Chapter 27

"Jaimo!" Bruno said as he grabbed Jaimo and spun him around. "I missed you! How's your mom? Have you been a good boy?"

"Mom's fine, and yes uncle, I've been a very good boy. Right nana?" Jaimo said.

"Yes, he's been well-behaved." Mommy Bernie said as he smiled at Jaimo.

Alegria just stared at them while they talked with each other on the studio. It feels good seeing them like that. Bruno and his mom. They're very close to each other. She sighed. She remembered her parents again. 'Ohh mom, dad.. I wish you were here to meet Bruno's wonderful parents..'

"By the way, where's your dad?" Mommy Bernie asked.

"He's not here yet, Eric's waiting in the airport."

Suddenly, someone opened the door. "Bruno.." It was Bruno's dad.

Alegria stared at them as Bruno hugged his dad. 'I wonder if Bruno would look like him when Bruno gets old..' Alegria said to herself and smiled.

"Dad, she's Alegria. My fiance." Bruno said as he introduced his father to Alegria.

"Just like what you have told me, she's a beautiful woman." Daddy Pete said as he smiled at Alegria. "Nice to meet you, Alegria." He held out his hand to Alegria.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, sir." Alegria shook his hand and smiled.

"Alegria's shy.." Eric whispered to Bruno. Bruno smiled at Eric.

"Well, let's go meet your grandparents now, Alegria." Mommy Bernie said as she held Jaimo's hand and went out of the studio. They followed and rode their cars.

Alegria and Bruno went in the same car while Eric, Mommy Bernie, Daddy Pete, and Jaimo rode the same car. They drove towards Alegria's grandparents' house and after a few moments, they arrived.

Alegria knocked on the gate and her grandmother opened it, smiling. "Come in, come in." She said, as she led them inside their house. Alegria's grandparents and Bruno's parents sat on the living room while Bruno, Alegria, Jaimo and Eric went to the music room.

"Wow, I didn't know you had a music room." Bruno said as he looked around. There was a red grand piano, an electric keyboard, a red violin, a black and red electric guitar, and a red acoustic guitar.

"You sure love red, huh?" Eric said as he looked at the instruments.

"Red was my favorite color when I was in high school." Alegria smiled as she sat at the piano.

"Can Calyx play some instruments too?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. He plays the same instruments as me. And we both liked red and black, so yeah. We had no problems on choosing the color of the instruments." Alegria smiled.

"By the way, where is Calyx?" Bruno asked.

"He had another date with Danielle." Alegria grinned at Bruno.

"Ohh... I see." Bruno smiled.

"Can you play something?" Jaimo said as he sat beside Alegria.

"Sure." Alegria smiled at Jaimo and started playing the the piano. She played the 'Ah vous dirais-je, Maman' or Mozart's twinkle twinkle little star. "I played this in one of my recitals." Alegria said as she played the piano.

The difficult part came, and Eric and Bruno were shocked. They didn't know Alegria was a great pianist. Bruno watched Alegria as she played the piano. She looked elegant while she played the piano. 'So this was the music genre that she liked in high school.' Bruno smiled. They really were different from each other, like the sun and moon, but they loved the same thing. Music. Bruno then looked at Jaimo. He laughed. Jaimo's jaws dropped, his eyes were wide open. He was amazed by Alegria.

Alegria finished the piano piece and looked at Jaimo. "How was it?" She smiled.

"I like you!" Jaimo said as his eyes sparkled.

"Aww.. I like you too!" Alegria said as she gently pinched Jaimo's cheeks.

"Play one again! Hmmm.. How about you play one of uncle's songs?" Jaimo said as he looked at Bruno.

Alegria smiled at Bruno and then faced Jaimo. "Okay but Uncle Bruno should sing."

"Yeah, you should sing too!" Jaimo looked at Bruno.

"Alright." Bruno smiled as he sat beside Jaimo. "But Jaimo should sing with me."

"I'll sing, I'll sing." Jaimo grinned then he turned his head to Alegria. "What will you play?"

"Hmm.. How about Just The Way You Are?" Alegria smiled.

"That's good! Let's start!" Jaimo said.

Bruno signalled Alegria, and Alegria started playing the piano. Bruno and Jaimo sang together.

Eric stared at them, smiling. 'Alegria and Bruno would be good parents to their child.'

Alegria finished the song and Jaimo smiled. "That was awesome!"

Alegria and Bruno chuckled. "You play that one too!" Jaimo pointed the violin.

"Oh, the violin? What do you want me to play then?" Alegria said as she stood up and took her violin.

