“My lovelies, you are a vision,” Everett breathed, handing each of us a large latte and then placing a tray of beignets and pastries on the counter in front of us. The photographer followed him in and began snapping pictures of us, candid photos of us applying makeup, silly pictures of us posing, and close-ups of our faces when we were ready.
“Now, if you ladies will step into the boudoir, I will snap a few special shots just for your men,” the photographer offered as we all looked at each other. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m as gay as a rainbow parade on Judy Garland’s birthday,” he said as Everett chuckled.
“I’ll leave you ladies to it, then. Call Uncle Everett if you need anything,” he said as he closed the bedroom door. Brie and Constance walked over to the bed and gazed down at the beautiful lingerie that had been placed there.
“This all looks like something from a Victoria’s Secret runway shoot,” Laurilee wondered as she picked up a lacy corset.
“Come on, this will be fun. And it’s for our guys,” Constance grinned as she held a garter belt up around her waist. Carrying the insanely expensive items back into the bathroom, we all donned our new lingerie, and then blushed as we looked at each other.
“Well, all I can say is that our men are some lucky sons of bitches,” Constance exclaimed as she turned to look at herself in a full-length mirror.
I eyed them all warily as the photographer pulled a chair over closer to the window. He opened the window, and then pulled the sheer drapes together, making them billow slightly toward the chair. He turned to us.
“All right, ladies…who will be first?”
I wasn’t altogether sure about this lingerie photo thing, so I was more than happy for Laurilee to go first. As the elfish little photographer snapped the first few photos of the new bride, I relaxed. They were tasteful, a “giving the groom a glimpse of the bride before the ceremony” type thing.
I was the last to go. As we were finishing up, the others had gone back into the bathroom to dress. Brie picked my phone up off the dresser.
“Chandler, wait. I have an idea,” she grinned as she held my phone up. I realized what she had up her sleeve, and I nodded at her. I sat in the chair beside the window, just as I had been in the last picture. I looked over my shoulder at her as she snapped a picture of me, my legs crossed to one side of the chair, my thigh-high silk stockings showing, and my hair draped over one bare shoulder. She walked over to me and handed me my phone.
“I’ll let you type your own message,” she said conspiratorially, flitting back into the bath.
I typed quickly, “Even when I’m not with you, I’m thinking only of you,” then I hit “send.”
I’d forgotten how beautiful the bridesmaid’s dress was that Laurilee had picked until I slipped it on. The dress was the exact cocoa brown of my eyes. The sweetheart neckline of the fitted bodice accentuated my bust, making me look bigger than I really was. The fabric was pleated and crisscrossed across my breasts with a smattering of crystals at the waist, giving it the effect the fabric had been gathered and pinned with a broach. Then wrapping around my waist, it flowed into a skirt of wispy shredded tulle. The ballet length of the skirt would be perfect for the beach.
“Chandler, that dress is beautiful on you,” Constance breathed as my phone pinged, signaling a message. I grinned as I picked it up.
Wow. I love this picture, and I
love you. That is some
beautiful lingerie…I can’t wait
to see it up close!
I giggled as Constance tried to look at my phone. I shook my head at her.
“Nope, just like the picture I texted him, this is for my eyes only,” I told her as she glared at me. “All right, here,” I handed the phone back to her.
“Crap, Chandler…could y’all take it up another notch or two? You still act like newlyweds!”
“Well, we are. We haven’t been married quite a year yet,” I corrected her.
“Yeah, but you’ve already got the normal American family with two kids,” she retorted.
“Um, that would be two point five, and yes, we do…” I trailed off as I smiled at her.
“What does that mean?”
Laurilee and Constance stepped into the room, Laurilee dragging her train of ruffles behind her. I smiled at her as I teared up.
“Oh, come on, Chandler…Cowgirl, up! You’ve seen me in this dress before at the fitting,” she scolded, always the one in control with no tears.
“I know. It’s just…so perfect,” I whispered as the tears flowed.
