Christian sighed as he walked through the streets of the richer part of Paris. Nearly a week had passed since the train incident, and his hearing was finally back at one hundred percent. He, Satine, and Ryan had gone home as a family, and had just stuck together. But there was still a wedding to prepare for, despite all that had happened. Christian received a letter in the mail a few days after the accident from his father, who said that he would be in town in four days. He would arrive the day before the wedding.

Meanwhile, Christian had discovered that his brother was indeed still in Paris. He'd gotten off of the train, discovered that Christian wasn't there, and had gotten a room at a nearby hotel. It was almost as if he were dead-set to see his baby brother married, even if he didn't know when it was. So Christian had used his sources (other Bohos) to track Michael down.

So that is how he stood now, in the rain, staring up at the window of his brother's room. He was nervous and afraid. He didn't know how his stuffy brother would react to his absence at the station. Would he believe that fact that he had almost been run over by a train? Or would he say it was a bunch of crap? Christian didn't know. But he had no choice over what to do. He had walked all this way in the rain, getting numerous dirty looks from the rich, just to see his brother. He sighed again and entered the hotel.

He approached the front desk, ignoring the fact that he was dripping water onto the floor.

"Excuse me," he said, and the prissy-looking man looked up at him, his nose wrinkled.

"Yes? What can I do for you today...sir?" He added the sir as an afterthought.

"I'm looking for a customer of yours who is staying here."

"His name?"

"Michael James."

The clerk flipped open his guestbook and ran his finger down the page, searching. Finally he tapped the paper. "Yes. I have a Michael L. James registered here. What do you need?"

"Could you tell him that his brother is here?"

"Yes. Your name?"

"Christian James."

The clerk began writing the name, then stopped suddenly. He looked up at Christian with wide eyes. "The Christian James? The writer?"

Christian smiled almost shyly and nodded. "Yeah. Only one book sold well, though."

"But that was a great book!" He turned to a bellboy. "Run this up to this room, right away." The bellboy nodded and rushed up a flight of stairs. So Christian waited, half listening to the clerks excessive rambling about his book. Finally the bellboy came back, closely followed by a dark-haired man in a suit. Christian straightened up at the man approached.

Michael James hardly resembled his brother at all. In fact, he leaned more to looking like their father. He wore glasses, and the only resemblance he had to Christian was his dark hair. But he looked at Christian now with a mixed look of amazement and irritation.

"Christian?" he asked. Christian nodded, and Michael shook his hand, as if it were merely a business dealing. "So, how have you been? Why weren't you at the station?"

"I, uh, ran into some problems. But it's all straightened out now."

"Good. Still getting married?"

"Yeah. Five days." Christian looked past his brother to the woman who had followed Michael down the stairs. She was a pretty woman, with bland blonde hair. She looked at Christian curiously.

Michael grinned. "Christian, this is my wife Mary. Mary, this is Christian."

Christian nodded his head politely to the woman, and she nodded back. It was very obvious to passer-bys that this was a very tense meeting.

Michael broke the latest silence by clearing his throat. "So, where is the wedding?"

"A little church in Montemarte. You wouldn't be able to miss it." Christian smiled. "So many people have said that they will be there."

Michael nodded. "So, I'll see you in five days then?"

Christian could only nod, slightly disappointed in his brother's demeanor. "Yeah." He smiled once at Mary, then turned and walked quickly out of the hotel, unsure of whether he had really been adopted or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Satine began pacing her room over and over. Her wedding was in four hours, and she could not calm down. Not even enough to put on her wedding dress, a beautiful white gown bought by Christian. There had been some controversy over whether she, a former courtesan with a child, could wear white. Marie had settled it, however, saying that it symbolized the beginning of her new life.

She and Christian had greeted many of the guests already. The Argentinean had come, along with Nini. Harold had written to say that he was caught up some business dealings that could not be postponed, Christian's father and brother were here, both looking very unhappy. The meeting with Christian's father had not gone well at all. He had been extremely angry that she and Christian had a son, and were just now getting married. He called Christian a disgrace.

