39Epiloge
Seven Years Later
My hands tighten around my wine glass as the answering machine picks up again. I clench my teeth together and lower it from my ear, focusing my best glare on it. Why isn't he answering? He knows how important this is.
Almost imediately, my fingers are flying over the screen, once again dialing in the all-too familiar number. However, before I'm able to hit the send button a hand reaches out and yanks the phone out of my grasp. My head whips up to see Wyatt standing over me, my phone in one hand, and a drink in his other.
And a two-year-old girl in his arm.
"Sierra!" I gasp, setting my drink down on the table next to me, and yanking her out of his arms. Once I've got a hold of her, my glare settles on the man. "Where have you been?! I've been calling you for hours, now!"
Wyatt holds up his hands as if to ward me off and gives an innocent grin. "Hey, you really wouldn't trust me with my own daughter? We were making the rounds. Everyone wanted the chance to get a look at the cutest flower girl in history, considering that the bride is a bit hard to approach."
"You still could've answered my calls," I shoot back, my grip around my daughter tightening. "I was so worried."
"Well, last I check, we're at a wedding," he motions around him at all the party guests, decked out in their best attire. "And you have not been doing your duties as a bridesmaid."
"I have more important things on my mind," I tuck some of Sierra's dark hair behind her ears. It's curly, but not in the same way my daughter's had been in my dreams. A crazy, untameable type of curls rather than silky and large. Infinitely more beautiful. "And besides, Kaitlyn is the maid of honor, not me. Why is it my duty to make sure everyone can talk to the bride?"
Wyatt laughs and rolls his eyes as he picks up my glass of wine from the table before someone else gets the chance to steal it. "Yeah, because she's a much better companion."
I raise an eyebrow at him. He knows perfectly well that Kaitlyn is by far the most talkative out of the three of us, so therefore, would almost definitely make the best one to help Marley socialize. Or, to help her get out of socializing, is probably a better way to describe it.
He is clearly able to read my thoughts, something the damn boy has picked up over the years, much to my chagrin. "She's more approachable, I'll give you that, but you have to admit that it takes a certian kind to be able to deal with either of your friends for more than a couple minutes."
"The same could be said about me," I smirk back at him as Sierra begins to tug at the curls that fall onto my shoulder, silently begging for the attention she craves and I crave to give her. "And why would they need any more than a couple minutes to talk to anyone?"
He dips down for a quick peck on the lips. "The only reason anybody couldn't spend more than three minutes with you is because I'd grow so jealous I'd be forced to scare them away." his eyes flicker to Sierra and then back over to where I'm assuming the bride is. "Aside from a few exceptions, of course."
I roll my eyes at his cheesiness in an attempt to hide the fact that even after seven years, words like that from him still causes butterflies to flutter in my stomach. "Well," I say once I'm confident that my voice won't give away my giddiness. "Either way, it's still way past Sierra's bedtime so I'm afraid that you won't have to worry about me talking to anyone at all for the rest of the night. We need to go."
"Ah-ah-ah," a voice cuts me off. I whirl around just in time to catch sight of my mother as she sweeps my daughter out of my arms. "I was promised the night with my grandaughter. You're not taking that away from me."
I frown deeply at her, "I never said you had to take care of her tonight."
My mother shrugs, causing the sleeves of her bright purple dress shirt to ride up her shoulders ever so slightly. "I only assumed that I would, considering, y'know," she glances at me up and down, from head to toe before taking a deep breath. "God, you look stunning. I still can't get over it." she smirks back at Wyatt. "I can't believe you've managed to keep your hands off her this long."
"Mom!" I whine. Even at twenty-five, I'm still mortified when she makes comments like that. "Seriously. I wouldn't feel right about this."
"No!" another voice pipes in. I glance down to find a young girl, around eight to ten years old with shoulder length dark hair and a cute little blue dress on. "Sierra and I are going to have a slumber party!"
"Emma! Emma-Emma-Emma!" as if on cue, Sierra begins excitedly chanting her aunt's name and reaching excitedly for her.
Emmaline juts out her lower lip into a pout as her eyebrows scrunch together. The rotten thing about being the youngest of six siblings is that she has grown into being a spoiled little brat (not really, but she definitely knows that she can get away with a lot of things). But she's our spoiled little brat.
"You wouldn't say no to your baby sister, would you?" my mother smirks as if she hadn't been aware that she won the second she yanked my my daughter out of my arms.
"Mom," I tear my eyes away from the two young girls and cross my arms. "She's my daughter-"
"But she's my grandaughter first," my mom nuzzles her nose into Sierra's ear, causing the toddler to giggle excitedly before reaching out to cup my cheek. "See? You get it."
She plants a kiss on the top of my head before disappearing toward the parking lot, not giving me another chance to argue. I clench my hands into fists before rounding on Wyatt. "You could've helped me back there!"
Wyatt raises his eyebrows before chugging down the last of his drink. "You think that would've helped?"
