Damn Dress: A Love Story Ch. 10

Sienna sighed. She hated hurting his feelings. She really had appreciated him being there for her when her world was crumbling because of her crazy feelings for Brandon. But, she appreciated his friendship only. And she wished Chris would feel the same way too. "Chris, I, I love Brandon. And I probably always will. He's my soul-mate. Even if we weren't together, I'd still want him. The kind of love I feel with Brandon...I swear, you only get that once. Once you've had it, nothing else can come close. And you deserve to be loved like that."

"I know, but I think over time, you would learn to love me. Maybe not like you do him, but I know I would love you enough for the both of us. I'm a pretty good guy, you know. Even despite my behavior this summer."

"I know that, Chris, and thank you for being there for me when I needed you. Even when you saw me fall apart, you never seemed to judge me, and I'm grateful for that. I really am," Sienna stated, as she reached up to hug him.

Chris closed his eyes to remember this feeling. If he had to get tackled every day to get a hug like this, he'd gladly suffer through it.

The door suddenly flew open. "Hey Sienna, I—," Brandon started, until he saw Sienna quickly pull away from Chris. Brandon shifted his eyes back and forth between the two, until they narrowed on Chris. This kid had a fucking death wish.

Chris thanked Sienna again and quickly made an exit, squeezing past a seething Brandon. After Chris was gone, Brandon leaned against the door frame, and stared down at Sienna.

"Well, that looked cozy," Brandon said sarcastically.

"I was just helping him since you clobbered him out there," Sienna said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, that little fucker deserved it," Brandon said, stepping into the bathroom and placing his arms around her.

"You do know that you were being an asshole, right?"

"Yep."

"Good thing for you I like assholes," Sienna giggled, reaching up to kiss him.

Brandon kissed her back. "I don't know about that, but I do know I like your asshole." Sienna playfully slapped him. "Don't be gross!"

"I'm not. Want me to show you how much I like yours?" Brandon asked, as he kicked the bathroom door shut.

Chris walked by the bathroom and heard Sienna giggling and Brandon speaking in a low voice. It didn't take too much to imagine what was going to happen behind those doors. Chris placed his hands behind his head and exhaled. He slowly walked away from the door toward the living room, further and further away from Sienna.

Ian didn't want to wear out his welcome, so he started packing up his sound equipment. This had been a really entertaining evening. He had enjoyed talking to Sienna and Brandon's friends. His family didn't believe it the commercialization of Christmas...or organized religion, so on Christmas Day, he'd wake up, watch some TV and probably go check out a movie with a friend. But now, he'd actually have a few people he'd like to give gifts to. He was sure his parents would think it was silly, but he didn't care. Sienna was opening up his eyes to a whole new world. One he would gladly keep over his old one.

Ian walked out to his car but before he opened his car door, he heard a noise. As far as he knew, everyone was inside, but he couldn't be sure. He heard the noise again. It was coming from the side of the house. He quietly tiptoed to the corner and peered around it. He smiled and shook his head.

Around the corner, Lori and John were making out as if their lives were dependent on it. John had Lori pressed up against the siding and he was standing in between her legs. He had both of his hands plastered on her ass and his tongue shoved down her throat. Lori was moaning into his mouth.

Ian stepped back before either of them saw him and went back to his car. Well, their secret was safe with him.

Inside, Michael was lying in his mother's arms, asleep. And Tasha had almost fallen asleep herself. Darren figured it was time for them to go home. They had a lot of work to do before the big day tomorrow. He hugged Sienna and Brandon goodnight, and took Michael from Tasha, who also said her goodbyes.

Lori and John had both finally snuck back inside the house at different times, and said their goodbyes. Chris was the last to leave, hugging Sienna a little too long for Brandon's comfort.

About fifteen minutes after everyone departed, Commander Branson showed up. Sienna and Brandon had been in the middle of straightening up.

"Hey, Commander. Hate you missed the party," Brandon said, as he greeted him.

