Congrats! My school just finished too, so I know the feels.
Franco loves the nectar too though, right? I always thought Annette was more of a juice girl anyways =p
He likes nectar, but I think Annette does too. Anything to get her fix.
Franco
technically was on their trip, but that's because he's the Visa holder of the family. For all intents and purposes for the story, they went alone.
Chapter 109: Just Two Waverlys in Love
One might think that Tegan and Hephaestus both knew that they were getting married. I knew one of them, and she wasn’t stupid. Tegan knew what the trip was for and why she booked it, but what I was told was that Heph was a traditionalist and that Tegan loved surprises and the illusion of them.
This is best regarded as Hephaestus’ story.
While he wanted to hear the story of Bryant’s defeat, it wouldn’t happen on the plane. An empty, red-eye flight free of loud passengers and fussy nooboos lent itself well to sleep, and Hephaestus fell against the wall near his window seat and dozed off before take-off. Tegan just pushed her seat back without anyone to complain about it. They both had seen France from outside a plane window before anyways.
Towards the end, while his darling Peapod was still asleep, he opened up the overhead compartment and brought down his carry-on bag. It was just regular luggage and mostly spare kilts, but nestled between them was what got him stopped at security.
He shooed Tegan away when they found it, saying that he’d catch up with her. It showed up as a metal ring on the x-ray. What could it be used for? And why did he tuck it away between his clothes as if he had something to hide?
They opened the royal blue, velvet-covered jewelry box that contained it, wished him luck, and sent him on his way. Hephaestus just wanted to make sure that it was still there as they hovered thousands of miles away from home. And he put it back, hiding it from one of the only two women who deserved the ring. It wasn’t a stretch to wonder if Hannah knew about it or not.
He buckled his seatbelt and held Tegan’s hand during the descent.
It had been years, maybe 25, since the two of them had last been to France. In fact, it was the last time anyone in the family had. They spent the day clearing the dust from the cottage they owned, and Hephaestus slipped the jewelry box into a drawer while Tegan was cleaning a window. She didn’t look for it.
“How long do we have here?” he asked Tegan, as the two jetlagged lovebirds tried to fall asleep that night.
“The ticket’s flexible. As long as we want,” she said. “Do you have something to do here, honey?”
“Yeah, yeah I do.”
“And can I ask about it?”
He turned to face her and stroked her cheek. “You’d rather not. You like surprises, right?”
Instead of giddily squealing at midnight, Tegan gave him a kiss on the cheek and fell into a deep slumber. Eventually, Hephaestus did too.
Now, he spent a lot of the trip reciting what he’d say in front of the mirror. He practiced engagement lines and wedding vows, and contemplated life too. I have enough of a novel without documenting the inner dialogue of every character, but I owe one to Hephaestus. He risked being one of those forgotten old men, and I’m not going to be the one to make him that way.
No forgotten old man seemed more forgotten and distorted by time than his own father. Any stories about him came to Hephaestus via second-hand accounts from the elders, and from Hannah when she was still alive. His mother admitted to loving him at one point, but as time marched on, poor old Tay became less of the man she once loved and more of just a means to an end. His death got her sympathy points from her
real soulmate, and she got Hephaestus out of it too.
It was so sad. He had some feeling that Tay was a human too, and seemed sickeningly sweet and caring from the one time they met in the cemetery. He never heard that about him, and it was a lost cause to try and squeeze the story from one of the immortals. They liked to talk about his ugliness more, which, well, it was hard to ignore too.
Of course, Hephaestus had much more going for him, being raised with the combined efforts of those first three immortals, raising the next two, wishing he was there for the rest of us. However, his life and Tegan’s were consumed by the case with Bryant, and now that it was over, would he just be a husband as a part of establishing victory? Would he just be remembered as the goal that pushed everyone to banish Bryant from the Waverlys’ paths?
It kept his ring in a drawer for a few more days.
It worked out well for both of them. Tegan focused on her much-ignored inventing skill and a backlog of requests for more floor hygienators. She learned the value of buying her scrap from kindly metal recyclers, and had a safely-sourced pile of materials and a growing pile of finished products.
