And now, sit down and enjoy the FINAL.
CHAPTER 22
Uncle Jesse by her side, Daisy walked along the nave, smiling to everybody as a grumble of excitement and joy rose from the crowd. The grumble stopped when uncle Jesse and Daisy came in front of the altar and the Pastor started the ceremony everybody was waiting for.
"Who gives this woman to this man in marriage?"
"I do", uncle Jesse's voice trembled as he left Daisy's hand, passing it to Enos.
Daisy caught the glance between uncle Jesse and Enos: the older man was passing on the baton to the younger one.
"Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Enos Strate and Daisy Duke in marriage. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife."
In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured.
Daisy walked to Enos, standing near him and looking at him, "Did you hide at the farm to watch me washing my unmentionables, Enos?"
Listening to his shy answer, she smiled both amused and embarrassed, she shook her head and she walked away: making him uncomfortable was really easy and funny.
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In her uniform, Daisy walked to Enos, she knelt down, she rested her hands on his shoulders, she gently kissed his lips and she finally caressed his hair. Her kiss was her reward for his kindness and courage, a friendly kiss.
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Daisy called Enos, stopping him. In her white dress, she came closer him, she rested her hands on his shoulders and she kissed his lips.
He didn't answer her kiss and he looked at her with surprise and confusion.
Pain on his face, and pain on her one: waving him goodbye, she held back her tears and looked at him walking away, to his new life in Los Angeles.
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"I have to warn him," her heart beating quickly in her chest, Daisy had a step toward Enos, but Vance stopped her. She bit her tongue and she forced herself not to run to Enos and warn him Boss wasn't really dead.
She couldn't stand Enos' pain and tears.
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Daisy looked at Bo and Luke fighting with the Beaudrys. Her family was there, now: Bo and Luke were finally managing to defeat the Beaudrys and uncle Jesse too joined the fight.
She hugged her men (Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse), and she looked around her, enjoying the terse blue sky and the landscape. Walking along the road down the hill, her arms around Bo and Luke's waist, she noticed Enos' patrol car sparkling in the sunlight: he was there to arrest the Beaudrys, and Daisy wondered if he took part in her rescue, whereas Darcy didn't.
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Daisy took the baby from Mary Lou arms, resting him on her chest and holding him close: the baby she found inside The General Lee, the baby she took care of along the last days, the baby she saved from flames risking her own life.
"Oh, I want a baby on my own!" her eyes sparkled when she confessed her motherly instinct.
When she glanced at the men behind her, Enos was looking at her and the baby in her arms with his dreamy smile, and Daisy guessed what he was thinking of.
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Her hands tied behind her back, Daisy stared terrified at Enos walking in the glade, his hands up, as Scanlon pointed his gun to him. Enos was going to sacrifice himself in order to save her: nobody, beside her family, has ever done something like that.
The prince was going to save her princess.
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Walking to Enos' patrol car, Daisy smiled, overwhelmed by a strange joy: the idea of staying at the Boarding House with Enos was a new pleasure, to her, a new experience giving her a warm and relaxing feeling.
"A safe shelter": the way Enos called his apartment, and Daisy totally agreed with him, and not just because of "Nervous" Norman Willis. Enos was a perfect gentleman, the prince of that safe shelter, and she was the princess of his shelter.
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The boat gently rolled on the lake's surface.
"Enos, do you love me?" she stared into his eyes, waiting for his answer.
"More than anything in all the world, Daisy," his eyes open wide in surprise for her question, Enos held his breath.
Their lips came closer and closer until they kissed, a soft but firm kiss; she wrapped her arms around his neck and he grabbed her arms as the boat rolled on the water.
"True marriage is more than joining the bonds of marriage of two persons; it is the union of two hearts. It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old, but thrives on the joy of each new day. Marriage is love. May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to share moments of quiet and peace, when the day is done. May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness and a home of warmth and understanding."
Daisy squeezed Enos' hand and smiled, reflecting his smile, while the Pastor kept on the ceremony.
"Do you Enos Strate, take Daisy Mae Duke to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"
"I do," Enos' soft voice filled the silent and anxious church.