“I’ll ask again, what did you mean by two point five?” Constance repeated as I smiled bigger.
“Well, the two are here, and the ‘point five’ will be here sometime next summer, making a full three,” I whispered as I cradled my abdomen.
Laurilee’s mouth jaw dropped a full two inches as Constance shook her head. Brie just smiled at me.
“I knew it! I just knew it, the way you’ve been turning your nose up at food since you’ve been back. Studley do-right might want to tuck that thing away for a while. You do know what causes that, sister?” Constance cocked a perfectly arched brow at me.
“Yes, and for your information, we want another baby. We just never dreamed we could get pregnant again this quickly…we didn’t think we could,” I retorted as Constance smiled conspiratorially.
“What?” Brie asked as she looked back and forth at us.
“I was just thinking, maybe this fertile thing runs in the family. There might be hope for Ty and me after all,” she said.
“Well, I hope so, because the two of you are just going to have to share,” Brie said, her eyes glistening.
“Well, before anyone else jumps on the baby bandwagon, can I get married one more time?” Laurilee asked as we all giggled.
“Ladies, it’s time,” Everett called out as he pushed the door open.
Chapter Thirty-Six
John, Ty and Banton stood with Dan, waiting on us at the makeshift altar in white linen shirts, washed blue jeans and bare feet. Banton’s tanned skin glistened in the late afternoon sun, beautiful against the crisp white of the shirt. They all smiled broadly as we stepped out on the deck. First down the aisle was Brie in her pale cream dress, her beautiful red hair a fiery match to the sunset. Constance followed, her blonde hair perfectly curled in beach waves like mine, the blonde beautiful against the pale pink of the dress. I came next, slowly making my way down the aisle to stand across from Banton. As I turned into my position I glanced up into his eyes, soft and warm as he seemed to envelope me with his gaze. My breath caught in my throat…I still couldn’t believe this beautiful man was mine. When you look at me like that, everyone and everything around us seems to fade away, I thought as I met his gaze. He smiled softly, his dimple peeking at me from the corner of his mouth as if he’d heard my thoughts.
Soft guitar music played in the background, joining the waves in a slow rhythm. The tempo changed, signaling Laurilee’s walk toward Dan. Everett had agreed to walk her, standing in this second time for her father. I was strangely calm. Things like this usually made me nervous, even if I was just a guest in the audience. I took in everything…every moment…the way Laurilee’s dress hugged her slender frame, the way it dipped low in the back, accentuating her long, linear form, the way the antique lace of the ruffles in the back billowed out with the breeze.
Everett had enlisted a local free-lance artist to build sandcastles at the altar, and there was even a replica of the Alamo, his tip of the hat to our native Texas. I smothered a giggle behind my bouquet as I watched Dan. He was never without his cowboy boots, and somehow Everett had talked him into going barefoot today. He nervously squished his toes in the sand the entire time they were exchanging their vows.
As the minister proclaimed Laurilee and Dan “husband and wife” for the second time, Dan grandly swept Laurilee up and then dipped her as he kissed her. The look in his eyes said there had never been a more beautiful bride.
As eve
ryone clapped, Ava jumped up and asked, “Unca Banin, can I pway in the sandcastles now?”
“Doodle-Bug, they’re all yours,” Laurilee answered her as Dan swept her up and swung her around. Aunt Sue and Mrs. Elaine rose with the twins and turned them loose in the sand with Ava Grace. Matty giggled as he tried to stand up at the walls of one of the castles, immediately bulldozing it down, causing Elly to break into a fit of giggles to match his. Banton moved to stand beside me, encircling me in his arms as we watched the kids play in the sand.
“Okay, you win. This was a beautiful wedding here on the beach,” Aunt Sue proclaimed as Ty and Constance walked over to her. “Just one condition,” she cautioned.
“What condition?” Constance asked warily.
“That Everett does all the decorating, and you still let me do the over-the-top flowers,” Aunt Sue replied.
“Momma,” Constance warned as Ty placed his hand over her mouth.
