There is no meaning in this life but love Part5

THERE IS NO MEANING IN THIS LIFE BUT LOVE


PART 5


45 minutes later they arrived at the hotel, where Chris met them with a scowl on his face.
"Claire, where have you been? We have an urgent meeting and you are dressed like that!"
Redfield was shocked to see his sister in a beautiful and elegant evening dress, that didn't match the time of the day. And due to that shock he didn't even notice that Claire wasn't alone.
"Never mind, we have to go right now! Maybe it's better that you wear it," with those words Chris led his family to his Hammer and sat at the driver's seat.
"Would you be so kind and tell us where are we going, sweetheart?" It was Jill, who decided to ease a tensed atmosphere in the cabin.
"We have to meet an important guest. He came from England specially to see Claire."
Chris was glad that this conversation had already started. He wasn't sure he could start it himself, but Jill was on the top. She always helped him in difficult situations.
Claire had some bad premonition. She knew that her brother was up to something or else why didn't he notice Leon's presence at the hotel and now in the car in the first place?
"And what does he want from me?" Clare asked indifferently from the back seat.
"He has been begging me to give my permission to propose to you for a whole month, Claire. But I told him that you need to think." Chris answered, stopping at the red light and glancing in the rear-view mirror.

"And what did I decide then?" Claire was getting angry with every second. She was fed up with her brother's efforts to improve her personal life. "I've been thinking for a whole month after all!"
The car started off again. Redfield focused his sight on a road and answered.
"You decided to meet him today and have a dinner, where he proposes to you and you say 'yes'."
"What?!?" the three voices, including some male's one, exclaimed in union, not believing to what Chris had just said.
"And this time you will say 'yes', Claire Redfield," the older man said sternly. "I am tired of searching a good match for you. You have declined 10 offers of marriage just in one year. All of them were wealthy and respectful gentlemen. America has run out of decent men, so I decided to start searching in Europe. And I have found a man who is madly in love with you."
Claire didn't want to hear that nonsense anymore. She threw her nape on a headrest and fisted her hands.
"If you are referring to the person I think about, then you should know that he became interested in me only after I turned him down. And besides, Chris, he 45!"
"Mr. James Bond will be a perfect match for you, Claire. Stop act like a spoiled girl and listen to what elders say."
Leon was struggling with his emotions. He clenched his teeth and balled his hand in a fist. He knew who that famous Mr. Bond was and the idea of him proposing to Claire made his blood boil.  Kennedy opened his mouth to beat a piece of mind in Chris's head for forcing his sister to marry some old fart, when Jill's voice joined the conversation. And her tone wasn't friendly at all.
"Chris Redfield, I think you are forgetting yourself! At first we thought that it was just your hobby, but it seems that you got obsessed with the idea of giving Claire away in marriage! She is old enough to chose who she wants to spend her life with!"
But Chris was a real die-hard to that. He wasn't ready to give up.
"The one she has always wanted to be with is a jerk, who has never thought of her feeling! He has always wiped his feet against her heart. You think I don't know about your hidden feelings to that rookie, Claire?" Chris glanced in the rear-view mirror again, sending her a sever gaze.
Claire bit her tongue and threw a quick glance at Leon, who was sitting next to her with his poker-face on. What was he thinking right now? Maybe he was making up a plan to divorce her and her crazy brother?
She couldn't even suppose that the very poker-face was a just a mask, behind which Leon was having a self-reproach. He knew that he caused lots of pain to Claire, but he had never thought that her brother would have a very keen insight. Chris was trying hard to find her a decent match in order to make her forget about the love she held in her heart. He was indeed a very good and overprotective brother, but he had miscalculated.
"She is mine," Leon narrowed his eyes possessively, his voice low and warning in his thoughts.    
"I swore to our parents that I will take care of you, Claire," Chris continued, "and I am trying my best to fulfill my promise. You have to listen to me, because I am like a father to you who wants his daughter to be secure and happy."
"By the way, Chris," Jill said as matter of fact, "you are going to be a father in 8 months".
The car stopped abruptly as Chris pressed the breaks hard until the pedal hit the floor of the car. Claire flew forward from a sudden jolt and was about to hit her head against the front passenger seat, but Leon's strong arms caught her just in time to prevent her from getting hurt. He sat her at his lap and pressed her slim body to his, holding  her like his precious property.
"Chris Redfield!" Jill shouted in anger, throwing a burning gaze at her husband. "Get out of the driver's seat or I will strangle you with my bare hands! You could have killed us!"
Chris turned his head slowly to face the temperate woman and looked at her in disbelieve. His jaw was slightly opened.
"Is…is that true?" he asked calmly, searching for the answer in her raging eyes.
"Of course I will! Do you want to make sure?" she barked in response.
"No," he paused for a moment, dropping his gaze on her flat stomach. "…I mean…" Chris shook his head to get a grip of his emotions. "I mean…the baby. Is that true?"
Jill's gaze softened as she realized what made him look so stricken. She put her palm on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb.
"Yes, it's true. We are going to be parents."
Chris lifted his gaze to her face again. The widened pupils of his eyes proved the stupefaction he was in. The man took his wife's hand in his and kissed its soft skin tenderly. Then he put it back at her lap carefully and got out of the car, closing the door behind him.
A cry of happiness echoed down the busy street as the young father-to-be jumped high with his hands in the air.
Those cries were like music to Jill's ears. She had never seen her husband so excited and overwhelmed with happiness, but she decided to leave Chris in his lalala-land for a while and concentrate her attention on the couple that sat at the backseat. She turned towards them and said:
"Thank you for your understanding, Leon. If you started to have a debate with Chris about his stupid ideas, we could have been victims of a car accident by now." She shifted her gaze to Claire and caught a glimpse of her hand. There was something shiny on her finger and Jill placed her gaze on the girl's wedding finger. A genuine smile showed on the older woman's lips. "I suppose, that Mr. Bond will get number 11 in your list of declined proposals, dear."
Claire smiled in return and gave Leon's hand a gentle squeeze.
"Thank you, Jill. I don't know what I would have done if I met that James Bond again. He is a terrible womanizer. And he makes me sick".
"I will never give you to anyone, sweetheart," Kennedy pressed Clair's head to his chest and kissed the top of her hair. "It's your husband's a word."
Jill nodded on agreement and then she sent Leon a friendly and knowing smile.
"Welcome to our crazy family, pal."
All he could do was grinning in acknowledgement.

OooooO

Of course Chris learned about his sister's marriage later. He was on the edge of despair when he found out who her husband was. That day he wished Leon in a fit of temper:
"Let you have only daughters, Kennedy, so that you will know what it feels like when your dear child comes and tells you that yesterday she got married to the very guy you tried to protect her from".
But thanks to Jill's soothing charms, Chris had finally given his blessing to Claire's marriage, but there was only one condition.
"I will never acknowledge your secret wedding in that city hall. You have to make a real wedding ceremony in the church, so that I could walk my sister down the aisle and pass her to her legal husband."
Leon agreed. It wasn't just a condition he had to satisfy. He supported Chris's idea with both hands, because Claire deserved to have a real wedding, not that lame but legal one he had offered her the night before. He wanted to see her in a white wedding gown and tell her the vows of love openly in a public.
The month of their wedding was fixed in January, when everything would be covered with white sparkling snow.
And this time nobody had objections to Leon and Claire's decision.

The end
     
A/N So, it's finished. Thank you very much for spending your rime reading this long one-shot. We will be happy to hear what you think. Tell us your impressions, guys! *.*
And again, thanks for being there for us! We highly appreciate it!
Sincerely yours,
Kit2000andAnna
30.11.12