Page 91 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“I’m so sorry, Troy.”

“Me too, honey. Me too. We have so much to talk about.”

“Yes, but before anything else, there is one thing I have to tell you.”

“Shhh. It can wait.”

She leans back to look up into his eyes for the first time. He can see her passion shining in her green eyes. “No, it can’t wait. I’ve waited long enough to tell you I love you, Troy.”

“Oh Christ, I love you too, Hallie. I think we need to get out of here and head home before we have something naughty to confess to Father Henry.”

Her laughter is music to his ears. “I’m not looking forward to driving all the way back to Denver, but I guess it can’t be helped. I can’t wait to be alone with you.”

“Well, I’ve got some good news then. It should take us a total of three minutes to get home.” When her eyes widen, he continues. “I moved into Eagle’s Pass this weekend, Hallie.”

“You mean…”

“Yep. You’re stuck with me.”

Epilogue

“Oh Hallie, you’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen. I wish your mother and grandmother could be here to see you.” Gina’s voice warbles as she looks on her only niece, preparing to walk down the aisle.

Their misty eyes meet in the three-way mirror as they complete the final preparations for the ceremony. Hallie has never been as happy as she is at this very moment. She’s sure of it.

The last four months have flown by. On the one hand, she feels like she just met Troy because they still find new things about each other almost every single day. In other ways, it’s hard to remember her life before she met the man of her dreams. The memories of her time in Louisiana and on the road with Eddie and the band are distant memories. Her future is here in Eagle’s Pass with her soon-to-be husband and her aunt and uncle.

She’s lost in happy thoughts when Traci steps close to hand her the most beautiful bouquet of white gardenias and lilies-of-the-valley; an array of flowers that were her mother’s favorites. Looking into the mirror, Hallie realizes that today she’s not only gaining a husband, but she’s finally going to get a sister.

“Thank you so much, Traci—for everything. I can’t believe in less than an hour we’re going to be sisters.”

“I know. I’ve always wanted a sister. I just didn’t know she was going to burst into my life in the middle of the night and try to beat up my brother.”

The women dissolve into giggles. “It really is amazing, isn’t it?”

“I just keep remembering the look on Troy’s face when you were on his back, hitting him.”

Aunt Gina looks confused. “What are you two girls talking about?”

Traci and Hallie burst into renewed giggles. “Oh nothing, Aunt Gina.”

Uncle Adam knocks and lets himself into the cramped room in the basement of St. Michael’s Parish. They may have a small wedding party of just Traci as the maid-of-honor and Troy’s friend from work, John, as the best man, but the church is going to be bursting at the seams with witnesses to the happy occasion. Most of Eagle’s Pass is sure to show up for the service and those who don’t will still join the open reception and dance being held under a huge tent in the park across the street from Traci’s house. The same park Hallie had walked past in the snow on the way to starting the new chapter in her life here in Eagle’s Pass.

“Aren’t you ladies ready yet? It’s just about time to head upstairs.” Uncle Adam’s words may be impatient, but Hallie sees the uncharacteristic tears pooling in his eyes as he looks down at his only niece.

“Yes, Uncle Adam. I’m ready. Have you seen Troy? How does he look?”

“He looks like a nervous bridegroom, that’s how he looks. For some strange reason, he was under the misguided impression that you might be having second thoughts about going through with the ceremony this afternoon. Something about you being unsure if you wanted to marry a man who grew up in the 50s or some silliness like that. I think he’s just got a case of the nerves, that’s what I think. I tried to get him to take a shot of whiskey, but he said he needs to stay on his toes around you.”

Hallie’s face turns a nice shade of pink at the memories of why Troy is nervous. As pink as her face is, she knows her bottom is several shades darker. She’s just lucky the bustle on her dress prevents her from sitting. As angry as she’d been at her fiancé for delivering a long, hard spanking the night before their wedding, she knows she’d earned it ten times over.

The weeks leading up to their wedding had really been stressful for Hallie. Like most brides, she wanted everything to be perfect. Apparently, she turns into a temperamental pill— Troy’s words, not hers—when she gets stressed and after her mini-meltdown after the rehearsal dinner the night before, Troy decided he’d had enough. At the time, Hallie thought he was just being a Neanderthal trying to ruin her special day. Lucky for Hallie, he was man enough to spank her long enough to work through her stress and nervousness to uncover the more relaxed Hallie standing in front of the mirror today. The fact that he knew what she needed and was brave enough to deliver it against the tears and pleading of a basket-case bride proves she’s found one-in-a-million in Troy. Hallie is comforted by the warm tingle encasing her well chastised bottom. It’s as if she secretly gets to carry a bit of Troy around with her today as she waits to walk down the aisle and take him as her husband.

Ten short minutes later, Hallie pauses at the entry to the sanctuary, her arm through Uncle Adam’s tuxedo covered arm, watching Traci walk down the aisle in front of her. The sprays of white flowers decorating the alter and ends of each pew look exactly as Hallie had dreamed. She takes a deep breath as the bridal march begins on the organ and the congregation rises, turning, all eyes on her.

A rare moment of true clarity surrounds Hallie as she takes the first steps forward to her future. She’s so grateful to Troy for helping to get her refocused on what is really important today. It isn’t the perfection of the cake or the scent of the flowers. It isn’t knowing that her shoes have the right sized heal or that Troy’s tuxedo is perfectly pressed. No, as she nears the alter and catches the first real glimpse of her soon-to-be-husband, Hallie’s heart expands with love for the most handsome man she’s ever met, waiting with a grin on his face as if he’s the luckiest man on the face of the earth. This… today… it’s all about their love. Their commitment to each other and their future.

As Hallie arrives at the altar to take Troy’s arm, sandwiched between the two men who love her, she realizes that today she doesn’t just gain a husband, but the five of them are forming a new family. Aunt Gina and Uncle Adam never got to have children of their own, but Hallie knows they love her as if she were their own. Today two small families will join forces to become one extended family. Hallie prays that soon Traci will find her own Mr. Right who will want to join their family and later, hopefully add children for the two couples.

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