The next day, the church was virtually empty. The only people that Sean or Claire would even want to be there were missing without a trace these days, anyway. That's assuming they would even be allowed past the threshold of the church in the first place.

The only other individual that Sean or Claire really had to deal with at all was Father Collins himself. The priest definitely found the abandoned church to be a bit off-putting. There were not even to be any other members of the wedding party, after all.

After a few long awkward moments, Collins quietly asked the couple if he should proceed. The only answer was a simple nod from Sean. Claire was torn between very different emotions as she stood there silently awaiting her part in the reciting of the vows. She was dressed once again in the beautiful dress that Chantarell had given her months ago. She was beyond overjoyed that she was finally to be Sean's wife, though she couldn't help the slight pain in her heart at the fact that her parents had yet to arrive. She obviously was still not comfortable with their presence there,; but their absence hurt her as well. Despite that pain, she made no disagreement with Sean's nodding to the priest to proceed.

There was no question that this was the happiest day of her life, as it should have been. Though she still spoke in a near monotone as she recited her vows, swallowing a bit as she ended on her final line. Her demeanor was not however over any kind of doubt about whether or not she meant the words.

Her numbness dissipated only slightly as she heard Sean's voice reciting his vows as well. She then finally allowed a smile to peer out from her previously blank expression, when he stated those last two words as well, wearing his own sincere smile as he did. It was when Sean was directed to finally kiss her to seal their pact, that the emotions he so loved in her, returned at last. She almost fell into him, kissing him desperately, hoping that she would not actually wake to find this was all a dream. The fact of her parents not showing up after all was the one fact that somehow convinced her that maybe it actually was all real.

Once their kiss ended, they finally made their show of walking down the aisle and out of the church. Once they emerged from the building, Father Collins reached in to give Claire a tentative hug.

Not unable to hide his look of concern, Collins spoke furtively, "Claire, not to dwell on anything negative on such a wonderful occasion," he began, "but do you have any idea why your parents couldn't be with us, today?"

Claire stammered a bit, trying to find anything resembling an acceptable response. One that wouldn't lead to all the bad feelings between she and her parents bubbling to the surface.

Though Sean stepped in to rescue her from having to come up with that answer after all, "Well, Father Collins, in the interest of not dwelling on anything negative today, I think that's a question that you should ask Mr. and Mrs. Wallace. I thank you for your services. We'll be leaving now," he told him plainly before grasping her hand more firmly and leading her toward their waiting carriage. They left the priest behind then, looking a bit more than confused. However Claire did look relieved by Sean's stepping in to field that question. She once again knew for sure that she had made the right decision, regardless of anyone else's opinions on it; including her parents and their priest.

"So how upset are you, honestly?" Sean interrupted their silent ride home several minutes later.

"What?" she asked, startled by his voice breaking into the way she blankly stared at the passing scenery.

"You're obviously upset that they didn't even bother showing up," he told her more softly, gently giving her knee the briefest squeeze before returning his hand to the reins.

She sighed heavily as she looked downwards, "I know, it's stupid, isn't it?" she shook her head. "This is the happiest day of my life," she offered him a sincere smile, before glancing down at the band that now graced her finger. "The day they never thought I'd have," a slight scoff, "and I'm still letting them get to me," she added, shaking her head in dismay at her own mood.

"Understandable," he told her in the same soft tone. "Besides, that just means that I have all the more reasons to make you very, very happy, once we get home," he teased her, causing another blush in her, though also a sincere smile.

Once the carriage pulled into their home once more, Claire started toward the house as Sean moved to unhitch the horses, glancing after her curiously. "Shouldn't I be carrying you over the threshold or something?" he smirked playfully. Claire turned back, her smile having returned once more now that they were home again.

"Nah, you may have to tomorrow though," she told him with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she leaned down to remove her shoes before even heading into the house.

"Why's that?" he chuckled as he finished his task, looking at her curiously.

"Well, with all the ways you're planning on making me happy, I doubt I'll be walking," she teased him with an honest giggle at the sight of his blush once more. She then happily headed back into the house.

