Zoey/Rouge I (Patreon)

Zoey was a flower girl, and it was surreal. She’d been in her mom’s second wedding when she was five, and she’d deliberately thrown handfuls of flower petals in the guest’s faces as she walked down the aisle. This time, of course, she was actually happy about the marriage, but it was still strange to traipse down the aisle in her fluffy, ice-blue dress, dropping colorful rice-paper squares on the grass as she walked. The music swelled as she went to stand beside her dad and grandma. Her dad gave her a huge, nervous smile, and then all eyes shifted to the two pillars that marked the beginning of the aisle.

Bree stood there. She was wearing blue instead of white, though the fabric of her gown shaded from a pale, silver blue at the bodice to a deep, midnight blue at the trailing edge of the short train. It was glorious, and the empire waist and draped fabric of the skirt nearly hid the bulge of her belly. The bulge where Zoey’s little brother or sister would wait for another three months, until he or she emerged to blow their lives apart again.

Zoey couldn’t wait.

As wild as it was to be getting a step-mother - one she actually liked - it was crazy to think that she was going to become a big sister when she was sixteen years old, and even stranger that her dad was finally going to get the second child he’d always wanted when he was nearly forty-two. Of course, Bree was forty-four, and her daughter, Bridget, was twenty-six, and a newlywed herself.

Speaking of Bridget, she was standing on the bride’s side of the minister, and the grin on her face looked like the cat who ate the canary. The brunette standing next to her, leaning on an elaborately carved cane, was smiling too, though she just looked happy, not self-satisfied. Bridget had a right to be pleased with herself, though, since Bree and Zoey’s dad had only met because of one of Bridget’s elaborate plots. Something which Zoey had come to learn was pretty standard for her new step-sister.

Turning her eyes on the crowd, Zoey smiled as she met Lily’s bright blue gaze. A year and a half ago, she never would have guessed that the step-sister she hadn’t spoken to in years would be attending her dad’s wedding, much less that they would be something very like best friends.

Beside Lily sat a round-faced blonde wearing a dress that somehow managed to be both poofy and form-fitting. Amanda, who Zoey kept accidentally calling by her game-tag, Tessle, said her boss at the clothing store where she worked had picked out the fabulous frock, and it suited her to a T.

Beside Tess - Amanda - sat a skinny boy who looked incredibly uncomfortable. He was wearing a black suit that didn’t quite fit right, and he kept sliding his finger around his neck, beneath his tie, like the strip of bright yellow fabric was choking him. His name was Ajax, and he was Zoey’s cousin, though his mom, her dad’s sister, was sitting in the front row with immediate family. There was a spot beside Aunt Danika where Ajax was supposed to be sitting, but he’d slipped away in the confusion of greetings before the ceremony started, and had ended up next to Mandy, instead.

Next to him was Jace, Zoey’s best friend, who was undoubtedly holding hands with his girlfriend, Sophia, though she couldn’t actually see anything below their shoulders. Against all odds, and multiple rounds of Epic Drama, they had been together for over a year now, and it had been good for both of them. Jace had been terminally awkward when it came to romance, while Sophia had only relaxed enough to let her real character show when she was playing Veritas Online, the game that had, in a very real way, brought them all together. Now, Jace wasn’t so desperate, and Sophia was sometimes able to let her goofy, over-the-top persona shine, even in real life.

In fact, the only people who weren’t there were Aspen, Silus, Sarave, Khor, and all the rest of their friends from inside Veritas. Technically, they were NPCs, but they were very, very special, and thanks to Bridget’s personal involvement in their creation, they were nearly indistinguishable from real people. Zoey couldn’t help but grin at the thought of people’s reactions if Silus came winging through the trees, or Wally ate the flowers off Zoey’s grandma’s extravagant hat.

As Bree finally reached the end of the aisle (and why did brides have to take such teeny, tiny steps, anyway?) she reached out and took Zoey’s Dad’s hands. Zoey was close enough to see that his big, strong hands trembled as the slim fingers slipped into his palms, and she wondered if he was worried. After all, he had been married once before, and that hadn’t exactly gone well. Then she looked up at his face, and saw the tears in his eyes, and the look he gave his bride, and knew that he wasn’t worried at all.

Not for the first time, jealousy bit at her heart. It had been her and her dad against the world for fourteen years, and now not only did she have to share him with Bree, but the new baby, too. With practiced ease, she swatted the feeling down and stomped it into paste beneath a mental shoe. Her dad, Marcus, deserved to be happy, and if Bree made him happy, which she obviously did, Zoey was all in.

At that moment, Bree glanced over, past Marcus, and caught Zoey’s eye. There was the nervousness Zoey hadn’t seen in her dad. Bree’s hesitation was the reason this wedding hadn’t happened much sooner. She had been hurt, badly, by whatever happened with Bridget’s father. It had taken a lot of talking, and a lot of reassurance before she’d finally agreed, and Zoey was pretty sure that the baby had actually made her less likely to say yes, rather than more. Bree was too worried about how her decisions affected Bridget, Zoey, and now the new little one, and had almost thrown her chance at happiness away because she was afraid that if the marriage failed, it would hurt all of them.

