Looking For His North Star

Epilogue

Yaman raised his eyebrows at his brother.

Clad in a dark blue shirt with a gray waistcoat and gray slacks, he looked as smart as a pin. He was almost glowing from happiness.

Yaman stared. He'd always thought that his brother was a mild soul, immune to extreme emotions like euphoria and rage. Once he was out of the clutches of panic attacks, he always seemed content with what he had.

But now he realized that Ziya was like the rest of them- he simply hadn't been extremely happy like this before, not even when he was with Iqbal whom he seemed to love dearly.

Not like this.

"You look great, brother," he said, sincerely.

Ziya smiled. He put Arif down and glanced at the shining wedding ring on his left hand.

"I'm happy, Yaman. I'm happy..."

He patted Yaman's shoulder and left with a spring in his step, obviously to look for the source of his happiness. Yaman ushered Arif into their room.

The boy stood obediently while he buttoned up his shirt, tucked it into his pants and tied the small blue bowtie around his neck. Then Yaman sent him on his way and stood up, to get himself ready.

After he got ready, he walked outside, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows to block out the summer heat. He stood on the porch and looked into the garden.

Two tables were placed next to the pond, shaded by a temporary summer hut. Seher was helping Adalet and Neslihan to set up the food, looking as beautiful as always in a billowing green summer dress.

The twins ran around, holding the blue and gold balloons used for decorations. Yildiz looked like a cotton candy in her rose pink dress and Yaman could already see the patches of dirt on Arif's pants. Yusuf sat on his hunches at the pond, saying something to Çenger who stood next to him.

Then his eyes drifted to Ziya and Çiçek, who were standing among a sea of colourful tulips planted in the garden, holding hands.

The newlyweds.

They got married yesterday evening, with only the family and the witnesses present, in the registrar's office. Neither of them wanted a ceremony, because their previous marriages done with beautiful ceremonies, had ended up in disasters. But Seher was adamant that at least, they should have a small party to celebrate the union, so here they were, all set up under the bright summer sky. They were waiting for Ali, Firat and Seher's friend- Duygu to join them, who unfortunately had to pull night shifts, the day before.

At first, when Ziya had told Yaman about his decision to propose to Çiçek, Yaman had been against the whole business. He couldn't help it. His brother had been stuck in a loveless marriage with a cruel woman who'd almost killed him, for nearly twelve years. Then again, he'd been fooled by their mother. He'd felt his overprotectiveness rearing its head again.

As the years passed, it became apparent to Yaman that he and his brothers had reacted to their mother's abandonment and their father's death in specific ways. He had sworn off anything to do with love and intimacy and had kept women at an arm's length. Yalçin had done the complete opposite- he'd gone around Istanbul, hooking up with any woman he could find in meaningless flings, until he'd met Kevser and married her.

And Ziya- Ziya had fallen in love with the first woman who'd shown him a sliver of kindness. Yaman didn't want him to fall into the same pit, over and over again.

Finally Seher had convinced him to give them a chance. But when Ziya had proposed at first, Çiçek had promptly refused.

Later, they found out that the poor girl had been in an abusive marriage for years. She obviously had feelings for Ziya, but she was still haunted by the demons in her past, afraid to be pulled into another nightmare shrouded in beautiful lies.