Final Chapter

Alejandro looked at the crowd behind him. A crowd. It would have been more accurate to say that it was something like twenty peoples gathered in Old Creek old church. More than half of them were his family, of course. His dad and his mom stood at the forefront, beaming with pride, obviously. Jules was particularly happy, his torso constrained in a smoking looking at least a size too small. He seemed ready to jump from the church bench, perhaps to take his first son in his arms, or to protect his wife, who laughed at a joke Lindsey had probably just said.

His mother was also looking great, and quite obviously pregnant, which made him really uneasy, even if he knew it was relatively normal for MAJORS. She was in a sky blue dress, with openings on her upper arms and in his back, hugging her petite curves to attract attention. And it did nothing to hide her situation; to the contrary, her belly was made more prominent, and while she always kept a hand on it, it was less to hide it than to protect the baby inside.

Alejandro didn’t really know how to act now that he would have another younger sibling, one so much younger than himself that he may as well haven’t been related to her. Because it would be a girl, apparently. Laura, had told his mom, since she already had two children with a name starting with an “A” and only one with an “L”. A strange reasoning, but he really didn’t feel the need to voice his opinion on it. It wasn’t as if he would see much of her, even if he did plan to visit Old Creek as often as possible, if only to remain attached to his roots.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked Alaric, standing -more accurately towering over him, since the Minor barely cleared his waist- next to him, and looking slightly concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine… Perhaps a little tense, but, well, it’s quite a special day.”

“For you maybe. For me, it’s Tuesday” joked his twin, earning a playful punch in the hip for his words. “Ariel and I didn’t had so much pomp. An oath before an officer and, bam, we were married, and quite ready to have our honeymoon!”

“Yeah, well, not everyone is such a lustful brute, ‘cause I’m pretty sure that your honeymoon involved a lot of screams in the bedroom” wryly replied the Minor. “And I just have to look at your wife’s belly to have a proof of that, so don’t try to refute it!”

Ariel looked at them and waved at her husband, her face flustered, probably because she was surrounded by so many sympathetic MAJORS. She had had a terrible life, after all, until his brother found her. And now she stood next to his mom, her pregnancy so pronounced that she seemed ready to give birth anytime. Having twins, Minors at that, was taking a toll on her frail body, but she seemed fuller of life than Alejandro had ever seen her, which, admittedly, had consisted of pictures or grainy videos. Even before the debate, when she had seemed awed and gleefully enjoyed everything which had been denied her, she hadn’t been that happy.

“I won’t” softly said Alaric. “But I don’t think you get how incredible she is. She… she calms me, in ways I didn’t even knew I needed. She… when she’s with me, when I think about our sons to come… I feel complete, in perfect harmony. It sounds cheesy, right?” he finished, laughing off a little.

“Nah. You just smell awfully camembert” joked Alejandro, looking up at his brother. “But you aren’t the first MAJOR to tell that to me. Shannon does to. But I know you guys don’t change so easily. You’ve no idea what I had to do to make her accept to come and marry in Old Creek and not in fraekin’ Washington!” he said, huffing a little. “Seriously, why would I want a super-church packed by attendants I don’t know, probably shareholders or employees or whatever, I ask you?”

“I’m willing to bet that the oath taking place in a church was a part of it” chuckled Alaric, “because I can’t see you having such an idea!”.

“Yup. That and no one but family once it was clear I didn’t want the wedding of the century. She was too afraid that I would invite Izzellah and drop her at the altar, somehow, to elope with her, never to be seen again.”

“Wouldn’t have you?” asked his twin, sounding a little surprised.

“No!” shouted the Minor, drawing the attention of his already 3m12 (10f2) little sister, and Derek Matthewson, with whom she was talking in hushed whisper, between fit of laughter and were now looking at him worriedly.

“Really? I’m surprised, I really am. I mean, I always felt that being with Shannon so much would actually put you off, considering how clingy she always was with you when we were kid. But I guess she really caught your fancies, right? You’ve always been a boob guy!”

“I wasn’t much of an anything guy, if you remember right” grumbled the Minor, his face taking a deep shade of red due to his embarrassment.

