A/N: Here we go, skipping ahead a little bit. I know you guys probably wanted stuff between the last chapter and the beginning of this one, but hey…I didn't have any ideas.

Chapter 21: Family Ties

Their engagement was short lived as Sydney and Nadia dove into the wedding plans. They wanted a small, simple wedding where only friends and family were invited. The party was a different matter.

The day the Sydney Anne Bristow became Sydney Anne Bristow-Vaughn was a moment that could nearly go down in history. Michael looked dapper as ever, and Nadia had come to the rescue when neither Vaughn nor Weiss could manage to get the bow tie actually tied.

The flash of a camera made the two grown men groan as they spotted Nadia standing behind them in the full mirror. Weiss was to the left, Danny in the middle, and Vaughn on the right as the boys tried desperately to get their ties finished before the ceremony started.

"You three look absolutely adorable." She chirped, noticing that Danny was more interested in looking and acting like his daddy and Uncle Eric than actually getting anything done.

"These things are impossible…why can't we wear normal ties?" Vaughn groaned as he undid the mess around his neck and started over again.

"Oh for goodness sake, you're going to miss your own wedding because you can't do a bow tie. You picked the tuxes you know…" she left off and set the camera down, moving over to Weiss first and fixing the silk to a perfect tie.

"Look, daddy, I did it like Nadi." Danny pulled on the bottom of Michael's jacket and the older man looked down at the little boy with a smile. Sure enough, though slightly crooked and one half completely lopsided it still looking something akin to a bow.

"How did he do that?" Eric growled, setting a quick kiss to Nadia's nose before she pulled away and knelt next to the little boy.

"Very good just let me fix this corner." Straightening the bow while re-doing it, she finally moved to Vaughn just as he growled and gave up, letting her finish it for him.

Danny and Vaughn were in matching suits while Weiss was in something slightly different. Nadi wore nearly the same dress as Sydney, only light blue rather than creamy white spaghetti strapped, fitted gown. Forming a 'V' across their waist and over the hips, the flowing silky dress reached nearly to the floor, dancing atop their toes as they stuck out of the high-heeled pair of sandals.

The wedding had gone off without a hitch, Nadia posing as the Maid of Honor while Weiss was the best man. Danny was the ring bearer, and though Marshall and Carrie were slightly disappointed, they decided last minute that Mitchell was eating more of the flower petals that he was supposed to lay down – therefore the flower boy was discharged to sit with his parents. Vaughn's mother had been able to fly in, though she was slightly miffed at her son for keeping Sydney's return a secret, she'd quickly gotten over it by spoiling her new grandson.

So, exactly ten days, fifteen hours, and forty-seven minutes after the engagement, Sydney and Michael were married in a small church next to the beach by their house - essentially in their backyard. Nadia had made plans to move in with Weiss, and the last of her things had been switched the day before the wedding, leaving Syd's large apartment for the new family, and her old room for Danny.

Standing with his back against the brick wall as conversations floating all around him, the reception inside their home was bigger than the wedding had been. Danny played with Mitchell, but became fed up when the toddler wouldn't cooperate. Now he was running around with his small dress pants rolled up around his stocking feet and sliding around on the hardwood floors. Many times he and his new son held races and contests to see who could slide the farthest and the longest – mostly when Sydney was out shopping or in the shower. As always, by the time she returned, she would find them out in the back yard playing catch; or if Danny wasn't feeling too well they would be laying on their stomachs in a massive pile of pillows and blankets donning boxers, undershirts and socks happily watching cartoons.

Watching Danny jump around and play, bringing laughter and smiles to even Jack Bristow's chiseled face, made his heart grow even more than it already had in the last week and a half. He finally had a family, just as his mother and father, and so much like many of his friends he'd kept in contact with over the years. His eyes scanned the room, quickly falling on Sydney. Though he had taken his suit jacket off, the limp silk tie long since removed, Sydney had changed completely from her white dress to a light blue sundress, one of Vaughn's favorite outfits.

She was talking animatedly with Carrie as Mitchell slept against the other woman's shoulder. Danny slid into her leg, and she smiled before leaning down to better hear the little boy.

"Mommy, can I go play outside with Donovan?" he asked, looking over at the bulldogs pleading face squished against the sliding glass door.

