I held out my left hand, the sunlight catching the tourmaline, casting slivers of rainbow light over my hand. I glanced up at the older man, "That she is." I breathed in slowly, "There's one thing I want to ask you, Walter."
He looked at me with his eyebrows raised, "Anything."
"May I have your blessing to marry your daughter?" I wiped at my cheeks. I had not intended to ask for her parents blessing for a handful of months when I had everything else perfectly planned out.
Walter chuckled, shaking his head, "You already had it that day you brought her to dinner. But, yes, Claire, you have mine and my wife's permission to marry our daughter." He patted my shoulder, "Welcome to the family, even though you were a part of it a long time ago."
-Four Months Later-
Claire and I stayed with my parents for two weeks. There had been a shift in Claire, it was minute but it was there and it had me worried. Then she would go for walks with my dad and come back with a smile and as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. I would hold her while we slept cramped up in my old full sized bed, letting her work out the nightmares she had for the first few nights after she killed Halston. But in time those nightmares grew into soft mumbling in her sleep. Nothing affected or changed our relationship; the only real difference was when she fell into lengthy periods of silence.
I wanted to ask her to talk to me, maybe suggest the therapist Davey stole from the agency, anything. I knew that killing Halston would take a toll on her in some way, but it never really reared its ugly head. Whenever Claire seemed to have a rough go, she would go find my dad and ask him if he wanted to walk down to the doughnut shop for a coffee. The change in Claire was still there if I looked at her when she fell silent reading a book, staring out in to the mountains from the back porch, or when she sat alone in the kitchen when she was before everyone else. There was an air about her that I knew would take more than a few weeks to get rid, it was the lingering ghost of taking a life like she had. I still carried Callum and Robert in the shadows and I knew Claire would always carry Halston. I never pushed, only letting Claire come to me or at least go to my dad.
While Claire and my dad would go for coffee, my mother and I would sit in the kitchen and get caught up. Sharing things that I had not since high school, realizing how much I did abandon when I thought a scotch bottle would serve me better than talking to my parents. I missed my mother and was happy to have my family back without worrying about Claire's safety or if there was evil lurking around the corner. We even chatted about future wedding plans, my mom so giddy when she came home the one afternoon with arms full of bridal magazines.
After those two weeks, we went back to the plantation house. A new carriage house had been built and the other repairs were made to the house. Leaving very little trace of the hell that had gone on. With the reminders gone, we were finally starting our lives together.
Four months had passed. Winter finally came and replaced the oranges, reds and browns with thick blankets of white and cold. Forcing Claire and I to spend more time in the house, cuddled up by the fireplace or in bed, opting not to leave the house when the snow became too overbearing. That's where Claire fully explained the pink serum and how with every dose it was altering her DNA. Through mutating and lengthening her helixes, it would slow down the aging process. It was something she had unlocked right after she started work at the Criterion Centre, and hidden under the guise that it was just a custom serum to use on her and her alone. Claire wanted to develop the serum further, adding some of the components to the blue serum that she and Erich were going to continue to work on. Hoping to create a serum that could reverse other birth defects but without the added benefits Benson and I now carried. Claire truly did not want to create super soldiers; she only wanted to help the world.
Winter faded into an early and warm spring. Claire grew restless and filed her paperwork to return to the Senate. I fought her for a few days, telling her that she could leave the Senate and just focus solely on her serum work. Claire fought back, saying she wanted to continue helping people in the fashion she had been for the last few years. She also wanted to finish out her term as Senator. We hired a fixer, a lovely young woman named Kerry, who was able to spin the snippets of gossip that were the truth about Halston and bury all of the CIA, Alistair Montgomery, Project Beekeeper and me being a walking miracle, into the depths of secret governmental vaults. To never be touched again. Claire was easily heralded as a patriot, a hero and a survivor of all the terrorist attacks that was by the hand of the Church of the Rising Son.
