Chapter 33 – Epilogue
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The wedding was a grand affair, at least in Chad's entirely biased opinion.
It was good to see his father wearing his formal wedding clothes again, good to see Queen Snow dressed up like the height of Hanoven Royalty – her gown a mix of tradition and Evie's fashion forward pizzaz that left the press gushing for weeks after the event.
Ben married them on the grand altar of Sardinia, Chad and Dizzy standing proudly in their own Sardinian formalwear, Dizzy's crown looking entirely perfect on top of the twisted updo Evie had done for her. Speaking of, Chad's girlfriend was across the Isle on Queen Snow's side, Doug standing beside her as a representative of the dwarves that had kept Queen Snow safe, and if that hadn't been perfect enough, the rest of his romantic partners taking up the front few pews definitely would have been.
"It's about time," King Eugene had toasted during the reception to uproarious applause, and no one commented on the fact that Ben's parents stayed by the wedded couple's side the entire night, through cake cutting and vows and their first dances, switching off and trading kisses to nothing but cheers.
Chad had thought it might seem strange to watch his father rest his head against Duke Adam's shoulder, but ultimately he only felt a measure of peace when allowed to witness his dad's quiet happiness, something that blossomed as he watched Queen Snow effortlessly spin Duchess Belle around the dancefloor.
"You- blondie," Mal ordered with a quirk of her fingers, beckoning Chad close so she could pull him into a kiss. "Good job making the world even better."
"Mal," Chad whined, the same way he did every time she tried to ply him with compliments, but Mal would take none of his protests, pulling him into another kiss until he whimpered his appreciation.
"I mean it," she huffed, nuzzling his shoulder. "You changed the world – made it better – then changed it back and cleaned up the mess the rest of us made. If you hadn't done that, we never would have gotten this," she motioned around them. "But we did, because you did, and I just wanted to say that I am very grateful for that, and I love you very much."
"Get in line," Ben rumbled, wrapping around Chad's back and giving his neck a light kiss. "Mal-"
"He's all yours, beasty," Mal said with a roll of her eyes, gliding away so Ben could pull Chad into a proper dance position.
"Chad," Ben purred, tilting their foreheads together. "Thank you, for this. For giving me more than I ever would have allowed myself to have. I thought I was selfish, but in this, I can see that we fit. And maybe all our relationships aren't equal with each other, maybe some veer more towards friendship than deep romance, but at the end of the day we still have each other, and all of that is because of you."
"You give me too much credit," Chad insisted with a flush.
"I give you just enough," Ben rumbled. "And if you wouldn't mind too terribly much…" He pulled them to a stop, then shifted down onto one knee, holding Chad's hand so very carefully. "Would you marry me?"
That time, Chad didn't have to hesitate, because he knew what the answer was.
"Yes, Ben," Chad said, laughing hopelessly while the king smiled up at him. "Yes, always."
"Always," Ben rumbled, slipping a ring onto his finger while those nearest to them started to clap. "I like the sound of that."
"Good," Chad said, feeling happier than ever thought he could manage before. "Then that's what we'll have."
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Endnotes:
Look, I like to end with weddings, okay? I have no apologies for this ^_^
Also, it's actually a huge faux pas to propose or do any important announcements at someone else's wedding, but in this instance we can assume that Ben asked for the lucky couple's permission before doing so, and they waved him on with excessive amounts of enthusiasm because they knew how awesome a couple they were in the other world.
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"Have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true." – 'A Dream is a wish your heart makes' from Cinderella.