"Just play what you can play." Jaimo said, smiling.

"Alright. I'll play a violin solo. It's called Bach Partita no. 3." Alegria said as she played the piano.

Again, Bruno was surprised by Alegria's skills. He hadn't seen Alegria play a piano or a violin before. He looked at Alegria's face. Alegria was feeling the song. Bruno can see it in her eyes.

Alegria finished the violin piece and Eric, Bruno and Jaimo applauded.

"You're awesome!" Jaimo said as he looked at Alegria.

"Aww.. That means so much, coming from you. Thank you, Jaimo!" Alegria said as he stroked Jaimo's hair.

"You should play the guitar too!" Jaimo said as he took the electric guitar and handed it to Alegria.

"Okay." Alegria smiled at Jaimo and plugged in the amplifier and prepared all the wires and sat down. "It's hard playing this while standing." Alegria grinned.

"What are you gonna play?" Jaimo asked.

"Canon rock. It's originally a classic piece, and some genius made a rock version of it." Alegria said.

"Ooohh.. Nice." Eric said, smiling.

"You sure you can play it?" Bruno said, as if challenging Alegria.

"Of course I can. What, you want me to play this one while standing too?" Alegria said, raising her eyebrows.

"Alright, let's see what little miss arrogant here can do." Bruno sarcastically said.

Alegria just smiled and she started to play canon rock.

The difficult part of the song came, and Bruno and Eric's jaws dropped. Bruno realized that he knew nothing of his wife-to-be's talents.

"Bruno, I just realized that you're going to marry a very talented and a wonderful woman." Eric grinned at Bruno.

"Hell yeah, I am. And you can't steal her from me." Bruno smiled as he looked at Eric.

Alegria just shook her head and smiled while she played the guitar.

Alegria looked at Bruno. 'She could look like a rockstar and look classy at the same time.' Bruno said to himself as he smiled.

"Here's the most difficult part of the song.." Alegria said as she started to concentrate on her guitar.

"Show off." Bruno said as he grinned at Alegria. Alegria just stuck her tongue out, but she was still focusing on the guitar.

She killed it. She rocked the piece. She gave "rock" a new meaning. That's what Bruno thought while he looked at Alegria.

Alegria finished the song and smiled at Bruno. "So, what do you think?" Alegria asked.

"Hmm.. Good, good. But you have practice a bit more.." Bruno jokingly said.

"Uncle, she's not good.. She's awesome!" Jaimo said as he looked at Alegria. "When I grow up, I wanna marry a girl just like you." Jaimo said, his eyes sparkling.

"Awww.. You're so sweet! Your uncles taught you that, didn't they?" Alegria said as he caressed Jaimo's cheeks and looked at Eric and Bruno. They all chuckled.

"You like kids, Alex?" Eric asked.

"Well, it's the main reason why I'm working as a kindergarten teacher." Alegria smiled at Eric.

"You know, we should really bring you to the studio in some other time. Your great skills will help us a lot." Eric said.

"Well, if it's okay with Phil and the others.." Alegria said.

"Naw, don't worry. They'll be okay with it." Bruno said as he grabbed Alegria's waist.

Then someone knocked the door. Alegria opened it and it was her grandmother. "Your Oji-chan wants to talk to the both of you." Alegria's grandmother spoke in nihongo.

Bruno looked at Alegria, curious. Alegria took Bruno's hand. "Grandpa wants to talk to us."

"Oh, okay." Bruno said as he followed.

"I wanna go too.." Jaimo said as he ran towards Bruno.

Eric stopped Jaimo and pulled him back. "No, no. We'll stay here. It's a private talk. We'll play the instruments for a while." Eric said.

------------------------------------------

"Since Bruno's a busy person, we decided that we, your guardians, are going to plan about your marriage." Alegria's grandfather said.

"Alegria can help too, but she can pretty much relax and just wait for the marriage." Mommy Bernie said.

"We have already decided about everything except one. And it's about how many your kids will be." Alegria's grandmother said.

"So, how many kids do you want?" Daddy Pete said, smiling.

Bruno and Alegria looked at each other. Then they faced their parents and grandparents.

Bruno and Alegria answered in chorus.

"Two." Alegria said.

"A dozen." Bruno said.

Then they looked at each other and chuckled.

Their laughing was cut by Alegria's grandfather. "This is a serious matter."

Alegria and Bruno coughed as they stopped laughing.

"I only want two.." Alegria said while looking down on the floor.

"I want more than a dozen, if possible." Bruno smiled, looking at Alegria's grandfather. Alegria's grandfather smiled back at Bruno.

