Eternal Blossom

A month passed, and Brian and Aiyana made their way into the hotel room that would house them for a few days due to her cousin’s wedding. She had been wanting to show up, enjoy the wedding, and hop a plane back out immediately thereafter. Brian had talked her into actually staying a few days so that they could have some alone time. Of course, that also meant that they would be traveling into the mountains the day after the wedding, to a nice bed and breakfast, but that was just semantics to him.

Tossing her bags onto the bed, she sighed loudly, and ran a hand through her hair. She was here, but she was nervous as all hell. She didn’t want anyone to say or do anything rude, but she knew that her family was going to give her hell for her choice of boyfriend. That her father was sick and wouldn’t be attending didn’t help her already rattled nerves.

Brian put his bags down and walked up to her, sliding his arms around her waist, “babe, what’s wrong,” he asked before kissing her forehead.

Aiyana leaned into the kiss, and closed her eyes. How do you tell the man that you have deep feelings for that your family is going to hate him just because he isn’t native? Biting her bottom lip, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Bri, my family is a little different. Cherokee believe in a lot of different things than most people, and I don’t know how to adequately explain this.”

“Then tell me this, do you want to run away,” he asked her, half laughing, and half serious. If she was this nervous, he wasn’t sure that they needed to be there.

“We can’t. My cousin already text me asking me to be in her room in an hour so that I can help her get dressed,” she groaned, feeling torn between her family values and protecting Brian. “Just promise me we can run away right after the reception, and don’t let them get to you.”

“Promise, gorgeous,” he said with a small grin.


As the ceremony began, the couple and their respective mothers walked to the sacred fire. Aiyana made her way to Brian who was standing by himself on the side of the gathering. Aiyana raised an eyebrow as she approached to make sure he was ok.

Brian just gave her a smile, and held his hand out for her. Aiyana took a deep breath in relief and took his hand in her own, lacing their fingers together. It seemed nobody had accosted him yet, and that made her breathe a little easier.

The fire was blessed, the couple was blessed, and the priest asked the Great Spirit to bless the couple with a long and happy life. Aiyana smiled at the words and leaned her head over on Brian’s shoulder. As the couple drank from the double spouted Cherokee vase, everyone cheered, and Brian smiled at how cheerful everyone was.

The customs were odd to Brian, but he knew that it must have some kind of spiritual meaning. When the priest wrapped a white blanket around the shoulders of the couple, he pronounced them man and wife.

Looking up at Brian, she smiled widely, “Alright, so I think we’re about to eat, and then we can run away. It’s rude for us to dip out before the meal, as the more people that join in the feast, the more bountiful their union will be.”

“Sounds good, babe,” Brian smiled at her before dipping his head and kissing her softly.


At the reception, Aiyana found Rayne and Zacky, and drug them back to her table. She was loathe to admit that Rayne would have such an easy time there, considering she was adopted into the tribe and not of actual Cherokee blood.

“Ki-lo s-ta-li-go,” a young woman propositioned Brian as Aiyana walked back up to the table, Rayne and Zack following her.

“You can jump off, Ama, he’s with me,” Aiyana told the young woman, a growl of warning low in her voice.

Ama laughed and walked off, realizing that the handsome guitarist was taken. However, she also knew that he wasn’t Cherokee, so she was en route to her brother, to let him know who the white man was with.

“What did she say,” Brian asked Aiyana with a laugh before hugging Rayne and Zack in greeting.

“Pretty much, she asked if you were alone. It’s like saying, ‘hey baby, your place or mine,’” Rayne laughed, taking a seat beside Aiyana.

Brian laughed loudly and shook his head. The girl was attractive, but he couldn’t imagine her being older than 20. He had a feeling it was going to be an interesting evening.

Aiyana rolled her eyes and gestured to the long table laden down with various foods, “We should probably go ahead and make a plate. The sooner we eat, the sooner we can leave.”

