Author's Note: And so...another story comes to an end. I should have finished this months ago, but school got in the way and, you know, I'm lazy. :)
|| Part Ten: Past the Broken Road ||
One year later...
"Here?"
"No."
Five seconds pass.
"Here?"
"No."
"Look, either you girls let us put this heavy ass couch here or you both get up and help."
"I'm holding your daughter in my arms, Dylan McKay."
Andrea laughed. "Fine. Leave the couch there." Brandon and Dylan dropped the couch they'd been moving back and forth and plopped down on it. Andrea studied it curiously. "I think it would look better facing the fireplace, don't you?" She looked at Brenda for her answer.
"I'm so sorry now that I asked you to move to Washington with me," Brandon said exasperated.
Andrea walked to him and bent down to give him a sweet kiss. "Liar." she whispered against his lips.
Hannah came barreling out of her room at the end of the hall and plopped down on the sofa between Brandon and Dylan. "I put everything away, can I hold the baby now?" She looked up at Brenda hopefully.
"Sure, honey, but you have to sit very still," Brenda said. She waited for Hannah to get in the proper position, Brandon moved to give Andrea a seat to help, and then placed the sleeping baby in her young arms.
All the adults in the room smiled as the baby opened her eyes to look at Hannah. "She looked at me, Mommy. Did you see?" Hannah asked with excitement.
"Yep," Andrea replied with a smile and reached out to help Hannah support the baby's head.
Brandon and Brenda backed away slightly. As they went about looking in the rest of the boxes, Brandon nudged his sister's shoulder. "Thanks," he said.
Brenda looked over at him. "For what?"
"For helping me put my life back together," he replied honestly. "I don't think Andrea and I would be together right now if not for you and your unwanted meddling in my life." She made a face at him and he grinned. "So...thanks."
Giving him her own playful nudge, Brenda grinned at him. "You'd do the same for me."
Brandon made a face. "Eh, I don't know about all of that. Your capacity to meddle is a lot higher than mine."
When Brenda went to swing at him, he ducked and playfully hit her with one of the pillows they had just unpacked. She looked at him shocked for a second, then a wide grin split her face. "Oh, you're going to get it now."
When Brandon took off running, Brenda chased after him.
Dylan looked up from his daughter's smiling face as she lay in Hannah's arms and into Andrea's. "Are you sure you want to marry into this family?" he asked jokingly.
Hearing the laughter erupting from her fiance and his sister a few feet away, Andrea smiled back. With everything they've been through, and everything they would face, she knew there was only one answer to that question."Absolutely."
Dylan nodded sagely, "Good. They've been attempting to drive me crazy for years. It'll be nice to have some company."
Andrea laughed softly. "Dylan, they're really not that bad."
As if on cue, there was a loud thud followed by Brenda's roar of laughter. Brandon yelled for his sister to let him go through fits of laughter, and Brenda taunted him mercilessly. Dylan looked at Andrea once again and pulled a face. "Yeah, remind me one day to introduce you to my wife and her brother."
- End