Forever (Fallen Series Book 3)

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “May suits me good too. Spring is one of my favorite times of year. It seems to hold so much promise. Plus the winter months just make me think of death.”

  I covered my ears, “Please, don’t say anything about death. I’m trying not to think about it.”

  “Sorry, I’ll zip my lips.” He mimed zipping them.

  “You are excited about this right? If you want to wait we can,” I looked at him questioningly. Now I sounded exactly like him.

  He took my hand in his. “I haven’t looked forward to something so much in all my long life. I’ve been ready since the moment I laid eyes on you. Have you told your brothers we’re engaged?”

  I blushed, “No, I’ve been kind of dreading it.”

  “You have to tell them, especially if the wedding is going to be in May. That’s only eight months away.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “I just don’t want them to think badly of me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I gave him a significant look. “We haven’t even known each other a year yet, we’re engaged, and the wedding is going to be soon—” I hoped he would understand what I was saying.

  “So? Plenty of people marry young. That’s not out of the norm here.”

  “Maybe not here, and maybe not in the time you grew up. But in America a shotgun marriage means you’re knocked up.”

  He fingers clenched around the steering wheel. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of that. But you still have to tell them.”

  “You’re right. I’ll do it today, okay? As soon as we get home.”

  “Why don’t you do it now?”

  “Fine, I’ll do it now,” I held out my hand for his cell phone. I had no idea where mine was. He slipped his hand into his pocket and held out his iPhone for me to take. I took it and dialed in Aiden’s phone number. He answered on the fourth ring.

  “Hey,” he said breathlessly.

  “Sorry, am I interrupting something?” I asked, doing the math quickly in my head. They should’ve been up already for morning classes, since it was late afternoon here. Between the doctor going over my medicines and signing all the release forms, it had taken a while to get out of the hospital.

  “No, no,” he said too quickly.

  “Aiden Lyons are you with a girl?” I asked with a smile.

  “No,” he said again. I could tell he was lying.

  “You are!” I squealed.

  “Shhh!” he said, “What is it you want?” he asked.

  I scoffed even though I knew he was joking, “Well, I just thought that my brothers would like to know that their only sister is getting married.”

  “What? I don’t think I heard you,” he mumbled and I heard him telling someone to be quiet.

  “I’m getting married,” I stated calmly, but inside I was a bundle of nerves.

  “No,” he said, “you’re not. Stop joking.”

  “I’m not joking, Aiden. I’m getting married in May.”

  “Don’t get me wrong Kylie, I think Jonathon is a nice guy, but married? You’re so young. Oh my God you’re pregnant!”

  I looked at Jonathon and rolled my eyes, “No, I’m not pregnant. I just happen to be lucky enough to have found the love of my life, my soul mate, so young. I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with the man that I love. I just hope I have you’re blessing. You and Adam are practically the only family I have left,” my lower lip trembled with the threat of tears. As far as Aiden and Adam knew, our mom was in rehab.

  He sighed, “Of course you have our blessing, well mine, and you’ll have to tell Adam yourself.”

  I sniffled. “I want you guys to walk me down the aisle. Both of you,” I pleaded.

  “I’d be honored,” his voice was thick and I could tell he was starting to cry. “I knew this would happen one day but I didn’t know it would be so soon. I love you little sis.”

  “I love you, too,” I cried. “Is Adam home? I’d like to tell him myself.”

  I heard him shuffling around in their shared apartment and then I heard him waking up Adam.

  “Hello?” said Adam and I could hear the sleep in his voice.

  “Sorry, to wake you,” I said.

  He chuckled, “Kylie, you know you always get what you want. So tell me what you’re calling for.”

  “I’m getting married.” Silence. “In May,” I added.

  “What?” he asked. “Why on earth would you wake me up this early in the morning for some kind of joke?”

  “First off, it’s like seven in the morning there, which is not early. And this is definitely not a joke. Jonathon and I are getting married. I want you and Aiden to walk me down the aisle.”

  “Let me talk to Jonathon. I knew he must be right there with you. Hand the phone over. Now,” he demanded.

  “It’s for you,” I reluctantly handed Jonathon his phone.

  He raised his eyebrows, and took the phone, putting it to his ear. I heard Adam’s harsh voice on the other end. Jonathon said something in a muted voice so I couldn’t hear. He chuckled and Adam’s voice quieted down.

  “Alright, I’ll tell her. Yeah, you too. Okay, bye,” he hung up the phone.

  “Well, how’d that go?” I asked.

  “Adam thought he should give me the third degree like your father would have. Don’t worry, we got it straightened out. Oh, and he said not to worry. He’ll be right beside you, walking down the aisle.”

  “This is really happening,” I twisted the ring around my finger.

  “It is,” he took my hand and kissed the ring on it.

  We sat in comfortable silence the rest of the way home.

  His family was waiting for us, which I guess I should have expected. They all fussed over me and were all very human. “Guys, really I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

  Mason chuckled, “Don’t you worry, because I’m not.”

  “Mason,” Amelia scolded.