"You may, just stay away from Eric and the grill." She kissed his forehead lightly watching him grin and scamper off, weaving through the masses and ending up sliding into his father.

"Daddy, where's Donnie's favorite ball?" He asked lightly as Vaughn scooped him up and carried him into his new bedroom upside-down. He giggled as Michael dropped him onto the small racecar shaped bed – picked out when Eric and Danny had broken away from the group while shopping for furniture to fill the boy's room a few days ago. Everything was still rather unfamiliar to him, though with his new home and family he was beginning to open up and behave like a little boy should. Nights seemed to be the only time he was really plagued by his internment in Russia, and he spent plenty of time crawling into bed with Syd and Vaughn.

Danny was going through his treatment, and though he was still easily fatigued, seemed to be doing better. His blood work had improved since his first visit nearly two weeks ago, which was something Sydney and Michael were very happy about. They'd received the information from APO about their new house in a suburban area outside the city of Denver, Colorado. Though Vaughn was apprehensive of the move, Danny and Sydney were all too excited. The pictures they'd seen of their new home showed an impressive two-story house with a large front yard – equipped with a climbing tree that Danny had pointed out would be perfect for their new tire swing. Every scrap of information on schools, for both Danny and Sydney, had been included in the packet as well as their surrounding neighbors.

Vaughn found the ball quickly, pulling the little boy up for a piggy back ride as he made his way through the swarms of talking people to the fresh evening air of the backyard; Weiss' grilling filled the medium sized space with the mouth-watering scent of cooking meat.

"So we finally get our bar-be-queue." Weiss laughed, Vaughn setting Daniel down as Donovan danced around the boy, obediently running with his stubby legs going full throttle as Danny threw the ball. "You know, I never mentioned this before because…well…I supposed that nothing I was going to say would have stopped you, but I think you made the right decision."

"Thanks man. That means a lot to me." Michael set a hand to his friend's shoulder, finally getting a good look at what he was wearing. "Kiss the Cookie Monster? Love the blue apron. Where the hell did you find that?"

"Mommy! Daddy said a bad word!" Danny yelled through the cracked open patio doors as Vaughn grabbed him with an embarrassed smile, seeing Sydney's glare through the glass before closing the doors the rest of the way.

"Tattle-tale. I thought you were playing with Donovan." Vaughn grinned, looking down at the grinning little boy before he took off to play on the tire swing that they'd assembled on the large tree in the corner of the yard. At first, Eric had suggested they cut it down just for the sheer fact that the neighbors had been complaining about it for nearly a year, but Sydney had refused. Finally, with Danny's arrival, the tree was getting good use and though they'd be moving in only one more week, they'd set up the swing anyway.

"He's getting pretty used to you guys as Mommy and Daddy. Does he ever call you Vaughn and Sydney any more?"

"Not really. He was so excited about finally having a family that it only took him like an hour to get the hang of it. To be honest, I love it. I didn't think that I'd ever have kids, even after I married Lauren. She didn't want children and the more I thought about it the more I realized that Lauren wasn't the one I wanted kids with anyway."

He looked over and saw the surprised look on his friend's face.

"You never talk about her so openly...everything okay?" Closing the lid on the grill, Eric slid out of the apron to show the tailored white shirt underneath still crisp, save for the arms that were rolled up to his elbows.

"I'm married. Again…but I know this one won't end with me finding out my wife's some kind of psycho homicidal maniac using me for information from inner workings of the American Government. It's weird Eric; it seems like all of the stuff that happened in the past doesn't even matter now…you know?"

"Aww…you little romantic you." Weiss snagged Vaughn into a rough hug before wrapping his arm around his neck and tucking his head firmly underneath his arm. His knuckles rubbed Michael's skull until the man beneath him begged for mercy, but it was Sydney's scolding voice that caused him to finally let go and get back to his grilling.

"Had to save your butt again, Vaughn." She grinned as he folded her into his arms, setting a kiss to the side of her neck as both Weiss and Danny made gagging noises.

"Will you stop teaching him stuff like that? You're a bad influence." Syd growled, pulling out of Vaughn's embrace as she set a light kiss to Weiss' cheek. "But thank you for grilling."

