by Sable Sylvan
“I do, but I was afraid of hurting you all,” said Savina.
“I know, and you don’t need to be afraid, baby girl,” said Alice. “You spend so much time protecting everyone else’s feelings that you don’t protect your own.”
“There’s something inside of me that tells me you’re right,” said Savina. “I think it’s the same thing that’s been pulling me close to Mason.”
“That thing’s called your heart, honey,” said Alice. “You need to listen to that heart of yours, Savina. I know you’ve got a big one. You have so much love in your heart for all of us, your sisters, but you need to direct some of that love at you. You need to love yourself and let yourself love.
“No offense, Mason, but my sister will always come first, and I know you understand that. I want you to be brave today, Savina, and love yourself, enough to either accept Mason’s proposal…or to reject it. I want you to make yourself happy. Don’t worry about making me happy, or your other sisters, or Mason. Make yourself happy. I can do so much for you because I not only love you, but I love myself. However, I can’t tell you what to do today. I can’t make this decision for you.
“This isn’t the Sunday sundae special at the ice cream parlor where any choice is a good choice. You gotta make your own choice today. All I can tell you to do is listen to your heart. I’ve talked to your sisters about this ever since Mason came to Herb and me after your rejected his first proposal. We all worked hard to keep this proposal a secret, to get you a dress, to make sure this moment happens. We kept it a secret because we knew that you were nervous, that you were scared of the wedding getting messed up. This is our gift to you, a second chance to say yes to Mason…or to say no, if that’s what you really, really want. Just know that no matter what, this wedding is going off without a hitch. I just want you to be happy with whatever place you take up there, whether it’s as a bridesmaid or as a bride. Now, I’m gonna go chat with your sisters and give you two some privacy.”
Alice got up and left the room.
“I can’t believe you managed to pull it off,” said Savina.
“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” said Mason. “I told my brother, and he encouraged me to talk everyone else about what was going on. Every single person in this family worked hard to make sure I had a second shot at asking you to marry me. Savina, you can say yes, or, you can say no. I won’t bother you again if you don’t want me in your life. You’re my fated mate, but I know that for you, the connection isn’t the same. I want you to be happy, no matter what, even if that means rejecting me. Savina Quincy, I need to ask you one last time, just one more time, if you’ll do me the great honor of marrying me, today or sometime in the future.”
Mason got down on one knee in front of Savina, who was seated on the velvet dressing room bench.
“Savina Quincy, this ring is a symbol of what brought us together in the first place,” said Mason. He pulled out a ring box and opened it. Inside was a diamond ring. The brilliant cut diamond was flanked on either side by a heart cut ruby with two marquise emeralds on top that formed a sort of apple with leaves.
“The diamond is a symbol of my promise to never keep a secret from you again, to always be transparent and committed to this relationship,” said Mason. “The savina peppers on either side are a symbol of your heritage, of your inner fire, and what brought us together in the first place, not only the hot sauce competition, but this crazy thing called The Feminine Mesquite. I don’t have much to offer you as the omega of the clan. I promise to both take you on amazing adventures and to protect from all the harm in the world. I promise to support you, to provide for you, and to care for you, as well as to challenge you to push your limits and do things you never dreamed you could do. I promise never to let the fire between us go out. You light my fire, baby.” Mason put his free hand on his chest.
“But Mason, why did your mark stop glowing?” asked Savina.
“It takes a lot of energy for the mark to glow,” said Mason. “I don’t control it. Fate does. It’s rare for a mark to glow so many times. Herb’s mark glowed twice, but that was because of the extraordinary circumstances that tore him and Alice apart and tossed them back together again.”
“I’m your fated mate? Your one and only?” asked Savina.
“That’s right, babe,” said Mason.
“And you forgive me?” asked Savina. “For rejecting you?”
