A/N: This fic isn't dead, not by a long shot.
Extended Summary
Cassie and Derek get married.
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
Marcus Aurelius
April 15th, 2039
Cassie finished with her jello and put the empty packet on the tray beside her. She sat up in her hospital bed and looked over at the newborn in the cart beside her. She reached over, picked up her child, and cradled them softly in her arms. She looked down at her son, her perfect boy nestling softly in her arms.
A few seconds later, Derek Lowell comes walking into the room. He looked at Cassie with a warm smile on his face and reached down to stroke his son's head.
"He's so beautiful," he cooed. "He's perfect."
"Our son," Cassie told him. "His perfection comes from us."
"Heh, I'll say."
Derek sits down on the bed with her and continued to stare at their son.
"We still need to name him," she pointed out.
"Nathan Drake Jr.?"
She shook her head. "No. I don't want to make him feel like he has to live in the shadow of his grandfather."
"I guess Victor Sullivan Drake is off the table as well?"
"Yes. I want him to have a name that is unique to him."
"We could name him after a certain term."
"I thought about that… but 'Sic Parvis Magna Drake' doesn't sound like a good name."
"Yeah, I guess you have a point there. So what should we name him?"
"I don't know."
Cassie pondered and could not come up with a name at the top of her head. Derek reached into his pocket, took out a pocket-sized journal, and began sketching Cassie and his son.
"Are you capturing my beautiful side?"
Derek hushed her. "Quiet, please."
After a few minutes, Derek finished and turned the journal over to show her. He captured the emotion on her face as she cradled their son for the first time.
"Nice drawing. It is supposed to be a painting or something?"
"I drew the exact moment you held our son in your hands for the first time."
Cassie smiled warmly. "It's beautiful. It's missing one thing, though."
Derek tilted his head. "What?"
"You. It's missing you. This isn't my son, this is our son. You deserve to be in that picture as well."
As if suddenly summoned by Cassie, he got to draw himself into the photo in his journal. In the newly revised photo, Derek was standing over Cassie, cradling his son's head and gently massaging his bald scalp.
"I'm still trying to think of a name," Cassie reminded him. "Nothing seems good enough for our little boy."
"He's a boy so you get to pick his first name. I already got his middle name." Derek patted his chest. "Isaac. After Isaac Master."
Cassie nodded slowly. "The painter."
"Yep."
"You still going to pursue a painting career?"
"I am. Part-time painter, full-time archaeologist. You thinking of naming him after someone you loved growing up?"
Cassie shrugged. "I don't know. Picking names is incredibly hard." She bit her lower lip and sighed. "Why is it so hard?"
"Imagine how your parents felt in naming you."
She scoffed. "Please, Mom and Dad named me after my grandma. Cassandra Morgan, the most brilliant historian her friend, Evelyn, has ever seen." Cassie's eyes went wide. She looked to the side, thinking of something before a smile was brought to her face. "I think I know what to name our son."
"What?"
"Evan."
Derek stiffened his back and nodded inquisitively. "Interesting. Why is that?"
"Evelyn is the person who gave Dad and Uncle Sam their surnames and made us discover our past as descendants of Sir Francis Drake. I don't want to name my son after a close relative of mine because I want him to live his own legacy but I-"
"You're fine with naming him after someone who worked with your relative?"
"I'm not naming him after Evelyn because she was friends with grandma, but because of the way she changed our lives forever, the descendants of Sir Francis Drake himself."
Derek smiled. "Aww, I get it now."
Derek was more than familiar with the story of Cassandra Morgan and Evelyn and how the Drakes originally got their names. Upon hearing about the fallout between Evelyn and her family, it made him realize how grateful he is that Cassie can recognize her limits. Sure, she may be a thrill-seeker who loves life-or-death situations and promised to give that up, even with the difficulty presented.
It's been almost a year since their latest adventure involving Noah's Ark. A month or two after they graduated, Cassie had fallen pregnant and Overlord sends a letter to their house, letting the duo know that they know she is pregnant and their home address. They moved to a new and comfy cushioned apartment with three rooms in preparation for the baby to be coming soon. They hadn't received any letters from Overlord since that letter but Overlord was still out there, planning, and letting them live their lives in peace until they decide to embark on a quest to find a mythical object or lost city to take over the world.
Overlord had made it clear that they will not let Cassie and Derek live peaceful lives, even if they stepped away from treasure hunting. But both Cassie and Derek made a pact that if there was a lost city or mythical object out there, they would make it their mission to make it unattainable to Overlord. They want their son to grow up in a peaceful world and Overlord's vision of a fair world would prevent that.
This world can't be fair, Cassie thought. They're only making it fair for their own convenience. Sure, this world may not be fair and can be crapsack but I like this world the way it is. I want Evan to have the same experiences as I did and live a life of peace. If Overlord or anyone else tries to take over or destroy this world, I will stop them. I will destroy all lost cities and mythical objects if it means Little Evan can experience peace in this world. Huh, I guess Derek and I ARE like Burak and Leyla Uzun.
Cassie rocked her little bundle of joy in her arms. "Evan Isaac Drake. Has a nice ring to it."
Derek nodded with a warm smile on his face. "It does."
"Little Evan, do you want to meet your family?" Cassie bounced him in his arms once more. The little bundle of joy looked up at its mother and smiled. It reaches its chubby baby fingers out and grabbed Cassie's face.
"Welcome to this world, Evan Drake."
April 18th, 2039
Three Days Later
Three days after Evan was born, he was finally allowed to leave the hospital. Cassie and Derek gently set their son in the car seat they set in the back and drove him home for the first time.
Derek opened the door for her as Cassie held her son and brought him into their apartment.
"Capture this moment," Cassie told, "the first time our son comes home with his parents."
Derek took out his phone and snapped a photo. "We gotta start our baby book. I will put my drawing of us on the first page."
"I'd be sad if you didn't."
Cassie gave Evan a tour of the apartment. She showed him everything there was: the kitchen with a black refrigerator, a desk in the living room that Derek uses to work on his art, a giant plasma-screen TV, two leather couches, the laundry room, a weightlifting set in the corner of the room, the balcony with the grill, two bathrooms (one in the master bedroom) and the other in the living room for guests and everyone else.
Finally, they made it to the bedrooms.
With Cassie and Derek sharing the master bedroom, they converted one of the two extra rooms into the baby's nursery room, with a crib in the center of the room, a poster of ladybugs, and flowers and butterflies clinging to the wall.
When they came back into the living room, Cassie bounced Evan up in her hands and pointed to the pictures framed on the wall.
"You see all those photos, little Evan? Those are places your Mommy and Daddy have been." She pointed to a picture of Makemake hanging above a light switch. "That's Makemake, he's the ruler of Hawaiki."
Derek pointed to the photo next to it. "That picture of peaches, those are the Peaches of Immortality. Your Daddy found the Peaches of Immortality all by himself."
Cassie playfully rolled her eyes. She tapped her finger against a photo of fire surrounding a green substance. "That's Vrill, an ancient substance in Ultima Thule." She pointed to the poster hanging above the TV. "That underwater castle you see is Atlantis."
Derek gestured to the last few photos on the wall. "That iron is the Cold Iron. The mummies are from the lost Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra. That underwater city, which I drew based on your mother's descriptions because I wasn't there, is Ys. And those shells are from Scholomance."
