To Have and to Hold

[Klaus Mauven]

Many women knew it as the happiest day of their lives, the day that all eyes were on them and the day they looked completely flawless and got everything they had ever wanted. But the term wedding meant something different to Klaus, it was simple really, whenever Klaus thought of weddings he thought of parties, bachelor parties to be specific. Even at the young age of twenty-three Klaus had been to dozens of the parties and when he found out that his older cousin Tamas was tying the knot there was no doubt that he was going to try and throw the bachelor party of the year, no matter how conservative and business like Tamas was there was no way he could turn down his kid cousin's offer. The young man hadn't wanted to plan anything too extreme, knowing that if Tamas didn't fully want to go along with it that it wouldn't be any fun. So he had spent the week prior in the small studio apartment above his tattoo parlour ringing around and screwing up paper containing idea after idea. Yes, Klaus had been to many bachelor parties, but he wanted this one to be different, alcahol was all well and good, but a night out at a bar was just a typical night for Klaus Mauven and this was the last night his cousin would be free, it needed to be very special.

Eventually the idea had come to the young man, and he had rung up the second he thought of it. Klaus booked out a golf course in Europe near where Tamas had explained the manor he had purchased for himself and Frances and he had booked it for a private venue for the whole night. It had cost him quite a bit, but it was completely worth it for him. They would have the whole course to themselves and although he wasn't sure he was even any good at golf, he was sure they would have fun. It would be Tamas, himself and the wide open spaces and to be completely honest the ternty-three-year-old was chomping at the bit to get out of work and have some fun. He had found out the hard way that owning your own business was not the walk in the park he had thought it to be. His cousin Tamas seemed to be doing much better at it, but Klaus had pride and would never admit it to him. Although he got to choose his own hours, Klaus found himself having to work almost every hour he could to keep the business afloat, muggle life was much different to life at wizarding school when his parents had paid for everything for him. The other problem was that the sociable young man hadn't been able to hang out in the bars every other night, which meant that he hadn't met any girls, and despite the fact that Tamas was going to be tied down for life, Klaus found himself growing a little jealous of his cousin, Frannie sure was one hell of a woman.

He wondered if that 'hell of a woman' was having a hens night, she didn't seem like the type, nevertheless he was pleased Tamas was having a night out to celebrate his last night of freedom, and pleased that he was the only one going with him. It avoided the awkwardness of meeting new people and getting drunk with them, something Klaus could do at any sports bar in the muggle world. That morning Klaus had made sure that he had finished off his clients early, without racing through them too quickly because tattooing was a serious thing. He finished the day at four o'clock with a young woman having her boyfriend's name tattooed in a heart, which Klaus thought was about the silliest thing someone could ever do, apart from when a customer had their spouse's face tattooed across their back. Finally the day which seemed to drag on forever was over and Klaus retired to the above apartment to put on his bachelor party outfit. The week before he had been into a muggle second hand store and found what he could only describe as the most hideous and puffy wedding dress he had seen in his life, it had only been ten pounds so he had bought it that instant.

So around ten at night Klaus left his apartment with the wedding dress on, looking rather ridiculous with the white lace against the harshness of the tattoos on his arms and the piercing in his nose, but he didn't seem to care. He had in his hand a garter, that he had been very embarrassed to admit that he had sewn himself, with ripped bits of material from the dress that graced his slim body. It had been embarrassing enough for Klaus to discover he even had a sewing machine, and he had come to the conclusion that one of his ex-girlfriends had left it behind and that she wouldn't mind him using it. When Tamas had arrived to meet him, he had laughed, but Klaus didn't care, instead he slipped the garter onto his cousin's thigh and patted him on the back rather boyishly laughing at himself. It hadn't taken them long to apparate to the golf course, having magic had its advantages sometimes. "Come on you idiot, let's end this night on a high note!" he yelled into Tamas ear as he swaggered onto the golf course, his arm around Tamas and a wine cooler in the other hand. It was quite obvious that he had had a few pre-bachelor party drinks to get up the courage to go out in his current ensemble. As Klaus flipped his head around he stopped, mid-swagger, and he noticed something quite remarkable, a very beautiful and fit young woman, her dark skin highlighted by the fairy lights scattered along the grass, and of course she was only made more beautiful by the Klaus' blood alcahol levels. A sly grin spread across the young man's face "Heyyy theeereee sexyyyy laddyyyyyyy" he hollered across the course as she looked rather surprised and seemed to hurridly walk away from the pair.

