Under His Eye: Falling for Stepdaddy

Cooldown

After all that excitement at the beach, I urgently needed a shower.

At first, I just let the water run cool. But I still felt like I was burning up, so I twisted the knob all the way over to cold and let the icy spray rain down on me until I finally felt like I was back in control of myself again.

Following my shower and after toweling myself dry, I felt cool and refreshed, like a surreal calm had enveloped me, and I was happy to discover that my newfound confidence had remained.

Returning to my room, I changed into my bridesmaid's dress, which was bright pink. Examining myself in the mirror, I judged that I actually looked rather cute, which was a pleasant surprise.

I then made my way out to the back lawn where the nearly one thousand guests were in the process of taking their seats.

As a bridesmaid, my role was to stand near the altar. One by one, the other bridesmaids, all of them cousins or nieces of Malcolm, joined me at the front.

Carefully using sidelong glances, I sized them up, judging that I was easily the hottest of them all without question. In fact, as my eyes scanned the crowd, I realized that the only person more beautiful in attendance was my mother, which I thought was fitting.

Sure enough, when the time finally came, all eyes turned to watch my mother make her grand entrance. She had on a gorgeous white dress with a long train that was ethereal in its beauty as it swept over the manicured grass, and I understood for the first time why she hadn't let me see her in it before the big day.

She looked so lovely as she approached that it took my breath away, and for the first time since I'd heard about her dating Malcolm, I was fully at peace with the fact that she was moving on from my father.

Even the weather seemed to agree that it was a resplendent occasion, the sky a marvelous golden orange as the priest had my mother and Malcolm recite their vows.

Malcolm went the traditional route with a few quotes from the Bible, but my mother chose to read a poem by Sylvia Plath that brought a tear to my eye. When it came time for them to kiss, the crowd erupted in cheers of celebration, with me probably clapping the loudest.

I really don't think I could've been happier than I was at that moment. I had no idea what the future would bring, but my mother was on cloud nine, smiling and laughing as people came up to greet her and offer her kisses on her cheek.

And then, of course, there were all the photos, people whipping out their cameras for quick shots as well as a couple of professional photographers on duty, furiously herding us around as they fired off thousands of pictures.

Having remembered the drill from the rehearsal, I hung around until it was time for the group shots of the bridesmaids, and then there was one where we stood across from the groomsmen, including Jack, whom I ignored, although I have to admit he did look rather dapper in his tux.

The photographer then wanted to do some family photos where it was just the four of us - me, my mother, Jack, and Malcolm.

Everything went splendidly for the photoshoot, but I couldn't help but notice the strength of Malcolm's hand as he rested it on my shoulder for a couple of the pictures. Something about the gentle heat combined with the steely resolve that I could feel from his presence had me tingling all over once again.

When the photographer finally announced that he was satisfied and moved onto another combination, I discovered that I was once again burning up with an inner heat.

As I headed back to the mansion to change into something lighter, I thought about how surreal it was that I was now officially a member of the Kent family. Sure, there were no plans for me to change my last name, but I realized that my future was irretrievably linked to these people, and I wondered what effect it would have on me through the coming years.

Either way, I didn't give it too much thought because once the summer was over, I was headed back to school. And with my mother and Malcolm jetting off for their honeymoon, it wasn't like I was going to be spending too much time with them in the short-term.

After the big sendoff party that night, I was going back to my house, which would probably feel a bit lonely without my mother around. But that would give me time to catch up on my reading and lounge around the pool, which sounded very attractive.

Of course, what I didn't realize then was just how long that summer was going to turn out to be and just how much having Malcolm as a stepfather was going to radically alter the course of my life.