Time seemed to speed up on me, weeks turning to months in the blink of an eye. The media lost interest in me as the 'Nurse' faded into the category of 'yesterday's news'. Luc was steadily improving under Cornelius' and Alexandre's care. Mina was advancing swiftly. Before I knew it, she was sampling human food Rory was eating. Somethings she liked, particularly meats, the rarer the better, and some things she couldn't stand, like dairy products, which made me wonder if the virus or Alexandre was behind that one. She stopped breastfeeding pretty quickly after her first few teeth fully erupted, as Alexandre and Cornelius had predicted, she started to bite, drawing blood that she slurped at greedily. Her favorite targets were her father and Rory. I had my suspicions that Rory was a favorite because he was closest to human, and her father just because Alexandre was her favorite person.
She took quickly to her Uncle Luc, though as she was learning to talk, his name became 'Kook' to her, which Luc found hilarious. Mina served as amazing motivation for Luc's physical therapy, attempting to toddle alongside him as they started getting him on his feet again, making frustrated or happy noises, depending on their individual progress or set backs.
As spring rolled back around again, and Mina was nearing a year old, I walked into Alexandre's office with Mina dressed in a pretty, white, lacy dress, hand behind my back. He eyed me speculatively, but held out his arms when Mina called 'Papa! Papa!'. I handed her over, then slid to a knee in front of him. His expression became confused until I brought the ring box around in front of me, then his eyes blazed with passion.
"Alexandre Rivers.." He had me off the floor and in his arms before I made it any further than that.
"Yes." He growled against my lips while Mina squealed with laughter at being trapped between us. "A million times yes, for eternity, and forever after that. Forget the Devil, I'd give you my soul in a heartbeat if it meant we could be together forever." I laughed breathlessly as he kissed me over and over until Mina fussed, demanding some of the attention. We both kissed her all over her face until she was squealing with laughter again.
"There's so much to do though.." I warned Alexandre over Mina's head.
"Not particularly." Alexandre hedged.
"And what is that supposed to mean, Mr. Rivers?" I placed my hands on my hips. He growled and pulled me towards him for another kiss.
"I sort of started making arrangements about a year ago when you said you wanted to get married in the spring." He looked embarrassed and I laughed, then kissed the slightly hurt look off his face.
"Good sir-you know it's usually the woman who has her wedding planned out in advance of the day." I teased. He bit my lower lip and then set Mina down as she started to struggle, bored with us already.
"Tell me you had any ideas what you wanted?" He growled. I laughed again.
"Not a clue. Just what I told you a year ago." I answered.
"Exactly." He purred, turning Mina away from his desk drawer deftly, before closing on me. "And I listened to that. Would you like to see what I came up with?" He nipped my lower lip as I used my leg to block Mina from tugging open the drawer again.
"Definitely." I whispered through Mina's exasperated shout.
There was a very small attendance for our wedding. Just Alexandre, Mina, Cornelius, Rory, Luc, myself and some secular priest of some kind. The flowers were all in bloom as I had imagined, and Alexandre had even more shipped in to line the path, plus flower petals to completely cover the walkway in pale pink and white. To keep things uncomplicated, there was no best-man or maid of honor, and though Alexandre tried to convince me to invite some of my human family or friends to the wedding, I wasn't ready to invite them into this part of my life. Mina sat in a little wicker carriage in her white dress, looking like a tiny doll, watched over by a smartly dressed Rory and Cornelius. Of course, she didn't end up staying in the carriage long, as soon as she started chewing a flower attached to her carriage and began to get fussy, she was being passed around between the three men in the audience. Luc was in a wheelchair, but dressed to the nines as well. He was still a bit gaunt, but looked a lot better than he had, especially after a shave, haircut and a little time in the fresh air.
Alexandre had given me my choice of wedding dresses from a book, and when I got frustrated at not only the prices, but the ridiculousness of it all, his eyes gleamed and he asked for permission to have one made for me. I acquiesced, but warily, knowing he liked to go a little crazy spending. A seamstress came and took measurements and we discussed comfort, movement, fit, what I liked and didn't. She talked with Alexandre even longer afterward, and then a few weeks later she came back with a stunning ivory corseted number that had a long trail in back and long lace veil for my hair. It had sheer sleeves and a high collared top connected to the corset with a button at my neck in the back, and the whole thing only ended up needing minor adjustments, which tickled the seamstress and I both.
When I walked out of the house in the flats I insisted on to be able to walk the garden path without sinking in, Alexandre's eyes were already undressing me, and I could tell. I blushed. Rory wolf-whistled and I considered throwing something at him. The scent of flowers in the gardens was like being wrapped in Alexandre's love and the rest of the way down the path I saw nothing else but him.
He only made one small change to the vows. When asked if he would take me as his wife, he answered "Eternally".
Alexandre had arranged things so that after the wedding and the obligate celebratory blood drinking, Mina would spend the night with Rory and Cornelius. As the evening drew to a close, he tugged me gently down the garden path. My curiosity peaked, I lifted my skirts and fought not to say anything.
"Go ahead Carys-I can almost hear the wheels in your head turning." Alexandre chuckled.
"Where are we going?" I asked. Alexandre chuckled again, tugging me against his side.
"Mm-that's a surprise." He murmured against my hair. "You smell beautiful Carys, and you look gorgeous, but I can't wait to get you out of this thing." He tugged playfully at the ribbons on the corset top.
"Uh down boy-there's literally nothing underneath there." I whispered hoarsely.
"I know how corsets work Carys, even the overbust kind." Alexandre murmured, nuzzling my neck. "Though in my day, they were worn under the clothes, not so blatantly shown about." He chuckled. "It was like lady's underwear."
"I know that too." I responded. "Shaping and foundation garments are still a thing, you know." I crossed my arms with a huff. Alexandre chuckled again and tugged the ties a little harder until I felt them loosen.
"Alexandre Rivers!" I scolded.
"Yes, Mrs. Rivers?" He groaned, leaning in to kiss me. "I like the taste of that on my lips." He murmured against my mouth.
"Me too." I said breathlessly, before looking beyond him to see that he'd transformed the gazebo into a twinkling, gauzy little retreat. There were now multiple layers of sheer fabrics in pale pink and white and white Christmas lights hanging from the underside of the roof to just below the top of the wall surrounding the seating inside. There were so many layers you couldn't see through them, and both entrance and exits had an extra layer of a thicker fabric backing them to keep the lighter fabrics in place.
"Oh my God Alexandre, who even are you?" I breathed.
"I told you, I always wanted to be married, have a family.." He punctuated each point with a kiss. "I've had a lot of time to think about these things. Make plans." More kisses as he tugged me towards the gazebo. He pulled me up the steps, pushing the many layers of breezy fabric aside, to pull me into the small, warm area. Alexandre had set up faux candles along the seats, but the floor was simply covered in blankets and pillows in a range of pastel pinks to whites, matching the gauzy fabrics above. As the sun set behind the trees and the light became softer, Alexandre let me absorb the full affect.
"Wow." I whispered.
"There's only one problem." Alexandre murmured, running his teeth along my neck.
"What's that?" I asked breathlessly.
"This room, it's strictly clothing prohibited." Alexandre purred.