The responsibilities for the wedding arrangements had been divided among the brothers.Neil had been left in charge of the guests list,Ah Hai took security and Matt took deciding the theme and photos.Matt had pretended to have an exhibition and gotten to know Alicia"s preferences while she was in the hospital.
He had specifically chosen the photographer-Ms. Xia. She was a new comer, but her work was very professional and pa.s.sionate.He had seen her work of candid photos and portraits and all were amazing.He saw as she clicked some pictures of his first bro and sis..Ms Xia had been hired to blend in with the crowd and not let anybody realize that they were being captured on camera.And she was doing well...
Looking at his watch,Matt decided it was time to present the surprise he had prepared for his brother and sister in law.He signaled the wedding planner and soon the lights were dimmed and a light music played in the background. Ryu a.s.sumed there was a glitch in the arrangements and turned to look around when a projector started playing..
On the projector was a picture of Ru when he was born. Ryu was holding a tightly swaddled baby with a pink face and big eyes. Ryu remembered that moment.That moment was the only one when Ryu had been happy during his marriage with that woman.
Just then,a cute boy entered the stage.He was dressed in a white s.h.i.+rt and blue jeans holding a mike and wearing a smile as big as his face.His parents were getting married and he had prepared a surprise!The similarities between father and son were highlighted because of their matching clothing ad expressions.
Holding the mike,Ru said,"Today we are here to celebrate the happy wedding of my mother and father.Father was with me for so many years and mother came later.So,I have prepared a gift for my mother.Mother,this is to show you the moments you missed in the past.But mother don"t be sad as you have me now."
With this, the projector started playing and there were many pics of Ru with various members of the family. Ryu saw all the pictures and felt nostalgia rise in his chest though his face maintained a blank expression.He could feel Ryu"s wish that Alicia had been a part of these memories.Alicia on the other was staring at the projector with a serious face and her eyes had turned misty.
Soon,the slide show came to an end and Ryu was back on stage.
In the mike he said,"The past is gone and cannot be brought back but the present is here.Father,these pictures are for you."
Next,the projector played pictures of Ru and Alicia from the last one year.They were all secretly taken photos that had been clicked by Neil and Matt when Al and Ru were both playing at Neil"s estate.There was a loud round of applause after the last picture was displayed.This picture was taken recently where Ru was sitting in Alicia"s lap and they were both concentrating on shaping cookies and both had flour on their noses.Their expressions looked alike so much that n.o.body could say they were not biologically related.
Alicia was now openly crying and smiling while Ryu was having difficulty maintaining his composure.His son"s smiles were too precious and these moments were an unexpected gift.
Again Ru stood on the stage and said,"And now it is time to look at the future.This is a present for us,"A series of drawings came on the screen.They were made of colorful geometrical figures.The bodies were rectangle and faces circular.Hands were made of curvy lines.But the meaning of the drawing was clear.There was a big figure who was father and a slightly smaller one of mother and a baby figure of Ru.This was obviously a picture of a happy family.
The projector finally stopped and Ru stood in front of it with a happy smile on his face.He ran to the couple and looked at his parents for appreciation of his gift.He climbed into his mother"s lap and received a kiss on both cheeks from both his parents,making him grin cheerfully.This moment too was captured by Ms Xia and she too was touched by the child"s emotions...This family was just too beautiful..She had thought she was lucky that she had been chosen for taking the wedding pictures of Ryu Long.She had thought to herself again and again who could have recommended her to the planner but she had been happy with such a big name and project.Heck she would have done this for free for the fame only.She thought back to earlier when all her theme ideas for the couple"s wedding photo had been rejected.All the information she had received was the time and place and that the theme was love...
Now she knew,why they insisted on candid pictures first.They wanted to capture moments which were not possible in a formal setting...
Matt and Neil were satisfied with their plan and it"s conclusion.They had not told Ru about the wedding beforehand because they were afraid that he would not be able to keep such a big secret in his small tummy.But Matt had given Ru a small secret a.s.signment to collect his favorite pictures and bring it to them.Matt had created a slide show and showed it to Ru this morning when his brother was busy.But, Ru had other ideas.He had insisted somebody change the presentation and he would be the narrator.After an hour of hard work with the video editor,Ru had come with this...
Never could they have imagined that their nephew was a creative genius and would give such a twist to the pictures.And he was good with words too!
In the entire room,everybody was happy and emotional except Ah Hai. He was feeling a bit lost.Ah Hai"s parents had died when he was 8 years old so he had only faint memories of them.But this scene,made his heart throb painfully and brought back memories of the past.His parents also held him just like that before they pa.s.sed away...though he firmly believed that Alicia was not good enough for his brother,he was going to accept her as his sister in law and she would have his undying loyalty if she always kept his brother this happy...