Dear Readers,
Trust me, I get it. It was very unfair of me to leave you hanging like I did for the remainder of Mr. Hughes' and Vesper's story. These two characters are enchanting to me, as well, and not being able to complete this story has been hard for me, as well. This...year...has been insane to say the least, and I won't bore you with the details of why I haven't been focused on this, but please understand that it was not because I didn't care, I do care, it was quite literally out of my control a lot of the time. I have focused quite closely on these next few remaining chapters to make sure they are told the right way. I hope you enjoy and while I have already begun writing the next story, I will not be posting it until I am SURE that I can do so start to finish in a very proper amount of time! Thank you for all of your comments and suggestions and encouragement, I have read all the emails and the feedback and I appreciate your time and patience with me.
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Chapter 20
The week after New Year's, Vesper got a reply back from Domino about attending her wedding. The vampire was more than happy to serve as a bridesmaid, and she expressed regret to Vesper that she wouldn't be able to offer her the same position. She and Alexandru had eloped a day after New Year's and had no plans on holding an actual ceremony later on to commemorate their marriage. When they had spoken at first about the wedding, Domino had been a little weary of having to stand in a chapel so close to Anya, and had asked for some time to think about it. Vesper had understood. She knew that it had been Domino and Samir who had taken care of Mr. Hughes after he had cut off his wings. It would be difficult for anyone to reconcile that, even if the angel in question seemed to bear the woman no ill will.
Vesper had forgiven the light siren a long time ago for the affect that she'd had on the angel. Once things had moved forward with Vesper and her fiancé, all worries and thoughts about Anya's effect on him had vaporized. Mr. Hughes loved her, totally and passionately. He hadn't even so much as considered looking at another woman since they had become intimate. She knew he hadn't even returned to his work at the spa. He'd had Samir take over that particular job expectation until he could hire someone to permanently take his place, for which Vesper was maddeningly happy.
Domino had agreed and had promised to come up in another week to get fitted for her bridesmaid dress, which she hoped would be classically elegant, like Vesper, and low cut in the back to make room for her wings. It would be all of those things, Vesper knew, and she had made sure that what she'd picked out with Shi on a trip to a specialty store in Toronto that catered to nonhumans would be flattering on all four of her bridesmaids. She wanted everyone to feel comfortable and gorgeous. Vesper wanted the day, or rather, the dusk, to be a happy event for all. She'd even made sure to plan it for a time of day that the vampires would not have difficulty attending. A night wedding wouldn't have been her first choice, but with the days so short, it did allow her to plan without worrying so much about keeping Elarinya and the other children who attended up too too late.
Boris would be her ring bearer, which Vesper was curious about. The werewolf cub was ornery, that much she remembered from her very short visit to Anya's home. Apparently, after she'd spoken to Anya, who had also asked for some time to consider a trip to Vorhees, there had been an election among her children on who should play that particular role. Boris had apparently been thrown into the mix and gotten the popular vote, which Vesper figured showed how much his siblings adored him, no matter the amount of trouble he seemed to cause his family.
She hoped the young boy could behave long enough to fulfill his role. He had five men who parented him, plus his mother. Surely they could keep him in line for one night. So Vesper tried not to worry on it, though it popped into her head every so often, all the myriad ways the child could somehow spark terror in her wedding. He was half wolf, he could easily morph during the ceremony and make people laugh. But no, she would not worry on it. Whatever happened...happened. And maybe Mr. Hughes could control the boy and keep him in human form, though she still didn't like his ability to control others, or her ability to control him.
