Faye

 

“There,” Soraya said, adjusting my veil as Piper shook out my skirts. “You’re ready.”

“Finally,” I muttered, placing my hands on my stomach and peering into the mirror. A tremor had started in my fingertips and was dancing up to my shoulders. The dress was simple, an elegant, filmy white with touches of lace and off the shoulder sleeves. As I looked at myself, I once again thought, wistfully, mom would have loved this dress.

Turning, I accepted my bouquet from Isla and then sighed with relief when Kesari hurried back into the room. “He’s impatiently waiting for you,” she said, grinning.

“No one has less patience than a Zima,” Soraya muttered. “We’re leaving in five minutes.”

“Unless it’s a Lafi,” Piper pointed out.

“Devoy now,” Soraya said, flashing her ring and grinning.

“I still cannot believe you eloped,” I said, shaking my head.

“It was a romantic impulse, as I’ve said a thousand times before,” Soraya said, her eyes dreamy. “Besides, it’s not like we didn’t have a party and a ceremony to appease the furious families after it happened – one that rivaled Piper and Balt’s wedding.”

Piper laughed. “Faye’s might beat us both.” Reaching down, she smoothed out her daughter’s curls as Kalea swung her basket around. “Careful, sweetheart, you do not want to drop them yet. Remember, only in the aisle, like we practiced.”

“Oops. ‘Kay.” Kalea stopped, her dark eyes, so like Balt’s, huge in her face and nodded seriously for a three-year-old. Then she looked up at me and smiled. “You’re pretty, Auntie Faye.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” I said, my heart overflowing at the thought of having a little one like her with Andrei’s green eyes and my hair. Or his hair and my eyes.

Again, I pressed my hands to my stomach and Piper frowned at me.

“Is your stomach upset?” she whispered, moving in closer.

“No, no,” I said. “Only butterflies.”

A knock came and Tisha came in. Her face lit up when she saw me and there were tears in her eyes. “Oh, Faye, you’re radiant. Glowing.” She smiled around at us. “It’s time.”

Svetlana, Isla, and Talori, who'd been talking, now stood up. Tulila came over and took Kalea's hand, as they were flower girls together. Both of them were wearing matching pink dresses and we all melted over how adorable it was.

“Wait till you see Leo in his little tux,” Piper said proudly.

The flower girls were ready, with Talori, Svetlana, Isla, Kesari, and Tisha lined up behind them, while Soraya and Piper stood on either side of me. When I'd asked them to give me away, both of them had wept and I was afraid they might do so now.

“Do not ruin your makeup,” I ordered them, even as a choking feeling started in my throat.

Carefully, we descended the staircase of the vineyard house, a lovely, out of the way spot that Andrei and I had found a few weeks after we got engaged. It was at the base of feathery-treed mountains in Canada, with massive gardens and a winding river in a little valley below.

My heart was all but shaking in my chest as I stepped into the warm, fragrant air. Our heels clicked in musical harmony down the white walkway, lined with tall, decorate candle holders and flowers. It was gorgeous and way too much, as I’d told Andrei, but he’d insisted.

However, I saw none of it as I walked down the rows of seats, family, and friends standing and smiling at me, Soraya and Piper keeping me upright.

All I saw was Andrei.

His amazed smile and awed gaze. No one could wear a suit quite like a Zima, especially Andrei, with his dark hair and green eyes. For a moment, I thought he might come leaping down the aisle and kiss me, but he managed to restrain himself.

Soraya and Piper lifted my veil, each of them hugging me and then turned to Andrei. Piper gave him a cutting look which said quite plainly, keep her happy or there’s hell to pay.

Soraya was far more direct. “Don’t forget how lucky you are, Zima,” she said.

Behind him, I saw Dez’s face crinkle up with laughter while Balt shook his head.

“Not a chance,” Andrei said, pulling me to him and smiling at me.

What followed was a whirlwind of words and one powerful kiss.

I remembered the steady pressure of Andrei’s arm, the way the sunlight filtered through the trees as the sun set, the soft music playing and the smell of wisteria on the wind.

Happiness, with all our friends and family around.

Later would come the laughter, stories, and dancing. Recalling the wild time that had been Balt and Piper's wedding, teasing Soraya and Dez about their elopement, then hounding Kai and Isla to set a date already. Never mind giving Roy hell for not proposing to Kesari yet.

But it was an accidental slip on my part that truly made the evening memorable when I said I couldn’t drink any of the fabulous wine the vineyard offered.

“What do you meant you can’t drink it?” Soraya asked, her eyes huge.

“Now look what you’ve done, wife,” Andrei teased in my ear. “We’re expecting.”

For a moment, Soraya and everyone else at the wedding party table looked flabbergasted. Then Piper shrieked and Soraya did a second later. I was being hugged and congratulated, while Andrei laughed and accepted wine on my behalf.

“That’s so weird!” Dez exclaimed when it calmed down and then he flushed as Soraya glared at him. “Ah, oh, right…”

Andrei began to laugh as we all stared between Dez and Soraya.

“You too?” I asked.

“Me too,” Soraya said, laughing and trying not cry. “I wanted to wait until after all of this and not spoil your day for you.”

“How could this spoil it?” I cried, getting up and hugging her. “What if you have a boy and I have a girl or vice versa?” I asked, gripping her arms. “Oh my gosh, they could fall in love.”

“Faye, it’s a bit early to be planning our child’s wedding, don’t you think?” Andrei asked. “Our own is still going on.”

“Of course it’s not,” Soraya retorted. “And don’t forget, I did say I’d name my son after you…”

“Guess we better get crackin’ if we don’t want to get left out,” Kai teased Isla, who flushed.

Shaking his head, Andrei stood up and offered me his hand. Taking it, he swept me out onto the dance floor and I settled against him with a sigh.

“It’s hard to get a minute alone with you and you’re my wife,” he grumbled.

“So, you keep saying,” I said, smiling up at him. Andrei had made a point of saying I was his wife almost every ten minutes since we'd both said: “I do.” And I loved it. “That’s a wedding for you.”

“Honeymoons make a lot more sense after this circus,” he said and I laughed.

“You’re not having fun?” I asked.

“Faye,” Andrei said, his voice in my ear. “Of course I am.” The music slowed even more and he pulled me closer. “My beautiful wife, my sunshine, my dushechka and mother of my child, I am the happiest man alive right now. After all, I have you.”

Joy pulsed through me. His joy and mine, mingling and wrapping that tiny spark of life in love. How lucky it was to have Andrei as a father. Selfless and generous. I told him so and he laughed.

“I was thinking the same thing about you, Faye,” he whispered. “And about how lucky I am.”

In his arms, I could see the happy years ahead of us and I smiled through blinding tears. Love was all around and the future was ours to have. But since we still had the rest of our wedding to enjoy, neither of us was any rush. 

We had each other and all the time in the world.

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