September 6th, 9:45 AM
The sun glinted through the trees, causing Briar to shade her eyes as she walked through the neatly-manicured grass, making her way unerringly to a shaded spot near the ornate wrought-iron fence that enclosed the area. Ashley followed behind her, carrying a large paper-wrapped bundle in his arms, and as she carefully lowered herself to a sitting position, he loosened the wrappings to reveal an assortment of flowers and passed the bouquet to her.
After brushing a scattering of grass clippings from the glittering slab of stone in front of her, she arranged the brightly-hued mass of tie-dyed roses and gerbera daisies in the brass vase fastened just below the peace sign that had been engraved into the surface of the gold-flecked white granite.
"Happy Birthday, Syl," she murmured, tracing the outline of the engraved symbol with her fingertip as she spoke. "I thought of you as soon as I saw these, because I remember how much you like bright things. And you should always have what you want for your birthday."
Turning her head to see that Ashley was still standing, she motioned for him to join her, and he sat on the grass next to her, sliding an arm around her waist. He studied the stone for a moment, then said, "Hey there, Sylvia. I wish I'd gotten the chance to meet you in person, because from some of the stories your cousin has told me, it sounds like you would have been fun to hang out with." He lifted his free hand to smooth Briar's hair away from her face, pressed a kiss to her temple, then turned his gaze back to the grave marker and added, "She also told me how the two of you used to look out for each other, and I just want you to know that you don't need to worry about her, because I'll watch out for her now, and I'll do everything I can to make sure that nothing bad ever happens to her again."
She raised her own hand to give his an affectionate squeeze, and the motion caused a splintered rainbow to play over the highly-polished stone, eliciting a childlike giggle from Briar as she held her hand in front of her face, examining the source of the miniature light show. "Yeah, that's why I thought it was time for him to come here with me, since he's family now," she bubbled enthusiastically. "Or will be soon, if that makes a difference. He proposed a couple of days ago, and I said yes, of course," She extended her left hand, which was adorned with a lovely gold ring, designed to resemble delicate vines, which twined around a sparkling cushion-cut diamond, and said, "My ring is beautiful, I wish just you could have seen it in person. Hell, I wish you could be here to help me decide on my dress, and yours, of course. And the flowers and music and all the other stuff that goes with a wedding!"
Her words choked off with a sob, and Ashley pulled her closer, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "It's not fair!" she mumbled into his shirt. "She should be here to celebrate with us! We were supposed to be each others maid of honor, we decided that when I was twelve, and now it can't happen!"
"You're right, love, it isn't fair," he replied calmly. "And you know if I could fix it for you, I would, but that's a bit beyond the scope of my ability. So all we can do is find some way to make sure we remember her, and to let everyone there know how important she is to you. And remember, Tink, you actually do have a way to take part of her with you now. I mean, that can be one of your wedding things, part of that 'Something borrowed, something blue' stuff people do at weddings."
Lifting her hand to her throat, she grasped the sapphire pendant that dangled there from a twisted gold chain, which Garrett Sanger had just returned to her the previous week, when it had finally been released from the evidence locker where it had lain since Marlena Whitman had taken it from Ashley's house. "Yeah, you're right," she acknowledged. "I know that I can't change anything that's happened, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it." She opened her purse, and after rummaging through it for several seconds, she brought forth a small photo album, which she opened and placed on his lap. He looked down and saw a picture of a much-younger Briar, obviously still in her teens, wearing a red gymnastic leotard, with her much longer hair caught up in a high ponytail. Standing next to her, obviously caught in mid-laugh, was the lovely black-haired girl represented in her tattoo, wearing a flowing bright-green and lavender batik sleeveless dress, embracing Briar as she displayed a gold medal to the camera.
"I was fourteen here, and she was just barely sixteen, we were celebrating my first gold medal in the state competitions," she explained. "Uncle Derek took the picture, because they were the only ones that showed up. He died just a little over three weeks after that, so this is the last picture I have of her actually, honestly happy. After he was gone, that's when the drugs and the drinking started, and the ditching school and disappearing for days at a time. I tried to convince her mom to get her some kind of help, I even talked to my dad and my grandparents about it, but they all told me that she was just being a brat and looking for attention, shit like that, and that I was being melodramatic. They just let her sink, and didn't do a damn thing to help. As far as I'm concerned, they're just as responsible for what happened to her as Harris was, and I'll never forgive them for it."
"And no one says that you have to, love," he assured her. "But karma is taking care of them for you, so why don't you give Sylvia her other present now?"
