Chapter 5: Goodbye, Damon

“Who the plum forgot to turn off the alarm clock on Sunday morning?”

Uh-oh.

“Well, good morning to you, too.” said Devi in her PJs, her voice still sleepy.

“DON’T good morning me, you pathetic plum. Get out of my way, I need some breakfast!”

Devi rushed outside, afraid that she’d end up burnt alive if she stayed in Camilla’s presence any longer.

The sun was still hiding behind the hills when she stood next to her mother’s grand piano. She took a slow, deep breath. The air was crispy and fresh and it smelled like grass and cherry blossoms.

Devi took her guitar and listened for a while. Then she started to play along the chirps and tweets of birdsongs’ melodies. Few tones later she completely forgot about Camilla, fight, breakfasts and alarm clocks. She forgot about everything except the music. Her mind was at peace.

Camilla, on the other hand, had much harder time dealing with her bad mood. She ate her breakfast, but it didn’t work. She took a cold shower, but the results were pretty much the same. And then, her father woke up and she remembered. The boxing bag! She had to ask him for a little lesson immediately.

Camilla concentrated all her anger and directed it at the bag.

“Prepare to be destroyed, you ugly orange thing.”

“No talking, sweetheart,” Adrian was getting all pumped up as his old athletic ambitions were coming back to him.

“Now, punch as hard as you can,” he said very directively.

Camilla focused but she realized she had no idea what to do. Her whole body was somehow incoordinate, like the individual parts of her body couldn’t cooperate together.

She knew she would look ridiculous but she tried her best.

Adrian: “No, no no nonononono!”

“That’s not how it’s done!”

Adrian stopped her, happy to do some explaining: “Distribute your weight equally on both legs, relax your shoulders, contract the abs…”

“…and remember that the strength is not coming from your arm, but from your entire body!”

Camilla nodded and tried again. It was still hard to focus on so many body parts at once.

“There you go!”

But Adrian thought it was much better. That, of course, didn’t stop him from yelling enthusiastically at her.

After a while, Camilla was absolutelly exhausted and her entire body was crying and begging her to stop. She completely forgot about the alarm clock and her morning fight with Devi. She only cared about her sore muscles.

“I…am…done….I can’t -“

Adrian was having none of it.

“That is a forbidden word! Don’t.ever.say.it.again! Everytime you say ‘I can’t’…. I’m gonna force you to do another round!” he warned her angrily.

“Speaking of which, I wanna see another round of your greatest punches!”

A: “Come ON!!! I know you can! Make your fat cry!”

Her dad was being very harsh on her, but it worked. Camilla thought it was impossible but she did another round of punches. Besides, she knew Dad meant well.

And she was right. Adrian was so proud of her that he was barely holding his tears of joy. He’s always dreamed of passing on his athletic passion. He dreamed of playing football with his sons, he dreamed of teaching them how to ride a bike, he dreamed of working out with them… But none of his sons were interested. So he abandoned the idea and helped them with whatever they were passionate about.

So when Camilla asked for his help with boxing, his heart sang.  His beloved child! Interested in boxing! This is the day he was living for.

‘Oh, happy day!”

But not everyone was impressed with Camilla’s training. Dory somehow couldn’t get it.

“Why is Millie trying to become a King Kong, Mom?”

Or maybe she was just trying to be funny. One never knows with Dory.

But Adrian’s moments of family pride didn’t end with Camilla. He also had the honour of meeting Damon’s girlfriend Katie.

K: “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

She talked about her interest in molecular biology and about research she’s been thinking of. She also mentioned her family and how she used to babysit her younger brother when her Mom, who was a single mother, was at work. She was polite and intelligent and Adrian was very, very impressed.

‘I finally understand what the term Marriage Material means.’

When Katie left, Damon was all anxious to hear his father’s opinion.

“So, Dad! What do you think?

A: “Well, I hope you’re okay with being a stay-at-home dad, because that girl is BRILLIANT. And very kind. Don’t forget to remind her of her greatness every day of your life, my son.”

Damon was really glad to hear that. But he was also a bit surprised.

‘Every day of my life? Dad must have misunderstood or what…he sounds like we’re getting married or wh-‘

He paused the flow of his thoughts. He looked at Katie’s profile picture on Simbook and nodded. Then he called her.

“Hey, my love. Come back to my place. You forgot something over here.”

He went out and waited for her on a bench next to their lot. He needed a little privacy for his plan. And it was hard to get that in a house full of people.

“I mean, why not?”

Katie: “Hey, babe! You got me all confused! What could I possibly forgot at your place? I’ve only brought my phone and I obviosly didn’t forget it since you called me and…”

“Well, technically, I’m the one to blame, because I forgot to give it to you…”

“It’s your engagement ring! Katherine Louise Hogue, will you marry me?”

K: “I guess so.”

They were both excited and happy. But they knew they are still young so they didn’t want to rush things. But before they could speak about the date or the dress or the cake, something upsetting showed up.

One little notification and everything was different. Damon and Katie were suddenly absolutely certain about the date. The dress and decorations and wedding menu became unimportant.

The only important thing was to celebrate the union with their families. And so, the wedding took place the next day.

The bride showed up in a beautiful champange gown, with her natural hair and make-up free.

“Why would I need make-up when I woke up like this?”

And with Katie’s arrival, they had everything they needed to have a wedding: a groom, a bride and a bunch of loving family members to celebrate with.

The ceremony was short and sweet. The newlyweds couldn’t take their eyes off each other and the guests couldn’t take their eyes off the lovely couple. Except for Adrian and Eira who exchanged satisfied glances, grinned happily and telepatically congratulated each other on raising their boy so well.

“Good job, honey!” “And good job to you, too, my dear!”

After the ceremony, everyone gathered up in the garden and they shared dinner at the small family table, where Damon had eaten his breakfast everyday, where he’d worked on his homework with Devi and Melia and where he’d listened to his mother’s fairytales and his father’s jokes and words of wisdom.

And speaking of Adrian’s wisdom, he shared some of it during his wedding toast.

“My dear kids, here’s my advice for you future lives: Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire.”

They had a wonderful time together.

Damon felt like singing and jumping from joy. He was marrying the most beautiful girl in the whole world, who also happened to be his best friend, and his entire family, even Castor’s kids, were there to share it with him. It couldn’t be any better. He was, however, worried about Katie. It wasn’t the luxurious fairytale wedding the girls usually dream of and he didn’t want her to be dissapointed.

“I’m sorry, if this is not the dreamy, big wedding every girl wants.” he said quietly when they were eating their cake.

“I’ve never wanted a big wedding, Damon,”  Katie said with an amused smile, “I, however, always dreamed about a perfect one.”

“And you know what? I’ve got it!”

Yum!