No, I don't, but that isn't the point. I sigh, before falling into him and allowing him to support the majority of my weight. He wraps his arms securely around me, holding me up and burying his face in my hair. I almost bat him away, reminding him that if anything falls out of place it'll be our heads, but am quickly lost at how comforting his breathing is.
"She's right, y'know," he breathes, his hand beginning to rub up and down my back. "It is taking all of my self control to keep from literally tearing that dress off you right this second." he freezes for a second before adding, "The dozens of people around us are helping as well."
My eyes narrow as I push myself away just enough to be able to meet his gaze. Saying something like that is so unlike him that I just can't help it. "How much have you had to drink tonight?" it's only after I say this that I finally notice the heavy scent of alcohol coming off his breath.
Wyatt winces at having been caught, "Can you blame me? You've met the bride and groom right? It's only a matter of time before something or someone gets broken."
"It's about to be you," I flick his forehead, "Let's go back to the room before something bad happens. I'll be your alibi and you can be mine."
"Hmm," he smiles, dropping his forehead onto mine as he slowly sways us back and forth to whatever song happens to be playing. "You know full well I wish we could. But I was being serious about you needing to go find your friends. I have to go make sure Henry and T.J. haven't gotten into trouble." his smile turns into a full on smirk, "Or we could switch tasks."
I can feel my face set into a scowl. "I would sooner rip out all of my toenails with a pair of rusty pliers."
"Oh, be nice, he is your brother, after all."
"Step-brother," I correct.
Wyatt rolls his eyes. "It's been nearly a decade. You can't still hold a grudge against him." I don't say anything, merely shoot him a hardened glare that says everything it needs to, causing him to heave a loud sigh. "You allowed him to be my best man for fuck's sake!"
"Only because your sister turned it down." I shoot back, not completely joking. I had tried to push for someone else, but it had been made obvious fairly early on that the only other option was Travis, which was so not going to happen. I almost felt bad for Kaitlyn when he ended up being the best man at hers. "Besides, you're the best man, so it's really up to you to keep the groom in line."
Wyatt chuckles, "Fair enough." he lets go, before lightly slapping my butt, "Now go find your trouble makers before they make anymore trouble."
"That was a horrible pun," I grumble but still find myself doing as he says. It's not often that I lose a fight against him, bit I have to admit he's probably right. Marley and Kaitlyn alone together are a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off and I don't want to be the one held responsible when the entire hotel goes up in flames.
I find the two of them eyeing the doors that lead out to the pool with a look in their eyes that I don't like. Marley is hiking up the hem of her dress, already shifting as if getting ready to kick of her heels. It had taken a lot of blood, sweat, tears (and no shortage of threats to her precious movies) to get her into this getup. But even she had to admit that the look on Travis's face when she walked down the aisle made it all worth it. The poor boy almost bolted out of the room, thinking he'd wound up in the wrong church.
"What are you two doing?" I hiss, crossing my arms as they both whirl around to face me.
"The bride is about five seconds away from blowing up and killing everyone in the room," Kaitlyn explains. "So I thought we could sneak out for a little bit and just chill in my hotel room on the computer."
I should tell them that that's a no-go. Socially speaking, I should drag them both back to the party and place guards at all exits. But I'm a best friend before a bridesmaid, and they had let me sneak out at my own wedding. Parties never really were our thing, after all.
So, instead of pulling them both back by the collars of their dresses, I merely ask, "Do you want me to cover for you?"
"Nope," Kaitlyn smirks, "You're coming with us."
I sag my shoulders in relief before raising an eyebrow. "What if someone starts looking for you?"
"What if they do?" is her only response with a shrug.
"Oh right." I laugh, before the three of us quickly escape out the doors.
Someone will look for us before long, I know. It's only a matter of time, considering the party is supposed to be for Marley. Some brave soul will venture out to try and have a private one-on-one with the Devil Bride, but I'm not too worried. It'll be her problem if that happens.
It's taken Kaitlyn and I a long time to get to this point, where we can talk without it being too awkward. To be honest, we had reached that point just barely in time for my wedding, nearly three years after our falling out. And to be honest, I was a bit relieved that it got better when it did because neither Erin nor Marley were up to the job of being my maid of honor.
Marley lets out a loud groan as we help hike up the hem of her skirt so that she won't trip over it. The other guests of the hotel stare at us with shocked looks on their faces, but I can't exactly say I blame them. After all, I would probably be staring too if I saw a runaway bride and her two bridesmaids. We are definitely a sight to be seen.
"Hey!" a voice calls right as we reach the room.
Behind us is the groom along with his best man and my step-brother. The three of them are panting as if they'd had to sprint in order to catch up with us, which I can't imagine was too difficult. After all, we're all in heels and they're not.
"What are you doing?" Marley hisses, storming up to her new husband.
Travis smirks down at her. "Same thing you are. Getting away."
"You can't be sneaking out, too! Someone has to cover for us!"
"Oh, so you girls get to cool off but we don't?" he raises an eyebrow as his arm snakes around her waist. Marley shoots him her meanest glare but he doesn't even so much as flinch. I can't help but smirk a bit through my own anger at that. He may annoy the crap out of me but it's times like this that I truly believe nobody else would be able to live with her. I love the girl to death, but she has a way of scaring people off. Luckily for her, Travis isn't one to back down from a challenge. "Sorry, but call me a feminist."
