I don't know how accurate this is in the way of a Cheyenne wedding. I was just trying to figure out the language. If anything is inaccurate please let me know and I will gladly change it. Any feedback is welcome!

Chapter 20

Everyone is at the reservation getting ready for the wedding. Michaela, Sarah and Katie are wearing three beautiful handmade Indian wedding attendant gowns.

Aimie and Angela are the flower girls and are wearing miniature versions of the same gowns. They look adorable.

Sully, Matthew and Brian are wearing authentic Indian wedding shirts.

Morningstar looks even more beautiful in her authentic Indian wedding gown. It was her mother's. She even has a crown of flowers to wear in her hair. She is glowing. She did some alterations to it so it would fit over her swollen belly. She is so happy to be marrying Cloud Dancing.

It truly is a bittersweet occasion since Morningstar's parents couldn't be there. Both of her parents were lost in a massacre, similar to Washita. Luckily for Morningstar, she wasn't there when it happened. She went back to the reservation to find her parents massacred. That's how she met Cloud Dancing. She gathered all of the things that weren't taken by the murderers, her mother's wedding gown being one of them.

When Cloud Dancing found her, he has said that something was calling him there. He was on one of his vision quests and had a calling to come there. He was to meet Morningstar. She was his second chance at love. He lost Snowbird to Washita, and Morningstar lost her parents in a massacre. It was fate.

Morningstar was so torn up about her parent's deaths, and Cloud Dancing was there to comfort her.

Both of them needing each other, since his relationship with Dorothy didn't work out, one thing led to another and that's when they conceived their baby. Their baby was conceived out of love. Once Cloud Dancing discovered Morningstar was pregnant, he knew he had to make things right and marry her.

It took longer than he had planned, Morningstar being 6 months along already but he wanted everything to be just right. The timing and everything was off but things finally fell into place for them to marry. Morningstar would have been happy just being with Cloud Dancing and having his baby but Cloud Dancing is a gentleman and wanted them to be properly married and for their baby to be legitimate.

Here is where they find themselves today.

Cloud Dancing knows he couldn't have made it this far without Sully and his family. If it wasn't for them, he wouldn't even be here today. He thanks them for his life and family.

Maggie and Katie picked some beautiful flowers for the bouquets they will all be carrying. They even found some flowers to put in their hair. Since Maggie wasn't in the wedding, she wanted to do something to help.

Michaela and Sarah had to get themselves and Morningstar and the twins ready. Michaela really didn't need to do all that bending over anyway.

Cloud Dancing decided he wanted the wedding to be an intimate occasion, so he only invited Sully and his family to be in the wedding. The only guest is Brian's fiancée, Maggie.

Since everyone in Cloud Dancing and Morningstar's family were dead, there wasn't anyone else to invite to the wedding. They could have invited some of the other Indians from the reservation but they weren't all Cheyenne. Cheyenne Indians conduct their ceremonies differently than other tribes and the other tribes wouldn't understand what was going on. It was better this way anyway. The most important people in Cloud Dancing's life were witnessing his marriage and that's all that mattered.

Not enough people knew Morning star and Cloud Dancing wasn't really close with anyone else in town besides Dorothy and more than likely Michaela would tell Dorothy all about the wedding so she could print it in the Gazette.

It is definitely something everyone will be talking about for some time to come.

A little while later…

The wedding party is all lined up as the wedding begins. Since it is a Cheyenne wedding, it's performed a little differently than what they are used to.

Nobody there knows what to expect so they just do what they are told to do. They just want the wedding to be beautiful and for everything to turn out alright.

The Indian chief stands waiting as Michaela walks up first, then Sarah, then Katie.

Brian stands at the front waiting as he plays his flute as Morningstar walks up to join her waiting beau.

Once she gets there the Indian chief begins to speak.

"va'ôhtama"

(Welcome!)

"tsé'tóhe hetane nee he'e vovéstoem nonó'ka'e néta'e tónêše-éšeeve."

(This man and woman marry one another today.)

Cloud Dancing and Morningstar face one another and grab hands. They smile at each other with love and admiration in their eyes.

"ma'heóneva mâxa'ósané tsé'tóhe hetane nee he'e."

(God bless this man and woman.)

The Indian chief then looks at Cloud Dancing.

"tšêhešévé mo tsêhe'ôhtseh tsé'tóhe mâsêháá'e hé-éve nêškéstoto pêhéve'évá?"

(Do you take this woman to be your wife?)

"haáahe."

(Yes.)

The Indian chief then looks at Morningstar.

"tšêhešévé mo tsêhe'ôhtseh tsé'tóhe hetanévôhtâhénestôtse hé-éve nêškéstoto nóhta'háohtsé?"

(Do you take this man to be your husband?)

"haáahe."

(Yes.)

"tó sá'-hávêsévo'ót mo nóhta'háohtsé naa pêhéve'évá. Mo tomôsetohko vôsémohtá sá'-.

(I declare you husband and wife. You can kiss now.)

Taking their cue, they pull in for a sweet, sensual, slow kiss as everyone cheers.

Once they finish kissing they grab hands and walk down as everyone in the wedding party follows.

They have a table set up with food as everyone eats and once they eat the Indian chief plays a drum and Brian plays the flute as Cloud Dancing and Morningstar share a traditional Indian wedding dance. Eventually Sully and Michaela and Matthew and Sarah join them. Maggie and Katie help the twins dance.

They are all having a good time.

The party goes on well into the early evening. Michaela begins to feel tired and Morningstar needs to rest. Her back is hurting her and the baby is kicking a lot. They decide to pack it in and go home. The twins fell asleep in one of the teepees. It really was a beautiful wedding a wonderful day.

It helped the family forget about missing Andrew, Colleen, Isabella and Aiden for a few hours.

Sully and Michaela are happy that Cloud Dancing and Morningstar finally got married. Now they can have their baby with no worries. The baby will be born into a happy, loving home.

Once Sully and Michaela get home the wonderful feeling turns into a dark cloud, at least for Michaela.

Chapter 21 coming soon…what's wrong with Michaela? Stay tuned and find out!