One hundred and Thirty-four

Eudom deposited Bram and Izabella in their room and left right away. Bram had her back pressed into the mattress within moments. His hands lifted the skirt, running up her thigh and over her hip. Her back arched as he worked at the little buttons on the back of the skirt. Though he very much enjoyed engulfing her, but tonight he would be taking his time. He knew she liked being loved slowly, and he was going to savor every moment.

“Guess what?” Her voice came out as whisper, his head dipping under her skirts. “Your wife is pretty excited right now.” Her skirts shook as he chuckled, pulling out.

“Oh, and your husband is going to enjoy eating you up.”

His hand hardened on her back, pulling at the fabric. “Be gentle. I don’t want you to rip my dress. Not this one. Not after I got to marry you in it.” Bram loosened his grip and stood, yanking his tie off as he started to work at the buttons on his shirt. Izabella lifted herself off the bed, pressing her body against his as she slowly took over. It was torture waiting for the moment when she would finally have his clothing off. It freed him to assist with those on the back of the dress. They made it to the buckles at the same time, but Izabella’s was freed faster than Bram’s. As the dress slid from her body, he lowered himself to kiss along the dress’s trail, kissing and nipping at her as he dropped to his knees in front of her. Lifting each of her feet, he removed her shoes, kissing her legs, messaging them wherever his hands roamed. Izabella relaxed back on the bed, enjoying the way Bram loved her.

“I’m the luckiest man on earth. Getting to have you. You know what this means, right?”

“That you belong to me now?” She giggled, as he smiled up at her, letting her fingers curl around the back of his neck.

“Yes. I’m all yours. I would give you anything within my power.”

“All I want is you, my love.” She pulled him up, kissing him, arching her body toward his. “Only you. You and our family. I love you so much.”

“Don’t forget, you’re mine too.” He said, crawling over her.

“Of course, I am.” She caressed his cheek. “You’re my one and only. I love you. So. So. So, much.” Talk ceased as Bram claimed her. His wife. He loved the sound of it.

Despite their early leave from the festivities, neither fell asleep before dawn. Izabella was the first to close her eyes. Bram knew she was sleeping when her breath evened out, and she snuggled closer into his side.

It was so peaceful to watch her sleep. Running his fingers through her hair, he sighed. A lot still laid ahead of them, but at least, he knew she would be there. He couldn’t imagine life without her. Devon, Sarah, Alex, Mable, and Missy all had bright futures. He would make sure they did. Resting his hand on her stomach, he smiled. Rosie would be a first-time adventure from his understanding and he couldn’t wait. Whatever came, they could face it. There was no doubt.

Gabe and Jen weighed most heavily on his mind. But even that already seemed brighter. With Jen being able to take the kids in small doses, he wanted her to come stay here with them. Though he hated to admit it, Scarlet would be a wealth of knowledge for the girl, and since she seemed to have so much in common with Mihaela. Well, at least they had similar situations, he couldn’t really say Jen was anything like Mihaela at all. They just needed to figure out what to do about Gabe. Until they did that, Jen wouldn’t sit idly by. This is what Bram needed to figure out. Until he was healed, he wouldn’t be able to go after the new blood personally. All he could do was hope that Jen, Gavin, and Tyler would be able to hold out long enough.

Staring at the canopy above them, Bram tried to remember his own past. It was hazy. There was a lot of anger and aggression. He remembered when his parents came for him. He remembered fighting with them. He remembered parts of the war. But he couldn’t remember why. Not a fan of this development, he decided not to drudge up the past. They would live this point in their lives as if it had never happened before and no one else knew. He’d never been so scared. Or so excited. He didn’t think Iz would argue with him over the decision.

He really wanted to see Gabe though. Bram never felt anyone really cared for him during those hard years. No one else knew what it was like. He’d been completely alone. He didn’t want Gabe to feel the same. It wasn’t a good place to be. Thoughts of the teen filled Bram’s head as he closed his eyes, trying to sleep. What was that poor boy going through? What was he facing right now?

