Claps were thundering in the hall. I got down from the chair and stood. Dad came up to the stage and stopped beside me.
I took the microphone from the stand and held it. I stepped forward a little bit closer to the audience.
“Sorry, I really couldn’t hold my tears from falling,” I started talking. Chuckles vaguely heard. “This song was actually picked by Cody, but apparently I like it. I love the song. It reminds me of my life. My hard life. Oh, judges, could you please give me a few minutes to talk?”
I saw them nodded.
“Thank you,” I told them. I felt my hands were trembling but I tried to be strong. “Yeah, though my life is hard, I know that God has His way for me. His way is always wonderful. Once, I had a great family. But one day, my dad left my mom and me. It’s been years I haven’t met him. I missed him so much. I’ve been praying, for my dad to come back. Here, I meet him again. I thank God for this.” I smiled and actually was relieved as I could say it smoothly. “Oh, I forget to tell you my name. It’s Cassidy Marie Lance.”
I smiled again and turned to my dad. “And the host, as you know is Tim Lance,” I approached him, “my dad.”
I saw his tears were falling. He ran to me and hugged me tightly. Cody took the microphone from my hand and let me have a beautiful reunion with my dad.
“I know it’s you, girl,” he sobbed. “I missed you too.”
“So why didn’t you come back?”
“That is my fault, darling,” he said, still sobbing. “I was a coward.”
I patted him on the back while I myself was crying.
“The reason why I am here is actually coming for you,” he managed his breath and tried to stop sobbing. “But I didn’t know you join this competition. And you have such a wonderful voice.”
I smiled. “This is because of God,” I wiped my tears and then I pulled myself away from him. “You have to continue this. There are still two more contestants. While you manage yourself, I’ll give the closing speech of my performance to everyone here.”
I took back the microphone from Cody and stepped forward facing the judges and the audiences.
“With all due respect, let me tell you I’m sorry. This is not some scenario we made up, but this just happened,” I chuckled a little and everyone else did too. “Now my dad should continue his job to host this competition, so Cody and I should leave this stage for the two last contestants. Well, thank you for being patient waiting for this sort of dramatic moment.” I chuckled again and I finished my speech.
I put the microphone back to its stand. Cody and I were off from the stage and dad stepped forward. He continued leading the competition.
Cody and I didn’t sit in the previous seats, but we headed towards my mom, Mr. and Mrs. Houghton. I sat next to mom and Cody his parents.
Mom couldn’t say anything but embraced me. I felt her joy when I heard her heartbeat. I could say that it was such an amazing moment. Yes, I did believe God had such wonderful ways. What I did realize at the moment was that God cared for us. He never left us. I was so grateful to God.
All the contestants had performed. We waited for like half an hour for the announcement of the winner. There would be three contestants out of fifteen to be chosen as the winners both group or individual.
Dad looked better. He did look even more cheerful than he had been. He got on the stage again and was holding three sealed envelopes in his hand.
“Here we are, folks. The announcement of the winners!” he shouted and joyful noise followed. When the noise became low, he started again. “We have three unique contestants here. You see here the envelopes are sealed tight.” He raised those envelopes in the air. “Now let me open these, one by one.”
I knew everybody here was anxiously waiting for their names to be mentioned as the winners. Well, actually I didn’t really care about it since my family reunion was more important. To win or not, it’s all God’s grace. However, for Cody, it did matter, so I prayed to God for this.
“On the third place is,” he read the first opening envelope, “Jonathan Helsinki!”
Everyone clapped. The one named Jonathan got on stage.
Dad continued. “The second place is Melody of Heaven!” he said after reading the second envelope.
A bunch of boys and girls my age made their way to the stage while talking about their winning proudly.
“This is the last yet the first,” Dad held the last envelope. He slowly opened the envelope. There was something in his face. He frowned as he read whose name written there.
I didn’t know whether it was such a good sign or not for Cody and me, but I just hoped that everything would turn out to be alright.
Cody suddenly moved closer to me and sat next to me.
“I would never give up though we couldn’t win this time,” he said.
“This one has a little bit weird name, but no offense,” dad said hesitatingly. “It is MTBT, Meant To Be Together. Well, this is a group of two whose members are—” he stopped for a while, “Cody and Cassidy!”
I couldn’t help but scream cheerfully and I unconsciously hugged Cody.
“Sorry,” I pulled myself away from him and hugged my mom. Then Cody and I walked together to the stage. We stood beside the second winner.
I couldn’t stop smiling. It was both by being the first winner and the name of our group. 'Meant To Be Together? What was Cody thinking when he created the name?' I thought inside my heart.
Some judges came up to the stage and gave each of the winners' trophies and some amount of money symbolized by a small paper looked like a certificate. Then a man who looked like the main judge came to Cody and me and gave a bizarre look. He was smiling but it felt like he couldn’t believe that we became the first winner.
“Congratulations you both,” he shook our hands. “You deserve to get a recording deal for a year.”
“Thank you,” Cody and I said.
“And congratulations on your relationship. I feel such a deep connection between you two,” he smiled and patted Cody on the left shoulder and me on the right shoulder at the same time.
I didn’t know how to react or respond to his last statement, but I just smiled back at him. I didn’t even dare to look at Cody’s face at that moment. I thought my cheeks were blushing already.
