AN: Hey everyone, I know this is later than I expected it to be out. Sorry. I've been busy. I've had a lot of exams and I'm moving soon, so that just makes things even more hectic.

If the chapter seems a little choppy or jumpy, I haven't been to a wedding or a reception since I was eight, so I have no clue how these things really go.

I've got one more chapter before the epilogue. I'm not gonna put a date on it this time. It'll be out soon.

Sorry again.

Happy reading and hope you enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-One: Tale as Old as Time

Song as old as Rhyme

Beauty and the Beast…

After the wedding, we went back to the hotel for the reception. Riley had gotten one of the ballrooms for the reception, which I questioned at first because it was just the eight of us. I stopped questioning once we went inside. It was beautiful. There was one round table big enough to seat all of us. The decorations were blue. There were three waiters who were standing by the food waiting to serve us and a DJ at the front of the room ready to start. The cake was blue and had a beach theme to it. It was decorated with shells, sand dollars, and pearls. At the top of the cake, were a little bride and groom. The groom was holding the bride bridal style. The bride was cupping the groom's cheek. They both had smiles on their faces. It looked like they were about to kiss. It was really sweet. The table that the cake was on was decorated with a spice that looked exactly like sand. And in the 'sand' was a heart, which said just married inside. Around the cake and the heart were white roses and irises.

"Okay, this, this is awesome." I smiled, "Everything is beautiful, Ri."

"Thanks. I can't take all of the credit though." Riley replied, "Your mom and Abby helped a lot."

"Nonsense, we only made suggestions." Mom commented, "The boy did all of the work."

She went to go talked to one of the waiters. We sat and after mom sat down and a couple of the waiters served the wine, which caught me by surprise. It was a white Chardonnay. Usually Champagne was served at weddings. I don't like Champagne. I don't know why, it just tastes odd to me.

"How did-"

"It was a guess. I noticed you would never really take Champagne unless it was me offering it to you when we went to parties and galas after we found the first treasure, which was out of politeness because I didn't know. As I got to know you better, I figured you were more of a chardonnay person because of its flavor and texture."

I smiled, "You were right."

"Congratulations Bianca and Riley." Dad stood, "Riley, I will be the first to admit that I was not fond of you when I first met you. I was wrong about you. When Bianca stood up for you the first time we met, I knew you were different. I know my little girl; she doesn't do that for anyone. She doesn't like people enough. In that moment, I knew you were going to be important to her. You are important to her. And after getting to know you I see why. Welcome to the family, Riley. I love you Bianca. I wish you two the best." Dad finished. We all drank to the toast.

Ben stood after Dad sat down, "I have just a few words to say. Congrats Riley and Bi. Welcome to the family, Riley." He congratulated us, and then said, "To those of you who don't know, Riley and Bianca actually met twice, once on the phone and at the airport. Later that day, they were finishing each other's sentences. I knew from that moment there was something there." Ben laughed and shook his head at the memory, "There was something there between you both. A spark, I guess you could call it. The closer you both got, the more obvious it became. I knew it was only a matter of time before you noticed there was something there too. From what I can see between you two, there always will be. Love you, Bianca. Riley, I couldn't have picked anyone better for my sister. I wouldn't want to either. I wish you both the best." Ben finished. We all drank to his toast. He sat down.

Abigail stood, "I've known Bianca for several years now. We met at the archives through a mutual friend. Bianca was looking for a roommate because she couldn't fully afford the flat that she had picked out by herself. She wasn't an agent for the FBI; she was a detective at the time, a very good one too. She profiled me in less than a minute. Her first question she asked was what part of Germany I was from. Less than a couple of minutes later, she offered for me to be her flat mate. She profiled me, told me who she was, and left. Bianca is brilliant and very observant. She used to profile everyone she met. She knew everything about everyone else, and they knew nothing about her. The first person, she met that I noticed she didn't profile was Riley. I knew there was going to be something different about him. The moment you got rid of the severed head in your fridge and-"

"You had a severed head in your fridge?" Riley whispered to me as Abby continued.

"Experiment, got it from a morgue." I quickly and quietly explained.

"We put food in that fridge."

"It was on a plate." I replied. He opened his mouth to speak again, I quickly said, "I threw out the plate."

"-Riley, you treat her like she's gold. You know her better than I think she lets anyone else know her. I'm very happy for both of you and feel blessed to share this amazing day with you." Abby finished her toast. We all drank to it.

Riley stood to make his toast. "Thank you everyone for coming and for welcoming me into your family. Thank you Abigail and Emily for helping me plan this. And thank you, Bianca, for giving me a second chance. I didn't deserve one, but I am grateful you gave me one anyway. I love you and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and being married to you." He finished. We drank. When he sat down, I kissed him.

"I love you." I told him. I would have made a speech, but I didn't have one.

The waiters served the food. Everyone talked as they ate. Mom was talking to Abby. Dad was talking to Tess. Ben and John were talking to each other. Riley and I were talking.

"Don't worry about having a speech. You haven't had time to write one." He told me. "I love you is a long enough speech for me. We made our speeches to each other in our vows." He kissed me lightly, and then said, "Severed head really?"

"You're still on that?" I asked. 'Just wait until he finds out why the library is a different wallpaper than the rest of the apartment…'

"A little. What possessed you to put a severed head in the fridge?"

"It was for research." I replied.

"A severed head for research?"

"The case was messed up." I shrugged, "The killer was psychotic. I was working with drugs and poisons."

"So what happened to the library?" He asked casually.

"A lot of things." I replied, "Back wall's been replaced twice, side wall across from the bookshelves used to suffer from my boredom…That sort of stuff."

"When we get a new house, please don't take your boredom out on the house."

"What makes you think I'm going to be bored?" I asked him with a small smile on my face. Riley looked at me. Before he could reply, I said, "I don't think I have a reason to ever be bored again for two reasons. First, quite a few people in our family, including us, are treasure hunters, and when we're not looking for treasure, you and I have cases to solve. Second, I have you. I am never going to be bored for the rest of my life."

"I'm your source of entertainment?" Riley asked jokingly.

"Of course." I replied laughing.

We joined the rest of the group's conversation that they seemed to have gotten on while Riley and I were talking till it was time to dance.

We danced our first dance to Beauty and the Beast by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. It felt absolutely perfect. It fit us. He wasn't a beast, of course, and I wasn't exactly like Belle, but we were complete different people before we met. I changed for the better because of him. A lot of things in my life have changed for the better because of him. Because of his help, we found the national treasure and the city of gold. My family's name isn't mud or linked with the term 'crazy'. I'm not as crazy.

My father/daughter dance with my dad was to the song Time in Bottle by Jim Croce. I danced to Landslide by Fleetwood Mac with Ben. The last dance Riley and I danced to before the reception was over was Time after Time by Frank Sinatra. It was my parent's song. Well, it was when they were in love. When I was little, Time after Time and Time in a Bottle were the only songs my dad could ever get me to go to sleep to. They were special. Landslide was special to me because of how I could relate to it when it came to Ben. It was usually a father/daughter song, but it fit more to Ben instead of Dad because of how much time I spent around Ben.

It was safe to say it was amazing. I don't like surprises, I really don't, but I loved this one. The next morning Riley and I got on a flight to Maui.

AN2: If you guys haven't heard any of the songs in the chapter, look them up. They're beautiful songs.