She just actually asked the question because she wanted to get rid of the feeling the song was giving her.  Jordan tilted his head to look at her curiously, waiting for her question.

She cleared her throat. “If you were to name your car, what would it be?”

“I don’t know,” he answered.

*****

V-I-C-K-Y! Her name is Vicky, bro.

“That’s your question?” Jordan asked Georgie.

Yeah, stupid, right? I told you, she asks the wrong questions. She’s weird that way.

Georgie nodded, her eyes on the road.

“I don’t really think I should name my car,” Jordan uttered, looking disappointed.

“Well, try to think of a name. Be creative while you’re at it.”

“I really can’t think of a name.”

VICKY.

“Just try,” she urged.

Jordan looked out the window, deep in thought. I wasn’t sure I wanted them to name Vicky after all. For me, she was VICKY forever until her metals give up on her.

“I think I’d start it with something that sounds like ‘vehicle’,” Jordan finally said and all hopes rose up my gas tank.

VICKY! VEHICLE, VICKY!

Georgie was nodding her head in agreement.

“Ve…Veh…Vehicks? Vector?” Jordan tried.

“Vector? As in Vector in physics? Come on,” George scoffed.

VICKY! I’m telling you, name her VICKY!

“Victor?” Jordan tried again.

My gas almost drained down my pipes. NO!

George slowly nodded her head. “I like it.”

Jordan arched an eyebrow. “You do?”

“It sounds like an old name. Victor. It’s good. We’ll start calling your car Victor then.”

NOOOOOOOOOOO! Your car is a vic, man! It is not a masculine car! Go for feminine! VICKY!

“Victor it is then,” Jordan said with a grin.

I am not telling Vicky about this. She’ll cry all her gas out when she hears she has just been baptized with a male name!

I tried to think of the best possible consolation I would tell Vicky once she found out while Jordan and Georgie started talking about Troy’s history with them.

Don’t you like it? You’re one of the boys now, Vicky. Your name now sounds masculine just like Jackie, Dannie and George. But if you don’t like it, I will still call you Vicky, I tried to practice my speech. I was thinking of more things to say when Jordan’s sudden change of topic almost threw me off the side of the road if not for Georgie’s amazing driving skills.

“What?” she asked.

“If you don’t want to marry me, then who do you think you’ll end up with?” Jordan repeated his question.

“I don’t know,” Georgie answered. “Probably someone I haven’t met yet.”

Jordan stayed silent after that.

“But I don’t really need to marry, you know. I like the way I live my life at the moment.”

“Your parents will have a heart attack,” Jordan commented with a scoff.

“Well, they’re not the ones who are going to go to bed with my husband,” she answered. “What’s wrong with being single? I like it. I love it, actually.”

“Because no one’s stopping you from anything?”

She nodded without saying anything.

“There will come a point in your life that you’ll realize you’re all by yourself and that you need someone to be with. And being married doesn’t mean you should give up a lot of what you love.”

“Maybe, but not right now. And you’re talking about companionship. I am not marrying anyone for just companionship.”

Jordan stared at Georgie as if he was seeing her in a different light all of a sudden. “You are not really having plans of marrying, are you?”

“As of the moment? No, of course not. Are you?”

“No.” He blurted out faster than intended, I was sure of that.

Dude! What the hell!

“Your girlfriend will be disappointed.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Forget it,” Georgie said, stepping on my gas. “We’re near. Get ready and tighten up your tie.”

You should really tell her there is no girlfriend, dude. I really want to hate you again, you know. You’re taking it slow, right? But does it have to be THIS SLOW? Like, seriously, man! A snail would have already crept inside Georgie’s heart and you’re not anywhere near the finish line.

I was glad we reached the farm because I wanted to burn both of the people onboard me alive. This story would be over in no time if they just sat down and talk like normal people would!

*****

With Beatle close behind, the five of them reunited and walked where the party was just starting. It was a good thing that the weather was cooperating because it was an outdoor party of close friends and family. Not more than thirty people or so, George guessed.

There were lights twinkling around the large mango tree in the center of the lawn, lanterns hanging everywhere to light the party. A small dance area was at the center, in front of the mango tree.

Dean was immediately ushered by Troy’s dad, Ron, to talk about their surprise performance. The remaining four of them went to greet Troy’s mother, Teresa, a bubbly Filipina woman who greeted them with a big smile.

George noted the special attention the lady gave to Dannie, but she ignored it. Maybe Troy told her about what happened at Kumon.

“Hey, I reserved a table for us,” Troy said as he approached them. He was wearing a white collared shirt and folded the sleeves up his elbows. George knew he was handsome, but he looked rather more dashing tonight with the soft glow of the lights around them. “Hey, Danica, glad you came. And wow, you look good in that dress! You should have worn something like a sleeveless though and—ouch!” he cried out when Danica stomped on his foot. “Hey, careful! My parents are here!”

George, Dannie and Jackie looked at him incredulously while Jordan laughed.

“Let’s go before someone steals our table. Miguel and Lee are not very good table fighters.”

