At home, Grace slaved away, which is something that both members of the couple strolling through the desert hills strove to forget. One was overjoyed at her sister's pain, the other merely trying to be indifferent. He succeeded, in this regard, which was what, in the end, made the ultimate decision obvious.
"Treasure Moonstone." She gasped as he kneeled on the ground and pulled out a black box. "I could go into a speech about how much I love you and what an honor this is, but let's just keep this short and sweet: Will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" She giggled, holding her hand out for Jason to slip the ring onto.
"I can't believe this is really happening!" Treasure exclaimed. The ring on her finger sparkled in the setting sun as Jason rose to embrace her.
"Do you want to get married, right now?" he murmured in her ear. "I don't want to wait, and this . . ." he glanced around ". . . this is perfect."
In moments, both had changed into their formalwear, Treasure wearing a wedding dress unlike the one she had at the wedding with Blake. (Author's Note: Yes, I finally caved and bought all the dresses from the Live Laugh Love store set. Nothing else, mind you, just the dresses. I
love wedding dresses.)
"Do you promise to dedicate your life to me?" She glanced up as she spoke, and Jason could read the message in her expression:
This time?
"Let the Watcher strike me down otherwise," Jason answered firmly, folding his hands over hers.
He was, indeed, a spineless wimp, Jason reflected ruefully. He'd cheated on his best friend with her sister, then his wife with
her sister, and now everything was done. It was time to turn over a new leaf and be a real married man, and let the Watcher strike him down if he acted to the contrary.
"If
she would just get out so we could have more children--"
"Let's forget about Grace, right now and forever," Jason murmured. "We're the only people in the world--us, and our beautiful daughter. That's what matters."
"Mum and Dad got married today," Cyllia announced at the block table.
"That means Daddy isn't Daddy anymore," Aliya answered mournfully.
"Dada said she's better off without either of them," Kylara consoled her niece.
"Doesn't seem like it," Cyllia retorted. "Now she's doing all the dirty work."
Aliya huffed, speaking around the block she was trying to squeeze into her mouth. "It isn't fair!"
"Nope," the other two agreed.
"
Graaaaace!" Treasure called as she and Jason entered the house, resplendent in their formalwear. "Can you put the girls to bed? Jason and I are going to be
very busy tonight."
Jason and Treasure weren't just constantly being lovey-dovey because of Grace. In fact, the two honestly couldn't keep their hands off each other! The fact that Grace happened to bear witness to the newlywed glow was just an added bonus.
"Will you marry me, Mist?"
The older woman rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Stop trying to be funny and listen up: there is no
we. There is
me, and there is my somewhat amusing playmate, otherwise known as
you."
"I love you, too," Blake laughed fondly.
"Yeah, yeah."
Mist led him into their room, then stopped. Pulling Blake close, she whispered, "Because of you, Grace Moonstone is alone, miserable, and slowly returning to be a slave in her own house. Do you feel guilty about that?"
"Not at all."
"Good."
Grace hurriedly tucked all three girls into bed, then it was time to clean the toilets and take out the trash and clean up the dishes, and by the time she was done making breakfast is was 3 A.M.
What little sleep she received was tainted by the sounds of extremely audible giggling and thumping from next door.
Grace woke up at 6 A.M. Treasure had snuck out of her room at 5:30 to make sure her sister had an extra special surprise in the morning.
"Morning, princess," she whispered, lifting Cyllia out of her crib and placing a bottle in her tiny green hands before standing to survey her handiwork. "
Graaaaaace."
