A/N: Mature content
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the judge said. "You may kiss the bride."
Antoine kissed Felicia's lips for the first time, and the judge dismissed them.
"What do we do now?" asked Antoine.
"I don't know," Felicia admitted. "We certainly can't go back home, at least not now."
Antoine and Felicia had gone to the Justice of the Peace and eloped. Fearing her grandmother Scarlett's wrath, Felicia was determined not to return home right away.
"I've got an idea," said Felicia. "My Great Aunt Carreen still lives in Charleston. I don't think she'd turn us away."
"Charleston's a long way from here," Antoine said.
"We'll have to travel at night and sleep during the day," Felicia told him.
"But where are we going to sleep?"
"Wherever we can find."
"Felicia! What a surprise!" Carreen exclaimed. "What brings you here? Who's your friend?"
"This is my husband, Antoine Dubois," said Felicia. "My grandmother forbid me to see him anymore, so we ran away and eloped."
"You traveled all the way from New Orleans, just the two of you?" Carreen gasped incredulously.
"Yes. Just the two of us," said Antoine.
"Well, by all means, do come on in," Carreen said. "You two can stay in my guest room, but I will have to tell your parents, Felicia."
"That's all right," Felicia said. "I want them to know I'm safe. My grandmother will be angry. That's why I had to come all the way up here. I'm afraid of her."
"Your grandmother loves you very much," Carreen told her. "I'm sure she's been worried sick about you."
Carreen showed Antoine and Felicia to the guest bedroom. Felicia grinned at Antoine, and he smiled back uncertainly.
"We're alone together at last." Felicia kissed her new husband's lips, and he responded, hesitantly at first, then more enthusiastically. Felicia began to unbutton Antoine's shirt, and his hands moved over her still-fully-clothed body. Once she had removed his shirt, she turned so that he could unzip her dress. Piece by piece, each article of clothing fell away, until at last they were both completely naked.
Felicia lay on the bed, and Antoine lay beside her. They stimulated one another until they were both highly aroused. Felicia gasped as Antoine entered her.
"Did I hurt you?" Antoine asked anxiously.
"It's all right," Felicia whispered. "I've always heard that it hurts a little bit the first time."
Soon she felt such bliss that she forgot all about the pain.
Carreen wrote to Daniel and Natalie immediately. Natalie wrote back begging Felicia to come home, with or without Antoine. Felicia and Antoine returned to New Orleans by train. Daniel and Natalie greeted them warmly and offered to help them set up a home. Scarlett refused to have anything to do with them at first, but Bertrand eventually softened her to the point that she would allow Felicia to visit her, although she still refused to allow Antoine into her house.