Satisfied With Love Ch. 16

"If any of you think this is a normal day for me, not so... I just learned I don't know how to open a door."

Laughter fills the room again as Brad's face turns a few shades of red.

"Okay. Neither sister took more than one room, just to set the record straight. I lied to get some laughs. But, in my own defense, they keep pulling these little jokes on me so that was a little payback on them," he said, and laughs. "But it kinda backfired."

Getting somber, Brad looks at his sisters and continues, saying, "In the first 23 years of my life, I never had a sister. It is a new experience for me. I have learned, over the last few months, that one of life's greatest joys is having a beautiful, intelligent sister with a great attitude..."

He paused briefly, trying to stop himself from sobbing.

"The only thing better than that, is having two," he said, then redirected himself to the group. "You folks do not know how special it is for me to have these two ladies as my sisters. I love them both, and always will."

Stacy and Peggy rise from their seats with tears in their eyes and proceed to the podium, hugging him real tight when they get there. The room remains silent as they hug and tears do appear in eyes throughout the room.

Moments later, in a surprise move, Peggy broke the hug, faced the group and cleared the tears from her eyes.

"He always ruins my make-up. I think he does it on purpose too..."

Brad nods while the group gets a few laughs.

"I'm not normally one to give speeches," Peggy said as Brad and Stacy widens their eyes in disbelief, "but Brad has pushed too many of my buttons and touched me in a very special way here today, as he has done so many times before."

"In the first twenty-one years of my life, I never had a brother or a sister. I have learned, over the last three months, that one of life's greatest joys is to have a handsome, intelligent brother with a great attitude and a beautiful, intelligent sister, that looks a little like me. I love them so much and this is the first time he has heard these words from my mouth. I will always be their sister, I will always support them and I will always love them. Brad is the greatest person a sister can ever hope to have as a brother and Stacy is the greatest person a sister could ever hope to have as a sister."

"Today, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm part of a family, a happy family. It has been a tough transition for me to accept my new family, but I have grown to love my brother and sister with an open heart."

Brad felt his tears begin to flow. Stacy's did also. The group also has a few wet eyes among them.

"Why do you always make a crybaby out of me in public?" he asks as she looks at him.

Kristi hands Brad, Stacy and Peggy each a tissue.

"Because you just did it to me," she said as she sticks her tongue out at him. "Besides, it's fun," she replies smiling.

"True, but I don't have to fix my makeup."

She laughs, joined by the group, turns to Brad and gives him a hug he never felt from her before. They bury their faces into each other and lingers as the group is laughing at both replies. She breaks the hug, turns back to the group and continues.

"Having accepted my new family, I have not regretted it and I am so proud to call them family..." Facing Brad, she continues, "However, one more crack about taking too much space and I will change my mind and launch you into the pool!"

The room bursts into hysterical laughter as Peggy embraces her brother with a huge smile on her face. Brad laughs as he embraces her very tight. They reach out for Stacy to join them and they engage in a group hug as tears came to their eyes.

As they regain control of themselves, his sisters return to their seats.

"I love my sisters. That was the first time Peggy has given a speech to an audience in her life. I am so proud of her on so many levels..."

To be continued... Stay tuned to 'Satisfied With Love Ch. 17'.