208 - But There's Cake

208 - But There's Cake
Naucht. Don’t yeh worry none aboot yeh cake. Me got this. Go on, worry on other parts of the wedding. And, Camille, go see the Flowers and their parents. They can grow you any flower out in their greenhouses. Ciara can tell you which ones you need. - Nessie

Darkness closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears. It had been two months since Momma Dee passed and he still missed her. Camille let go of his hands just before he felt her brushing the tears away. Opening his eyes, he looked down at her and smiled.

“I miss her too,” Camille whispered.

Reaching up, he cupped her face and leaned in to press a kiss on her lips. He rested his darker forehead against her pale one. Gently, he brushed away her own tear with his thumb.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” she whispered just as quietly as he had.

“For remembering her. Remembering my parents. Remembering the man that Momma Dee knew was not Nobody but was somebody’s son.”

She smiled at him. “You’re welcome. I remembered Brute too. And Momma Becks.”

Trigg cleared his throat, “I hate to interrupt-.”

“But there’s cake!”

The declaration came from the majority of the people in the garden. Trigg huffed out a breath. The bride and groom both gave amused laughs.

“We should probably get married so that your dad can have some cake.”

Camille laughed as she moved away slightly and looked at her dad. “What if I didn’t do cake?”

He narrowed his eyes at his daughter, “You wouldn’t do that to me. Would you?” The question was asked with a lot less confidence than the declaration had been made.

With an amused laugh, she shook her head. “No, I would not do that to you.”

“Good.” Trigg said with a nod to his daughter before looking at her groom. “Darkness, tell my baby why you want to marry her. You should keep in mind that the bitch is crazy. I should know, I married the original.”

Looking back at Darkness, Camille rested her cheek in his palm that was still resting against her face. He ran a thumb across her bottom lip, thankful that her lipstick did not smear. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his thoughts.

“You are the light that I searched for. You complete me in ways that I never knew that I needed. You calm me when my thoughts become overwhelming. Not once have you ever made me feel bad about my insomnia. Or any of my other weird quirks.”

“Camille, you intrigued me the first time that we met. You were sitting in your reading alcove with an encyclopedia and glasses. Never before had I ever thought that glasses were sexy. There, on a red couch in your trademark pajamas, you quietly showed me the error of my ways.”

“There’s certain things that I don’t need to know,” Trigg growled.

“Then I advise that you not listen for a few minutes,” Darkness warned.

“Boy…” Zydeco warned.

With a smile, Darkness ignored both of them as he ran his thumb across Camille’s bottom lip again. “That first night, I did not know how young you were. If I had, I would have stayed away. I never would have kissed you. You were way too young for me. But for the first time, in a very long time, I felt peace.”

“That’s what you’ve always brought me. Peace. Even when I fought with myself and tried to stay away. You gave me the peace that I craved. You are the light at the end of my dark tunnel.”

“Your heart is huge and you don’t hold a grudge.” He chuckled at the murmur of disagreement from those that knew her well. She gave a small laugh and looked down at the ground. “Okay, well, you don’t hold a grudge against my brother.”

“Bad example,” Nicki shook her head. “He’s dead.”

“Holding a grudge is kind of useless at this point,” Mitch shrugged and Vin turned away from the audience to hide his amusement.

Camille shrugged and smiled as she asked, “Would you expect anything less from any of my kids?”

“Hell no,” Darkness chuckled. “That’s part of why I love you. When my brother, who had insulted you and his wife and her family had chased you out of their house, called about their kids,” Darkness shook his head. “You insisted that we take their kids. Even found a way for us to guarantee that we would have them. From the instant that you were asked, they were your kids. There was no question about it. And now that you’ve given birth to a baby, you still claim all our kids as yours.”

She smiled at her husband, “They’re my babies.”

“They are. You never tried to replace their mother or take away her importance. You preserved the memory of both my brother and his wife. And you let our babies find their voices and themselves. You embraced them and encouraged them. But your father and I have both warned them that you are a bit crazy and one hell of a shot.”

“Yeah, she is!” Santa yelled out causing those who knew the story of her shooting up the Cajun’s gun range to laugh.

“I warned you,” Trigg reminded the Cajuns. “Are you done?”

“Just one more thing,” Darkness lightly kissed her lips. “I love you.”

Trigg huffed and declared, “We are not at that point.”

“You don’t even have a book anymore,” Sid rolled her eyes. “Not that you would pay attention to it even if you did still have it.”

“Woman!” shaking his head he looked from his wife to his daughter. “Baby, tell this asshole why I should let him stay married to you.”

Camille smiled at Darkness. “Because you didn’t see a little girl who needed to be protected. You saw a woman who needed to be supported. You never treated me as a child, or a lesser. You treated me as an equal…” he brushed away a stray tear. “You treated me like your woman. Even when you tried not to.”

“You came home to me when I needed you. Putting yourself in danger, breaking club rules, and disobeying your president. You took me for midnight pancakes and when you left, you took my heart with you.”

She took a deep breath, “You rented a house and built me furniture. You moved us to a bigger house and learned to be a father to three teenagers. You dressed up as Batman for Halloween and have recently learned to waltz for Nicki’s senior gala. There have been hours spent in the backyard helping Vin perfect plays for the football field. And you’ve learned to appreciate plays on and off Broadway.”

“Even when I don’t think I need to, and especially when I don’t want to, you make me slow down and rest even if I don’t sleep. When I get lost in the coding or programming, building a website or perfecting a picture, you make me take a break. Essentially, you keep me sane.”

“I love you because even when I hide in the shadows, you still see me.”