Cassie pointed to the last photo. "And last but not least, Noah's Ark, the mythical object from the Bible that proved that some stories from the Bible are true." She giggled when she felt Evan nuzzle into his mother's chest. "And the adventure that brought your mommy and daddy together."
Later That Night
Just as predicted, little Evan was waking up in the middle of the night, crying. Cassie and Derek, who were sleeping in the same bed, stirred in their sleep. Cassie groaned and looked over at her alarm clock. Three o'clock in the morning.
"Ah, crap." She carefully sits up and yawns. "I'll take care of this. He's probably hungry."
Derek was fast asleep and snoring loudly.
Cassie went into the kitchen to grab a baby bottle and some formula before she went into little Evan's room and gently picked him up. She cradled him in his arms and feed him.
Evan turned away from the bottle and continued to cry. Cassie sighed with annoyance before she put the bottle down and pulled down her shirt. "Okay, greedy."
She began breastfeeding Evan, whose crying went away almost instantly. Though Cassie was tired and her eyes were heavy, the feeling of Evan finally calming down from his night hunger made her feel somewhat awake. She licked her lower lip and looked down at her bundle of joy.
"How's it going little Evan?" she asked the infant. "I know… it's hard to sleep by yourself. When I was little, I slept with my parents until I was eight. It took me a few times to get used to sleeping by myself in college because whenever I went to bed, Mom and Dad were in the house. Don't worry, you have nothing to worry about; Mommy and Daddy are in the bedroom across the hall." She strokes his head. "Mommy and Daddy won't let anything happen to you."
She looks over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room and sits down in it, rocking it back and forth and comforting the newborn baby.
"I can't wait to throw you a baby shower. Usually, a baby shower happens before a baby is born but who says we got to follow every tradition? I can't wait for you to meet your extended family. You're going to meet all of my best friends and your cousins. You're going to love them growing up."
One thought snuck its way into the back of her mind: what should she do when she goes on another big-time adventure? As much as she wants to let things go, her enemies were still out there but she won't let them get what they want.
Am I going to be like my parents and hide my treasure-hunting life from my child until he discovers it by accident? Jesus Christ, what am I going to do?
May 18th, 2039
One month later
"Come here my grandson," Nate laughed as he picked up Evan and held him high above his head like the Lion King. "He is so cute."
"Yeah, he's got my good looks," Cassie said. "And brains."
Today was the day of Cassie's baby shower and time for Evan to meet the rest of the people in Cassie's life. The baby shower was thrown at Nate and Elena's house on the beach with decorations set up by Uncle Sam and Aunt Magna.
A banner hanging from the ceiling read 'It's A Boy' in blue writing and the words 'Sic Parvis Magna' written below. There were blue balloons in the corner, a blue teddy bear on the couch, presents wrapped in blue, and a blue stroller. There was a table set up with food that included baby food and glasses of mimosas. Cassie had insisted that, since she is breastfeeding Evan, she was not allowed to have any alcohol for at least a year. Cassie knew she could do it; she went four years exactly without having so much as a sip of alcohol; of course, that was when she was a newborn at the time.
Nate continued to cradle his grandson in his arms as there was a knock on the door.
Cassie went to answer it and was delighted to see that it was Derek. "Took ya long enough."
Derek shrugged. "Sorry, I was picking someone up from the airport." Derek stepped to the side, revealing the guest behind his back.
Cassie's eyes went wide. "Niko?"
Niko held his hands out. "The one and only."
Cassie and Niko hugged each other before he was invited in.
A middle-aged couple came walking in through the doorway.
"And let's not forget my parents," Derek reminded.
Cassie shook hands with Erica Lowell and Richard Lowell.
"Hey, Cassie," Erica said warmly, "how have ya been?"
"Been doing well."
"How's our grandbaby?" Richard asked.
"He's hanging out with his grandparents over there."
"Nice," Niko said with a happy smile. "I can't wait to meet my cousin." His smile dropped with confusion. "Wait, is he my cousin?"
"Yeah, he's your cousin," Erica clarified. "He is Derek's son and Derek is your cousin so he would be your cousin."
"First cousin once removed," Richard finished.
Derek lead his family over to meet Evan, who showered the newborn baby with hugs and kisses.
Derek folded his arms over his chest and stood beside Cassie, watching the family show their love for Evan.
"Where's your aunt and uncle?"
Derek thought about this for a second. My aunt and uncle, Niko's parents.
"Hey Niko, where's Aunt Helene and Uncle Edward?"
Niko turned to his cousin. "They're running a little late."
Derek nodded. "Hope that answers your question."
"It's been a while since I've seen your family," Cassie said. "A family of Lowells."
Derek chuckled. "Better than a swarm of locusts."
"Woah, don't get on biblical on me until the Priest and Bethany get here."
Niko finally got his chance to hold his cousin. "Hey there, Evan, my name is Niko. I'm your father's cousin. I'm going to be teaching you how to read all kinds of ancient languages. Pretty soon, you'll be reading fifty different languages."
Derek laughed. "My cousin takes pride in being a translator and linguistics."
After a few more minutes, there was a knock on the door. Cassie went to answer it and she was picked up in a big bear hug that nearly crushed her back.
"My friend, Cassie!" Omaria Al-Bashir shouted at the top of her lungs. She put her friend down. "Oh my god, I can't believe it's been so long. When are you going to come back to Egypt?"
"When I find a good chiropractor there?" Cassie winced. She looked over to her friend, her big and muscular friend. "I see you haven't lost your touch, Omaria."
Omaria patted Cassie on the shoulder before saying, "I could never lose my touch."
Cassie escorted Omaria into her home and she waved at Derek.
"The belligerent sexual tension was obvious between you two," she pointed out. "I was making bets with my sisters on who would make the first move. Who was it?"
"Me," Derek answered. "Hope you got your money's worth."
"Oh, I did." Her eyes looked over to the right to see Evan being held in Niko's hands. "Hey, Niko."
Niko's eyes lit up at the sight of the familiar face looking up at him. "Hey, there's my savior."
"Savior then, savior now, savior always," Omaria scoffed.
"If you made a career out of it, you'd be getting paid big bucks."
She gave a half-shrug. "Eh, saviors shouldn't get paid for saving people. Besides, I don't want to develop a savior's complex."
"I don't think you ever could, Omaria; you're too good for that." He gave a half-smile. "Any special techniques on how to be a savior?"
"Yep, but only if you join Savior Class 101. Do you want to join Savior Class 101?"
"Yep, sign me up, teach." Niko was recalling the time he got his arm broken in the Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra. "Don't want to get my arm broken next time."
"Hey," Derek interrupted, "I've broken my leg before; broken bones aren't that bad. But I don't want a repeat."
"Good to know." Niko pointed to Evan. "Since Derek and I both suffered a broken bone, does that mean…"
"No," Derek shook his head, "Evan won't be having any bones broken in his life, not if I can help it."
"Count me in, cuz." He took out a bottle of water and drank from it.
"Me too." Omaria clapped her hands together. "As long as you don't break any mirrors, you won't have any bad luck for seven years."
"If it makes you feel better, I'll look up ancient scripts on how to ward off bad luck and we can chant them together."
"Would love that." Omaria patted Niko on the shoulder before moving to meet Evan for the first time. Niko joined shortly behind her.
