One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

FOUR YEARS LATER

“I hereby pronounce you, husband and wife…” The officiator announced. “…and you may kiss the bride.”

Mackenzie’s father flashed a big smile at Beatrice, who returned the smile with a tender one of her own. They moved closer, and leaned in to share a kiss.

Before their lips could touch, Mackenzie covered both of her twins’ eyes with her palms, like the overprotective mother that she was. Calista, her baby girl, leaned closer into Mackenzie’s dress, clutching the ring case assigned to her as the ring bearer.

Unlike his sister, Cameron, the more hyper-energetic of the two, squirmed against Mackenzie’s palm, trying to see what was going on.

Once the kiss was over, the guests erupted in cheers and claps, and Mackenzie removed her hands from their small faces with a fond smile. Now free, they both ran off before their sight was taken away again.

She laughed, then looked back at her father, and his bride. She had never seen her father this happy.

He almost looked young again. She was so proud of him.

Beatrice, Felicity’s mom, looked angelic in her dress. She was smiling, accepting hugs and congratulations from the guests.

A nudge hit Mackenzie, and she whirled to see who it was. It was Charlotte. “Oh my god, Kenzie.” She sighed,. “How did we even get here? Look at Felicity’s mom in a wedding dress!”

Mackenzie laughed, “Yeah, it’s almost too good to be true.”

“We’re both siblings now. How amazing can this get?” Felicity added, as she appeared by Mackenzie’s side. Mackenzie glanced at both of her best friends with a smile.

“Let’s take a toast to the Newly Weds!” One of the guests exclaimed, and Charlotte pulled Mackenzie and Felicity forward, grinning, “Let’s go!”

*

Later that evening, there was a small dinner to celebrate the wedding. Only family and some close friends were here.

There was low, soothing music playing in the background, while Mackenzie’s dad and Beatrice sat at the head of the dinner table, whispering sweet nothings to each other.

Mackenzie had just put Calista and Cameron to bed, and as she stepped back out of the house, she spotted uncle Maverick walking towards her.

“Hey, Kenzie.” He said, with a smile, and two glasses of wine in his hands.

“Hey..” She flashed him a smile, which made his heart flutter. “What are you doing out here?”

“I just came to see if you needed help with the twins.” He said,, extending one of the wine glasses to her. “But seems like you got it covered.”

She accepted the wine, and took a sip. “That’s so thoughtful of you. Thanks. But honestly, it was not easy to get them to fall asleep.”

Maverick laughed, “I thought as much. Especially, Cameron.”

She gave him a smile, as they walked back to the garden together. She was finally surrounded, by real friends and family. People who actually cared about her.

Uncle Maverick was a stable older figure, that had always been part of the people who made sure she was doing okay through the struggles of the past years.

“Are you ready to tell him?” Uncle Maverick asked.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to tell Dad goodbye. He’d be so sad.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll have Beatrice by his side. He wouldn’t be so sad.”

She nodded, taking a sip of her drink again. Maverick gazed at her side profile softly, with longing in his eyes. She looked so beautiful, with her beautiful black curls flowing down her shoulders. Her hazel eyes were even more accentuated by her light make-up.

Her skin seemed to be glowing under the moonlight, and her body looked even more curvaceous after having the twins.

Maverick just couldn’t tell her how he felt, and because of that, he had lost her once when she got married to Jeffery. But now, life had given him another chance, which he did not intend to lose.

When they got to the garden, Mackenzie walked over to the dinner table and announced, “I have prepared a very special present just for this day, and I really hope that you’ll love it, dad.”

She turned around and walked over to a large object covered by a silk cloth, and then pulled it off, “Happy married life to you two! And I love you, both.”

The present was a new dinner table she made, herself. And her father was overjoyed to see it. He, along with Beatrice, went over to give her warm hugs, while the rest cheered.

“Do you like it, Dad?” Mackenzie looked over at her father with a hopeful expression.

He laughed, as if the answer was obvious. “This is overwhelming. I feel so loved and proud that my daughter created something as beautiful as this, for me and my wife.”

“Thank you, Mackenzie. We love it.” Beatrice added.

With a relived sigh, Mackenzie said again, “I have something to tell you, Dad.”

She continued, “I am moving to Greenville.. Now that you are married, and I am sure you would not be lonely, I think it is time to give you some space.”

“What?” Her father frowned. “You do not have to do that…”

“I know, dad.” She said. “I want to start a new brand where I can produce more of my furniture. Greenville is the best place to do that. And don’t worry, I will not be going alone.”