“Of course I forgive you,” said Mason. “I understand what was going on inside of you, in your heart. I know what it’s like to be driven by something that tells you to do one thing one day, another the next. After all, I am a shifter. You know how many times my polar has told me to either not push you so hard or to chase you down like my prey? I’ve felt conflicted, driven toward you and away from you by the thing inside me, too. We can play this game of cat and mouse, of the polar bear and the curvy girl, or…we can end it now, with you walking away, or with you walking down that aisle. Savina Quincy, will you do me the great honor of marrying me?”
“Yes, Mason, of course I will,” said Savina.
Mason slipped the ring on Savina’s finger and lifted her up into the air to kiss her deeply. Savina wrapped her thick thighs around his waist, her calves meeting around his lower back, as Mason held her up in his arms, holding her tightly but kissing her gently, and then all of a sudden, switching, to hold her gently and kiss her like a great storm kisses the Norwegian fjords. A flood of emotions broke through Savina’s wall and finally, she let herself love the man who she had loved the whole time.
Mason carefully lowered Savina back to the floor.
“You’ve made me the happiest man in the world,” said Mason.
“Well, not quite yet,” said Savina. “I need you to get out.”
“Why?” asked Mason.
“Get out…so I can get changed,” said Savina with a smile. “After all, you can’t see me in my wedding dress until we get to the altar.”
Chapter Fifteen
Savina’s sisters came back into the bridal suite.
“Will you be wearing the dress?” asked Alice. “Or…”
“This is my dress,” said Savina. “I can’t believe you all managed to keep this a secret from me!”
“Girl, trust me, it was hard,” said Cayenne. “Alice bought the dress on the same day we tried them all on in case you ended up liking Mason.”
“We don’t have time to talk about it,” said Abigail. “We’ve got to get you into that dress so you can start walking down the aisle.”
“I have the dress, the shoes, but…I need the rest,” said Savina. “What about the bouquet? What about the something old, the something new, the something borrowed, and the something blue?”
“We’ve got you covered,” said Addison.
“Something old,” said Alice, pulling Savina’s red hoodie out of the closet.
“A hoodie? At a wedding?” asked Savina.
“At your wedding,” said Alice. “After all, you are our Little Red Riding Hoodie, aren’t you? Trust me. You’ll want something comforting when you’re at the end of that aisle. This is practically your safety blanket.”
“You’re right,” said Savina. “I’ll frikkin’ wear it.”
“Something new,” said Abigail, opening a box on the accessories chest. Inside the box was a necklace that matched the ring that Savina had been given by Mason.
“No frikkin’ way,” asked Savina. “You got that for me?”
“We all pitched in,” said Abigail. “After all, it’s not like Mason was the only one proposing to you. We helped. We want you to be part of this brand new crazy family.”
“It’s perfect,” said Savina.
“Something borrowed,” said Addison, passing Savina a bouquet. The four sisters had come up with their own ideas for bouquets. Addison had taken parts of each bouquet to make one mixed bag bouquet that was a beautiful mess of different species and colors of flowers and the other decorative elements from the bouquets.
“Real
ly?” asked Savina. “You’ll let me borrow it? I know how excited you were to make your bouquets. This won’t ruin the bouquets for the rest of y’all?”
“Of course we will,” said Addison. “Our bouquets are so big that nobody will notice that they’re missing some flowers.”
“And finally, something blue,” said Cayenne. She pulled something out of the accessories chest. It was a robin’s egg blue wedding garter.
“We all have matching ones,” said Alice. She lifted her skirt to show Savina and the others lifted their skirts as well.
“There’s just one thing I’m missing,” said Savina.
“What?” asked Abigail.
“A wedding veil,” said Savina. “We wouldn’t happen to have one of those spare, would we?”
“One step ahead of you,” said Cayenne. “Remember the penis veil from the bachelorette party?”
“There’s no frikkin’ way I can wear that,” said Savina.
“Just kidding,” said Cayenne. “Of course we got you a frikkin’ veil. This is the one that goes with your gown.” Cayenne pulled a box out of the closet. There was a veil, wrapped in tissue paper. It was plain and blush-toned, sheer with a pewter-toned comb. The only glitzy details were the dew-like drops of glitter around the sides of the veil.