Cassie and Derek looked at each other awkwardly.
Half an hour later, Joshua Hale and Erkin Yura arrived.
After they said their hellos to Evan, they went straight to the lunch table where Erkin poured himself a cup of punch for him and his boyfriend.
"What's up, my homies," Cassie said with a smile.
"Don't you mean, 'homos'?" Erkin laughed. "Get it, 'cause we're gay for each other."
"Duly noted." Cassie looked at Erkin's arms. "See you still haven't been rocking any gyms lately."
"Eh, working out just isn't for me," Erkin shrugged. "I don't care for a male model's body, I love my own body."
"It would help to at least be healthy," Joshua said as he sipped from his cup.
"What are you talking about; I eat healthily and I make sure to get physical exercise every now and then."
"You're a computer whiz," Joshua said.
Erkin put a hand on his chest. "Thank you, darling, that's honestly the nicest thing anyone's said to you. Besides, it's your fault."
Joshua tilted his head. "How so, mate?"
"All those stunts you do with me in your plane; how do you expect me to eat healthy when those loop-de-loops make me vomit my lunch up?"
"You need a bigger stomach, mate," Joshua suggested. "Your head is bigger than your stomach."
"Hey, mate," Erkin laughed as he sashayed, "A big head equates to a genius, mate. Thank you so very much for the compliment. Besides, I don't want my stomach to be bigger than my head."
"If you say so." Joshua took another sip of his coffee. "But if you're going to be living with me, understand that I live by a strict diet."
"What's the point of having a healthy diet when I sit behind a desk working computer stuff all day?" Erkin laughed before resting his head on Joshua's shoulder. "Don't worry, honey, if you want me to start working out and gaining some muscle, I'll do it for you."
"Thank you." Joshua sighed before he remembered something. "And don't use my stunt flying as an excuse to throw up the food I cook for you."
Erkin stepped back as if he was shot in the stomach. "Whatcha talking about?"
"Whenever I fly in my plane and you throw up, it just happens to happen after I cook for you. If you don't like my fish and chips recipe, just say so."
Erkin gasped dramatically. "How dare you accuse me of doing something so horrible? If I don't like your food, I always tell you."
"My honey lemon pie." Joshua sighed and rolled his eyes. "'Oh, it's so good, Joshie'; nobody loves my honey lemon pie."
"It tastes like licorice dipped in salt."
"That breaks my heart, mate."
Erkin laughed and hugged his boyfriend. "I'm sorry, bruh." He looked and remembered that Cassie was watching them. "I'm sorry, love, we're being selfish. How are things with you and Derek doing?"
"Excellente" Cassie answered. She nodded at them. "You guys living together?"
"Yep." Erkin wrapped his arm around Joshua's shoulder. "We live together in his luxurious home in London. You should come by and visit, no?"
"Why, so you can flaunt the fact that you're living in a mansion?"
"How dare you accuse me of doing something I intended to do?" Erkin laughed. "Nah, buddy, just to hang out. The only time you ever call us is when you want something."
"I invited you to my baby shower."
"And we're very happy, especially for little Evan over there. When's the wedding?"
"Uh…" Cassie stuttered. "We don't know yet."
Joshua pointed to her finger. "She's not even wearing an engagement ring, mate," he told his boyfriend. "Just boyfriend and girlfriend living together."
"Right." He pointed at Cassie. "You better get married before the Priest and Bethany find out, they can be quite judgemental about bahstards." He covered his mouth. "Oh no, I said 'bahstard', not 'bastard'. Looks like boyfriend is British-fying me."
"The world's got enough yanks and not enough red coats," Joshua snarked. "My secret plan from the beginning."
"Aww," Cassie cooed, "how lovey-dovey of you two to slowly conform to the other." Cassie checked the notification on her phone. "Speaking of priests…"
She opened the front door to let in Yagmur and Belinay Sadik.
"You invited us?" Bethany asked. "Where's the cake?"
"Sorry, Beth, all we got is baby food."
"Ooh, I love baby food."
"It must be why you refuse to grow up," the Priest snarked. "How are you doing, Cassie?" he asked with a smile.
"Great."
Cassie invited the two in and hugged both of them. "I'm so glad you both could make it to my baby shower."
"Anything for free food," the Priest snarked once more. "I just hope God is too busy to notice me celebrating a baby shower for a baby born out of wedlock."
"I'm sure He's got bigger things on his plate."
"True."
The Priest and Bethany walked toward the middle of the room where they bumped into Joshua and Erkin.
Joshua held his hand out. The Priest flinched, as did Bethany.
"Yes…" Joshua rolled his eyes, "I know that homosexuality is a sin in your religion but-"
"Yeah," the Priest confirmed. "But it doesn't change anything."
"What do you mean?"
"Homosexuality is a sin… but I promise to put in a good word for the Big Man for you and your boyfriend." The Priest shook Johsua's hand with a warm smile. "Nice to see you again, Joshua."
"Likewise, Father Sadik."
Erkin high-fived Bethany. "What's up, Little Bethany." He measured her. "Boy, you're getting tall. You could pass for a baby in Titan mythology."
"Can it be a frost giant?" Bethany asked in an eager tone.
"Sure why not?"
"Goodie. And you can be Loki."
"I love Loki because he's 'low-key' awesome."
Erkin and Bethany laughed together before they hugged each other. Bethany was tall enough to reach the center of his stomach and it reminded Erkin of how short he was. One thing he did notice was that Bethany had a much stronger hugging grip around his boy while he could barely give her a bear hug. He needed to build up some muscle and his boyfriend promised to do just that.
"What a lovely reunion this is," Omaria said as she walked up to the friends with Niko by her side. "One big happy archaeology family reunion. Where's the ark of the covenant?"
"Been found and buried," Derek said. "Sorry, we're late for the ark of the covenant party."
"Hey, we found the ark," the Priest pointed out. "Noah's Ark."
"True, true," Cassie confirmed. "Also, who made the bet?"
"Eh?" Omaira looked confused.
"I heard a rumor around her that someone bet when Derek and I were finally going to get married and have children."
"I think that was me," the Priest announced. "In that specific order, of course."
"I did it in reverse," Bethany mentioned. "You know, just in case. I get moola?"
Niko shook his head. "What's going on? Who is making bets?"
"We're all good friends and whatnot so we decided on making bets on who would get together first," Erkin clarified. "Whoever bet on me and Joshua getting together won a lot of money."
"You should know," Omaria tugged on the collar of her shirt, "you bought me my first cruise trip around the world."
"I think we all knew Joshua and Erkin would get together." Derek held his hands up. "Not saying I'm betting you didn't but it is a first-come-first-serve kind of bet and Omaria made the bet first. Now then, who bet on me and Cassie getting together second?"
"We did," the Priest answered on behalf of him and his niece. "You owe us some green wads of cash."
Derek was about to pay the Priest when Joshua already opened up his wallet. "You're going to gain ten pounds, mate."
The Priest laughed and accepted Joshua's money. "Thank you… mate."
Cassie clapped her hands together. "Now then, who should we bet on who is going to be the next couple?"
"Oh, love," Erkin began, "I think we both know who is going to be the next couple."
Cassie, Derek, Joshua, and Erkin and turned in Omaria and Niko's direction. The Priest and Bethany, who only just arrived, were completely out of the loop.