Hephaestus walked across them to test the motion sensors, and most of them came out without any defects. He also smelled
wonderful. Tegan rewarded her mint-scented prince for that work, which put Hephaestus’ mind at ease about the marriage. He did have the most perfect swamp woman he ever met, even with her fingers raw and sore from all of the metalworking, and a fresh new burn from what could have easily been a bad butt-fire.
It took some contemplation to get that ring out of its hiding place. It took a lot of reassurance, such as dates to the café in the center of town, woohoo in the art museum after closing hours, and helping Tegan pick some grapes to grow at home for practice.
Maybe he could just ask her and actually talk to the woman he had an old engagement ring for.
She caught him first with her own question. “Can you work some magic?” she asked.
“Well, I always can,” he said, following it up with a wink.
“You can tonight, but I mean this literally. I had some used sinks delivered this morning, and I need you to break them so I can learn how to unbreak them.”
“Is this some weird request you got from the elders?”
“Someone’s gotta know how to fix these things, you know?”
He gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’ll do my very best with them.”
Tegan worked at getting caught up with her inventing workload while Hephaestus took a deep breath and recited the ice blast spell again. He forgot it due to being too much of an actual nice guy to freeze innocent civilians. However, sinks were fair game, and the magical ice burst the pipes and cracked the faucets. He broke the drain controls by hand to give his wench with a wrench some extra work.
“I think you’ll be out here for a while,” he said, with a playful chuckle. “I’ll still be here when you get tired of it.”
She stayed out past sundown and when the lights on the garden fence weren’t enough to combat the ink-black night, but she patched up five different pipes that day, and worked hard for the next one. Hephaestus welcomed her back to the great indoors with a fresh dinner he fetched to-go from the café, and lots of cuddles afterwards.
He moved the ring to the inside pocket of his suit jacket. It had a loose fit on his scrawny frame, which concealed the shape of the box well.
One evening, maybe two after her repairing frenzy started, Hephaestus and Tegan took a walk to the Celtic Burial Grounds. A vacation of the past repeated itself, except that he was able to walk arm-in-arm with her that time. They brought along a lighter for the fire pit there, just to keep warm. Hephaestus saw no need to bring marshmallows just because they didn’t have a wedding cake. They agreed about a fire’s delectable scent, and that it was a good alternative.
Hephaestus lit the fire and threw some brush on it, admiring his beautiful princess in the orange glow. It brought out the cobalt blue of her dress. Her brown eyes sparkled in the light. He felt the ring move around in its spot. Bathed in one fiery golden light and the darkness of the French night, Tegan climbed up a few notches to him. She wasn’t beautiful, or gorgeous, but more goddess-like. And if he didn’t fumble with his words, he would marry that woman that night.
“It’s a really clear night,” Tegan said, pointing to the stars. “And I have some good news!”
Well, it was either about astronomy, or she had some news in regards to some pre-marital woohoo they had. Either would be welcome for an elated Hephaestus.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“The proposal went through. You know, for the new constellation,” she said. “It’s better seen in the Eastern Hemisphere. Beautiful night to look for it, huh?”
“Oh yes,” he said, taking a seat on the grass. “Especially if you sit down right next to me.”
“Tired from the walk?” Nah, but it was nice to lean back in Tegan’s arms after a long day. “I guess we can still see Oxbow from the ground. In fact, it’s over there!” She pointed to her right, to something in the vague shape of an oxbow.
“Which ones are yours?” Hephaestus asked.
“Just Absu, at the tip there,” she said. “I’d like to say that I named it for the god, but I just named it for my dad. Boy did he love that band.”
“You’re gonna keep at that?”
“Maybe as a hobby. But I’d rather spend my time with you. If I can’t find the time for the stars, so be it. I can’t see anything half the time through the fog anyways.”
“So you love me?” he asked. She leaned over to whisper in his ear.
“The answer is a little long, but here it is: yes,” she whispered.
“I guess I’ve just been feeling worried lately. I guess I just want to feel like a loved mortal. My dad…I don’t doubt that mum loved him, but he’s just remembered as some swamp-born weirdo that she got a nooboo out of. I doubt you’d do that to me, but a man can worry, right?”
“I’ll always tell our children about you. About you as a human who raised me, and even if they don’t remember you, how much you cared and adored them. I never knew that about your dad, but it’s a bad mistake on their part. I’m not gonna repeat it.”
