Chapter 4
“Well, Mommy? What happened next?” Christine said, after a few moments of silence.
“Huh? Oh. Well, guess what? Lady Sara and her knight got married, Christine. They finally got married.” Sara smiled and thought back to her wedding day to Casey.
::Flashback::
Sara took her place in front of Casey. "Hey, beautiful," Casey said, smiling. "Hey, you." Sara couldn't help but grin. Then the wedding began. After the readings, and all that stuff that happens in a wedding, it was time for the vows.
"Sara," Casey began, taking her ring from Michael, "you are my love, my life, my inspiration. I don't know how I got through life without you, but I can't imagine it without you now. You have no idea how much I love you. I plan to spend the rest of our lives loving you, protecting you, and cherishing you, until the day I die." He took her hand and slipped her wedding band onto her finger, just like he put on her engagement ring months ago. As Casey did this, a few tears trickled down Sara's cheek. Casey looked up and saw them, and wiped them away. "Don't cry," he whispered. She smiled and then took Casey's ring from Meg.
"Casey, you saved my life. More than once. But even then, you didn't just save me physically. You saved me emotionally. Just when I thought no one was going to come along and love me, you came along. And I love you for that. I put my trust in you from the very beginning, and even though it faltered a few times in our journey together, it's solid as a rock now. I cannot wait to start our new life…together. I promise to take care of you, to love you, to cherish you, and most of all, to trust you, until I take my last breath." She put the ring on Casey's finger, tears glistening in her eyes. She looked up after she was done and smiled at him.
"By the power vested in me, I declare you husband and wife. Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Casey Mitchum. You may now kiss the bride." Casey leaned down to kiss his wife, and everyone applauded. This time, though, they behaved themselves and Michael didn't have to pull them apart. The newlyweds walked down the aisle, arm in arm, and following was the bridal party.
::Reality::
“And then what?” Christine asked. “Now did they live happily ever after?”
“No,” Sara said, shaking her head. “The worst is yet to come.”
~few nights after that~
The Lopez-Fitzgeralds were visiting, yet again, when Christine yawned. “Well, I see it’s time for you to go to sleep, young lady,” her uncle Luis told her.
“Will you tell me more of the story, Uncle Luis? Please?”
Luis smiled. “Sure, Christine. Come on.” After his niece crawled into bed, Luis sat beside her. “Okay, what did you hear last?”
“Lady Sara and her knight, they got married,” she replied.
“Okay, then, let me go on from there.”
At Lady Sara and the knight’s wedding, Officer Luis and Princess Sheridan were also there. Lady Sara and Princess Sheridan had fast become best friends, while Officer Luis and the knight were also becoming close. Well, when it came time for the bouquet toss, Princess Sheridan caught it, and then, Officer Luis asked for her hand in marriage.
::Flashback::
"Sheridan, I love you so much. You bring so much happiness to my life, and I can't imagine my life without you. I know we've had our share of obstacles, but we've overcome them all. Our love is strong enough to challenge anything. So… I ask you this question." Luis got down on one knee and presented a simple diamond ring. "Sheridan Crane, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"
Sheridan gasped. "I… I don't know what to say… I guess I am going to be the first one married after all." She smiled, and there were a few laughs around the room. Then she looked back down at Luis. "Yes, Luis, I would love to be your wife. I love you more than anything in this world." At that, Luis picked her up and twirled her around, then set her down and kissed her. "Sher, you have made me the happiest man alive."
::Story::
Of course, she said yes. So now, the foursome was living happily, and then one day, Lady Sara found out she was going to have a baby. One day, while Lady Sara and Princess Sheridan were out, picking up things for the baby and for the wedding, and they had a picnic with their respective other halves after that. When they arrived, the knight asked his cousin if his wife was okay, since she was pregnant. The princess reassured her cousin that everything was okay, but when they started to leave for the picnic (they had taken a walk), the princess was struck over the head, and the knight chloroformed, and both were taken away.
Christine gasped. “Oh, no! Who took them? Why?”
“I’m getting to that, little one.”
She made a face and crossed her arms. “I am not little.”
“Well, you are the youngest one here, aren’t you?” Luis said, smiling. “I know you’re not little. You’re very grown up.”
“Yes I am, and I want to know what happened to the knight and the princess.”
“Okay, okay. Another night, maybe? You see, I don’t know exactly what happened to them.”
“Aww! Please?”
“You’ll just have to wait, my dear. Good night.” Luis tucked her in, closed the light, but Christine didn’t go to sleep.
~next afternoon~
“Daddy, I want to know what happened to the knight and to the princess!” Christine exclaimed, tugging on her father’s pants as soon as he came home from work.
“Dani, hold on a second, okay?” Casey leaned over to kiss his wife hello, and his second-to-youngest daughter, Kate-Lynn, came and hugged him. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hey, Katie. How was your day?”