"Do you know her cuz?" Klaus asked, patting his cousin on the back, she seemed familiar but Klaus didn't have much to do with the wizarding world so he couldn't pin point where he had seen her. A few hourse and hundreds of mis-hits later the boys were well and truly plastered and it had reached the early hours of the morning and it seemed Klaus had decided he was rubbish and golfing, even worse when he was drunk. By some miracle the pair managed to apparate back to Klaus' apartment without being splinched and they fell on the floor in front of the door laughing, as the twenty-three year old struggled with the key to the door, and gave up. It seemed some sensability stayed with him though, he tore a piece of his dress off and wrapped it around his fist, smashing the window pane in the door and sticking his arm through it, unlocking it from the inside and letting the drunk pair inside. "You, you know what your girl would love?" Klaus slurred, "A tattoo, I could, you know," he said motioning towards the bed in which he gave people tattoos and waved his fingers around, stupidly suggesting Tamas get a tattoo of his bride's name to surprise her. Tamas mumbled what he wanted drawn and drunkly spelt out Frances' name, and Klaus pushed him onto the bed, laughing too loudly as he grabbed the needle and a shaver, if his cousin wanted the tattoo on his calf he would have to get shaved first.

So there the two cousins were, drunk as skunks, Klaus standing over Tamas in a wedding dress looking down at the calf he had shaved all over, because he had clumsily kept cutting the skin and had to shave more areas to get a patch that could actually tattooed. Usually the law dictated that Klaus could not tattoo a drunk customer, in fact that law was dictated right on the wall behind where the young man stood, but he too was drunk and far beyond remembering this. And so it began, the needle pierced Tamas' bare shaven skin one, two, three, times and he hardly flinched due to the alcahol having such beautiful numbing powers. Klaus carefully (as carefully as you could when drunk as a badly smelling rodent) spelled out what his cousin had told him "F-R-A-N-S-I-S". Then next to the clear letters he carefully drew a rock, as Tamas had explained to him that Frances was his 'rock', it was exactly the thing that sober Klaus advised everyone against, but drunk Klaus was much more fun. Just as the unrecognisable circle was being finished off the owner of the tattoo parlour heard the screeching of tyres, the police had been called by a neighbour who had thought the break in was performed by a criminal. Klaus only laughed this off, putting his hands up in the air and dropping the needle. "Woah guys, I can only do one at a time, you'll have to line up if you want me to perform this magic on you". But by some miracle the poice officers managed to work out that it was a bachelor party and only issued the Mauven's a fine, which Tamas paid, since after hiring out the golf course Klaus was almost skint. So the night ended, but not on such a high note like Klaus had wanted, instead it ended with his body, half out of the wedding dress, draped across the couch out the back of the parlour, drool trailing from his mouth into a small pool on the black and white checkerboard vinyl of the shop.

Klaus wouldn't wake for a while yet, he was tired from all of the hilarity that had ensued that night and was lulled into a perfect dream, little did he know that he would awake to his cousin in a most compromising position, and he wouldn't even remember half of the night that had passed, it would be left their perfect secret and a riddle for them both to figure out on the way to Tamas' wedding, the first day of the rest of his very interesting life with 'Fransis'. ​

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[Tamas Mauven]