Sean just shook his head as he awkwardly forced himself to continue with his task of stowing the horses away instead of chasing her right into the house. "Yeah, like a proper girl could ever get me this hard with just one sentence," he chuckled to himself, speaking the words under his breath, and moving that much more quickly to finish his task.

It had taken Sean less than ten minutes to finish returning the horses to their stalls before nearly tripping over his feet to get inside the walls of their home with her. But apparently, even that short of a time was nearly too long for Claire to wait. When he arrived in the bedroom, his beautiful bride was already laying in the center of their bed, not a stitch covering her pale skin.

Sean's breath caught as he immediately hardened further at the sight of her while she beamed over at him. "Don't you dare just stand there making me wait another second," Claire ordered him playfully. She extended a bare arm to reach toward him. That was more than enough of an invitation as Sean instantly began moving toward the bed on that late summer afternoon, nearly ripping his own clothing with the speed at which he began removing it as well.

Upon arriving at the side of the bed, wearing a grin that showed the same pure joy that was written all over Claire's face, he was already dropping his last piece of clothing to the floor. Sean moved to the mattress next to her equally nude body. Her arms reached up to wrap around him tightly, urgently pulling him against her. Her breath was already ragged before their kisses even began.

"If I didn't already want you this badly, I'd complain that you didn't let me pull every inch of that dress off of you myself," he teased her between kisses as their bodies passionately pressed even closer together.

"And if I didn't already want you this much, I'd bother taking the time to tell you to stop talking and just make love to me, now," she breathed the words to him as she accented them by pulling him atop her own body, immediately spreading her legs for him as she covered his face with even more desperate kisses.

Sean couldn't help chuckling, despite how difficult even breathing was as he felt how incredibly wet she was when his erection had just barely touched her from that new position she had pulled him into. "Isn't this supposed to be the romantic part where we spend hours touching and tasting each other until we can't take it another second, and just have to consummate our love?" he managed, his own breath just as ragged, though the words were far from a protest.

She breathed against him through more kisses. "We have forever for that, and besides, I'm already at that point," she promised him. She further proved her breathy words as she reached down to slide the very tip of him just barely inside of her. That tiny penetration only caused them both to lose even more of their ability to breathe. "Now Sean, please," she nearly whimpered the words as she arched her back, causing him to slide ever so slightly further inside her.

"You know it's going to hurt, right?" he whispered back to her, using whatever last bit of concentration he even had left at that point.

"There's no pain I could ever feel, that you couldn't make go away," she whispered back just as urgently, her words being the last ones he needed to hear.

With that, Sean took one deep breath and tried to be both quick, and gentle, as he entered her, ripping through that tiny bit of tissue inside. Claire yelped and sharply arched her back. Her teeth bit into her lip as she forcefully squeezed painful tears through her now tightly shut eyelids. Sean looked down at where she now lay stiffly beneath him, still slightly shuddering from that pain inside. He swallowed hard as he noted the tears.

"Claire?" he whispered her name, his voice almost seeming pained. "Are you all right? Do you want me to take it out?" he asked, obviously shaken by ever having to cause her any pain, even if it was in the name of consummating their love. Though they both knew that it was a pain that every woman had to endure that first time, no matter how much love there was between she and her partner.

"No," she breathed, though still held her eyes tightly shut, "just give me a second, or four," she choked on the words, the pain still a bit evident in her voice.

"Are you sure?"

Claire didn't answer right away. Instead, she took several short, deep breaths. After all, if that was supposed to work to quell the pain of childbirth, this should be nothing, right? Sean didn't say any more as he stayed inside her, but still watched her worriedly for several more seconds before she finally took another deep breath and opened her beautiful eyes again.

"I think I'm ok now," she whispered with a bit of a blush. "Just had to get used to the feel of you, inside me," she told him as she finally moved her arms back to encircle his shoulders, seeming to wear an honest smile once more. She then added in a sultry whisper, "Now make me more than ok."

"Sure?" he repeated, though couldn't help grinning at her words, as well as her arms reaching for him once more.

"More than sure," she told him. Claire accented her words by moving her hands downwards to grip his behind. She pulled him even more deeply inside her then, though slowly, raising her hips to make the connection that much deeper.