"Food's ready, if you want to announce it. Hey Dans, come get a hot dog before they're all gone, pal."

The child jumped out of the swing and tumbled in the grass to be instantly pounced on by the fat bulldog who'd been circling the bottom of the swing since Danny had abandoned him and his tennis ball. Licking the side of the boy's face he left dirty paw prints on the chest and stomach of the white button down shirt as Danny pushed him off and ran over to meet Eric who was handing him a bunned dog.

"Why do we call them hot dogs, Uncle Eric?" Crawling up onto the stool that Eric was using to sit and wait for the food to cook, he took a large bite as he kicked his feet, staring up at Weiss with big green eyes.

"Well, you see, millions of years ago the dinosaurs were running around and they all got blown up by volcanoes. The heat turned them into dogs, and when we dig them up we put them in little packages and sell them. Scientists called it, the Hot Dog."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-huh."

"Nuh-uh, my daddy and I have a book and it says that paleontologists that dig up them dinosaur legs and tails think dinosaurs turned into birds. You're silly Uncle Eric." Danny grinned as he hopped down and scampered inside to grab some ketchup.

"Wow. You just got served." Vaughn laughed as he scooped up a hamburger, patting his friend on the shoulder before making his way to sit beside Sydney at the large table they'd set up in the grass.

Clink Clink Weiss tapped his glass and stood, holding it out in front of him.

"Well, as the Best Man, I believe that it's time for the toast. I spent all night sitting up and writing this thing, thinking of what I could and couldn't say because I know for a fact that Sydney could kick my a- butt." He corrected, seeing Danny looking up at him from across the table.

"Nice save." Vaughn commented making the party laugh as Weiss glared down at him.

"Anyway, Vaughn and I have been friends forever, even through working for the Agency. Especially through the training, it was hell –err, heck. There were times where we both wanted to quit, but I'm thankful that we didn't because being in the CIA let us meet Sydney, and I'm sure that neither of us would change it for anything.

Now that all of that sappy crap is out of the way, I just want to say that it's great that you two finally have a chance to be together instead coming to me for therapy. To Sydney and Vaughn…may they have endless happiness, yadda yadda yadda, and invite me to all the good hockey games and parties in Denver."

With the toast complete, the rest of the evening went by quickly until the last remaining guest stood and put on his jacket.

"Papa Jack, do you have to leave?" Danny called as he slid off of the couch, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he tried desperately to stay awake so he wouldn't miss anything.

The two couples were cleaning up the living room and stopped as they heard his honest little question. He'd never really called Jack anything other than Jack, but apparently he'd put together that if Nana Amelie was Vaughn's parent, and Jack was Sydney's parent, that made him Papa Jack.

Crouching down beside the little boy Jack smiled and ruffled his hair.

"I have a long day at work tomorrow, Daniel, so yes, I'm afraid I have to go."

"Am I going to see you before me and my Mommy go away?" Climbing into his arms, Jack stood as Danny placed his arms around his neck and his head on his shoulder.

"Of course you'll see me before you move." He smiled, seeing the child's eyes close as his breathing evened out. Sydney smiled gently, walking over and taking Danny into her arms while placing a kiss to Jack's cheek.

"We'll see you in a few days dad." She opened the door for him as he turned back to face the others.

"Vaughn…may I have a word with you before I leave?" The look on Michael's eyes was priceless; the deer-in-headlights gaze directed at the senior Bristow in answer to his question.

"Umm, sure, Jack." He gulped, brushing past Sydney while she went to take Danny into his bedroom.

Stepping out into the cool night air, under any other circumstance, should have been a blessed relief from the hot confines of the newly emptied apartment. But for Michael Vaughn, who was about to have the most important conversation with Jack Bristow, relief was the last thing he was feeling.

"Vaughn… you and I haven't always seen eye to eye when it comes to Sydney…I have to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not just a lap dog trying not to lose sight of his master."

"Excuse me?" Vaughn squeaked, though some of his defenses began to rise at the mention of his new wife. "I guess I don't exactly know what you're getting at Jack."

"I need you to look at me and tell me that your marriage to my daughter wasn't just some pathetic last option to keep her in your life after her retirement from APO is finalized."

