At the end of the month, they headed back to Brunya City. The very next morning her mom made her go to another fitting, to make sure everything was going right with her wedding dress. A ridiculous amount of fuss, Tess thought, for a dress she would only wear for a few hours. At home her mom fussed more, making sure the house was perfect, as if there was anyone coming over that hadn’t been there before.

Tess wondered how her mom had the energy to do everything she did. She worked all day at the orphanage, taking care of anywhere between five to fifteen kids of all ages, and then she came home and took care of their house and family. Julia had even wanted to do Ayden’s laundry when he moved in, but Ayden insisted on doing his own as well as Tess’. He also helped around the house, even though she continually told him not to worry about it. But that was Ayden.

Tess sat on the couch and watched her mother washing a wall. Why the wall needed to be washed, she had no idea, it looked fine to her. Meanwhile, Ayden was finishing up the dinner dishes. He just couldn’t handle watching someone clean without joining in. She guessed he must like it, which was just weird.

“But I want to go see snow,” Gavin complained as he and Falcon entered the room.

“It’s your sister’s wedding tomorrow,” Falcon told his son. “You’ll have to wait.”

Gavin crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “Tess, can you take me?”

Tess laughed. “Unfortunately, I’d be murdered if I tried to skip out tomorrow.”

“But I wanna go,” the boy grumbled.

“Gavin, I’ll take you next week,” Falcon said as he sat down. He rubbed his face and sighed. He looked tired. It must have been a long day at work. “Where’s Gabe?” he asked.

“Tavern,” Julia answered. “He just left, you could catch up.”

“Did he say he wanted me to?”

“No,” she answered. “But I’m sure he’d like the company, and you look like you could use a drink.”

He smiled. “Oh, he’ll find company quick enough, and I’ll have a drink here.”

Ayden came out of the kitchen. “Wanna see a trick?” he asked Gavin as he handed Falcon a bottle of ale. His soon to be father-in-law gave him an appreciative smile.

“Yeah,” Gavin said. “Is it a new one?”

“Never done it before, just thought it up,” Ayden told him as he held his hand out, palm up and conjured a snowball, half the size of a normal one. The white orb glowed very softly with a hint of blue. He created an even smaller one and then one more even smaller than that. Carefully he stacked them up, so that the biggest was on the bottom and the smallest was on the top.

Gavin grinned. “It’s a snowman! Can I hold it?”

Ayden shook his head. “No, you know it would hurt you to touch it.”

“Why doesn’t it hurt you?” he asked.

Ayden answered, though he had told him before. Like his sister, Gavin only listened when it was about something he really liked, like insects. “Because it’s my spell, my mana creates it so it’s part of me.”

“I should try doing that,” Julia said. “The kids would love it.” She sighed then. “But I seriously don’t seem to have a lot of energy for it these days.”

“Because you work too hard,” Falcon told her. “When are you going to remember your only human, Jules?” She ignored him and went back to washing while he shook his head.

“Can you do it bigger?” Gavin wanted to know.

“Not too much,” Ayden answered. “Making a normal size snowman would really take a lot of mana.”

“Do you have any more new tricks?”

“Not really,” Ayden said. “I’m working on one, but it’s not very good yet.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll try, but it takes a lot of concentration so you have to be real quiet, okay?” he asked as he conjured a fireball into the same hand that the snowman was sitting on. Both disappeared instantly with a sizzle.

Gavin nodded.

Ayden focused as he cast his light spell, it was the spell that was the least dangerous to manipulate. He used both hands this time. The white glowing orb sat on his palm for a moment, not doing anything, even though one of Ayden’s hands moved over the top of it as if he were stroking a small animal. Very slowly, the shape of it began to morph; it grew taller, more oblong at first, and then he made the bottom into a soft point and the top into two hills.

Gavin looked bored. It was taking too long. It was a while before Ayden set the glowing heart in the air in front of Tess. It hovered there.

She chuckled. “You’re such a girl.”

He just smiled in response.