  Jonathon and I sat down on the couch and he was careful not to jostle me too much. Amelia and Diana came to sit beside us. Patrick, Joseph, and the others turned the TV on and watched a soccer game. I was grateful for the noise that the TV provided. The Pulmers didn’t really watch much TV so the noise was a welcome respite.

  “So,” said Amelia, “are you feeling up to discussing wedding plans?”

  “Of course,” I replied. “But you guys don’t need to help.” Diana and Amelia looked extremely upset and started to leave. “Wait! I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that I want you guys to help me but I think maybe we should find a wedding planner. I don’t want you guys having to do all the work. I want you guys to be able to enjoy it.”

  They sat back down. “Oh, Kylie that’s so sweet, but we really do want to help,” said Diana.

  “I think it’s probably a good idea to get a wedding planner to help with the finer details but Diana and I can do the rest.” Amelia patted my leg.

  “Ooh, ooh,” squealed Diana. “I can design your wedding dress. With Christian’s help of course.”

  “Diana, maybe Kylie doesn’t want you to design and pick her wedding dress. It’s not your wedding it’s hers and mine,” Jonathon eyed his younger sister.

  Her face fell. “Diana, don’t listen to him. I would love it if you would design my gown, but I want to help. Everything comes to me for final approval, okay? Drawings, fabric, veil, everything, understand?”

  “Of course,” she stuck her tongue out at Jonathon who just chuckled. “It’s your dress not mine and I know that.”

  Amelia spoke up, “Okay, I’ll contact Pierre Augusto he’s the best wedding planner in all of Europe and he’s a vampire.” She said like it was an added bonus. She got up and disappeared to the back of the house.

  Diana collapsed against the back of the couch and said, “I’m just so excited about the wedding. We need some happiness now and then, after all the bad we’ve gone through in the last year it will be nice to have something to look forward to.”

  I laughed. “You can say that
again.” I grabbed Jonathon’s hand and squeezed it. He gazed down at me so lovingly that it almost broke my heart. Our love was unexplainable, it wasn’t chemical, it was more than that. It was magical. It was special. It was one of a kind. We were soul mates and our love was so much more. I had experienced more love in the last year than most people did in one lifetime. That didn’t mean we hadn’t had our ups and downs, but it meant we were strong enough to not let it break us. I knew that Jonathon and I could survive anything as long as we were together. We were stronger than most people. We had to be. The bad things that happen to us aren’t meant to break us, or make us weak, they’re meant to make us stronger. Jonathon and I were both strong people now, due to circumstances out of our control.

  He leaned down and whispered in my ear, his sweetly cold breath tingling my skin, and making me shiver, “I can’t wait to be able to call you my wife and hold you in my arms forever. I promise I’ll never let go.”

  “You better not ever let me go,” I squeezed his knee giving him a smile.

  “Get a room already,” taunted Mason.

  I blushed something fierce. We had already done that but thank God they didn’t know or Jonathon and I would never hear the end of it. I could already predict the taunts we would receive about our wedding night. Just the thought made my stomach queasy.

  Jonathon threw a pillow at Mason’s face, which he swatted away. It landed on the floor. Jonathon glared daggers at Mason. “You just wait, your day will come.”

  Mason chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I hope she’ll be able to handle all of this,” he made a funny face and motioned to his body.

  I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my lips, and I found once I started, I couldn’t stop. I laughed so hard that it brought tears to my eyes. It was relief for once to shed tears. It had been a long time since I had shed a tear out of happiness. Most of tears came from heart wrenching sadness. I couldn’t help but think of Isaac’s body in the ground. He was dead because of me. I hoped no one else would have to die for my sake. I had lost my best friend, my only human companion, that night. My heart clenched. I hated myself for what had become of Isaac. He had loved me in a way I could never possibly love him back and he had lost his life because of it. Love could make you silly, crazy even, and Isaac had been no exception.

  I finally managed to tear my thoughts away from Isaac. It was hard, but I managed it. I leaned my head on Jonathon’s shoulder for the simple reason that I just wanted to be close to him. I wanted to take him up on his offer to never let me go. I wanted his hands to never leave my body. I felt complete when I was with him and empty when he was gone. “I love you so much,” I whispered.

  “I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman,” he whispered back.

  I was beyond happy, and I hoped to stay that way for the rest of my life.

  Two months later…

  It was the end of November and plans for the wedding were well under way. Diana and Amelia were engulfed in plans all day and night. It was a funny sight. Every little detail mattered to them. I had never known how much went into planning a wedding. Plus, ours was even more difficult, because we wanted to keep some of my American traditions and some of Jonathon’s Roman ones. It boggled my mind. Color for the wedding? I had decided on the classically simple black and white. What kind of invitations did I want? Table settings? Flowers? Then I had to pick the venue. That was hard. I had always imagined getting married in my large backyard at my childhood home in California. When I voiced this to Diana she said that was fine but I quickly said it held to many bad memories. I didn’t want thoughts of my father’s death to consume me on my wedding day. She suggested their backyard. Upon seeing my face she began apologizing fiercely.

  “I’m sorry, so sorry. That was so thoughtless of me. Please forgive me. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Diana rambled.

