Since we've already formed an opinion about Samhain's level of gorgeousness, allow me to say: Beck is seriously beautiful. Thank you, Harwood!
Come on, you have to thank Julienne too.
Harwood's kids are very hit-or-miss in terms of looks. His ugly kids are "kill it with fire and delete from memory" ugly, but his beautiful kids are absolute stunners. Beck really surprised me, though. She's an anomaly in that her facial structure is a legitimate blend of both her parents' facial structures (Julienne's cheekbones, jaw, and chin, but Harwood's profile and ears. I actually have all three of them saved to my bin and I compared sliders, like normal people do), and it worked far better than I thought it would. She's seriously the prettiest kid I've gotten from Harwood, or possibly from any pairing of original townies.
It's true; they're both so gorgeous. Can you imagine the adorableness of their nooboos? And as if Samhain wasn't gorgeous enough, now you're telling us he's going to get all muscle-y and buff? Whew!
I don't even need to imagine their nooboo's adorableness. It isn't a spoiler to say that generation four was at least as stunning as Beck.
He needs to achieve that Physical Perfection LTW somehow, doesn't he?
*fans self* Oooh, them cheekbones! What a heartbreaker!
I'm so glad that everyone else appreciates Samhain. He's about ten times more gorgeous than I ever imagined an immortal of mine would be.
Holy mackerel. He got hotter. Fantastic. Considering how beautiful Beck is, I am scared at the cuteness levels their nooboo will reach. Seriously.
Apparently that was possible. He even pulls off that ridiculous hairstyle just because he's Samhain.
Prepare to be scared in a few chapters, then!
---
Vega was warned about Shang Simla. Time passed in a choppy rate, and that new friend made might be stuck in an esoteric hole the next day. Still, she existed to spoil her grandson, and if it was Shang Simla that Samhain wanted, it was Shang Simla he got.
Plus, he insisted that it was the most romantic spot in the world.
He could hardly believe that he could finally act on years of suppressed desires for someone who was always his beloved, even with the years separating them.
“Oh my god, I
love your feelings!”
She was the one, for sure.
He took her across the village to a peaceful garden, and after feeling the new romantic charge in her embrace, Samhain knew it was the right time for the one gesture that would bind her to him.
After years and years of waiting, Rebecca and Samhain could finally share their coveted kiss in the most beautiful place on earth.
Of course, the trip was meant for Samhain to find a direction in his life. He swatted at the training dummy, sparred with whoever wanted a challenge, and he built up his strength to keep both him and Beck in a good mood.
But while he was in such a romantic place, it was hard to keep away from his beautiful new girlfriend. He truly could admire everything about her, from her laugh to the curve of her waist, and in Shang Simla, there wasn't an inkling of disapproval from anyone.
The passage of time in Shang Simla wasn't as choppy as the Ironstars feared, but for Samhain it went by too fast. He had four hours until his flight back to Twinbrook departed, and he had one other task that was far too beautiful to him to be done in the swamps back at home.
“We've waited long enough,” he said, digging the box out of his pocket.
“Are you sure? You're still young,” said Beck.
“I'm not too young for you.”
He slipped the first gold ring onto Beck's finger. They had to wait until they were back in Twinbrook for the last rings, because of a grim reality to the nature of Beck's family. She was the only one of her mother's children who would ever marry or have children. Even if both of Beck's parents were gone, her grandpa Nick and both of her siblings were still alive, and she couldn't deprive them of their last chance to see a Knack get married.
They would have scheduled the wedding for right after they arrived back in Twinbrook, but there was a different and smaller celebration waiting when they came home.
Marco James still hated the crowds that the household created, but he wanted to grow up so he could try his hand at sculpting.
Rebecca was bored at seeing the kid grow up. Marco's peculiar habits always bugged her, from his devotion to the studio to the insistence that he didn't want to make friends. Samhain saw a bit of it too, but he could hardly criticize the boy. He loved his auntie Sheila, and he was her son.
He looked in the mirror upstairs. There was a rumor that his mother was considered one of the most gorgeous—if hidden—women in Twinbrook, and he had to think that her looks did him justice.
Family celebrations gave Samhain a good time to announce his engagement to his parents, regardless of their opinions. He worried about the worst, but he had to take the plunge as his bride and her family grew older.
