"Are you serious?!" Jay shouted, almost dropping the glass of water that he was holding.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I just can't face Ben, not yet at least." Callum said, as he stood up from the couch, getting ready to leave his friend's apartment.
"But Lola is dying from brain cancer! We need you at our wedding, mate. Please." Jay said, his voice began to crack.
"Shhh, believe me, it'll be better if I'm not around, I mean, what if Ben tries to hit me and I have to arrest him or something?" Callum said, as he slipped on his jacket.
Jay pinched the bridge of his nose, "Listen, I know that Ben has done some really stupid things, but he'd never do anything to ruin my wedding."
Callum shrugged his shoulders, "Anyway, I need to go, I promised Whitney that I'd help her prepare dinner tonight."
Jay watched as Callum left in a hurry, wishing that his whole entire Ben situation could've at least happened after the wedding. Now he must try to explain to his fiancée why one of her friends won't be able to attend one of the last happy moments of her life, "Go do one, Cal." He thought to himself.
Whitney was almost finished cooking dinner when Callum finally walked through the door, "Where in the world have you been?!"
"Sorry, it won't happen again." Callum said, as he helped set the table.
"It better not. I mean, not only did I miss my best friend, but so did Precious." Whitney said, trying not to get too emotional.
Callum gave a sad smile, "Hey, where is our little feline friend anyway?"
"Wait, you didn't see her sleeping on the sofa?" Whitney said, freezing in her tracks.
"No, but you don't think-" Callum said, before getting loudly interrupted by her.
"Callum! We gotta search the bleeding flat and hope that she didn't somehow escape." Whitney said, taking off her apron and immediately searching the place from top to bottom while he went outside to look around.
"Precious?!" Callum shouted, adding a quick whistle afterwards since that always seemed to do the trick when she'd go missing. Unfortunately, this wasn't like all those other times.
After searching around some more to no avail, Callum then became super desperate and decided to head over to Ben's house to see if he might have a clue where the black cat was at, or at the very least, help him look for her, "Hold your horses, I'm coming!"
Callum was so relieved when Ben opened the door and not someone else in that toxic family, "Have you seen Precious?!"
"Step inside. I think somebody might have the answer to your question." Ben said, holding open the door for him.
Callum felt completely lost by that type of response, but quickly went into the home like he was told. After following Ben into the living room he was totally shocked by the sight on the couch, "Lexi, what are you doing with Precious?"
Lexi felt like she was about to cry, "Sorry! I just missed having her, ya know, in my arms?"
Ben couldn't help but sigh as he looked over at Callum, "Yeah, I know the feeling..."
Callum widened his eyes, "Wait, you, you actually miss me?"
Lexi was still wiping away her tears when she said, "Duh! He can't seem to shut up about you."
"Lexi..." Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, "Callum, it's not what it sounds like-"
Callum had heard enough and decided to pull Ben in for a sweet kiss on the lips, "Ew, gross." Lexi said, before getting off the couch with Precious and going into her bedroom.
Ben and Callum laughed to themselves. Kids say the darndest things. Afterwards, Callum remembered the wedding ceremony between his good friends, Jay and Lola, that would be taking place tonight, so he immediately reminded Ben and they both got all dressed up for it and asked Lexi to join them, which she happily said yes despite turning down her mother earlier in the day.
Once they finally arrived, they were suddenly stopped by Suki and Eve, "Where in the world are you freaks headed?"
Lexi gasped at Suki before tugging on her father's clothes, "Daddy, she just said the F word!"
Callum gave his stepdaughter a sad smile, while Ben rolled his eyes before glaring at the older women, "We're invited!"
Suki and Eve both laughed out loud and then Eve spoke, "You guys were invited."
Lola heard the commotion and raced over to see what was going on, "Ben? Callum? What are you two doing here?"
Lexi asked for Lola to pick her up, which she gladly did, "Mommy, don't I look like Princess Diana?"
Lola held back a laugh, "You sure do! You're basically her doppelgaenger."
"Lola, will you please tell these slappers that were on the guest list?!" Ben shouted, getting a disapproving look from his ex-wife.
"Shhh, Ben, our daughter is right here." Callum said, shaking his head.
"Sorry, but just tell them already, Lola." Ben said, pointing at them.
Jay overheard the chaos and came over to clear things up, "Guys, you were replaced with Suki and Eve. I'm sorry."
"What?!" Ben said, completely freaking out, "How could you do such a thing to your own brother?!"
Jay ran a hand down his face, "Well, you both declined our invitation earlier today. What other choice did we have?"
"We're here now, though!" Ben shouted, throwing his hands in the air.
"And so are Suki and Eve." Lola said, pushing some hair behind her ear.
But just then, a cat ran over to Lola's legs and Lexi urgently asked to be put back down, "Oh my goodness, can we keep her?!"
"Sorry, dollface, but we've got a wedding to attend inside a church, ya know, one that doesn't allow pets." Lola said, as she finger brushed her daughter's hair.
"Wait, can't we just have the wedding right here outside?" Lexi said, pleading with her eyes.
"Girl does have a point, I mean, the lawn is even big enough to fit all the guests and then some." Jay said, resting his hands on his hips.
"Pretty please, Jewel needs a home! Now!" Lexi shouted, as she held tightly onto the black and white cat.
Lola let out a groan, "Fine! But Jay will be responsible for all the cat's needs and whatnot."
Jay raised his eyebrows, but Callum walked over to whisper in his ear, "Don't worry, I've got a cat of my own, remember? So I'll just fill you in on everything."
Shortly thereafter, Jay and Lola had their dream wedding in front of their closet friends and family. It was a bittersweet moment because they all knew that Lola's time here on planet earth wouldn't last for long, but they also knew that they'd be making every moment count, and those moments would last a lifetime.