ER fanfic couples AU.
I don't own this, spoilers for series 1-6 of ER.
Read and review :)
Chapter 2: Carole and Luka, Epilogue.
3 years later…
The happy day finally arrived: Carole and Luka's wedding, after being together for the past 3 years. They had announced their relationship to the staff after being together for about a year, but it had not come as a surprise to anyone and some new staff members even believed that they had been together for years and that Luka was Tess and Kate's father. In spite of Luke's strict Roman Catholic upbringing, after announcing their relationship, he had moved into Carole's house and they had, naturally, taken their relationship to the next level. It worked so well and they were so happy; there were times when Luka suffered from flashbacks or depression because of the loss of his first family, but Carole knew that it was in his own time to work through it. Her mum and sisters had loved Luka, instantly treating him as one of their own, and Carole had finally met his brother and father, after their two-year-anniversary and they had lived together as a family, even before their marriage.
The first time Tess and Kate had called Luke 'Daddy', Carole had frozen, not for herself, but because she was worried about how Luka would react, considering the deaths of his own daughter and son, but he had smiled and hugged them both and they called him thus ever since. They went on trips to see their father, and they were also close to him, but he had a wife and two sons and Carole was glad that he had built his own life there, even though she knew that he would always love her.
After his father's and brother's trip, Luka had proposed to Carole; it was nothing fancy, they had been in bed together and he had asked her, and she had instantly replied 'yes', with no worries or hesitations, as there had been with Doug.
Luka's first wedding had been a big one and he did not want that again and either did Carole, so they married in a small ceremony, with her mum, sisters, his family and all of their friends from the hospital. Besides when the girls were born, it was the best day of her life and she and Luka shared their first kiss, as a married couple and she smiled and held him close. As they were dancing at the reception, Carole saw a familiar face, standing netx to Mark. It was Doug, there with his wife and sons and she could sense Luka tense, even though there was no reason for him to do so. She had to be civil, because he was still Tess and Kate's biological father and they had two half-brothers. He offered his congratulations, kissed Carole on the check and shook Luka's hand and, as she looked at him, Carole had never been happier with her choice. They went on their honeymoon to Spain the next day, leaving the girls with Carole's mum and sisters and, when they returned, Carole found that Doug had left permission for Luka to adopt the girls as his own, if he wished; he was still their father and he wanted them to see them, but he also wanted Luka's role in their lives to be seen. He had seen how much the other man loved the girls.
A year after their marriage, Carole discovered her pregnancy and, 9 months later, she gave birth, once again, with Luka and Mark with her side. The baby was a girl and they named her Hope Kovac-Hathaway and two years later, Carole gave birth to another baby girl, whom she and Luka named Evie Kovac-Hathaway. Luka had been both scared and happy about being a biological father again, but, once the babies had been born, those doubts had faded. Tess and Kate loved their baby sisters.
One evening, as the family of six were sitting in their garden, Carole, Luka, Kate, Tess, Hope and Evie, Carole was thinking about how she was so glad that Doug had left, glad that Luka had been the one to find her when she was going into labour at the station and glad that she had trusted him enough, to give their relationship a chance, because this was the happiest she had ever been.