“Agreed,” Ty answered for her as Uncle Lon threw his hands in the air.
“Finally!” he exclaimed. “Now, maybe a little less drama and no surprises.”
As Ty pulled his hand away from Constance’s mouth she grinned wickedly at me.
“Oh, Daddy, you know better than that, with Chandler and Banton in the family now. If Chandler is going to be my matron of honor, we will either have to postpone the wedding to late summer, or move it up to January.”
“Why would Chandler have anything to do with when the wedding is?” Aunt Sue asked innocently.
As it dawned on Julia what they were talking about, she jumped up and down as she clapped her hands.
“What the heck is going on?” Cade asked as he snaked his arms around her waist. She leaned back to look up at him as he kissed her forehead.
“Chandler’s going to have another baby,” she giggled out as Drew laughed.
“Oh, man…here we go again! I get to be here for this, too! This ought to be good.”
“What are you talking about?” Julia asked as Constance continued to smirk.
“The last time she told my Momma and Daddy she was pregnant, she was summoned to the study by ‘Bad-Ass Dad’,” Drew retorted. I glared at Constance.
“Don’t look at me. They had to find out sooner or later. Besides, Banton’s here to protect you this time.”
Aunt Sue and Uncle Lon’s stunned expressions were as expected. But this time, Uncle Lon just shook his head. As before as our news sunk in, Aunt Sue’s eyes began to mist as she pulled me into her arms.
“I’m so happy for you, Chandler. I was afraid you and Constance wouldn’t be able to conceive now you’ve both been bitten. Maybe there is hope for her, too,” she whispered as I smiled knowingly at her.
“I was thinking the same thing,” I whispered back.
“Chandler, your little body has been through so much, I hate to see you do this again so soon,” Uncle Lon scolded.
“I’m worried about that too, Mr. Lon, and I assure you we will take the best possible care of her,” Banton replied, pulling me back against his chest and placing a kiss in my hair.
As everyone congratulated us on the new baby, Everett spoke up.
“We have food on the back deck. Everyone let’s toast the happy couple and celebrate being together.” He guided everyone back toward the beach house. As the deck filled with our guests and the champagne was passed around, Everett held me aside.
“Bebe, I am so happy for you. You have been through so much physically and emotionally. Are you truly okay?
“Ev, I’ve never been better.” I smiled as Banton paused to look at me from the deck, his eyes shining as he flashed his dimple at me. “I’m married to the most beautiful man in the world with the most beautiful soul. I have two perfect babies, another on the way, and I am blessed with family and friends. I never dreamed when I left Texas my life would be so full, so perfect. And now I have you,” I whispered as he smiled at me.
“Ma petit, you have always had me, since the day we met. Knowing we are related by blood just makes it sweeter.”
I reached up on my toes as I hugged him around the neck.
“Banton said you received your confirmation from Texas?”
“Yes, evidently my father was on his way to find you and the Samuel’s family. And there were some things in the packet that puzzled me,” I said. He cocked an eyebrow at me. Banton walked back over and slid his arm around my waist.
“What else did you find?’
“Some notes, about my father’s knowledge of a cell of Orcos operating out of Baton Rouge, with connections in Colorado and Texas. There was a letter that looked quite old, a plea for his help.”
“Who was the letter from, Chandler?” Banton asked softly.
I turned and looked up into his eyes.
“The return address on the envelope was 505 Rue Dauphine, Baton Rouge,” I whispered as his eyes widened. “It was signed H. DeLee,” I said disbelievingly. Everett stared at me, speechless.
“That’s impossible,” he said finally as he found his voice.
I smirked. “After all this time… meeting you, meeting Everett, falling in love with you with both of us being Sange-Mele, being drawn to our house and buying it, my mother’s spirit, the soldier, the existence of Orcos, Aldon, and a Tariq stalking my dreams for gripe’s sake…and now we aren’t going to believe something we have right in front of us?”
“What was the postmark on the letter?” Everett asked.