Tamas was on a high - his life was great and with marriage only a day away he knew it would only get better. Frances was the love of his life and with her holding his hand they would get through anything. They hadn't really gone through any hard times in their relationship but he knew that he loved her enough to know that they would be just fine. Their small family could come out of a war in good spirits because of how much love they had surrounding him. Sure, Riley didn't favour him but he was certain that she would soon realize that it was better for everybody this way. Riley would learn eventually that having him here as her step father was so much better than any illegal relationship she had dreamed up would be. Plus, she would find her way eventually. He and Frannie could attest to that, seeing as they had only met in their early thirties... of course he would not want her to have to go through such a young pregnancy and would be sure to hunt down any guy that got near his daughters, Riley, Kalani and Lea who was the newest addition to the family through adoption. Of course Tamas still loved Simone but he had learned long ago that it would only be wasted energy to try to keep her as naive as he wanted his daughters wanted to be. She was as rowdy as a mechanical bull but looked as precious as a marionette so he simply could not win with that girl. It was hypocritical of him, considering he had been with Frances before their marriage but it was different, they were adults and had both been foolish teenagers at one point and had not been wise enough to save everything for the night of their wedding. Although he knew that it likely would have been not a very good experience if you had put everything off until you were marriage and finally recognized your sexuality on that night. But he was not going to tell any of his children that, the ones he had now or the ones that might come to the future Mrs. and Mr. Mauven.

However, the future children that he and fiancée might have seemed in the distance at the moment and not too important because this night was the one before he became a groom and a husband and his thoughts were shortly going to be preoccupied with whatever his cousin, Klaus, had planned for them. Tamas was not a naive man so he knew very well that he might have a hangover in the morning and he knew that it would be a very bad idea to have that on one's wedding so he finished brewing a potion and put it in the back of the fridge and had also written down his vows in case he might forget them while he stood up there in front of their families, holding each other's hands gently and looking into Frannie's beautiful blue eyes and he did not want to look foolish for not being prepared for something he knew he should have. Little did Tamas know that he was not actually prepared for one thing that this night was going to bring because if he had, the restaurant owner likely would not have opened the door for his tattoo'd cousin. This was not the case so he was surprised when he saw his cousin in a ugly wedding dress but thought, I'm so glad Frances will look better than this. Then a garter was slipped onto his thigh over his jeans and he arched a brow curiously wondering why exactly women wore these things, they weren't particularly comfortable, nor uncomfortable but the possible use for one was lost on him because the tradition that had once been held once a couple where married and the groom would rip it off was lost on his generation and future but who was he to deny the foolishness of his younger cousin? So he chuckled with his cousin at the pair of them and surrendered himself to the nauseating event that was apparation and walked with his cousin towards the golf course and trying to remember if he had ever played golf and would soon find that this was clearly negative.

As they walked forward he saw his cousin stop walking from the corner of his eye and call out to a woman who they were passing and chuckled as she walked further away from them. Tamas was certain that his cousin was a right idiot but didn't say that, only looked more closely at her face as it was inquired who she was. Tamas did know her, meeting briefly once or twice because she had gone to one of his restaurants during the height of the rumors with signing a deal with the Woolongong Warriors. She was a very sweet girl and hoped that she wouldn't recognize him because he hardly wanted his workers or the wealthy patrons of his restaurants to find out that he was doing this, although it was better than going to a skin bar. "Troian Pierce," he answered with a simple shrug of his broad, muscular shoulders. That was all that was said about the seeker before they downed a few beers and attempted a game at golf that really did not improve the talent - or lack thereof - in golf, like many sports. It seemed like they were tearing the green up and although he was not aware of it in his current state, he would have to pay for the damages to the grass however the soused man didn't care at all.

Little did Tamas know that he should have stayed on the green to avoid a very bad decision. This decision: to tattoo the name of his bride and a rock, or what looked like it could be a rock if more effort had been put in. To top off with this perfect decision making, the name was spelled incorrectly but when he was drunk it didn't matter. So he had taken his jeans off and held a bottle of... well something that the man wasn't too sure what was in it but it was good and cut the stinging of the razor hacking at his leg. With needle to skin he took a gulp of his liquid and thought, 'This isn't nearly as painful as everyone says. Babies!' In his state, the man hadn't realized that while getting the tattoo might not hurt when it was getting done (and certainly wouldn't when you were drunk) it would the next day when the skin was trying to heal itself and the muscles were working with the purposely made injury. And just as it all was over, the action of his cousin and the choice to not use magic to open the door to his shop was rewarded by a visit from the muggle police officers. If the man, who was usually above such nonsense, was in his right mind he would have obliviated the memory of these men just enough so they could not remember the fine that they were given but instead he had given them his wallet and let them decide how much was necessary before catching it and waving them off, "Buh-bye occifers." Tonight Tamas Mauven was a reckless man, he was not only taking a break from the life he would build with his future wife but the one he had where nothing of the nature could occur and had not since he was just nineteen. Now at thirty-four years old, he deserved to let extremely loose and get wild with his cousin to celebrate that he was going to be marrying the most wonderful woman in the world: 'Fransis'.