But Gavin wasn’t at all impressed.

“You’ll like it better when I can do more intricate shapes,” Ayden told him. “I only just took a few classes on manipulation, so I’m new at it. But after a while I could start making animals or something.”

Gavin nodded. “Yeah, do a tiger.”

“I’ll work on that,” Ayden promised.

“Do another trick,” Gavin said then.

Ayden grabbed the glowing heart and tossed it higher into the air, letting it float there until it would eventually fade out. He sat beside Tess and she leaned against him. “Not right now, Creepy. Doing manipulation takes a lot.”

Gavin went back to pouting. He was in the mood to be entertained tonight.

Ayden smiled indulgently. “I’ll read you a story, if you want.”

“Okay.” Gavin said and ran up to his room to pick out a book.

“You know, you’re really good with kids,” Julia told him.

Tess sighed at her mother’s not so subtle hinting and snuggled deeper into Ayden arms.

“Sit down so I can do your hair,” Julia said.

Tess stood in a side room of Daegon’s temple, looking out the window at the garden and the grassy area beyond it, which was spotted with little flowers. She smiled at a memory. “I changed my mind,” she said. “I’ll do my hair myself.”

Julia raised a brow but didn’t argue. She went to stand before her daughter. She looked down, noticing something. “You are not wearing those,” she told her firmly.

“What?” Tess asked, looking down.

“Tess, you can’t wear combat boots with your wedding dress.”

“Why not?” she grumbled. Julia gave her the mom look and Tess sighed. “Fine, then I’m going barefoot.”

“I got you some lovely shoes,” Julia told her. “And they’re flats. Just wear them. It won’t kill you.”

“No,” Tess said stubbornly. “You get all this stupid wedding stuff—including this dumb dress—I get bare feet.”

Julia rolled her eyes. “Fine, it’s your day,” she told her, but she had that tone of disappointment. Tess ignored it. Her mother sighed. “Well, you do look beautiful.”

“Thanks.”

“So, it’s it really that bad?” Julia asked.

“Horrible,” Tess teased, then sighed. “Honestly…” She shrugged. “It’s Ayd in there." She nodded toward the door that led to the sanctuary. “And I’d do anything for him.” She laughed softly. “Even wear a dumb dress.”

Julia smiled now. “You know, I knew when you two were little that you’d eventually end up here. Everywhere you went he’d follow, anything you wanted he’d do for you. Even at six years old. And now… well he hasn’t changed much.” She chuckled. “I’m really happy for you. You’ve always belonged together.”

“Thanks,” Tess said again and hugged her mother. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” When Julia stepped back, she was already wiping tears away and the wedding hadn’t even started. It was a good thing Tess hadn’t taken that bet with her father.

“Okay,” Julia sniffed. “Well… get your hair done, he’s waiting for you.”

The sanctuary was almost completely white, from the walls to the tall pillars, to the whitewashed pews and altar. The only thing that had any color was the pale gold carpeting and, just for the ceremony, wreaths of gold and pink roses hung at the end of each pew, thanks to Lotus.

Finally, a door near the temple entrance opened, and as Falcon entered with Tess on his arm, Ayden fell in love all over again. She wore a long white dress that fit her perfectly, in the way it clung to her slender body, but also in its simple elegance, with no lace, or flowers, or frills of any kind. And she walked down the aisle barefoot, which he loved.

The best part for him was her hair, she wore it loose, letting it hang down to the middle of her back in long brown waves with little daisies placed here and there. The same little white flowers he had put in her hair the day he realized he wanted to marry her nine years ago.

When she caught his gaze, she bit her lip, blushing and smiling. He swallowed past the emotional lump in his throat and smiled back as his heart swelled and his eyes stung with tears of joy.

She stopped next to him, in front of the altar and the priest. Her father kissed her hand before giving it to Ayden, then went to sit with his wife.

Ayden leaned closer to Tess and whispered, “You’re perfect.”