"Do you Daisy Mae Duke, take Enos Strate to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"
"I do," she nodded and tried to slow down her heartbeat and to control her cracking voice.
"Wedding rings are made precious by our wearing them. Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together. Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight. May these rings remind you always of the vows you have taken here today."
"With this ring, I thee wed," with trembling hands and voice, Enos placed the ring on Daisy's finger.
"With this ring, I thee wed." The ring slid along Enos' finger, then Daisy gently caressed the red mark on the back of his left hand, the sign of his happiness, and other marks were scattered on his face. She smiled sweetly, keeping on caressing the mark on his hand until he blushed, his blushing swallowing the hives' marks.
"And now, by the power vested in me by the State of Georgia, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss."
She wrapped her arms around Enos' neck and kissed him deeply, unable to control her total and overwhelming joy.
"Family and Friends, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Enos Strate!"
And the church exploded into an enthusiastic clapping and into greetings.
Moving inside the crowded Boar's Nest for the big feast after the wedding, Enos and Daisy talked to everybody, enjoying the joyful atmosphere.
Miss Smith came closer them, smiling, "I have great news for you from Atlanta!"
Hand in hand, Enos and Daisy listened to Miss Smith explaining them the final decision of the couple from Atlanta.
"Where is Lucy, now?" Enos looked around and then at Miss Smith, squeezing Daisy's hand with trepidation.
"Outside. She's with Clara and the orphanage's children."
Enos nodded and walked outside the Boar's Nest, Daisy by his side, their fingers intertwined.
Lucy ran toward them and started to hop, a piece of cake in her hand, "Husband and wife. Husband and wife."
Enos laughed and ran after Lucy, catching her and taking her in his arms while the little girl shouted amused. Sitting on a bench, Enos kept Lucy on his lap, caressing her hair, while Lucy ate her piece of chocolate cake.
"You like chocolate, don't you, Lucy?" Daisy smiled sweetly at Lucy, the little girl's answer a simple nod. Daisy's eyes met Enos' eyes before she stared again at Lucy, "Do you remember our talk 'bout the importance of having a family, Lucy?"
Lucy frowned and kept on eating the cake, her voice muffled, "I don't want a family if it means leaving Hazzard and my friends at the orphanage!"
Enos gently held the girl close, "It doesn't mean leaving Hazzard, Lucy. What 'bout having a mommy and daddy in Hazzard? So, you can meet Miss Smith, Clara and your friends at the orphanage."
Lucy looked at him, her eyes full of hope, "I want to meet you and the Dukes too. Are you goin' to visit me though I won't be at the orphanage?"
Enos had a deep sigh, glancing at Daisy and then staring at Lucy, "Lucy… what do you think 'bout… coming with me and Daisy at our new farm and living with us? We are husband and wife, now. We are a family. Do you want to…" his voice cracked and Daisy placed her hand on his forearm, squeezing it, "… have me and Daisy as your mommy and daddy?"
The little girl's eyes and mouth opened wide, then she buried her face against Enos' chest, his arms carefully wrapped around her.
Daisy caressed Enos' forearm and rested her head on his shoulder; from her position, she caught uncle Jesse and Miss Smith on the entrance of the Boar's Nest.
She smiled at their smile, a perfect ending for that perfect day.
Daisy slowly unbuttoned the shirt of Enos' tight, "We are husband and wife, now." Her right forefinger slid on his bare chest, tracing a line connecting all the hives' marks on his skin.
He shivered under her touch, "Hey, stop joking with the hives, Dais. It isn't funny!"
"I guess you didn't take the anti-histamine Doc Appleby prescribed you," Daisy laughed and turned round, showing him her shoulders, "Help me to take it off, please."
His hand reached her wedding dress' zipper, and, after a brief but intense fight, he managed to pull it down, and Daisy's dress fell on the floor with a soft rustling, exposing her body. When she turned to him, he was scratching his nape and he was looking at her with both a shy and sly smile, "You know, a little collateral effect of those pills is drowsiness… and I don't want to spend this night sleeping hard, it's our first night…" he chuckled, "… after our wedding".
