I swallowed hard as I listened to Louis saying his vows to me once again. I looked straight into his baby blues and tried not to let my tears brim over. I remember the first time I saw those blue eyes, how distracting they were. I could never have imagined that cocky pool boy would become my husband.

The priest finished and asked me the same set of questions that he had just asked Louis.

"Ashten, do you take Louis for your lawful wedded husband, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish him from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

I looked at Louis and although I'd already vowed myself to him once, I said a very confident, "I do."

After that, I glanced out into the crowd gathered at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Ann Arbor, as I'd done many times already. Mrs. Tomlinson was dabbing tears out of her eyes. She had already cried so much, I was surprised she wasn't dehydrated.

We finished the ceremony and our family and friends went just a little bit nuts when the priest announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Louis Tomlinson!"

He kissed me so perfectly that it felt like our first kiss all over again. I'm sure our embrace was a little less church-friendly than the priest would have liked, but I didn't care. I was now very officially Louis' wife and I was thrilled beyond words.

After the recessional, we waited outside to greet our guests, along with our bridesmaids and groomsmen. Veronica was my maid of honor, and Colum was Louis' best man. Also standing up with us were Danielle, Carly, Zayn, and Liam. Mimi and Izzy were our flower girl and ring bearer.

Friends and relatives filtered through the line for what seemed like a very long time. Most of them were Louis' family members, distant and close. My friend Jacqueline had made the trip to Michigan, as well as Coral and Jennica who had finally made it official that they were together. I never saw Madelyn Kennedy after last year, but I almost wished we'd run into her again so I could make it clear that she wasn't invited to my wedding.

Louis' grandparents came through the line, and his tiny little grandmother grabbed my hand and stroked it saying, "Now's the fun part."

I looked at Louis with a giant question mark on my face – was she really talking about the wedding night?

Louis had to hold back his laughter as he said, "Grandma, you're embarrassing my wife!" I could tell he liked saying that out loud and in public.

"Well, Louis," she said in her sweet, high-pitched voice. "I'm not going to live forever, so I just want to see some of my great grandchildren before I go."

We both laughed hard and he said, "We'll see what we can do, Grandma."

Instead of parading around town in limos after the wedding, we rented several vintage convertibles so we could cruise around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti in style. The only car that wasn't rented was Louis' car, which Liam drove while Veronica sat in front with him. It was a bright red classic Mustang convertible, which I bought for Louis as a wedding gift. He still had the Healey, but I knew he'd always wanted a classic Mustang. We sat in the back seat, letting Liam and Veronica chauffeur us around town for at least an hour, honking and waving and enjoying the incredibly beautiful Michigan summer day.

Eventually, we drove out into the country and up to the very same barn where Louis and I had attended Megan's wedding just last summer. I hired Phoebe Harris from New York, the only wedding planner that I had actually liked when my mother made me go with her, while I was still engaged to Richard. She had done a stunning job of creating a shabby chic wedding reception so elegant that even my mother had nothing but good things to say about it. Well, after she got done complaining about parking in a field and how the bugs were likely to eat her alive. But I had to hand it to my mother – she was trying to be more positive and to hold her tongue much more than she had in the past.

I was so happy that we had decided to do a traditional wedding and reception along with our little private wedding. It was fabulous to be able to celebrate with all of our friends. Preston flew in from Pennsylvania, and it was such a treat to see him again. Niall and Maryellen were there, probably feeling a little too eager for their own ceremony, which would take place in just a month or so. Louis and I were planning to fly to Ireland for it.

We also wanted to be sure that Lucinda and all of our other servants could attend, so we purchased plane tickets for all of them. Lucinda was staying with my parents until the end of the summer, and then she was officially retiring, true to her word that she would stay long enough to see me get married.

I hugged her several times throughout the evening. "Thank you so much for being here. You're like family, and it wouldn't have been the same without you," I said.

"Oh, honey, you know I wouldn't miss this for anything. Now you go and have yourself a good time," she said, giving me a peck on the cheek. But before I walked away, she gently grabbed my wrist and said, "You tell Louis I want to be the first to know when you two are gonna have some young'uns."

I laughed and said, "Everyone's so impatient for that all of a sudden!"

Louis and I made the rounds to all our guests, personally greeting everyone who came. The best part was that he was holding me, touching me, or had his arms around me the whole time. He made me feel like a princess for a day.

Harry had come and was now happily eating cake with Carly and the kids. When we approached them, Mimi jumped up to hug me, but Carly managed to grab her and wipe the blue frosting off her hands first.