“Please. Tall, well-endowed and muscular was always your type, we both know it. At least when it comes to MAJORS, because while Izzy would be average for our kind, she is definitively neither tall nor muscular or super-curvy for yours. SO Shannon does beat her us then?”

“Indeed. And she’s pregnant” blurted Alejandro, before putting his hand on his mouth, immediately regretting having said it and cursing himself.

“What?” yelped Alaric, crouching promptly to be able to lower his voice and still speak to him easily.

“What kind of reaction is that?” asked the Minor, a little offended now. “Did you think I… we didn’t do anything together or what?”

“Sorry but… I mean, come on…” said his brother, losing him here. “Damn it, I really have to spell it to you? Are you marrying her because you knocked her up?”

Alejandro looked at her brother and, in a swift movement, punched him on the nose, which made him jerk back and fall on his ass. The young man seethed at his brother. The gall of him! To even think he could be like that! If Shannon had tried to pressure me like that I… I wouldn’t have caved in so easily! At least, it’s what he thought, but if he was being honest with himself, he would have probably not broken with her, but refused to marry her. Which wasn’t great, but at least it would have been something. He guessed.

“Have you lost your mind?” asked Alaric, returning to his crouching position, even as his smaller sibling felt all eyes on him, which made his skin crawl.

“No. But I would like some consideration. Who do you think I am? Some sort of pathetic loser? I wouldn’t have had a wedding if Shannon was pressuring me with a kid. Moron” he grumbled at his little brother and then sighed. “Sorry. I’m... I’m just on edge, okay?”

“Sure, don’t worry. It’s not like you could hurt me anyway” giggled Alaric. “I just fell on my ass because of how surprised I was that you’d punch me.”

“Sure. And you yelped like a little girl because you wanted to make me feel strong, of course.”

“Smart and sexy. I guess I can see why girls would fawn all over you!” taunted his giant brother, getting back up. “Shannon will have to work hard to keep you for herself!”

“Go on, laugh at me. I can’t wait to see you all mushy with your sons, you big dumb idiot” chuckled Alejandro, already anticipating it.

------------------------------------------------------

“He’ll say no” said Shannon, looking at herself in her mirror, even as her mother finished to work on her hair, feeling atrociously anxious and doing her best to resist her urge to bite her nails.

Her guts seemed to have tied into knots, even beneath her daughter, and there seemed to be nothing she could do to calm herself. She had stared down dozens of old white men, with their old money and old families backing them up without breaking a sweat, but the very prospect to stand before a priest and to wait for the man of her life to speak was somehow far worse. She couldn’t bully him, she couldn’t break some bones or threaten to do so, to achieve compliance. She had to wait for him to make a choice, and she knew he would say no.

“What are you talking about?” chided Alexis. “That boy has fallen heel over head for you, you just have to snap your fingers and he’ll be at your beck and call. No way he says anything but yes!”

Being twice as tall as her mother meant that Alexis had to use a ladder to be able to comb Shannon’s hair, and the cold metal was extremely uncomfortable on her back. Still, she did her best not to move, so as to avoid throwing her mom to the ground. She really didn’t need such an accident now. This day should have been perfect and she dreaded it would end in ruin and complete disaster.

“You don’t know him. He’ll see right through me, how even on my wedding day all I want is to take him on the altar, to have my way with him, even in this most precious day…”

“Nonsense. For a start, if you keep your mind to yourself, no one but you will know. And me, of course, but who am I to judge. I almost jumped on Andrew when our wedding was over and he barely had the time to get me in the car and then to the hotel before I tore his pants off. What a day it has been! I think you were conce…”

“I don’t want to know!” interrupted Shannon with a shrill voice, feeling blood rush to her face and thanking God to have been born black enough that it didn’t show too much.

She was both happy and extremely embarrassed by her mother’s presence. They had worked together, especially her, to try and restore the relationship they had before she lost it and almost killed her and her unborn baby brother, almost two years ago now. But, truth been told, if her mama hadn’t been here today, she would have probably required a specialized hair-dresser to preparer her long mane into something at least half decent for her Alejandro. She felt strangely weak while in the same time she had a fire raging in her loins.

“How can you be so prude on such subjects and such a lusty beast elsewhere?” asked her mother, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Mom!” yelled Shannon, trying to turn her head to glare at Alexis.