Omaria felt her face redden and she nervously raised her hands. "I don't know what's going on here but Niko and I are just friends."
"I also couldn't help but notice you guys hung out a lot on our Cleopatra adventure," Derek smirked. "What were you guys doing when Cassie and I were left in our hotel room?"
"Just chitchatting," Niko insisted. "Nothing more."
There was one more set of knocks on the front door. It was a guest that Cassie had forgotten to mention. When she answered the door, she was completely shocked to see who it was.
"Angie," Cassie held her hands out. "Nice to see you again."
Derek's name perked up upon hearing the familiar name and when he moved towards the door, yes, it was the same Angie he dated for a while before they both agreed to break up. She was standing in the doorway, her strawberry blonde hair looking as radiant as ever, with a man standing behind her, holding Angie's daughter in his hands.
"Angie" Derek said awkwardly, "Uhh.. this is a… a surprise. I uh-"
"I invited her," Cassie explained. "She said that when she found out that I had a baby, she wanted to give me some parenting tips. I swear to God-"
"Blasphemy," The Priest yelled.
"I swear to DOG that I was going to tell you but the whole planning this shower thing was hectic and there was a lot on my mind and-"
"No no, I get it." In his mind, he was screaming at how uncomfortable he felt in the presence of his ex-girlfriend but seeing her with another man suddenly ignited a flame within him.
"This is my husband," Angie introduced the man behind her. "Simon Vincent."
"Nice to meet you."
Simon Vincent was a tall man, a few inches taller than Derek, and had a stocky building that not even his black jacket could hide. He carried Tiffany with one hand before walking inside and gently putting her down. "Say hello to everyone."
Derek grabbed Erkin's shoulder and pulled him in to whisper. "Is it weird that my girlfriend invited my ex-girlfriend to our baby shower?"
"It does feel awkward man. But… I think it depends on their relationship. You guys broke up on both of your terms, right? And you both left and found the love of your lives, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"I understand you're uncomfortable, man but Angie is already married. If you had to choose between Cassie and Angie, who would you choose?"
"Cassie."
"And she'll pick you any time of the day. Besides, with how inseparable you guys are, I think it's healthy for you guys not to do everything together. I am glad that Angie and Cassie are friends. Sorry love, but no catfights over you today."
Derek laughed awkwardly before walking away.
As Cassie invited the pair in, she immediately recognized Simon Vincent.
"Wow," she gasped, "fate is all-around awkward today."
Simon nodded. "Yeah. Uh, congratulations on the baby, Cassie."
"Thank you."
Derek immediately picked up on something going on between them. He marched up to Cassie and pointed at Simon. "Do you know him?"
"Yeah…" Cassie awkwardly ground her teeth. "He was my first."
"First what?"
His face blushed a deep scarlet color upon realizing what she meant. He groaned uncomfortably and walked away.
"Wait," Simon ran up to Derek. He caught his shoulder and made him face him. "I know that this is awkward and everything, now you know how I felt when I found out that you were Angie's first. But there's no reason we can't be friends. I mean, just because we date our girlfriend and boyfriend's exes doesn't mean we can't be friends." He held his hand out. "I swear, I want this awkward tension between us to end because Cassie and Angie are friends; they've been having coffee together for a week."
"And she never told me she's been going out with my ex?"
"I didn't find out either but we shouldn't be like those couples in movies and TV shows, bruh. Let's be friends, you know."
"I don't know man," Derek shook his head. "I don't know if this awkward tension will go away but I guess I can endure for the time being." He shook Simon's head. "Well, uh, welcome to the party."
"Thank you." He looks over to Tiffany as she began playing with little Evan and Bethany near the buffet table.
"I'll tell you something; raising children is hard, especially the first time around. I missed out on the first two years of Tiffany's life but I vowed to be there for her. I know she's not my daughter but I treat her like my own."
Derek remembered Angie telling him about her daughter and how he thought for a second that he was the father but nope, Angie said she went to a sperm bank. He was curious as to why but decided not to pry.
Some people just want to have children early and I shouldn't judge.
"Good man," Derek nodded. "You're a good man and I do hope that we can become friends in the future."
Simon smiled before walking over to the snack table to grab himself some food.
Erkin walked up to Derek and whispered to him, "Simon is hot."
Derek groaned.
About half an hour into the baby shower, the guests at the party played a game where they ate baby food and had to make a guess as to what the flavor of the baby food was. Joshua and Erkin competed against each other and raised some of his infant siblings when he was ten, Erkin managed to guess each baby's food. Ironically, Joshua at one point had to eat baby food to survive in one of his stories he refused to elaborate to his gang of friends but he could tell the flavors of the baby food only after Erkin made the guess.
Cassie rocked Evan on her lap and scooted to the side to make room for Derek on the couch. He put his hand on her knee and kissed her on the cheek.
"You've been having coffee dates with Angie?"
"Yep." She kisses Evan on the forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"No. I mean, it would've been nice if you told me but I understand that you have a social life outside of me. A little heads-up would've been appreciated but I-"
"You're repeating yourself."
"Sorry. But Simon?"
"How was I supposed to know that that was the same Simon? She mentioned her husband, Simon, but didn't give me his last name. Besides, now you know how awkward it is for me to see you and Angie together."
"When did this turn into a drama?" He laughed and smacked himself upside the head.
"I'm sorry and if it makes you comfortable-"
"No, no need."
"What?"
"I know it may be uncomfortable but if you and Angie are friends and want to hang out with each other, that's your right. I have no right to say who you can and can't hang out with."
"No, I was going to say that I was going to find a way to make it less awkward but it warms my heart to know that you're coping." She rocks Evan in her lap once more.
"Thank you. Win-win. Who says you can't be friends with your exes… or first-times?"
"Uh, rom-com."
The two of them laughed before they looked each other in the eye.
"I had a lot of fun with you, Derek, on our adventures."
Derek smiled warmly before averting his gaze nervously. "I did, too. I really liked hanging out with you. Sure, there may have been deadly traps and villains along the way but they were fun times.
"Adventures are fun and everything but… thank you for being there with me."
"Of course… who else would put up with you talking about your parents finding pyramids underwater in class all day?"
Cassie laughed before she stopped rocking Evan and gently cradled him in her arms. "I love you, Derek." She kissed Evan on the forehead. "And our son."
"I love you both, too." He kissed her on the forehead before planting a kiss on his son's forehead.
Cassie looked at Derek with a nervous look on her face. "Uhh… you want to uhh… will you… join hands with me on the adventure of a lifetime?"
Derek was slightly confused as to what she meant until putting the pieces together and deciphered her meaning.
And it made him smile warmly.
"Does this venture involve two supernatural rings, perhaps? The Ring of Andvaranaut, maybe?"
She shook her head. "Nah, just two regular rings."
"I was about to say… because two wedding rings are worth more in a lifetime than any mythical ring from Norse mythology could be worth." He grabs her hand. "And the answer is yes. I will join you in this adventure of a lifetime. You… me… and Little Evan."
Cassie smiled and did breaking dancing in her head.
I'm officially engaged.
Three Weeks Later
Planning for the wedding had officially begun. When Cassie and Derek decided on getting married, the first complication they came across was planning the wedding. They didn't want to spend too much money but they were only getting married once so it should be a spectacle.
