I consider going upstairs to my childhood bedroom to think, but the last thing I want is my mother and Lincoln coming upstairs, demanding to know what is going on with me. After making sure that my grandparents are all right, I leave them to get on with it and step back out into the rain, making my way to my car and letting myself in, before driving down the drive. The fact that Mom and Lincoln were angry at me for keeping my first pregnancy and relationship with Owen from them—well, my mom, mainly—was pretty damn hypocritical. My mother was sitting on the secret of a lifetime—my true identity—and she wouldn't allow herself to share it with me.

I drive through the dark out of the gate, and soon find my way back to the freeway, being non-communicative with anyone who tries to get in touch with me. Once I get back home, I let myself in and find Kassandra, my mother, and Lincoln all standing around the kitchen. My mother immediately walked towards me, hoping for reconciliation. As she approaches me, like she will pull me into her arms, I find myself feeling the anger bubble to the surface then as I deliberately move away from her, narrowing my eyes.

"Kassandra, have my mother and Lincoln informed you of why they were here?" I ask her, my tone clipped.

My fiancée immediately shakes her head. "No. They brought a bottle of wine," she says awkwardly, as if she is prepared to ignore the inappropriateness of such a common thing. "I think they wanted to stay for dinner—"

I give her a quick smile before turning to look at my mother. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be available for dinner now, or at any time in the near future," I reply coldly to her.

My mother steps towards me again, and makes an annoyed sound as I move back away from her again. "Leia, stop it," she snaps at me, clearly thinking that I can just forgive and forget. "Remember, I'm your boss."

"I don't give a damn about that," I reply, "and don't you dare threaten me in my own house—you have no right."

"Leia, please—"

"No," I say, forcing myself to stay strong. "You lied to me, you lied to Lincoln, you lied to everyone. And now, you're resorting to threats to try and attempt to salvage everything in your life? Screw you, Mother," I say, and grab her coat and walk it towards the door. Opening it, I hear the rain continuing to fall down outside, and find that I feel no remorse from exiling her from my house. "Now, if you want to be petty and attempt to fire me because of my behavior, then so be it, but I will fight it, and I will win."

Promptly, my mother grabs her coat and stamps out into the rain, Lincoln almost reluctantly at her heels. I slam the door after them, finding that I am shaking after the encounter. I nearly shout when I feel hands on me, and turn around to see that Kassandra is staring at me imploringly. I find myself coming undone then, and throw myself into her arms and sob.

"Listen," I say quietly through my sobs, "want to do something crazy?"

"What?" Kassandra asks me.

I pull back and look at her. "Do you want to get married?"

She smiles sympathetically at me. "We're engaged..."

"No, I mean, right now," I say quickly. "I know it sounds crazy but it's legal and I want you," I proclaimed.

Kassandra smiles at me. "Of course I'll marry you, Leia," she replies. "But there is the matter of the last names to discuss..."

"You name," I replied without hesitation. "After all I went through today, I want to put as much distance from my legal name as possible."

"Legal name?" Kassandra asks.

"I'll explain later," I reply.

. . .

EDYTHE'S POV

The day I married Lincoln, I was sure of anything. I had blocked from my mind Sonny's extramarital affair with me, which had resulted in Leia's birth, although it was killing me inside to watch my future-sister-in-law raising my baby girl. It absolutely killed me inside to witness every decision she made that I would've done differently, and I wished I could tell Lincoln the truth. However, the notion that he hadn't left me for anyone was always at the back of my mind, and I couldn't turn of the grief...

"You look beautiful."

I raise my eyes upwards, finding my mother's face in the mirror before me. My makeup was on point, my veil hanging back, the tiara clipped in place. I run my hands along the expensive dress and turns towards her. "Thank you," I say to her and turn to the rest of the wedding party, my wedding party—Gina, Henrietta, Noelle, Livi, and Leia. "Thank you all."

"Anytime," Gina says.

"Don't mention it," Henrietta replies.

"Captain's right," Noelle puts in.

"You look like a princess!" Livi cries out.

"Pretty!" Leia squeals.