“Perhaps that is love.”
“At least one component of it.”
“So you love me, Peapod?”
“I don’t think I can stop.”
The ring box shook a bit in his suit pocket, just in case he forgot about it. He didn’t.
Hephaestus laughed, getting his emotions mixed up. “And don’t worry, I’ve always loved your laugh too,” Tegan said, with a beaming smile.
“I had a feeling you did. And it’s safe to say that I have a good feeling about something else,” he said. “Why else would I drag you here to the burial grounds again?”
“Oh, you cheeky old man. I had a feeling, but I decided not to get my hopes up.” They both got up and stood after that.
“One second, then,” said Hephaestus. “I have it all here, ready and stuff. We shouldn’t have to wait any longer for this. Just, tell me this, what sort of ring are you expecting?”
“You know, something with lapis lazuli in the center, or a sapphire,” Tegan answered. “It would match with everything I own, anyways.”
“Are you expecting something new?” he asked. She nodded, and clarified. It was something new, or something used but in good condition and polished. It made sense to the both of them. Even Annette got married after she got rich, and to someone who may have landed some sort of inheritance from the parent he didn’t hate.
“So, I have something a little different, but I hope you don’t mind.” Hephaestus got down on one knee and fumbled around for the box. “I did make sure that the box was blue, though. But the ring’s looking a little dingy. It’s older than I am.”
“Well, I want a look. An antique! That sounds so sweet,” said Tegan, reach over to try and see what he had. Hephaestus kept the ring box shut and gave her a quick smirk.
“I’m sure you’ll like it,” he said. “But, how much do you know about ghosts?” It wasn’t serious, considering Tegan’s former profession, but maybe she never got a gift from beyond from them. If she sucked them up with a modified vacuum cleaner before asking questions, of course she came home without any presents from them.
“Well, maybe some things,” she said.
“One decided to summon a gift for me, and you know, I didn’t know they could do that. So, I met one some years ago, and he found a ring hidden somewhere deep in the swamp.”
“Ha, I wish they did that for me,” said Tegan. “I might have even stayed with the job longer if they did.”
“This will have to make do,” said Hephaestus, as he slowly pried the box open.
A piece of aquamarine beryl, scratched and faded with age, still glistened in the moonlight. The tarnished silver of the band did its best to anyways. “More than eighty years ago, my dad spent most of his retirement savings on this ring for my mother. It didn’t get to her, but now, it goes to the one woman who’s better than her. So, Tegan Stoneham Curious, will you marry me?”
“Oh my god, I can’t believe he gave that to you!” she squealed. “God, I mean, this is the best ring anyone could think of.” Tegan jumped up and down before gathering herself for long enough to accept the band on her finger.
“And it fits perfectly. What a dream come true,” Tegan said. “So, exactly how long have you been holding on to that for?”
“It was the same night that Franco was in the hospital,” said Hephaestus.
“Golly, you’ve been a patient man.”
“I think I used it all up. I might have told myself that if I ever got married, I’d get married right here on sacred ground. We can either do this tonight, or freshen up for later.”
“Tonight,” Tegan said. “If we can do it tonight, we’re doing this tonight. I just want to go home and get my gown. Do you need anything?”
“I’m not wearing this suit just because I’m a nutcase. Go get your gown, though.” He expected her to come back with something he had never seen before. She got the heels from Bryant as a birthday present back when she was a young adult, and the dress fit in as one piece to the scam wedding she was glad not to have. In a country of boutiques, high fashion, and with million to their family’s name, Tegan deserved something new.
Two hours later, she came up the hill in her long gloves, the same ruffled, knee-length dress she settled on years ago, and the exact same periwinkle-blue heels with deep blue bows that Bryant bought her decades before.
“I thought you’d get something new for yourself,” he said once she got inside the stone circle.
“I considered it, but if I spent so long associating these things with Bryant, I need to reclaim them for something I won’t regret. I fell in love with this dress and with these shoes, and I promised that I’d wear them for the one I loved the most. I’m not backing out of that one.”
“You know, I’m glad you reconsidered. You look stunning,” he said. One tear rolled down his cheek. “I really am marrying you tonight, aren’t I?”