Anya had called her back to not only tell her that Boris would be her ring bearer, but that she would gladly accept the position of bridesmaid. She'd never been one and figured it was about time. She liked Vesper, and knew that she had to get over her personal feelings for Mr. Hughes. 'What better way to do that than to stand there and watch him start his life with someone else?' The woman had said cheerfully over the phone and Vesper had thanked her for understanding, and for being happy for her. Anya was still nervous about showing her face at the ceremony, though. She had heard hints of frustration about her behavior from other nonhumans, but she was plenty able to handle that, she had assured Vesper. It would be a fresh start for Vesper and Mr. Hughes, but perhaps it could be one for her as well, she had said also, and Vesper almost believed her, save the little catch and chuckle in her voice as they spoke on the phone. The woman was nervous about how she would be received, but Vesper intended on making the day special for everyone.
Her dress had been found and had already been taken in to fit her properly. The fluttery, white and somewhat translucent, tent style dress had a square cut bodice with spaghetti straps made of thin silver chain, embedded with diamonds that she knew were real. The fabric slipped against her thin body in loving waves, and where one might expect a waist, it flared out in piles of the thinnest silks, the barest lace, and with a slightly more solid underlay. The gown fell to her ankles and Vesper'd felt like a fairy princess as she'd stood in the tiny shop and turned every which way, staring at her own reflection, trying to reconcile the fact that SHE was the beautiful woman that she saw in the mirror.
The back had been low enough that it hadn't even needed to be altered, which Vesper was thankful for. She hadn't wanted to have to secure her dress around her wings or alter something that she loved. She knew the dress was perfect for her, and knew Mr. Hughes would appreciate it just as much as she did. She just hoped he controlled himself long enough for her to wear it and get married. It had been easy to pick out the perfect wedding dress, but it had taken Vesper a little longer to figure out what to have her bridesmaids wear.
Shi, Natasha, Domino, and Anya were very different from one another. Two brunettes, a blond, and a raven haired woman, all with different skin tones, and some a little more curvy than others, made it difficult to find something that suited them all. In the end, she chose a purple and blue silk, sleeveless, cocktail dress with a circular skirt and nipped waist. It had flattered both Shi and Natasha, and Vesper knew it would look nice on both the vampire and the light siren once they were able to come and have a fitting.
The men's suits were all under the control of Mr. Hughes, who insisted on simple straight-lined tuxedos with bowties and a pinstriped gray waistcoat. She had expected simplistic elegance from him, and when she'd seen Samir model the suit for her a few days after their fitting, she had been extremely pleased. She couldn't wait to see Cynric wearing a suit, he'd barely ever covered his nudity in her presence, only when Elarinya was around. Vesper was more than happy to see all of the men dressed up so nicely on their behalf. She hadn't met Mr. Bricker until he had come into town for his fitting, and had found the nonhuman to be quite gentlemanly, at least where she was concerned. He had a bit of a lascivious eye for the women he saw at the spa, but Mr. Hughes had told her that he wasn't a threat to anyone there, despite his being an incubus.
Food had been ordered, and she'd worked closely with the chefs in the kitchen to design a perfect wedding cake. Mr. Hughes had insisted that he didn't care what kind of cake flavor she chose, but she knew that he was partial to the vanilla bean that she'd caught him taking more than one bite of, and she'd had it layered with tiers of lemon, her personal favorite. She'd even asked the chef to make a groom's cake in the shape of her house, to symbolize their new home, and their new life that they were making together.
Flowers had been much easier than she had initially considered. She should have known that Mr. Hughes would know exactly how to manage that. He was having flowers flown in from all over the world to decorate the chapel and the large ballroom area in the spa where they would be having the reception. It had all been taken care of, and Vesper had been told that she needn't worry about a thing in that department.
She wasn't worried, not over a simple thing like flowers. No, Vesper saved her worries for the big things. Like whether or not her guests would all get along with each other. And whether or not her husband would try to manhandle Grigory again. And she definitely worried about how Anya and Domino would treat each other. But mostly, her worries centered on herself, and the growing life inside of her. She would be about a month along when she got married. What if she had morning sickness? But she was getting married at night. What if she felt exhausted? Vesper knew she was reading too much information on pregnancy from the books that she had ordered online. She knew it was making her paranoid, but she wanted to know, she wanted to be able to plan for whatever might happen.
