Race for the Throne

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Jasmine laughs at Brandon. "Serena you have my permission to tease him when I get pregnant." She opens the door. "I suppose you guys are hungry. I just want Sakura."

"Baby snatcher!" Vincent crys out. "Brandon, better be careful you may never see your kids."

Jasmine walks back to the table with Brandon. "Wow I have to thank him. Vincent give me that baby."

Vincent pulls Sakura away. "Go and dance with your father. I want to hold this little cutie."

Jasmine looks at Berenson. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Berenson smiles and bows to Jasmine. He offers her his arm. “I would love to have a dance with my daughter.” He said. He smiled as they walked out to the dance floor.

Serena is playing a light diddy and everyone is clapping. She watches Berenson lead Jasmine on the dance floor.

"Now promise me we won't clear the dance floor, I want everyone to enjoy the dance." Jasmine tells Berenson as they begin to dance.

Everyone who is not dancing is clapping along to Serena's playing. And when the song ends they cheer for one more song.

Vincent looks at Serena, he cannot be more proud of her. The people love her playing. He cheers for one more song as well.

Berenson laughs and looked at Jasmine as they finished dancing. “See, I can make it enjoyable. Serena plays just as well as her mother.” He said to Jasmine.

Serena looks up at the band and she nodded her head. She picks up a tune and the band also picks it up. “Care to dance one more?” Berenson asked. They begin to dance again as Serena plays one more song.

Jasmine glances at Brandon. He waves her to dance with him. "I would love to dance. Serena give us a floor clearing tune." She shouts at her.

Serena does just that. The song has an intricate beat to it. Berenson twirls Jasmine around expertly. Madeline has Sakura faced out. "Someday you will dance like that."

After the song everyone returns to the table. "Wow that was fun. Serena, you play just as good as Kalista." Jasmine sits down next to Brandon. She takes Sakura. "Did you see us dancing?"

Vincent pulls out the chair for Serena. "You play lovely. You should have seen everyone. They love to hear you play."

Serena waves at everyone as she takes her seat. “I am not as good as my mother, but I will admit I had fun.” She said.

“I think you were, Serena.” Berenson said. “And let me tell you, I had a great time dancing out there.” He said as he looked over at Jasmine. He looked down at Sakura and smiled. “And someday you will dance just like that.”

Brandon smiled as he looked at Jasmine. “You and your dad are a wonderful team out there.” He said.

"Keep up the lessons and I will dance like that with you too." Jasmine smiles at Brandon. She stifles a yawn.

"Aunt Madeline was saying the same thing about Sakura. I hope you get out to Rosario still." Vincent hears a slow song starting. "How about it Serena, one more song before we get back?"

Jasmine rubs Sakura's back. "She is such a good girl. Should we head back after this? I am a little tired."

Serena smiled as she stood up. “I would love to dance with you.” She said. She takes his hand and they walk out to the dance floor. She puts her head on his shoulder as she puts her arms around him. “This turned out to be a nice trip.” She said.

Brandon looked at Jasmine. “What about you Jasmine, would you care to dance with me?” He asked.

Berenson stands up and walks over to Jasmine. “I think I want a dance with my little girl. You go dance with your fiancé.” He said as he stole his daughter back. Junaluska cannot help but laugh as he headed to the dance floor really fast.

Jasmine shakes her head at Berenson. "I am no longer your girl?" She teases as she takes Brandon's hand. "Of course I will dance with you.

Others join the three couples as they dance on the floor. Vincent cherishes having Serena in his arms. "Yes this has been a wonderful trip indeed." He kisses her forehead.

The dance ends, the couples return to the table. "Well guys thank you so much. I am going to head back to the castle." Jasmine tells everyone.

"Are you tired too Serena, I know we have to leave in the morning. I am so glad we don't have to rush back." Vincent looks at Serena.

Serena yawns and nods her head. “I am tired. It was so wonderful to see all of you. I have really missed everyone.” She said. She finished her drink that was on the table and then hugged everyone. “We will be back for the next wedding.” She said as they stood up to leave.

Berenson wiggles his finger to Jasmine. “You will always be my little girl, but I know you will be well taken care of now that your little sister needs me to take care of her.” He said smiling. He hugged Jasmine as they all get up to leave.

“We are going to stay for a little while longer.” Junaluska said as she held Lawrence’s hand. “We will see you all in the morning.”

Brandon stands up and offers Jasmine his arm. “Should we all walk back together?” he asked.

"That sounds like a great idea." Jasmine leads the way. Once outside she holds Brandon's hand again. "Oh Brandon, it is so relieving to hear my Dad say that about you. I think he truly trusts you."

"Were there problems earlier?" Vincent asks walking with Serena.

"Don't even ask..." Jasmine retorts. "This is what I love about Moldova. One can wander out at night and not have to worry about bundling up." She sticks her tongue at Vincent and Serena.

Serena sticks her tongue out at Jasmine. “You are just jealous that it doesn’t get cold enough to cuddle up to your man.” She said chuckling. She smiled as she took hold of Vincent’s arm.

Brandon laughed as they walked. “You don’t want to know what happened. It wasn’t very nice though.” He said as they walked.

Serena looked at Jasmine. “I am going to miss you when I leave. When I come back though, you will be getting married. How does that make you feel?”

