Sim Life Chronicles

Mateo made his way next to the cake stand as the guests gathered around the floor for his toast. Wobbling to the microphone, he picked it up with one hand as the glass of nectar swished in the other.

“Oh my darling Tomi. My sweet young daughter. Where oh where do I even begin? Since the day you were born, I’ve always wanted the best for you,” he glanced at Jarrett. “Someone funny and sweet. Someone who would treat you with nothing but kindness… someone smart. Someone who makes your heart beat faster than you could ever have imagined,” he continued to stare intensely at Jarrett.

Jarrett shifted in his chair uncomfortably as he tried his hardest to avoid eye contact. He knew Mateo had a crush on him but would he really confess his feelings in front of everyone, right here at his wedding?!

“I can tell by the look in your eyes that you love him. It’s the same look I get when I look at him,” Mateo smiled at Jarrett. “I mean, when I look at your mother,” he quickly darted his eyes to Lucia. She, however, was too busy staring at Jarrett too to notice.

Jarrett looked towards Lucia. She blew him a kiss as he quickly turned his head away.

“I mean, how can you not get lost in those brown eyes? Feel the softness of his hair as you run your hands through it?” Mateo continued.

Tomi looked at Jarrett with a smile and leaned towards him. “He’s right, you know. I get lost in them every single time.” She pulled him in for a kiss, running her fingers through his curls.

Mateo paused as he watched. “Oh what a punch to the gut,” he drunkenly spoke into the microphone. “Uh… where was I?”

Lucia stood up and shouted, completely drunk herself. “Running fingers through his hair!” She looked at Tomi and Jarrett with a wistful smile. If only that was me kissing him, she thought. Lucia quickly ran over and grabbed the microphone from Mateo’s hand.

“I just want to say that THAT man — is the greatest, sexiest, most muhhh— muscular, man on the planet,” she said slurring her words as her eyes bulged. “My daughter,” she said wagging her finger at Tomi, “My daughter. She’s got—” she paused, nodding and blinking rapidly. “Let me tell you something my little plumbobs,” she giggled. “Plumbobs! Ha! That was a good one, right?”

Jarrett and Tomi both awkwardly looked at each other. “I think my mom had one too many drinks tonight,” Tomi whispered in his ear.

“She’s got GREAT TASTE,” Lucia shouted into the microphone. “Better taste than me. Yeah. That’s — that’s what I’m here to tell you,” she stumbled towards Jarrett and Tomi’s table. “I mean you — YOU had a wedding. A beautiful, weird and dusty wedding in the sand, with strange robots, and people sleeping on the ground —“ she continued.

“But it was a wedding,” she nodded somberly. “A wedding. You, my DAUGHTER, had a wedding. He wanted one with you,” she pointed back and forth at them. “Your dad,” Lucia looked deadpanned into Tomi’s eyes as she leaned on the table, “won’t even woohoo with me anymore. Nope. Not in the bed. Not in the shower. Most certainly not in a dumpster or a bush.” She put her face even closer to Tomi’s. “— and believe me, I have tried. I’ve even walked in the blur around the house.”

She stumbled back over to the microphone stand and placed it in the holder. Slapping her hands on her hips, she shouted. “Woooooo! You see all of this?! No WOOHOO. None. And I’m a sexy woman. Don’t you think, Jarrett?” she said with a wink. “It’s amazing I ever got pregnant by Mister Markovic,” she enunciated pointedly.

Tomi looked at Jarrett and quickly stood up. She rushed over to Lucia and gently placed her hands on her mom’s shoulders. “Mom, I think you’ve had a little too much nectar tonight,” she tilted her head sympathetically. “Why don’t you sit back down?”

Lucia nodded. “My daughter. Always helping me. Always by my side,” she turned and looked at Tomi. “What am I going to do now that you’re gone? I’m going to be all alone,” she said somberly.

“Mom? What are you talking about? You have dad and my sister… Lilah? Remember?”

Lucia smirked. “Oh… right,” she paused. “But honestly, your sister is more a product of those mailbox stories than of me. I’m still not quite sure where she came from to be honest.”

Tomi rolled her eyes. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Of course she came from you and Dad.”

Lucia scrunched up her nose and scoffed. “But did she? I mean really? One day it was just like — here! You’ve got another baby and the announcements went out in the mail and suddenly, There. She. Was. Now you, I remember being pregnant with you. I remember the woohoo that got me there too. It wasn’t in a dumpster but it —“

“Okay, mom. That’s more than enough information for today. Let’s sit down, okay?” Tomi said cutting her off as she ushered her to the table.

As they sat back down, Mateo walked back to the microphone. “Well that was some speech, I… ummm…,” he whispered awkwardly. “What else can I say that my wife hasn’t?” Jarrett gave his dad, Travis, a desperate look.

Travis kissed Hannah on the cheek and quickly stood up. He cleared his throat as he held a glass of nectar in his hand, ready to save the day. “Jarrett, since the day I brought you home, you have always been my bright light. Never have I seen a child who could light up the room with just one single smile the way you can,” Travis beamed. He could still picture Jarrett as that little toddler smiling up at him the day he told him he proposed to Hannah.

“I second that, sweetie!” Hannah chimed in as Mateo quietly sat back down in his seat.

“Every day, you continue to impress me. With your mind, your compassion, your jokes… and your heart. Oh boy do you have such a good heart. I know when you and Tomi first started dating I had my trepidations. After all, my son was smitten after only one date! But you told me with perfect certainty that it wasn’t too fast or too soon. You knew she was the one for you and you weren’t afraid to show her.

I admire you so much for that son. It took me half of my young adulthood to build the confidence to tell your mom how I felt about her. But you: you were never afraid to lay your heart on the line if it meant getting even the slightest chance to fall in love.

You did what you needed to do to find your happiness and you found it.”

Travis looked at Tomi and smiled.

“I always hoped you’d meet a companion one day who appreciated you for all of the wonderful things that you are. I am so thankful you found Tomi. She is sweet and kind… and loves your jokes as much as I do.”

Tomi smiled at Jarrett as he lovingly rubbed her arm.

“Tomi, now that you two will be living on your own, I won’t be able to laugh at his jokes every day. So I’m going to need you to do me a favor: laugh at them for the both of us. Okay? Because boy am I going to miss them,” he said as he looked back at Jarrett.

“I love you son,” Travis said as he raised his glass. “To Tomi and Jarrett. May your life together always bring you happiness and endless laughter.”

With tears in his eyes, Jarrett stood up and hugged his dad. “I love you Dad. Thank you. That was beautiful.”

Travis squeezed him tight. “Your in laws are unique people,” he whispered in his ear.

“You don’t even know the half of it,” Jarrett sighed as he looked over Travis’ shoulder.

Lucia and Mateo were both staring at him from across the room, wistful expressions on both their faces.

For one blissful moment in their marriage, they were finally in sync. Oh how I wish he was mine, they simultaneously thought to themselves.