"You are so pretty!" Mimi gushed.

"You act like you haven't seen me yet today, silly," I said. "You were with me in the wedding, remember?"

"Yep. But I forgotted to tell you how pretty you are. By the way, why didn't you wear that really pretty dress from your closet? You said it was for a wedding."

I explained that I might wear it as a guest to a wedding, but as the bride, I wanted to choose a white dress, something that was very special to me.

"Oh, gotcha," she said, making Louis laugh. "Well, maybe my mommy can borrow it when she marries Daddy Harry."

I stiffened for a minute, thinking she'd just made a potentially awkward comment. But when Louis asked, "Do you guys have something to tell us?" They both grinned like maniacs.

"Harry proposed!" Carly squealed, jumping up and hugging me. Then she showed me the ring.

"How did I not notice this?" I asked, examining the gem.

"You've been a little preoccupied today," she said, smiling wider than I'd ever seen.

Harry was standing behind Carly, holding Izzy. I moved up to hug him and congratulate him. "Congratulations, Harry. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," he said. "And thank you both for introducing me to Carly."

Louis laughed slyly and said, "We didn't have much choice but to invite you in when you showed up in a blizzard!"

"True. That was all part of my plan, actually," he said with a smirk.

The music and dancing started a little while later. I gazed at Louis, with tears pooling in my eyes again.

"What?" He asked gently.

"I remember being here with you. At Megan's wedding. How much I wanted this," I said, motioning around us. "And how much I wanted you. And now I have you."

"Oh, you know it. You're stuck with me now," he teased, kissing my fingers.

When it was time for our first dance, we made our way to the dance floor as our song began to play. I knew it was extremely corny when I chose it, but I had always loved the song. And it seemed to perfectly capture the essence of my relationship with Louis. The title of the song was "Plan on Forever". I remembered hearing it in The Wedding Planner.

How could I plan on forever when I never planned on you?

The words summed up my whole life before Louis entered it. My parents were planning everything for me. Richard was planning on forever. I was planning on enduring it, but not really living it. It was only when Louis showed me real love that I was able to plan on forever, because I could see forever with him, just like he had told me once.

The one line that always caught my attention was: Cause you danced with me, and the earth stood still. When Louis and I danced at Megan's wedding, it felt just like that. Something about that weekend, right here in Michigan, that was when Louis captured my heart. Even though I denied it at first and hurt him terribly in the process, it was a truth that I couldn't avoid forever.

After that was the Daddy-daughter dance, and I'd been mentally preparing myself for it all day. I knew my dad would be emotional, and I knew I'd have a hard time keeping it together. I chose the song, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. I just thought about all the things my father had really shown me, even if I was too self-involved to realize it at the time. He showed me love and compassion and we had some memorable times, like the times he took me to Central Park when I was very small. I had to come to terms with some lingering bitterness towards him about the fact that he let my mother make so many decisions for me, many of which were harmful. I knew he did the best he could, and I knew he loved me. And now he was growing in showing it.

We danced for a while without talking. Finally, he said, "You do know that Louis is the luckiest man in the world, right?"

Tears pricked my eyes and my throat closed a little, so I just nodded.

He continued, "I just hope he knows what a treasure he's getting."

I nodded again, biting my lip.

"After getting to know him, I believe he's the only man in the world I would ever give you to. Richard had no understanding of how special you are," he said, blinking back tears.

"Thank you for not forcing me to marry Richard," I said sincerely.

A look of hurt flashed across his face. Perhaps it was regret. In any case, he simply said, "Of course. I'm just so glad that Louis makes you so happy."

"He does, Daddy," I agreed. "He makes me so happy."

After our dance, my mother approached me and simply said, "Congratulations, Darling. I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Mother. I'm happy, too."

She hugged me, which was uncharacteristic for her, but it meant a lot to me.

Louis and I tore up the dance floor for a good part of the night, celebrating with every single one of our friends who came to join us.

~~~SIX YEARS LATER~~~

"Louis!" I screamed.

I had never felt anything so intense before. His focus was completely on me while I crunched his fingers in my hand. "I'm gonna die!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"You're not going to die, honey, I promise you. You're doing great. I'm so proud of you. You-"

"Shut up!" I screamed. "I want something for the pain!" I panted as the contraction subsided, trying to catch my breath, knowing another one would soon begin.

"Honey, we decided to have a natural childbirth. This is good for the baby," he said calmly.

I looked him square in the eye and asked, "Will it be good for our baby if I murder her father?!"

He nodded in understanding as he quickly left to find our doctor.