"Happy that this old maid is finally getting married. Seriously, I am oldest, but I am the last one to do everything." Jasmine joked.

"It is not a race Jasmine. You took your time and found the right man for you." Vincent tells her.

"I know, but it did bother me a little bit." Jasmine admits. "We still snuggle up to our men Serena, we just don't need additional blankets to do it with."

Serena raised her eyebrow at Jasmine. “I could tell it was bothering you, but I didn’t know why. At least the man you have is a wonderful one. You could have wound up with someone who was half the man he is.” She said.

Brandon hugs Jasmine and held her close for a moment. “The goddess does things for a reason and I am glad she made you wait. If she hadn’t I wouldn’t have you now.” He said.

"In the end, I am happy I waited as well. The only man I want in my life is Brandon." She leans over and kisses him.

Vincent makes gagging noises and Jasmine punches his shoulder. "What? We still owe you for all the times you did it to us."

They arrive at the castle and walk down the royal hall. Jasmine hugs Serena. "I will miss you when you go back. It is going to be so odd not to be spending the spring and summers in Rosario."

Serena smiles at Jasmine as she hugs her. “I feel the same, but we are each growing up and have different responsibilities now. At least I know I will continue to have Moldova as an ally.” She said. “And for that I am grateful.” She said.

Brandon shook Vincent’s hand. “It sounds like all of you had a great childhood together. We will see you off in the morning.” He said smiling.

Serena pulled herself away yawning from Jasmine. “Good night Jasmine.” She said as she and Vincent walked into their bedroom.

Brandon walked with Jasmine to her room. “May I?” He asked.

Jasmine twirls a curl around her finger. "I don't know, we may get in trouble." She walks into her room leaving her door open. Brandon shakes his head and follows her in.

The next morning she wakes in his arms. She is so thankful she is at the castle and not at home. And that they have not gotten caught again. She rolls over and kisses Brandon. "I have to get ready. I will see you at breakfast?"

Vincent wakes up to Serena in his arms. He cannot wait to go home. At least they don't have to rush. "Good morning, my love are you ready to go home?"

Serena kissed Vincent’s cheek. “I am ready to go home. I miss being in my bed.” She said. She made a funny face. “And a great day to go home it is. My stomach is bothering me a little. It’s not a lot, but just enough for me to notice.” She said as she sat up. “I am going to get ready.”

~~

Brandon smiles as kissed Jasmine. “I will see you at breakfast.” He said. He then goes to his room by the secret passage way. He goes to the bathroom and showers. He dresses in a nice outfit and then heads out to pick up Jasmine for breakfast.

Vincent watches Serena head to the bathroom. He packs up the overnight bags leaving out the stuff for the day. He finds the flute and packes it. He loves that she brought it. He looks up and sees Serena standing there. "I packed up the bags. Now I will get ready." It does not take him long before he is ready. "Now let's get some food."

****

Jasmine quickly gets ready. She meets Brandon by the door. "You look good. You don't have to dress up for breakfast." She takes his arm. "Should we wait for the others?"

Serena walks out with Vincent and smiled wearily at Jasmine and Brandon. "You won't have to wait on us. We are already here." She said.

They start to walk to The dining room. "So I hope you are all doing well this morning." He said.

"Serena's stomach is bothering her a little, but it is not as bad as morning sickness." Vincent tells them.

"That is good, the last thing you need is a sick mama on the way home." Jasmine winks at Serena.

They enter the dining room to a full spread. "I hope you guys are hungry. We have plenty of food, so eat up."

Vincent leads Serena to her chair. "Wow all this looks delicious. "

“All of this food and I can’t even eat it all. Can we take a little with us to eat on the way?” Serena asked looking up at her grandparents. She looked at Jasmine. “This little momma is so tired of being sick. I feel like I spent the first three months on pins and needles.” She said.

Junaluska walked over and hugged her granddaughter. “It sounds like someone doesn’t feel good this morning and needs a hug.” She said. She rubs Serena’s stomach and then wiggles her index finger at her. “Now you boys be good for your mother, she needs to have a good trip home.” She said with a smile.

Brandon looked up at Vincent and Serena as he pulled Jasmine’s seat out for her. “If you would like, I can give you something for your stomach before you leave and some calming tea to have on the road.” He said as he pushed Jasmine under.

Jasmine laughs. "You and your teas. At least you aren't getting the knock out tea. I cannot wait until you are back for the wedding. I want to feel those babies."

"You're not the only one. I cannot wait to feel them either. " Vincent makes a plate for himself. "Don't worry Serena we will get a to go basket for you."

“I will take a tea to go, but none of the sleeping one’s please. I’ve heard about those sleeping one’s before.” Serena said smiling. She kissed Vincent as he sat down beside of her. “I just want to hold them in my arms. I can’t wait to see them and give them my love.”

Brandon smiles as he begins to eat. “No one really likes them anyways, but they are good for so much.” He said chuckling.

"Both of you have been victims of the tea before." Vincent winks at them. "All this food looks delicious. You guys are spoiling us with your fruits."

"This is not spoiling, it is what breakfast is like all the time here." Jasmine sticks out her tongue at Vincent.

"Now let them enjoy their food." Lawrence interrupts. "I am sure Rosario has it's charms too."