That weekend
Saturday morning

I was actually getting used to wearing revealing dresses.

That had surprised me, almost as much as it did everybody else! It was a wedding, only this time I was the Maid of Honour. Megan was a bridesmaid, as was Chloe. This was to be very low key, compared to my own affair.

There had been a time when makeup and jewellery had meant nothing to me – except maybe for the odd necklace that could double as a garrotte! Now my tastes seemed to have matured, just as I had.

A far cry from what I used to be, when Dave had first met me.

I was so proud of what Mindy had become.

She had matured into an amazingly beautiful young woman who captured the eyes of men, and some women, everywhere she went. When she was fifteen, the thought of showing any skin willingly was almost abhorrent; now though, she seemed to enjoy wearing beautiful dresses.

Yes, she had worn a short dress for a date, all those years ago, but I had insisted! Normally Mindy was only ever seen in jeans, jogging pants, maybe shorts, or a combat suit! She had a lovely body and I was glad that she now had an opportunity to show it off.

She was the image of her mother, Kathleen. Kathleen had loved showing off her body; that had been what had attracted Damon to her. She liked to tease, but she had the goods and men fell over themselves to please her. Mindy had inherited her Mother's beauty – all of it, right down to the eyes and the long legs.

Mindy even managed to look beautiful in a damned combat suit!

I was very nervous.

This was going to be husband number two. I missed Ray, but he was a part of my old life; I had a new life with my daughter. It had been a little over a year since Megan had brought home Hit Girl to our rancid apartment – end of October; I would never forget it. I was at my wits end trying to support the then ten-year-old girl.

Now I had new friends, yes my Boss turned out to be a vicious, no holds barred, murderous vigilante, but I had met that vigilante's father and... That had been just the previous Christmas when Marcus and I had kind of come together. At that point I had no idea what his daughter did for a living! Then it had all gone public...

We had been kissing in the kitchen when in had come Megan and Mindy.

"Mom!"

"Marcus!"

"What!" Marcus had responded, sounding annoyed, as he had removed his lips from mine.

"I'm in enough fucking pain!" Mindy had growled angrily and stormed out of the kitchen, dragging my appalled daughter with her!

As I stood with Marcus I felt so happy; my life was finally complete and back on track. I was gaining a fabulous eighteen-year-old daughter, who just happened to be one of the world's top assassins. I think it will be Marcus who gets the short end of the deal; he gets Megan! One not so good thought was that I would become a grandmother to two little terrors – a grandmother at thirty-three!

I barely heard the vows.

I was buried in my thoughts. I was overjoyed for Marcus; all I had ever wanted was for him to be happy and now he was. I was also gaining a little sister – a wild girl, not all that different from myself, I had to admit.

I looked down at the eleven-year-old girl; she was struggling to contain her emotions. I took hold of her hand and gently squeezed it, showing her I was there for her. She smiled up at me in a silent thank you.

As the marriage was completed, I also realised with a start that for the first time in my life, I actually had a Mom...

..._...

"Congratulations, Mom!" I grinned, hugging Paige.

"I'm far too young to have a daughter your age..."

"Who cares. I'm just so happy to have gained a Mom and a Sister."

"You serious about the Sister part?" Paige chuckled.

"She's grown on me!" I replied.

"I love you too, sis!" Megan chimed in with her usual shit-eating grin as she tried to hug both me and our Mom.

"Daughters from hell!" Marcus grimaced.

"I suppose congratulations are in order, Dad!" Megan said as she hugged Marcus.

"She does have a cute side – but just like the moon has a dark side; we never actually see it!" Marcus deadpanned.

Megan smiled sweetly.

"Hi, Megan, you look really nice."

"Thanks, Steph, so do you," Megan replied, before looking a little concerned. "I hope I didn't hurt you the other day..."

"Nah, I'm tougher than I look; I was just exhausted and you put up a good fight. I'm sorry for taunting you."

"Hey, I'm a big girl, I can take some abuse – I get it all the time from everybody!"

"We're good then?" I asked tentatively.

"Always, Steph!" Megan replied, giving me a hug.