And so with more than enough alcohol in the Mauven's blood, they had both passed out eventually. Tamas was holding a bottle of liquor like it was his child and he had his pants down to keep his new tattoo from rubbing against denim. Both men could have slept off the night before with ease if Tamas had not set his watch alarm and it started going off right by his ear. A sound came from the man's lips, a sound that was like a mixture of a dying Whale and a lion, and his head immediately began pounding and his leg throbbed, although why he wasn't sure due to the excessive drinking from the previous night. However, he had to fight all this and he had to get in a suit and stand in front of his family and close friends and tell the world that he loved Frances. For this he was nervous that he might mess up badly but if all the things the couple wanted together were to come true he had to return to his home with Klaus.

"Klaaauss," Tamas called as he rubbed his temples in tight circles to relieve the pain before he could get the potion he had brewed just last night. "Get up," he said in Bulgarian to his cousin, shooting him a look, pleased that the shop was dark enough for him to not need sunglasses as this was one of the things that had slipped his mind. However, protection from the sun would soon be his last concerns...

Once they were both awake and nearly everything was in order, Tamas turned away to go to the washroom but his exit was followed by low chuckling that pierced through his ears, so he both glared and questioned Klaus with his eyes. A nod pointed him to the back of his leg so he extended it and turned his head so he could see his brother's masterpiece and immediately gasped. "This is fake, right?" he asked his cousin even if he knew that it was not. How could he ever wear shorts, how could he show his future wife what he had did? How could he get rid of the proof that this night had not only consisted in just a game of poorly played golf? "Dammit!" he said before he walked to the washroom so he could get a closer look at what that circle might be although he had a sneaking suspicion because he knew that the wonderful woman that would be getting up, fresh faced and gorgeous as always, was his rock and life line. However, Tamas had to move onward with the day, he put his arm on the shoulder of Klaus and apparated the pair to his home to get ready for the day in front of them.
​

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[Frances Mauven]

Frances wasn’t sure whether the nauseous feeling in her stomach was just nerves, or something a little more sinister. It was the morning of her wedding and the thirty-four year old rubbed her stomach gently in an attempt to soothe it, dismissing that it could be anything but nerves, not letting herself be unsure. It had been two months since she had accepted Tamas’ marriage proposal and although it had taken a little convincing to help one of her daughters see that she was truly happy, it seemed that everything had worked out and the simple thought that this would be the first day of the rest of her life with Tamas was enough for the brushing bride to get up from the side of her bed and pull the hair curlers from her top drawer. She had already showered before perching her slim body on that edge of her bed to ease the sick feeling inside that seemed to be growing. But really, she had no reason to worry, she loved her husband-to-be and she was completely comfortable with him, and it seemed her small family had grown to love him too. She thought of him then, of where he was and what he was doing. Probably waking up with a splitting headache and the hangover of the century knowing Klaus, which she didn’t entirely, but meeting the young tattoo artist just that one time had given her an accurate enough impression of what kind of a journey he would have taken her fiancée on the night before the wedding. The couple had spent the night apart like tradition dictated, that the bride and groom were not to see each other the day before, they would only be revealed to one another as the bride was walked down the aisle, though in this case Frannie would not be walked down the aisle by her father, she hadn’t spoken to him since she was seventeen and pregnant, she assumed there wouldn’t be a big show anyway, the wedding was to be in the backyard of the home that Tamas was to surprise Frances with, the home they would raise their family in, a family that was going to be coming sooner than they would have expected. There were a few reasons that Frances didn’t agree with abiding by the wedding traditions of wearing a white dress that her groom hadn’t been privy to just yet. One was that Frances was not a virgin, in fact the couple had spent the night in a hotel together after their engagement some two months ago, and Frances had not been able to contain the excitement of her dress, she never kept anything from Tamas and so she had shown him, bringing them ‘bad luck’ as her friend Bailey had told her. Bailey was no expert on marriage anyway, she had been married and was now divorced so her stories of the ‘rules of the wedding’ had hardly phased Frances Alexandra.