Henry chuckles as he swiftly reaches around the newlyweds to swipe the keycard and unlock the door to his and Kaitlyn's room before we're all ushered in.
Wyatt stops me before I cross the thresh hold, grabbing me by my wrist as the door swings shut behind us. "Do you wanna go back to our room?" he asks in a sultry tone.
I raise an eyebrow at him before glancing back at the door that now separates us from the rest of our friends. "We won't have long enough. We have to make sure they get back to the party before-"
He cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine. "It'll be okay. You think Kaitlyn will really allow her to keep from socializing for too long?"
"Oh," I tease, poking his chest playfully, "What happened? Five minutes ago you swore that they wouldn't be able to survive without me."
"I decided enabling them probably wasn't a good idea."
"Nevertheless," I respond, "You're the best man. You have to stay with the groom."
He sighs in an overdramatic way before shaking his head. "You really are an emotionless robot, aren't you?"
He knocks on the door once, his arm wrapping around my waist as he does so. The door swings open to reveal a very irritated Henry.
"About time," he grumbles, his hazel eyes narrowed, "It was sickoning thinking of the two of you going at it right outside my hotel room door."
I roll my eyes, slipping out of Wyatt's grip as I brush past him. "No, what's truly sickoning is the thought that you and I share the same air."
His scowl turns into an irritating smirk as Wyatt enters the room and shuts the door behind him. "There was a brief amount of time where we shared more than that."
My hands ball into fists as the temptation to hit him builds up inside me. However, before I get the chance to wind up my arm and do it, I'm beaten to the punch-literally-by the bride, herself. She jabs a fist right into his left cheek before smirking back at me as Kaitlyn rests her head on my shoulder. Not too long ago, she would've given some sort of effort into sticking up for him but I suppose two years of marriage causes one to lose some empathy. Especially when it's directed at the devil, himself.
"Twenty seconds," I hiss, crossing my arms over my shoulders as I smirk down at his hunched over form. "It must be some kind of new record."
"Wyatt," Henry peeks one eye open in an overdramatic way at my husband, his voice coming out clipped as if Marley's punch could actually be killing him. "Control your woman."
"If only I could," Wyatt laughs, shaking his head. "Although you're not one to talk." he makes his way back over to me and once again snakes his arm around my waist, tugging me just enough to him so that Kaitlyn's head doesn't fall off my shoulder.
I close my eyes for a moment, before they shoot open as I think of something. "Oh shit!" I swear, suddenly pushing the two of them away. "We have to make sure to call my mom so that we can talk to Sierra before she goes to bed, otherwise she'll have nightmares! And my mom doesn't have any diaper cream for her!" I hurridly begin patting my husbands pockets in search for his phone as new problems that could rise up for my daughter begin to take over my thoughts. "Does she even have diapers? And she can't have ice cream! She's lactose intolerant! I just know that mom will forget about that-"
I'm cut off as Wyatt places a finger against my lips and tugs my hands away from his pants. "She'll be fine. Your mother knows what she's doing. She raised four of you, after all, and Henry wasn't even one of them."
"But-"
He gives me a quick peck on the lips. "Stop talking or I might just have to drag you back to our room."
I imediately snap my mouth shut at that threat. I know that if he does, I won't want to leave the room again for the rest of the night, so I need to keep my witts about me. Once this party is over though, it's free game.
"Fine," I grumble, ignoring the gagging sounds that are coming from Travis and Henry behind me.
Wyatt smirks at me, resting his forehead on mine. "I love you,"
His words are enough. They don't make the worry for my daughter wash away-to be fair, that never really goes away. Part of being a new mother-but they distract me enough to be able to relax again. He must know the power he has over me, nobody is that naive. But I still can't bring myself to care, especially considering I know that I have the same power over him.
"I love you, too," I breathe.
fin
Thank you so much for reading! I can't believe it's over!
And, because I'm a nerd and love reading these for stories I've read, here are some fun behind the scene facts for you!
1. Lenix is the first character I've come up with who was inspired almost solely from a song I became obsessed with, which then became her song to me. So whenever I was having trouble writing this was the song I would listen to on loop until inspiration hit. Because of You by Kelly Clarkson.
2. I never actually got the opportunity to casually mention this in the story but Lenix is actually older than Henry by four months, making her the second oldest in their family after Erin.
3. The character of Emma as well as my choice in Lenix's job was my attempt at showing just how much she truly loved kids, which was supposed to show just how much of a sacrifice she made in her early decision not to have children.
4. The very first scene I came up with was the titular scene where Henry steals Lenix's first kiss. I had that whole conversation planned out before I even knew what the characters were going to look like or what their names were going to be.
5. Quick overview of Lenix and Wyatt's future.
2019: get married
2021: Their first child, Sierra is born. She has her father's hair and her mother's eyes.
2024: Their second child, Thomas is born. He has his father's hair and eyes.
6. They live happily ever after.