~~~

We had wanted to wait until Louis was done with all of his medical training before we started a family. But we didn't quite make it. We slipped up a few times and during his first year of residency, I took a pregnancy test and voilà! There was a new life inside of me. There was something utterly profound about the fact that Louis and I had created this tiny thing in our most intimate moments.

There was also something completely terrifying about knowing I'd be responsible for another person's life. But Louis, being the great encourager, gave me pep talks and lessons about the baby's development and he tried everything he could to make me comfortable when I was nauseated, including the old lemon and Vernor's trick. He was ridiculously thrilled about becoming a father; I had to tell him more than once to focus more on his work than on the baby's nursery.

We were still living in the townhouse in Boston, but now it was only the two of us. We didn't want any other servants when we were first married, but we knew we'd reconsider when we had children. I didn't want a nanny to raise my kids, but I could see how a maid would be very helpful. Or a cook.

Medical school was challenging for both Louis and myself. He had to study hard and work hard to maintain the kind of grades and reputation he'd always earned for himself. I didn't like being neglected. It led to a lot of fights, but in the end, we always resolved them and our relationship was stronger for it. And Louis had been right about one thing – the best part of fighting was when we got to make up afterwards.

Gradually, I started to understand what Niall had told me right after we met, that I couldn't always rely on Louis to make me happy. The problem was that Louis had been so fantastic when we first fell in love, doing so many wonderful and thoughtful things for me that I had started to rely on him for happiness. But when he started med school, he wasn't able to give me the kind of attention I was used to, and sometimes it made me feel like he didn't love me anymore. I was always glad that we'd already secretly gotten married before he began med school. I could always rely on that as his assurance that he wasn't just going to walk away if I became too needy or if he met someone else at medical school.

When I eventually learned how to find happiness for myself, our relationship improved a lot. One of the things that really helped was discovering a passion for something. I found out that I really loved helping people. I had contacted the homeless shelter that had been selling wreaths where we bought our first Christmas tree. I started volunteering there, and my eyes were opened to a world I never knew existed. And it broke my heart. I realized how selfish I'd been most of my life while these people had been struggling for their very lives out on the streets. Some had small children, which made it even harder for me to see. After volunteering for only a few months, I looked into ways I could help financially. I made some donations to the shelter, but it still didn't feel like enough.

I declared a major in Sociology and continued to brainstorm and search for ways that I could offer further help to the homeless besides offering them food and shelter that wasn't permanent. Gradually, my goal came into focus. I started a foundation that would offer free education and teaching life skills to the homeless as well as assistance in finding jobs that suited their abilities.

Eventually, I bought an enormous old house in Boston with ten bedrooms and turned it into a homeless shelter. I had it remodeled so that each bedroom had a private bathroom and the bedrooms could each accommodate four people, whether it was a mother and children, or four adult women.

With much help and support from friends and faculty I'd met at Harvard, I designed educational programs for the women to attend while they stayed with us, and they could stay for up to six months if they were actively attending classes and trying to find steady work. I was always trying to network with people who could help the cause in some way. And I shamelessly contacted every single wealthy family I'd ever known, petitioning for financial help. It helped them to trust me that I was Berk Norwood's daughter. And it made them feel good – and of course, look good – to give to a charitable cause. The sad part was that I knew most of the families who gave generous charitable contributions didn't actually care enough to get personally involved with the homeless people who needed help. But I was more than happy to use the contributions to hire teachers and mentors who had a heart for the less fortunate.

Just last year, I was able to purchase another house and the renovations are almost complete. Luckily, I have a pretty amazing staff since they're going to have to run the show while I adjust to motherhood.

My one remaining mission was to find the homeless woman in the subway because I wanted to help her more than just giving her a $100 bill. I was planning to buy her a small apartment and hire a nurse or someone who could care for her needs. But I never found her again. I asked Danielle, Veronica, and Zayn to keep an eye out for her, but they never saw her again either. I hoped that she had found family or some kind soul to take her in, but deep down, I knew she had probably died alone, without anyone knowing her name.

Louis has had to talk me down from time to time because I get dreams so grand and glorious that I could never afford what I really want to do for the homeless population, nor could I ever provide for the needs of all the homeless even in Boston, let alone across the entire US. But recently, I'd been looking into getting involved with political agendas to address the massive homeless problem across the country.

I had big dreams, and I owed a big part of that to Louis, and to our incredible friends who continued to inspire me.