Alegria looked at Bruno, surprised. She thought Bruno was just kidding when he said he wanted a dozen. "Are you serious?" Alegria asked, her eyes wide open.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Why? What's wrong with that?" Bruno asked.

"But.. You know, it's not that easy to raise lots of kids. I mean, we both work, so we can't give much attention to the other kids if we had lots of 'em." Alegria said.

"Then you have to quit your job." Alegria's grandfather said, looking at Alegria with serious eyes.

Alegria and Bruno turned their heads to Alegria's grandfather, both surprised.

"You're the wife, and you should be the one to take care of the kids."

"But--" Bruno was cut by Alegria.

"Yes, grandfather." Alegria said as she nodded like an obedient little girl.

Bruno looked at Alegria. 'She would do anything, just anything for her grandparents?' Bruno said to himself. He knew Alegria loved teaching. It was one of the things that she loves to do. But Bruno knows that once Alegria's grandfather decides on a thing, his decision would be unchangeable. He sighed.

"Two would be nice." Bruno said as he looked at Alegria's grandfather. Alegria looked at Bruno, confused.

"Alright. But Alegria still has to quit her job to take care of the kids. She has to be a responsible mother and she should take care of your kids, since you are the one who's making the money." Alegria's grandfather said.

Bruno sighed. He thought he could change Alegria's grandfather's mind. But at least he chose Alegria's decision and made her happy, even just a bit.

"So, everything's settled then." Alegria's grandfather said.

"And child, about your house, your grandfather already has bought it for the both of you." Alegria's grandmother said, smiling.

"What?" Alegria and Bruno said.

"One of our neighbors here are going to move and they are selling their house, and it looked quite nice. So your grandfather bought it early this morning." Alegria's grandparents said.

"But grandpa.. You shouldn't have.. I mean, the money.. You saved that for a long time." Alegria said, almost crying.

"I don't need it anymore. I'm not gonna need it in the other side." Alegria's grandfather smiled at Alegria.

Alegria suddenly cried. "But grandpa.. You saved it. It's yours."

"I saved it for you, child." Alegria's grandfather said.

Alegria tried to stop her tears and breathed deep. She stood up and bowed down. "Arigato gozaimashita!"

Bruno looked at Alegria and quickly stood up and bowed down too.

"Dou itashi mashite." Alegria's grandfather said. And Alegria and Bruno stood up and sat down.

"I guess everything's fixed now. All you have to do now is wait for the wedding." Mommy Bernie said, smiling.

"The wedding's gonna be next month. And we'll be the ones to pay for the expenses." Daddy Pete said.

"It's a gift from all of us." Alegria's grandmother said, smiling.

"Ooohh, I can't wait to see Alegria walk down the aisle in her beautiful wedding dress!" Mommy Bernie said as she grinned at Alegria's grandmother.

"Wait, next month already? I mean, it requires a lot of planning and stuff.." Bruno asked.

"Yeah, next month. Don't worry, it'll all be done with all four of us helping on the planning." Mommy Bernie said.

"So.. You're gonna stay here for a month?" Bruno asked.

"Yeah." Mommy Bernie smiled.

"How about Jaimo? He's gonna miss his mommy." Alegria said.

"Well, yeah. But he's gonna be good. He won't be homesick with me." Mommy Bernie answered.

"We're gonna stay here with Alegria's grandparents." Daddy Pete said.

"Well, since we're all Roman Catholics, it's gonna be a church wedding, and the reception won't be far away from the church. The wedding will be finished on sunset, and the wedding reception will be at night. We decided that it should just be simple. But don't worry, we're gonna hire many bodyguards just to make sure no one can come to the wedding uninvited." Mommy Bernie said.

"Oh.." Was all that Bruno could say. He was surprised. He didn't expect Alegria's grandparents to be like 'best-buds' with his parents within just a day.

"Uhm.. Can I request just one thing? Well, two things, actually.." Alegria said.

"What is it, child?" Alegria's grandmother asked.

"Uhm.. Can I choose the wedding gown?" Alegria said as she curled her lip.

"Why of course, you can." Alegria's grandfather said, smiling.

"So, what's the other thing that you want?" Daddy Pete said.

"Well.." Alegria looked at Bruno. "About the honeymoon.. I don't want a honeymoon at all."

"What?" Bruno said.

"Look Bruno, you're a famous person. You're gonna get noticed everywhere we go." Alegria said.

"But it's not going to be a complete wedding if we don't have a honeymoon." Bruno said.

"Bruno, everyday would feel like a honeymoon to me when we're already married." Alegria smiled at Bruno.

