Claire and Shane's Happily Ever After Chapter 8, a morganville vampires fanfic

AN: hello my dear readers. As always thank you for the reviews, adding me to your favourite and alert lists (author and story). Normally there's be more but if you read this I'll bet you want to know what will happen in this chapter so I'll let you read the chapter that allows Claire and Shane to finally get married.

Now on with the chapter.

Chapter 8

July

Shane's POV

Finally the day that I have waiting ages for has finally arrived. Today is finally the day that will make Claire Mrs. Shane Collins, my wife.

So much has happened to finally allow us to get to this moment in time. Some of it I would change but there are some things that I wouldn't change. If I could I would change all that happened to Claire at the start of our relationship (all the stuff with Kim and Monica when she was at Uni.). I would never want to change us having the twins. Yeah I will admit that it might have been better for us to have had them when we were actually married but now that they are here I would never want to anywhere else but with them and Claire.

Last month was a good month as we celebrated the twins' first birthday. When I think back to that day it makes wonder where the time went as it feels like only yesterday I was freaking out over if I would ever get the chance to hold them and actually get married to Claire when there was a problem with them and it affected Claire as well.

I hated last night cause we were made to follow the rule where I'm forbidden to see before we get married which I'm hating cause we've also been told that we are not even allowed to have any contact with Claire. We aren't even allowed to text each other and to stop us from even being tempted our phones were even taken from us. I wasn't and I'm still not happy about it. I also can't see my daughter cause we agreed that when we were to be separated that I would have Ethan with me and she would take Abigail with her so that neither of us would have to take care of both of them which would be bad as they are both starting to walk now and so you have to pay attention if they should try and go for a walk somewhere.

Right now I waiting in the church that we had permission from Amelie to use. It's not going to be a religious wedding (considering that some of the guests will be vampire and so is my best man and they can' be near religious artefacts) but Claire had always wanted to get married in a church and I didn't really care either way as long as in the end I could officially call Claire my wife, officially call her mine and off limits to other men.

Eventually, after what feels like hours, the music starts to play and the doors at the back of the church opened to reveal firstly Eve, wearing a dress that I bet wasn't hard for her to wear cause the colour of it was very Eve with it being a very dark purple, to me it look almost black and Abigail, who was being carried by Eve (we had decided that Eve and Michael would hold our children as they stood up with us as the maid of honour and best man.) down the aisle as she wasn't steady on her feet yet, was wearing a lovely dress that was also purple but very light that it looked almost violet in colour.

When they reached the front everyone stood and I was just mesmerised by what I saw. I was speechless and I had to stop my mouth from falling open and hitting the floor as I was stunned by how beautiful and gorgeous Claire looked in that dress. It was mesmerising and showed off her figure in the best way possible which I know still bothers her a bit since she had the twins and is something that I keep on telling her is not a problem and that she should be proud of the way she looks cause it's from her bringing two beautiful and wonderful children into the world.

When Claire reached me (after what once again felt like an age) and I took her hands in mine I already wanted to skip to the end bit where I get to kiss her after having spent too many hours away from her, but instead I just settled for mouthing I love you to her which she mouthed back to me.

When the priest first started talking I zoned out a bit and just couldn't tear my eyes away from Claire and I didn't want to. I could see in her eyes that she was so happy that I did think that she would start crying from the happiness also I could see her tearing up. I zoned back in and it was a good thing I did as it was at the point where we make our vows.

"I Shane Collins do take you Claire Danvers to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse until death do us part." I had to repeat all of that after the priest but it wasn't necessary for me to do that as I had already learnt the words. Then I got to hear say her vows during which she did start to release a few tears whilst saying the words.

"I Claire Danvers do take you Shane Collins to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse until death do us part"

When she was finished I used one of my hands to try and wipe some of the tears away and then the priest said the best thing from my point of view and what I'd been wanting him to say since I saw Claire walk down the aisle.

"By the power vested in me and in front of this congregation I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

And so I did. The moment the priest said that I may kiss Claire I pulled her straight into my arms and stated kissing her. I tried to keep it quick and modest but that didn't exactly happen as Claire had wrapped her arms around my neck and I pulled her closer to me and for a moment I had lifted her off of the ground and it wasn't until someone coughed that we came back down to earth.

When we separated we then managed to walk back down the aisle finally and I felt so unbelievably happy. After being together for about four years and having to delay the wedding for a year due to the children Claire is now finally my wife and I'm finally now her husband. I think that the only day that beats this day is finding out I was going to be a father and then actually being made a father but this a very close second and that there is nothing that could beat this day. I do just wish that this day would never have to end.