"As a picture," my mother finishes. Then, almost unexpectedly, there's a tap upon the door of the room I'm in at the lovely and incomparable establishment known as Oheka Castle .

"Come in!" I call.

The door opens, and my father stands there, all decked out in his new suit. His face melts when he sees my mother, and blows her a kiss before stepping into the room and getting a good look at me. "You look gorgeous, honey," he tells me, stepping forward and taking my hand, leaning down to kiss me on the cheek. "I couldn't be more honored to be walking you down the aisle today, sweetheart. Today, you become Mrs. Beckett. Feeling nervous?"

"She is now," Henrietta puts in.

"Yeah, new low, Hunter," Gina laughs.

"Daddy, Mommy says 'play nice'!" Livi declares.

"Yeah!" Leia shouts.

"I think this whole this is amusing," Noelle says.

"Hunter, honey, maybe discussing nerves isn't the best thing right now. Why are you here, anyhow?" my mother asks.

"We're at places. That's why I'm here."

"Places!" my mother shouts. "Oh, dear!"

"All okay," Gina says, walking up to me. "Breathe."

"Noted," I reply, breathing deeply.

"Okay," my mother says. "I walk out with one of the three groomsmen. Then the ring bearer walk out, then Henrietta and Noelle with their groomsmen. Then the flower girls. And then you and your father," she says, her eyes filling with tears as she shakes her head. "I can hardly believe this day has come."

"Mom, please don't cry," I say, fighting back tears myself. "Sergio will never forgive me if I ruin this," I say, gesturing to my makeup.

"You're right—don't spoil it!" she says, stepping forward and kissing my cheek. "I love you; I'll see you out there. Come on, girls," she says.

Gina steps forward and embraces me. "Love you," she says and walks out the door to follow my mother.

"You'll do great," Noelle says, squeezing me briefly before taking Livi's hand and walking out of there with her.

"Pretty as a princess, for now, and soon you'll be a queen," Henrietta says rather poignantly before hugging me and taking Leia by the hand and following the rest of my wedding party out of there.

"Ready?" my father asks.

I nod, walking out of the room with him. Going down the corridor, we arrive in the ballroom, where the reception will be held. I walk through it, my father at my side, and hesitate at the door. I reach out and move the curtain ever so slightly, seeing the guests waiting for us to arrive. Livi and Leia are about to drop their petals, and things were definitely speeding up. Suddenly, I didn't want things to go as quickly as they once had...

"Okay, sweetheart?"

I turn and look up at my father. "Yes. Fine."

He smiles, squeezing my hand. "You just say the word, and we're out that front door faster than you can say, 'Don't shoot! I'm a cop!'"

I shake my head at him. "Oh, Dad. Stop. You're too funny," I reply in my typical sarcastic manner.

"Something bothering you, sweetheart?"

I sigh. "Do you think you ever get over your first love?"

His shoulders slack. "You mean Baxter? Well, you fell in love with Lincoln, didn't you, sweetie?"

I nod. "Of course," I reply, peering around the curtain again to catch a glimpse of him down the lawn. "I love him." I hesitate for a moment before looking up at my father again. "Did you love someone before Mom?"

"There was a detective working with me in Homicide before your mom became detective and entered the unit," he replies. "Her name was Gloria Newton—she left the department a few years after your mom joined. Gloria and I were pretty serious for a while in the early years. We'd broken up about a year and a half before your mom joined the unit. She left me for someone else..."

"Does Mom know you were with her?"

"I didn't tell her," he replies, "and I know Gloria didn't. Captain Jennings knew about it, but he never let on about it much—just told the two of us to keep it professional around the squad."

I nod. "I see. But things were different when you met Mom?" I ask, watching as Livi and Leia finish dropping the petals.

"Yes. Way different," my father replies as Here Comes the Bride begins on the string quartet Lincoln and I had hired. The pair of us straighten up then and he squeezes my hand one last time before we walk into full view of the wedding party for the first time. "You ready?" he asks me.

I smile, tears threatening to escape my eyes just as we walk down the stone steps and out onto the beautifully decorated lawn. "For anything," I reply.