So they hired a wedding planner. They first thought the wedding planner was a good choice, seeing as he was highly recommended by other people who had gotten married in the past, and only then when they started working with him did they realize how wrong those people were.
The wedding planner was making expensive demands for the wedding. Apparently, he found a loophole in his contract when Cassie and Derek signed him on that allowed him to charge whatever he wants. If they want the best wedding, they have to pay him twice the amount of money that normally goes into a wedding. The reason for this was so that half could go into the wedding while the other half would go into his personal bank account.
Later, they found out from their friends who recommended this guy that the man served time in jail and he had been demanding extra money. Apparently, breaking kneecaps for the mob was a fun and exciting job but didn't make the bills, and oh boy, was this guy in debt with the mob.
Cassie and Derek immediately cut him loose and decided to plan the wedding themselves.
The ironic thing was when two people wed together, they intend to share assets and everything is fifty-fifty but just because you and your partner become one doesn't automatically mean that they will blindly like whatever their partner likes.
For example, Cassie wants to get married at the beach and have a wedding that's unique to them, a family of treasure hunters. On the other hand, Derek wanted a normal and conservative wedding; one held in a church.
There was always the option of eloping but they wanted their family and friends to be there.
Who knew that planning a wedding could be so stressful?
They decided that they each get three vetoes for the wedding, no questions asked.
When Cassie wanted to have a DJ for the wedding, Derek vetoed it. When Derek wanted a strawberry shortcake, Cassie vetoed it.
Two vetoes each.
Derek took his mind off of planning the wedding by visiting the Drake family household to talk with Nathan and Elena Drake himself. He anxiously knocked on their door and began absent-mindedly lacing his fingers together as Nate answered the door.
"What's up there, kiddo," Nate greeted him. "Come on in. Cassie's not here but-"
"I'm here for you," Derek said. He walked inside and waved to Elena, who was sitting at the kitchen table. "Actually, I'm here for both of you."
"That's good news," Elena said. "Something on your mind?"
"Well, uh, yeah, actually." He rubbed the back of his head, not understanding why he was so nervous. "So, you know that we're planning the wedding and everything, I uh… well… I uh…"
"Calm down, why are you so nervous?" Elena grabbed his hand and patted it gently. "It's us, Derek, we've known you since you were like nine or ten."
"Yeah, roundabout fifteen years. So, I uh, was looking up some old wedding traditions and I saw that one of them involved asking for the blessing of the parents."
"So you came to ask for our blessing in marrying our daughter." Nate patted his shoulder. "I like you, kid."
Derek smiled. "Thank you, Nate." He squared up to Nate and looked him in the eyes with confidence. "Nathan Drake, would you give me your hand in marrying your daughter?"
Nate wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "I don't know, man, I have a few concerns."
"Will you be faithful to our daughter?" Elena asked. "Treat her with respect? Be honest with her?"
"Above all, be a good man for her? You promise to look after her, Derek?"
"Yes," Derek declared. "I don't want to brag… but I'll be the best she ever had."
"Easy, John Legend," Elena warned. "We just want a simple answer, no need to be melodramatic."
"I like that song," Nate mentioned.
"Yes," Derek declared once more, being completely serious. "I promise to be honest, and faithful and treat her with the love and respect that she deserves. Honor, integrity, and fidelity."
Nate smiled with a single nod. "You have my blessing." He shook Derek's hand, his grip on Derek's hand strong in the handshake.
Derek turned to Elena. "Do I have your blessing, Elena?"
"You do." She gently shook his hand. "My future son-in-law."
"Future Mom-in-law. You know, speaking of which, since you're going to be my mom-in-law, what should I call you? MIL?" His face turned beet red upon realizing what he said. "I was one letter away from spelling 'MILF', wasn't I?"
"Yeah…" Elena agreed, "you were."
Derek bowed his head and covered his blushing face. "I am so sorry."
"No worries." She invited him to sit down. "You want some tea?"
"Yes, please." Derek took out a chair at the dinner table and waited patiently for Elena to brew his tea. Nate sat beside him.
"Why are you so tense?"
Derek looked at his future father-in-law. "I thought you were going to give me the shovel talk or something."
He laughed. "I think I'm a little above that but if it makes you feel less tensed then I'd be more than welcome to give it."
"Nah, nah, I'm good. The only shovel talk I want to hear is one we have when unearthing an artifact."
"Yeah, seems much more civilized."
Derek has asked Cassie's parents for their blessing in his marrying her. He didn't know what the woman was supposed to do in this situation but he was sure Cassie has plans of her own.
I've never noticed how intimidating Derek's parents can be.
When night came that morning, Cassie had invited Erica and Richard out for dinner, her treat, wanting to make a good impression for she was going to be their daughter-in-law. Even though she spent the night with Derek at his house numerous times and went on dates with his parents numerous times, they still have an intimidating vibe. Overlord bastards had nothing on them compared to Erica and Richard Lowell.
"So then, I must ask, what is this about?" Erica began.
The restaurant of Cassie's choice was a Hawaiian bar that had a new invention called steak nuggets. It had a terrible name but became the restaurant's staple food. As Cassie learned from biting into the steak nuggets, there was nothing but steak in the nuggets.
She was going to pay the bill when this was done. BM Shacks was a good but inexpensive restaurant but that's not why she chose this place; this is the first place Erica and Richard treated Cassie when she slept over at their house for the first time.
Poetic irony.
Cassie finished chopping up her steak nuggets before she finally got around to asking what was really on her mind.
"So, you know that I'm marrying you son…"
"Understatement of the year," Richard chuckled. "As a photojournalist, I'm a fan of understatements."
"Well then, how's this understatement? Derek and I are planning our weddings with careful planning."
"Another understatement."
"And, I know it's tradition for the man to ask the bride's parents for their blessings but I want to ask for your guys' blessing in marrying your son." She looked them in the eyes. "After all, you raised him into the man he is today and it's only fair that I ask for your blessings."
"No," Erica said, "If anything, we should be the ones doing the asking."
"Yeah." Richard looked at his wife. "We've been talking and we can't tell you how grateful we are for being in our son's life. Before Derek met you, he wasn't the best of kids."
"Well, he was ten," Cassie mentioned, "or, a little younger than ten so obviously, he's a little rambunctious and-"
"He was lonely and desperately craving affection. We tried to give him that affection but for some reason, it could never fulfill him. He wanted a treasure hunter like him as a friend. You really brightened his day the first time you met and the time he came home after the first day of fourth grade, he was happy to meet someone just like him."
Cassie smiled and blushed. She felt the tears starting to come up in her eyes but she did very little to stop them from flooding out. "All I did was be his friend."
"Derek is like a dragon; he loves treasure and there's one treasure in particular that he loves and can be overprotective of. Well," he clicked his tongue. "Two."
Cassie chuckled with butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Evan and I."
Huh, Derek the Dragon, it rhymes, in a not-so-rhymey way.
"Thank you for being there for our son." Richard tipped his glass to her.
Erica decided that now was a time to talk. "You turned our son into a man. A father… and soon-to-be husband. But do make sure to take care of him as much as I know he'll take care of you."
Cassie nodded resoundingly. "Cross my heart, hope to die, if I'm lying, stick a needle in my eye."
"Eh, that was too long of a promise."
