“I love you too, Sam.”

Sensing the rising emotions in the room, the minister smiled at the couple in front of him, then turned his attention to the group of well-wishers seated around them. “There, you’ve heard their declarations of love for one another in their own words. From now on, let the union of these two souls, united in love, be symbolized for all to see in the form of the rings that they will now exchange between them.” The minister’s eyes now came to rest on Brooke.

Startled by the nudge at her elbow, Brooke took the ring offered to her from Peter’s outstretched palm, glancing into her friend’s eyes with a look of thanks. Turning toward Sam, Brooke took the woman’s left hand and slowly slid the ring into place, then brought it up to her lips, laying a gentle kiss upon it. “Forever, my love,” Brooke whispered loud enough for only Sam to hear.

The blonde held her breath as she pulled her hand away, savoring the sensations of love and belonging that Brooke’s kiss had given her. Hesitantly, she turned to look over at her cousin, Crystal. Sam waited patiently as the woman rose from her seat and stood next to her, holding out her hand.

“Here ya go, Sam,” Crystal smiled, first at her cousin, then over to Peter on the other side of Brooke. “Sorry I missed my cue,” she whispered as Sam’s chilled fingertips touched her hand.

Turning from Crystal, Sam brought Brooke’s left hand into her own and slid the ring into place on the tall woman’s finger. Holding Brooke’s left hand with her own, Sam held them close to her heart, then looked down on the two rings as they came together, side by side. “Forever, side by side,” Sam whispered, offering it up in a prayer.

Placing a finger under Sam’s chin, Brooke tilted the woman’s face upward to gaze deeply into her eyes.

Touched by the reverence of the love he had just witnessed, the minister sniffed back a tear. “Well, now that we have all that taken care of…” he looked from one woman to the other, realizing that neither was paying him any attention. He continued on anyway.

“May I present to you, joined this day in marriage in the state of Vermont…” he paused, realizing that they had never told him their wishes as to how they wanted to be addressed. Seeing that they were more concerned with one another than his plight, he made his own mind up, coming to a decision in the matter. Looking out to the assembled group, he declared their union together, “…The Moleson-Gordon’s.” He looked to the couple before him and gave his blessing to what they were already engaged in. “You may kiss your bride.” He closed the book in his hands as the smile grew on his face.

All eyes in the room were riveted on the happy couple embraced in a passionate kiss. The occasional flash kept going off as each family member decided the best way to remember the day. Brian, of course, stepped out of his seat as he walked around the couple, practicing with his new digital video cam to record the event for future reference.

Impulses were going off left and right, as Brooke’s body eased into the kiss and let it deepen. Her mind was a racing carousel of images recalled from the time that she had first met the small blonde. The last image of which stayed to the forefront of her mind. It was the look of pure love in Sam’s face as she had leaned in to kiss her in their first official act as a joined couple, which she knew that she would remember forever.

With her senses keenly attuned to her lover’s body, Brooke felt a sense of alarm at the sudden stiffening that her body was being met with. Turning her senses back to the world around her, Brooke’s eyes opened to see two angry green eyes staring at her from the back of the room, causing her to straighten up, pushing Sam behind her.

“SAM!”

The loud screech of her lover’s name settled into her gut like a bomb waiting to explode. The next thing that Brooke knew, there was a bevy of lights flashing in their direction as a steady stream of people came rushing into the room. Each one was yelling out questions and demanding answers. As they moved forward, they shoved their outstretched hands with microphones in them toward the front of the room, circling in on the couple like sharks in the sea. The only difference between these predators and sharks seemed to be the use of cameras and recording devices as they came rushing in for the kill.

“Huh?” Blue eyes looked to the mangle of inquiring voices as if she were a deer caught in someone’s headlights. Brooke felt Sam’s arms wrap tightly around her waist and the tall woman clenched her fists, preparing for the battle of her life.



The End

Continued in Wedding Bell Blues

Song lyric is “One In A Million” written by Steve Brown. The song “playing” in Brooke’s head is “I Don’t

Think I Will” as sung by James Bonamy.

Well. THAT’S it… Unbroken is COMPLETE! Thanks for an amazing first season… I guess we forgot to mention that when we originally wrote this over a decade ago, that we posted a new chapter at the same time on the same day every week as if it were a television series (inspired by a weekly Uber called “Exposure” which was co-authored by XWPFanatic, Tonya Muir (R.I.P, Tonya!) and TNovan.)

Thanks for reading!

-Carrie & KD

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