Title: "To See Him Again" Epilogue

Author: AngelBabs81 (Barbara)

Email: angel_

Rated: PG-ish

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea behind this work (and any created characters). Amblin owns seaQuest and all its characters.

Summary:

Copyright: March 2006

Epilogue

The small gathering of friends and family, who wore bathing suits as their attire, sat in white wicker benches on the sand near Nathan's beach house. They grouped about, saying 'hi' and beginning conversations until the wedding began. The weather felt right. The ocean provided a cool breeze, which rustled the flowers that decorated the aisle and makeshift alter.

Inside the house, Kristin and Nathan were in separated bedrooms getting ready. Katie Hitchcock-Ford, Cynthia Torres, and Serenity completed the bridal part and were helping Kristin get ready. Jonathan Ford, Bill Noyce, and Lucas Wolenczek were part of the groom's party and helped Nathan get ready.

The guests quieted and took their seats as the men walked out of the house. Lucas, Jonathan, and Bill led the way wearing a blue with white flowers Hawaiian-style shirt with the top three buttons undone and beige khakis shorts. They were barefoot. Behind Bill, Nathan wore a pure white button up shirt, leaving the top three unbuttoned, beige khakis shorts, and was barefoot. Taking his place, Nathan stood next to the priest at the center of the alter.

The bridal party exited the house wearing matching blue one pice swimsuits with a blue sarong tied at their waists. Cynthia carried Serenity, who tossed multi-color rose pedals on the aisle from a basket. The guest stood as the bridal march began and Kristin walked out of the house wearing a pure white one piece bathing suit with a white sarong tied at her waist. She didn't carry any flowers, but had a white flower in her hair behind her left ear.

The march ended as Nathan offered his hand to Kristin. As planned, though a bit awkward, the priest asked, "who gives this woman to this man?"

"I do," Cynthia spoke.

Kristin took hold of Nathan's hand and they stood facing each other with their hands clasped together between them at the alter.

Vows were said, rings were exchanged and when Nathan kissed Kristin on the lips, the guests applauded, with some even whistling and whooping. They even heard a 'finally' from the crowd, which sounded a lot like O'Neill's voice.

They pulled apart, each with a smile on their faces, staring at each other. The priest announced, "I give you Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Bridger." The couple turned towards the guests for a second before walking away from the alter, followed by Bill and Cynthia, Jonathan and Katie, and Lucas who was now carrying Serenity. The wedding party, along with the priest, went into the living room of Nathan's beach house to get the paperwork in order. Bill and Cynthia signed as a witness on the marriage certificate.

Nathan pulled Kristin closer and kissed her soundly. They were broken up by Serenity trying to squeeze between their legs. Kristin looked down and Serenity reached her hands up, which Kristin obeyed the gesture, lifting her up and placing her on her hip. Nathan reached over and brushed a stray strand of Serenity's hair out of her face.

"Grandma, what do I call him?" Serenity asked, pointing to Nathan.

Kristin shrugged, unsure herself. "I guess you can call him Mr. Bridger," Kristin suggested and Nathan shook his head, disagreeing with that name.

"You can call me Nathan," Nathan told Serenity.

"Nathan," Serenity repeated and smiled. "Okay."

"Mommy," Cynthia interrupted. "The benches are cleared and the reception is ready to commence. The guests are milling about and we should make an appearance. The servers are setting up the food in the tent now." Cynthia held her hands out and Kristin handed her Serenity.

Kristin nodded in agreement. Nathan wrapped his arm around her waist and followed behind Cynthia to the beach. Everyone was mingling about and when they noticed the newly wedded couple, they stopped and applauded again. Kristin felt her cheeks turn a deep shade of red and Nathan just chuckled.

Nathan held his hand up and everyone quieted down. "We want to thank everyone for coming. We have a wide variety of activities to offer, so enjoy."