I walked down the cobblestone path towards the justice of the peace; standing just to his right was Lincoln, dapper in his tuxedo. The bride side was to the left, and the grooms' was to the right; Gina was to stand on my other side, while Henrietta and Noelle stood together. Livi and Leia stood together, rapt, watching me walk down the aisle with my father; Jensen stood proudly beside Lincoln, Fairfield and Thompson just beside him, while all eyes were glued to me. However, I didn't catch any of their looks, as I was completely sidetracked by Lincoln, who smiled at me as I stepped closer.

I turned to my father for the last time as we stepped towards Lincoln, and smile up at him as he leans down, lifting my veil and kissing me on the cheek. We turn to Lincoln, and he hands my hand over to his, and the moment my hand meets his, all my anxiety leaves me. I give a final smile to my father then before walking closer to the justice of the peace, and Lincoln never takes his hand from mine as we smile at this kind man, dressed in a lovely suit for the occasion.

After waiting for our looks of encouragement to begin, he does. "We are gathered here today to bring together Lincoln Matthew Beckett and Edythe Isabelle Grayson in marriage," he says, smiling at each of us in turn. "Lincoln, please repeat after me," he continues. "I, Lincoln Beckett..."

"I, Lincoln Beckett..."

"Take thee, Edythe Grayson..."

"Take thee, Edythe Grayson..."

"As my wedded wife," the justice says.

"As my wedded wife," Lincoln replies, squeezing my hands.

"To have and to hold from this day forward..."

"To have and to hold from this day forward..."

"For better, for worse..."

"For better, for worse..."

"For richer, for poorer..."

"For richer, for poorer..."

"In sickness, and in health..."

"In sickness, and in health," Lincoln says, and his smile sets me completely at ease in that moment.

"To love and to cherish..."

"To love and to cherish..."

"As long as we both shall live," the justice finishes.

"As long as we both shall live," Lincoln replies.

"Now, Edythe, please repeat after me," the justice says. "I, Edythe Grayson..."

"I, Edythe Grayson..."

"Take you, Lincoln Beckett..."

"Take you, Lincoln Beckett..."

"To be my husband."

"To be my husband," I reply, basking in the warm glow I felt at being stared at by none other than the man of my dreams.

"I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad..."

"I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad..."

"In sickness and in health..."

"In sickness and in health..."

"I will love and honor you all the days of my life."

"I will love and honor you all the days of my life," I reply.

"May I have the rings, please?" the justice of the peace asks.

Gina and Jensen step forward and hand over the rings.

"Your rings by their very shape are symbols of eternal unity, without beginning or end. They are the emblem of the love that exists between you and Edythe, and characterize your devotion to one another. Let them always remind you of the commitments you make here today."

Lincoln takes my wedding ring and turns to me, hope and a lightness to his eyes that I'd never seen before. "Edythe, with this ring, I promise to grow with you and build our love, to speak openly and honestly, to listen to you, and to love and to cherish you for all the days ahead. From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. With this ring, I thee wed," he says, and slips it onto my finger.

I take Lincoln's ring from the justice, its platinum heavy and cool in my hand, and turn to Lincoln. "Lincoln, with this ring, I promise to grow with you and build our love, to speak openly and honestly, to listen to you, and to love and to cherish you for all the days ahead. From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. With this ring, I thee wed," I finish, slipping the ring onto his finger.

The justice of the peace smiles mightily at the two of us, looking like a cockerel of some kind. "Being assured that you are aware of the meaning of this ceremony, I will now ask you to repeat the marriage vows. Do you, Lincoln Beckett, take this woman, Edythe Grayson, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To honor and cherish her through sickness and in health, through times of happiness and travail, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Lincoln replies.

"And do you, Edythe Grayson, take Lincoln Beckett to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love, honor and cherish him through sickness and in health, through times of happiness and travail, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I reply.

"By the act of joining hands, you take to yourself the relation of husband and wife and solemnly promise to love, honor, comfort, and cherish each other so long as you both shall live. therefore, in accordance with the law of the State of New York, I do pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Lincoln stepped forward, cupped my face in his hands for a brief moment and leaned down to kiss me. Immediately, my heart was I my throat as I stood on the tips of my toes and threw my arms around his neck. Nothing could stop us from the inevitable, I realized then, and I was more than happy then to be named as Lincoln's lawfully wedded wife.