But for now, Louis and I had our hands full.

Liam and Veronica were married, technically based out of London, but they had a house on Long Island, too. It had been far too long since I'd seen my best friend, but since she was going to be this baby's godmother, she'd have to visit soon. She told me to call as soon as I went in to labor, which I did, so she was probably on a plane already.

Niall and Maryellen had been married almost as long as us. They now had two children, a boy and a girl. They lived in London, where Liam had helped Niall to launch his music career. We kept in touch mostly by Facebook and Skype, but it was nice to see the world opening up for them.

Danielle and Zayn didn't stay together, but they were still good friends. Zayn was now in a serious relationship with a girl he'd met, who was from the Philippines, of all places. But she was living in New York so that made things easy.

Danielle was married to her job at the moment, and she loved every minute of it. The fashion business was going well for her and Veronica. They had made quite a big name for themselves. They were regularly featured at big Paris shows, as well as in New York. A few years ago, they opened their first boutique on Fifth Avenue in New York. I think I single-handedly kept them in business for the first year, and Louis had to tell me to stop spending so much money there.

Preston had met a lovely girl from his hometown, and they've been married for almost two years now. It was a beautiful wedding, and I have to say that no matter how many weddings we attend, it will always give me a thrill to dance with husband.

My parents are doing well. They had actually done some therapy together and I think their relationship was improving. I had to hand it to my father – he was one solid man, and he loved my mother faithfully. My mom was still her snobby, critical self, but I could see ways where she was trying to be a better mother now that I was all grown up. I had finally accepted that she would never be a doting, mushy-gushy mother or grandmother, and I was peaceful about it.

I was certain that my father as well as Louis' parents would make up for what my mother lacked in grandparenting. Our children would undoubtedly be smothered with affection and they would never be starved for attention with the grandparents already planning frequent visits.