"I found myself bored halfway through the chant," Richard said, "and that was barely a ten-word long sentence."
"Sorry," she half-heartedly apologized, "I have a flair for dramatic speeches."
"Someone's been watching too much anime," Richard figured.
"What's the word they use?" Erica wondered. "Oh yeah, talk-no-jutsu."
"Definitely."
Cassie laughed and imagined life with Richard and Erica as her parents-in-law.
One Month Later
Cassie and Derek finally decided unanimously on a date for the wedding.
October 18th, 2039.
Now all that was to do in the four months was plan the location, cater the food, send out invitations, and get someone to marry them. Cassie and Derek had a mission and there were some things they decided on.
Was it going to be a big wedding, of course not?
They wanted their wedding to be intimate, an invite-only party. They were one giant family of treasure hunters so it made sense to keep things at a minimum.
Since they had more than enough time on their hands, Cassie decided to fly out to hand-deliver the invites to her friends because there were some things she wanted to talk to them about. Especially Omaria Al-Bashir.
After arriving at Omaria Al-Bashir's home in Cairo, Egypt, she invited her onto her balcony to have a private conversation with her.
Omaria set up two chairs for them to sit down and Omaria reached for her pack of cigarettes. She was about to light one before she stopped, remembering that Cassie was breastfeeding and didn't want her to get sick from second-hand smoking.
"You should put those away, big girl," Cassie told. "Those cigs will murder ya one day."
"Way ahead of you, lass." She pockets her cigarettes before accepting Cassie's invitation card. "Save the date… October 18th, 2039. At least you guys have a date and I'm more than happy to come to the wedding." She folded the invitation before narrowing her eyes. "Why are ya here, Cassie?"
"What?" Cassie shrugged. "Can't I see my best friend once and a while?"
"Oh, I'm your best friend all of a sudden?"
"Well, since I'm marrying my best friend, I thought it wouldn't be fair to leave you hanging. Congratulations, Omaria, you're my best friend."
"That makes me feel special. No joke, it really does."
"And because you're my best friend, I have a question to ask of you."
Omaria shifted so she was sitting comfortably in her chair. "Please, do tell."
"Will you do me the honors by being my maid of honor?"
Omaria responded in her native language, "Naeam, Cassie, sa'ufeilu."
Cassie smiled and nodded. "Shukran lak ya sadiqi almufadal."
Omaria made a so-so gesture with her hand. "You're a little rusty on your dialect but good try nevertheless. I would love to be your maid of honor, Cassie. Thank you so very much."
When she saw Omaria rise, Cassie rose to her feet and before she knew it, Omaria caught Cassie in a bear hug. Cassie tried to hug Omaria back just as hard but Omaria's physical strength was unmatched compared to Cassie's.
Thank god I didn't break my back.
With the wedding coming in only twelve weeks exactly, Cassie and Derek blew through one more veto each. When Derek wanted red as a color for the wedding, Cassie vetoed it, thinking that red didn't fit the wedding theme. And when Cassie wanted to get married on a boat, Derek vetoed it.
Only one veto each.
Only twelve weeks left and they still hadn't found a wedding venue but luck was on their side in the shape of a man named Simon Vincent. Simon Vincent made a very generous offer to help them with their wedding venue by building a wedding venue just for them and their intimate guests. All they had to do was choose the location and Simon would get some of his structural engineer buddies and they would do the rest.
Both Cassie and Derek agreed to get married outside of the Drake family house on the beach.
With that done and out of the way, all they needed to do was find a wedding singer, and Derek immediately volunteered. Cassie almost vetoed it but she was curious as to what Derek had in mind for wedding songs but she made sure to have her own input.
Why Cassie chose 'Power Trip' by J. Cole is anyone's guess but Derek wanted to make sure that she had a say in this wedding as much as he had a say in this wedding.
Oh, and he chose Niko to be his best man.
Only one month to go until the wedding and so far, everything seemed to be falling into place. Cassie and Derek had hand-delivered their invitations to all of their intimate guests, which consisted of only a small group of people, namely their closest family and friends.
But what made this wedding special was that all the people they invited played some kind of role in the wedding.
Cassie couldn't believe how fast Simon and his friends could build a wedding venue in front of the beach. She couldn't believe that Angie had such a good eye for beautiful wedding dresses. And she couldn't believe her Aunt Magna's piano skills.
With only thirty days to go, the only thing to do left was plan their honeymoon and their vows. The honeymoon was easy but it was the wedding vows that they needed to come up with that hit them like a brick wall.
While Cassie was in her dressing room, trying on her dress with Angie making a few adjustments, Cassie looked at herself in the mirror and scrunched her eyebrows.
"Angie, what did you do for your wedding vows? What did you recite?"
Angie chuckled. "I mostly recited what the priest was saying but I promised to be the best wife to Simon."
"Nice. And… what were Simon's vows?"
"He promised to always give me a kiss goodnight every night."
Cassie laughed. "One of you said something dramatic while the other one was all casual-like, quite the juxtaposition."
"And he promised to protect me."
"I believe him; he's got quite the stocky build."
"He's been working in the engineering field for a few years now."
"Ya gotta love people who are skilled with their hands."
"I do but…" Angie smiled mischievously. "He said I'm more skilled with my hands than he is. He prefers my hands over his hands any day of the week."
"TMI," Cassie warned. "But I'm glad." She looked over her shoulder at Angie. "So, you've been living in China?"
"Shì dí dàng rán."
Cassie looked at her with an equally mischievous smirk. "Tā shì shénme yàng de?"
"Zhè hěn hǎo, hěn jiǎndān, nàlǐ de rén yě hěn hǎo."
"Nǐ xūyào xuéxí zhōngwén, yīnwèi nǐ bù huì shuō fāngyán."
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Wèishéme dàjiā dōu zhème shuō?"
"Don't worry, you'll get there soon enough." Angie patted her should reassuringly. "I met my hubby in Shanghai when my daughter and I moved there."
"Simon told me he wanted to be famous when he grew up," Cassie remembered.
"He was hired by the Chinese to build a couple of skyscrapers in China. He's getting paid a lot of money and he's providing for me and Tiffany."
"I'm proud of both of you. And you're in fashion?"
"I'm a model," she clarified. "I've tried on dozens of dresses. The Chinese have such lovely fashion. I can recommend you a dress when we're done."
"That would be delightful. And while you're t it, I've always wanted a Chinese opera mask, a real and authentic one."
"Consider it my wedding present. And thank you, for having Tiffany be the flower girl."
"I like Tiffany, she's cute. She's definitely got your pretty looks."
"Good," Angie hesitated.
Cassie was too perceptive to not notice the slight hesitation. She decided not to ponder on it.
"So, who's going to marry you?" Angie wondered. "I mean, aside from Derek."
"Who's the one person in our group that actually has the authority to marry us?"
Angie didn't have to take too long to come up with an answer. "The Priest."
"Yep," she popped the 'p'. "The Priest is going to marry Derek and I and Bethany is going to be our ring bearer."
"I thought the ring bearer was supposed to be a boy."
"Bethany insisted, saying that if her uncle is marrying us then she should give us the rings. Besides, we're not a traditional family so why should we have a traditional wedding?"
"True, true." She finished tightening the gown around Cassie's back. "Sweetie, you look as pretty and beautiful as the day I met you."
