happy new year, 2082!

Happy New Year, 2082.

It isn't New Year's Eve. It isn't New Year's Day either. Today is the second of January, and he's there to walk her home from work, like he always does, except today, they have one stop to make first.

"Just so you know," she says. "I'm not mad, but I'm cranky. My feet hurt, and I feel like vomit."

"I never knew vomit looked so cute," he says. She cracks a smile, she can't help it, even if she feels like vomit. "We can do this tomorrow," he says.

She pulls him by the sleeve of his sweater. "No, come on."

"You can't stay mad at me anyway," he says.

"No," she says. "You can't stay mad at me..."

They're both right. So they walk.

She called Bella and she called her mom, Keri is still on her honeymoon. She said to meet them at County Hall, and she didn't say why. Her mother would say they should wait, be reasonable, think things through a little longer. Her father would say they could put something together, he would throw around his wallet, he would move mountains for his baby girls.

But Mariah has done plenty of thinking already, and she doesn't want anything thrown together. She doesn't want to wait until she's even more pregnant, and she doesn't want to do this after the baby is born.

She doesn't even have to do this, these days, the way things are. But she wants to. And she isn't doing this because he wants to, because God knows he's wanted to from the very moment they first met. She isn't doing this because of the baby, or because she never aspired to have a child out of wedlock, the pristine and proper miss Mariah Riley -

Make that, Mrs. Mariah Buchanan.

She wants to do this because he's her soul buddy, because he's turned her life inside out and made it richer, and she's not afraid of that anymore.

Maybe she broke his heart a little, and maybe she did that more than once. She's prepared to spend an entire lifetime showing him how sorry she is. And there is one thing she knows she wants, even if it's the only thing she'll ever know for sure. She hopes they can start over, like they were just beginning.

Because in a way, they still are.

And she hopes if she ever sees a bride in that cream tulle dress she always liked, the one with the delicately-embroidered yellow roses and billowy skirt, she won't feel a pang of jealousy. She hopes she'll remember that none of that matters. This is not about a wedding.

This is about a new start, a new family, and whole lifetime. Here's hoping it's a good one.

And so begins another crazy year in Lakeside Heights. Happy New Year 2082!

*****

notes: I love making them hold hands while they walk for pictures. I SO wish they could do it for real.

Awww, that's our girl! She came through in the end! She finally figured it out! She still thinks about James from time to time (and Hayden Phoenix now too, lol!), but she knows where her heart is :)

And because it's the middle of winter and she's still a newborn, I photoshopped in a little knitted hat for Delilah, lol! I figure even Bella and Cameron have enough brainpower not to take a newborn out in January without a hat. I'm a dork, I know :)

So both of the Riley girls are married now! Just remember that now you'll find Mariah's updates under the "buchanan" label, and Keri's under the "kim" label. The "riley" label will just belong to Bryson and Madison from this point on.

And taking a second look at this picture, it looks like Madison and Bryson are both looking at Bella like, "So when are you two going to make it official?" And Bella is like, "Hell if I know!" And Cameron is like, *oblivious*... ;)