She beamed at him. In spite of all her complaining about marriage and dresses, her brown eyes sparkled with happiness. “So are you,” she whispered back.

Everyone left the temple and went back to the house except for them. They lingered, having a moment alone before they went to the reception party. Ayden took Tess’ face in his hands and kissed her sweetly. “Thank you.”

“Stop,” she told him, smiling. “I wanted this, too.”

“I’m still thankful. And you’re so amazingly beautiful. I’ve imagined you like this before, plenty of times actually,” he admitted with a grin. “But you’re so much more than I ever dreamed.”

“How come you’re so sweet?” she asked. “How am I so lucky?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he returned.

She kissed him, the happy emotions adding to the passion behind it. “Mmm… can we skip the party and go straight to bed?”

“That’d be nice,” he murmured. “But I think your mom would kill us.”

“You know, I’m starting to think weddings are more about everyone else.”

He nodded as he grabbed her hand. “Come on, the sooner we go the sooner it’ll end.”

“Does it work that way?”

He gave her a smoldering look. “I hope so.”

“We could always be a little late,” she said suggestively.

“There’s no way we’d slip past them.”

“I wasn’t talking about our bedroom,” she said as her gaze flickered to a side room in the temple.

He gaped at her. “You wouldn’t.”

She grinned. “Oh yes I would.”

He shook his head. “We’re going now.”

She laughed as he pulled her with him and led the way home.

Matt smiled when they walked into the house. He made a show of looking her up and down as he walked closer. “Who knew you could be so damn gorgeous,” he said, his smile widening when she blushed. Suddenly, he scooped her up into his arms. “Sorry Ayden, I think I’ll have to keep her for myself.”

Tess laughed and slapped his shoulder. “Put me down, brute.” He set her back on her feet but continued to hold her. She hugged him back, then kissed his cheek before letting go and returning to Ayden’s side.

“I think I’m gonna have to keep her out of dresses. Otherwise I might have to start fighting people off,” Ayden half-joked.

Matt laughed. “I don’t think keeping her undressed will be a problem.”

Tess leaned closer to Ayden and whispered something in his ear, making him blush a little, but he also grinned. “I said when it’s over. It’s not over yet.”

Matt chuckled at her pout. Then, he noticed something across the room and wondered out loud, “Does anyone actually invite them, or do they just show up?”

They followed his gaze. Danis and Vinius were standing by the table, seeming to be in a deep discussion about the three-tear white cake next to them. “I think Sera invited them. They actually like her,” Ayden answered. “Even though she’s a girl.”

One of the twins pulled out a pastry bag and started for the cake. ‘Think we should stop them?” Tess wondered.

Ayden shrugged. “It’s from the bakery, so no feelings will get hurt. Let them.”

For a couple minutes, they just watched as Danis made little black frosting roses here and there, and Vinius added ribbons that gracefully swooped and twisted around the edges of the cake. They were actually very good.

“Hey, who are the goth girls?” Gabe asked, joining their small group.

“What’s goth?” Tess wanted to know.

Matt followed his gaze and fought a smirk. “He’s talking about them,” he said, pointing at the twins whose backs were to them.

“They’re not…” Ayden stopped when Matt gave him a look.

“Not dating anyone at the moment,” Tess finished for him, now fighting a grin of her own.

“Yeah,” Ayden said, catching on as well. “And I’m pretty sure you’re their type.”

“Really?” Gabe said, seeming interested.

Tess nodded. “They have a thing for big blondes.” She looked at Matt when she said it.

He couldn’t hide his disgusted look, but quickly hid it. “Yeah, you should go for them,” he encouraged. “They do everything together,” he added meaningfully.

Gabe shrugged and strode over to them. Falcon, standing fifteen feet away, caught Tess’ gaze and shook his head, though he was smiling as well. They all watched as Gabe got to the twins. They turned around and, predictably, looked interested. Unfortunately, Gabe’s back was to the group so they couldn’t see his face. He said something to the guys that they found amusing and nodded. Suddenly Gabe slipped a hand under Danis’ hair to the back of his neck, then pulled him closer and kissed him.

