I couldn’t believe it had been an entire year since I’d seen Brayden and Leah, if I wasn’t counting that weird dream I had with Morgana. Castiel and I had worked out a friendship between us whether I was Wren or not, but I wondered what Brayden and Leah were. I wondered what Artemis had been about to tell me that day in the park. I wondered about a lot of things.
I stroked the picture hanging on the wall of Maddy’s and my shared room. It used to be Wren and Castiel’s and he was now sleeping on the couch. It was a picture of their wedding. My eyes kept going to Brayden and Lena. Her long blond hair was braided over one shoulder and his hand was confidently tucked around her waist. She was looking at Wren with a huge smile, her fingers threaded through Brayden’s with the ease of long-time lovers. Her dress and crown designated her a queen, so Wren must have gotten married only after she was crowned. Brayden had a sword tucked into his waistbelt, which was so weird to see, and he wore a crown as well. I found myself wondering what their wedding was like. And if I could somehow still be her.
I sighed, stroking Brayden’s face in the picture, then I was pulled into a memory.
“Kiss your wife,” Lena demanded of Brayden, standing before him in front of a huge crowd of people. There was laughter. Everyone was dancing and I knew in the dream that this was my wedding and I was Lena.
“Every day for the rest of my life,” Brayden promised, and leaned forward, capturing my mouth in a kiss.
Lena moaned, and back in the room I whimpered. Kissing Brayden was something I hadn’t done enough of. In the memory, Lena pulled back and handed Brayden a small wooden box with a grin. It was tied with a red silk ribbon.
“What’s this?” he asked quizzically.
Lena shrugged. “It’s just a small thing. What do you get a man who has everything?”
He looked at her with heat in his eyes. “I don’t have everything yet.”
Lena blushed, and I had a knowing in the dream that she’d stayed pure until marriage. It was the custom.
Pulling the ribbon off, he opened the lid and looked into the box. His smile got wider. “Are these…?”
Lena nodded. “Chocolates. Imported from Earth. I called in a favor.”
I had all the knowing in this memory as if I were Lena herself. Brayden had never tried chocolate, but his father had told him about it and he’d always wanted to. He’d not yet come to Earth at this point.
He grabbed one delicately and popped it into his mouth. Two chews in and his eyes opened wide.
“Have you tried this?” he asked.
Lena looked at him nervously. “No. Are they bad?”
He tenderly laid one on her bottom lip and she took a bite.
Her eyes snapped wide and they both moaned, falling into peals of laughter.
Chocolates, that’s what Lena gave him every time they married? So simple and yet so special to them.
He set the box on a table and then hooked his arm under the back of her knees as she reached up and grasped his neck and he pulled her into his arms. They just stared into each other’s eyes, unspeaking and yet saying everything.
Leaning forward, Lena whispered into his ear, “You may make love to your wife now, Brayden Greywolf.”
“Averly!” Maddy’s voice snapped me from the memory.
“No,” I said, and then my cheeks heated as I realized I wanted to stay in the dream only to see Brayden and Lena make love. That was mortifying.
Maddy looked confused.
“Sorry. I had a memory,” I explained.
She looked at the picture on the wall and nodded. “Castiel’s wedding?”
I shook my head. “Brayden and Lena’s. She gave him chocolates. It was their thing.”
A grin broke out on Maddy’s face. “It was.”
I waved her off. “I also remember Castiel and Wren’s wedding, so this doesn’t mean anything.”
Maddy was still grinning. “Sure it doesn’t.”