The young mother stood at her armoire, gently curling each lock of hair around her hair curlers and humming to herself as she did so. The tune to ‘here comes the bride’ hummed and flowed off of her bare lips and filled up the small apartment she had been living in with her twin daughters, now eighteen years of age and graduated from their wizarding schools. She could hear Riley and Kalani in their connecting room, busying themselves with their hair and bridesmaids dresses, and the thirty-four year old smiled to herself. She never would have thought that she would be getting married and to someone so amazing as Tamas, a loving and kind man, and he could cook too! “Girls! Can you help with this damned zipper?” she called into the next room as she stood in her white undergarments, her wedding dress was up over her chest, but the zipper refused to move any further than just above her hips. She had gotten the dress only a month ago from a bridal boutique and it had fitted perfectly, but yet again Frances convinced herself not to worry, her husband was the owner of many restaurants and could cook like a God, surely she had only put on a little weight as a consequence of the fine dining her fiancée had spoilt her with nearly every night of the week since he had put the engagement ring on her finger. As her daughters protested a little, explaining that working the zipper was tougher than expected, Frances’ cheeks blushed red. “Try harder!” she exclaimed, noticing how close the big hand on her watch was getting to the twelve.

Eventually, with much effort and pain, the zipper was done up, and Frances felt as though she was wearing a corset rather than a simple wedding dress. The young woman hoped so much that the wedding would pass by quickly, there was no way she was going to be able to go to the toilet without her zipper pulling entourage, and at that moment even without breakfast in her stomach she felt as though if she sat down or bent over she would tear the seams. What Frances didn't realise was that the gain in weight and the feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite place was a feeling she hadn't felt for some eighteen years, the kind of feeling that led to the pitter patter of tiny feet some nine months later. In just a short half an hour though, the mother of two, and her daughters had exited the house, and they were on time. Of course the bride had insisted on taking muggle transport to her new home where the wedding would be held, and on the way she had picked up her maid of honour and done a last application of lipstick, she had applied it three times since the morning and had hoped so dearly that it would bring her good luck. Shifting in the seat, Frances began to feel a sweat coming on, [/i]more nerves[/i], she thought to herself, but driving her modest drop-top car she felt she had no choice but to let the top down, despite the temperature outside. So the three blondes and their red headed friend drove to the wedding, the bride's veil trailing magestically behind the car, like a white flag to all cars that came behind or beside it. And in the dead of winter it seemed that a sillier sight could not be found, the perfect start to Tamas and Frances' wedding as nothing about their relationship so far had worked out perfectly or normally for that matter.

Pulling up outside the house, the four girls hearts sank, three of them out of envy for the bride who was to live in this home for the rest of her life. Tamas certainly had an eye for these things, and the mansion he had chosen for his bride was anything short of rustic, beautiful, amazing. Stepping out onto the terrace, Bailey made sure that nobody was looking and quickly wisked Frances away into the bathroom for last minute checks, and the mother watched as her beautiful daughters made their way into the back garden to greet their new father, the only father they had and would have for the rest of their lives. With one last pout in the mirror, Frances blushed and looked at the clock, it was time. "This is it." she said matter-of-factly. This was it, it was everything she had ever hoped for as a little girl, everything she had still hoped for through her teen pregnancy, and everything she thought she would never get but still did. When she stepped out onto that garden, she would become Mrs. Tamas Mauven and there was nothing she had ever wanted to become more in her life. Stepping through the halls of the place she was going to soon call home, Frances imagined what she would fill the house with, in a few years time there would be little children running through these very halls, pulling down the priceless vases that lined them and making crayon trails along the walls. As disturbing as the image may have been to others, it excited the thirty-four-year-old. As hard as it was, she had missed being a mother, and though she never had been a wife, part of her had always missed it as though she once had been.
​