“Yes,” Charlotte grinned. “I’m trying out a few magazine companies in the city, and see if I can get a job there. Felicity is coming as well.”

“Really?” Beatrice, Felicity’s mom, asked.

Felicity added with a soothing smile. “Yes, mom. My blog has grown so much, that big companies are all offering juicy deals to come to the big city for collaboration contracts.”

Mackenzie’s father was quiet, before he gave her a solemn look. “Will you and my grandkids be okay? You have been here all these years, and everything had been going so well…”

Mackenzie smiled fondly, reaching out to hold his hands. “It was all thanks to you, Father. Your grandkids and I will be fine. I promise.”

Uncle Maverick stepped forward. “I will always be there to help them out, sir. I won’t be so far away.”

With a soft breath, Mackenzie’s dad asked, “When do you leave?”

“In two days.”

~

Mackenzie was folding some clothes into a suitcase. When she raised a dress, a brown envelope fell out of it.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

She picked it up and inspected it. It was the envelope containing the divorce letter Jeffery had sent during her pregnancy.

It was a brutal blow.

Something in her had kept on hoping, when everything else had collapsed. That part of her had held on to Jeffery, even when she knew there was nothing to hold on to.

Only for this letter to arrive, and shatter what was left of her heart . It showed that it was truly over. All those years, she was a slave to their approval. Losing herself to please them.

After all of that, her reward was a divorce paper.

No compensation.

No amount of embarrassment could describe how Mackenzie felt when she realized she had been deceived right from the beginning. She was only nineteen when she fell in love with Jeffery.

His onyx eyes were enough to sweep any naive girl off her feet. Under his influence, she blindly signed off all her rights as a married woman.

Three years after the marriage failed, she was heavily pregnant, heartbroken, struggling at a meagre job -as a small primary school teacher that earned pennies- and left with nothing to call her own, but a miserable divorce paper.

Pathetic.

He rendered her a fool, and for a long time, she hated herself for being so stupid. But now, she realized that with every bad situation came a reward.

Her rewards, were the beautiful kids she gave birth to, after years of trying and failing. Now, she realized that the universe must love her, for keeping her from having a child in that terrible marriage.

Her kids were a healing balm on her soul. And she was determined to protect and take care of them, with everything in her life.

Placing the envelope down, she moved out of her bedroom and to the door right next to it. Opening it softly, she stepped in.

Her twins were fast asleep on separate small beds, which were of course color coded and decorated to match their personalities. She went to sit on the chair between their beds.

Leaning over to Calista, she softly brushed her curly black hair back against her pink pillow. She was so beautiful, and looked exactly like Mackenzie. She had the same hazel eyes, and curly hair, even though her curls were not as thick.

Her kids were so precious to her, that her heart could not bear the thought of Jeffery and his mother getting their greedy hands on them.

She moved towards Cameron. Her heart always pounded each time she looked at her little boy. Why? Because with each day that passes, he bore a more and even more striking resemblance to a certain man in Mackenzie’s life.

Sea blue eyes that could be stormy, icy or completely empty. In all three forms, those eyes were completely mesmerizing.

And he had jet black hair that was barely curly anymore, as it was when he was an infant. The older Cameron grew, the less he looked like McKenzie and the more he looked like… him.

She pulled at his blue bedsheets, which he had flung away at some point, and tucked it gently around his small shoulders.

Now she was taking them away from this quiet place, to the bustling city life of Greenville. It scared her, she had to admit. She had only taken them to the city once, when they were two years old, and even then, she was completely paranoid. She kept thinking somehow, Jeffery and his mother would bump into her kids.

Now, she had quelled that fear.

Even if she was broke, and struggling to make ends meet, things would be better in the city.

They were moving to a part of the city where they would never cross paths with the Axfords.

Ever.

With one last loving looks over her kids, Mackenzie got up from the chair back to her room to continue packing up. However, as she walked further in from outside, the sweet, lingering smell in her room was apparent.

With a sigh, she looked up at her window to see the numerous bouquets and vases of Pink Camilla flowers. Over the years, she had become so used to their scent, that she barely noticed it anymore, except when stepping into her room from outside.

She had got tired of throwing them out, so she just left them in here. The unknown person who kept sending these mysterious flowers was relentless and consistent.

They never stopped.

Her baby girl, Calista, had even grown to love the flowers so much. It was admittedly so beautiful, but it made her wonder.

Who could be sending these?

Or better still, why?

She had gotten the answer to the latter, after all, Felicity was good with plants, and she had told Mackenzie that Pink Camilla flowers signified longing. Deep longing.

That answer only confused her.

Who in the world could long for her for years?