“Don’t move!” chided her mother, slapping her with the wooden comb, large enough that she looked like a little girl playing with her mother’s, which should have been funny but only exacerbated Shannon’s nervousness today. “Do you want me to finish your hair on time, or do you prefer to see how long he’ll wait until he’ll thought you’ve ditched the whole wedding?”

“He wouldn’t think that! Ever!” huffed the giantess, her breasts almost spilling over the dress which barely contained them as she did.
Even as she said that, she felt a chill ran in her spine. What if he does? If I’m extremely late, won’t he take it as me getting cold feet at the last moment? Or… or having played a dirty trick on him? She felt her breath quicken and her heart pumped her blood faster. She couldn’t think about it, she needed to focus on what she would do when she would see him, so beautiful and attractive. She needed to be sure she wouldn’t make a mistake, she wouldn’t shock his family, or hers, and that both of them would leave the church happily married until death did them apart.

“There, that’s much better. You’re intelligent and very beautiful my dear. No wonder he’s fallen for you that way”’ softly said Alexis.

-------------------------------------------------------

Trumpets seemed to roar to life and Alejandro jumped at little, startled. It was just the music they had requested to be played in the old church -not the organ but something Shannon had handed over to the local priest, or whatever his grade was. And while he certainly hadn’t really been an active part of the planning, he knew what the music meant. Shannon had left the room where she had been grooming herself for this moment and the Minor regretted not spending more time hidden somewhere. He felt as if he was sweating far too abundantly. He was certain that everyone could smell it, like a sour fragrance below his cologne. His shirt collar seemed too tight, and he used a finger to try and loosen it a little, to no avail.

“Calm down, you’re fine” whispered Alaric from above, turning his back on the entrance even as Alejandro started to turn to look at it.

“Yeah, sure… I’m all fidgety, and so not ready. I’m ridiculous and…” replied the Minor, pivoting nervously on his feet to try and look at the main door.

“Stop” growled his brother, putting a massive hand on his right shoulder to force him to turn and face the altar. “You’re fine, and you just need to breath, slow and steady, okay?”

“I don’t…” started the young man, even as his breath quickened, feeling more and more out of breath.

“Calm. Down. And. Breath. Slowly” ordered his MAJOR twin, squeezing his fingers a little.

Alejandro felt ready to protest, but one look at Al’s hard face and he gulped down his objections. He closed his eyes and tried to breath at a slower rate. It wasn’t easy, he felt as if he was lacking oxygen, at first. His legs felt weak, and so did his arm. His fingers itched and he felt the phantom pain of his left arm. Then, slowly and surely, he felt his lungs expand and being filled. His weakness subsided, if only a little and he felt able to endure the wait a little while longer. As he calmed down, his brother’s fingers relaxed until he was just resting his hand on his shoulder.

“There. We don’t want you to collapse before Shannon came in. She would lose it and trample everyone just to get to you” chuckled Alaric.

Alejandro opened his mouth, but he stopped dead in his tracks when the music grew louder and more urgent. His twin’s hand left his shoulder and immediately, Alejandro turned on his heels to look at the door. Alexis Matthewson was opening them, beaming in her red dress, with her impressive décolleté and short hair, smiling at the small crowd, and especially her husband, who held her latest baby in his arm, who giggled and reached for his mother, even while she moved to let her elder children come in, such a towering figure that he hadn’t realized that the whiteness behind the already tall MAJOR was but a part of Shannon’s dress.

“Jesus Christ, it’s an angel on Earth” said someone and it took a moment for Alejandro to realize that he had been the one talking.

Shannon silhouette was framed by the light of the sun, and while it hid her features for the moment, it made her look even more regal in his eyes. And when the doors closed and that he got a good look at her, his breath got caught in his throat. She’s majestic and so, so beautiful! How come I was lucky enough to strike her fancies? He devoured her with his eyes, unable to contain himself. He probably looked utterly ridiculous, but he couldn’t care at all, she was just too much for him to not enjoy it as long as he could.

Her body was contained by a perfectly white dress, diaphanous and almost ethereal. He wondered briefly how this thing managed to contain her curves and how much it had cost, but his mind didn’t linger on such thoughts. It was simply fried by the way her body moved in that thing, each of her curvy parts rolling sensually, her whole body exuding primal power and sexuality, a Goddess of the Ancient World coming to grant mortals a sight of her body. And her hair! Alejandro didn’t know how she had done that, but it was simply perfect.

