Epilogue
Maria
Finding a flower-girl dress that meets Zinnia’s exacting standards is more stressful than selecting my wedding dress.
Chris has loads of preserved options in my size in the warehouse, and he hangs them out for me to browse through.
Alone. He refuses to stay and help. Some myth about the groom not seeing the dress before the wedding.
I select a sleek white gown with lace sleeves and no train so I won’t have to change for the party afterward.
Zinnia, however, rejects every suitable dress we show her from the warehouse.
“Don’t worry,” Chris says. “I have enough credits. You can buy her a dress at a children’s boutique.”
We arrive in Sierra Escondida using a flash device, and it’s almost as bad as the warehouse elevator. I’m convinced I left my stomach behind in Arizona.
After a year living in the ark and following our routine, the change in settings feels even more jarring.
But Chris’s California house is the perfect size for us.
He calls it a one-story ranch style, and I visited it once before for Evelina’s wedding.
The dome here covers multiple cities. After growing up around ghost towns, I’m slightly anxious being surrounded by so many people.
Someday we’ll live in Sierra Escondida. Chris still has two years left on his contract, though, so it’ll be a little while before we move here permanently.
We have three weeks of vacation in which to get married and go on our honeymoon. The first week is a whirlwind as I meet the vampires in residence, along with their mortal mates and a few members of the Lux who also live in the small town.
Chris’s bandmates will arrive in time for the wedding—and provide music for the party. I’ve been learning to dance under Chris’s expert guidance.
On our first night here, I ask Tig to be my maid of honor.
The look on her face is priceless. “But we hardly know each other.”
“You saved Zinnia. That’s all I need to know.”
So Tig takes Zinnia and me to the children’s shop in Mordida. Since I asked her to be my maid of honor, apparently one of her duties is to ferry me around the neighboring city to get all the essentials for the wedding.
Jittery excitement emanates from Zinnia. She’s never seen an inhabited town before. Despite my own nerves, I’m grateful she’ll get to live here someday. It’s so much more than I ever imagined for her.
But right now, she can barely sit still in the electric car.
She peers out the window, bouncing in her seat, asking rapid-fire questions about what she sees.
How am I supposed to know what a fabrication shop is?
Thankfully, Tig rescues me, answering each of her questions patiently.
Once we park and exit the driverless electric car, she rushes into the children’s shop.
I can barely restrain her enthusiasm. “No touching.”
She immediately tucks her hands behind her back.
Tig chuckles. “Party attire is this way.”
Zinnia zooms to one rack. “This one, Mommy!”
I rifle through the rack, looking for her size. Finding one, I hold the dress up against her. Assorted flowers in the colors of a desert sunset with a splash of blue.
Tig shrugs. “The current fashion is solid colors for weddings. But you can do whatever you want.”
“Please, Mommy? Can I try it on?”
I turn to Tig. “Do they allow that?”
“Sure.” She points at a corner of the shop. “Dressing rooms are over there.”
How can I say no to my baby girl? I carry the dress and, with a hand on her back, guide her to the dressing room. “Let’s see what it looks like on.”
Once she’s changed, she unlatches the door and preens in front of a three-sided mirror at the back of the shop, showing off for Tig and me.
“See the colors? This is all of us.” She points at the blue flower petals. “Daddy Christopher’s eyes.” Then she points at the different shades of browns. “The rest of us. Our eye color. And the sunset colors for when we all wake.”
My heart squeezes at her words. All of us.
I can’t curb her excitement over the dress. I check the budget Chris helped me prepare on a virtual tablet, since I have no experience with money, and show Tig. “How much is the dress?”
Tig twirls her finger. “Zinnia, turn and face the dressing room.” She then fishes a tag out of the dress’s neckline and displays it so I can see. “Well within your budget.”
I sigh in relief. “Baby girl, the dress is yours.”
“Yippee!”
For cake shopping, Zinnia is our taste tester. Chris and I will pass on eating the cake—it tastes like cardboard to vampire taste buds.
And then it seems I have a million other decisions to make. Napkin colors. Flowers. Open blood bar. It’s all such a blur.
I’m relieved vampires sleep like the dead—otherwise I’d be tossing and turning all day. When the special night arrives, I wake, and my nerves grip me tightly.
Am I doing the right thing? Will this work out in the long run? I’ve heard whispers from others that maker-fledgling marriages never last. Chris assures me it’s an old wives’ tale…but by the time Tig escorts me and Zinnia to the chapel, my stomach is doing flip-flops.
“Relax,” she whispers in my ear. “This was meant to be.”
As she says it, I know it’s true.
We enter the narthex—that’s what Father Matt called it during our rehearsal—and I peek through the gap in the closed doors to the chapel.
The room is filled with Chris’s friends, including his band members. At the front rail, Chris and Lehm wait, with Ari at their sides.
I smile, happiness sparkling through me like glitter.
Lehm came through the turn just fine. Did a moment of jealousy pass through me when I realized Lehm was now Chris’s fledgling and I’m no longer the only one who holds that honor?
Maybe.
It was the only moment of jealousy I’ve ever displayed in my entire life. Chris loves teasing me about it. But the feeling quickly passed, to be replaced with gratitude that Lehm would live.
And that’s what I feel as I look at them now—grateful.
They both look so handsome in the old-fashioned tuxedos Chris insisted on.
When the music starts, Tig goes first, looking gorgeous in a full-length navy dress.
“My turn, Mommy,” Zinnia whispers, then follows. With exquisite precision, she drops one rose petal at a time, moving so slowly I want to scream, Hurry up!
Zinnia finally arrives at the front. Tig places a hand on her shoulder to move her to the side, and my gaze sweeps to the guys.
When my music cue starts, I take a deep breath and step onto the runner, squashing the rose petals, taking forever to reach the altar rail. I finally do and hand my bouquet to Tig.
Chris joins me on my right, and Lehm walks behind me to stand on my left. Their arms cross behind my back, clasping me and each other. I take their remaining hands, holding them in front of me, fingers intertwined.
My smile is so big it hurts, and tears glisten in my eyes.
Father Matt steps in front of me, facing the congregation.
“Dearly beloved, we are here tonight to unite this man”—he nods to Chris—“this man”—he gestures to Lehm—“and this woman”—he smiles at me—“in the bonds of holy matrimony. To love, cherish, and honor each other, so long as they all shall live.”
Zinnia breaks free from Tig and tugs on Father Matt’s pant leg. “What about me?”
Without missing a beat, Father Matt sweeps her into his arms so she’s at eye level to us. “And to be loving parents to Zinnia, teaching her to be a righteous member of our community, guiding her with patience and compassion. What say you all?”
“We do.”
“Having made your vows, I pronounce Maria, Chris, and Lehm to be married, and with their daughter, Zinnia, a family. You may all kiss.”
A moment of chaos ensues as Zinnia interprets the invitation to include her and reaches out to be taken into our arms. Once she’s collected a kiss from each of us, I kiss each of my men, and they kiss each other.
No one else knows what our bedroom life is like, and it’s none of their business who’s sexually attracted to whom.
Our exchange of kisses shows the balance of our relationship—equal partners.
And what matters is that we’re best friends who love each other, that we’ve made the commitment to love and care for Zinnia, and have been fortunate to find each other in this postapocalyptic, messed-up world.
Because no matter what happens in this horrible era gone awry, love will survive, and we’ll always be a family. Forever.
Thank you for reading Christopher, Maria, Lehm, and Zinnia’s story!