Dreams Of Fame
1.30 - Back on Earth
The rocket touched down, and Liberty stepped out and threw her hands up in the air.
“I’m home!” she cheered.
Beatrice stumbled out behind her, blinking in the sudden sunlight. Beatrice had resolved that it would be fair if Liberty went home for Clara and Jacob’s birthday, but once that was over, they’d have to return to the base on Sixam because she still didn’t feel safe here. Oddly enough, Liberty seemed completely okay with that. Beatrice guessed Liberty tasted a certain thrill of adventure on Sixam that she didn’t get here, where nature and society were consistent with what she’d been born into.
Regardless, they were home now, and Liberty could not wait to see her children and surprise them for their birthday.
She gestured for Beatrice to follow her, and the two rushed off, headed home.
Once outside, she turned to Beatrice.
“You know what? I think I should surprise Travis too! Let’s be very quiet, alright? We’re going to sneak into Summer’s room, she can help us out with this.”
“I thought you thought she was a bitch,” Beatrice frowned.
“Well, yeah, but- oh, whatever, Summer may be awful, but she has her moments too, you know. Now let’s go!”
Liberty carefully pushed open the front door and looked inside. Luckily, no one was in the living room and kitchen other than Giovanna. And she was totally transfixed by the tv.
Liberty and Beatrice rushed downstairs and shoved open the door to Summer’s room, then quickly shut it behind them.
Summer let out an audible gasp, but quieted down when Liberty put her fingers to her lips.
“Liberty?” she asked. “And Beatrice too? Why the hell are you two back?”
“Well-“ Liberty started, a grin crossing her face. Then, she noticed what Liberty was wearing. “Wait. Summer, what are you wearing?”
Summer smiled sweetly. “My wedding dress, of course!”
Liberty stood there in silence, stunned.
“To who? What? Summer, how long was I gone?” Liberty stammered.
“Only a few months,” she said casually, turning back around to look at herself in the mirror behind her. “You’re just in time for my wedding with José, did you two plan that? I don’t know how you found that out, but you two had better be there tonight!”
“José? I thought you two fell out, that’s the whole reason Beatrice and I had to go to space! And now you’re marrying him?”
Summer sighed. “Alright, long story short, I passed out in some weird forest for a few days and José is the one who found me, then he proposed while I was recovering in the hospital. He made his amends, Liberty. Forgive and forget, right?”
“I, uh… I guess we’ll be there, then,” Liberty muttered. “We have time for that, right Beatrice?”
“Just not longer than a few days. If I’m spotted by the wrong person, it’s all over.”
Summer turned back around. “Might want to cover your face, Beatrice, I’m having it outdoors at a public location I rented out for the night. And… if you two didn’t know about the wedding, why are you two here?”
“This is actually the reason we came into your room first, but I want to surprise Clara and Jacob for their birthday,” Liberty smiled.
Summer gave her a look. “Liberty, that was months ago. Like, legit, they spent their birthday in the hospital waiting for me to get better.”
“I… I missed it?” Liberty said quietly, tears filling her eyes. “Uh, Summer, Beatrice, excuse me for a moment.”
Liberty hurriedly exited the room, and they heard her let out a loud sob as the door shut behind her.
“You two have really got to work on your timing,” Summer muttered. “I could understand days off, but months off? Come on.”
Beatrice stood there silently.
“Well, what are you still doing here? If you’re not going to comfort Liberty, pass me my makeup.”
Liberty locked herself in the room for the rest of the day, while Beatrice quietly helped Summer. Neither of them really wanted to go around the house catching up with everyone at the moment.
Yet, soon enough, the time for the wedding came. Summer had rented out the Blue Velvet, a local bar she regularly frequented, with an exorbitant amount of money. Summer had a vision, and José couldn’t argue against it. All the same, he convinced Summer to make the bar look less like a bar and more like a wedding venue with various decorations.
Beatrice was one of the last to arrive. Travis’s eyes lit up when he saw her and he abandoned his seat to rush over to her.
“Beatrice! You’re back! Does that mean that Liberty is too? And, uh, might want to be careful about being recognized.”
Beatrice pointed to the piece of cloth covering her mouth. “Taken care of. And she’s back, but she wanted to surprise Clara and Jacob on their birthday. Missing it by a few months… well, you can guess how distraught she is.”
Travis frowned. “Where is she?”
“She’s been locked in her room all day,” Beatrice said. “But she told Summer she’d be here, so I’d just be patient.”
Travis nodded slowly.
Beatrice gave him an encouraging thumbs up, and went to go and take her seat.
Travis stood there for a few minutes, consumed with worry and anxiety. He knew Liberty was the type to totally beat herself up over something like this. He doubted space travel made it easy to track exact dates of arrival. And it was likely that wherever she’d been was nothing like home, days could be different… he couldn’t blame her. So, he couldn’t let her blame herself.
Eventually, Liberty walked into the back garden, clearly just barely managing to keep it together. She’d had to borrow clothes from Summer, and felt very uncomfortable on top of everything else.
“Liberty!” Travis called out.
She turned to him, and he rushed forward and gave her a kiss.
“I missed you! And what matters now is that you’re here now. It doesn’t matter when, we’re just glad to see you when you are here. That’s what is important!”
“Thanks, Travis,” Liberty smiled sadly. “I’ll listen to all you have to say later! Right now, can we just sit down?”
Travis nodded. “Of course.”
With everyone seated, the ceremony began.
Nobody was walking either of them down the aisle, but they didn’t mind. José’s parents had passed years ago, and his only living family, his sister, Jadyn, was barely able to make it. He couldn’t have relied on her. Summer’s dad had passed recently, not that she cared, and she seriously doubted her hateful mother would show, even though she sent her an invitation.
