Epilogue (The Marriage)

First down the aisle came the twelve flower girls, all dressed in azure dresses, tossing handfuls of petals into the air. Carmelita had asked her entire family to participate in the event, despite the fact that most of her family was also in some form of law enforcement. Watching from behind the entranceway, Cedric was amazed to see that although half of the guests were well-known and on the wrong side of the law, not one cop had made a move to arrest them. It was as if for this day both sides had declared a truce in order to respect Carmelita's wishes.

The group of Carmelita's sisters, cousins, and nieces were then followed by the bridesmaids, all dressed in pale pink silk. In a rare bout of insecurity, Carmelita had run the colors for the ladies' gowns past Julie, who had a good sense of fashion. Despite the ranging complexions and species the gowns flattered each girl's natural beauty perfectly. Penelope looked beautiful and demure in hers while Grace's accented her fur, appearing shapely and exotic. Cedric had never seen bridesmaid's dresses that didn't look like bedspreads or Bride of Frankenstein costumes.

After the bridesmaids came the best men, Murray and Bentley, followed by Cedric and Hugo, the groomsmen. While Murray and Bentley were both wearing tuxes (that Sly had insisted they actually buy), Cedric and Hugo wore their home countries' respective uniforms, Hugo in a Brazilian general's dress uniform and Cedric in an Austrian lord's outfit designed during the early 1900s. Together in matching red and black, the two looked like a military honor guard, which was exactly what they were. The two had guessed someone might try to 'disrupt' the occasion, either to arrest Sly or to kill the soon-to-be husband and wife at their most vulnerable moment.

If there has ever been a groom who wasn't out of his mind with anxiety at his wedding, Cedric had never met him. Sly, usually the calmest of his gang during a crisis, walked into the room, jaw clenched, his expression similar to that of a man told that to get into heaven, he has do a cage match with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sly had good reason to be nervous though, he was getting an intelligent and beautiful wife who had plenty of friends and family who would love to have Carmelita marry a more 'respectable' person. Despite this, Sly bore himself with pride due to a master thief, smiling at the people he recognized as he proceeded up the aisle.

Suddenly, the band struck up the Honywagen fanfare and all eyes shot to the door as Carmelita entered. Never in Cedric's wildest dreams could he have imagined that anyone could look that beautiful. Something about the look of pure happiness on her face made her seem to radiate joy as she walked down the aisle. The unspoken rule for all time held true: all brides are beautiful.

Walking in on her father's arm, the two walked down the aisle, her father frowning slightly. He had been the loudest to object to Carmelita's choice but had been forced to accept her choice. It probably helped that he had worked with Cedric and Hugo when his office had hired them for assistance on a particular case.

"Who gives this woman to be wed?" asked the priest in charge of the services for the wedding.

"I do," answered her father before giving her a quick hug and sitting down next to his wife. As the priest began his speech, both Sly and Carmelita seemed to ignore him completely, their eyes reserved only for each other.

"Do you, Sly, take this former Interpol detective to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I most definitely do," he responded, his eyes still locked with Carmelita's.

"And do you, Carmelita take this despicable Master Thief to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"You may exchange rings," the priest said, smiling at the obvious devotion the two had for each other.

"With this ring, I thee wed," proclaimed Sly, his love evident as he slid the ring onto Carmelita's finger.

"And with this ring, I thee wed," Carmelita stated, her love just as strong as Sly's and just as obvious.

Smiling, the priest decided to have mercy on the two lovers, "You may now kiss the bride."

And with that, the two kissed, as man and wife. At this, Cedric felt his eyes burn as the entire room broke into cheer. The bride and groom proceeded back down the aisle to the wedding party.

"Now that was a wedding," came a voice from behind Cedric. He turned to find Grace standing behind him, her eyes swimming with as many tears as his own. He reached out to brush the tears off her face and she pulled him into an embrace.

"Don't you dare leave me ever again," she cried into his shoulder.

"I never will," he promised, holding her in his arms, feeling her shake as she cried, "And don't cry because of me, I don't deserve your tears."

"You're damn right," she sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Let's go out and join the happy couple, shall we?"

"Yes, lets."

There must have bee at least a hundred people outside in the wedding party. Master thieves form all over the world had come to see Sly's marriage and Carmelita's entire family had shown as well as several cops who she had worked closely with. Dancing had already started by one wall as the band played. Music and laughter rose over the din of people shouting happily. Sly and Carmelita accepted complements and hugs from everyone.

One wolf strode over to Cedric and spoke quietly to him. His name was Daniel Ocean.

"Give my regards to Sly and Carmelita will you, I have to catch a flight," he said quietly so only Cedric could hear.

"I will. Pulling another job huh?"

"Yeah, I need to get back before long." Waving to a fox in the crowd, Dani called his longtime partner Rusty over.

"I'll tell them you were here. Have a safe flight and give Tess my regards."

"See you when I see you," responded Dani as he and Rusty left quietly.

As he and Grace entered the dance floor, Cedric saw the entire gang having a good time. Julie had enticed a couple of guys from both sides and was having the time of her life. Bentley and Penelope were off in a corner with Murray, watching Sly in wedded bliss. Hugo had apparently grown attached to Angelina because she had dragged him out onto the dance floor and Hugo was reluctantly going along with it.

"And here we thought he would die a bachelor," Grace whispered.

Cedric sighed. It had been a long journey that had led them here. Yet, in the end, all of them were the better for it. Looking around, he saw master thieves and cops dealing with each other either friendly or at least politely, all brought together by the two lovebirds. Maybe in the end, none of them were really that different. Each person there, on either side of the law, all were happy for the couple, if a little confused. Smiling at Grace, he figured that whatever happened in the future, they would ready for anything life could throw at them. And if they couldn't, it was nice to have really great friends.

Fin