“March 15th, last year. Two months before my parents were murdered by Orcos,” I answered him.
“Well, I guess we have some more research to do, Bebe,” Everett said as Banton placed his lips in my hair. “Oh, how I love a good mystery,” he gushed as my news soaked in.
“Sweetheart, you said something about property deeds in the paperwork, some property your father found out he owned?”
“Well, that’s some more research we need to do. If my calculations are correct, my grandfather bought the land the Old Catholic church was on, which would encompass the old cemetery and the field beyond it.”
“Bebe, it would seem our stories are even more intertwined than we knew. He must have bought it when Mrs. Johnson sold part of the land after the war. “
“Do you think he knew about you and Marie-Claire, and wanted to buy some of the property for you?’ I asked.
“I don’t know. We may never know,” he said as I nodded and leaned over to kiss his cheek. He continued, “Unless we can find them and ask them.”
I pulled away and studied him. “What do you mean? Find who?”
“My father, and your grandfather,” he answered simply as he shrugged his shoulders. I realized my mouth was hanging open, and I shut it.
“It never occurred to me they could still be living.”
“They were both bitten, my father fully transformed. It is entirely possible they both still live.”
“Where would we start?” Banton asked as he looked back and forth at us.
“That might be a question for my mother for another time,” he paused, seeming to weigh the consequences of a search for our relatives, and then he added, “Well, let’s get back to our party and the guests. We’ll have much to talk about later,” he said as he moved to join the crowd on the deck.
“Come with me,” Banton whispered as I began to protest.
“Banton, the babies,” I began as he crooked a finger at me, the biggest grin I’d ever seen plastered across his face.
“Um, no worries about them, little mama. Look there. Mr. Lon and my daddy have them fully under control,” he nodded in their direction as he continued to pull me into the beach house. They each sat with a twin in their lap, feeding them wedding cake and letting them play in the icing. Elly giggled as Matty mashed a large handful of icing into her hair.
“They will be fine for at least thirty minutes or so,” Banton urged me as he continued to pull me down the long hallway into our bedroom. He pulled the door to and then locked it. Turning back to me, he grinned wicked
ly at me as he pulled me into his arms.
“You, my hot, sexy wife, are stunning in that dress. You upstaged the bride today,” he murmured, sliding his lips down my bare shoulder. “I could hardly breathe as I watched you walk down the aisle toward me. I could never tire of that vision.”
“You are really sweet, Lieutenant. I would have to say you were definitely the most handsome man in the wedding party, to me, anyway,” I whispered back.
“I’m glad to hear it, Mrs. Gastaneau. By the way, your little text before the ceremony was really a tease. We’ll have to do something about that little indiscretion,” he murmured playfully, fingering the crystal beading on my dress. He slid his hands around my ribcage, stopping to grasp the zipper in the back and unzipping it slowly.
“Now, Andie, about that lingerie …”
Epilogue
We lounged in the sunshine, soaking up the warmth of a beautiful April afternoon. Banton rested his head in my lap as I lazily curled my fingers in and out of his hair. We watched the twins as they scampered back and forth across the blanket, first chasing Beau, then back to chase the butterflies flitting around the edges of the bushes beside us in the flower bed.
“Don’t you have a meeting with the developers this afternoon?” I asked.
Banton hired a team of contractors and bought several properties around us to develop the neighborhood. Since the SEALs were once again inactive, Banton entered into several business ventures that, according to his father, were surprisingly lucrative. He seemed to have his father’s touch when it came to business.
“No, we handled everything by phone this morning. I’m all yours this afternoon, baby.”
“Will you ever have to go back to…the SEALs, I mean. Are you still officially on leave?” I’d been dreading his answer for months.
“This isn’t not like being a regular SEAL. They could call us back anytime, when there is a threat of the Somali’s or Orcos. I guess if the threat ever rises again…” he trailed off.
“So you’re my Batman,” I teased as he grinned up at me.
Southern Spirits Page 60