Addison carefully put Savina’s hair into a quick messy up-do, put in the pin, and finally, put on the veil, which was attached to Savina’s bun via the comb.
“I can’t believe it,” said Savina. “I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna frikkin’ marry Mason.”
“You want to, right?” asked Alice. “If you don’t, we still have your bridesmaid dress. You can get in that and walk down the aisle, and we’ll all pretend this didn’t happen.”
“No, I want to,” said Savina. “I can’t believe it’s happening because it’s just so…amazing. But, you four wouldn’t happen to have a spare set of vows, would you? I don’t exactly have anything written.”
“There’s no time to write,” said Abigail. “You need to get changed. We’re expected, you know.”
“Just speak from the heart,” said Addison. “It worked for all of us. It’ll work for you.”
Less than half an hour later, Savina was in her fairytale gown, the blue garter on her leg, the borrowed bouquet in her hands, the new necklace framing her curved neck and shoulders, with her hoodie wrapped around her
The sisters assembled near the exit to the backyard. They were going to go in the standard order, eldest to youngest. Alice was out first, then Abigail and Addison, leaving Cayenne with Savina.
“You’re coming with us, right?” asked Cayenne, before she left.
“I am,” said Savina. “I just need a second.”
“Okay, hun,” said Cayenne. She gave Savina a side hug before leaving to take her walk down the aisle.
Savina turned and looked at herself in the mirror that had been rolled out to the exit for finishing touches. In a wedding gown, wearing a worn red hoodie, a fancy necklace, a blue garter underneath her voluminous skirts, and holding a bouquet of borrowed flowers. It was not a cohesive look like that of her sisters, but she didn’t care. She just needed to take one last deep breath and then she headed out.
Savina’s dad was right there, in his suit, waiting for her. There were glossy tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.
“You look beautiful, princess,” said Savina’s dad. He gave her a big hug.
“Dad, you’re going to walk me down the aisle?” asked Savina.
“Of course I am,” said Savina’s dad. “If I didn’t, what kind of a father would I be?”
“You’re okay with me marrying Mason?” asked Savina.
“Listen. You’ll never ever find the ‘right’ time to marry someone,” said Savina’s dad. “If this isn’t it, let me know, and you and I can leave this joint and grab some burgers. If this is it, well…I’ll be by your side every step of the way, from the moment we walk down the aisle to your fiftieth anniversary party.”
“Dad, you’re gonna make me cry,” said Savina.
“I’d tell you to let it out, but I’m sure Kai would have my head for letting you smudge your makeup,” said Savina’s dad. “Now…is there gonna be a fifth bride, or do you wanna get your burgers?”
“Let’s do this crazy thing,” said Savina. She took her dad’s arm, and they walked down the aisle as the string quartet continued to play the wedding march.
She heard people involuntarily gasp as they saw her walk down the aisle. They hadn’t been expecting her to appear in a wedding dress. She hadn’t been expecting it either until around an hour beforehand, so nobody was as shocked as her. She just focused on her sisters, at the end of the aisle, and walked down the green carpet that had been rolled out onto the lawn, to take her place next to her sisters and across from her future husband.
Savina stood across from Mason and Savina’s dad lifted her veil up before taking his seat again.
Savina couldn’t believe it. Mason was in a tux, looking at her with tears in his blue eyes, looking at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Her vision became blurry again, and this time, it wasn’t from the veil. It was from the tears welling up in her own eyes. All she could look at during the ceremony was Mason as she replayed the events of the last hour over and over in her head and thought about what the heck she’d say.
The ceremony was short as the vows would take a while. After all, there were five sets of vows to exchange. Naturally, they went from oldest to youngest, and they had chosen to start with the grooms.