"Ladies and gentleman, it is my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Beckett!" the justice of the peace said.

We turned to the crowd of well-wishers then—family and friends alike—and I felt the weight of the ring upon my finger, but it was a good weight.

I wanted to shout at my former self—you were entering a marriage of convenience, of course, but it was also one of lies. Did I love Lincoln? Of course I did; but there was also the matter of my love for Sonny, as well as my first love, Baxter. Both were unions that could never be—the first divided by marriage, the second divided by death. I couldn't deal with the lies, but couldn't bear to lose a third love. Even though I knew full well that Lincoln wasn't my one—no, that had died long ago—I knew that he was a good man. I needed a good man, not a man who cheated on his wife, as both of my other loves had.

To this day, regrets flowed forth from me, even as Lincoln and I drove away from Leia's house, I knew he knew, based on the silence that passed between us. He didn't have to tell me he knew; he was a creature of habit, my husband, for if he ever received bad news, he would go full-silent, sometimes for days on end. With none of the kids living at home anyone, it would be far simpler to attempt to resolve these issues quickly. As I pulled off the freeway at our Long Island exit and towards the property, I began to resent picking up Lincoln from work that day, as it meant he would have to carpool with me on Monday. Of course, it would be far easier if things were fixed between us by that time...

...but even I knew that attempting to undo years of lies that had damaging effects attached to them wouldn't be easy—not in the slightest. I rolled down my window and keyed in the code of the house, pulling through the gates in the next moment and found it unusual to see my father's car parked in the outdoor parking area. Of course Dad had the code, but still, seeing your father randomly showing up at your house was slightly jarring...

"Did you invite your dad over?" Lincoln asked, his tone clipped.

Immediately, I shake my head. "Not me," I reply. I park the car and unbuckle my seatbelt slowly, Lincoln doing the same as we grab our things and run as quickly as possible through the rain and walking up to the front door. I unlock it quickly, and step inside the foyer, looking around the place and found that I was riddled with a good amount of confusion. "You didn't invite him...?"

"No," Lincoln replies, his tone considerably lighter now, considering that my father could be within earshot. "Hunter?" he called.

"Dad?" I yelled.

There was a scuffle immediately thereafter from upstairs, and immediately, I put a hand on the hilt of my gun, drawing it from its place and lifting it up, automatically drawing Lincoln behind me in one swift movement. The scuffles soon doubled, and there we were, my husband and I, in the lobby of our house, my weapon drawn, and waiting. The sounds soon culminated in a door opening, followed by two pairs of feet upon the stairs, and then my father turned the corner, and there was someone with him.

"Dad?" I asked him. "What's going—" I let out a shout when my mother peaked around my father, and didn't miss her inside-out sweater. "Mom!" I shouted, dropping my gun—momentarily gladdened that I'd kept the safety on—and forced myself to wait for her to come downstairs with my father. As soon as she was there, I threw myself at her, sobbing and never wanting her to let me go. "Mom, Mom, Mom!" I said over and over.

She pulled back to get a look at me, and she was smiling. "I'm here," she said gently to me, "don't worry."

"I'm not worried," I replied. "Not worried..."

. . .

MAGGIE'S POV

"Two minutes out," Samantha whispers to me, navigating through traffic with our lights on.

"Two minutes out," I say into the radio.

"Thank you, Officer Holbrook," the voice says.

We arrive in less than a minute and a half to the scene and dash out. I notice that none of the detectives for Special Victims Unit are there yet, and I am told by Samantha and the acting officer on the scene to go and check on the child. It is a Caucasian female, who is curled slightly into a fetal position and is lying on her side on a stretcher. Biting my lip, I make my way over towards her, giving her a small smile as I approach.

"Hi, I'm Maggie," I tell her gently. "What's your name?"

"Edythe," she says quietly. "With a 'Y', not an 'I'."

"Well, that's a very pretty name," I tell her. "How old are you?"

"Seven," she says.