Rayne accompanied her to the table where Aiyana poured all four of them a Jack and coke. As she was carrying them back to their places, she saw one of her cousins in Brian’s face.
The guy’s face was red, and Brian was getting upset judging from his body language of tight fists at his side and stiff shoulders. Groaning, she took longer strides to get to the table and Brian’s defense.

“You are not Cherokee. You should respect her enough to know that her blood needs to remain pure. You are not good enough for our Aiya,” Gola was yelling in Brian’s face.

Brian didn’t see Aiyana approaching, and yelled back at the bristling man, “I don’t give a shit what you think, and neither does she. I love her and that’s what matters, asshole.”

Aiyana’s breath caught in her throat. She was shocked that those words passed his lips, as they hadn’t even said them to each other yet. Placing the cups on the table, she slid between the two men, placing a hand on each of their chests to push them further apart.

“Gola, back the fuck off before I deck you,” Aiyana growled in defense, instantly wanting to stop what was going on.

“You can’t seriously be with this man,” Gola yelled, not backing down, “You can’t tarnish the blood line. You know you have to marry native to maintain!”

“Are you forgetting I’m half Scottish,” Aiyana argued back, “I think my father already tarnished your precious fucking blood line. U-k-sha-na, go worry about your damn self and leave us alone.”

Rayne came back with a plate loaded with food, not having missed the exchange, and sat on Zacky’s lap, watching the interaction. “I told you this would be interesting,” she whispered in his ear.

“What did she call him,” Zacky whispered back, his eyes never leaving the exchange.

“An asshole,” Rayne giggled, “It’s meaner in Cherokee, I think.”

Brian interlaced his fingers with Aiyana’s, and pulled her closer to him. He had a feeling if the man said anything else, Aiyana was really going to hit him, and he didn’t want to start an all-out fight right there at the wedding.

His touch calmed her a little, and Aiyana let herself be pulled into his side. Gola saw this, and growled low before stalking off. With a loud sigh as she watched her cousin walk off, she looked up at Brian and gave him a weak smile.

“Sorry about that. They get a bit defensive since the Cherokee line is something they defend with great honor,” she told him, trying to help him make sense of what had just happened.

Brian understood, having a basic knowledge of Native history. He’d learned a lot from Aiya in the time before they came to the wedding, and he could get why they got so defensive. He kissed her forehead, and sat back down at the table beside Zacky.

“Bro, that was intense,” Zacky said under his breath.

“You’re telling me. I thought we were about to have to pull her off of him,” he smirked over at his best friend.

“Now, Rayne, you got Zack and you a plate. I’m going to go make me and Brian one. Keep anyone else from causing a scene, or I’m holding you personally responsible,” Aiyana told Rayne with a point of her index finger.

Rayne laughed and waved her off before getting up from Zack’s lap and moving to her own seat. She knew there was little that could be done once one of Aiyana’s family really got rolling on a rant.

They ate in peace, as most of the wedding had heard the exchange, and were giving Aiyana a wide berth. Nobody really wanted to cause any more of a scene at the wedding and ruin the couple’s day.


Brian and Aiyana separated from Rayne and Zack at the hotel, wishing them a good nights sleep and a good flight back the next day.

As Brian pushed the door open, Aiyana thought of what he told Gola at the table about loving her. She was nervous, but she knew deep down that she felt the same way. The butterflies in her stomach were fully aflutter as she walked in behind him.

Once the door was closed, she reached up and placed a hand on either side of his face, making him look at her. Brian just smiled down at her, and raised an eyebrow in question.

“I love you too, Brian,” she said softly, not really trusting her own voice at the moment.

Brian let out the breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding and crashed their lips together in a deep and passionate kiss. She felt the same way, and hearing those three words made his heart swell to the point of bursting.

Once they broke the kiss, he looked into her eyes, and uttered those same three words as he backed her up to the bed, feeling that love for her down to his toes. Today had just solidified his feelings for her, and for her, hearing him defend their relationship to her family, had set that final block in her wall flying.

Notes

Yay! They finally said those 3 words!!

Please comment and let me know what you think!