“Mine was good. What about you?”
“You wouldn’t be interested, Kate. All the boring lawyer stuff.”
Kate-Lynn made a face. “Okay. I’m going to go watch TV now. Chrissy, do you want to come?”
“No, I want to know about the knight and the princess,” Christine replied, sitting on the couch and crossing her arms. Her older sister smiled. “Okay, whatever you say. Bye, Daddy. Bye, Mommy.”
“Kate, tell your brother and sister to come down here, okay?” Casey called after Kate-Lynn.
A faint “Okay!” could be heard. A few minutes later, two sets of feet could be heard. “Hey, Dad,” Andrew and Rachel greeted their father. They looked at each other and smiled. They never did that anymore (talked at the same time).
“Hey guys. What have you been up to?”
“Nothing,” Rachel said. But Sara eyed her. She had been asking for tighter clothes, slinkier dresses, and shorter shorts. Of course, Casey knew about this. “Can I go to a party this Saturday?” she asked, sweetly. “Andrew’s going too, right, Drew-Drew?” Rachel said, nudging her brother.
“Yes, I’m coming.” Andrew hated when anyone called him by his childhood nickname, but Rachel was the only one he would allow, with her being his twin sister.
“Rachel Sara Mitchum, what did I tell you about going to parties?” her father asked sternly.
She looked down. “Curfew is at eleven. But that’s too early, Dad,” Rachel protested, looking up.
“You’re only fifteen,” her mother said, from across the room. “That is not too early. When I was your age—“
“Yeah, I know, I know, your curfew was even earlier,” Rachel replied. “Dad, can I go?”
“As long as you wear something decent, young lady. Andrew, you watch her, okay?”
“Sure. Don’t worry, Dad, anyone who wants to hook up with Rachel has to go through me first. I am the oldest, after all.” Andrew grinned at his sister.
She frowned. “Only by fourteen minutes,” she mumbled. Then she said, “Thanks, Dad,” and headed back upstairs. Christine was still sitting there, with her arms still folded. “Daddy!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, Dani, I’m sorry,” Casey said, sitting down next to his daughter. “You said you wanted to know more about the knight and the princess?”
“Yes! Please, Daddy, I couldn’t sleep last night, because I was so afraid for them.”
Casey smiled. “Okay. Here we go.”
Well, the knight and his cousin woke up in a dark, cold dungeon. The knight was chained to the wall, while the princess was tied up. And guess what. The princess had lost her memory. She didn’t remember a thing, so the knight had to fill her in. Pretty tough job, since the knight had only known his cousin for a few months. He did manage to fill her in with the basics: Her name was Sheridan, she was his second cousin, and she was engaged to Officer Luis. When she saw her engagement ring, a memory did come back to her: a memory of Luis proposing to her. That was the only thing she could remember. Anyway, he told her a little more about himself, and then, the dungeon door opened. It was Prince Ethan (Princess Sheridan’s nephew), who was in love with Officer Luis’ sister, the lovely Theresa. Since she was gone, and so was his old fiancée, he had decided to go to the dungeon, just because he was miserable. At any rate, he stumbled upon his aunt and the knight.
::Flashback::
"Sheridan?" Ethan asked.
"Huh? Oh. Are you Ethan?" she wondered. Casey looked
confused.
"Yes… What are you doing here in the basement?"
"Hold on. Basement? Where are we?"
"You're in the Crane Mansion."
"We're in Harmony?" Casey asked Ethan.
"Um, yeah," Ethan responded. "You are…?"
"Oh, I'm Casey Mitchum. Sheridan's cousin."
Ethan smiled. "Right. I remember. Hold on. You're in chains?
What happened?"
"All I know is that we were kidnapped in Sunset Beach and we
woke up here. But what are we doing in the Crane Mansion? I
bet Sheridan's father has something to do with this."
"Grandfather Alistair? I don't know…"
"Ethan, please, can I ask you a favor? Can you please get us up
to your room without anyone noticing? I need to use a phone."
"Okay, Casey. No one is home right now so… but how are you
going to get out of here?"
"I need a key." Just then Ethan remembered that there was another smaller key on the basement keyring. He tried it on Casey's chains and they fell to the ground. The three of them rushed upstairs to Ethan's room, where Casey picked up the phone and dialed.
::Story::
As soon as Prince Ethan got them out of there, the knight and the princess rushed up to the prince’s quarters, where they telegraphed Officer Luis and Lady Sara, who were indeed distressed, Lady Sara especially, since she was with child. They were very relieved to hear the knight’s and the princess’s voices, but after that, they didn’t hear from them for two years.
“But what happened during those two years?” Christine asked, relentlessly.
“Another day, Dani. Another day.”
Chapter 5 (not up yet)