Now it was early March and I was standing in the foyer of the plantation house. Wearing a black dress pants with a grey and white fitted jacket, a low cut white shirt underneath. I clutched to her briefcase, fidgeting as she finished speaking to the fixer. Today was Claire's return to the Senate and it was going to be a busy day. Davey was going to meet us at her office and run backup security.
"You will not have to worry about re-election Senator Avondale; you will have it by a landslide." Kerry walked next to Claire, handing over a thin stack of papers, "I also have a press release prepared for when Kit moves from bodyguard to fiancée." Kerry looked up at me, grinning, "America already loves you two more than the president and the first lady."
I rolled my eyes, "Great."
Kerry and Claire stopped right in front of me, "And finally." Kerry handed over a thin black folder, "If you change your mind about running for President. This is the campaign outline, I also hope I am the first call you make if you decide to run in two years."
I shot Claire a look, shaking my head lightly, "No. I am not First Lady material." I held out the briefcase to Claire, "Plus who knows how it will go over when you announce that you not only have a girlfriend but have a fiancée, who is a woman. And you being a Republican Senator at that, things could get insane." I was already dreading the idea of which Secret Service Agents would be assigned to my detail.
Claire and Kerry laughed lightly, Claire reaching to take the briefcase, "It was only a suggestion that I run for President. I told Kerry that I would have to see how my first day back goes before I even think about it again."
Kerry winked at Claire, "You would be one hell of a candidate, Senator Avondale." She patted Claire's arm lightly before grabbing her jacket and wishing me a pleasant goodbye, "I will see you around the Capital ladies, call me if you ever need anything. Once a client of mine, always a client."
I waited until Kerry was pulling out of the dirt driveway, "Claire, please tell me that you are not at all entertaining the idea of President let alone running for another term as Senator?"
Claire grinned at me, "Senator Yes, President, no. Maybe. I don't know, it's an intriguing offer and it would get me deeper into certain black ops areas that I would like to shut down out of the simple fact they are semi responsible for everything." She then sighed, "But it's a pipe dream. Kerry is a fixer and a political machine. She was the campaign manager for the current president and I think she is always looking for the next challenge, the next big race." Claire held out her hand for me to take, "All I want for the near future is to finish the work I started in the Senate, work on some wedding plans for the fall and maybe try to defile a few more couches in and around the Senate building." She bent down and kissed me softly, "I love you, Kit."
I sighed against her mouth, kissing her back and smiling about wedding plans. We had finally started to organize things for a fall wedding, but Claire was still being hesitant about nailing things down. "I love you." I grabbed her hand, "Come on Senator Avondale, we don't want to be late for your first day."
____________________
Eight hours later I was leaning against the driver's side window of the Lincoln. I was exhausted and itching to get out the pantsuit and into some sweats. Claire's first day had been nothing but a media circus. She was met by the President at her office. Pictures were taken with the two of them, and then there were speeches. Claire was in full Senator mode but I noticed there was a ha
rd edge to her that was never there before when reporters pressed a little too deep on some questions. Gone was the super gentle and polite woman, replaced by a woman who would never allow anyone to take advantage of her like so many others had.
I stood next to her while Davey stood behind us. I did my best to stay out of the limelight until someone asked who I was and Claire answered, "This is Caitriona Witmer, the woman I am going to marry this fall." Followed by a quick kiss that caught me off guard and I was blinded by the millions of flashbulbs capturing the moments. Thrusting Claire and I into the spotlight for tomorrow's headlines. I quickly shrunk into the background after that moment and hid with Davey and Alan, running security while Claire and the President discussed details about her return.
I was mildly irritated at Claire for the awkward moment during her speech. I was normally a private person and wanted to maintain that privacy as much as I could. Especially since I was a super being, I really didn't need more unwanted attention to come my way. That and she was still being weird about announcing our engagement and moving fully forward on setting a wedding date. I sighed; tapping the steering wheel praying the traffic would get the hell out of my way before I got out of the car and started tossing cars out of my way.