"Oh, I know. I tried to get here as soon as I could, but they held us for this damn meeting. On Christmas Eve, of all days."

"Hey daddy. We have plenty of food left, I'll wrap some up for you to take home. And Brandon and I will be over at your house tomorrow around noon, I think."

Jackson walked over to hug and kiss his daughter. She looked so beautiful. And happy, which was most important.

"Hey Brandon, can you see me out?" Jackson asked.

Brandon dumped the beer bottles in his hand in the trash. "Sure."

The two walked to the Commander's car in silence. When the Commander reached his door, he turned to Brandon. "I didn't have time to wrap this, but here you go. Merry Christmas," Jackson said, as he handed Brandon a check.

Brandon stared down at the check and his mouth dropped. THAT...was a shit load of money.

"Commander, thank you, but I can't take this," Brandon whispered to him, trying to hand the check back.

"I won't take it back. You're taking care of my daughter and my granddaughter now, and I just want to help out. I know you don't need it, but please accept this gift from your 'sorta' father."

Brandon looked up at the Commander. He shook his head in disbelief. "You know, Sienna always said it, but you really are amazing. I don't even know what to say."

"Say you accept."

"I accept. And thank you sir. This means a lot to your 'sorta' son," Brandon said, smiling at him.

Jackson leaned over and hugged Brandon. "Have a wonderful Christmas Eve, or what's left of it, and I'll see you in the morning."

"Thank you, sir. We'll see you tomorrow," Brandon replied, trying hard not to get choked up. That wasn't his style.

Brandon waited until the Commander had pulled out of the driveway and was halfway down the street before he turned and walked back in. The living room was dimmer, only barely lit by the three candles sitting on the living room table. He was about to call for Sienna, when she appeared from the hallway, casually leaning up against the wall. His mouth dropped open. Brandon couldn't believe it. She was wearing her small, peach colored, low neckline plunging dress. That dress that unleashed his feelings for her in the beginning. That damn dress that started this whole rollercoaster for them.

"I know it's a little...lot more snug than it was originally, but hopefully I still look okay in it?"

"Better," Brandon whispered, not able to take his eyes away from her.

"Liar," Sienna whispered back.

Brandon walked over to her and slowly ran his hands down the side of her body.

"Okay, before we do anything tonight, I want you to open a present of mine," Sienna said.

"Great minds think alike. I want you to open one too."

He walked her over to the couch and reached into his pocket to pull something out. Sienna held her breath. Is it a....

He pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Oh well, a girl can dream.

"Alright, sit down beautiful," he said as he handed her the folded up piece of paper.

Sienna obeyed and looked at him. He sat down beside her and waited for her to open it.

She stared down at the paper, and in the candlelight, at first she couldn't tell, but now as she looked closer, it was a light pink color. It was folded into a really small square, so she started to unfold each flap.

The larger the piece of pink paper became, the more familiar it looked. Then she realized exactly what it was. She started seeing the outline of her overly cursive girlie handwriting. It was the piece of paper she had written on and saved years ago. The paper where she had first written Sienna Rose Temple. She smiled, remembering back on that day.

She could feel Brandon's eyes on her as she got closer and closer to the center. When she finally unfolded the piece of paper from a half sheet to its full correct size, she saw directly in the middle of the page, in her eight year old handwriting were the words, 'Brandon and Sienna Temple'...but something new was underneath the writing. Taped directly below their names was a ring. The prettiest white gold diamond ring she had ever seen.

The tears immediately came and she started fanning her face.

"Will you be my wife?" she heard him whisper. Or at least that what she thought she heard. At this point, she couldn't be sure. Her entire body was tingling. Wait, if he asked her that question, she needed to respond.

"Yes," she heard herself say, even though she still felt paralyzed. "Yes!" she said again louder, and threw her arms around his neck. It felt like a dream that she never wanted to wake from. She loved him with all of her heart. Everything that she had.

Thank God, Brandon thought as he kissed her. Thank God.