Feeling the way she felt inside as she moved beneath him was all it took to wipe out all of his worry. And that sensation reignited all of his desire as Sean began moving above her; both of them easily bringing each other to even greater heights of pleasure than they ever had reached on all of their other many encounters, put together.

The next morning, after making love several more times, the two eventually began their first full day together as husband and wife. Claire was still able to walk, though more than a bit shakily, when they finally ended their last encounter and she then forced her feet to carry her away from Sean, and the disheveled bed sheets. She gave him a coy smile before pulling on a robe and heading for the outhouse, which was several feet off from the house.

Upon returning, she found Sean already dressed. The bed sheets were rolled into a ball next to him as he pulled on his boots. She raised an eyebrow as she watched him finish lacing up the boots before she just had to speak up, "Sex puts you in the mood to do the washing? I think I've found the perfect man," she chided.

"Oh, that's what convinced you?" he smirked at her remark. "Cause I would have sworn it would have been the way I've had you moaning and shaking and calling out my name for the last twenty-four hours," he teased her right back.

"That may have had a little something to do with it too," she told him wryly as he stood.

Sean just shook his head as he reached for the bed sheets, then only spoke a bit more seriously, "I figured we both needed a few moments to recover. And you know, blood'll stain," he said, looking down a bit. He still couldn't help that tiny tinge of guilt over the pain she had been forced to feel when he had claimed her virginity, despite all the pleasure that more than made up for it afterwards.

"Yeah, well, they're my parents' sheets actually. I wrapped some of my stuff in them when I came here," she said, a trace of bitterness seeping into her voice as she looked away. "Serves them right anyway: Their ill-reputed daughter losing her virginity on them, to her husband, on their wedding day. Assholes," she added under her breath as she turned to begin an attempt at breakfast, not wanting to dwell on her parents at all. She simply told herself that they could never hurt her again, not now that she had Sean to protect she and her ever-important honor, from this day forward.

Sean watched her for a moment, thinking on her words. She was obviously still upset by the things her parents had implied, and understandably so. With that, he had another thought before finally moving toward the door. "I'll be back before breakfast is cold," he assured her as he placed a soft kiss upon her cheek and headed out the door with those sheets still in hand.

Several minutes later, Camilla Wallace moved from where she was cleaning up after she and her husband's earlier breakfast, to answer a knock at the door of their home. She looked just a bit more than startled when it was Sean who waited outside the door.

"Sean?" she greeted him with a bit of worry in her voice, as Sean's words for her had been slightly less than pleasant the last time the two of them had found themselves looking at each other from opposite sides of a doorway.

"Hi, mom," Sean greeted her sarcastically.

"I suppose you're here to ask us about why we weren't at the church?" she asked him quietly, wishing her husband would return from the outhouse. Not that Sean would have been any less cold to Benjamin.

"I couldn't care less, considering I'm not much fond of churches, myself," Sean replied in the same cool tone, causing her to scowl at the comment. Then her eyes narrowed in confusion as she was distracted upon noting the balled up bed sheets in his hand.

"Then why are you here?" she asked and swallowed a bit, moving her eyes back up to his face to try and read what his intentions really may have been.

"Claire said these belonged to you. I was just saving her from having to come back here to return them," he told her in the same cool tone as he tossed the sheets across the chair near the inside of the door to their home.

Camilla's eyes followed the sheets and she gasped softly as they unfurled to drape over the back of the chair. "There's blood on those sheets!" she exclaimed. There was almost a trace of fear in her tone, showing that she had developed a hefty bit of worry over Claire's ways in recent years and her growing strangeness. "Fresh blood," she gulped as she moved only a step closer to inspect them.

"Yes, well, they were on our bed, last night," Sean added pointedly. "It being our wedding night and all, we just didn't get around to washing them yet. Hope it's not an inconvenience," he said with obvious insincerity, watching her eyes widen and her cheeks redden, showing that she clearly understood what his words had meant.

With that, Sean turned on his heel, and left their home. He was quite satisfied by the feeling of making that woman more than aware of exactly how wrong she and her husband both were, forcing them to eat their own words. While at the same time proving that he was a man who would never let anyone get away with hurting Claire, in any way.