"Very sweet!" Josh commented with a grin as he walked past.

We both scowled at him.

"Us girls need to stick together!" Megan growled.

"Congratulations, Captain!"

"Thank you, Lieutenant!" Marcus laughed. "Seriously, thanks, Hank..."

"Finally, you've made an honest woman out of Paige!" Trudy Platt said cheerfully.

"An honest woman?" Paige hinted suggestively. "Oh, I hope not!"

"You go girl!" Erin laughed.

"Respect, Marcus!" A grinning Alvin said shaking Marcus' hand.

"Can we call you Grandma now?"

"If you have to!" Grandma Paige replied, a little reluctantly.

I looked at Danny and smiled. We had never had grandparents before. It was yet another new experience that we had discovered since moving to Chicago. I was in another really pretty dress, which I loved – dressing up was fun. Danny did not like dressing up, but he endured it without complaining.

"How're my little granddaughter and grandson doing?" Grandpa Marcus asked with a smile.

"Being perfect little angels!" I replied grinning back.

"Somehow I doubt that!"

"I have to agree with you there, Marcus!" Mom said, sticking her tongue out at me.

I scowled back and stuck my own tongue out in return.

After the ceremony we moved onto a fancy restaurant for an early dinner and then for some fun going into the night.

The meal was fun and enormous. It was good to have time to chat with my friends and just relax. I saw Voight whispering something to Kim and her mouth dropped open in surprise. Kim and Marty were next to get married, only they had yet to confirm a date.

As I looked around the room, everybody was laughing and smiling, enjoying the evening. It was what everybody needed – to let their hair down, figuratively speaking of course, and enjoy themselves. There had been too much pain and trouble in the City. I was so looking forward to a peaceful Christmas and, I hoped, a very happy New Year!

Marcus was so happy; happier than he had been for a long, long time. The man had struggled when Paige had been shot – we all had, but Marcus had been beside himself with worry and I had really felt for him.

Finally, it was time for fun and games...

The 'daughters from hell' began the entertainment.

"Oh God no!" Marcus moaned as we both climbed onto the stage and grabbed a microphone each.

"This is for our Mom and Dad..." I announced.

Megan began with the opening verse:

I come home in the morning light
My mother says when you gonna live your life right
Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones
And girls they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun

Then it was my turn:

The phone rings in the middle of the night
My father yells what you gonna do with your life
Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one
But girls they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have

And together:

That's all they really want
Some fun
When the working day is done
Girls – they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun

Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I want to be the one to walk in the sun
Oh girls they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have

That's all they really want
Some fun
When the working day is done
Girls – they want to have fun
Oh girls just want to have fun,
They want to have fun,
They want to have fun...

Everybody was laughing and singing along to the last verse. Marcus just grimaced, though, while Paige loved it! We both stepped down and allowed Chloe and Stephanie to take their turn with a surprise rendition of 'I'm So Excited' by the Pointer Sisters. For a small girl, Stephanie had a fair set of lungs!

Then Paige surprised the hell out of everybody, including Marcus, by climbing up on the stage with Kim. Despite being four and a half months pregnant, Paige was still very able. Together they sang an unexpected tune: 'Man! I feel like a woman' by Shania Twain.

We all took a break and enjoyed each other's company. It was a very special night. Considering the time of year, we also decided to dance to some songs to mark that time of year. That brought everybody out, including our friends from the 21st District.

At the end of the evening Dave and I were joined by Marcus and Paige.

"Dave, Mindy – we have an enormous favour to ask..." Paige said as she stood next to Marcus.

"No problem – what can we do?" I asked enthusiastically.

"Well, we're gonna be out of town for a few days, so we wondered if you could look after our little monster, err, girl," Marcus finished without a hint of shame.

Megan appeared and caught the last few words; she scowled and I smirked down at my, not so little, sister who scowled back.

"I can't believe that I'm being treated like an unwanted pet!" Megan moaned.

"We'll feed her and she can always sleep with Sophia!" Dave commented facetiously.

"I get no goddamn respect around here!" Megan growled heading off to join the others kids.

I laughed as Megan stalked off.