"Kit, I made reservations at the steakhouse for dinner. You can head there now, I think with the traffic this heavy, we’ll barely make it." Claire had her head down, swiping through her phone.
I clenched my jaw, pulling off my sunglasses, "Can't we just go home and order pizza? Today was a little too much Washington for me."
Claire's hand fell on to my arm, making me look at her, "Kit, I want to take you out tonight to a nice dinner. It's been awhile and I think today requires a nice thick steak and some fatty dessert afterward."
I frowned, "How about carry out from Nina?"
Claire chuckled, leaning over to brush her lips over my cheek, "Indulge me? I will make sure you get extra dessert when we get home."
I let out a shaky breath, gripping the steering wheel tighter. I hated it when she pulled out her tricks and promises of dessert in bed. I hated it because I would always bend, "Fine. Is it the same steakhouse we went to with my parents?"
Claire pressed another kiss to my cheek, nodding, "Yes."
I glared at her playfully, merging over lanes to take the nearest exit, "You owe me, big, Claire. For today."
Claire looked at me concerned, noticing the slight irritation in my voice, "Why is that Kit?"
"That whole speech announcement, telling the world I am your fiancée and future Mrs. Senator Claire Avondale, like you did. That is not how I wanted to do that, plus I can't even get you to pick a date let alone a venue. You still have those pamphlets and bridal magazines sitting, collecting dust on your desk." I huffed, "They would have found out eventually, it didn't have to be a political move." I reached up running my fingers over the necklace I still wore. "I just wished we had things a little more concrete between us." I knew Claire and I would get married and that our engagement was real, but sometimes I felt like I would be waiting until we were in a common law marriage before Claire finally picked a venue or if she wanted beef or pork. At the same time I also felt stupid for pushing and wanting to get married, but it was the one thing I knew would make us feel normal, since it was something we both wanted before the world was ripped away from us.
Claire's face fell, she pulled her hands back to sit folded in her lap, "Kit, I. I did it because I didn't want to hide and have people hiding in the bushes waiting to take that perfectly salacious shot." She chewed her lip, "It wasn't a political move, it was me announcing to the world that I am going to eventually marry the incredible woman they all saw standing next to me, politics and titles be damned." I watched as her eyes settled on the twisted metal and diamonds in my fingers, her eyes clouding over like they did every time she looked at the necklace.
I sighed; I would always have a hard time being mad at her. I patted her arm, pulling up the valet lane, "It's fine, Claire, just try to ask me before you do something like that." I looked at her as I parked the car, "But you do now owe me at least picking a wedding date before I forgive you fully." I winked at her, leaning over to kiss her quickly, "You know I can never be mad for long when you get that pouty look on your face."
Claire dropped her mouth open, "Pouty? I do not pout."
I pushed the door open, handing the keys to the valet, "Yes you do. You pout when I won't let you eat junk food, when I use up all the hot water and when I won't let you top me in the bedroom. You pout, and I bend because I cannot handle how adorable you look, Senator."
I chuckled as I walked to the passenger side, holding out my hand for Claire who was still stammering, "That's not pouting. That's just my face when I am frustrated."
I nodded, "Yes, that's called pouting." I tugged her closer, enjoying how I had turned the tables on the brilliant woman on my arm. "Let's eat, then we can go home and discuss this further." I smirked at her, letting her know what kind of discussing she would be in for later.
Claire huffed playfully one more time, sliding her hand to rest on the crook of my elbow as we walked into the restaurant. The hostess greeted us immediately and led us to the far back of the dining room, where the VIP rooms were at. I glanced at Claire, "Why are we going back here?"
Claire grinned at me, motioning to the door as the hostess pushed it open, "September 7th."
I stared at her, "What?"
She motioned to the door that opened up onto the small banquet room. A room where my parents, her parents, Davey, Tito, Nina, Sheehnan, Benson, Erich, Ivan, and Jane all stood, smiling and holding champagne glasses. I stuttered in my steps and looked around the room, "Uh, what is this Claire?"