Surely, his best buddies, Miguel and Lee were already sitting around the large round table near the mango tree and Troy introduced them to Jordan. George settled beside Jordan while Jackie and Dannie sat together.  

There was no one to serve the food so they had to serve themselves once the party officially started.

“Get a plate full of lechon while I get the others,” George whispered to Jordan conspiratorially.

“A plate full of lechon? Are  you crazy?”

She nodded, her mouth already watering with the thought of eating the roasted pig. “And get a lot of skin.”

Jordan just shook his head as he followed her orders. When he arrived, she had already filled another plate with valenciana, sweet and sourt fish fillet and others.“You’re carbo-loading again,” he noted.

“I can eat whatever I want,” she answered, wincing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t stand these heels. Go get my slippers.”

“We’re still at the party,” he whispered.

“I know,” she bit back. “But I don’t care. I am not standing up again anyway. And the party is not that formal. Go, get my slippers.”

He stood grumpily stood up and went for her slippers. When he came back, she was already attacking their plates.

The party started with a lot of spontaneous speeches from friends and a lot of family members.

Before the old music started and the dancing began, Troy stood up and ran for the microphone. Their table cheered as their friend faced his parents with a boyish smile. The big, handsome womanizer had turned back into a child all of a sudden as he addressed his parents warmly.

“The two of you are so perfect that I don’t think I can ever match the love you have for each other. But growing up around that love and the love you shared with me as your only son, I learned a lot. I learned how to value true love—despite my reputation—and I am hoping to experience at least a tinge of the same love you two share for each other. But not now, okay? I know the two of you are eager for a grandchild but please be patient.” The crowd laughed and Troy waited for it to die down before he continued. “I love the two of you so much, you know that, right? Dad, thanks for making me a witness of how a man should love a woman. Mom, thanks for giving me the chance to know that a woman is worth the wait and the sacrifice. Happy anniversary to the two of you and happy birthday, mom.” He then walked to his parents and gave them a hug, making the crowd say “Aaaaw…”

George found herself absently smiling.

She may not have the perfect family, but she was glad some of her friends did. Jackie had a healthy, normal home. Lee and Miguel did too. Troy had a perfect, loving family. But there were those who were unlucky like her, Jordan and Dannie.

Seeing a family like Troy’s brought back a lot of feelings she had suppressed for a long time since she was young. She had always longed for the perfect family but never got that.

It was only later that she realized things would never be enough for everyone. She eventually learned to accept that hers was a family that was different, a family that stood on power and money and not love.

When she turned to look at Jordan, she realized he had already been looking at her with a knowing look on his face. Well, it was still blank, but she was already an expert on reading his expressions. They understood each other and they both looked away at the same moment to take their attention back on what was happening in front of them.

Ron Brady was standing up, having grabbed the microphone from his son. Troy stood beside his mother but was immediately grabbed by one of his cousins, followed by the others.

Ron cleared his throat and greeted everyone a good evening. The children surrounding Troy stopped to listen as well, curious.

“I have a surprise for my wife here, the one who taught me a lot of things I never realized I would before I met her. I grew up in a family that was eager to watch everyone grow up and be eighteen so they could move out of the house. I grew up independent too young. But when I came to the Philippines and met this lovely lady, it was the moment that I started to grow young. I had the chance to go back and experience the things I never experienced when I was in the States. And I learned the things I should have learned before. I learned the value of family, love and friendship. I learned the value of sacrifice. And most of all, I learned to love someone more than I do anything else. So, to my dear wife, I hope you’ll appreciate what I am about to do. You know how much I love to sing since the moment you introduced me to the karaoke.” The crowd laughed again. “And I am good at it, right? Unlucky for you, though, you can’t sing. But I still love you.” He looked behind him where Dean was seating in front of a microphone attached to a stand, facing his guitar. “I practiced for this,” he added to his smiling wife. “Here it goes.”

Dean started strumming on his guitar and everyone fell silent, listening and waiting in anticipation.

Then, Ron started singing, looking his beautiful wife in the eyes.

If I could say the things I feel, it wouldn’t be the same

Some things are not spoken of, some things have no name

Though the words come hard to me , I’ll say them just for you

For this is something rare for me, this feeling is so new

You see I love the way you love me, I love the way you smile at me

I love the way we live this life we’re in

Long ago I heard the song that lovers sing to me

Through the days with each new phrase I hummed that melody

And all along I loved the song but I never learned it through

But since the day you came along, I saved it just for you

You see I love the way you love me, I love the way you smile at me

I love the way we live this life we’re in

I don’t believe in magic but I do believe in you

And when you say you believe in me there is so much magic I can do

And now you see me now you don’t

Watch me dive below deep down in your love lake where the sweet fish come and go

And I might sink and I might drown but death don’t mean a thing

‘Cause life continues right or wrong when I play this birthday song

I learned from you, and you can’t even sing

A howl of cheer from the guests echoed as Troy’s dad walked to his happily crying wife and kissed her on the lips after saying, “I love you, sweetheart, and happy birthday.”

“Oh gosh, I love that song,” Jackie said, wiping tears from her eyes.

