AN: A short one, then the epilogue, and then that's it, and thanks for coming along for the ride...And just to let you know, I'll be taking a break for the rest of the month from beginning anything new, just because I'm on an incredibly tight deadline to finish my straight-to-Amazon sequel to The PA (I need to pull 60,000 words out of my ass by the end of June, you guys!). Anyway, I'll be around to respond to comments, but I won't be starting anything new until AT LEAST July, okay? Okay. Thanks again for reading!

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The day of the wedding dawned warm, beautiful and perfect. Drew was in the wedding, as were Gary and Ned, but Chiara had no duties, so she was free to simply don a pretty dress and enjoy the festivities. They went down to breakfast in casual clothes, saving their wedding clothes for after lunch, so as not to risk soiling them beforehand.

The courtyard was being set up for the ceremony, so the morning meal was served in the massive dining room for those guests lucky enough to be staying at the villa, and Drew, Chiara, Ellie and Noah went downstairs, their voices echoing in the massive hallways and along the staircases.

As had become her new normal, Chiara awoke feeling nauseous, and ate breakfast slowly, hoping it would abate. Her three companions hovered over her, practically ignoring their own food, worrying over her every bite, in between admonishing each other to "leave her alone" so she could eat.

"Please, take your own advice, all of you, and eat," Chiara laughed, gesturing toward their mostly full plates. "I've been dealing with this pregnancy completely on my own for the last couple of weeks, and I'm fine, honest."

"Yeah, you two, let her live, god," Noah chided his mother and brother. "She's going to feel smothered with the two of you hovering over her like you are." He turned back to her. "You need anything? More tea?"

"No, I'm fine," she said, shaking her head and continuing to laugh.

Someone walked by with a plate of kippers and sausage. The smell hit Chiara, and she swallowed, hard, delicately covering her mouth as her stomach protested.

"Oh no, darling, are you okay?" Drew asked. "You need to leave? You want to go outside? Back up to our room? What do you need?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "But could you bring me some fruit, maybe? That sounds good."

Drew and Noah both leapt up from their seats and raced to the buffet to do her bidding, leaving Ellie and Chiara looking after them and laughing.

"Drew's going to be a wonderful father, isn't he?" Ellie said fondly.

"So's Noah, someday," Chiara added. "He's an amazing boy, and whoever grabs him up will be a lucky person."

Both boys returned with ginormous plates full of glorious Italian fruit.

"Oh my god, I think there's enough for all four of us on these plates," Chiara laughed, picking up her fork.

"No, you have to eat it all, darling," Drew scolded, sitting next to her. "I was reading up, and the baby already has a heartbeat, did you know? And arm and leg buds? It's the size of a pomegranate seed or maybe even a raspberry, and the brain is starting form as well. So you need all these vitamins, do you understand?" he finished sternly.

Chiara looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Yes, sergeant," she answered meekly. "I'll do my best, but maybe you could help me?"

"Okay," he said magnanimously. "We'll help you." He picked up his fork, and motioned for Ellie and Noah to do the same. "But make sure you leave plenty for her, yeah? She needs it."

One way or another, they managed to finish breakfast, and they went up to their rooms to relax and get ready for the wedding. It was to begin at one o'clock, and they knew that, with Mara's organization and planning, it probably would not be late in starting.

By twelve thirty, Chiara was pulling her yellow dress over her head as Drew sat on the bed and watched.

"Jesus, you're hot," he remarked.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm chubby, pregnant, and in a perpetual state of nausea." She poked her head out and stared at him.

"Wow, look at how beautiful you are," he said, rising from the bed to come and hug her.

"Really? I don't look hippy?" she asked, smoothing it down over the body part in question.

"You look hippy, breasty, all bellied and thighed up just perfectly," he announced, kissing her soundly on the mouth. "Your hair looks a bit of a nest, however," he added.

"That's because I haven't done it yet," she told him, shaking her head. She quickly pulled her hair into a French braid and tied it off with a bit of yellow ribbon.

"Aww, and now you look completely adorable to boot," Drew said, twitching her braid. "Just as edible as a tea cake, darling." He kissed her. "And I'm sorry I'm being so effusive, it's just I missed you for so long, and all I could was look at you and watch you with Neddy, and it made me want to die, you know? I know it was only for a month and a bit, but it felt like fucking forever."

Chiara, who was now brushing a little blush on her cheeks, turned from the mirror to look at him. She made a face of understanding and sympathy, nodding. "I know, me too," she agreed. "It was so awful, for both of us I guess.

"I wasn't going to tell you this, but when I first found out about the baby, I briefly considered not keeping it," she admitted.

He looked at her, his expression sober.

"It didn't seem like something I'd want to do on my own, and I thought it would be too painful to look at a child and be reminded of you every single day, you know?"

"I can understand that," Drew said, nodding as he tied his tie. "I would've been so sad, but I would've understood that decision, CC." He sighed. "But you didn't decide to do that, luckily, and the baby is safe and sound in your belly, where it will remain for the next thirty-three weeks." He kissed her nose. "Let's leave all that ugliness behind us, yeah?

Chiara nodded.

"Now, darling, can you help me attach this boutonnière, please? The stem is very short, and I don't want to bollocks it up."

Chiara quickly and efficiently attached the beautiful orchid boutonnière to Drew's lapel, and he was ready.

They knocked on the adjoining door, collected Ellie and Noah, who looked outstanding also, and made their way downstairs.

Of course, as predicted, everything was right on schedule, and Gary, Ned, and Luke were already standing up front, with Luke resplendent in his wedding tuxedo. Gary was still holding baby Sienna, who was wearing a lavender dress with matching pantaloons and white sandals, with a bonnet to keep the sun off her face.

Chiara took the baby, as she and Ellie had agreed to split this pleasant duty during the ceremony. Sienna smiled a beautiful, toothless smile and chortled when she saw Chiara, and immediately started trying to grab the ribbon in her hair.

Right at one, the music started, and Mara, looking beautiful in her pink gown, started down the aisle with her bouquet.

And even though they knew they should be focused on the happy couple, Drew and Chiara really had eyes only for each other.

They smiled and knew both were thinking of the day, a year in the future, when they would be doing something similar, on the grounds of Langton, surrounded by the roses Chiara had been tending the day they met.

And someone, probably the woman standing next to Chiara now, would be holding their own baby, the baby who was at that very moment growing in Chiara's belly into a whole person, a person they would meet in seven short months.

As Mara and Luke spoke their vows to each other under the hot Italian sun, Drew mouthed "I love you," to Chiara, who stood holding Sienna and looking unutterably lovely to him.

And she murmured "I love you," back to him, the boy she'd sworn she hated on that fateful day the previous summer when he'd asked if she had any water, and anything for his headache.

The bride and groom, husband and wife at last, walked back up the aisle together to tumultuous applause, followed by the maid of honor and the rest of the wedding party.

Chiara, who had just handed Sienna to Ellie, was surprised when Drew walked by and pulled her to walk next to him, smiling as he slipped an arm around her waist.

"Um, I don't think I belong here," Chiara whispered as she walked up the aisle with him, as happy as she could remember ever being, her smile as bright as the sun.

"Um, I don't think I care," Drew answered, tightening his grip on her. "I've got you now, and I'm never letting you go, you got that?"

Chiara laughed, the sound carried away in the bright, warm afternoon. "Yes, sergeant," she responded. "It wouldn't matter, anyway, because I'm never letting you go, either, sir."

"Good," he answered, as they began to get lined up for photos. "Good."

And they kissed each other like it was the very first time either of them had kissed anyone, ever.

The End