Claire let go of my arm and moved to stand in front of me. Digging in her inside suit jacket pocket she began speaking, "September 7th. That is the day I want to marry you on, the first day we made eye contact all those years ago in the yard of my father's steel mill. I have already booked the castle in Scotland that you kept hinting at and leaving brochures on my desk." She pulled her hand free from the pocket, moving to one knee she held out her hand.
A platinum band with a deep blue star sapphire in a square setting, "I have been avoiding you and the wedding planning, because I wanted to wait until I found the perfect ring and had it made. The star sapphire will always guide you home, back to me Kit, no matter where we are, you will always know where home is. I also had to find enough pink satin to make Tito the best bridesmaid dress one could ever have."
I felt my breath catch in my lungs, barely registering the laughter of everyone around us from her silly joke, my hand shook as Claire took it, "Caitriona, I have never loved another like I love you. I love you more and more every day and every morning I wake up, I fall in love with you all over again. You have given me life, love, happiness, hope and a family. Will you marry me? Be my wife forever, for all of eternity? Be my wife, my best friend, my lover and my everything to the last breath we both take?"
Claire slid the ring on my left finger, standing up to meet my eyes. "So will you have me, Kit?"
I grinned, throwing my arms around her neck, smashing my mouth against hers as I kissed her with everything I had and more. I laughed as she stumbled back and I had to grab her from falling, leaning back to look in the blue green eyes of the one woman who was my entire world and more, "Yes, I will, Claire."
Claire grinned, kissing me back as the thunder of applause rained down around us. Tito rushing over to pick us both up in a giant hug and spinning us around, shouting he would happily wear pink satin any day for his two favorite ladies.
I laughed with him, looking down in Claire's eyes. Letting out a breath, knowing that it was nothing but the best in our future. I was going to marry the woman who saved me and loved me from the first day I sat on her couch and every day after.
Today was the first day of many in our new lives together.
Somewhere in London, England.
A young man is running
down the hallways of a glass and metal hallway of offices. A white envelope clutched tightly in his hand as he issues hurried, but polite excuse me's. He practically runs to a plain frosted glass door at the end of the long hallway. Smoothing down the white button down and grey tie, doing his best to rid the simple clothing of any wrinkles he may have collected sitting at his desk earlier. Nervous that anything other than perfect would be unwelcome.
He hesitates before knocking on the door with two firm raps with his knuckles. His knocks are met with a firm voice telling him to enter.
He pushes the door open, bowing his head slightly, "Excuse me, ma'am." He moves closer to the large, angular glass and wooden desk. The large leather chair is turned so the back is facing him, shielding him from a clear view of the occupant in the seat. The young man sets the envelope down on the desk, backing away from it like it was a bomb, "This just came for you. It is from the States. Your contact in the CIA has sent confirmation that Meredith Halston has perished in the incident in Richmond." He pauses, hesitant to speak the next few words, "Caitriona Witmer is still alive."
The leather chair turns slowly, Olivia William’s glares at the young man, her jaw clenched tightly in anger. Even with her jaw tight, she is still a flawless beauty. Her hair up in a conservative bun, an off white form fitting dress that makes the woman look equally as imposing as she does beautiful. Like a powerful angel that has nothing but murder or world domination on her mind. Olivia stares hard at the young man with deep, dark blue eyes. "Then I suggest you find another willing to pick up the unfulfilled contract of Meredith Halston. Triple what I was going to pay her." Olivia reaches over, snatching up the white envelope and crinkling it in her hands, turning to look back out on the Thames, "I don't care who it is as long as Caitriona Witmer finds her way to a cold steel slab and I can laugh over her dead body. I will not rest until my brothers have the justice they deserve." Olivia throws the crumpled envelope into the trash can, folding her porcelain legs, looking back at the young man making his exit, "Oh and tell them a bonus for the more painful her death is and if it includes her future wife, Senator Claire Avondale."
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