“Well, I'm engaged now. Can we rent out the beach?” asked Samhain.
“Offspring, I think it is wonderful that you are binding yourself to Harwood's offspring in a marital ceremony!”
“That's a good thing, right? Mum?”
“Honey, dad and I had a talk while you were gone, and we just want you to be happy with whoever that is,” said Clarissa.
“But I'll whoop your rear if you don't give me a grandnooboo!”
That was settled! The invitations were sent out to whoever had a name that stood out.
The night before the wedding, Clarissa decided that it was time for a small family reunion of her own at The Red Rendevouz. Goodwin was long-dead, but the Jenni and Clarissa's sisters still stuck around, and they didn't have forever to make some final connections. All they could agree on was a game of foosball, though.
“Bethany?” Clarissa asked one of her sisters, “Is there something wrong?”
“I think it's unfair,” Bethany said, turning her back to the family. “There's something weird about Screwy. Why couldn't I ever get married or have a nooboo? I've, well, I've never even been kissed. Really, did any one of our friends? Just you, Screwtape, and that Knack girl.”
“Come on, it's just luck,” said Clarissa.
“Luck and those grey freaks. I can't die happy like this.”
She thought it was just the classic worry that always plagued the Jones-Brown lineage. Clarissa had a wedding to focus on, and she was feeling so lively. There was no way that Bethany was that badly off.
After so many years alive, Clarissa had very few worries.
Her son, well, it was a stressful time.
“Sam, don't fret. It's our night,” said Beck. Her voice usually could cut through the air, but in the crowd, it was hardly a whisper.
Surrounded by Knacks, Whelohffs, and Marco James laughing to try and get over his fear of crowds and the open air, Rebecca slipped a golden band onto Samhain's finger.
“I promise to love you for your personality and not just your sexy muscles,” she said. Her grandpa Nick impatiently waited. He knew what his youngest grandchild had to say in a marriage, and while he was proud of her for finally fulfilling his wish to see a grandchild get married, he was more anxious to hear what Samhain had to say. He knew the family for decades, but he still didn't know if they were good enough for his own blood.
“I promise to love you through everything. Through the wrinkles and every time you forget that you were sculpting, and through all the sweat of working out. I promise to always feel overwhelming desire when I look into your beautiful eyes or fall into your arms,” he said.
While it wasn't their first kiss, it meant the most to them. It was a unique moment for Twinbrook, where the descendents of its citizens were still young, and both of their families could watch. They were possibly the last Ironstars that didn't have to feel alone in their heritage.
Sheila looked on, a distance away from the crowd. She gently smiled, even with the grim reality that she would never be the mother of the groom. It wasn't even her age, but Marco seemed averse to the idea of settling down any more than he was forced to by being born an Ironstar, and it was even more grim to think that he couldn't accept a happy relationship.
But Samhain was the next-closest thing to a son for her. In another universe, he might have been her own son, and the connection that Sheila felt to the Ironstars was strong and painful like a barbed wire around her chest.
Screwtape offered his good words to the new couple. “Offspring, I feel emotions of pride this night. You and Rebecca make a fantastic martial union!”
That night, the Ironstars found their happiness for a few brief hours.
The bride and groom were restless before they were anywhere close to a bedroom or a shower.
Sheila hugged her son, making sure that he felt the love and attention that she always felt was lacking in her life. Even with the circumstances presented by the household, she wanted him to be happy somehow. While Sheila dreamed of being a grandmother, she was willing to accept any path that her son chose, as long as he felt appreciated for it.
“I'll be there when you're truly happy,” she whispered to him.
The good events of the night closed with a game of golf between the parents of the groom. Clarissa still had a good swing, even as an old lady. She thought that the same would hold true for what was left for her family, even if they weren't at the wedding. She even wondered why they stayed at home, until she noticed a message from Angelique on her phone.
“It's Angie. Bethany...she didn't wake up before work. Call back immediately.”
---
This was three pages long in my OpenOffice document. Yikes.
I'm pretty sure that I'm under the image limit (I counted 24), but if I'm wrong, just let me know so I can fix it.
I would have been pretty disappointed if Samhain and Beck didn't pop any wishes for each other, but they didn't want to disappoint me. Those two were so madly in love with each other until the bitter end. <3
