(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Epilogue
One year later...
Her smile never slipped, not once all day. It took no effort to keep it in place, though her cheeks were starting to ache from the pressure. It wasn't that Mac was unhappy about the event she was attending today. In fact, she was more than thrilled to be standing across from the man she loved most in the world, finally getting married. Sure, they had their problems, some of them as epic as their friends had ever been, but they had made it through eventually, as if they were just destined. Mac would like to think it was because they were.
What could be better than for them to get married? Of course, Veronica got to be Maid of Honour, while her husband, Logan, took up the position of Best Man. It couldn't have been more perfect. Except for one thing. One thing Mac was more thrilled about than any other.
"What's up, Q?" Veronica asked in a low voice, from the far end of the outdoor aisle.
"What could be up, Bond?" Mac shrugged, genuine smile shining brightly on her lips. "I'm about to marry the man I love, my whole entire convoluted family is here, not to mention all the friends I love as much as family," she said, knowing Veronica understood she was as much a sister as anyone to Mac. "And right over there, my baby girl is seeing all of this happen. My kid gets to see her parents get married, and even though she won't remember, I kind of love that we waited so she could be here. Is that weird?"
"Not at all," said Veronica, shaking her head slightly. "Now, come on, I think they're playing your song," she added with a smirk, gesturing for Mac to face forward too and begin what was, of course, the most important walk of her life.
Veronica led the way and Mac fell into step behind, head held high and smile wide as ever, as she counted her steps in her head. The numbers faded a little as she made her way down the aisle, seeing everyone she loved either side of her as she moved. Lauren was bouncing Mac's own baby daughter in her arms, encouraging her to wave to mama, while all the parents, plus Ryan, Keith, Weevil and Jade, Wallace, and just about everybody who mattered to Mac smiled at her from the rows and rows of guests.
Logan was smiling too, though his gaze was mostly on Veronica, which Mac didn't mind at all. Truthfully, her own eyes were only for Dick when she finally saw him there at the altar, looking as fine as he ever had. Sure, she was too cerebral to ever love a guy purely for his looks, but Mac would freely admit she did not mind at all that her soon-to-be husband was a Class A hottie, alongside all his other positive attributes.
Clearly, he was thinking similar things when he saw her and that didn't hurt at all. If his eyes got any wider they were going to roll right out of his head. Mac was more than a little proud of being able to evoke that reaction, after almost three years of them living together, and her having gone through a pregnancy and all. Of course, it was still a real rarity for him to see her in a dress, especially something so deliberately slinky and sexy.
The happy expression stayed on Mac's face throughout the ceremony. It was too good an occasion for anything else. When it was over, she put her arm through Dick's own, the happy couple heading back down the aisle to rapturous applause. Of course, he whispered in her ear how smoking hot she looked in the dress. Plus, how he couldn't wait to get her out of it later. It made her glad they weren't actually in a church. Not that Mac was religious or anything, but some things were just generally disrespectful.
The reception was Casablancas lavish and Mackenzie cool at the same time. The perfect mixture of the two of them. It was what their marriage ought to be. Mac just knew it was going to last somehow. She really, really believed that it could.
"Worst part is, I actually believe you two are gonna make it, and worse than that, I think I even want you to," said a voice behind her. "I really am gettin' old and way too soft, aren't I?"
"The great Weevil Navarro? Old and soft?" Mac checked, turning to look at him, a smirk playing at her lips, recalling all too well that they had a similar conversation not two years ago, at another 'epic' wedding reception. "No way. You just know true love when you see it, that's all," she said of herself and her husband, just now approaching with their daughter in his arms.
"Yeah, I guess it must be true love for it to last like this," said Weevil, shaking his head. "I gotta admit, crazy as it seemed to me, you and a surf-brained dude from the hills, it works. He loves you, chica, and that adorable kid you made too."
"Yes, he does," Mac agreed easily, sparing her friend one more glance, "and that works out so well, because we love him too. We just make each other happy."
"Yeah, I know how that goes," Weevil agreed, glancing over at his wife, dancing with their own daughter, Valentina, and having the best time.
Mac watched him walk over to his family and then her attention returned to her own.
"Hey, here's Mama," Dick told the little one, handing her over to Mac. "And here was me thinking she was Daddy's girl." He sighed, watching his daughter cling to her mom like a barnacle on a boat.
"Aww, she loves Daddy too, don't you, Nova?" she said, bouncing the baby in her arms and kissing the top of head. "You just missed us, huh?"
Nova babbled a little, then reached for the sparkly earring dangling from Mac's ear.
"Uh-uh, nope. No grabby hands. Not today."
"Well, not for her anyway," said Dick with a salacious grin.
Mac rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. "Yeah, Nova-girl has a little more away-from-the-parents time tonight, but that's okay. You're gonna love having a sleepover with Aunt Lauren, aren't you, baby girl?"
"Sure, she will," Dick agreed, putting a gentle hand to the little one's head. "And we'll come get you tomorrow and then it's Casablancas family vacay! Can you say 'family honeymoon'?"