**

When Bram opened his eyes, seeing his childhood room threw him for a loop. Jumping up, he looked around. The blankets over the large bed were in disarray. Rays of the morning sun were beaming through the curtains of the balcony door. But he could still smell her. Izabella. She was here, within the last ten minutes, at least. His heart pounded in his chest. He couldn’t get the uneasy feeling out of his chest. Though he tried to focus on what he knew. His emotions were in a frenzy, and it was a strange and uncomfortable feeling. So only the facts would do.

He was home. That wasn’t a good strike. Izabella had walked through the doors of the garden and they had gotten married. By a priest, no less. The kids were ecstatic. He’d spent nearly the whole night worshiping her. Though, there were definitely moments where she took command. Thinking about their time together, he smiled. Those were all good strikes though. Talking to his father before leaving the party probably hadn’t been the best idea, but he couldn’t deny that overlooking Gabe was wrong. He needed to do something. Bram took a deep breath as he pulled on his clothing. Her scent was helping to keep him focused. They really did need to start over. He didn’t even want to think about what he’d gone through. He wanted to make sure Gabe never felt like he did.

There was only one answer to this problem that he could think of.

Iz was no where in their apartment, so he had to assume she was with the kids. Probably his mom too. He sighed, leaving the sanctity of his room to find his family. Devon was standing next to Izabella at the table, and everyone else chatted away, enjoying the food. Scarlet’s back was to him, but he guessed she was watching Devon and Iz. Gavin, Jen, Tyler, and Vlad were all sitting in a darkened corner of the room. The only person who had anything with them at the table was Tyler. Jen’s eyes were closed, her chin resting in her palm. She looked beyond board. Gavin was working on his computer, and Vlad seemed to be watching him in amazement. He wondered if Gavin was working, or purposely showing Vlad all the things he could actually do with a system. He half chuckled. Even Scarlet hadn’t been able to catch his attention with technology.

Rounding the table, excited green eyes watched him. She leaned back into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her shoulder, kissing her ear and jawline. “Good morning, my lovely wife. You didn’t wake me up before leaving. I wanted to enjoy your beautiful face on our first morning as husband and wife.”

Blinking up at him, she kissed his cheek. “I wanted to make sure you got enough rest. You’ve worked so hard over the last few days.” She sat up, getting him a cup of coffee.

“Thank you.” He took it, placing himself at the head of the table.

“You’re both looking particularly pleased with yourselves.” Scarlet smiled at them, folding her hands on the table.

“Hmmm… I wonder why?” Izabella giggled, sipping a cup of milk. “Oh, I do wonder.” Bram smiled as her toes ticked at his under the table. He winked at her. Though he really wanted to talk to Izabella about Gabe, he sat quietly during breakfast. The kids were all still excited, and squawking about everything that had happened over the last few weeks. Arguments broke out between Devon and Sarah mostly. The two of them were getting good at arguing between themselves. Scarlet was acting like a real grandmother, which made him wonder if he might actually be able t trust them with his family. He couldn’t make up his mind, but he did worry that if he sent them home without him, things would look differently than they do now. Another thing he needed to bring up with her.

As breakfast wrapped up, Scarlet put an ancient looking Monopoly game on the table, and the kids jumped out of their chairs to be the first to pick their pieces. Bram took Izabella by the hand, “lets sit this one out. Come with me, I want to talk to you.” She followed him out of the dinning room. He brought her into the library. It was quiet here, and a place he thought Eudom would be comfortable to talk with them.

As he opened the door, he watched the excitement boil over on Izabella’s visage as she ran to the wall, covered in books and started looking though them. “You’ll have time to look through them all soon, babe. Come on, over here. I really need to talk to you.”

“It’s our first day as husband and wife. You better not be giving me bad news.” Clearly she could read his anxiety as she looked aver at him, suspicion gleaming in her eyes.

“I’m sorry. It is important, otherwise I wouldn’t. I want Eudom’s thoughts on it too, which is why I brought you here.” He pulled out a chair for her, and pulled out Eudom’s before calling him. Pouring each her and Eudom a glass of water from a pitcher that sat beside the table. “Eudom, can you hear me? Can you come to us?” A moment later, the lights dimmed and Eudom was in the chair that Bram pulled out for him. He had on his ever-present smile, but it was tight, and he clearly didn’t like coming here. Bram couldn’t blame him.