  “Diana, it’s okay really. I know you didn’t mean to upset me. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “I’m fine,” I nodded.

  “Okay, let’s just forget the venue for now. What about flowers?”

  I huffed. Jonathon chose that moment to walk by and tapped his little sister on the head, “I’ve got the flowers covered. Or did you forget that this is my wedding too?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at her discomfort. I had already told Jonathon that I wanted him to get flowers for the wedding from his mother’s enchanted garden. I thought that if his mother, Katherine, couldn’t bear a physical presence at the wedding, this would be a way to bring her to it. The others wouldn’t know, but Jonathon and I would. Plus, I knew he desperately wanted to be included in the wedding preparations.

  “I am perfectly aware that this is your wedding, brother, but I want it to be perfect for Kylie. A girl only gets married once and I can’t have you ruining it with less than superb flowers,” she snapped.

  “I think I can handle it,” he bent and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled up at him. I didn’t mind Diana taking charge of the wedding, but she was Jonathon’s little sister, and I guessed you could never stop being bickering siblings no matter how long you lived. He took the dining room chair next to me and held my hand. The large table was covered in all kinds of wedding related details.

  “That reminds me,” Diana looked up at Jonathon, “you are due to meet Christian in two hours so he can get your measurements. Patrick, Mason, Danny, and Joseph as well.”

  Jonathon groaned. “Are you serious?”

  She arched one blond eyebrow, “Yes, I am. You are all to have custom tuxedos and that means Christian needs your measurements.”

  “Is that the cake?” asked Jonathon picking up a picture I had drawn of what I wanted the cake to look like.

  “Yes,” I snatched the paper from him.

  “Mm,” he moaned, “what I wouldn’t give to have a piece of cake.” I felt bad that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy a piece of our wedding cake. I had told Diana I didn’t see the point in getting one, because it would mostly be vampires at the wedding, but she said we had to keep up appearances especially for my brothers’ sake. I had agreed, although reluctantly. Jonathon stood and put his hands on my shoulders. “Well, I better go around up the boys. They’re going to be just as reluctant about this as I am.” He sighed and placed a tender kiss on my lips that left me wanting to beg for more. He disappeared out through the archway and I could hear groans coming from the living room. I shook my head. They may be several hundred year old vampires but they all still tended to act like little boys.

  “Don’t worry, it’s your turn tomorrow,” she said with a wink.

  Now I groaned, “I don’t want to.”

  “If Christian and I are to begin putting this dress together you are just going to have to march your butt in there and get your measurements taken. Plus, we need your input on what exactly you want your dress to look like. We only have six months left to make this dress and we’re going to need every minute of it.”

  I bit my lip. I had no idea what on earth I wanted my dress to look like. I only hoped Christian would have some samples for me to try on. I was so clueless when it came to all of this. It was my wedding and I felt so helpless. I wanted this to be everything I had always dreamed about, but more than that, I wanted it to be perfect for Jonathon. He had been waiting for this day longer than I had. It had to be perfect. It just had to.

  * * *

  “Come on, hurry,” Diana ushered me into Christian’s warehouse. “Kylie, come on, I know you can walk faster than that,” she looked back at me.

  I trudged through the gravel kicking at pebbles. I knew I should be happy. And I was… But I was still coping with everything. Isaac’s death. My almost death. And the loss of my child. I knew I had to pick myself up, brush off the dust, and move on. I couldn’t go on being miserable. But it was hard.

  I plastered on a smile and tried to cheer myself up. This was a day every girl dreamed about, picking out her wedding dress, and in ju
st a few months I’d be saying, “I do.” All of the sudden the reality of that hit me. I was getting married. Jonathon was going to be my husband I was going to be his wife. I was no longer going to be Kylie Elizabeth Lyons. No, now I was going to be Mrs. Pulmer. Excitement bubbled in my chest. Despite all the bad, there was still some good left in my life. Jonathon loved me and I loved him more than anything. My whole life had led up to this moment. Diana opened the warehouse door and pulled me through.

  “You look happy,” she commented.

  “I am happy,” I smiled broadly. “I know I’ve been like a zombie for the longest time now and I’m sorry.”

  Diana hugged me. “You’ve been through a lot in a short amount of time, it’s a wonder you’re still sane.”

  I laughed. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve lost my mind.”

  “No,” she shook her head, “you’re just grieving. But I can see that you’re getting better and know that the family and I are here for you.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Now come on. You’re getting married!” she squealed, looping her arm through mine, and dragging me into the building.

  “I’m getting married,” I repeated.

  “Hello, my beautiful girls,” said Christian coming around the corner and hugging us both. Christian looked the same as the last time I saw him when Diana brought me here to get dresses for the holiday dance. The tips of his black hair were still dyed in a rainbow hue of colors. He had on red jeans and a black t-shirt. His silver eyes sparkled in the dim light. “This way,” he led us to the back of his warehouse and into a large room. There was a mini runway set up and about fifty mirrors. My reflection stared back at me from all sides of the room. In the corner stood a rack full of dresses. There was also a desk set up with tons of paper and pencils.