Of course, at six months old, Nova could not say anything at all, but she grinned wide enough at Dick that he really didn't care. She really could wrap Daddy around her finger with a look and Mac didn't hate it. She thought she would be the only one who could do that, but if she had to share, Nova was just about the only person she was prepared to do so with (at least, for now, anyway).
"You okay, babe?" said Dick then. When she nodded affirmative, he wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her close into his side and kissing her cheek. "Well, we did it. Finally got hitched."
"Yes, we did," Mac agreed, smiling up at him. "The Mackenzie-Casablancas clan. God, that's going to be a lot to spell out for forms and stuff."
Dick shrugged and made that 'whatever' face that he was so good at. "Hey, I offered to shorten it, just go Mackenzie or something. No problem to me. You insisted we have both names for equality and all that."
Mac couldn't argue because she knew it was completely true. Of course, the fact that Dick had even offered to give up his own family name in favour of hers (and it would always be hers, in spite of her biological connections) was still amazing to her. Not that she didn't understand his wanting to escape from his own origins, but she had refused to allow it. As far as she was concerned, they were going to take the Casablancas name and reinvent it, revitalise it, make it stand for good things instead of bad from here on out. She meant it too.
"Hey, guys," said Veronica then as she appeared, Logan close behind her, as ever, with their son in his arms. "Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Mackenzie-Casablancas!"
She threw her arms first around Mac, careful to avoid crushing Nova, and then around Dick, going so far as to plant a huge kiss on his cheek. Dick looked to his best bud with an expression akin to fear.
"First alcoholic drink in a year," he explained, gesturing towards Veronica. "It's like every sip of champagne is a shot of tequila."
"Hey! I am just happy!" Veronica declared, slightly too loudly. "So happy," she said, sighing in some kind of contented bliss state, with an arm around both Dick and Mac with Nova. "First our wedding, now your wedding," she said to the happy couple, "and who knows, maybe one day..." she trailed off, freeing her arms suddenly to make dramatic gestures between the two babies.
"Oh, good. Matchmaking for the under ones," Logan deadpanned. "That'll end well, especially with all of our genes in the mix."
"You never know." Mac shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."
As if her words actually caused a chain of events too weird for words, she looked over to the dancefloor to see the most unlikely couples dancing together. Natalie with Charles and Sam with Ellen and, strangest of all, Wallace with Madison.
"Please tell me that's a pity dance," said Veronica, making a face.
"Pretty sure." Mac nodded her head. "You know how happy Wallace is with the girlfriend. However, I promised him free laptop health checks for a year if he danced with Madison."
That made Veronica laugh a little more loudly than was probably necessary, which led to Logan suggesting they go find her a cup of coffee, or at the very least a glass of water.
"We'll see you later, happy couple," he told the newlyweds as they walked away.
"Say, bye-bye to your future husband, Nova," Dick told her, picking up her hand and encouraging her to wave to Baby Echolls - Wyatt couldn't have cared less, but then, what five-month-old would?
Mac smiled at the joke and at the situation she found herself in as she cast her eyes once more around the room, ending by looking up fondly at Dick. For all that they had been through, all the ups and downs (and some of them had been a long way down) they had finally made it. Not that a wedding meant they were guaranteed to last forever, but Mac had faith in herself and Dick to be smart enough to at least try as hard as they could to stick together, for themselves as well as for Nova. She certainly couldn't imagine life without either of them now.
"Hey, Mrs M-C," he said, grinning down at her.
"Hey, Mr M-C," she echoed back, trying not to laugh at how weird that sounded.
Just as they both leaned in for a kiss, Nova's arm shot up, her hand right in Daddy's face. That actually did make Mac burst out laughing.
"Thanks, bubba," he said, removing her fingers from up his nose and kissing her hand. "You know, you gotta learn what a moment is, or this honeymoon with a baby thing is so not going to work out."
"She just wants her fair share of the fun, don't ya, Nova?" said Mac, nuzzling her daughter's neck until she giggled. "You know, you were stealing the thunder at a wedding long before now," she told the baby.
"Totally true," Dick agreed, clearly thinking back to the Mars-Echolls wedding, just the same as Mac was. "Wow. That feels like a seriously long time ago now. Honestly? I really, really thought you were breaking up with me."
"Well, that's the part where you forgot to engage the brain inside your pretty head," Mac teased him with a playful smile. "And now, you're stuck with us forever."
"Babe, I would not want to be anywhere else, with anybody else, ever," he told her sincerely, wrapping his arms around Mac and Nova both. "You and me and baby makes three. This is it for me, always. That's what today is all about, right?"
"Dude, it totally is," she said, continuing to tease him, knowing he didn't mind at all when he kissed her long and hard on the lips.
Somewhere off to the left, Mac was pretty sure a camera flashed. She wasn't mad about it, in fact, she couldn't have been happier. She wanted a copy of that picture. She wanted to hold onto this moment forever, to this happiness that existed between her and Dick and their daughter, plus all their family and friends. They had made it to some really good place here and she wasn't giving it up for anything, not ever.
The End
