Disclaimer: I do not own the anime Le Chevailer D'Eon or its characters.

You are hereby invited to the wedding of Maximilien and Lia…

Epilogue

The stately wedding march started up. D'Eon nervously adjusted his tie. He glanced at the bride next to him. Lia looked awfully pale under her veil. "Sis, are you feeling alright?"

"Just the butterflies…" Lia gasped and took a deep breath. Anna glanced backwards over her shoulder. She looked exquisitely lovely in that simple bridesmaid's dress. D'Eon swallowed hard. Maximilien was inside the church waiting at the altar with his best man Durand. Old Master Teillagory was acting as their cameraman. The ring-bearer was Robin, who was now stepping slowly over the threshold and through the opening church doors.

D'Eon glanced at Lia again as she clutched his elbow. He was to give her away at the altar as her oldest surviving male kinsman since their father had passed away. It was a pity the wedding gown did little to hide her advanced condition. She was huge. The effort of walking with that extra weight was wearing her out. It was partially her fault, since she had an argument with Max over the church service and pulled a runaway bride on him. She wanted a perfect wedding but snow was not expected in Paris given the heat wave. The snow machine Durand dug up in the Vee TV storeroom was most disappointing. She had Maximilien digging out every source and hideaway in Paris to find her while she spent a full two months fuming in Nice.

She then took a ferry to England to visit Aunt Mary in a temper when Maximilien refused to have Durand as best man after the latter made some unkind remarks about her while drunk. It was thanks to Aunt Mary that she returned to Maximilien in time to have their baby born within wedlock. Anna crossed the threshold. Soon it was their turn.

Their family and friends clapped politely as they marched in. The bride was heavily pregnant. There was a faint look of disapproval on the priest's face but he would go through with the ceremony all the same. Maximilien had chosen him for that. They had to do some penance and listen to a lecture against fornication and the sin of lust, but getting the wedding properly done in church was worth it. The bridegroom now gazed upon his fair bride in a state of pure bliss and joy as she glided down the aisle at her brother's elbow.

"Take care of her," D'Eon hissed to Maximilien as he symbolically handed Lia to his care, but not without relief. Lia was really clasping his elbow hard as they marched in. She was probably nervous. D'Eon hoped she was really okay. Max nodded. The priest cleared his throat and droned on. D'Eon stepped aside and found himself standing next to Anna. He would really like a church wedding like his sister's. He could almost see Anna in a bridal gown, coming down the aisle towards him as he waited at the altar. Durand and Robin stood at attention behind the bridal couple. Teillagory continued filming through his video cam.

Aunt Mary and Uncle George were at the back. They had passed them on the way in. Uncle George was dozing off and Aunt Mary prodding him awake. The newly-divorced Marie and her young son Auguste were present and sitting in the front pew. Her ex-husband was nowhere in sight. Lia declined to extend an invite to him. The little boy was fidgeting throughout the ceremony. Lia and Max's colleagues and friends were all present. It was gloriously beautiful day.

Robin stepped forward with the rings at Durand's cue. The bridal pair exchanged rings. D'Eon imagined how it would be like to slip a gold ring about Anna's darling finger and promise to cherish and love her always...

"I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss the bride…" the priest declared. Max deftly lifted Lia's veil and kissed her on the lips to the thunderous applause from the congregation.

Suddenly, Auguste let out a shout. "He's kissing Anna!" A nervous twitter ran through the congregation as the applause died. The bride's brother was kissing the bridesmaid, who had clearly been caught unaware by his actions. However, she made no firm protest nor effort to stop him.

The priest opened and closed his mouth like a landed fish. This was not supposed to happen in a traditional church wedding. Max and Lia and stopped their lip-lock to gaze upon the sight.

"D'Eon, you sly devil!" Durand clapped vigorously and the clapping was picked up with fervour by the guests. D'Eon and Anna blushed red. Anna's lips tasted like the sweetest honey to D'Eon and he was unwilling to end their kiss yet, now that he had somehow managed to bring himself to kiss her, in front of everyone else to boot D'Eon snaked his arm round Anna's waist as she threatened to swoon and Anna threw her arm about D'Eon's neck, inevitably deepening their kiss. The applause rose like a tide, until…

"Darling! My water just broke!" Lia let loose a cry of alarm. True enough, the hem of her gown was wet. "The baby's coming!" She had been feeling the cramps since morning but had not expected her labour to progress so swiftly. D'Eon and Anna broke off their kiss and disentangled their arms.

