for him, and I hated watching him struggle with it. He wanted it to be so
perfect, but he didn’t want to finish it, because he didn’t want to say
goodbye. I know he was in denial a lot of the time, as we all were, and
couldn’t face the fact that her time was short. She died just days after he
shared it with her.” She wiped absently at a tear that had spilled down her
cheek and Tia leaned over, pressing her hand to Kelley’s in support.

            “Dylan fought
the feelings for so long, and even after years had gone by, he still couldn’t
really deal with it. He carried it with him, feeling so guilty that he was
still here. It’s part of what drives him. I think he feels like he has to live
up to something; that he has to be successful so he’ll be worthy of what she
could never be. Like he has to live for them both.”

            “It’s
something he’ll carry with him always,” Tia said compassionately, her own eyes
welling. “But it’s also something that’ll make him stronger, especially now
that he’s really coming to terms with it.”

            “You know,”
she said, reaching over to take Tia’s hand. “I learned from that experience
that life is short, and that death is so…final.  It took me a long time, too,
but I finally realized that you’ve got to love them while they’re here, mourn
them when they go, and celebrate them once they’re gone. It’s because of you
that he’s finally able to do that; celebrate her, I mean; and I’ll always be
grateful.”

            “We’ve been
dealing with it together,” Tia replied, “and at times it’s been hard on both of
us, but his strength has been my rock, too.”

            “I can see how
good you are together. I’m really glad you found each other.”

            Tia smiled. “It
almost sounds cliché because I say it all the time, but I really couldn’t
possibly be any happier.”

            Kelley stood
and wiped the tears from her face. “Me either. So let’s get happy then!” she
pronounced, smiling. “I hid a bottle of my favorite wine away from the
Christmas toasts. How about we grab some leftovers and I’ll show you all the
pictures of Dylan’s awkward years that he thinks he threw away when he thought
I wasn’t looking?”

            Tia chuckled.
“I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon. Lead the way!”

            The boys
returned from their cricket game waving flags and oversized sponge hands over
their heads; the victors singing their teams’ fight songs. Dylan caught Tia’s
eye right away and a grin split his face.  He strolled over and wrapped his
arms around her, murmuring, “Ah, now the day is perfect…”

            “I missed you,
too,” she whispered back, “but I had the best time with your mom—she’s such an
incredible person!”

            “I told you
that you had nothing to worry about,” he said, giving her a squeeze. “I just
knew you’d love each other.” 

            “You have an
amazing family, Dyl. I love them all.”

            “They love you
too, baby girl. I knew they would.”

            “This has been
the best Christmas—thank you.”

            “And the fun
has only just begun. We’ll do the show tomorrow morning, and then we’ll head
out on the next part of your Aussie adventure. There’s so much more I want to
show you.”

            “I can’t wait.
Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

            “I want most
of it to be a surprise, but we’re going to end up in Sydney for New Year’s Eve.
It’s an amazing city, and the fireworks over the Harbour Bridge are
spectacular.”

            Tia smiled
into his shoulder. “I can’t wait. As much as I’ve enjoyed your family, I’m
really looking forward to having some time just for the two of us.”

            “We still have
a lot of catching up to do.”

            “That we do,”
she agreed. 

            “There’s a lot
to do in Sydney, but I’ll leave New Year’s Eve up to you. We could go down to
one of the shows to watch the fireworks with the crowd or do something more
private…”

            “Private,” she
said immediately. “I think I’ve had more than enough public to last me a
lifetime, and we’re going back to it all in just a week. I want all the time I
can have with you. Just you.”

            “Private it
is, then. We’ll have a great view of the bridge from our room.”

            “I was
thinking we could make our own fireworks,” Tia whispered into his ear.

            “I like the
way you think,” he said, pulling her in and brushing his lips against hers.

            They walked
into the kitchen and caught Steve and Kelley in a passionate embrace. 

“Disgusting,” Dylan joked.
“Nothing worse than seeing your parents snogging. I’m scarred for life.”

            “Really,”
Steve said sarcastically. “Remember the birds and the bees—didn’t we have that
little talk a long time ago? Maybe now that you’ve finally found a woman who
seems willing to put up with you, we need to have a little refresher course.”

            Dylan put his
hands up to shield his face. “Bloody hell, don’t remind me. That’s a memory
better off forgotten.”

            “Don’t you
remember, Dyl?” he joked. “It was the summer before your sophomore year…”

            “OK, I’m
really going to have to insist that this conversation ends right here…”

            Steve grabbed
Dylan around the neck and playfully roughed his hair. “It’s not you I want to
talk to anyway,” he said, releasing him and offering Tia his arm. “It’s been so
crazy around here that we haven’t had much time to talk. Will you take a walk
with me?”

            “I’d be glad
to,” she smiled, grabbing a sweatshirt off the hook by the door and linking her
arm through his.

            They walked
for a bit in companionable silence through the cool of the evening, under a
blazing carpet of stars that seemed almost close enough to touch. The Milky
Way—a wavy streak of dark and cloud—split the sky like a river, dotted along
the edges by pinpoints of light that blazed and twinkled like jewels.

            “There are so
many stars here,” she said wistfully, looking up at the unfamiliar
constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. “It’s just beautiful.”

            “Funny thing
about stars,” Steve answered thoughtfully, “There are literally billions out
there, but only a fraction shine brightly enough for us to see. They overpower
the others with their brilliance, and are revered—worshiped even—for the
sparkle they bring to the world. But all of them must endure a lot of heat and
inner turmoil to maintain that sparkle, or else they’ll fade out and be
overshadowed like so many others that came before them.”

            “You’re
talking about Dylan,” she said.

            “In some
respects,” he answered, “but we all have our moments of sparkle; even if no one
ever sees them. Dylan is definitely one of the ones shining brightly right now,
but fame is a fickle mistress. And goodness knows he’s endured a lot of heat
and turmoil, especially these days.”

            “I hope you
know that I’m not with Dylan because of his…”

            “Oh no, no,”
he said with a shake of his head and a wave of dismissal. “That’s not what I’m
suggesting at all. It’s obvious to anyone who sees the two of you together that
what you have is real and very deep.” He took her by the shoulders and turned
her so that she was facing the Milky Way. He   stepped behind her, took her
hand, and extended her index finger; pointing it so that she could follow up
the length of it with her eyes to where it rested on one of the most brilliant
points of light in the sky. “See that one there, the really bright one?” he
asked.

            “Yes.”

            “That’s Alpha
Centauri. It’s actually two stars, close enough together that we see them as
one. You’ve acquired your own brilliance for the world now, Tia, so close to
Dylan’s that you shine together as a single entity. But you’re smart enough to
know that it won’t last too long. Another big story will overshadow this one,
and even though your brilliance won’t fade, it will be overpowered.”

            “I’ve always
preferred to cast a softer glow over a bigger area,” she said. “I never had any
aspirations to be a star.”