Part 18 (1/2)

”Wait until Ma sees all of us.” Devin chucked Rachel under the chin, and she gurgled, drooling down Evan's shoulder. ”This is going to be one heck of a Merry Christ-mas for her.”

Claire looked at her sister as both their eyes filled with tears again.

”For all of us,” she amended.

And then the ranks closed in around them. Blair's extended family had decided, as one, that they had given the new arrivals enough time together. Now it was their turn to get acquainted.

Converging, they a.s.similated all six into their midst.

Epilogue.

Blair eased herself into the tiny vestibule just off to the side of the church entrance where, only a short month ago, she had been the one dressed in the long, lacy wedding gown. Now her sister was wearing it for her wedding. They had decided to use the same one for luck, beginning a tradition.

Their very first, but not, Blair knew, their last.

It had been less than two months since they had first hugged and cried after a twenty-two-year separation, and they were already deeply entrenched in each other's lives. They spoke on the phone every day, sometimes two or three times. Devin claimed they were making the long-distance phone company rich, but Claire and Blair both knew how pleased he was that he had been instrumental in bringing them together.

Claire looked absolutely gorgeous. Had she looked that radiant when she had worn the gown? Blair wondered with affection.

”We've got a packed house,” Blair told her sister. She fussed a little with the veil. ”Are you ready?”

Claire let out a deep breath, then smiled at her twin. Sometimes, even after all these weeks, she still woke up in the morning and thought it was all just a wonderful dream. But it wasn't. It was real. All of it. Evan, Rachel. Blair. All real.

”I think I've been ready for this all my life.” Happiness and affection outlined her face. ”Thanks for lending me your uncle.”

Blair shrugged it off. No words of thanks were necessary between them. ”You needed something borrowed.” The gown was technically now something old; she'd given Claire a blue garter to wear, and as for something new, Evan had given her a stunning necklace in the shape of a heart, encrusted with diamonds. Claire was all set. ”Besides, he's not my uncle, he's our uncle.” Blair gave her sister a light squeeze. ”What's mine is yours-you know that.”

There was a light rap on the door. When Blair opened it, Uncle John peered in. Blair grinned. ”Speak of the devil.”

Uncle John raised gray tufted brows in mock affront. ”Is that any way to talk about your old uncle? Although your aunt does say I still have a little devil in my eye.” He chuckled wickedly. And then he looked at Claire and sighed. She was the picture of happiness, just as Blair had been in her place. ”You know, with you ladies using the same dress, this feels like dej vu for me. Especially since the guy waiting at the altar looks the same.” He shook his head. He'd never seen two men look more alike. ”Beats me how you're going be able to tell them apart.” He glanced at Blair, a smile quirking his mouth: ”You might consider tagging their right ear, like they do with animals in the wild.”

Claire laughed. She could just picture that, although a single small gold hoop dangling from his ear might be s.e.xy on Evan at that.

”We can tell them apart, Uncle John,” Blair a.s.sured him with a grin. ”Devin's smile is lopsided.”

”And Evan's the one with baby drool on his shoulder,” Claire added. And she couldn't think of anything more endearing to her than that. It attested to just how much he cared for his daughter. How much he would care for a child of their own when the time came.