Cassie looked at her wedding gown in the mirror and couldn't help but pull the dress up in the front, similar to the brides that pulled their gowns up to run.
Seeing herself in a wedding dress brought out a feeling in Cassie that made her feel like a little girl once more, a little girl who dreamt of growing up and marrying a prince, and living in a castle made of chocolate. While there may be no chocolate castles for her to live in, she was definitely going to marry her prince, sans the knight in shining armor but still her prince. This fantasy didn't involve a child but who thinks about having children when they're eight?
With only thirty days until the wedding, it dawned on her that she really was going to be getting married. She was up the spout and now she was going to someone's wife. But there was something Derek told her that they needed to talk about before they got married.
The Next Day
Cassie was rocking and cradling Evan in her arms with a pacifier in his mouth as Derek came into the baby's room and shut the door behind him. He smiled at Cassie before saying hello to his infant son.
"So, the wedding and everything seems to be in tip-top shape except for one thing."
Cassie's heart dropped at the idea of something being off and potentially ruining their special day. "And pray tell, what shall that be, Prince Derek."
"Our names."
"What about it?"
"Well, you know how you're a descendant of Sir Francis Drake?"
She nods. "Yeah, and?"
"Well, I've been thinking and I decided that being an heir to Sir Francis Drake, a great sailor, and explorer, it should be your name that gets passed down. I couldn't help but notice that Evan has your last name."
"We can change that," Cassie said. "We can change it or hyphenate it if you want. That way-"
"I want to take your last name, Cassie."
Cassie's jaw drops, needing some time to comprehend what she was just told. "What did you just say? You want to take my name?"
"Yes. I want to be part of your family; I want to be a Drake."
"What, but... are you sure? I mean you have your own family name and don't you want your family name to continue? Don't you want your parents' legacy to continue on through you?"
Derek laughed. "What about you? Did you want your family legacy to live on through you or did you want to start your own legacy?"
Cassie smiled and laughed but still felt a pang of guilt within her. "True, true, but your surname is part of your identity. I may be a Drake but I'm my own Drake. If you change your name, who will continue your legacy; you and I are both only childs."
"And we have cousins. Niko can carry on the Lowell legacy. Besides, Cassie-Blanca, didn't your father and uncle change their surname from 'Morgan' to 'Drake' to honor their mother's beliefs that Sir Francis Drake had heirs?"
Cassie didn't even bother putting up an argument on that one. "Touche, D-Man, touche." Cassie remembered something and it made her jaw drop once more. She looked at her tired son and an idea came to her. "Dad may have changed his last name but he still found a way to honor his mother's last name. My middle name." She gently rocks Evan up and down in her arms. "If you're changing your name then it's only fair I get a say in a name change." She kisses the soft hair on Evan's scalp. "Evan's middle name shall be your former surname."
Derek's eyes went wide, his face lighting up with happiness. "What? You really mean it?"
"Evan Issac Lowell Drake." She smiled at the ring of it. "I've known a couple of people who have two middle names and I think this is fitting. That way, you can have the middle name you chose for him and your Lowell name can live on."
"Cassie," Derek began crying, "I can't thank you enough for this." He gently wrapped her in a warm and embracing hug. "Thank you so much for this. I promise Cassie, I'll never take you for granted." He gently patted Evan's head. "And I promise to be the best father I can be for little Evan here." He held his hand up. "But, if we're going to be changing our names, I'm going to have to call a few people and talk to them about legally changing Evan's middle name and letting them know that I'm taking my bride's last name." He began pacing across the room.
"But, should we hyphenate his middle name like Isaac-Lowell or should we leave a space between? And also, there are so many other things to consider. If he gets a driver's license, will he need an extra big one because Evan Isaac Lowell Drake is a long name? Another thing I noticed is that it works even if we hyphenate his late name but then again, he's a boy and boys typically don't hyphenate their last names; that's mostly something a girl does. But if he were to hyphenate it and he gets married, would his wife take his hyphenated name or-"
Cassie grabbed his wrist. "Honey, calm down. We'll worry about it later. Besides, he's only a baby and you're already thinking about him getting married? I swear you're trying to make him grow up fast."
"Never."
"Good." When she noticed that Evan was getting tired, she gently laid him down in his crib. "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite, sweetie."
Derek kissed his index finger before planting it on Evan's forehead. "Sweet dreams, little man."
They carefully vacated the room after turning on the baby monitor and turning off the lights.
Twenty-nine more days until our wedding, Cassie thought. I can't wait.
There was one thing she could help but wonder: do they make dress suits for babies?
The Day of the Wedding
It was finally here, the day when Cassie and Derek vowed to spend the rest of their lives together. Everyone who attended the wedding, which was a short list, played a role in the wedding in one form or another. The guest list included Nate, Sam, Elena, Magna, Richard, Erica, Helene, Edward, Andy, Nancy, Laurie, Angie, Simon, Tiffany, Omaria, Niko, Joshua, Erkin, the Priest, Bethany, and of course, little Evan.
Counting the bride and the groom, that was a grand total of twenty-three people attending their wedding.
The wedding kicked off when Derek stood at the flowery altar Simon prepared in advance with the tide fifteen feet away. Niko was beside him and Omaria was next to him, both wearing their best dresses. It was early in the morning, the winds not too cold but not too hot as well and the ocean breeze provided a cool and refreshing feel that everyone could use after having to stand in the sand in dress shoes and heels for about thirty minutes.
Aunt Magna Drake started the ceremony off by playing here comes the bride. Erica and Richard stood behind their son, their emotions getting the better of them but they promised not to be an emotional wreck until after the wedding was over. Tiffany came down the aisle, leaving flower petals behind and smiling at her mother and step-father, who watched her in the audience and they gestured for her to continue.
Cassie came down the aisle, wearing her floor-length wedding dress with her bridal veil covering he face. Nate immediately stood up and took her hand in his and walked her down the aisle. Elena couldn't resist and she joined Cassie in her walk down the aisle.
Aunt Magna intensified the music when Cassie finally reached the altar. Standing before her groom, Derek was tempted to remove the veil from her face but he understood wedding traditions. But he had to admit, Cassie was beautiful in her wedding dress.
The Priest took out a bible and asked for the crowd to be seated, which everyone obeyed without question. He opened his bible and began reading off the notes he wrote.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in holy matrimony to join these two people in holy matrimony. Fifteen years ago, two young treasure hunters met up in fourth grade and found common ground in their desires to explore the world and discover the undiscovered. These two were inseparable, the yin to each other's yang, and very rarely did we ever see them without the other. They were joined to the hip, like Siamese but at the same time, they weren't.
"Love comes in all shapes and sizes, in many forms. There is no clear-cut definition to describe all love but that is what makes love so special and magical. Love does not follow logic, love does not follow rationale. On paper, Cassie should be with someone who is opposite to her, someone to balance out her treasure-hunting tendencies, but she fell for Derek. She didn't choose to fall in love with him; it just happened. And the same goes for Derek. I've married a lot of people during my current time as a priest and more often than not, they only get married for the wedding but if you ask me, Cassie and Derek have been married for a long time. This is just a formality to make the unofficial official, kinda like making the uncharted charted.