Satine's sister, Harriet, had also come, and that was a much more pleasant meeting. She had been overjoyed to see her sister again, and even more so that she about to get married. She startled Christian a bit when he was introduced to her by giving him a big hug. He just hadn't expected it. She had also simply adored Ryan, and had offered to baby-sit him for the honeymoon. Ryan didn't like the term 'baby-sit'.

Satine smiled. Their boy was to be one of Christian's best men. Toulouse was to be another. Harriet and Nini were to be Satine's maids of honor. They had managed to get enough money for some very beautiful dresses, which Satine was very happy for. She didn't care about the price of the wedding, she just wanted to remember it as one of the best days of her life. And it will be, she told herself.

Meanwhile, Christian could only sit and stare at a mirror in his room. He kept tying and untying his bowtie, thinking that it was crooked when it really wasn't. Then he would flatten his hair, only to have to comb it again. To him, it was an endless cycle of getting ready.

He'd never been so nervous in his life. Not when going to Paris for the first time, not when Satine confronted the Duke once, or even when he was waiting to see if his book was to be published. He wasn't afraid of Satine, he would spend the rest of his life with her whether or not they got married. He didn't know what he was afraid of. Perhaps he wasn't afraid. Perhaps he was just so overjoyed that it seemed to be fear. He wasn't sure.

He turned in his seat to look at the boy sitting by the door. "You ready for this, Ryan?"

Ryan nodded. "I've been waiting for this my whole life. But mostly for the past few months," he added, smiling.

Christian laughed and stood up, holding out his arms. "So, what do you think?"

"That is the fortieth time you've asked me, Dad. You look fine." Ryan shook his head, still smiling. Then he walked up to his father and casually brushed some nonexistent dust from his shoulders. "You'll be fine. We'll all be fine."

Christian looked down at his son and smiled. "Yeah, we will be." He clasped Ryan's shoulder affectionately. "Perhaps we should go ahead and take our positions. Haven't got too much time left, eh?"

Ryan simply shook his head and waited for Christian to begin to leave. Christian finally did, checking himself one more time in the mirror before leaving the room. Ryan followed closely, shutting the door of the small room behind him. So they walked, together, to the church hall where the wedding was to take place.

Many of the guests were already in their seats, but stood up in anticipation as Christian and Ryan stepped into the room. Toulouse brightened up as well, knowing that it wouldn't be long now. Christian shook hands and exchanged greetings with many of his friends, conveniently ignoring his father and brother, who were scowling at him. He managed to get away from the slight mob and get to his place in front of the altar. He shook hands with the priest, then turned to face the door. Ryan took his place behind his father, also looking in anticipation towards the door.

Finally another priest came in, telling everyone to quiet down. Then the organ began to play, its melodic tune only heightening Christian anxiety. The doors at the other end of the room opened, and Nini and Harriet stepped calmly inside, both looking beautiful in their snow white gowns. Then came Satine.

For someone who had always thought she was beautiful, even Christian was taken aback by just how beautiful she really was. In a slimming dress of the purest white and a veil covering her face, she reminded Christian of dream. He only feared that he would awake from it.

She slowly made her way up to the altar, smiling at Christian the entire time. Together, they faced the priest. Christian barely listened to the priest as he gave the traditional speeches; his thoughts rested only on Satine. But he did snap out of his euphoria when the priest mentioned that the groom had written his own vows.

"Do you have your vows written?" the priest asked, noticing the slightly distracted look on Christian's face.

"Oh, yes," Christian replied, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small, wrinkled piece of paper, then turned to Satine. "This is something that I've written just for this. For you." He smiled, then took a deep breath and began reading.

"This love that I give to you,

may it always stay strong and true.

For it is yours and yours alone,

a brighter love has never shone.

