Author's Note:

This story is a follow-up to The Storm Trilogy. It is taking place four months after the epilogue of The Aftermath of the Storm. It is rated M for language and also for adult situations. It is completely and totally self-edited so there will be some typos/etc. I apologize in advance for any mistakes. It is a long story (89 regular chapters plus an epilogue). I hope you enjoy the story! I had so much fun writing it. I adore Classic Brady and Chloe so very much. I also really enjoy writing the other characters from the show, especially Princess Greta. She was so under-used on the show...I loved including her in this series. Happy reading!

Chapter One

Chloe sat down at the vanity in her room, inspecting her reflection in the mirror carefully. Her eyes widened as she assessed her handiwork. "Pretty good, Lane," Chloe said to herself as she lifted her mascara wand and added another coat to her eyelashes, making her eyes seem even larger. Her hand started to shake a little bit, so Chloe replaced the wand back in its tube.

Today was the most important day of her life, and nerves were dancing merrily around in her stomach. Chloe took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, placing her hand on her stomach to calm it down. That helped for a little bit. "All right, enough of this!" she said impatiently to herself. She raised her hand up to her hair and patted it lightly into place. Her hair was completely up, with soft curls framing her face.

"Chloe, we're coming in!" Greta announced as she and Hope walked through Chloe's open bedroom door. Greta stopped suddenly when she got a good look at Chloe and covered her mouth with her hands. She breathed in rapturously and announced to Hope, "Oh, Hope! Look at my sister! She is absolutely breathtaking!"

Hope smiled widely at both of her friends as she watched the sisters grin happily at each other and then said, "And she's not even in her wedding dress yet! I can't wait until we get to see the complete package!"

Greta laughed delightedly, so happy for her sister who was marrying the man of her dreams in a few short hours. She pulled up another chair and sat down next to Chloe by her vanity. Greta reached over and tugged one of Chloe's curls out from behind her ear. "Much better," she murmured quietly, carefully surveying Chloe's makeup and hairstyle.

Hope placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder and then remarked to her friend semi-jokingly, "Get used to it today. Remember when I remarried Bo on Valentine's Day this past winter? Greta took complete charge, making certain everything ran smoothly. And that I looked just right."

Chloe reached up and held onto Hope's hand, ignoring Greta's shocked grimace for the moment. "I remember, Hope. You promised to help me calm her, ah, take charge tendencies, for lack of a better word."

Greta frowned at her friends and said, "Humph. All I want to do is make certain everything is perfect. This is the most important day of your life, Chloe! And I want it to run smoothly, so you don't have to worry about anything. All you should have to concentrate on is that gorgeous man you're going to marry."

Hope and Chloe both burst out laughing at Greta's expression. Chloe leaned over and whispered into Greta's ears, "We know that, Greta, and both Hope and I appreciate the help you gave us for our weddings. It's just so much fun to tease you!"

Greta inclined her head once and raised her eyebrows. "All right,'" she said, satisfied with Chloe's remarks. "Well, let's get our plans straight for today. We have a little under three hours before the ceremony starts, and there's so much we left to do! I want to get over to the park, you know, and check the decorations and the set-up. Hope, we also need to make certain all of the flowers are ready, the men are there on time, the musicians and the minister shows up. Wait, let me see what else," Greta interrupted her speedy train of thought and pulled out her small notebook, which contained all of the minute details for Chloe's wedding to Brady Black.

Hope rolled her eyes at Chloe, who covered up a grin with her hand in response. Greta loved taking charge of the planning and making sure that everything went off without a hitch. She was very detailed about everything when it came to planning parties or weddings. "We also have to get ready ourselves, Greta," Hope broke into Greta's quiet murmurings about the preparations.

"Right," Greta said absent-mindedly as she mentally calculated all of the last minute preparations. "We are all changing into our dresses at the tent that has been set up for the women of the bridal party, a little ways from the gazebo. All we have to worry about getting ready here is our hair and make-up!"

Chloe shook her head as Greta continued to think about the preparations for her wedding. She was glad that Greta wanted most of the responsibilities of the preparations. Basically all Chloe had to do was walk down the aisle to Brady and say, "I do."

Hope decided to interrupt Greta's calculations again and she said, as she sat down on Chloe's bed, "There are still mornings when I wake up and I cannot believe how our lives have changed, so drastically, from the night of the Christmas Ball last December. That was only six months ago!"

Chloe turned around in her chair, grateful to Hope for the distraction from Greta's mumblings. "I know what you mean, Hope. I would never, in a million years, have predicted that Brady and I would be getting married! I mean, that has been my most cherished dream for so long, but, after everything that happened over the past few years, I never thought it would come true!"

Greta looked up from her notebook and smiled at her radiant sister. "Our lives certainly have changed from this time last year. Remember what we were doing last June? We were beginning the final stage of our plan, to bring down Stefano DiMera."