 

[Bailey Kane]

Due to the bittersweet feelings the divorced woman had towards men and marriage, Bailey Kane was reluctant to be the maid of honour at a wedding. But really, how could she turn down her best friend in her time of need? It seemed like the right thing to do to accept the challenge, though it wasn't much of a challenge with the small family affair the older couple were having. Bailey had to admit that she had never seen her friend so happy, it warmed her heart to know that some people may truly be happy together forever, unlike herself and her ex-husband. But she had a beautiful daughter to show for her marriage, and Florence was today dressed up in little whiet pumps and a matching white dress, ready to be the flower girl. With all the love surrounding the day it seemed as though Bailey had blocked out how much she had come to hate men, because she had remembered just how much she loved weddings, she loved everything about them, no exceptions. And so the twenty-eight year old had urged Frances to keep to all of the traditions, though she had a feeling deep down that her friend had not done so, and it worried her as she met Frances for the drive just how red cheeked her friend was, and how she seemed to be reaching for her stomach every few minutes. But as the maid of honour it was her job to make the bride as comfortable as possible, despite the fact that her bride had insisted on driving herself to her own wedding. So Bailey had sat patiently in the car along with Kalani and Riley while the wind had blown through their hair and she hadn't said a word, the last thing she wanted to do was upset Frances.

Soon enough the bridal party had arrived, and they certainly made an entrance, each of them stepping out of the convertable with their hair looking like a bird's nest had been placed on each of their heads, and even a little nest for her three year old daughter. Luckily Bailey was armed with a comb and as soon as they stepped into the Mauven home she combed each of their heads and sprayed an abundance of hair spray around the bathroom as if to ward off any birds form actually choosing to nest in their hair. With that, Bailey watched the twins wander off, each taking a hand of Florence's and leading her out to where the groom would be waiting expectantly for his perfectly presented and blushing bride. With a last check of Frances, and of her own bridesmaid dress, the ministry member smiled. "You look stunning." she said simply, and she truly did mean it. She was envious of her best friend at that moment, experiencing everything Bailey had ever wanted out of her own marriage that she had failed to get. But in this moment of jealousy it seemed Frances was rearing to go, so Bailey chased after her, she would have to get used to this if her younger sister Josephine was to get married anytime soon. The twenty-eight year old caught up with the blonde haired woman just as her heeled feet touched the concrete stairs into the back garden. She grabbed a hold of the veil that had just been trailing along behind the bridal car and took a deep breath in, waiting for the music to start. ​

 

[Kalani Mauven]

Weddings always made Kalani feel like she was a princess and she had no shame in admitting that she loved it. Dressing up into beautiful clothes, having her hair done by professionals and having great shoes that hurt her but were so gorgeous that she wouldn’t dare taking them off. Kalani had only gone to a few, being only seventeen, but she had loved every one. This wedding would be the one exception because it was between two people she loved more than anything in the world, the woman who had raised her and the man who had been there for that woman. She owed so much to each of them, even if she knew that they both said they had a penance to pay her for getting them to meet. Kalani knew that her twin wasn't too pleased with the situation but she also knew that soon she would realize she needed a father more than her need for someone to date and that after everything their mother had sacrificed for them, she deserved her happiness and that came from Tamas so what right would anyone have to keep them from each other?

Well no one would, not even Kalani's twin would be aloud to from her selfish crush on Tamas so she made her promise that she would not say anything to worry their mother on this day or any other day about the person who was willing to be the father they never had. Of course it was a little late but that didn't mean that he wouldn't be there for them, for their mother, or for any other siblings that might come. Kalani truly hoped that there were children in her mother's future because it would be great to have a brother or a sister who wasn't Riley because as much as she loved her, it would be good to refresh the family dinners. Lea was a great girl and would be a great sister, Kalani was sure, but it would be nice to have some biological ones too so she hoped that the nerves her mother seemed to be going through were nothing more than butterflies about the future and not any regrets. Kalani truly did care for Tamas and wanted him to be the person she could call 'dad'.