Under the arch, they both turned towards each other and smiled. They’d been through a lot to get here.
“Summer,” José began. “When we first talked… I never imagined that you’d one day become my wife. I just wanted to be a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, but that became something so much more. And I couldn’t be happier. Even though I made several mistakes that almost cost us our relationship, we pushed through them. Our love… it isn’t going to be beaten down easily. You’re the woman of my dreams, Summer.”
“José,” Summer smiled. “Damnit! Why’d you have to go first! You’re such a great talker. But uh… I can’t think of another man I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. Why go with a geek like Travis when I can have you?”
Travis gave her a look, and Summer shrugged. But, out of the corner of her eye, Summer saw something truly shocking. Her mother, stepping into the back garden, and taking a seat.
Summer gulped, and ignoring José concerned look, continued her speech. “But, uh, past mistakes aside… this man, José, truly gets me. He understand me better than anyone else. And, somehow, he can deal with my alcoholism, which is a miracle on it’s own, but… uh, I love you José.”
The two kissed, and everyone watching clapped. Even Summer’s mom.
After the ceremony, most everyone headed inside to avoid the nighttime chill.
Not long after sitting down at a table with José, Summer’s mom came over and sat down across from Summer.
“Terra,” Summer spat.
“Summer,” Terra frowned.
“Do you want me to ask her to leave for you?” José asked.
Summer shook her head. “No. It’s time the two of us talked. And… it needs to be alone, José. This is something I need to deal with on my own.”
José nodded, and stood up. “Good luck, Summer.”
Terra cleared her throat, and Summer looked at her expectantly.
“Summer… I’d just like to say that even though I never thought you’d amount to much, I am proud of you now. And you know, ever since your father passed, I’ve really regretted never getting to know you better! So, I’m here now.”
Summer sighed. “When you start by saying you never thought I’d amount to anything, what comes after really doesn’t mean much.”
“I… I’ll admit that I was a subpar mother, Summer. I will. But you were never the perfect daughter either. What I’m here to say is that now, before it’s too late, we should act like the mother and daughter we should have been from the start.”
“Honestly, Terra? Why would I? To me, it just looks like you’re trying to get involved in my life now that I’ve actually made it somewhere.”
Terra gasped. “No! That isn’t it at all.”
“I thought I was the ‘entitled little brat’ in your eyes.”
“And I’ve always been ‘the witch of a mother’ in your eyes!”
Summer sighed. “Alright, Terra. We both treated each other poorly. But the fact that you think you can show up on my wedding night? After years of not talking, other than that one time I called you because I was really in a bad place, and you hung up on me? That’s not right. It’s my night, and it’s obvious that you’ve greatly exaggerated your importance in my life if you think I’m going to spent all this time debating with you.”
She pushed back her chair, and stood up. “It’s too late to say sorry now, Terra.”
Summer walked off to join other friends, leaving Terra sitting there, stunned.
At another table, Zoe sat with José and his sister, Jadyn.
“These weddings are so pretty…” Zoe muttered, looking around the room. “I know I’m never going to have one of my own, but… wow…”
“Don’t say that!” Jadyn cut in. “You’re still young and pretty, you’ve still got time!”
“Yeah, seriously Zoe… I wouldn’t say that at all,” José muttered.
“Oh no… I just know, you know?”
Jadyn gave José a look, and he shrugged.
“Well, even if you don’t want to get married, you could always adopt! I did that! He’s all grown now, but I loved raising him.”
“Yeah, totally!” José added. “We could have Clara, Jacob, my future kid, and your kid running around the house together!”
Zoe thought for a long time. “Uh… no. Cause, then, I wouldn’t have enough time to write books!”
“Well, whatever is going to make you happy, right?” Jadyn smiled.
“Happy… exactly,” Zoe muttered.
Jadyn nodded slowly, then excused herself to go to the bathroom upstairs. José followed.
Instead of going to the bathroom, they headed over to the balcony overlooking the ballroom. They’d only excused themselves to get away from Zoe, after all. But, a distance away, they saw Liberty and Travis, who’d removed themselves from the scene down below by standing on the second floor balcony. They seemed to be having a serious conversation, so José and Jadyn kept their distance.
“So… what’s wrong with her?” Jadyn asked.
“She had a... a sort of operation done years ago, and she hasn’t been the same since. Don’t worry about it, though. When she’s that version of herself, she just says things sometimes that you’ve just got to take in stride.”
“And when she’s not that version of herself?”
“Oh, trust me, you do not want to meet her!”
“Liberty, it’s okay!” Travis said for what must’ve been the millionth time.
“So, you're saying it's okay that I was so irrelevant to my children that it didn’t bother them that I couldn’t make it to their birthday?”
“No. That isn’t it at all, okay, Liberty? They ask about you all the time, and think that it is the coolest thing ever that you’re out there exploring space! You know what I tell them whenever they’re missing you? To look up the stars, because you’re looking down on them from up there.”
“…all that I know is that I can’t miss another birthday. Clara and Jacob deserve both of their parents, and while I need to keep helping Beatrice, I also can’t abandon them.”
“And you won’t,” Travis reassured her. “You’re an amazing mom, Liberty. Missing a little bit of time when you’ve been there for so much of their lives isn’t going to make them forget you.”
“I sure hope so,” Liberty sniffled.
As the night drew to a close, Summer and José retired to the back garden, where they stood and smiled at each other. They didn’t exchange a word, but it wasn’t awkward. Just being in each other’s presence was enough. For the first time in a long while, Summer was truly and completely happy.