Race for the Throne

First topic message reminder :

Serena handles the crowd in a calm manner and answers the people as they talk to them. “We are all in wonderful health, thank you for asking. The boys are doing well at this time and the doctor says that they are doing well. As for me I am certain all ladies who have been pregnant know how I feel right now.” She said joking with the people. “I promise you though that I am well. Both Vincent and I just want to have a nice evening out together.” She explained.

On that note a few of the people begin to disperse and give them space. Serena takes Vincent’s hand and smiles. “That is a little better.” She said.

~~

Brandon takes Annaleigh and smiles at her. “She is such a beautiful little girl. I am so happy for you both, Audra and Malachi.” He was holding her and looking into her eyes. “Hello there little one, your eyes are so beautiful.” He said as he gently went from side to side to sway her.

Audra smiled as Malachi put his arm around her. “She is so good. She keeps us on our toes but I cannot complain. I could not love her more than I do.” She said.

“Grayson, apologize to Jasmine! You know you are not supposed to be rough with people.” Scott said shaking his head. “You will have to excuse him, he is so happy to see you Jasmine.”

Brandon wraps one of his arms arms around Jasmine and the other hand has a hold of the baby stroller as he and Jasmine kiss. "it was destined for us to meet. The goddess does things for a reason and for that I am thankful." He said. He knew it still bothered her but she was staying strong at one of her weakest moments. "I have faith in you." He whispered in her ear.

They then continue down the aisle of vendors. Everyone wanted to see the baby and them as well. They see some flowers and Brandon walks over with Jasmine and Annaleigh. "What kind of flowers do you think mom would like?" he asked.

"I wish Mom or Thomas were here. They know all about the meaning of flowers. I think we should go with cheerful colors. The yellows and oranges. What was your mom's favorite color?"

Annaleigh is being an angel with the people. She loves all the pretty colors at the florist. She reaches out and grabs a pink carnation. "Well I think Annaleigh picked out a flower."

Brandon chuckled as Annaleigh was touching the carnation. "Why don't we go with Annaleigh's choice. I think mom would have liked those." He said.

He lets Annaleigh keep the flower she is holding and then asks the lady at the stall for some multi color carnations. He pays for them and then asks for a rose. "How about a rose for a pretty lady?" He said handing the rose to Jasmine.

Annaleigh tries to put the carnation in her mouth. Luckily Jasmine pulled it away. She puts the rose Brandon gives her to her nose. "It smells wonderful. Now let's go to the temple."

Brandon pays for the flowers and they walk to the temple. "Oh Prince and Princess it is lovely to see you. And I see you have our little princess as well. We love to have you guys visit."

"Thank you for having us here." Brandon said to the priest. "If you please, we are going to visit a grave." He explained.

The priest bid them a wonderful visit before taking his leave. Brandon leads the way to the gardens. They walk outside and Brandon takes a deep breath as they walk over to his mothers grave.

"I promised I would come back someday, mom." Brandon said. "I said when I cam back I would bring my wife and I came to bring her to see you. I also brought my niece."

Jasmine rubs Brandon's back as he talks to Celesta. "We also brought you some flowers. Princess Annaleigh picked them out." She gives them to Brandon. "I don't have the flower expertise of my mother. Oh Grandma and Grandpa miss you. And Caleb may be dating someone as well. She is a nice young lady."

She holds up Annaleigh. "This is Princess Annaleigh, she is Audra and Malachai's child."

Brandon puts his arm around Jasmine as she holds up Annaleigh. "I didn't know when I came back that I would be bringing my niece with me. Grandma and grandpa are doing well and I cannot tell you how happy I am with Jasmine. I still have a long way to go before I am as good as you were, but someday I hope I make you proud." Brandon said as a tear fell down his face.

"I do miss you, and even though I know you were there in spirit with me, I still wish you could be here to see me now."

Jasmine nudges Brandon. "Give your mom the flowers. I know you are watching over us Celesta. Brandon wore one of your hairclips on his shirt for our wedding."

Brandon takes the flowers and kneels down at his mothers grave. He places them there before bowing his head to say a silent prayer. He stands back up and walks over to Jasmine. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Jasmine hugs Brandon. "Are you alright? I love you so much." She lies Annaleigh back in the buggy. "I am ready to go back. I still have to get my paintings done." They walk back to the castle. "You can get some writing in as well."

Brandon wiped his eyes as Jasmine hugged him. "I will be alright. Time heals all wounds." He said. "I could do some writing now. It will be good. I hope you get the paintings done today."

They make it back to the castle and Malachi is with Audra in the study sharing some alone time. Audra is still worried about Annaleigh, but Malachi is holding her attention as he pampers her. Brandon had asked one of the guards where they might find them and they tell them where.

Brandon knocks on the study door making sure not to step in on the couple. "We are back and we bought Annaleigh to you."

"See Audra they are back safe and sound." Malachai points at the buggy.

Audra crosses the room. "Oh where did this come from?" She picks up the carnation. "Did you guys go to the florist? How did the people act?"

"They loved to see her and she was soaking up the attention as well." Jasmine relays to them. "Here she is safe and sound and happy. If you need us, we will be in our room."

Jasmine takes Brandon's arm and pulls him from the room. They walk to their room. Jasmine goes to the desk. "I would like to finish these." She kisses his lips. "Tomorrow morning we are traveling again."