She nodded and reached into her bag again. "Right, I can't forget about that." Ashley watched as she removed a manila envelope and opened it to reveal a laminated sheet of newsprint, which she laid flat on the gravestone. He didn't even need to look at the headline emblazoned across the sheet, as it was already indelibly branded into his memory:
"HARRIS FOUND GUILTY OF ALL CHARGES"
"We already knew it, but they made it official earlier this week," Briar said solemnly. "Keith Harris took the easy way out, but he doesn't get to avoid his responsibility. Now everybody knows that he was responsible for what happened to you, and all of the others."
They had both been present, along with the friends and families of many of "The Streetsweeper's" other victims, at a special court session which had essentially picked up where the trial had left off. Additional evidence that had been compiled against Harris was presented, including files recovered from a storage unit he had rented under a false name, and his long-missing journal, which had been found during the search of his home after Dolly Lowell's rescue. With his own words, in his own handwriting, laid out before the jury, they had posthumously found him guilty of over one hundred felony charges, which included unlawful entry, evidence tampering, burglary, arson, kidnapping, armed criminal action, assault, and several counts of attempted murder, along with a final tally of thirty-seven counts of first-degree murder.
After reading the article aloud, Briar carefully rolled it up, picked up the flowers, and inserted the stems into the center of the tube before replacing them in the vase. "There we go, then," she said. "Now if anyone else stops by, they can read this if they want, and everyone will know."
She settled back into her place next to Ashley and they lingered there as Briar spoke to her cousin about a number of other topics, such as her progress with the prosthesis, the publishing house which had made an offer on her book, the mixed reactions of fans to the announcement of her engagement to Ashley, and the legal troubles that their family was facing. This now included an action initiated by Audrey Malveaux's influential father to have William stripped of his parental rights due to his assaults on Audrey and Briar, which had the rest of the family, except for those two, in a state of panic. Beatrice had agreed to a plea deal on her charges, which kept her out of jail, but virtually destroyed her social standing, while Anson, Cyril, and Will all still faced the possibility of several years in prison.
Eventually, Ashley took out his phone to check the time, and said, "Hey, Tink, I hate to interrupt, but it's after eleven now, and we're supposed to meet Wiley and Cody in a little over an hour, remember? I'm pretty sure Wiley wants you to vet that new 'lady friend' that Cody mentioned when they came over last week."
"Oh, yeah, the cupcake lady that he met when he fixed the brakes on her delivery van," she recalled. "I'm guessing he must be pretty smitten to agree to come out riding with us. Cody or I either one haven't been able to talk him onto a horse before now."
"Well, that should make things interesting, to say the least," Ashley chuckled as he rose to his feet, extending his hand to his fiancee to help her stand. "Shall we go now, hon?"
She ran her hand lightly across the smooth stone and said, "Sleep well, Sylvia. I'll be back to see you soon." She held her hand out and allowed Ashley to help her up, but paused after taking only a couple of steps, with an indecisive expression on her face.
"Something wrong, Tink?" Ashley inquired.
"Not exactly, I was just thinking," she replied, toying somewhat nervously with the pendant that she wore. "I'm just not sure what to do with this now. It's hers, after all, and it doesn't really work for me. If it had been with her when they found her, I would have buried it with her, but I'm not gonna leave it out here in the open for somebody to walk off with."
Ashley gazed solemnly at her for a long moment, then, seeming almost hesitant to speak, said, "Well, I might have one suggestion..."
"What's that?"
She was puzzled when he paused again, as if searching for his words, but finally he continued. "Take it home, or to the bank, and put it away for now. Then later, if we have a daughter, we'll give her an 'S' name, and you can save it for her. When she's old enough, give it to her, and make sure she knows how special it is. It'll be what it started out as; a gift from a parent who genuinely loves their kid."
She merely blinked at him for several seconds before finding her voice: "You mean you want kids?"
"Don't you?"
"Not in the next few minutes, I think I'd like to at least get through the wedding and our honeymoon first. But... yeah, I do. I just wasn't sure you did."
He smiled brightly and replied, "Yeah, I'm actually kind of liking the idea of having a miniature you running around the house."
They resumed their walk back to the car, and as they reached the cemetery gate, Briar cast a sidelong glance at him and said, "Y'know, there's always the chance that we could get a Mini-Ash instead. That could be fun, too."
"Are you sure you want to wish that on the world?" he laughed. "I think we'd probably be better off replicating you."
"Well, we could always do both. I'm brave enough to give it a go if you are."
"Yes, you most certainly are. That's one of the things I love about you. And together, I think we can take on anything. The possibilities are almost endless."
Briar reached out to once again twine her fingers with Ashley's, and hand in hand they stepped back out into the bustle and activity of the city, ready to face whatever the world held in store for them.
Their lives were their own again, and they fully intended to enjoy every moment they had left in the best way they knew how...
Together.