Gone was her mane, as carefully groomed as it was. Instead, hundreds of braids, tight and ingrained with beads of what he suspected were white pearls and what he knew was white feathers, forming a complex crown on her head. Dozens of braids fell on her shoulders and coiled on her opulent bosom, entirely exposed but for a slim white band, contrasting quite a lot with her dark skin. She had even let one of her braid, a single one, falling on her face, just to the right of her right eye, in a way she knew he loved so much.

“You’re so beautiful” he whispered when she stopped next to him, domineering him simply by standing next to him, making him look like a toddler near a tall woman. And he loved every moment of it, being there, with her looking so majestic.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Shannon looked down on her right side. Her wide hips almost hide her lover, but she had managed to stop on a perfect spot, where she would be able to look at him easily. And she had a hard time admitting that he could see herself as beautiful when he looked so stunning. In fact, when she had entered the church and had her eyes adjusting to the relative darkness in it compared to the sunny outside, she felt ready to crumble when she saw him looking at her, sizing her up and probably unconsciously judging her.

She had almost missed a step, and she just knew he had seen it. That he made no comment about it was simply another proof of how chivalrous and gentlemanly he was. It made her so hot and flustered. His green eyes, sharp and focused, yet gentle and alluring, the ghost smile on his lips, making him look absolutely stunning. The way he stood, in a charming and enticing pose, without looking cocksure. His short beard, mostly black with some ginger parts enhancing it. And his short wavy hair, of course, stealing her breath away.

And he looked so hot on his attire! He had actually accepted to be measured so he would have a tailor-made smoking for today. An Armani, jet black, with a pure white shirt underneath. She had expected a bowtie or an actual tie to complement it, but instead he went without one. But he did add a rose, a white rose, in his buttonhole, freshly open and with such a delicate perfume she doubted he would have been able to pick it without putting it just before his nose. But she could smell the flower, and many other fragrances.

She could tell he was nervous, she smelt it in his sweat, a very small amount really, but enough to betray him. But even that was drowned by his cologne and his natural body odor, which mixed together to create a perfect storm of smells and tastes. Well, not tastes really, she thought, but I guess it’s close enough for me to call them that… It made controlling herself so much harder, when he was so close, so tantalizingly close and easily taken. But she stiffened and resisted her urges. She tried to focus on what her mother had told her just before they went in.

“It’ll be hard, Shannon. Very hard. But you have to control yourself. I know, more than most, how much you love him. But you must keep your head clear. You’ll have plenty of times for cloudy minds and foggy memories tonight. But right now, you need your head in the game, so focus on what appears to be flaws on him, or anyone else so you don’t lose it, okay?”

“He doesn’t have flaws” she had sternly replied, looking down, figuratively and literally at her mother. “But I’ll keep that in mind. I want today to be perfect for him, I can’t afford to make mistakes.”

So she focused on the only thing which made her sad. His left arm was still his basic prosthesis. He had refused to get it replaced with the high-tech one she had had created under the codename of Project Renewal. The first trial runs had been resounding successes, but even then, he didn’t gave in, so his left arm was stuck in a falsely relaxed pose, his only blemish in her eyes, if even that could be called a flaw. But she hadn’t yet given up on her hope to have him undergo the surgical operations necessary so that he could get a functional left arm, in the near future. It was just a question of cajoling and convincing him, after all.

She tried to focus on the music coming from the speakers. It wasn’t really helpful, but she couldn’t do much anyway. She wanted him, more than ever perhaps, but it was impossible for her to give in right now, and she thus took slow, calming breath. It helped, if only a little bit. As the pastor came in, walking toward them, she noticed that it was still the same balding white man he had been almost twelve years ago, looking barely over fifty still. He looked as kind and comprehensive as ever, and when he propped himself up, on his tiptoes to whisper to her.

“Don’t worry young lady, we’ll try to do a quick ceremony” smiled the old man. “I know that newlyweds have short patience.”