“Oh… my... gods,” Tess breathed in shock.

Meanwhile Matt looked too appalled to say anything.

When Gabe let Danis go, he turned to the group and laughed at their expressions. The twins smiled, in on the joke. Gabe whispered something in one of the twins’ ears and they both gave a half grin. Gabe nodded then left the pair and joined Falcon who was laughing and not at all surprised.

“They are so weird,” Tess said. “All three of them.”

Ayden just chuckled softly.

The twins walked over and immediately went to Matt. They each took a side and caressed one of his biceps. “We didn’t know you felt that way,” Danis practically purred.

“How does Sera feel about it?” Vinius wanted to know.

Matt shot a glare at Gabe who was watching with a huge grin. Falcon was still laughing beside him. Matt pushed the twins away. “Whatever he told you was a lie.”

“He said you’d say that,” Danis told him.

“That you like to play hard to get,” Vinius added.

“Guys, and I use that term loosely,” Matt said with a menacing tone, “I’m seconds away from hurting you.”

The twins smirked. “Okay.”

“We’ll see you later,” Danis said, then they both walked away.

Gabe and Falcon came to join the group.

“You kissed him,” Tess said.

Gabe grinned. “Yep. And you should have seen your faces. Priceless.”

“Are we cool?” Gabe asked an edgy looking Matt.

“Just fine,” Matt answered, still looking disgusted. “You’re the one who actually had your tongue in his mouth.” He shuddered. “I’m fine.”

Gabe shrugged.

“So you… like men… like that?” Tess asked, surprised.

“No,” he said easily. “But sometimes it’s just too much fun to shake people up.” He looked at Falcon and they both laughed at some shared memory.

Tess gaped. “You said that was a joke.”

Gabe smiled. “The sex was. But there was one kiss. We were just in this restaurant once and—”

Tess shook her head, not wanting to hear it, unable to imagine her father with anyone other than her mother. “Nope,” she said and walked away, pulling Ayden with her.

“I’ll second that,” Matt muttered and followed.

Falcon and Gabe laughed more.

Tess sighed as she closed the bedroom door. “Finally.”

Ayden took off his shoes and sat on the bed. “Yeah, well it’s all over now. A day we won’t forget, that’s for sure.”

“Very true,” She agreed. “I’m so glad your dad came and wasn’t drunk. He was even pretty nice.”

“Yeah,” Ayden said with a smile. “I think deep down, me getting married means a lot to him. Enough to not drink for a day, and that means a lot to me.”

“He’s drinking again, then?” she asked.

He nodded. “He was heading to the tavern when he left.”

“Oh, that sucks,” she said and he nodded. “So, why didn’t your grandmother come? I thought she’d be here, too.”

He looked sad. “Guess not.” He shrugged. “Guild’s too important.”

“You know, now that I’m a member, you could actually introduce me to her.”

He sighed. “Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t like her anyway. But that doesn’t matter right now. Today is perfect.”

“Yes,” she agreed.

He took her hands and pulled her closer, getting her to stand in front of him. “So, how are you feeling, now that it’s all over?”

She ran her thumb across the silver band on his finger. “Happy,” she said honestly.

“Like being married?”

“Yes. It feels right actually. Now I really belong to you. Though I always have. Even if it wasn’t romantic at first, I’ve loved you since we were kids. I always knew that I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life, I just didn’t think of it being this way.”

“And now, for the rest of our lives, we’ll always be together.” He smiled as he stood, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She wondered if it was the dress or being married that added to his hunger. “Hmm… I think I’d better keep my promise. I said I’d get you out of that dress as soon as it was over.”

She started for his pants. “It can stay on just a little bit longer.”

“It might get ruined though,” he worried.

She rolled her eyes. “Like I’m ever wearing it again,” she told him, then grinned. “So, start ruining.”

He grinned too as he pushed her back onto the bed and very happily obeyed.