"Well…since we're being blunt – yes, it was. My intentions couldn't be anything less than love and devotion, but in the beginning, I'll admit that the thought of her leaving and potentially just disconnecting from this life did scare me. But after talking with her about the plans that we could eventually make, Syd and I realized that this wasn't exactly the only life that we'd like to live. I mean, for years she's talked about getting out of the spy business. In my first meeting with her she told me that once SD-6 was destroyed that she was done –she didn't want any more of this spy crap, and that's why she came to me…well…to the CIA in the first place.

"Jack, I love your daughter. You have to know that by now. We talked, long and hard about the decisions that we've made in the past week, and none of this seems wrong to us." He finished, finally looking up at Jack as he stood tall, pushing his chest out to see what the man would say to his tirade.

"You do understand that if you hurt my daughter, or Daniel, in any way - I will kill you."

"I won't."

"Welcome to the family." Jack smiled lightly, setting his hand to Michael's shoulder, and a gentle squeeze later he turned and walked away.

Letting out a gust of air he hadn't realized he'd be holding in, he turned to see Weiss' face pushed up against the front window as the darker haired man watched with wide eyes. Laughing, he made his way back inside to see Nadia gathering Danny's stuff as Sydney deposited the sleeping boy into Weiss' strong arms.

"Wait…he's staying with you guys tonight? What if he has a nightmare?" He asked, placing his hand on his son's forehead as Weiss rolled his eyes.

"Dude, we talked about this earlier."

"I don't remember any of this…"

"Not you and me – me and Danny. He's totally excited. He'll be fine." Eric promised, though his face was jovial, Vaughn could see the seriousness in his eyes.

"Well, if there's any sort of problem…"

"You live two doors down. Good night you two; congratulations and everything."

Their exit was swift as the newly married couple stood in their wake.

"You're awfully protective of him lately…" she smiled, reaching out and taking his hand in hers as she led him through the living room, switching off lights and locking doors before they entered their bedroom.

"You realize that you're my wife now, right?"

"Vaughn…I was at the ceremony." She giggled, feeling him pull back before crossing the doorway.

"Well, I wouldn't be a very good husband if I didn't carry you across the threshold." He grinned, pulling her quickly up into his arms as her hands fastened around his neck and shoulders.

They laughed as they eventually tripped over something in the middle of the floor, thankful that they'd made it all the way to the bed as it padded their landing. Lying haphazardly across her, he twisted his head to see what they'd tripped over. Donovan looked up at them with a death glare that only he could pull off before he stood and trotted out of the room.

"Sorry pal." Michael called as Sydney's hands framed his face, pulling his focus back toward the woman in his arms.

To him, she'd never looked so beautiful. It didn't matter how many times he'd slept with her before, or how monumental their unions were, he knew this night would pale everything in comparison. Even if they only cuddled the entire time, it would be wonderful because she was now his wife. Sydney Bristow was his wife. Three years ago, this would have been a step toward the future they could have already had. Unfortunately, those plans went straight to hell. But now, as if fate had a sense of humor, she was now here in his arms, wearing a ring matching his own as they enjoy their first night together as husband and wife.

"You gonna stare at me all night, Michael?" She asked lightly, seeing the inner conversation in his expressive eyes.

"I was just thinking." He grinned, lowering his lips to hers long enough to brush his tongue over her bottom lip before pulling back.

"Good thoughts?"

"Always."

Settling above her, he propped himself up on his elbows and allowed her to move her legs to a more comfortable position.

"Do you know how beautiful you were today? Every day?" he asked, lowering his mouth to her neck as he traced the gentle curve with his fingertips, following the tingling lines with his lips and tongue.

"Is that rhetorical?" She asked with a breathy sigh, her fingernails scraping over his cotton dress-shirt prior to bunching up the fabric at his waist and diving underneath to touch his hot skin.

He chuckled against her collar bone, the air cooling the moist path etched out by his tongue as his mouth closed over one of her nipples through the fabric of the sundress. The bun at the top of her hair had begun to come loose and long strands were lying on the pillow underneath her moving head. She groaned his name as his teeth came into contact with the first button. Slipping it through the hole with his tongue, his fingers began at the buttons near the bottom of the dress – which had been pushed up to the middle of her thighs.