She slowly undressed him: tie, jacket, shirt; his clothes fell on the floor near her wedding dress, but when her hands reached his trousers he wrapped his arms around her chest and he pulled her to him, holding her tight and giving her a steaming and voracious kiss.
Complying his desire, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist while he walked to the bed.
When they sank into the bed, the mattress swung like a boat on a lake.
Daisy came out the Boar's Nest in her beautiful wedding dress, approaching Enos. When he turned to her she looked at him in shock because of several red marks scattered on his face, "Enos, what did happen to your face?"
He sighed, "Hives. And it's not just on my face".
"On our wedding day?" Surprise.
"It's why I think I gotta it, every time some good happens to me I break out… I started to scratch myself since we started to talk to get married"
She grinned, "Enos, are you telling me that marrying me is giving you the hives?"
He looked at her embarrassed, fidgeting with a plaster on his forefinger, "My system can't take all the happiness. I… I know it sounds crazy, but if just thinking 'bout it before to get married brakes me out, what's goin' to be on our honeymoon? And every day of my wonderful life being your husband, … I'll scratch myself to death, Dais"; he stressed his words scratching his neck.
"What are we gonna do?" Worrisome and disappointment.
"Well, I want to try to find some way marrying you and being happy without the hives. Maybe between me and Doc Appleby we can find a way to stop it".
"But it needs a lot of time!" Total disappointment.
He looked into her eyes, "Anything really good is worth for waiting for, Daisy".
She choked her disappointment and she smiled, "Enos, you're the most wonderful man in the whole world. Now, are you sure this is what you wanna do?" She put her hands on his shoulders.
"The way I care for you. It's the only right thing to do right now", his eyes fixed in her ones, his look serious.
When they finally hugged, laughing, Daisy knew the wedding was definitively over. Walking back to the Boar's Nest to announce their decision (Enos' decision, to be honest) she kept on smiling, but she didn't understand what she was really feeling.
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Daisy sighed and gently folded the dress in order to store it in its usual case, a case that protected it for several years, until that day, and she didn't know for how much time, again.
A gentle knocking at her bedroom's door before Bo slowly opened it, "The dinner is ready, Daisy," he smiled and came in.
Luke stayed on the threshold, his back against the doorpost, "So, we managed to save Enos from goin' to jail and, thanks of the hives, you managed to postpone the wedding without hurting him," he smiled, "All's well that ends well."
"All's well that ends well," knelt near the case, Daisy stood up and smiled. Did it end well? So, what was that strange sense of loss in the deep of her heart?
She walked to the kitchen with Bo and Luke and she closed her bedroom's door behind her, having the feeling she was going to have a bad night. And the day after, waking up and thinking of that nearly wedding, was going to be even worse than the night: she felt it pretty strongly but she wasn't able to give it a name.
Daisy opened her eyes, a brief and intense pain in her chest when she thought of the wedding dress stored in the case.
Looking around, she didn't recognize the room around her, for sure not her bedroom at the farm. The mattress gently swung and she finally recollected everything: it wasn't her bedroom at the farm but one of the best rooms at the Hazzard's Hotel, Lulu's gift for the wedding.
She pushed away the sadness brought by the dream about the missed wedding, and she rolled on her right side, staring at Enos sleeping.
She gently caressed his right cheek, "Hi Mr. Enos Strate."
He opened his eyes and smiled, "Hi Mrs. Enos Strate," he came closer her and he buried his face against her chest, trembling.
She wrapped her arms around him, surprised, "Cold?"
He shook his head, "I'm trembling because of happiness. Happiness 'cause I am not alone anymore. We are a family: me, you and Lucy… and it's like a dream. Is it just a dream, Dais? If it's just a dream, I don't want to wake up any more."
She held him close, "It isn't a dream, Enos. You won't go back to your loneliness. I won't leave you, and you won't fall down. This is reality, finally."
Finally.
In this final a lot of echoes to the previous chapters and also to previous stories.
The circle is finally closed, now: this story started with a dream about a missed future and ended with a dream about the past (sort of dream/flashback) after the missed future became reality. :-)
THANKS for reading, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this.
Just the epilogue left: a brief glimpse to Enos&Daisy's future life as family (with an older Lucy and...).