We have been granted permission to leave Morganville for two weeks for our honeymoon and it was a fairly quick process as the great thing was that Amelie didn't even need to tell us what could/will happen should we decide to not come back seeing as we are going to be leaving our children here which I think might be hard on Claire cause we have never left the kids with someone for that length of time. We are okay now leaving them when we have to go work (and that does include me), I still have my job weirdly enough. I wonder if it's compulsory for us to have a job if we live here and we're not in education. Or it could be that the manager just doesn't care and/or cannot be bothered to hire someone new.

When we got outside we had to have photos done. There were ones of just Claire and me, Claire and me holding our children, us and Eve and Michael, us and Claire's parents. I think that was one would have been the one where my parents would have been in as well but they couldn't be here sadly. The one person that I just wish could have been here on this day is my little sister Alyssa. Eventually we were allowed to head off to the reception venue.

When we got to the reception it was beautifully decorated and Claire and I had a couple of minutes to just take it all in.

"So how does it feel to be my wife Mrs. Shane Collins?"

"It feels absolutely brilliant. I'm so happy that it finally happened. How does it feel to be my husband?"

"It feels brilliant to me as well. The only day that beats this day is the day when you made me a father of to two wonderful children. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Then we started kissing again and the world around us disappeared once again. We didn't even notice when people started to turn up.

"And they're at it again." Michael said. "You two are aware that there are young children present right."

That made us spring apart and Claire started blushing from being caught getting caught up in kissing me once again.

"I'm so happy for you two but I do have one quick question, are you two going to always going to be this bad when you're near each other?"

"Probably." We said at the same time.

"We're newlyweds what do you expect? We'll probably get some of it out of our system over the next two weeks. But who knows we might end up being worse." I said with an evil glint in my eyes.

We were we congratulated and we welcomed all the guests. The best bit was when our children were handed back to us. It felt really nice when I was holding Ethan on my hip and hand my other arm wrapped around Claire cause I then had everything that will ever mean anything to me and also my entire world in my arms.

For the food we just decided to have a buffet so that it was just easy on everyone involved. It would be easy for the catering staff cause they can just do a mix of things everyone will eat and then things that vegetarians can eat as well bad it was easy for me and Claire cause we didn't then have call all the people who we had invited and then said they would come if they were vegetarian or not and then decide which meals to have and how many courses we would have. If there is less work to do the less there is to worry about and then the less stressed Claire will be overall.

After the food was finished it was then time for the speeches. Eve and Michael were going to make a speech as it's one of their duties as maid of honour and best man.

First up was Eve.

"I've known Claire now for about four years now. We met when she was looking for a place to live whilst she was at Uni and we had a spare room that we wanted to rent out and we still all live together now, although that probably won't be for much longer. I'd always thought that Claire would be good for Shane and that it was a shame that at the time Shane already had a girlfriend. Even though they are complete opposites as Claire is studious and very down to earth where as Shane, well, he's just a slacker. I'm sorry Shane but its true seeing as you rarely left the house." That created a few laughs.

"Yeah but not anymore." I said whilst putting my arm around Claire.

"True. Claire you have completely changed him, he's become more responsible and has now even managed to hold down a steady job. We've been waiting a couple of year for them to get to this moment but finally they've got here and have the two most wonderful children as well. And so know I ask you to raise your glass in a toast to Claire and Shane may you always live happily ever after. And Shane if you should ever hurt Claire I will hurt you." Then she at back down.

Then it was Michael's turn.

"I've known Shane since we were in school together. We were best mates but sadly lost contact when he left Morganville. When he came back though I was more than happy to have him move into a spare room that I had in the house that had been left to me from my parents moved out so that he could help me pay the rent. Eve also moved in another spare room that I had. When Claire came along needing a place to stay I agreed as she was only sixteen at the time and I just saw her as a girl who needed to be protected and looked after to an extent and then over the years she has then become like the little sister I'd always wanted to me. I believe that Claire and Shane has been the best thing that has happened to Shane as she has given him everything that he has always wanted, a family. And so once again ladies and gentle please raise your glasses in a toast to Claire and Shane, will you always be happy in your life together."

After the speeches were all done it was then time for Claire and me to have our first dance as man and wife.

Now even on my best day I'm not good dancer but we did have a couple of dance lessons so that we wouldn't completely embarrass ourselves or rather save me from embarrassing myself.

It took us ages to decide on which song to have played whilst we dance. We wanted a song that meant something to us as a couple and you know how there is couples out there who say that they have a song. I personally think that it's a load of rubbish but that might just because Claire and I as far as I'm aware have completely different tastes in music and this will be the first time that we'll have danced together (excluding rehearsals).

After a while of sitting with CD's pretty much surrounding us, as we were trying to pick our song we finally decided on (insert song title here).

We managed to do a sort of a waltz but the important thing was that we were happy and having fun. I even managed to lift her and spin her around which made us laugh from being so happy. When the song ended I pulled Claire as close as possible to me and gave her a kiss again and I bet that the people watching us were happy that it was only a quick one.