Zoey grinned at her. She put every bit of the excitement, happiness, and complete confidence that she felt into that smile. No one knew her dad better than her, and as long as Bree herself didn’t screw it up, Zoey was absolutely certain that he and Bree would be together for the rest of their lives.

A subtle tension that had been hovering at the corners of Bree’s eyes, and in the faint crease between her brows, eased. Her lips curved into the lopsided smile Zoey knew so well, and she turned her attention back to Marcus as he began to speak his vows.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur; vows, rings, kiss, and the slow promenade back down the aisle. The bride and groom got stuck at the end of a receiving line, while Zoey made her way to the buffet. There, she chatted briefly with Jace and Sophia, then Mandy and Lily, before they were carried away into the crowd.

Zoey reached out for the last of the rice crackers topped with something pink, sliced and rolled up in a flower shape and topped with little black things that were probably sesame seeds, but another set of fingers darted in and snagged it first. She looked up as her cousin popped the snack into his mouth.

“Hey!”

He shrugged. “Take the L, fam. There’s probably more in the kitchen, anyway.”

She glared. Ajax was… kind of obnoxious. They didn’t know each other well, but they’d played together in Veritas over the last few months, and he seemed to take some kind of twisted pleasure in poking at people every chance he got. Not that she minded a little teasing, but he took it too far, sometimes.

“Fine,” she managed. “I think that’s raw fish, anyway, and I don’t want to spend the rest of the night on the toilet.” She actually liked sashimi, and had been looking forward to trying the pretty little canape, but she smiled sweetly, fluttering her lashes. The smile slipped as Ajax smirked back at her.

“The Midwest is so basic,” he said, snatching up another of the crackers as a waiter came to replenish the empty platter. “I’ve been eating sushi since I was two.”

And there it was. Just because he came from a big city on the west coast, Ajax had been looking down on her since he got here. He obviously couldn’t wait to shake the dust off his snazzy red tennies, and get back to whatever fancy high-rise he lived in.

A hand came to rest on Ajax’s shoulder, and he flinched, spewing out a few cracker crumbs as he turned to look at his mother. Aunt Danika wasn’t much taller than Zoey herself, which put her several inches shorter than her son, but Ajax looked like he’d just found himself in a lion’s den, and was trying to decide whether he should run or just give up and apply marinade to himself.

Aunt Danika smiled pleasantly, but the look in her eyes reminded Zoey that she was a lawyer, even if she specialized in contract law, rather than dealing with criminals. “Ajax, I’m so glad to see you spending time with your cousin. Marcus tells me Zoey’s getting excellent grades in school, and she should be able to get some great scholarships based on her extracurriculars and letters of recommendation. Maybe she can give you some tips.”

Ajax’s face shut down, lips pinching tight as his eyes dropped. “Sure,” he muttered. “Whatever.”

Danika’s fingers squeezed his shoulder, the loose fabric of the suit jacket creasing beneath the pressure of her fingers, though it didn’t look like the grip was tight enough to hurt. Just a parental ‘shape up’, then.

“Zoey, I believe Bree is going to throw the bouquet, and then she and Marcus are going to go change so they can get to the airport in time,” Aunt Danika said. “Your dad wants to talk to you before they go.”

“Oh! Um…” Zoey looked around for a napkin or something to wipe her fingers on. Usually, she wasn’t above a quick swipe on her shirt, but smudges on her lovely dress would attract attention like a unibrow on the Mona Lisa.

Aunt Danika reached into her purse and took out a soft, pale yellow handkerchief that matched the main color of her dress. She handed it to Zoey, who gingerly wiped her fingers and started to hand it back.

Waving it off, her aunt said, “Give it to me when I get back from my trip.” Her cheeks darkened, and she looked back at Ajax as she let her hand fall from his shoulder. “Brad and I are going to leave as soon as Marcus does. Ajax, I already put your bag in the guest room.”

The out-of-town guests had been put up in a hotel nearby, since there wasn’t room for everyone at Zoey’s house. Since Ajax was staying an extra five days, though, he was joining her and their grandma for the rest of the week. Grandma was staying in Zoey’s Dad’s room, so Ajax was going to be in the room that was currently mostly occupied by the full immersion pod Bridget gave Zoey last year. Originally, Zoey ‘won’ the use of it for a year in a contest run by Veritas Corp, who made both the pods and the game, Veritas Online, but once Bridget became CIO, she just signed it over to Zoey, no strings attached.

Ajax grunted acknowledgement, but didn’t look up from the canape he was holding. Aunt Danika looked at him, her expression softening to one of melancholy, and sighed. Turning back to Zoey, her aunt pinned a smile to her lips and opened her arms a little uncertainly. “It was so good to see you again, Zoey. You’re growing up into a lovely young woman.”

Zoey didn’t roll her eyes until she was safely in Aunt Danika’s surprisingly firm embrace, where the older woman couldn’t see her expression. Everyone always said that. ‘Lovely young woman’. Like that was the greatest compliment a girl could hope for. She met Ajax’s eyes as she stepped back, and her cousin waved the canape at her in a mocking salute, then shoved the whole thing into his mouth.

“Um, yeah. I’m going to go find Dad. I’ll… talk to you later.” She waggled her fingers and walked away, sheer relief making her bounce on her toes as she left.