Taking the time to caress the soft skin of her inner leg, he jumped when her hands ran down his chest and her fingernails skimmed over his hardened nipples.

"Touché, Mrs. Vaughn." He groaned, his words slightly muttered and muffled because of the line of buttons he was slowly making his way through. He stopped at the exposed skin of her stomach, delving his tongue into her belly button and back out as his deft fingers finished the rest of the small, flat, plastic circles hiding her skin from his eager gaze.

"I like it…"

"Like what?" His questioned forced him to look up at her through half lidded eyes, his hand almost petting the soft muscles of her abdomen, his other busy sliding up her newly revealed skin.

"Being, Mrs. Vaughn. It's got a certain ring to it." She sat up, forcing his mouth back against her stomach as she slipped the dress away from her shoulders and let it fall back down to the bed behind her.

She stayed sitting, pulling his mouth up to hers as she quickly flipped their positions so that he was resting his back against the wooden headboard in a higher spot than she had just been in. She opened her legs, straddling his waist in her matching white bra and panties, the lacy garter mid-thigh. She used her lower half as leverage, only really giving full movement to his arms, but he was content to let her do all of the work to remove his clothing. His emerald eyes couldn't help but fall on the garter, and he reached out to snap it against her toned leg.

"Weiss picked it out."

"Well…there goes all the sexiness. Why the hell was he picking out a garter for my wife?" Vaughn growled, his fingers moving to her hips to keep her relatively still as she rocked against his growing erection.

"He and Nadi decided it was the best one, and that you would probably enjoy it more than the black one."

"What was wrong with the black one? I mean, it's not like it's going to stay on for too long anyway."

"Who cares, Michael? I'm trying to make love to you, and you're fixated on the garter." She laughed, licking his adams apple as her mouth followed the path of her unbuttoning fingers until the shirt was open completely and his hard chest was in full view.

"I happen to think that it's sexy." He grinned; grabbing her by her backside and pulling her up until the plunging top of her panties were nearly against his nose, he took the opportunity to nibble and suck at the edge of her hip, a purple mark left before moving back to her belly button. A skillful hand moved quickly to the center of her back, unsnapping the bra and pulling it off over her arms before she could think, and she soon found herself not caring. His hands drove up and into her hair, releasing all of the pins, to send the straight tresses cascading down her shoulders and back as his lips firmly latched over her right nipple.

His mouth alternated between sucking and licking, pushing and pulling, and he quickly figured out a pattern that kept her in a highly induced state of pleasure. Tracing the rounded edge, his tongue dipped into the valley between her breasts and up over to the neglected left peak, repeating the process to his satisfaction. His hands were splayed against her upper back to keep her from tipping away from his body as he leaned against the headboard to look at the etched, blissful and sated woman before him.

Eyes closed and mouth parted slightly to let enough air through, she was the picture of radiance, and he smiled gently, it dawning on her that he wasn't moving anymore.

"Did you have to stop?" Her voice was deliciously lower and her words were slightly slurred.

"Well, I have entirely too many clothes on." He spoke, seeing her eyes look to at the wide open shirt that still hung to his shoulders as well as his tented dress pants.

"I would have to agree." She grinned and pulled back, pressing her hot core against his straining, cloth-covered cock.

She let out a throaty giggle at the hissed air he sucked into his tight lips as she set gentle kisses to each closed eye, continuing to rock against him lightly, her mouth moving farther down to his nose, cheeks, then finally both the upper and lower lip. Her tongue joined the fray, though Vaughn stayed motionless and let her work over him. His fingers began tighten with each press of her hips against his and they both knew she'd have finger-shaped bruises in the morning, but neither of them cared.

"Sydney, if you don't stop moving those wonderful hips, there's going to something incredibly premature about this evening."

"You've never misfired before…"

"Yes, well we usually just skip the clothes-humping phase and get straight to the love making." He laughed, deep throated chuckles as she leaned forward, her lips sliding over his in a very wet and very hot kiss. Her tongue commandeered his mouth, searching endlessly over his own tongue and against his teeth before retracing her steps and repeating the process.