I then happily handed her over to her father so that they could have a dance and so I asked if Claire's mum would care for a dance with me.

"I'm so happy that you and Claire you both deserve to happy. Just so you know there is no rush now for you to give us anymore grandchildren."

"That's good. I think that there'll be a couple of years until we have anymore. We've not really talked about it yet. I do hope that when we do have more it'll just be one at a time."

"Well just so you know Claire's our only child so any children you have will be all the grandchildren we will get to see grow up and spoil as that's our right as grandparents."

We talked a bit more whist we danced and then when the song finished I pulled Claire back into my arms so that we could sit back down and check on our children. They seemed quite happy but a bit tired. We sat down and held them in our arms though once they were comfortable they did start to fall asleep. We were meant to be leaving after the reception was finished and right now I'm starting to think if I will be able to release my children and then leave for two weeks.

For the honeymoon Claire doesn't know where we are going as she let me have free rein on where we would go for the two weeks. The only think that she said was that it had to be somewhere that was warm. I would have already chosen to go somewhere warm as that way I'll be able to see Claire in a bikini that is if we do ever leave the room.

When the time came for us to leave I was right about it being hard for us to leave the children. Although Claire was worse.

"Shane I don't think I can leave anymore."

"Is this about the children? Claire think about it this way we can spend two weeks away from the children where they won't be able to interrupt us from our alone time."

"That does sound good. What if we forget about them when we leave though?" I could see her trying to find any way possible to try and stop us from going.

"That won't happen because haven't you found a way so that you can stop certain people from forgetting about Morganville."

"Yeah, okay, I guess you're right." She then handed over Abigail to her mother.

"I also have a surprise to show you when we're really alone." I whispered into her ear.

Claire's POV

I'm so happy/relieved ht this has finally come at last. I did at one point fear that we would end up just putting it off constantly and that we would never get married but here we are a month after our children's first birthday.

I can't believe that are one already, it brings tear to my eyes now when I think that we children are now really starting to grow as they are now starting to talk and even walk now. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago since I was worrying over when they would get released from the hospital and then be allowed to come home and then me worrying about if I would be a good mother or not.

Last night was a bit hard on me as I was forced to obey the rule where the groom cannot see the bride before the wedding day. I hated cause my bed felt empty without having Shane lying next to me and then wrapping me in his arms. I did have Abigail with me which made me feel a bit better as it meant that I wasn't separated from both of my children. Even though it would have been for only one night I won't be near them for an entire two weeks. I don't even know where we are going yet for our honeymoon.

It had been fun planning the wedding but there were points that I did find stressful. It was fun getting to try on loads of dresses and then trying to see what cake we would like to have but then when it came to deciding what food would be food was a bit stressful cause we had to decide on if we would have had certain dishes and if we do that then if we would have more than one course and then if we were to go for that then we would have to contact all the people who we'd invited and then had said yes they would come if they would like a vegetarian option. Then there was whole thing on which song we would have for the song that we would have for our first dance as a married couple.

But anyway that all over with now I just have to concentrate on getting down the aisle and not tripping and falling flat on my face.

When the time came to start walking down the aisle I did start shaking from nerves.

"Are you alright there Claire?"

"Yeah or at least I will be. You won't let me fall will you?"

"Of course I won't. Just keep your head up look forward or even just look at Shane and that'll help."

"Is he really there?" I asked Eve.

"Yes he's right there at the front waiting for you. He's not going to leave you at the altar. He loves you too much to do that to you. Okay just take a deep breath and calm down." I did as she said. "Are we okay now?"

"Yeah thank you Eve." She hugged me and then the doors to the back of the church opened and the music started.

Eve walked down the aisle first and then I follow on the arm of my father. I was literally clinging onto him in fear.

I was meant to walk slowly down the aisle and in time to the music but when I did what my dad said and looked at Shane I just wanted to, well basically, run down the aisle as best as I could in this dress and heels and right into his arms and if it weren't for the fact that I was holding onto my father's arm I would have done that.

After what felt like an age I finally the front of the church Shane took my hand s in his and when I looked into his eyes again I could see that he wanted to skip straight to the kiss and so did I after having spending the night apart my mind and body want to 'make up for lost time.' He mouthed I love you to me and I mouthed it back. It also calmed down my nerves that I'd been feeling as I was worrying about something going wrong but just those three little words and seeing the love he held for me made everything seem to disappear.

I tried to listen to what the priest was saying but it was hard as I just couldn't keep my eyes off of Shane. I was feeling just so happy that we'd finally managed to get past all that we've had to deal with and have two beautiful children that I was starting to tear up at the fact that Shane was about to finally become my husband.

Hearing Shane make his vows really cemented the fact that he was truly about to become my husband.

"I Shane Collins do take you Claire Danvers to be lawfully wedded wife to have. To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse until death do us part."

