MELROSE

Epilogue

They needed to stop panicking. They really needed to stop panicking.

Mum and Courtney were jittery for two different reasons. It was the former's wedding day so I guess hers was understandable. It wasn't her first wedding though, so she shouldn't be feeling this nervous. I can't believe they waited four years to do this.

As for the latter, she was jittery about seeing Fletch again, after all the bad things that happened between them. Here's a back story. A year ago, she had a mini crush on her lead star and drunkenly slept with him when they were celebrating the wrap up of the movie they were shooting. Unfortunately, she got pregnant. She didn't believe in abortion so she decided to have the baby.

She lost it. She had been in an accident, effectively leading to  miscarriage and making her unconscious for weeks. Now she thinks everyone is mad at her, including me, despite the number of times I've told her I wasn't. I'd confirmed long before today if Fletch was still mad at her and he'd said no, he was just disappointed. The fact that he'd travelled back to the US and attended to her unconscious self for three solid hours was proof. She doesn't know he did though.

"You look beautiful mum."

Mum hissed at him. "Lorenzo! You're not supposed to be in here!"

I gestured for him to ignore her. "She's in panic mode. Clarissa please, a little touch."

The makeup artist nodded and dabbed mum's face once again. Ethan zoned in on my attire. "You're wearing a dress?"

"It's mum's wedding day. I'm one of the bridesmaids. I have to wear this." I scoffed. "Apparently, it's wrong for a bridesmaid to wear a suit."

"Thank god you didn't. That'd be weird."

About half an hour later, the wedding party slowly made their way into the outdoor wedding. Fletch and Blake as the groomsmen, Nolan as the groom, Courtney, Diana and I as the bridesmaids. After us followed now seven year old Elliott as the ring bearer and Enoch's and Helen's third child, five year old Halley as the flower girl, spreading petals everywhere. She tripped on her dress but Elliott caught her before she could fall, I'm not kidding, in a dip. The girl blushed and mumbled a shy thank you. Elliot let her go, blushing too.

"Awwwwww." The crowd cooed.

"Hey, you wanna get married?" Someone hollered, making us burst into laughter. The children got to the front and then came the grand finale, the entrance of the bride. Mum glided through the isle on Ethan's arm, her deep blue wedding dress that had some parts covered with glitter. I never knew glitter made someone this beautiful. What did I expect, Chris made the dress. She'd gotten much better over the years. She was handed to a smiling but tearful Nolan, Ethan taking his position as best man behind him. The vows began.

When it got to the deeper part, I searched for Don among the familiar faces of the congregation, stopping when I remembered he wasn't here because he stayed back in New York for a match the soccer team had been preparing for for ages.

"Do you Nolan Samuele Franco take Mandaline Catharina Morales as your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health, in richness and poverty, in slimness and obesity, as long as you both can stand, for as long as you both shall live?"

Nolan laughed softly at the priest's joke. "I do."

"Do you Mandaline Catharina Morales take Nolan Samuele Franco as your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health ..."

I felt a pair of eyes boring into me. I turned, pleasantly surprised to see Don standing at the entrance in a grey suit. He smiled, mouthing the words in sync with mum as she said it.

"I do."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now ... Never mind."

We laughed as Nolan pulled mum closer before the priest was done, giving her a long kiss.

The reception was the best part, everyone was having a great time. I had changed out of the dress and was so busy making sure everything was going according to plan and everyone was comfortable, I hadn't talked to Don yet.

Just as I was about to go ask some of mum's friends from work if they'd like something to drink, a pair of arms circled my waist. I relaxed into the familiar and safe touch, sighing in content.

He spoke in my ear, his husky voice sending vibrations through my body. "Hey babe. Why are you doing this? There are waiters here."

I turned in his arms, looking into his green eyes. "I know. I'm sorry. Why are you even here? What about your game?"

"Pfft. You think I'll miss a wedding? Where there's cake?"

"Hilarious. Now what's the real reason?"

He sighed, caught. "Our match got postponed. I got on the first plane here. Seriously though, I want cake. Or specifically," his eyes darkened. "I want you on my bed with your breasts and pussy covered with frosting."

I kissed him. "You horny dog. You don't get that till your birthday."

His eyes twinkled. "I can't fucking wait."

In case you're wondering, I didn't keep my promise of no sex before marriage. Don made it hard to. The idiot actually wept for joy when I told him I finally wanted to have sex. Since then, he couldn't have enough. I, on the other hand, knew when enough was enough. I wasn't planning on becoming pregnant anytime soon.

"Hey, look over there."

The scene my eyes landed on made me smile. Courtney was standing in front of Fletch, tears running down her cheeks. Fletch wiped them off before pulling her to him, kissing her senseless.

"They're gonna be okay."

"Yeah."

"Hey cousin." We looked down to see twelve year Kyle grinning up at Don. "May I steal Aura for a bit?"

"Sure. I'll be over there eating cake."

He took me to the middle of the floor where some other couples were dancing and began twirling me around energetically. Actually, his push wasn't strong enough so I was basically twirling myself. I noticed the huge smile on his face.

"Well someone's happy."

"Of course I am. I'm in love!"

"Aren't you a little too young to be in love?"

He paused. "You think twelve's too young?"

"Uh, yeah."

He waved me off. "Nonsense. I'm in love so be happy for me."

We danced for a few more minutes before I excused myself to the front, deeming it the perfect time to sing the song I'd written specially for the newly wed.

"Hey everybody." I spoke into the mic. "This song is dedicated to my beautiful mother and her dashing husband. Hope you'll like it.

I was thinking the other night
About how first loves always reunite
They might not fall in love again
Or maybe they will
That's just fate
Many years will pass us by
Meet new people along the ride
What's met to be, is gonna be
Doesn't matter who's in between
That's history

I will never forget what it took to get here
I will never forget our past days and present
I will never forget, I will never forget, I will never forget ....
Love of my life.

I sang the song two more times and called it a day, bowing to the cheers of and claps of the crowd. I looked around me, a huge smile on my face.

This was the best thing I could ever ask for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagine a world without music.