Blessed - Joe Devereaux

Joe laid awake for a moment before he realized what had woken him up.

Jasper, he thought, listening to the soft crying coming from down the hall. Joe blinked himself awake, and pushed the covers away. Audrey stirred next to him, but he patted her as he sat up. "My turn. I'll get 'im." 

"Mmmkay," she moaned, her eyes still closed, and snuggled back into the pillow.

Joe padded across the cold wood floor, out into the hall and towards the twins' room. "Hey there, little man, hey," he whispered as he picked his boy up. "Shhh, now, shhh! You'll wake Abe up. Shhh..."

The little boy quieted as soon as he was up in his father's arms, and Joe rocked him gently. Joe peered into Abel's crib, and gave a sigh of relief when he saw that Jasper's twin was still fast asleep.

"Com'on, son, let's get you somethin' to eat." He whispered and soothed the baby all the way down to the kitchen. Jasper took the bottle eagerly, and Joe smiled as he watched his son's eyes close as he ate.

My eyes, he thought, just like Abel has Audie's. It seemed like just yesterday he was rushing Audrey to the hospital, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest. The hours they'd spent there, with Audie screaming and him pacing and praying. Then the baby doctor, Audie's friend Sunday, had said those words that changed his life forever : "Congratulations! You've got two beautiful sons!"

With Jasper lulled back to sleep, Joe crept back upstairs and settled him back into his crib. He stopped to give Abel a kiss on his soft, sweet-smelling head, and padded back to the bedroom.

"They okay?" Audie asked as he climbed in.

"Mmm-hmm, just fine. Go on back to sleep."

"Mmmkay."

A cool breeze blew in through the window, and Joe curled into Audie's warmth. Blessed, he thought, listening to her soft, rhthymic breathing. That's what we are. Blessed.

Funny How Things Work Out - Audrey DeBarbarak & Joe Devereaux

Audrey sat in the little dressing room at the back of the church, soaking up a brief solitary moment. She'd been flanked by sims the entire morning, and there was little she could use more than a moment of peace.

A gentle knock at the door roused her from her thoughtful reverie. Her bridesmaids entered, both resplendent and beaming. Sunday Thomason was the woman who Audrey thought of as the ringleader of their little group after her quick thinking over The Loose Button Incident that morning. Her calm, sweet demeanor was a welcome relief. "It's beautiful out there, Audie. You're beautiful. It'll be great, really it will."

Audie's maid of honor, Avery Monroe, stepped up to hug her. "Thanks so much, Ave," Audie said quietly, hugging her friend tightly. "You're the best."

It was a packed house - Audrey's family and Joe's filled the pews. Candles and flowers everywhere - Audrey couldn't have hoped for a prettier setting. Or a more handsome groom. Joe stood at the front of the church, watching her make the traditional march down the aisle. Tradition may not have involved the growing bump the bride sported, but they had gone through great pains to make sure everything else was. Joe's mother, Missus Devereaux, should've been happy about that, Audie thought as she passed the old woman sitting beside Joe's sister in the pew. She finally made it up to him, giving him a look that plainly said, "Phew!". He gave her a wink, and the ceremony began.

Audrey's mom looked on with tears in her eyes, clutching Frank's hand tightly. "My baby," she murmured as her little girl exchanged vows with Joe. Audrey's Aunt Kelsey dabbed at her eyes, and grinned from the bride's side of the church.

When the time came, Audrey took a deep breath, and stated as calmly as she could, "I, Audrey Hera DeBarbarak, take you, Joseph Brossard Devereaux, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, from this day forward, until death do us part."

"I, Joseph Brossard Devereaux, take you, Audrey Hera DeBarbarak, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, from this day forward, until death do us part." Audie felt a tingle run up her spine as he smiled down at her, sliding the ring onto her finger.

Even Joe's mother and sister cracked smiles at some time during the ceremony, despite their misgivings about the union.

Audie stood with Avery and Sunday, and Joe stood with Nikolaj and Norm, in front of their family and friends.

When the time came, Joe leaned down, and told Audrey quietly, "See? Nothin' to it." She laughed, for the first time in what seemed like an age, and he kissed her, their first kiss as man and wife.

Audrey had to sigh with relief when they made it to the reception. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Her mom sat at a table, catching up with her oldest and dearest friend, Audrey's Aunt Kelsey, who had come in from Port Manteau especially for the event. Even Missus (or, as she was now, Momma) Devereaux seemed to be having a, well, tolerable time.

Toasts were made and dinner was devoured.

Couples took to the dance floor. BriAnna, as mother of the bride, was still walking on clouds as Frank led her out to the dance floor.

Audrey's brother Gabriel and Avery's sister Amelie enjoyed, ahem, catching up...

