"Oh, one more thing, before we leave," Daniel remarked, dragging Rebecca from the pew, "Mr Farquis, allow me to introduce…"
"Uncle Roger?" Rebecca spluttered in disbelief, "can it be you?"
"Rebecca," the man gasped, "our Rebecca!"
For a moment the two people were too stunned to move. Then Roger flung his arms around his niece.
"Oh my girl…my girl….we've been searching for you for years…"
"I know," Rebecca told him, "but I couldn't…I couldn't…"
"I know, I know," Roger pulled back, looking at his niece's face, "it's not been easy for us either. We found Anthony and Lois."
"You found them? Oh goodness…Uncle, please, where are they?"
"They're at the Berwick Hotel, with your Aunt."
"She won't want to see me," Rebecca shook her head, "I guess…you had best meet my daughter."
She gestured at Lily, who blushed.
"This is Lily."
Roger Farquis turned to the young lady he had just watched marry his former employee and held out his hand.
"Congratulations, my dear."
Lily bobbed a curtsy. This man definitely wasn't from New York. He had the manners of a gentleman, the way he spoke and the swiftness of his conversation bore resemblance to that of a royal.
"Thank you sir."
"Not at all. You are part of the family."
"Part of the family?"
"Well, of course," Roger replied, "your Mother is my niece, and before she ran away from her home she had a very prestigious name."
"Oh?" Lily gulped.
"I was Rebecca Aldonquinn." Rebecca admitted gently, "related to the Aldonquinns of Larentford."
"The Aldonquinns of Larentford?"
"That is correct. I forfeited the privileges of the name when I ran away, and became Rebecca Oldengwen."
"Oldengwen," Lily paused for a moment, looking at Daniel, "that was the name I told you about."
Daniel nodded.
"In terms of your name, you are, by birth, Sara Aldonquinn-Farquis, but as I understand from talking to Mr Hannigan here, you changed your name to Lily."
"That is right, sir. After…everything, I needed a name that made me feel as though I belonged, so I chose Lily St Regis, after the hotel."
Roger smiled at the young woman. It couldn't have been easy for his niece to bring up a child on her own, and after Daniel had explained everything to him, it all seemed to make sense. Yes, the young man had falsified information to gain a job at his school, but at the same time, he had been doing it for the good of earning enough money to support his fiancée.
Rebecca shrunk back from the crowd. Her uncle was still angry with her and yet he was fascinated by Sara.
"Mother, why don't you come and join us?"
Lily reached for her Mother's hand and pulled her back into the crowd.
"Girls, I think we'll go outside…" Aggie blew a whistle and the girls climbed over the pews to form two crooked lines.
"Yes Miss Hannigan."
"What do you say, kids?"
"Congratulations Mr and Mrs Hannigan."
"Thank you, girls."
The girls hurried out of the church and gathered on the steps.
"Hey, Missy…take your kid." Aggie picked Danny up and handed him to Lily.
"Who is this?" Asked Roger, confusedly, gesturing at the baby.
"This is…uh…" Daniel frowned at Aggie. Trust her to put us in this situation, he thought.
"Our son." Explained Lily honestly.
If Roger was surprised by this he certainly didn't show it. Things were moving very quickly in these new modern days, and old rules were being relaxed. He had no doubt, however that their intentions were honourable and perhaps they hadn't had enough money to get married, unlike Rebecca, who had all the privileges, but had chosen a simpler life for herself.
"Welcome to the family, young Hannigan." He chucked the baby under the chin. "What is his name?"
"Danny," explained Lily, smiling at her son, "Danny Hannigan."
"Excellent. A good strong name, for a good strong boy. I have no doubt that he will be a wonderful young man someday."
"Thank you, Uncle." Lily replied and a pink tinge appeared on Roger's cheeks.
"Not at all. Where will you and Mr Hannigan be living?"
"We've got an apartment, haven't we, Lil?" Daniel interjected before Lily could speak. He could tell that Roger was about to offer his money to buy them an apartment but if there was one thing he couldn't stand; it was someone threatening his pride.
Lily noticed the signs and squeezed his arm in comfort.
"Daniel, its okay," she smiled, "Uncle, Daniel is quite capable of providing for me."
"I'm sure he is, young lady, I don't doubt that at all. Just to say that you are always welcome at Larent."
"Larent?"
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know. Larent Academy, my school in New Jersey." Roger explained.
"Thank you, sir." Daniel shook his hand. Married. It was beginning to dawn on him. That insolent and scruffy little boy called Rooster was now a father and husband.
"Look after yourselves, won't you?" He embraced Lily and then turned to Rebecca.
"Are you coming home, my dear?"
Rebecca shuffled uncomfortably. She had dreamt of returning home for years but now that her Uncle was here, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. How would Aunt Jean react when she saw her? All those years of worry and concern…would she even want to see her, the runaway rebel who had supposedly disgraced her name?
"Come, my dear," Roger put an arm around her kindly, "you are a woman now, not the little girl who fled so easily."
"Thank you, Uncle." She walked to Lily. "Oh, my darling, darling daughter, I have never stopped loving you and now that I have found you, I hope that we can build…" she began to cry, "I am just so proud of you, look at you…a mother, a much better mother than I was to you, and you have a lovely husband to help you, which is more than I did. Oh," she sobbed into Lily's shoulder, "please come and visit us."
"We will do." Lily assured her.
"Yes, we will." Agreed Daniel, taking the baby from Lily and holding him against his shoulders. Rebecca kissed her daughter on the cheek and patted Daniel's shoulder before allowing herself to be escorted to the street by Roger. Daniel and Lily quickly followed, with Lily holding the baby. As they stepped out onto the street the girls began to cheer and clap. Lily threw her bouquet and surprisingly, Rebecca caught it.
"Mother!" Lily called to Rebecca and the girls rushed at her, Pepper pinning her to the sidewalk in order to snatch the bouquet.
"Hey! Hey! That's enough!" Lily yelled as Aggie sat back in the car and filed her nails, "AGGIE!"
"What is it, sticky fingers?"
"Agatha, you know that's not me anymore. Can you please control the girls?"
"They're your problem now, remember you signed over."
Lily sighed and tapped loudly on the window.
"Aggie, I'm now married to Daniel, we need time to settle in to married life."
"I think you've done enough of that already." Aggie indicated the baby.
Lily frowned.
"Daniel, if you've planned a Honeymoon for us, we can't go. We're looking after the children."
Daniel hurried to the car.
"Oh Aggie…can't you just help us for once, just while we're on honeymoon?"
"Can it, Rooster, you're not getting away with it this time." A muscle twitched in Daniel's jaw. He wasn't the con man and thief anymore.
"Aggie, I told you, I put it all behind me."
"Yeah, for sure. How do you explain this hussy turnin' up on our doorstep then?"
Unbeknownst to Daniel and Lily, there was another passenger in the front of the car. She turned around and Daniel paled.
"Loretta."