"Are you sure about that?" Alegria's grandfather said.

"Yes, grandpa." Alegria said, looking at her grandfather.

"Bruno, do you agree on what Alegria had suggested?" Alegria's grandfather said.

Bruno sighed. "Yes." He didn't like the idea of not having a honeymoon, but Alegria was right. He doesn't wanna brag, but it would still be hard for them to get a private time on their honeymoon since he has fans all over the world.

"It's all settled then." Alegria just smiled at Bruno.

"I guess so." Bruno smiled at Alegria while he held her hand. He's gonna be holding this hand forever. And he won't let it go.

-----------------------------------

The wedding day came. Alegria woke up early to prepare for the wedding. Even though the wedding would not be held early, she still has to wake up right away. She had to prepare for lots of things. He hasn't seen Bruno since yesterday. They're both too busy for the wedding, they can't even meet each other.

Alegria doesn't know where the church and wedding reception is, what Bruno would wear, and what the theme was. In fact, she doesn't know about anything. Well, except the things she would do during the wedding. Mommy Bernie and her grandmother said that they wanted to surprise her and Bruno, so they didn't tell Alegria a single information about the wedding preparations.

"This sucks.." Alegria said as she looked at Danielle.

"What? Aren't you happy that you're getting married?" Danielle said as she had her hair done by a stylist.

"Hell yeah, and you're going to marry Bruno fucking Mars! And you didn't even tell me before! You only told Danielle about it." Rose said as a make-up artist started to get her make-up applied.

"I'm sorry about that Rose.. It's just too complicated.." Alegria said. curling her lips.

"Well, it's all in the past now. What's important now is you're getting married." Rose said, smiling.

"Yeah, and you should be happy about that." Danielle said.

"I'm happy, but I feel like an idiot.. not knowing about anything. I don't even know what my wedding gown looks like! In the end, they get to decide everything." Alegria said.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. At least you get a surprise on your wedding." Rose said.

"But hey, doesn't it feel weird, not knowing what your gown would be? I mean, it's your wedding, you should be the one to choose your gown." Danielle said.

"That's what I'm trying to say. It's not that I don't trust Mommy Bernie and grandma, but I wanna choose my own wedding gown." Alegria said and sighed. "I don't know about anything about this wedding. I don't know who the other wedding participants are. I don't know what the wedding cake and the wedding rings look like. I don't know about anything! I feel like a wedding participant, not a bride.. And I don't even know what your dresses look like." Alegria said. She was upset. Danielle and Rose won't let her see their dresses, and she doesn't know why. They just don't wanna show or even just tell her about it.

"Well.. You know Alex, it's a bit complicated. You'll know about it when you see us in the church." Rose grinned.

"Do I have a choice?" Alegria raised an eyebrow.

"Ma'am, let's get your make-up done. You can sit here." Another make-up artist said as she led Alegria into the chair.

"And I don't even know what my face would look like when you apply the make-up on my face." Alegria told the make-up artist as she sat down on the chair. She wasn't allowed to look at the mirror. The mirrors were taken from her room, they were put into her grandparents' room.

"You would look fabulous, ma'am. With your beauty and my amazing make-up skills, you would be the most beautiful bride in the world!" The make-up artist said as she started putting make-up on Alegria.

Alegria smiled. "You sure have a lot of customers, you know how to do sales talk."

"It's not just all sales talk ma'am, you also gotta have talent." The make-up artist winked at Alegria.

Alegria smiled back. She looked at her phone. No calls, no messages. Zero. "Bruno didn't even try to call me yesterday.."

"Alex, come on. You didn't call him too, you know." Rose said.

"Well... I was just.. waiting for him to call." Alegria said, pouting her lips.

Alegria's phone suddenly vibrated. It was a call from Bruno. Alegria picked the phone up. "Hello?" She smiled.

"Are you getting your make-up done now?" Bruno said.

"Yeah.. Why?" Alegria asked, curious.

"Give the phone to the make-up artist." Bruno instructed.

Alegria handed the phone to the make-up artist. "My fiance wants to talk to you."

The make-up artist took the phone.

"Hello? Yes.. Yes sir. I was instructed to do that. Yes sir, I will make her look fabulous and elegant. Yes sir, thank you. Good bye." The make up artist hang up and gave Alegria the phone.

"What did he say?" Alegria said. She was curious. 'He didn't even want to talk again with me..' She said to herself.

"It's a secret ma'am." The make-up artist said as she continued to apply make-up on Alegria.

