Chapter 299: Full House
Nina
Weeks passed after the party in the woods. Enzo and I realistically had all of the time in the world to plan our wedding, but neither of us wanted to wait. We planned to have the wedding on New Year’s Eve, which only gave us a few weeks to plan, but with the help of our friends and my father, it was possible.
My father hired the best seamstress in the entire werewolf realm to make me a custom wedding gown that was perfectly fitted to my body. When I first saw how the finished product looked on me, I cried huge crocodile tears. Lori and Jessica cried, too, and the three of us hugged tightly.
The wedding was to be held in my father’s mansion. A few days
beforehand, Enzo and I went to the werewolf realm along with our friends, and all of us spent those days in the mansion. My father was happy to have the company, and my friends were excited to roam the halls of a royal castle while we prepared for the wedding.
But something was missing.
Something huge, and something that I
couldn’t bring myself to look past.
My mommy adoptive mom – and my brother weren’t here. They were still in Europe with my aunt, and I wasn’t able to get a hold of them no matter how hard I tried. And now it was the morning of my wedding, the morning of New Year’s Eve, and I gave up entirely on trying to call my mom. Call after call went to voicemail, and she hadn’t answered any of my letters. Maybe she got too caught up in taking care of Taylor, or maybe she was scared of me now that my wolf had emerged. Either way, I just hoped that they were both safe.
Thankfully, during those few weeks my father’s troops had successfully dredged out all of the Crescents they could find. The rest of the Crescents scattered. My father found Lewis and Ronan’s father conspiring together, and put both of them in prison in the werewolf realm. Enzo made sure to
have a special hand in torturing Lewis for information. So, thankfully, I knew that my mom and my brother hadn’t been hurt by the Crescents, because the Crescents were now nothing more than a few tiny factions of rebels who were in hiding.
Maybe they really did just want nothing to do with me anymore. So long as they were both healthy and safe, I figured that I could live with that.
On the morning of my wedding,
however, I felt my heart sink more and more when I should have been excited. Even as Lori and Jessica, my maids of honor, helped me put on my dress, I had to blink back tears because the woman who raised me wasn’t there to see it. As I put my veil on, I wished that she was there to put it on for me, and to hug me and tell me that she was proud of her little girl. I wished that I was crying tears of joy instead of tears of sadness.
Suddenly, Jessica took my hand with a smile. Now that I was fully dressed, with my hair in perfect black curls cascading down my back and a delicate necklace around my neck, I really did look like a bride. We looked in the mirror for a few moments, neither of us speaking, as we held each other’s hands.
But then, Jessica turned to me and smiled even wider. “Come outside,” she said, tugging me along by my hand toward the door. “And close your eyes.” “Why?” I asked, but I closed my eyes anyway while Lori held my shoulders firmly and helped guide me.
“It’s a surprise,” Lori said. I could hear her smile through my closed eyes. “Trust us. You’ll love it.”
I furrowed my brow, but did as they asked. All of the wedding preparations were done by now, and I was fully
dressed and couldn’t see Enzo now before the ceremony, so unless they were planning on breaking tradition or surprising me with some small gift, I was a bit confused. I felt them guide me out into the chilly air, then carefully led me down the steps. Once we were at the bottom, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
“Okay,” Jessica said, letting go of my hand. “Open your eyes.
I slowly cracked my eyes open. As I squinted against the light, two forms approached. Once they came into view, my jaw dropped.
“Mom? Taylor?” I whispered, my voice shaking.
In front of me stood my mother and my brother, both dressed for a wedding in a tuxedo and a dress. My mom had tears in her eyes, and Taylor was smiling, standing straighter and looking healthier than the last time I had seen him.
A sob caught in my throat as I rushed forward and threw my arms around both of them, pulling them in close.
For a long time, the three of us just held each other, crying and laughing. When we finally pulled away, my mother held me at arm’s length and looked me up and down.
“You make a beautiful bride,” she whispered, wiping her tears away with one hand. “You’re still a dork, though,” Taylor chimed in, to which I responded by punching him gently on the arm and laughing
“Mom,” I said, dabbing away my own tears with a handkerchief, “What happened? How did you get here? I’ve been trying to call you nonstop-”
“I know, honey,” my mom interjected with an apologetic look. “And I’m sorry. But this was supposed to be a surprise. Your father asked me not to talk to you until now.”
My eyes widened as my mom spoke. ” You… You talked to my biological dad?” I whispered.
My mom nodded and a slow smile began to spread across her lips. There was a new brightness to her face, although whether it was from living in Europe or the fact that it was her daughter’s wedding day, I couldn’t be entirely sure.
Suddenly, Taylor spoke up. “He’s invited us to come live here, with him,” he blurted out with a wide grin.
Taylor’s words made my eyes widen even further. “He- What?” 1 stammered incredulously.
My mom nodded vigorously. “Your father is even lovelier than I imagined,” she said, sounding almost a little sheepish. “He said that Taylor and I could live here as long as we want, and he even has a witch who might be able to help lift your brother’s curse. I think he’s lonely.”
I thought back to my sister’s funeral, and nodded slowly. Of course he was lonely; he had lost his wife, his second wife, and his daughter. And despite what the Luna and Selena both did when they were alive, I was certain that it was still heartbreaking.
At least Selena wasn’t in control of her actions when she did those horrible things.
But even so, this was a huge mansion for a single man and his servants. And although I didn’t want to read into it too much, the way that my mother’s eyes sparkled when she talked about my dad made me wonder if there was something else there between them…
Or at least, maybe there could be something between the two of them.
I supposed that I wouldn’t mind that so much. But more than anything, 1 was happier than ever to have my mom and my brother here by my side on my wedding day.
