Chapter 264) Moments

“There’s a point, around the age of twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.”

LIAM & VIVIEN

Love Day was celebrated quietly this year at Liam, Vivien and Nicholas’ home. Vivien was heavily pregnant now, in her final days before giving birth, and both were just happy that they managed to work out their differences and wouldn’t have to celebrate without each other, but instead with a new chance.
At some point Vivien started playing the grand piano, familiar tunes, until it changed to a soft, timid play. She was trying to play a certain melody from memory without sheet music.

Liam froze in mid-movement, then turned to watch Vivien, as words very familiar to him sounded

“Loved you then,
Love you still,
Always have,
Always will.
You know you are my life …”

The piano play seized, Vivien looked up at him, fidgeted a bit as if contemplating something, shook her head, instead pulled him closer, so he slipped onto the stool with her, pulled her onto his lap, before she continued, this time talking instead of singing

“Liam, may I be your wife? Again.” she improvised the lyrics to suit her situation. The original had it as “Vivien, will you be my wife?” and was from the exact song Liam had written and composed to propose to Vivien the first of two times.

In typical Liam and Vivien fashion they had broken up afterward, then made up again, and he had to ask her a second time many months later, that time romantically at a Light Park, back then still in their early twenties, long before they got married and long before Nick was born. (re-read here CLICK) Now here they were again, but this time Vivien proposed.

“I really wanted to do this on one knee, but honestly baby, I don’t think I can get down all that sexy, and probably wouldn’t be able to get back up – sexy or otherwise – without help!” she giggled.

Both of them laughing now, Liam took her hand and kissed it.

“Yes, baby. You’ll be my wife again. And I’ll be your husband again. And we’ll be a real family again, like we were meant to be. You’re my everything.”

No rings were exchanged, only kisses and sweet nothings whispered to each other.

Rings weren’t needed, despite their rough break-up, the following separation, both of them seeing other people and then the divorce, neither of them had ever taken their wedding bands off.

The only thing both were sure of now was that they would get married again, but what their wedding would look like, big or small, formal or casual, a main event or just vows before a justice of peace, neither was certain of at this point. Both agreed that it would not be until after their daughter Aria Grace was born and Vivien had time to recover.

But it would happen.

The very next morning both were awoken by Vivien having gone into labor. After many hours they were joined by little Miss Aria Grace Cameron.

LEEORA

Her hopes of marrying into old money got a boost when after a few months of dating, Vittorio Auditore finally took her to his family’s estate, Villa Auditore.

Both had been invited to an introductory dinner with his parents and four of his five siblings, not counting the one his mother was currently pregnant with. The oldest daughter, Giulia, had just gotten married and was away on her honeymoon.

Unfortunately for Leeora would Heath remain right and marrying into old money wasn’t quite so easy, probably for good reason, as old money was old money because generations had learned how to guard it.
Auditore Senior was polite and accommodating, but it was quite noticeable still that he wasn’t impressed by his oldest son’s choice. His reasons were many.

She wasn’t Italian, he stared at her bright red hair but obviously not in a favorable way, she wasn’t Catholic – and Auditore Senior didn’t even know the half of it, had she told him about having been Wiccan all her life, a “Heathen”, he would have probably kicked her out right then.

He looked about ready to have a heart attack when Leeora admitted she couldn’t cook but didn’t have a redeeming college degree and a high-level career to appease him with instead either, he only huffed at her being a fashion model without any college education, which he considered ‘low-class’.

The kiss of death for any potential of even slight approval went out the window, when Ezio Auditore started talking about grandchildren, demanding that once wed his oldest son was to have children until a viable male heir was conceived per old family tradition, be it one or ten kids needed until he got the boy heir, Leeora carefully explained that family planning wasn’t even on her radar yet and probably won’t be for a very long time, possibly never, and if, then definitely not in a manner of speed-breeding while aiming for a certain gender.

He remained pleasant and polite, but a blind man could see that he didn’t condone his oldest son’s relationship with her.

Unfortunately for Leeora, while Vittorio did care about her a lot, he didn’t care enough to want to defy the Auditore patriarch’s wishes risking his job, inheritance, comfortable life of luxury and place in the family fold. He was very polite and apologetic when he told Leeora the following day that with a sad heart, he had decided they should go separate ways, leaving her sobbing, feeling used and heartbroken, only to eventually realize that’s what she had almost put KC through, which made her feel even worse.

Feeling guilty about her behavior, she invited KC over and came clean with him.

KC didn’t take the confession well.

Upset about that level of betrayal, he stormed out, slamming the door hard, refusing to speak to her for days after, until one day he just showed up, disappeared onto the patio with Leeora where they remained for hours on end, through the window Caitlin and Heath spied on them occasionally to make sure both were still all right, only to see that both of them ran through the full range of emotions while talking, gesturing. When both finally came back inside, they were holding hands.

KC had forgiven her, loved her enough to give her one more chance, which Leeora vowed not to squander. Now, several months after those incidents, she had kept her word, had stoically ignored the many advances by interested men and was dedicated to KC.

KC’s relationship with Caitlin remained tense and estranged for a long time, they would butt heads from time to time, and he had always been at odds with Heath, on some occasions it got so heated, that even Heath, usually the pacifist, had his blood boiling and got surprisingly angry, both boys just moments from throwing down. By now it had calmed down, remained mostly civil and almost seemed that the four were getting along.

As a reward for Caitlin’s high school graduation, 18th birthday and a gift to Leeora, Blaine, Scarlett, Caelan & Rhiannon all had pitched in and purchased them their own boutique.
Leeora & Cait Couture – Fine Clothing & Accessories.

Both girls were ecstatic, as the modeling business was a fickle mistress. Sometimes one or both were booked solid for weeks on end, raking in payments, then came stretches of months in a row without a single job. Now they were getting into developing their own designs, which they would model themselves for advertisements or even small fashion shows on their showroom floor, then sell exclusively at their boutique.

With so many famous celebrities in her immediate family, Cait recruited them all to wear Leeora & Cait Couture originals to get even more clients running down their doors to buy clothing to look just like their favorite singers or actors. Caitlin’s actor brother Blake was a metrosexual fashion addict anyway and he just LOVED their menswear designs, wearing them a lot, while advertising them whenever and wherever he could. But on opening day their very first customer through the door was a very proud daddy and uncle Caelan. Normally he avoided crowds of mortals, but this he wasn’t gonna miss on his life.

Leeora slowly started building her own wealth, and it no longer mattered what KC’s financial situation was.

She would always hire him if the girls needed something built or fixed, and always generously overpaid him.

Leeora had not spoken to her mother since she had kicked her out, which was well over a year ago now, but her father Caelan and stepmom Rhiannon had been very supportive all along. And it finally looked like Leeora was on a good path to becoming a wholesome, established and above all, happy young woman. Much to everyone’s surprise, Caelan even liked KC.