"Oh great. Now, I feel like a complete idiot." Alegria sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"What? What did he tell you?" Rose asked the make-up artist.

"I'm not supposed to tell you ma'am, I'm really sorry.." The make-up artist said.

"Aww.. That sucks." Danielle said.

Alegria didn't say a word. She just didn't smile while she had her make-up applied and hair styled.

Danielle and Rose got their make-up and hair finished first, so they went to the bathroom to change.

Mommy Bernie and Alegria's grandmother arrived after a few minutes. "Alex, child, your wedding gown is here." Alegria's grandmother smiled.

"Wow, you look pretty!" Mommy Bernie said as she looked at Alegria.

"You did a very nice job." Alegria's grandmother told the make-up artist.

"Thank you, ma'am." The make-up artist said.

"Can I take a look at the gown now?" Alegria said, excited.

Alegria's grandmother took the gown out of the box and showed it to Alegria.

The gown was amazingly beautiful. It was a two layered skirt. The top layer is a translucent sheer fabric with lace hem, gently revealing the more form-fitting mermaid silhouette underneath. It was a strapless gown with ruched bust. The gown's design was simple, it only had floral embroidery at the hemline part of the dress, but it looked elegant.

"Wow.. It's pretty.." Alegria said as she looked at the gown. "Thank you guys!" Alegria hugged her grandmother and Mommy Bernie.

"No prob. Now, we'll help you get dressed. You don't wanna be late for your wedding." Mommy Bernie said. Alegria smiled at Mommy Bernie and her grandmother.

The make up artist went outside the room. And Alegria wore the dress. Alegria's grandmother took a box from her bag and opened it.

"We'll put this on you." She showed Alegria the beautiful large red rose hair clip and the red earrings and put it on Alegria.

"Wow.. Alegria.. You look stunning!" Mommy Bernie said.

"Wait, I'll go get the large mirror." Alegria's grandmother said.

"Lemme help you." Mommy Bernie followed Alegria's grandmother as they went outside of the room. After a few moments, Alegria's grandmother and Mommy Bernie went to Alegria's room with the large mirror and placed it infront of Alegria.

"Now, stand child and see what you look like." Alegria's grandmother said as she smiled at her.

Alegria stood up and looked at the mirror. "Wow.. Is this really me?" Alegria smiled.She can't believe she'd say this to her self but she was.. Beautiful.

Her hair was loosely curled, and she had a light make-up on her face, but she wore blood-red lipstick.

"Bruno wanted you to look like that. He requested us and the make-up artist to do that. He said you looked really beautiful with just simple make-up and a simple hairstyle." Mommy Bernie said, smiling at Alegria.

"Oh.. Yeah.. This was what I looked like when I went with him in a TV guesting. Well, except with these earrings and hair clip." Alegria said. She looked at the moon necklace that her grandmother gave her. "This is it. I am now getting married." She smiled.

"Now, let's go. We're gonna be late for your wedding."

Alegria noticed the color of their dresses. "Wait, granny, why are you both wearing black dresses?" Alegria got curious.

Alegria's grandmother and Mommy Bernie looked at each other and smiled. They didn't answer Alegria.

"Aww, come on.. You're not gonna tell me?" Alegria asked. They still didn't answer as they went to the wedding car. Alegria's grandfather was waiting in the car with the driver. She sighed. "You're not going to tell me, right?" Alegria said as she sat down on the car. Her grandmother and Mommy Bernie helped her to get in. Alegria's grandmother then sat beside with her.

"Where's Danielle and Rose?" Alegria asked, curious.

"They're gonna ride on another car with me." Mommy Bernie said as she closed the door and went to the car infront.

Alegria's heart thumped faster. Then her grandmother noticed she was nervous and held her hand. "It's gonna be okay, dear." Alegria's grandmother smiled, and she smiled back.

She looked at her grandfather. His grandfather's eyes were turning red, but his facial expression was still fierce and grumpy as always.

"Oji-chan, can't you at least smile today? It's my wedding day, and I want you and Oba-chan to be happy for me." Alegria said as she held her grandfather's hand.

Her grandfather sniffed and looked at Alegria and smiled. "I'm not crying."

Alegria chuckled. "I know."

The driver started the car and drove them to the church. After a few moments, they arrived. There were lots of paparazzis and fans outside the gate of the church, but there were also lots of bodyguards to secure the gate. 'How did those fans even know that the wedding would be here?' She said to herself.

Then the car stopped infront of the church. Alegria got really, really nervous. She really was getting married. She breathed in, and breathed out. "Ganbatte, Alegria!" She said to herself as she went out of the wedding car.