After the dresses were put on, some easier than others, and hair and make up were finished and retouched after the drive over to her mother's new home, Kalani stepped out of the car and took Florence out with her. Being busy with the little girl had been enough for her to miss why everyone's jaws were dropped until she had put the three year old back down on the ground and turned. This was an absolutely gorgeous home and wondered for a moment where Tamas got all that money because an owner of business class restaurant couldn't afford all these things, could he? For a moment the ballerina thought she had chosen the wrong career before she remembered how much she loved to dance in contrast to just how poor her cooking skills were. After the initial shock wore off, she looked to Riley and took Florence's hand and said, "C'mon Flo, let's go find your flowers." ​

 

[Frances Mauven]

Frances hurried into the backyard as if she was a child running to the swings in a park. There was a glint in her eyes, it was excitement, nerves, love, all rolled into one. Those eyes found the guests all standing in a group, her husband-to-be standing alongside his cousin Klaus, and Kalani and Riley moving forward, each taken a hand of Florence. It was the perfect picture, a few of Tamas' relatives were scattered close around him and a minister standing beside him, talking intently with Lea. Ever since they had adopted the little fourteen year old, she had become so much more open, she had come to them a quiet and reserved child, but now she was opened up and wanted to learn so much and speak to everyone she met. It was almost as if she was trying to make up for all of the people she hadn't spoken to. The way she had blossomed had warmed Frances' heart and had only made her want more children, her now three blonde daughters weren't enough for her heart, since she had met Tamas it had grown more than she could have ever expected and that had made so much room for an expanded family, including Lea and Tamas' daughter Simone. Even though they had hurried into getting engaged and married, Frances felt like she had been waiting for this moment for forever, the moment when she would walk down the aisle and all the people that meant everything to her would turn and look at her, flushed but beautiful in her all white dress and veil.

She wanted to run onto that field and kiss Tamas and be done with it all, but even if this was a small wedding, they had to do some things by the books, something that Bailey was obviously a little strict on as she caught Frances by the train of her dress, causing her to flip back into reality and remember that you only ever had one wedding day and she realised she didn't want to spoil it even though she didn't believe that the day could become any more perfect than it already was. Riley turned to look at her mother and smiled, one of the features Frances had given her daughters through DNA was that Alexandra smile, and she shot an equally stunning one right back at her daughters. The smile really was stunning, as was the rest of the bride, she was positively glowing and nothing would change that. The weather had settled down since the bridal party arrived and now the wind had stopped and there was time to take in the scent of the flowers in Frances' new garden. Her garden, she could hardly believe it herself. Just the thought that she would be coming home to this rather than the stuffy two bedroom apartment in New Zealand was enough to make the bride's stomach do flips and somersaults. She and Tamas were set to be Mrs and Mr Mauven and they would live happily ever after in their castle and hopefully have babies until they couldn't any longer. Ever since Frances was a little girl she had dreamt of the day of her wedding, of the man she would marry and the dress she would wear and the home they would come home to, and as she grew older what the honeymoon would be like. Now it was all here, and Frances was pulling on the train that Bailey had attatched herself to as she wanted nothing more than to be standing face to face with Tamas, reciting "I do"'s.

"Thank you. Really." she said politely, she truly was thankful for all that Bailey had done in helping to organise the wedding, Frances was not the most creative or able of women and she couldn't have done it without her. In fact if Bailey hadn't stepped in, Frances and Tamas could very well have been getting married in a fast food restaurant. It really didn't matter to the thirty-four year old where they were married, it was them, they were in love, that was all that mattered. No amount of coordinated flower and table settings or tiaras or dresses could change any of that. And Frances had some sort of feeling that something disastrous was going to happen on the course of the day, none of the time she ever spent with her fiancee was normal, no date or even chance meeting had conformed to what other couples experienced, but that was one of the things she loved most about the relationship. Despite the fact that they were in their thirties it was like two sixteen year olds dating for the first time, which was lucky for the bride as she had only dated one man before she got pregnant with Riley and Kalani at age seventeen.