"Wow, you're a very big girl," I tell her with a smile. "How are you doing?" I take in her injuries; from what I'd learned about anatomy from peering at my mother's patient notes and Jay-Jay's medical textbooks, she seemed to have some minor head trauma, due to the medium-sized gash on her forehead, which was being treated by the responding EMT's.

"Okay... My head hurts," she said quietly, reaching upwards to touch it.

"No, Edythe, you can't touch it," I tell her gently. "You could get an infection if you touch it—you wouldn't want that, would you?"

She nods, biting her lip, attempting to be brave. "Would you hold my hand, please?" she asks, tears welling in her silver eyes.

I nod, smiling at her. "Of course." I reached out and took her hand; I had minored in psychology, mainly with children, in college, and I knew that it was always good to comfort a child who is in distress. "Better?"

She gives a tiny nod. "Yes."

I give her an encouraging smile. "Good. We want you to be comfortable."

She lowers her eyes. "My mommy was hurt," she says softly.

I raise my eyebrows. "I'm sorry, Edythe, really..."

"She went through the windshield," she whispers. "Glass went everywhere... I got scared, so I crouched behind the seat... Glass is dangerous..."

I nod down at her. "That's right. You could get serious cuts." I hesitate for a moment, but I know that I shouldn't stop her from talking. "Was your mommy driving the car?"

She shakes her head. "Jake was driving," she replies.

"Who's Jake, then?" I ask.

"Mommy's boyfriend," she replies, suddenly not making eye contact with me and picking the side of the canvas on the stretcher; there is a loose thread there, and she seems suddenly very interested in it. "He does bad things..."

"What kind of bad things?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I don't know..."

"Does he call you bad names?" I ask her.

She sighs, then says, "Yes."

I nod. "What kind of bad names does he call you?"

"He calls me 'stupid'," she replies. "That's not nice, is it?"

I shake my head. "No, sweetheart, that's not nice. Does Jake ever call you any other bad names?"

She sighs. "He called me a 'bitch' once," she says, whispering the offending word, almost as if she'll offend me by saying it. "That was before he slammed my head down on the floor."

I nearly pull away from her in shock. "What did Mommy do when he did that?" I ask her, hoping that her mom swooped in to rescue her.

"She laughed, said it was a game," Edythe tells me.

I bite my lip from the nasty comment that threatened to escape my lips. "Is that all Jake ever did to you?"

"No." She shakes her head.

"What else did he do?"

She sighs, plaintively. "He started putting his hand down there—" She indicated the area between her legs, "—back when it was close to Halloween." October. "I tried to tell him that I'd tell Mommy, but he said that she wouldn't believe me. I got scared, so I stayed quiet."

"Is that all Jake did?" I manage to get out.

"No." Edythe shakes her head. "He took out his thingy once and told me that it would taste good if I put it in here," she said, pointing to her mouth. "Then when I wouldn't do it, he forced it in me, so I bite it. Blood went everywhere, and I got scared again. Then he took off my pants and put it inside me, between my legs, and it hurt... There was more blood too, and he got madder..."

"Was that the only time Jake hurt you like that?" I ask her.

She shook her head. "No."

"When did he start doing that?"

"Before Christmas, after Thanksgiving," she replies. "I know it was December because Mommy changed the calendar in my bedroom."

I nod. The sick son of a bitch had been abusing his girlfriend's daughter for almost a year and it had gone undetected. Turning around then, I see Elliot and Olivia pulling up, and Elliot has a secret smile for me that Olivia doesn't see. "I have to leave you now, Edythe," I say softly. "But some nice people are going to talk to you, okay?"

"No!" Edythe screams, pulling away from the doctors and throwing her arms around me as Olivia and Elliot step closer.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" I ask as Olivia and Elliot come up behind me. "Are you okay?"

"He'll do it, like Jake," she said, nodding at Elliot.

Olivia, thankfully, steps in. "Well, why don't I sit with you while Maggie goes and talks to Elliot?" she asks, giving me an understanding smile.

"Olivia's really nice," I reply, consolingly, to Edythe. "I promise."

"Is she your friend?" Edythe asks, regarding Olivia warily.

"I... Well," I say, thrown.