Only when spots danced behind their closed eye lids did they pull back and gasp their lungs full of oxygen. His surprised yelp made her grin, catching him as his forehead fell to rest against the small space below her collar bones. She used the pointed tip of her finger to trace his erection through his confined pants; from root to head, swirling lightly then moving down the other side. She did this two or three times before he growled a warning, never moving his head or opening his eyes. His fingers were digging into the small of her back as he tried desperately to increase pressure against his straining member.

"Patience is a virtue, sweetie."

"Not right now it isn't." he snarled, finding some relief when his wife undid the unpleasant belt buckle that was beginning to dig into his waist in their nearly upright position. Sydney was firmly planted in his lap. If he had his way, she would never move from her spot above him.

He felt more than heard the zipper slide down, and the liberation of his rock hard cock left like a ton of pressure was being lifted off of his hips.

"You're not wearing any boxers." The surprise in her voice made him grin, feeling his hardness spring free to slap against his stomach.

"Well, consider it my wedding gift to you, baby." He wiggled his eyebrows, lifting his hips so she could slide his trousers down his legs. Wrapped around his ankles, he used his feet to kick them the rest of the way off, his fingers hooking the thin, nearly string-like fabric of her panties. One rough tug later they were torn in half and he pulled them away from her body, his mouth joining hers once more before pulling her back down against him, his cock trapped between their straining bodies. His hands gripped her hips, pushing her up and away from him nearly a foot as she reached down and wrapped her fingers around him, positioning the head at her entrance. He let her sink down slowly, prolonging their pleasure as long as they could until he was buried to the hilt inside her warm body, her pressing her chest firmly against his to try and remain upright.

He tested the waters by removing her hands from his shoulders and setting them on the wooden board behind them. Having her pull herself up, he kept his hips down on the bed. The moment he was completely unsheathed, he set his hands to her hips and pulled her back down again. With the teamwork of her rocking her lower half against his pelvis, pushing up with her thighs and pulling with her arms, coupled with Vaughn's half thrusts into her heat - they were each nearing the end. He wrapped her into his embrace, pulling her away from the headboard and pressing her backwards so that they ended up on the opposite side of the bed. Pushing himself up with his elbows resting beside her head, he pulled back with his hips to once again exit her body completely before slamming back in to the hilt.

The base of his cock rubbed against her clit with such force that no more than ten thrusts later she was tumbling off of the cliff in her first climax, clutching at his shoulders while crying out both versions of his name against his throat. On more than one occasion he felt her teeth biting into the skin of his shoulder as well as her fingernails digging into the skin of his upper back.

With the rhythmic clenching and squeezing of her inner walls, he pushed himself in and out of her body with intense force, sweat dripping from his neck down to his chest, her tongue catching a few of the salty drop before they could roll down his throat completely. His balls began to tighten and heat spread from his stomach to the tip of his cock - making it feel like all of the blood in his body was centered on his pumping hardness.

She could feel her second orgasm build as his mouth moved up from the crook of her neck to her lips, his hungry tongue matching the pattern of his thrusts as he came hard inside her, forcing her to climax alongside him. Their muffled groans of pleasure were swallowed by the other as the lay together for an eternity before either of them had the energy to move.

Minutes flew by as he rested his forehead against hers, their breath mingling, as his hand sought out hers. His fingers traced the edge of her new ring, hers doing the same to his own left hand until he managed to push himself up far enough to look down at his completely sated and half-coherent wife.

"I love you." He whispered, placing a gentle peck against her swollen lips as she smiled.

"I love you too."

She felt one hand leave hers and begin a slow trek down her body until he reached the clinging garter around her thigh. Lifting her leg until he was nearly cradled in a soft cocoon of flesh he pulled it down and over her knee, bending it completely so he could continue the journey over her calf and foot and finally ridding her of the stretchy garment.

The pattern of the fabric was molded into her thigh and his fingers traced the waving pattern before tossing the garter across the room. Leaning back, his semi-hard tool pulled free from her body causing them each to groan slightly from the loss of such an intimate contact. Managing to sit her up and maneuver them both until they were at the head of the bed, he pulled the covers back, up and over until she was firmly snuggled against his chest, her hand resting over his heart and her nose pressed to the side of his jugular.

"Goodnight, Sydney." His voice was barely even a whisper, more like a hoarse breath of air.

"Goodnight, Michael." She returned, placing a light kiss to his throat as their fingers twined together before falling into a tranquil sleep.