George just smiled and cleared her throat. Dannie was silent beside Jackie, looking at the couple a few feet from them.

The dancing began with the song, Fly Me to the Moon and the Brady couple danced, eyes locked and swaying without practiced steps with the music. Other family members joined in the dance floor, including the kids who had earlier flocked around Troy.

Finally free of his cousins’ playful acts, Troy started walking to their table cringing. “I need a drink. I can’t look at the two of them dancing like that.”

“They are lovely! Just look at that…awwwe,” Jackie said, wiping away tears. “Dean,” she said as her boyfriend came back with his guitar, “You have to sing me that same song on my birthday.”

“No, I am not,” he blurted out.

“Please,” Jackie begged playfully.

“I’ll just make you a better song,” Dean offered. It worked because Jackie smiled and looked at everyone as if she won the lottery.

George rolled her eyes and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Jordan asked.

“I need to walk a little. I think I ate a lot,” she answered, bending down to grab her heels from under the table. “And I’ll bring these to Toto. I don’t think anyone cares what footwear I wear here,” she added.

She didn’t realize he was following her until they reached Toto.

“You gave me the keys earlier,” he said behind her and she almost jumped in surprise.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that again,” she told him as she snatched the keys from his hand.

“You’re not feeling good, are you?”

“I usually don’t whenever I am around Troy’s parents or any other couples like them for that matter,” she answered before she could stop herself.

*****

Georgie was opening my passenger side door and sat down with her feet still planted on the ground. She threw the shoes on my floorboards and sighed.

“Go back to the party. I just need some air,” she told Jordan.

Jordan walked toward her instead, inside my opened door and crouched down to the ground so he was looking up at her, his elbows on his knees.

I could feel Georgie’s hands gripping my passenger seat tightly.

This is new…I like this. Another moment! Grab it, Jordan!

He was looking up at Georgie intently, trying to catch her eyes but she wouldn’t let him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she whispered in answer.

I actually half-expected her to snap at him and order him to go back to the party but she did neither.

“George, I know you’re not feeling okay and don’t say it’s just your stomach.”

She looked down at him, their faces just about a foot apart. My opened door was shielding them from the party’s view and the cold wind.

“I don’t know why I am even affected by Troy’s parents whenever I see them. I just am. It will pass.”

“Not all families are the same, George,” Jordan finally said after some time.

“I know. I try not to compare. But it just gets to me every time I see families like Troy’s.”

“Come on, you know Troy probably has a lot of things to say about his family to help you think otherwise.”

“You’re not helping, Jordan.”

He grinned at her. Really, I still found it hard to believe how he could easily do a lot of smiling and grinning nowadays. All the while I thought he lacked the facial muscles to do any of that.

When she saw his face, she glared at him and rolled her eyes. “Stop grinning like an idiot. It doesn’t become you.”

He chuckled. “I will try. I know you hate that you can’t hate my face anymore.”

Georgie’s eyes darted back at him. “I never said that.”

He shrugged. “You did. When you were drunk. I suppose you really can’t remember.”

“That’s what I said to you?”

He nodded. “’I hate not to hate your face,’ were your exact words,” Jordan uttered, grinning.

Oh, so that’s what she said! Ha! Wanna drink some more, Georgie?

“What else did I do that you did not tell me?” she demanded down at Jordan.

Jordan shifted his feet under him. “You don’t want to know all the details,” he said.

“Don’t let me repeat my question.”

“Well, we kissed,” he finally admitted.

Ha! I knew it! I knew it! I was mentally doing the happy dance!

Georgie closed her eyes and sighed. “Did I ask you for a kiss again?”

“No, not really. I just gave it to you.”

Her eyes opened in surprise. “You did what?”

“Well, you provoked me.”

“How?”

He looked at her with a smile. “I am not telling.”

“Jordan.”

“We kissed. That’s all. What else is there to tell?”

George must have felt uncomfortable talking about it then because she looked away and bent her head, resting her forearms on her lap. By then, their heads were almost leveled.

“George,” Jordan said in barely a whisper.

Okay, here we go again. I know what’s coming.

Georgie must have sensed it too because it took her almost a minute to decide whether or not she should lift her head or not.

And when she did, I groaned.

They looked at each other in the eyes, both blinking once but not moving away. Jordan raised his right hand and tipped Georgie’s chin with one finger, and as if a magnetic force was slowly pulling them together they angled their heads to accommodate a slow, gentle kiss, their eyes now closed.

I was relieved and stressed at the same time. Relieved because I didn’t have to watch another intense kissing scene because this one was gentle and relaxed. Stressed because this would only cause more problems.

Why don’t the two of you stop kissing and start talking, huh? The kissing can follow AFTER the talk!

But there they went, moving each other’s lips in a dance that almost rhymed with the distant music from the party.

You should thank my door later, you know. I am freaking giving you the privacy you need.

I realized the kiss would not be ending soon because Georgie’s one hand was now resting on Jordan’s nape and the other was playing with his hair. I chose to talk to Beatle who had been silent the whole time. I don’t know about you, buddy, but I am getting sick of a lot of this kissing.