"Yes. We are friends," Olivia says, shooting me a smile and going over to be with Edythe. "Go on with Elliot," she says softly to me, and I slip away as Olivia asks Edythe what her favorite color is.

"Get anything out of her besides that kind of trivial information?" Elliot asks, indicating Olivia's question.

I sigh. "Yeah, and it's not good..."

"Well, she's been abused, that's evident," Elliot replies. "Mom's boyfriend?"

I nod. "Yeah, but her mother, too. Her mother knew about it, Elliot. She witnessed it for god's sake!"

"You're kidding," Elliot says.

I shake my head. "No. She's witnessed physical abuse—that's what Edythe says. I would seriously bet money that Edythe's mother witnessed Jake raping her, but she's either too scarred or too ashamed to admit it." I turn around and regard Edythe, speaking to Olivia. "She'll get it out of her, right?"

"Olivia's the best," Elliot assures me, then looks me up and down. "You're a lot like her, you know that?"

Hearing such a thing from the man who I initially believed I'd be spending the rest of my life with was both a blessing and a curse. In meeting my daughter for the first time, I saw myself: A girl who was lost and had nothing at all to latch onto whatsoever. There were so many times that, had Elliot come to me at just the right moment, that I would've gotten back with him in a heartbeat. However, once Hunter made an appropriate play for me, I couldn't say no. He didn't have any kind of previous relationship baggage, and I knew that that was just what the doctor ordered.

That was the difference between my daughter than me—I never kept any secrets from Hunter, and from the minute I married him (despite the separation and divorce proceedings) I always remained loyal to him. Edythe, although I would always love her with my whole heart, had a loyalty complex which wouldn't ever be fixed if she continued living the way she did. Her past betrayals were coming back to haunt her—I saw it from behind her eyes—and they weren't about to simply vanish into thin air. She had to confront them head-on, if she didn't want to lose Lincoln (that is, if it wasn't already too late) and be upfront with him—completely upfront.

"It's that that easy," she confessed to me, when we were finally able to break off from Lincoln and Hunter. "He'll divorce me..."

"You need to have some faith in Lincoln," I tell her gently. "Should you have told him that Leia was yours? Yes. Was the timeline wrong for you to have a baby? I mean, you weren't with Lincoln at the time, but Sonny was with Amanda." I hesitate for a moment in this tough love session. "Sweetheart, just tell me one thing. Do you still have feelings for Sonny?"

She raises her eyes to mine, and they're filled with tears. "We've only ever been together four times—three times when he could get away from Amanda, and that's how Leia was conceived. And then once when we were drunk in Vegas and accidentally conceived Fin. That was it."

I nod at her. "But you've kissed?" I asked. "Haven't you?"

"You kissed Elliot while you were married to Dad!" she said defensively, crossing her arms like a child.

"We're not talking about me," I reply levelly, "we're talking about you. And besides, I was upfront with your father."

"He didn't leave you?" she asks.

"If you recall correctly, I left him for a while, after I became convinced of his cheating on me," I reply. "Once we got back together and back on track after the separation, I didn't even think about any other men. And even when he was presumed dead, I refused to move on."

"He did," Edythe says grumpily.

"That was different—he wasn't gone very long. I was missing for thirteen years and presumed dead. Two totally different situations, and now that I'm alive, well, your father is going to file for divorce from Ophelia, on the grounds that I was alive the entire time."

"Can he do that?" I ask. "You were gone over seven years..."

"We have friends in high places," I tell Edythe patiently. "Now, tell me this—do you love Lincoln?"

"Yes, of course," Edythe replied.

"Then you need to reaffirm that," I tell her, "because I know, deep down, you don't want to lose him forever."

"I don't," she tells me firmly.

"Then go and talk to him—all cards on the table," I say gently, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Go and tell him everything, and then tell him that you're willing to earn back his trust."

Edythe bites her lip. "It's not going to be easy..."

"Hey, I never raised you to believe life was easy," I reply. "Now go and try and get your husband back."

Edythe nods. "I'm going to try." She hesitates for a moment, almost as if she thinks she should speak more.

"Talk to me, Edythe," I say quietly.

"Leia..." She says quietly.