“Alice Penny Quincy, for as long as we both shall live, I promise to love you, protect you, and honor you,” promised Herbert. “You’re not just my fated mate. You’re my true love. This has all been one heck of a story, but this isn’t our ending. This is just the beginning of the rest of our lives. I know most people say that they’re starting a life together after the wedding. However, you and I have been united since nearly the beginning. There were hiccups along the way, but you and I fought circumstance and family rivalries to be together. If we were able to do that, we’ll be able to face anything that Fate tosses at us in the future.”
“Herbert Scoville, you’re my true love, my partner in business and my partner in crime. You are always up to do any crazy thing that I suggest,” explained Alice. “I have never known someone who understands me as well as you do. We share a mind, a heart, a home, a company, and yes, a life. What will we share next? I don’t know. I do know this. Whatever it is, it’s going to be great. Our Cinderella story has ended, but the rest of our story has yet to be written. I promise that no matter what, we’ll have our happily ever after.”
“Abigail Olivia Quincy, I promise that for the rest of my life, I will always be by your side,” vowed Clove. “My Viking ancestors fought the seas and the storms for their lovers. I’d drain the sea and strangle the winds if you desired it. I am forever your faithful servant. My only mission in life is to make your life as full and exciting and spicy as you have made mine. Your inner beauty tamed my inner beast and taught me to embrace my shift. For that, my shift and I owe you a lifetime of pleasure and happiness, of safety and loyalty.”
“Clove Scoville, our relationship taught me that sometimes, love isn’t just about two people looking for someone to share their life with. Love can be found in the most unexpected places, in places where you never in a million years thought you’d find it. Until I opened my heart, I couldn’t open my eyes and see what was right in front of me,” explained Abigail. “I was so focused on papers and fighting with you over, well, I don’t even remember, and please don’t remind me…but anyway, I was so busy fighting you I wasn’t able to see that I should be loving you. I promise that yes, in the future, we’ll fight, but we’ll love more than we fight, and I won’t let anything petty get in the way of our future.”
“Addison Quincy,” started Sage. “I can promise you so many things, but I’ll keep this short and sweet. First off, any time you need a dragon fought, I’ll f
ight it. Secondly, we’ll always make sweet, sweet music together.”
“Sage Scoville, I may have gone to Bonimolean to study abroad, but the most important things I learned in England were the lessons I learned from you,” said Addison. “You taught me more about Pride and Prejudice than Prof. Bingley. You taught me about the dangers of prejudging people based on appearances. You taught me how to dance with eyes closed and heart open, how to live life as more than just a sleeping beauty waiting for her prince to wake her up. You helped me be a confident, sassy woman like my sisters and made me more of a Quincy girl than I was before I even met you. I promise that I will go into the rest of our life with an open mind and an open heart, and welcome any lessons that Fate tosses our way. I’m confident that no matter what, we’ll be together until the end.”
“Cayenne Quincy, I’ve traveled the world, but the only woman that I’ve met that can make my heart race like you do is, well, you,” said Basil. “When we first met, I knew you were a special woman, and that to earn your heart, I’d have to prove to you I was a special man. I knew I’d have to become a man worthy of your love. I never told you this before, but the work I did in Brazil…it was partially driven by my desire to impress you. At least once during every hour spent negotiating with property owners, with schools, with group homes, I thought of you, and that drove me to push harder to close deals and open doors. You make me a better man, and together, you and I created an epic restaurant. Now, I promise, I’ll help you create a wonderful life.”
“Basil Scoville…I had no idea that I was part of what drove you to do your work in Brazil,” admitted Cayenne between tears. “When I met you, I was a Southern belle who was not about to let some European billion-heir do whatever he wanted with The Feminine Mesquite. You taught me that it’s okay to let down my walls and be vulnerable. You showed me it’s okay to ask for help, and when I needed you, you were there, whether we were fighting off werewolves or you were carrying me to my bed after I worked too hard at the restaurant. You gave me the gift of my studio, my art, and you showed me that to work hard, I’d need to play hard, too…and relax hard. This has been the happiest time of my life. I promise to retain the habits you gave me this summer, even during the school year, and have a balanced life, a life that I’ll share with you, from sharing my triumphs to asking for help.”