"Cassie Drake and Derek Lowell, you two have been through a lot so I trust you both will find happiness in each other and embrace each other until the end of times. But it takes more than just embracing each other. It takes facing things together, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, for exciting or boring." The Priest smiles. "And now, if anyone has objections as to why this newlywed shouldn't be wedded, speak now or forever hold your peace." No one spoke up. "Just as I thought." He turns to Bethany. "Will my lovely niece please present the rings?"
Bethany held the rings out. Both Cassie and Derek grabbed a ring each.
"Now Cassie, place this ring on Derek's hand and repeat after me."
Cassie put the ring on Derek's hand and repeated the Priest's words. "I, Cassandra Morgan Drake, take Derek Williamson Lowell to be my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, for exciting or boring." She stated her vow. "And I vow to you to be the best wife I can be and to be the greatest treasure a dragon like you could ever have."
Derek put the ring on Cassie's ring finer and repeated the same promises to her. "And I vow to be the best husband I can be and to make every day of your life an adventure."
"It is my honor and special privilege, with God as my witness, that you two are now husband and wife." He closes the book. "There, you're married."
"What about kissing the bride?" Derek asked.
"Oh, by all means; she's your wife, man."
The audience laughed and Derek quickly lifted Cassie's veil and planted one long kiss on her lips.
The rest of the wedding went a little like this.
When it was time for the family and friends to give speeches, everyone went and they each took a jab at Cassie and Derek before they each made a wish that they enjoy the rest of their lives together. Each person mostly said the same thing but they reached and expressed something about how much Cassie and Derek meant to them.
Omaria: Cassie, thank you for taking me on your adventures. I've always been superstitious about Egyptian myths and you proved that my suspicions were correct so thank you for proving my point. LOL.
Niko: Derek, thank you for showing me how fun and exciting an adventure can be. Harrison Ford said that if you want to be a true archaeologist, you got to get out of the library but you showed by example.
Erkin: Cassie, Derek, you guys are the best, and if there's one thing I learned from you... it's that I gotta be committed. Thank you for getting me on an exercise routine.
Joshua: I've never been a believer in luck or fortune but you two are fortunate and lucky to have each other.
Erkin: And we're getting married next, love.
When everyone finished their speeches, Erkin, in charge of music, played a slow-dance song and invited Cassie and Nate to the dance floor in the middle of the beach where they slow-danced to a song Cassie couldn't name but it had such a soothing tone that she relaxes in her father's grip and dance to his tune.
And when the time came for the tossing of the bouquet, Derek went first. Knowing that the Priest, Erkin, Joshua, and Niko were up, the Priest, Erkin, and Joshua schemed together. When the bouquet was tossed, the three of them scattered, leaving Niko as the only one to catch it. He was so blinded by his victory that he hadn't realized his friends ditched him.
Even Bethany was in on the scheme because when Cassie threw the bouquet, she ran away from Omaria, leaving her as the only one to catch her.
Omaria caught the bouquet, and Niko caught the bouquet, this called for a slow dance between the two victors and that's exactly what happened. It was awkward at first but Niko was used to Maria and her presence, he trusted her, especially after she protected him during their Cleopatra and Antony adventure but that's all they were friends.
Right? Niko wondered.
And when the time came for the wedding song to be sung, Derek volunteered and soloed his song. Remembering Cassie's wedding song, he whispered the title into Erkin's ear before he was given a mic by Joshua. He danced and sang away the time to the song of Powe Trip, singing the clean version considering that there were kids there.
Speaking of kids, Evan was being watched by Uncle Sam, who was quickly being swarmed by his three children, Bethany, and Tiffanny.
And yes, Evan was wearing a dress suit custom-made by Angie just for him, and boy, did he look cute with that bowtie of his. It wasn't actually a suit but a onesie that had the design to look like a suit.
Tiffany looked down at Evan with a curious look. She tilted her head before the seven-year-old reached out and gently grabbed Evan's hands.
"Baby," Tiffany spoke. "Evan."
"Say hi, Evan," Sam encouraged.
Evan looked at Tiffany with a sleepy look on his face.
"Tired," Tiffany said. "Sleep."
"That's right, he is a little tired."
"Bed."
It was almost time for the main event and everyone was getting hungry. While the Priest was the one to marry Cassie and Derek, Bethany was the ring bearer, Tiffany was the flower girl, Omaria and Niko were the best man and women, and Angie did the dresses for Cassie and Derek, Joshua's role in planning the wedding was catering to the wedding, which he managed to accomplish with Sam giving him a list of contacts of caters who were cheap but highly recommended. Joshua felt proud of the selection of food he got. Cassie and Derek recommended their preferences but he was the one to deliver and he was proud he chose food that satisfied everyone's bellies.
The time came to cut the cake and just as expected, someone tried to shove Cassie face-first into the cake. She was too quick and Erkin paid the price for his failure by having his face shoved into the cake. It's a good thing only the top half was damaged and good news for everyone, a second cake was brought in advance.
It was almost five o'clock and the sun was starting to go down. Everyone was tired and Cassie and Derek were ready to spend their first night as a couple together.
The Next Night
Joshua opened the side door to his private plane. "Cassie and Derek Drake, party of two, non-stop flight to Tahiti."
Dressed in casual clothing with their backpacks on holding their stuff and suitcases in their hands, Cassie called out to Joshua on the runway and walked towards the plane with her husband.
"Right here."
Joshua laced his hands together. "Welcome aboard, Mrs. Drake. Mr. Drake. Let me get your bags for you." He grabbed their suitcases and loaded them on the plane before he took their backpacks and loaded them."
We work fast, Cassie admitted. We've only been married one day and we're already going on our honeymoon... for an entire week. Oh man, I can't wait for it. I can't wait for it to be just the two of us, spending a week all by ourselves in Tahiti.
Turning away from the plane, Derek went back the way he came and reunited with his parents, both biological and in-law on the runway.
"Welp, we've already said goodbyes so I'll just-"
"Enjoy our honeymoon, son," Erica told. "Enjoy your life sentence with her."
Richard elbowed his wife. "Hey, if being married is a life sentence, why don't you ask for parole for me?"
"Maybe I like life sentences." She laughed before hugging her son. "Seriously, have fun, son."
"I will." Derek hugged his father before turning to Nate and Elena, who held his son in their arms. "See ya later, little man, Daddy is missing you already." He kisses his son and boards the plane as Cassie takes his place standing in front of her parents.
"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Cassie," Nate congratulated. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of our grandson."
"I trust you. And I promise to be back by the end of the week."
"Don't worry about that," Elena told her, "just worry about having a good time with Derek."
"Okay." She reluctantly turned away from them but found out she couldn't. She was missing something and she immediately knew what it was.
"Don't give grandma and grandpa a hard time, okay, baby boy?" She waited for Evan to coo and fuss before she kissed him on the nose. "I'm assuming that's Babyese for 'no promises' and that's the best I can ask for. I promise to bring you back a toy."
After waving and hugging her parents goodbye, Cassie boarded the private plane and sat next to her husband as they buckled up. As the plane took off in the direction of Tahiti, Cassie blindly reached over and grabbed Derek's hand.
Derek took notice of this little action and carefully began squeezing her hand back. He nuzzled his nose against her temple before planting a kiss on her earlobe.
"You up for another adventure, Mrs. Cassie Drake?"
Cassie kissed him on the lips. "As long as it's with you, Mr. Derek Drake."
The End of Chapter 11