Brandon wraps his arms around Jasmine. “Thank you for going with me today. It felt good and at the same time it hurt. Tomorrow we go to Rosario. We should only have to stop one night for that trip right?” he asked.

"Yes, it is only one stop. I believe it is going to be the same place we stopped on all our trips out there. Tina is going to be so happy to see us." Jasmine tells him. "I know how much you miss Lady Celesta. That pain will never completely go away. I know Kalista still misses her mom all the time." Jasmine starts to mix the colors for the beach scene on the cast.

Brandon kisses the back of Jasmine's head. He then walked over to his bag and picked up his notebook. "I know, but she will always be with us in spirit. I know she is watching over us and will continue to be with us." He said with a smile.

He takes a seat on the bed after taking a pen. He dips it in the ink on the bed side table. He then begins to write.

Jasmine does not know how long she is painting for. She finishes both paintings and sets them up to dry. She looks at the picture of Annaleigh. It is almost lifelike. She looks back at Brandon and sees that he is already asleep. How her life has changed with him. Typically she would fall asleep at the table, now she has someone to go to bed for. She takes off her clothes and snuggles up to him. She cannot wait to see Serena and Vincent.

Brandon had finished writing and had a small dinner with Jasmine in the room. He had laid out their things for the next morning and made sure everything was ready for their ride tomorrow after breakfast. Afterwards he had gone to sleep watching Jasmine at the table.

Morning comes and his eyes flutter open. He smiles as he rolls over and feels someone up against him. He caressed her cheek softly as he looked down at her. "Good morning love." He said.

"Good morning to you too. One day we will have to visit for longer than a couple of days." She kisses him before slowly sitting up, stretching as she does. "Oh I see you already packed up our stuff. Thank you, I even love the outfit you picked out." She turns to him and smiles. "I guess we better get ready." She kisses him before getting up.

She goes to the chaise and picks up the clothes he picked out then heads to the bathroom.

Brandon had been wearing his boxers, but Jasmine was completely undressed. He whistled as she stood at the chaise. He stands up and walks over to her before putting his arms around her, gently grabbing her rear end. "Have I ever tell you how sexy you were?" He asked.

He ran his fingers over the back of her body before kissing her and letting her go. "I think we need to shower." he said winking at her.

They make it to the bathroom and Brandon turns on the water. He starts to shave though before getting in. "I would love to come and spend a week here sometime and to see more of the area. I know Altier has some wonderful landscapes and I am sure you would like to paint them." he said as he shaved.

Jasmine and Brandon get ready. The servants are bringing the remainder of the bags to their carriage. She instructs them to bring Annaleigh's picture to her nursery. She wants to surprise Audra and Malachai with it. Brandon insists on carrying the cast to breakfast.

They get into the dining room and Grayson rushes over. "Why do you have to leave? I want to play with you."

Jasmine ruffles his hair. "I promise next time we visit we will stay longer, but we have to get to Rosario. I am going to kick some Rosarion butts in the crossbow tournament. I do have something for you." She hands him the cast.

"Oh wow Jassy, you are the best." He looks at the cast and then kisses her on the lips. Jasmine's eyes open wide.

Scott then pulls Grayson away. "Ok son, I think she got the message. Sorry about that Princess."

"No, it is fine, I guess." Jasmine sits down at the table. Scott takes Grayson to the other side.

Brandon is slightly surprised that Grayson kisses Jasmine on her lips. He takes her hand under the table and squeezes it gently as the attendants bring out breakfast. “He will figure it out someday that she is already taken.” He said looking at Grayson.

Micia shook her head. “He knows better already. He just doesn’t want to admit it.” She said looking at her son.

Audra had covered her mouth and coughed to cover her laughter. “We will all miss you, especially me.” She said as they began to eat.

Jasmine was still too shocked. "Well you will have to come visit us next, remember the winter solstice will be coming soon. It is a lot warmer there than here. I will make sure you have some traditional gear as well."

Malakai raises his eyebrow. "In that case consider us there." He winks at Audra.

They finish breakfast and are down at the carriage house. Jasmine hugs Audra. "Now take care of this little angel and check out the nursery." She kisses Annaleigh's forehead. "And you be just like Audra."

Brandon helps her into the carriage. Jasmine wipes away the tears. It is so hard to believe that they are all separated now. Sure they didn't see each other all the time, but they were all together for celebrations. She is going to miss not having them there.

Brandon hugs Audra before kissing Annaleigh's forehead. "It was good to see all of you. Thank you for having us." He said. He then gets into the carriage and a moment later they take off.

Brandon was sitting beside of Jasmine and running his fingers through her hair. I can see the tears sweetie, why are you crying?" He asked.

"It gets so hard to leave them. We used to be so close almost like sisters and now we are nations away. I think this is the first fall celebration that Audra is missing." Jasmine explains as the carriage takes off. "I know it will get easier. I just miss them sometimes." She lies her head on his shoulder.

The carriage goes along. They stop for some breaks, but before they know it they are at the inn. "Brandon remember this. This is where you told Serena and Audra that you were their brother. It is also where Reginald was born. It is hard to believe he is almost a year old."

Brandon loves the time with Jasmine in the carriage. However the closer they get to the inn, the more memories flood his mind. They were all good ones at least. He smiles as he looks out of the carriage as they pull up to the inn.

“There are so many memories here, but I still can’t believe that I was able to help Kalista give birth to Reginald here.” He said.