I give to you my life,

do with it what you like.

But no matter the years or days,

my love for you shows in so many ways.

Whether it be a song or a touch,

know that I love you so very much.

Never will I go astray,

for your love will light my way.

So now I ask of you this one thing,

to wear this token, this ring.

Be mine in heart and soul,

and in doing so, you make me whole."

            For a moment, there was only silence as Christian finished his short poem. He couldn't help but glance around, embarrassed, as he put the paper back into his pocket. Had it really been that bad? he wondered, wondering also if he had lost his touch. But Satine's beautiful smiled showed him otherwise.

The priest smiled at them, then continued the ceremony, but Christian and Satine's eyes never left each other. They were both only vaguely aware of the priest saying, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

As if I needed permission, Christian thought to himself as he pulled Satine's veil over her head.

The small church erupted with cheers when they kissed, sealing their marriage. Bohos from all around, some who had know Christian and Satine from years ago, and some who knew of them only by reputation, all shouted their blessings to the small family. Christian smiled broadly as he draped one arm around his new wife, and the other around his son.

"We did it," he told them over the deafening cheers. "We've finally done it."

"Done what, Dad?" Ryan asked innocently.

"Defied fate," Christian answered, his eyes distant. "Become a family."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four years later found the small family once again at a hospital, though not for personal injury. It was merely to perform a check-up on the life growing inside of Satine's rapidly swelling belly. For now, she was with the doctor, while Christian and Ryan, now thirteen years old, sat in the hall. Everyone who passed them up could only marvel at the resemblance between father and son.

Christian had managed to bring a better life to his family as well. His latest book, The Way We Were sold like crazy, giving the writer enough funds to move his family out of the slums. Ryan now went to school regularly, and showed great promise in all fields of study. But his true passion was for writing, much like his father.

Christian sighed and leaned forward in his chair. Ryan looked up from his notepad and smiled. "Nervous?" he asked.

Christian laughed. "Yes. I've never had to do this before. It's kinda nerve racking."

Ryan nodded, still smiling. "Mom said it was bad with me. She was still sick and the doctors though we would both die. But here we are!" he finished cheerfully.

Christian only nodded. He didn't have to say that he would have been there if he'd known, both Ryan and Satine already knew.

Just then the door to the doctor's office swung open. Satine stepped out first, followed closely by the doctor. Christian rose to his feet and Satine kissed his cheek and grasped his hand. They both turned to the doctor, who was flipping through his papers.

"Well, I have some good news, then I have better news for you." He paused for a moment, looking from Christian to Satine, who had refused to hear the news herself without her family by her side. "The good news is that Satine is indeed pregnant, as you probably guessed. But the better is news is that you are having twins!"

Christian could only stare at the doctor for a moment before turning slowly to Satine. Both were thinking the same thing; the next eighteen years were going to be very long.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Five and a half months later in a London hospital, Christian welcomed his newest blessings into his life; Alexander and Marie James. Looking at them now, so small and helpless, he felt a sense of awe, marveling at life. These were his children, life he had helped create. And these children would know him all their lives, unlike Ryan.

He turned toward Ryan now. The boy was sound asleep on the settee of their new home, a copy of a Jules Verne book in his hands. Christian smiled and put a gentle hand on the boy's head. He would be there for Ryan now. Never again would he leave the boy alone. "We're alright now, Ryan," he whispered. "We're alright."

And they were.

~~THE END~~

So, what did you guys think? This is actually the first story I've completed (yay me!)

If anything seems weird, out of place, or just plain bad, I can change it. So don't hesitate to let me know. And please, somehow keep the story going. I know that completed stories have a habit of disappearing into the abyss.

And thanks to all who reviewed!! It meant so much to me. Made me want to keep going. Big thanks also for those who liked it enough to E-mail me. I love to read e-mails like that!

Anyway, it's been fun with this story. I may write a sequel to it. I'm still undecided.

: )