Epilogue
New Year’s Eve
St. John’s Baptist Church
Lexington, Kentucky
The church buzzed with close to two
hundred guests, all of Brian and Sienna’s family and friends. Outside, fans and the media tried to catch a
glimpse of the guests arriving, but a barricade had been effectively set up to
hold them back. The reception would be
held later on, combined with a New Year’s celebration, at the home Brian and
Sienna had bought together ten miles south of Lexington where he had built her
a larger greenhouse, into which she had systematically moved all of her plants.
Inside the church, in a room
normally used for the Sunday School, Brian paced back and forth and asked for a
drink—for the hundredth time.
“Absolutely not,” Kevin told
him. “You’re not getting married,
buzzed. Keep your head clear, Brian,
because this is one of the most important days of your life.”
“I know, I know that, Kev, but I’m
so nervous, I think I’m gonna jump out of my skin,” Brian replied.
“Hey, how’s the groom?” Nick grinned
coming into the room.
“Nervous as a cat,” Kevin told him.
Harry came in then, carrying
Serena. “Somebody wanted to see Daddy,”
he told Brian.
His nerves forgotten in his hurry to
take his daughter, Brian reached for her and kissed the baby’s cheek. “Look how beautiful my little girl is,” he
murmured. The baby was dressed in green
and white, with a little white headband on.
She blinked at her father then gurgled delightedly as he tossed her up
and caught her close.
“Okay,” Brian said, turning to the
others. “I can do this. I am going to marry the most beautiful woman
in the whole world today and nerves are not going to stop me.”
“That’s the spirit!” Nick cheered.
“I just have to put one foot in
front of the other and make it down the aisle,” Sienna muttered to herself as
Kristin applied her eye makeup.
“Honey,” Leighanne said from behind
her. “Relax. I mean, I know it sounds crazy coming from
me, but, really, everything will be fine.”
Sienna gave Leighanne a half-smile
and wondered at how far their relationship had come. During the months she and Brian had been
apart, Leighanne had called her to apologize for coming between them and to
assure her that she was behind their relationship one hundred percent. She had become one of the sources of comfort
that Sienna had relied upon when Brian had left.
“She’s right,” Liv spoke up,
now. “Remember how nervous I was on my
wedding day? But the second I saw Howie, nothing else mattered. Trust us, everything will work wonderfully today.”
The door opened, and Kelly stepped
in. “Wow, you look amazing, Sienna. Brian’s eyes are going to roll down the aisle
when he sees you.” Then, smiling down at the baby she held, she stepped
forward. “Kara wanted to see her
mommy. She’s been a little fussy.”
Sienna smiled and held out her arms,
and Kara settled into her lap happily.
“Thanks
Kelly,” she said. In the last two
months, Sienna had gotten to know the soap opera actress, and the two women had
hit it off remarkably. Kelly couldn’t
get enough of playing with the girls, and she and Sienna had spent days
searching for the perfect wedding outfits for the twins.
Liv
finished the curled up-do Sienna had wanted and stepped back. “All done, Si. You do look incredible. Like a true glowing bride,” she added.
“I hope so,” Sienna murmured.
Kristin looked at the clock as a
knock sounded on the door. “Sienna?”
Jacob Roberts, poked his head in.
“Honey, everything’s set. And you
look amazing,” he told her as he stepped into the room. The other women hurried out and Sienna linked
an arm with her uncle, holding Kara in the other.
As they waited outside the doors to
the church, Sienna tried not to fidget, but Jacob noticed.
“Sienna, sweetie, I don’t think I
could be more proud of you than I am at this very moment. I wish your parents were here to see the
wonderful woman, mother, and soon-to-be wife you’ve become,” he said,
swallowing the tears that had risen.
Sienna squeezed her mother’s ruby
necklace and smiled at him. “I think
they’re here,” she murmured.
Brian waited impatiently, jiggling
Serena in his arms, as he watched Abby sprinkle rose petals down the aisle,
followed by Shane’s older sister’s son, who carried the rings on a green, satin
pillow. He watched Faith, Marlena, and
Liv, the matron of honor, walk up the aisle.
Finally, the opening of “Bittersweet
Symphony” began to play, and his breath caught as she stepped into the entryway
on her uncle’s arm. Her dress was a
long, bell-sleeved medieval style gown with no extra layers. It was decorated with a gold pattern on the
bodice, which matched the pattern on the hem.
She carried Kara instead of a bouquet, and, when their eyes met, they
both broke into huge grins.
Sienna didn’t hear the music and
didn’t see the guests. All she could see
was Brian holding their child, and the love, she thought was too big already,
grew and made her heart swell. Looking
into Brian’s eyes, she knew he felt the same way.
As she made it to the altar, Brian
smiled at her and Kara and held out a hand.
Sienna beamed at him and Serena and, placing her hand in his, made them
a family.
The
End
***
Read the sequel, Then Again