As did Avery with Leander Snow.

Couples paired off - Sunday and Logan White tore up the dance floor; Joe's sister Lucia found herself in the arms of her brother's old Army buddy Nikolaj; and Audrey danced with her brand new husband.

[Oh goodness, this update took me long enough to post! Better late than never, I suppose, and better with poor quality pictures than none... right? Blogger seems to hate my pictures, but I didn't have the strength to upload them to Photobucket and import them like I normally do. Ah, well! Audie's living in wedding bliss - or is she? - and Joe's still working through his feelings for her, and for his ex. Stay tuned!]

Obsessing - Joe Devereaux

There wasn't much in life that succeeded in shaking Joe Devereaux. Physically he was what some would call bombproof – six foot three and muscle-bound from years working for his family’s construction company. He was mentally sharp, quick-witted and frequently exercised great – or at least decent – self-control. Give the man a problem and he could solve it; a dispute, he could settle it; a deadline, he could make it. Joe was just that kind of sim.

There was only one aspect of his life that Joe didn’t feel he had complete control over. And that aspect involved women.

________________________________________________________

It had been a long, hard day at work for Joe. He'd spent the morning running all over Simberry for three different jobs he was supervising, then he hit the office to take care of employee reviews and to battle budget crunches. After lunch he had stopped by the Paige house to oversee his crew's final touches on the property, then it had been off to meet with a perspective client. In other words, it was just another day, but Joe was particularly beat that night when he got home.

He dropped his jacket, papers and toolbelt at the door and kicked off his shoes, heading for the kitchen and making b-line for a beer in the fridge. Exhausted, he flopped down on his couch in front of the tv, and flicked it on. He stared at the picture for a moment, before lulling his head back, already distracted.



'Ya screwed up good this time, boy,' he thought ruefully to himself. With a sigh he closed his eyes, but - just as it had been for the past month - all he could see was Audrey, the pushy, workaholic designer that had made him crazy for the past few months since he and his company had been contracted by Aero Architectural Designs Inc.

This woman... she'd pushed his buttons and tested his patience, with her constant changing of designs halfway through the building process and her continuous nit-picking. Perfectionist didn't begin to describe the woman. She made him nuts, and they always seemed to get into verbal altercations over one thing or another when they were on the job, about what she had changed or what he and his crew had or hadn't done. She drove him completely, unequivocally crazy....

But that wasn't the Audrey he saw when he closed his eyes. All he could see was her, spread out on her bed before him, her skin bronze in the candle light. He could see her reaching for him, pulling herself into his arms. He could see, oh, he could see….



"Oh, hell," he growled aloud to the empty room, shaking those images out of his head.

It had all started that night at the pub downtown. He had gone for a much needed drink, after a long day at work. He'd come in and there she was, surrounded by a group of her friends across the bar. Simberry was small enough, and it wasn't long before the day's good gossip had reached Joe's ears. She was dragged there by her friends to drink away the memory of walking in on her boyfriend cheating with her boss. He'd hazarded a glance over at her more than a few times that night, and it seemed to him like she’d wanted to be anywhere but in that smoky pub, a feeling that must’ve been tripled when Matt, that scrawny little shit of an assistant – or boyfriend, Joe thought with a snort – came sauntering in with his new girl. Joe had seen the look on Audie’s face. She’d looked like a shot deer, confused and hurt. Joe took a swig of his beer, and shook his head again.

None of that changed the fact that he’d made a mistake. Never in his life had he taken a woman home who was as plastered as Audie had ended up being that night. It didn’t matter why she was drunk, it didn’t matter that she’d initiated the encounter, it didn’t matter that he’d wanted her… all that mattered was that it had happened, and he had been just drunk enough to allow himself to do it.

When he woke up in her house the next morning, she was long gone. He’d dressed and let himself out, and tried to call her later that day (and the next, and the next), but he never got an answer. It was only on the next Monday when he went in to meet with her about the Paige project that he'd found out what had happened. Thanks to the drama with her former boyfriend, and her then-boss, she’d ended up quitting – or getting fired, he wasn’t quite sure which, and had apparently fled the office (and, if he’d listened to the gossip, fled the country).

That was over a sim-month ago, and Joe hadn’t seen or heard from Audrey since. With a frustrated sigh, Joe resolved to push her from his mind – something an angry call from his ex made exponentially easier – and he had completely put her from his mind by the time he was climbing into bed that night. Somewhere between thinking about the timber order he'd would receive the next day, about needing to replace his fleet of trucks, needing to get the bill of the Page house to Aero, and needing to get some semblance of food on the house, he found his mind drifting back to her . He fell asleep, trying not to think of her sharp wit and quick temper, her soft skin and the taste of her lips on his. Needless to say, he failed miserably.