The competition was over. We were so happy with the result. We decided to have a small feast in the nearest restaurant. Mom and I were in Dad’s car and Cody with his parents.
We ordered some foods and beverages to celebrate the winning. Actually, it was also to celebrate Dad’s coming back. During the feast, Dad explained to us. Without feeling ashamed, he admitted his mistakes that he had done. He admitted that he had never stopped thinking about us so that he always kept himself informed about where Mom and I were and how we were doing. He even asked the Houghton to be the witnesses for our family’s reunion and for God’s kindness.
I was so proud of Dad that he behaved like a gentleman. He was wrong but he admitted it. I knew and I always had the feeling that he watched over Mom and I. I thanked God for this despite all the bitter past I had experienced without Dad being with us for years. It was weird that I couldn’t hate but forgave him.
“Cassidy, can we talk outside?” Cody who was sitting next to me whispered into my ear.
I nodded. “Umm, Cody and I will go for a walk out there and we’ll be back again,” I said to our parents. They confirmed that we could leave. Thus Cody and I stood and left the table then headed to the door.
“Hey, thank you,” Cody told me.
I nodded. “I should thank you too,” I said. “You know, if I hadn't helped you, then I wouldn’t have met my Dad and reunited.”
There was silence between us for a while, but it was gone when he broke it by saying, “It’s a beautiful night.”
“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “Anyway, that name,” I remembered.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “It is weird, isn’t it? I just had no idea what name I should write on the application paper that required a group name.”
“But why Meant To Be Together?” I asked him.
Instead of answering my question, he looked above to the dark sky which only showed a few stars because the lights from the restaurant were too bright.
“Cody?” I insisted on him.
“I was hoping the name would be more than a mere name but a reality between us,” then he looked at me.
I smiled. “As long as you promised me you will help me get a good score in German,” I paused and looked into his blue eyes deeply, “we can be together again.”
His joyful laughter burst out. He embraced me tightly. “Thank you, Cassidy,” he slightly caressed my back. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I love you too,” I said with overwhelming joy while returning his embrace.
It was a really beautiful night. I got my Dad back and my boyfriend as well! He was the first and would be the last. I loved him so much. I couldn’t even stop thanking God for His kindness and grace.
I had been spending more time with Cody, not only as a date but also as a tutor in my German study. I studied so hard learning that language. I didn’t know whether I would be able to speak at least a functional German or not. I hoped that I would be much better than I had been.
Cody and I had created the experience that we both had as the final exam of German just as instructed by Mrs. Mazak. Then we printed it out and gave it to her on the day when the German exam was held.
I put my trust in God for this German task and also for the other exams. I had studied hard and I knew God helped me.
The day of the announcement of the exam result came. It was three in the afternoon. I checked all my scores on the school website. I logged in to my account and saw the scores.
“Aaaaawwww!!!!” I screamed out loud and made Dad and Mom rushing into my room.
“What’s wrong, darling?” Mom asked me.
“Nothing’s wrong, all is good!” I told her and Dad. “See this!” I pointed to the screen of my laptop and then my parents looked into it.
“You got A for your German?” Mom who knew that I had been really bad on German sounded so happy yet she was also shocked.
“Yes!” I nodded happily.
“How come?” she asked.
“Cody taught me German,” I answered.
“So my little Cassy has a private teacher, huh?” Dad gave me a hug and patted me on the shoulder.
“Sort of,” I chuckled.
My phone rang. I took it from the side of my laptop. It was Cody who congratulated me.
“Who’s that?” asked Dad.
“It’s Cody,”
“Your boyfriend, isn’t he?” he commented.
I nodded and smiled a little.
“So Mom and Dad,” I said, “he asked me out to a formal date this night, and I want to ask for your permission—”
“Have fun with him tonight, little Cassy,” said Dad. “I know he’s a good boy. Your Mom told me the night when we were in the restaurant that he always took care of you. Well actually, his parents told us that it would be good for you to be together. Your Mom and I agreed.”
I smiled and my cheeks were blushing. “Thank you, Dad, Mom,” I said. “I love you.” I stood then stretched my arms and hugged them.
Cody told me to dress formally as he instructed. I did what he said. I wore a soft green gown. By seven Cody came picking me up. He was covered in a tuxedo which made me look so charming. Saying goodbye to my parents, he took me to a restaurant downtown and ordered a place there.
He prepared a wonderful dinner. I really loved it. Our place was nearby the pond which had candles floating on the surface of the water shaping love.
After we finished our dinner he held out something from his pocket. It was a little box. He opened it and took a ring from it.
“So you're proposing to me?” I asked him.
“You can say that,” he said. “It’s a cheap one. I will buy you better after I work.”
“But it is still beautiful,” I smiled.
“I will graduate this year,” he said.
I listened to him. Cody was two years older than I. I remembered that that’s the reason why it was really confusing for everyone in my German class who knew that he was an intelligent senior but he joined the class again.
“I will work and will propose you formally,” he continued. “But for now, I want this ring to be a sign for you and me to keep waiting for the right time to come. I love you from the very bottom of my heart.”
“I will be patient waiting for you, Cody,” I assured him. “I love you too from the very bottom of my heart.”
He stood by my side and put the ring on my right ring finger. We committed to each other that night and prayed to God together for our relationship to be led until the day of our marriage.
//IAOBG//
ns 15.158.61.8da2