Taking one last look out at her friends and family, Frances took the step down onto the fresh grass and her smile beamed even though she was feeling rather sick to her stomach. She walked ahead and Lea clicked the button on the muggle portable stereo that Frances had had since she was twelve. "Here comes the bride" sounded throughout the garden and just as she had hoped, everyone turned and looked at the bride, and whispered how glowing and pretty she was, and how happy and lucky. And the thirty-four year old was each and every one of those things, and so she should have been, it was the day of her wedding and with all that she had been through in her life she deserved to have this one day go absolutely perfectly. There was just one thing that ran through her mind that seemed to almost take her mind off of the steps she was taking toward Tamas, she hadn't had her period for weeks. Perhaps even two months. This brought her eyes down to her stomach and her mind back to her twins attempting to do up the zipper on her wedding gown. Both at the realisation and at the fact that she had just momentarily lost her footing a phrase slipped from her lips, "Damnit." ​

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[Tamas Mauven]

Tamas stood at the alter beside Klaus, trying not to glare at him for tattoo'ing him when they were both so drunk. He didn't even know what the scribble was beside Frances' misspelled name but he had a life time to figure that out, now. A life time with the woman he loved and however many children they were to have because even if he loved Simone, Riley, Kalani and Lea he did want children of his own with the woman he adored. Then he heard the light playing of music start as his step-daughters walked forward with Florence Kane. They looked lovely but his gaze was past them, searching for his beautiful bride and when the man saw her, his eyes positively lit up and his nerves only increased but he thought nothing of the feelings in his stomach and smiled. Suddenly he heard peoples seats shifting when a song acknowledged the prescence of the one person who he had already known was there, waiting with Bailey. He wished the pace of the song was much faster, as well as Frances' steps, but that stopped when he saw her stumble on her own feet while she walked towards him. Tamas heard people gasp but she stood up straight and he quickly walked towards her, ignoring Bailey who he could see from the corner of his eye glaring at him for breaking the tradition - he had always thought it was rather stupid so he offered Frances his arm and looked into her eyes, hoping that she would know that it would all be fine and she shouldn't stress about anything because they were about to be husband and wife. He leaned over to her and whispered, "You look stunning. I love you." Tamas pressed a kiss onto her cheek, over the veil, lingering a little longer than he should have when people were watching but what did he care? He was about to be married to Frances and if Bailey or anyone else didn't like that he was kissing the cheek of his bride should not have come because he knew he wouldn't be able to hold his affection when they were married. He would hold her hand, wrap his arms around her, kiss her cheek, lips, anything... just so he could be close to the woman standing beside him, dressed in white.

Tamas looked at her inquisitively to make sure that Frances was fine and when she nodded her head, he walked with her towards the minister. Now that he was touching her his stomach was calm and any other emotion other than pure love and affection for the blonde woman, had left and continued to do so when he lifted the veil over her head gently and held her hands in his, slowly stroking the pad of his thumb over her soft skin. When he heard the minister begin, he didn't break his gaze from Frances or his smile.

[indent]"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of nature, and before these friends and family, to join together this man and this woman in Matrimony, which is an honorable and beautiful estate, and therefore is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but instead with love, respect, friendship, and honor. Into this estate these two persons present come now to be joined," the minister spoke to the small guests sitting in white chairs in Tamas and Frances' garden and to the couple themselves. He paused and continued in the same manner, "Tamas and Frances have each written their own vows. Tamas you may begin." He nodded his head lightly and blinked, trying to think of what he had written and was about to reach into the breast pocket of his suit before he took Frances' hand again and spoke to her and to her alone.

"Frances, I had written something up but the words I have written fail me and even now they do. I am certain it will forever be impossible to express to you in words how much I love you but I promise you, Frances, that I will try because I do love you and what you have brought me to be." He squeezed her hand as the minister told Frances that she could now speak her vows.​