When I made my vows I could no longer hold back my tears but thankfully I wasn't sobbing and so could clearly get my words out.

When I'd said my vows Shane took one of his hands and tried to wipe some of my tears away. I hope that my make-up is waterproof.

Then the priest said the best words ever.

"By the power vested in me and in front of this congregation I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Shane then pulled me straight into his arms and kissed me. I think it was only meant t be a quick and modest one but I think that cause we'd been away from each other. That makes us sound like we are really obsessed with each other but I don't think that we are, we just love each other so much and we were forced way from each other last night. And there was the fact that I had wrapped my arms around his neck to help hold him to me. When someone coughed it brought us back down to earth and I started blushing.

I was so happy to walk back down the aisle on Shane's arm cause we had been waiting for this day for about two years now and now I can call Shane my husband and he can call me his wife which he's wanted to be able to do for a while now. I do just wish that this day would never have to end.

The pictures we had taken were fun. There were ones of just me and Shane, us holding the children, with Eve and Michael and also with my parents. I think having that one done was a bit hard on Shane as his parents weren't there and also his little sister. But he kept smiling and seemed really happy and I think that it was cause I'm now officially his family and he can now feel confident that it won't fall apart unless he should do something.

When we got to the placed for the reception at first it was just us two and I was glad as it gave us a moment or two to really wrap our heads around what had just happened.

"So how does it feel to be my wife, Mrs. Shane Collins?" Shane asked me whilst pulling me back into his arms.

"It feels absolutely brilliant. I'm so happy that it finally happened. How does it feel to my husband?"

"It feels brilliant to me as well. The only day that beats this day is when you made me a father to two wonderful children. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Then we started kissing again and the world around us disappeared once again.

"And they're at it again." Michael said. "You two are aware that there are young children present right."

That made us spring apart and I started blushing from being caught getting caught up in kissing Shane once again.

"I'm so happy for you two but I do have one quick question, are you two going to always going to be this bad?"

"Probably." We said at the same time.

"We're newlyweds what do you expect? We'll probably get some of it out of our system over the next two weeks. But who knows we might end up being worse." Shane said and I did notice with an evil glint in his eye.

We were we congratulated and we welcomed all the guests. The best bit was when our children were handed back to us. It felt really nice having the children handed back to us and also having one of Shane's arms wrapped around my shoulder cause I then really felt like we were really a family.

After people were seated the food then started to come out. What I did manage to eat was good but the dress I was wearing had a corset style top half so it was tight and restricted my eating ability a bit. As well as my breathing but after a while you get used to that and if I have any problems I can just ask Eve if it's at all possible to loosen it a bit.

After the food was finished it was then time for the speeches. Eve and Michael were going to make a speech as it's one of their duties as maid of honour and best man.

First up was Eve.

"Yeah but not anymore." Shane said in response whilst placing his arm around me.

Then it was Michael's turn.

After the speeches were all done it was then time for Shane and me to have our first dance as husband and wife.

We managed to do a sort of a waltz but the important thing was that we were happy and having fun. He even managed to lift me and spin around which made us laugh from being so happy. When the song ended he just pulled me as close as possible to him and gave me a kiss again. I bet that the people watching us were happy that it was only a quick one.

He then happily handed me over to me father so that we could have a dance and so then asked if my mum would care for a dance with him.

"I'm glad to see you so happy today Claire. You've grown up so quickly. You're not my little girl anymore and you even have your own one now as well."

"Oh daddy, please stop before you make me cry. I'll always be your little girl just not that little anymore and you'll always be my daddy. Nothing will ever change that."

I gave my dad a tighter hug as we continued to dance.

When the song finished I was given back to Shane and we went to sit back down with our children. I think that today really tired them out cause as soon s they were comfortable in our arms they fell asleep. I actually liked that cause it meant that I wouldn't have to worry about them walking and wandering off. It also meant that I could hold them for a while as I meant to give them up for two weeks. I don't know if I'm going to be able to manage that.

And I was right I really struggled.

"Shane I don't think I can leave anymore."

"Is this about the children? Claire think about it this way we can spend two weeks away from the children where they won't be able to interrupt us from our alone time."

"That does sound good. What if we forget about them when we leave though?" It did sound good but what if we did forget about the children, my parents. How would they cope if we never returned?

"That won't happen because haven't you found a way so that you can stop certain people from forgetting about Morganville."

"Yeah, okay, I guess you're right." I then handed over Abigail to my mother.

"I also have a surprise to show you when we're really alone."He whispered into my ear.

That sounded quite intriguing and was enough to take my mind off everything.

AN: so what did you think? As always let me know cause I do love it when people post a reveiw on my stories.

The next chapter will be the honeymoon. So we will just have to see how that goes

I'll see you hopefully again mext week.