I smile at her. "That's something else you need to solve," I tell her.

. . .

LEIA'S POV

That night, Kassandra and I went to a vintage shop that we knew well, each buying a wedding dress and not showing it to anyone. Cosmo, who got ordained online, was coming over with Ethan the following day, who would serve as a witness. We also called Owen, and asked him if we would drop off the kids the next day, as we had a small emergency. Owen didn't pry, and we set the wedding for four o'clock the following afternoon, to be held in our living room.

The night before, we marinated steaks, and prepared a macaroni and cheese to bake in the oven. Ethan would be baking and bringing the cake, and we had sent to the florist down the street to provide flowers and bouquets for the two of us. The day of the ceremony, we each left the house to do some last-minute errands, even going to the jewelry store at different times to select wedding rings. At the last minute, I called my grandparents and told them what we were doing, and then mentioned that it was going to be a small affair.

When two o'clock arrived, Alexandrine, Rebecca, and Henry arrived at the house, and I immediately went to their rooms and dressed them in their best—more helping toward Rebecca and Henry than anyone else. The twins, after all, were just barely walking, and Alexandrine had volunteered to watch them throughout the entire ceremony. Once we'd dressed the twins together, my grandparents arrived and took them into the sitting room together. Alexandrine, as my Maid of Honor, was to walk in just ahead of me and Kassandra, who would walk down the aisle together. I told her to make sure that she was completely ready, and my eldest scuttled to her bedroom, while I retrieved my dress from the wardrobe—hidden in the twins' nursery—and began putting it on.

"You look beautiful, darling."

Turning around, I see my mother standing in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" I ask her, and, thankfully, I'm no longer snapping.

"Your grandparents called," she said gently. "Honey, why didn't you tell us that you were getting married today?"

"I don't know," I reply. "Why didn't you tell me that Dominick Carisi Jr. was my father?" I demand softly.

My mother nods. "While not the same thing..."

"Both are life-altering!" I say quietly to her, striding up to her as tears come into my eyes. "How could you keep something like that from me?! I'm thirty-years-old for Christ's sake!"

My mother nods again. "You're right—you're absolutely right."

I sigh, the rage seeping out of me as quickly as it had come. "I don't want to fight with you," I tell her.

She gives me a little smile. "Then don't," she replies.

"Easier said than done," I reply. "You lied to me."

"It wasn't just her."

Looking up, I see Carisi standing in the doorway behind her. "Oh, here we go..." I mutter to myself, reaching behind me for my veil and retrieving it from the edge of one of the cribs. "Look, I don't know what you're looking for here," I reply. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just a sperm doner..."

"Leia, don't speak to him like that!" my mother shouts.

"No, I'll speak to him however I like," I say, pinning the veil in place and turning around to face him. "We're not in the squad room—we're off-duty. This is my house, and I'm an adult. He may be my biological father, Mother, but Lincoln Beckett is my dad. No matter what you may want or need—I really don't give a damn here. You guys seriously need to get your heads examined, because as far as I'm concerned, other than work..." I give a shrug, picking up the ring box I'd managed to conceal on top of the dresser. "It's definitely going to take a while for me to forgive you." I walk past them, and run into Lincoln in the hallway then, and hesitate.

"I heard you," he says quietly, lifting my veil and kissing me on the cheek. "I want you to know how much it means to me, to have you call me your father."

I give him a little shrug. "Well, you are..." I look past him then, and see Kassandra hesitating on the edge of the living room. "Dad?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?" he asks.

"I have to go get married now," I reply, fingering the ring box in my hands. "If you have any objections, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

My father nods. "Go get married," he tells me.

I nod back at him, kissing him on the cheek and allowing him to adjust my veil again as I turn and walk towards Kassandra. I feel secure as she takes my hand and smiles at me. Leaning in, I brush her lips with mine, feeling complete.

"Hey, let's save it for after the ceremony!" Cosmo calls out impatiently.

"Sorry!" I mouth to them.

"You're going to tell me everything later?" Kassandra asks me softly as we begin walking down the aisle. "All of it?"

I turn and give my fiancée a nod and a smile. "All of it—for as long as we both shall live," I reply with a smile.