“Thanks you Father” she replied, smiling shyly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Do you, Shannon Evelyna Matthewson, you agree to take for husband this minor, however small and frail, however much weak and sickly, to provide, protect, and make him happy in this world and the next, without ever turning your back on him?”

“I do” firmly replied the giantess, towering so much over the far smaller MAJOR that it could have been comical if they didn’t love each other so very much.

“And you, Alejandro Ferrand, do you agree to take for wife this woman, so vastly superior in wealth and body, in intellect and health, to serve, to care and to grant her all you can give her in this world and the next.”

“I do” replied Alejandro, his nervousness from prior finally evaporating, a wave of heat rushing over him as he answered the priest, even if he found the sermon distasteful.

“Then, I hereby pronounce you wife and husband!” roared the pastor. “You may kiss the bride!”

Before he could say anything, Alejandro felt a gigantic body moves swiftly near him and large hands catching him. He was brought to a face towering so high above the ground that his stomach lurched a little. Large, wet and burning lips kissed his, a raging tongue forced its way into his mouth and his own rushed toward it, as fingers put his head in a more comfortable position as they shared a passionate kiss. After a long moment he was released and able to take a ragged breath as he was pressed against the curvature of her neck.

“I love you” she whispered, her voice almost inaudible, a low rumbled vibrating from her throat to his ears more than anything else.

“I love you” he replied, kissing her neck softly.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Alejandro Matthewson” she whispered, caressing his petite body as they laid in bed, in the best room the Minor by the Sea had to offer.

“You know you’ve repeated it hundreds of time in a few hours, right?” he asked, chuckling under the grazing of her immense fingertips, his body covered by the marks of her kisses, and some gentle biting, his muscle aching after the most prodigious love-making session they had ever shared, which was quite something to say.

“I know” she replied calmly. “I’ll do it billions of time more. Alejandro Matthewson. Today’s one of the best days of my life, and I’m so happy you allowed me to be your wife…”

“One of the best days? Ouch, I feel a little like a loser now!” joked Alejandro.

“Don’t” she ordered, her voice playful still. “You’re in each of those best days. The day we met, the first time we kissed as kid, that day at your parent’s home, two years ago, when you moved to New Orleans and I got to dance for you under the dark light…”

She let her voice trails off, as she remembered all those days. What a travel it had been, twenty two years of her life to his twenty-one, leaving her with so little time to share with him. It soured her mood for a moment, but she casted this idea away. She didn’t need to care about it, not one bit. She would have years to think about it, find ways to accommodate his nature as a Minor, every step of the way, to make him happy and keep him healthy. But right now, as newlyweds? She wouldn’t let herself fall into those pitfalls.

“You really crushed on me hard, back when we were kids” dreamily said her lover.

“You had no idea, didn’t you?” she giggled. “You really thought that all we did were innocent games!”

“It wasn’t?” asked a surprised Alejandro, which made her laugh out loud.

“No! I mean, come on baby! Elie always wanted to play tickle with you, I wanted to play the knight saving the princess and the guys… well, back then, I guess they knew they wanted you but didn’t understood why as well as we did.”

“That’s kind of sexist, you know?” asked her husband, looking slightly put off by this whole revelation, and frankly, she couldn’t blame him for it.

“I don’t care” she said, sounding unconcerned even to her ears. “It’s just the two of us. And it’s true. You’ve no idea how much fight we all had, once Alaric brought you back home.”

“And I guess Joseph…” he started, but she didn’t let him finish his sentence.

“Don’t. Ever. Talk. About. Him. Again” she growled, letting her burning hatred and rage of this dead man flaring for the first time.

“Shannon…” he started, surprised by her vehement reaction, but she couldn’t care.

“I’m not joking. When it’ll be necessary to talk about it to our kids, I’ll do the talking. You? I don’t want you to ever again think about him, what he did, what he looked like, anything. I want his memory excised from your mind, I want his name forgotten, his existence erased from History.”

“You really hate him…” whispered Alejandro.

“Twice as much as I love you” admitted Shannon.

“But it’s all a part of my past, of my story. How can I write new pages of it without the whole book complete?”

“I don’t know. But what I know is that we’ll find a way. Together. Because our story is truly starting tonight, and it belongs only to the two of us.”

She leant forward and kissed him, deeply but without her usual hunger for his lips.

FIN