Hope stretched out on the bed and grabbed one of Chloe's pillows to rest her head on as she commented, "All of our dreams have finally come true! Bo and I remarried. Shawn finally understood my reasons for keeping parts of the truth of my time as Princess Gina from him, so I now have my family completely back! Chloe is marrying Brady today, which I know makes her ecstatic with joy!" Hope wrinkled her nose at the younger woman, who responded with a large, blissful grin. "And you, Greta, have that wonderful husband of yours!"

Greta chuckled slightly as she thought of her handsome husband. 'Yes, he is pretty wonderful. I couldn't believe that he wanted to quit the ISA and live here, in Salem, permanently."

Chloe turned to the mirror and competently applied lipstick to her lips as she questioned her sister, "Is he getting closer to opening his business here?"

Greta laid her all-important notebook down on the bed, next to Hope, and answered Chloe's question, "Very close. He found the perfect office space, near Salem Place, for his business."

Hope crossed her feet at her ankles and asked Greta, "He is still going to install security systems, right?"

"Oh, yes. He knows all about those high-tech things from his years as an ISA agent. He'll be able to install systems that are completely unbreakable!" Greta's eyes revealed the love and large amount of pride she felt for her husband.

"How much time do we have?" Chloe inquired after she placed the lipstick in the purse she was taking with her emergency makeup to the park. Conversing with Greta and Hope had helped her nerves settle down a little bit.

Greta looked at her watch and shrieked loudly, "Oh my god! We don't have much time at all!" She jumped up off of the chair and then reached down and attempted to pull Hope off of the bed. "Hope, we've got to get ready! We need to be at the park in about an hour!"

"You just had to ask her that, didn't you, Chloe?" Hope asked the bride sarcastically. Chloe grinned angelically at Hope. Hope stood up from the bed and answered Greta, "Let's leave Chloe in here, go get ready, and meet back in half an hour."

Greta looked at her watch and mentally calculated the time frame Hope had just given her. "That sounds good. We will get to the park with an hour and a half before the wedding. That will give me enough time to check on the last minute details." Greta took Hope's arm and started leading her to the door. Greta stopped at the doorway and looked seriously into Hope's face. "You will call Tuscany, when we get to the park, and discuss the reception. Right?"

Hope made a face over Greta's shoulder at Chloe, who laughed silently at her friend, and then she assured Greta, "Aye, aye, Captain! I will obey your orders perfectly!"

Greta frowned slightly at Hope and said, "There's no need to get snippy, Mrs. Brady! Now, let's go get ready so we can stick to the time table!" Greta called over her shoulder to her sister, "Chloe, you have exactly half an hour before we leave!"

Chloe waved her hand in assurance to Greta and laughed loudly after the door closed behind them. "Thank god for Greta," she mumbled to herself. "She will make certain that our wedding is absolutely perfect and runs like clockwork."

Just then, Chloe's cell phone chirped cheerfully. Chloe reached over and picked it up off of the table. "Hello?" she asked, even though she knew who was on the line.

"Are you ready to elope yet?" Brady teased her, as he ran one hand through his hair in front of his mirror at his house. Well, his and Chloe's house after the wedding in the afternoon.

Chloe chuckled huskily as she answered Brady, "I think she would disown me if we decided to run off to Vegas! Greta runs a pretty tight ship, Brady. She has every detail down to the last second. Nothing will go wrong, I can assure you of that."

"How could anything go wrong?" Brady replied smugly to the woman he loved. "I mean, I am marrying the most amazing woman today. Everything is going to be simply perfect."

Chloe stood up and started walking around her room. Her nerves completely settled down now that Brady had called. "I missed you last night," she said into the phone. "Whoever made up that stupid tradition about it being bad luck if the bride and groom see each other before the wedding? How antiquated can you get!"

Brady turned around and leaned against his dresser as he shared his views on the subject with his soulmate. "Chloe, after the bad luck we have had in the past, I wasn't taking any chances! You are way too important to me. If following an outdated custom keeps the bad luck away, then I am all for it."

Chloe laughed again into the phone as she said, "Well, when you put it like that, Brady Black, I must agree with you." She glanced down at her watch and realized that she didn't have much time left before Greta came for her. "Hey, Brady, I've got to go. Attila the Hun, I mean, my sister Greta, is going to get me soon to go to the park."

"Yeah," Brady answered, smiling at Chloe's description of her sister. "There are a few things I need to finish up here, too. I love you, Chloe Lane."

"I love you too, Brady Black," Chloe smiled as she responded to his declaration. "Just think," she continued as she held out her sapphire engagement ring and inspected it in the light, "in a few hours I am going to be Mrs. Chloe Black!"

"That has a great ring to it," Brady answered, loving the way that sounded. Chloe was going to be his, completely and totally, in a few short hours. "See you when you start that long walk down the aisle towards me."

"I can't wait," Chloe answered Brady, picturing the moment vividly in her head. She placed the phone in her purse after Brady hung up, and took one last long look in the mirror. "Mrs. Brady Black," she said to the mirror. Her joyous reflection smiled back at her.