“You better believe it, honey.” She slipped him one golden band, and opened her hand to reveal the other. “We’re doing this.”
He pinched the small ring between his fingers, concentrating on getting that step right. “My darling Peapod, I knew you were special from the moment I first saw you in your mother’s arms. I don’t care how much I saw you as ‘my sister’s kid’ back then, because what matters is now, when you’re her kid, and my soulmate. And after this, my wife.” He missed the first time, but still shaking from excitement, he placed the band over her glove.
“Fits better than my gloves,” Tegan muttered. “My turn!”
“I guess it worked out the same way for me. I looked up to you from the moment you first held me as a toddler, and before that too. But I had it in my mind to marry you from the moment I was old enough to see something else in that strong older man,” said Tegan. “This should have happened right after I realized that, though I’m still glad to stand here right now and marry you on this very night. It’s what happened, even if we didn’t like why it happened.”
Hephaestus took both of her hands. “Right now is perfect, don’t worry.”
Unlike most other Waverly couples, the two of them shared their wedding kiss alone, applauded only by the flickering flames of the campfire. They both got what they wanted, and Hephaestus instantly felt like the proper and remembered dynasty husband he was meant to be all along.
Tegan whispered to him after the kiss, while they still held each other. “I have a surprise of my own. Turns out you can hide a lot of stuff under a full dress.”
“How else could someone improve tonight?” he asked. “I mean, I’m really quite curious.”
She reached under her skirt and bended and turned until she retrieved a red firecracker bundle and a light from underneath the fabric. “Really awkward to walk uphill with these, by the way,” she said, as she lit one of the cylinders.
“Aww, that’s lovely, honey,” he said. “I do love fireworks.”
They ran back to watch the show from a safe distance. The wick on the end of the firecracker burned up, and soon reached the end. It shot up in the air.
They woke the neighbors with it. The police prepared an official fine to hand to them once they found the source of the blast. However, for Tegan and Hephaestus, it was a fantastic show as colorful as, well, your average Waverly.
They lit up the whole bundle, one by one, and cheered each blast on, before setting up a tent for the night to sleep together on the cool grass.
“I’ve been talking about a family for a long time, and heck, my other kid is your age and traveling the world now,” said Hephaestus. “It’s hard not to think of what color they’ll be, or who’s eyes they’ll get.”
“I’m thinking pale teal, blond like you, curvy like me, and a girl,” Tegan said. Hephaestus could certainly live with that! “So we can try tonight,” she continued. “I don’t see a reason not to.”
The morning after, Hephaestus woke up to find Tegan already awake and sunbathing in her pajamas and in the warm summer sun. He didn’t have a chance to say anything, and was too groggy to anyways.
She stopped to admire her new rings and her married hand. That sort of excitement from her put Hephaestus’ worries to rest. They had the marriage his parents may have deserved, with the love of the Waverly couples that actually made it.
It was sad that they were the last to have it, whether for one more year or ten. No cheating, no closets to hide in, just two Waverlys in love.
Word Count for this chapter:
3,299Word Count so far:
228,300Notes:
- I guess I've skirted around this, but Hephaestus has had the Waverly surname for most of his life because Hannah took it after marrying Franco. It worked out
fantastically in my favor because Tegan just so happened to have been born as a Curious. Two Waverlys in love indeed!
Lily kept Bronson's last name throughout her life. I'll be honest, "Lily" and "Waverly" do not mesh together as names. Curious suits her so much better.
The midpoint of this dynasty also marks the shift in dynamics from "normalish dynasty couples" to "fidelity is dead and Trip killed it."
- The bit about Bryant giving Tegan her formal heels was mentioned back in
Chapter 81:
“You better be. Everyone is making fun of me for not making any moves on you, or for you not doing any on me. Come on! We’re an item, and I gave you the best birthday gift.” She could thank him for those pairs of lovely heels trimmed with bows, after all.
- I'm no geology major and I'm not going to bug my dad (who
was a geology major) about gemstones for what amounts to a Sims fanfic that got far, far out of hand. So...
The Gemological Institute of America told me so.
- That picture of Hannah and Tay has always been my favorite and I needed a way to use it. I mean, I don't think I've used it yet. Have I?
If I have...screw it, have it again because what isn't there to like about that picture?