Laying out a towel in a sunny spot, Nathan pulled Kristin down between his legs and wrapped his arms around her waist, her back resting against his chest. They watched their guests, some of them stripping off their shirts or coverlets to go swimming which was the point of them wearing the swimsuits as attire. Lucas, Tim, and Miguel set up a short pole in the sand and began to play horseshoes. Jonathan was holding his son, Derek, while talking to Bill. Janet, Katie, Cynthia, and Malique were laughing and talking about something. Serenity let out a happy squeal as Robert Jr. and Rebecca played tag with her. Sitting on a towel, Heather watched, smiling.

Heather locked with Nathan's and she stood up, walking over towards the couple. She knelt and spoke, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Kristin and Nathan spoke in unison.

"It's a beautiful wedding and a beautiful day," Heather continued. "It's seems perfect."

"Shhh! You'll curse it," Kristin teased and she felt Nathan chuckle behind her.

"Who's the big family?" Heather asked, pointing to the people in the water.

"That would be Bill and Janet's four children and their families," Nathan supplied. "Their oldest is Melissa, who is married to Kevin and has five children. Their middle son is Stuart and his wife is Donna. They have two children. The third youngest is Elizabeth, who is divorced and has twins, and then their youngest son, Mark, who is unmarried and has no kids."

"How long have you known the Noyce's?" she continued to ask.

"I've known Bill since the academy," Nathan continued to inform. "I was his best man at his wedding and he was my best man… at both my marriages."

Kristin turned to Nathan and smiled. "I'm going to go ahead and go mingle," she told him as she stood up.

He took her hand and pulled it to his mouth. "I love you," he told her, planting a tender kiss.

"I love you, too," Kristin smiled and walked over to Janet, Katie, and Cynthia. Malique had disappeared, joining Lucas, Tim, and Miguel at horseshoes.

"Well, there's the new bride," Janet teased and the other two women laughed. "Finally got away from him?" Janet glanced behind Kristin and saw Nathan staring at Kristin while talking to Heather. "He's staring."

Kristin turned and winked and Nathan smiled, finally turning his full attention to Heather. "So, what do you say to going for a swim?" Kristin asked and the three other women nodded.

The four ladies stayed near the shoreline, letting the water lap at their waists.

"I hear there is going to be a volleyball game possibly later?" Katie mentioned.

Kristin nodded. "If we can manage it, it'll be the men vs. women, depending on who wants to play."

"I can see it now," Cynthia laughed. "The men win today and Nathan has to sleep on the couch tonight!"

That prompted all of them to laugh.

"I would never make Nathan sleep on the couch," Kristin denied between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, right, mom!" Cynthia responded. "I may have only been 4 years old, but I remember daddy sleeping on the couch."

"Your father deserved it," Kristin stated as a matter-of-factly.

On the beach, Nathan, along with Bill, Lucas, and Jonathan, set up the volleyball net. The sun was still high in the sky and everyone exited the water, gathering around the parameters of the makeshift volleyball court. Nathan stood near the net and Kristin joined him.

"First off, who wants to play?" Nathan asked the crowd. He counted the number of hands that were raised. "Looks like we have an even number of players for men vs. women. Ladies, you may serve first." He tossed the ball at Kristin as Katie, Cynthia, Heather, Donna, and Elizabeth joined Kristin on one side. "It'll 5 on 5 and the 6th player will rotate in." Donna sat to the side.

On the men side, Nathan was joined by Jonathan, Malique, Kevin, Stuart, and Lucas. Stuart took a seat on the sand until he rotated in.

Kristin served first, making the ball fly high and over the net. Jonathan got it and Kevin spiked it back over the net, where Cynthia managed to get it before it touched the ground. The game went on with cheering from the other guests, jokes shared between the two teams, and finally ending with the women beating the men. They exchanged hand shakes at the end, each with a smile on their faces.

Nathan pulled Kristin close and laughed as she wiped the sweat from his brow. "That was a good game," he spoke softly. "And, now time to cool off." He swept her into his arms and went directly into the water. He pulled her under with him once the water was deep enough and then let her go.

They both came to the surface and then laughed. Kristin splashed him playfully and noticed that some of the other couples did the same. After mingling in the water for a bit, dinner was announced and the water was vacated.

