𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄

ᴇᴘɪʟᴏᴜɢᴇ

FOUR MONTHS LATER

𝗥ayne ran a finger under her eye, avoiding her mascara-coated lashes and fingering to settle the concealer covering her healthy eye bags. Curtains ballooned around the windows from the open balcony door as she carefully paraded herself, making sure no dust fell on her white veil.

She smiled to herself, eyeing the white dress hanging in the corner of the room from the reflection of the mirror. The same butterflies that'd touched her stomach all those years ago, the first time she'd gazed into green forests and decided it'd be her home, flitted around her system.

Today was the day she married her best friend, the love of her life, the father of her children.

"If you keep touching your makeup like that, you're going to ruin it."

"I'm just softening it up," Rayne tore her vision away.

"No, you're micromanaging shit again," Blake grabbed her chin.

Rayne scowled as her friend, and Bridesmaid rounded the extended vanity bench and took a seat, careful not to wrinkle her pale yellow dress. Blake pressed a soft makeup brush to her under-eye, fixing the same area Rayne had been toying with for the last few minutes. She huffed a breath but relaxed in Blake's perfectionist hands, knowing she wasn't going to win this fight.

A few years ago, Blake had decided to attend cosmetology school for fun, and she ended up falling in love with the trade. If her makeup skills weren't an example of how talented her friend was, then the half-up, half-down hairstyle pinned to Rayne's head did the job. Sparkly pins and white pearled jewelry decorated her auburn curls and matched the earrings she wore.

"Where did Emiko go?"

"Probably to the bathroom again," she sighed.

Blake tapped her brush against the lid of a blush container, moving on to add the finishing touches to Rayne's look. By the time she finished her bedazzling, Emiko returned the Tau practically tied to her hand as the latter tried desperately to wrangle out of her hold.

"What's wrong, Tau," Blake asked, "Why are you giving your mother issues."

"I'm not," he rolled his six-year-old eyes, "She's giving me issues."

"I found him and Milo cheeks deep in the dessert table."

"Goddammit."

Rayne giggled under her breath as Blake put the palates down and ushered Tau and her very pregnant wife out of the room. They had eloped two years ago and had participated in IVF to earn the patient arrival of their third child, Rian, who was due any day now and was the reason Emiko ran circles around the bathroom.

As they left, a new body emerged past them—his yellow vest and bowtie stark against his ocean-blue eyes, but paired nicely with the rest of his black suit. Mason grinned at her and approached from behind, placing both of his hands on her shoulders and ducking to view her in the mirror.

"It's not too late to run away," he teased.

"I have two kids," Rayne snorted, "I think it's definitely too late."

Mason kissed her cheek swiftly and amplified his grin. Rayne squirmed in her chair, forced to realize that this was not just another day in her life, but it was the day of celebration for her connection with another human—with the man who'd saved her from herself.

"I don't know. You'd be a banging single mom," Mason shrugged.

"You know, as my Maid of Honor, your job is to support me, not fill my head with images and thoughts of being a runaway Bride," she playfully swatted at him.