"Call an ambulance!" Max called out as he gently lowered his new wife so that she was lying on the nearest pew, which their guests had obligingly emptied. He snatched the video-cam from Teillagory with a hasty apology. They had agreed to record the birth of their child by video and he was going to keep that promise to Lia. Robin whipped out his mobile phone and dialled for an ambulance. The cameraman and ringbearer then hurried out to the main road to direct the ambulance. Marie and Aunt Mary apologetically ushered the guests out while D'Eon and Durand borrowed the church's rood screen to offer Lia some privacy.

"I'm sorry, Father… Perhaps you could baptise the little one if he comes before the EMTs get here…" Anna said sweetly. Everyone knew Parisian traffic was horrific at this hour.

"Deep breaths… Breathe, one… two…" Max coaxed. He had not accompanied Lia to a half-dozen prenatal classes for nothing. Lia steadied her breathing. The baby was definitely coming. "Sis… Durand says there has been a triple vehicle pile-up at the intersection… the ambulance can't get through… hang in there…" D'Eon peered behind the rood screen. He took his sister's hand in his. Expecting the coming birth, Max was busy positioning himself to get the best view of his child's entry into the world.

"You better edit anything you don't want Robin to put on Youtube before returning that camera to Teillagory!" Lia warned as another spasm shook her. She squeezed her brother's hand hard. D'Eon yelped. "A little more, Lia honey. I can see the head…" Maximilien said. D'Eon looked away. He did not want to be party to some mysteries of life yet.

A baby's wail rang through the church as the firstborn child of Maximilien and Lia Robespierre came forth into the world. "It's a little girl. Isn't she lovely?" Anna announced. She wrapped the infant in a shawl she had borrowed from Aunt Mary and placed the little bundle of joy on Lia's breast. Maximilien gazed upon the little face of his daughter in a mix of wonder and awe. However, an exhausted Lia seemed to be still in labour.

Aunt Mary returned with a towel borrowed from the long-suffering priest. The poor man had retired to his sacristy after eliciting a promise from her and Durand to put everything back in order afterwards. The Englishwoman suspected that the priest was busy fortifying himself with some wine after the unexpected turn of events. "Is the other one out yet?" she asked.

"Other one?" Maximilien, Anna and D'Eon gaped. "Oh dear, she meant it to be a surprise," Aunt Mary covered her mouth in mock shock. Maximilien hastened to pick up the video-cam as his son came into the world. D'Eon yelped as Lia pushed and gripped his hand like a vise.

By the time the EMTs came through the doors, the bride was carrying her newborn daughter as her proud husband cradled his infant son. Both mother and children were whisked off to the nearest maternity ward for a check-up and subsequent discharge with a clean bill of health.

Three weeks later…

"Aren't they darling?" Anna cooed at the twins as they happily gurgled in their crib. "They look like their mother…" D'Eon and Anna had agreed to babysit the infants while their parents were out purchasing baby diapers, bottles and other products that they needed. Little Natalia and Maximilien Jr were already making their presence felt by their parents with a vengeance. D'Eon noted that both Maximilien and Lia were sporting dark rings about their eyes from one too many midnight feedings and diaper changes.

"They are lovely…" D'Eon agreed. "Anna, there is one thing I must know…"

"What is it, D'Eon?" Anna bestowed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Anna, I love you. Will you marry me after your graduation? I will wait, I promise…" D'Eon blurted out. Anna giggled and through her arms around his neck. "Of course, D'Eon!"

Author's Notes:

Er, I think D'Eon got it mixed up somehow. Propose, then kiss before a crowded church at a wedding…

What an entry the twins made into this world. Born in a church at their parents' wedding. In case you are wondering, their baptism took place two weeks later, after the parents sorted out what names they wanted to call their children. By the way, in my other fic Legacy of the Psalms, the couple's twins are also named Natalia and Maximilien.

.