Soon everyone was sitting inside the tent with a hot, fresh meal in front of them. The wedding party had their own table and Bill stood up, getting everyone's attention.

"As the best man, I'd like to make a toast," he announced.

"Of course you would," Nathan muttered from beside him.

"Hush," Kristin playfully slapped him and Nathan used her arm as motivation to pull her closer. She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder as everyone, including Bill looked at them.

"When I first met Kristin, we butted heads more than rams in heat," Bill began, with a few snickers from the audience and Kristin glared at him, but had a smile on her lips. "She was a great addition to the first seaQuest crew. She was very prominent in her work and did an excellent job. When I accepted her to the first crew of scientist, I already had Nathan in mind to be the captain, but I had not expected these two to get together. I've known Nathan for years, too many years to recall, but I'm glad to be his friend. I guess what I'm getting at is… I'm happy for you, Nathan. And, Kristin, I hope we continue to butt heads 'til I die. I wouldn't change that for the World."

Kristin laughed but raised her glass towards his. Nathan followed as well as the rest of the guests. Everyone took a sip and then Cynthia stood up.

"I'd like to make a toast as well," she began, looking at her mother, smiling. "My mother is my hero. She's been through a lot and most of it while I could not care for myself, so she was also taking care of me. My mom is a survivor. I met Nathan about 6 ½ years ago. He helped Malique and I with a bunch of kids from the Amazonian Consortium. I liked him from the moment we met. These two, who came from different pasts, came together and I couldn't be happier for them. I love you, mom."

"Thank you, Cynny," Kristin told her daughter softly and everyone took another sip of their drinks.

The dinner was eaten with the buzz of conversation from every table and no one noticed when Bill disappeared along with Tim and Miguel. Once dinner was finished, the plates were cleared and Bill made his entrance, with Tim and Miguel following. He stood in front of the new couple and smiled. When they turned to look at him, they had questioning look on their face.

"Nathan, the brass has approved your request," Bill announced and Nathan smiled. "With the persuasion of Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Ortiz."

"What request?" Kristin asked, looking from Bill to Nathan.

"Do they also understand if she does not accept my proposition what I will do?" Nathan asked Bill, not ignoring her, but her question.

"Accept what?" Kristin asked.

Bill nodded. "They'd hate to see you go."

"Nathan, start talking, now," Kristin said annoyingly.

Nathan turned, smiling like she hadn't nearly threatened his life. "Kristin, I've asked the brass for you to return to seaQuest as the CMO, if you accept."

"And if I do not accept?" Kristin asked, though she couldn't hide the excitement in her voice for the opportunity to work under sea again.

"Then, the brass will need to find a new captain," Nathan answered simply, though Kristin could hear it in his voice and the look that he was not ready to give it up.

Smiling, Kristin nodded. "I accept, then."

Nathan smiled and pulled her to him. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

The last hour of the reception slowly died to the newly-wedded couple were sitting on the beach, watching the sunset.

"This turned out to be a marvelous day," Kristin spoke softly, leaning against Nathan's chest.

"It did," Nathan agreed and as the sun disappeared, leaving only the coloration of yellow, purple, and pink, Nathan stood up and took her hand, pulling her closer to her, giving her a soft, tender kiss.

"So, we have a couple things we could do," Kristin spoke as they walked into the house. "We could go to bed, open the gifts, go to bed, watch a movie, or have I mentioned going to bed?"

Nathan locked the door behind them and laughed. "You're a tease," he told her, reaching for her before she got too far away from him. He pulled the tie on the sarong and let it drop to the floor in the hallway, capturing her lips with his.

Kristin moaned lowly and wrapped her arms around his neck. He picked her up, supporting her under the thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist as the kiss deepened.

Nathan shut the bedroom door with his foot and slowly leaned down, never breaking contact with Kristin.

"I love you," he whispered during the brief separation of their lips.

He got a moan as a response and soon the couple made love slowly and tenderly, falling asleep in each others embrace.

THE END

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