Harry and Carly were married and had two more children, in addition to Mimi and Izzy who were so big now. Mimi was going to start fifth grade soon, and Izzy would be in third. Gemma was just that, a little gem and she would be starting kindergarten in a month. She was named after Harry's sister, apparently. And Margaret was a little clone of Mimi, a precocious, fast-talking little pistol. Louis and I were godparents to Gemma, so we were partial to her, although we loved all Harry and Carly's kids, and we had stayed close with them since they still lived in Boston.

~~~

Now, here Louis and I were, on the verge of parenthood ourselves, and it was horrible.

Labor hadn't started slowly, as just about everyone told me it would.

"Labor always takes a long time with your first," they all said.

Bullshit! Mine had started with a bang and didn't let up for several hours of breathing, whining, whimpering, changing positions, and every other trick in the book.

I had given Louis explicit instructions that he was going to be my husband during childbirth and not a doctor, but I could tell, in my little moments of respite between contractions, that he was itching to get involved with the medical stuff.

Louis came back in and announced, "The anesthesiologist will be here soon to give you an epidural."

I sighed with relief, but another contraction built up to the point where I was screaming again. Louis came quickly and rubbed my back, quietly coaching me through it.

As it subsided, the anesthesiologist showed up.

Louis gave it a last ditch attempt to try to convince me to stick to our original birth plan. "Remember what Jennica said? If you just focus on what your body is doing, it becomes less stressful and you can cooperate with the contractions."

Speaking of contractions, another one ramped up as he was finishing. I squeezed his hand hard and screamed, "I don't give a flying fuck what that tree hugger said! Give me the damn medication!"

After that contraction died down, Louis nodded to the anesthesiologist, and he assisted me in sitting up so that the doctor could insert the needle into my back. It wasn't the most pleasant thing to go through, but it was a hell of a lot better than the body-wrenching agony I'd been feeling for the past several hours.

The epidural was beginning to cover the pain, and I began to relax. "Thank you," I breathed out to Louis, who was still holding my hand.

"Anything for you, Ash," he smiled. "Besides, if our baby is half as strong as you, I don't think she will have any problems."

I smiled as I closed my eyes, feeling very tired.

I had managed to relax for a good while, but suddenly I felt something changing in my lower regions. "Louis," I said. "I think I need to push."

"Probably not yet, honey," he said. "An epidural usually slows labor down."

"No! Lou, you don't understand. I really feel like I have to push!" There was this insanely heavy pressure between my legs, like I had to use the bathroom. The epidural got rid of the pain, but it certainly didn't numb everything, because it almost felt like my body was going to tear in two.

"Um," he said nervously. "Do you want me to check, or should I wait for the doctor?" I found the question ironic, since I knew he wanted to know what was happening.

I grunted, "Yes, dammit! Check me out and then call the doctor!"

He gingerly lifted up the sheet and cursed. "Holy shit, you're crowning already!"

"I told you!" I grunted again. Without permission, I bore down with the contraction.

Louis buzzed the nurse and then noticed I was holding my breath, and he commanded, "Stop pushing!"

I shook my head as the nurse came in. I had no idea what they said to each other.

I relaxed as much as I could when the contraction subsided. Well, as much as I could with something the size of a melon between my legs. Another round of intense pressure signaled the onset of another contraction. I panted and whined, but I couldn't hold back. I pushed as hard as I could, trying not to let my breath escape.

"Honey, stop," Louis commanded again. He rushed to me, trying to get me to focus. "Breathe," he said. "Just breathe through it."

I shook my head, almost crying. "No, I'm ready, I'm so ready to meet her."

Just then the doctor arrived and laughed. "Well, Dr. Tomlinson, you seem to have everything under control," he said, checking out my progress. "You two are doing just fine without me. Would you like to deliver your baby?"

He looked at me with hopeful eyes. I knew this would mean the world to him. I nodded just as it was time to push again. I let out a loud painful grunt and held my breath again, pushing down harder than I've ever pushed before. The doctor and Louis both shouted encouragement to me as I bore down with everything I had.

"Ash, her head is out," Louis said as the contraction subsided, his voice trembling. "Honey, she's almost here!"

One more contraction was all it took to push our baby into the world. Louis lifted her up and handed her to me while I sobbed with relief and joy. She was so incredibly beautiful. Tears streamed down my face as the nurses rubbed her with towels. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and let out a great big cry. Louis cut the cord and then joined me by my side, marveling at our sweet daughter, our sweet baby girl.

"Oh, honey, she's beautiful," he breathed in barely a whisper. "Just like her mommy."

"Shh," I cooed, rubbing her back while she continued screaming. I didn't really care - even her cries were amazing. "Shhh, mommy and daddy are right here."

I moved her to my breast and squeezed her cheek just enough to get her to open her mouth and she latched right on. "Louis!" I said. "Look, she's already nursing."

"You're a natural," he said, stroking my hair. "I told you."

I looked at him, the impact of the moment still hanging heavy over us. My face fell into a lazy smile. "How did we get so lucky?"

"It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" He agreed.

After she had suckled for a bit, the nurses took her to clean her up more and to warm her. My eyes drifted closed for just a bit. Then I heard Louis' voice saying, "Look at Mommy. She's sleeping. You tired her out."

I opened my eyes, and her eyes were wide open, watching Louis in awe, as if she recognized his voice.

"What should we name her?" I asked. We had talked about so many names, but nothing grabbed us, so we decided we would just wait until we saw her.

Louis looked at her, then at me, and then back to her. "I think she's going to be wise. I can see it in her eyes. How about...," he paused to think a bit. Then he proposed a name that we hadn't even discussed, but the moment it left his lips, I knew it was her name.

"Lucinda," he said. "Lucy, for short."

I nodded, tears clouding my eyes as he handed her back to me.

Lucinda had returned to Alabama the fall after our wedding. We kept in touch with her as much as we could, but her health started to fail as she got older. About two months ago, she passed away unexpectedly, and it rocked my entire world. The woman who had been like a grandmother to me, who taught me to love in place of a mother who wasn't able, and who encouraged me to love Louis, was gone. Forever. I had never felt grief like that before.

But Louis was right. I could sense some of Lucinda's spark in our baby girl, some of her wisdom. I knew that Lucinda was in heaven right now, kicking up her heels in celebration with us.

"It's perfect," I said. "Lucy Tomlinson." I liked the way it sounded.

Lucinda would be with us forever because of her love and her encouragement to the two of us as we navigated the unfamiliar waters of true love. So many of those whom we were blessed to call friends had contributed to our relationship, our marriage, our love. Undoubtedly, they would contribute to our daughter's life as well.

My heart swelled while Louis and I took turns nuzzling our baby. She was the most perfect little thing that we could imagine.

And I knew that nothing in the entire world would ever make me feel as rich as I felt right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't even thank you all enough for reading, commenting, voting and supporting me! I love this story and I'm sad to see it come to and end. I hope you'll stick with me in my new ventures.

Finally, I can't even describe how much I love that picture of Louis with the baby. Isn't it just perfect? :D

XOXO!!!