"I still don't want you to feel rushed though. We can get married whenever you're ready," Brandon said, staring deeply into her eyes. "But I wanted to officially take you off the market." He slipped the ring onto her left hand ring finger and kissed it.

Sienna stared down at the stunning ring. It fit perfectly. "How did you know my size?" she asked, wiping her tears away.

Brandon smirked. "I measured it while you were sleeping."

"I can't wait to tell my father," she said, kissing Brandon again.

"He knows, baby. He helped me pick it out."

"You two, I swear...I'll have to keep my eyes on you more," Sienna laughed. She could only imagine what her dad and Brandon looked like in a jewelry shop. Two of the manliest men she knew around all of that sparkly female jewelry. She had to laugh out loud about that.

"I couldn't believe how tiny your fingers were. Your engagement ring barely fits on my pinky finger."

Sienna stared down at it. Engagement ring. Okay, now it was time for his gift.

"Okay sweety, your turn." Sienna got up to fish underneath the tree for Brandon's gift. When she found it, she turned and handed it to him. Then she got behind him on the couch, one leg on one side and the other leg on the other side of him. She wrapped her hands around his waist and rested her head on his back.

Brandon stared down at the large manila envelope. 'What the hell?' he thought.

He started to open the envelope when he heard Sienna speak behind him.

"Okay, I know you said that you don't have any pictures of yourself when you were a baby, and I wasn't able to find any. But hopefully, in time, these will make up for that loss."

Brandon slid a folder out of the envelope. He slowly opened the folder and froze.

Inside the folder were large glossy black and white photos of their baby's sonogram. The first pictures of her. He could see the entire outline of Brienna's tiny body. His heart felt like it was swelling with so many emotions. Then he felt that not-so-familiar sting at the back of his eyes. He felt like he couldn't breathe. No one could ever give him a more precious gift. He may have had an awful childhood, but he would be damn sure that his daughter would live the opposite life. No matter what it took, he would make sure of that.

Sienna's face was tightly pressed against Brandon's back, and their daughter nestled safely between them. She could feel him breathing, and then his breathing changed. It became more staggered, and then she heard him sniffing. She knew at this point not to say anything. Brandon hated showing emotion like this, so she let him have his moment as if she weren't there.

Sienna closed her eyes and exhaled. She realized in that instant that her mind and body were tired. But it was a good tired. A tiredness that came from an intense summer and fall. A tiredness caused by a long, hard semester that ended with straight A's. A tiredness due to how demanding Brandon was emotionally and physically. And a tiredness that came from being six months pregnant with their baby.

Yes, she was exhausted. But she knew later tonight, when they were both lying in bed, Brandon would wrap his arms around her and she would fall into a quick, deep sleep. That was her favorite place to be. In his arms. As long as she was there, she knew she was safe and loved. But she also knew that a small smile would form at the corners of her mouth as she slept. That involuntary smile would be all the proof either of them would need, to know exactly how blissful her life was. Perhaps her life wasn't perfect. She and Brandon had certainly had some ups and downs. Their paths had crossed in one crazy, frenzied summer. Some would even think she was downright insane for taking this particular path. But for Sienna Rose Branson, soon-to-be Temple, she knew the journey she was taking with Brandon was just the beginning... and she would gladly follow him to wherever that took them.

The End...for now;-)

*

Thank you all so much for taking this journey with me on my first story. You have no idea how much I've appreciated the feedback. Many nights I was so tired, but I'd re-read all of the amazing comments that were posted or sent to me, and that would keep me going strong. Really, thank you soooooo much. Some of you made comments on almost every single chapter (and I know who you are) and I greatly appreciate the support. I promise, I'll have Damn Dress published with some new scenes and detail, and I'll be releasing the first chapter of my new story, Seven Days, very soon on Literotica. Hope you will enjoy that one as well:-)

Would like to thank Kaia B. (TangledinYou) and J for supporting my first story...much appreciated!

Thanks!

Soular