Epilogue: Five years on
"Grace, honey, it's time for school," Sybil said, sitting on her daughter's pink duvet. It was the morning of Grace's first day in reception and Sybil was making sure that she got her daughter up in time for her not to be late. Yes, she'd been to nursery over the past few years, but that was only for two or three days a week, so Sybil knew that this was a big step up for Grace. But Grace was excited, nonetheless. She wanted to make a good first impression just as much as Sybil did. Grace sat up slightly in bed and said,
"Mummy, can I brush my hair today?" She rubbed her eyes and waited for a reply.
"Of course you can, darling, but only after you're dressed. Do you want a bit of help with your uniform? I know buttons can be tricky," Sybil asked.
"Yes please, mummy," Grace said. Sybil smiled. She was glad that she and Tom had raised a child who had manners; one who didn't interrupt and said please and thank you. She knew that she had gone terribly fast with Tom and that it had been a relationship going at the speed of light, but she knew that having Grace was the best thing she ever did. She loved her daughter to the moon and back, and wanted the best she could possibly get for her. She had made her as ready as she could the night before – she had a bath and had helped Sybil pack her school bag. Her clothes were set out on her chair and she was excited to go to school. Tom popped his head around the door and said to Sybil,
"Cup of tea?"
"Oh, that'd been wonderful, love." She smiled at her husband and was glad to have him to herself.
"Can I have coco pops for breakfast, daddy?" Grace asked loudly. Sybil found that the only downside was that Grace's voice was very loud. She'd had a big voice since she was born and Sybil didn't think that she would be able to control her volume any time soon.
"Yes, you can, but only if you get dressed and ready for school," Tom said tactfully. At this, Grace clambered off her bed and walked over to her neatly stacked pile of clothes. She looked at her mother, but Sybil wanted Grace to do as much as she could.
"Well, you can get out of your pyjamas, can't you Grace?" Getting Grace changed took a lot longer than Sybil originally had planned for, but this is why she had got Grace up earlier than she thought she would need to. It was quite a warm September morning, so Sybil decided that Grace probably didn't need to put her jumper on, so she threaded it through the loop of her brand new school bag. Sybil passed the hairbrush to Grace as Tom came in with her mug of tea. Grace began to try her hardest to get the hairbrush through her hair, and although she wasn't doing particularly well, she was determined to keep going until it was done. Sybil went to stand next to Tom and took the mug from him. She drank some of the liquid and felt as if she were in heaven. "Thank you, darling. It's exactly what I needed." She kissed her husband and he then put her arm around her waist as she rested her head on him. They watched Grace as she managed to get half the way around her head before putting the brush down, looking at her mother and saying,
"My arm's too tired. Can you do it please mummy?" Sybil smiled and walked over to her daughter, as Tom went back downstairs. She took the hairbrush off the floor and sat on the bed to brush her daughter's thick dark brown hair. Grace said nothing, but sat looking into her lap.
"There we go, darling. All done. But you need to put your hair up – it's the rules, so how to you want it?" Grace said nothing. "Bunches, pony tail, plait?"
"Can I have bunches?" she asked, knowing that the answer would be yes. Sybil said,
"Righty-ho. Go over there and get me two hairbands then, please." Grace ran over to her drawer, opened it with difficulty and grabbed two bright pink hairbands. She came back and sat next to Sybil. Sybil parted her daughter's hair in the middle and brushed each section to neaten it up and wrapped each hairband around as many times as it would go. Grace smiled and ran into the bathroom to clean her teeth. She was proud of the fact that she had mastered the art of cleaning her teeth all by herself when she was only four years old. She scrubbed within her mouth thoroughly and then ran to the top of the stairs where her mother was waiting with her shoes, her bag and her jumper. She ran down the stairs, knowing that she would find her breakfast sitting at the dining room table waiting for her, along with a plastic cup full of orange juice. She ate it quickly, let her father put her shiny patent brand new school shoes on and skipped out the door to the car on the drive. Sybil had given her the keys so that she could unlock the car and get in it herself, whilst Sybil talked to her father. Or… rather… didn't talk much at all. Sybil and Tom had somehow both managed to land a day off on Grace's first day of school. Sybil pulled away from Tom's lips, keeping her arms tightly over his shoulders. "I'll be back later, honey… I promise," Sybil said, as she began to pull away from him so that she could get Grace to school.
"I look forward to it!" Tom said, with a cheeky smile. She gave him another quick kiss and hurried out to the car. Tom waited patiently for Sybil to come home. Once she was back in through the front door, Tom took her handbag off her, took her hand and led her to their bedroom. "Oh, getting straight into it! No hesitation – lovely…" Sybil said to herself. She loved it when she had some time alone with Tom. Since having Grace, alone time was rarely actually alone time. At about 10:30 Sybil and Tom lay in bed, both naked and both breathing heavily. Sybil turned to Tom and said, "You're perfect, Tom Branson. I love you so much. I'm so glad you came to talk to me half a decade ago."
"Well, so am I!" Tom replied. "I love you more than you could ever know, Sybil. You are, without doubt, the best person I could ever marry – you perfect, sexy woman." Sybil and Tom were perfect for each other, and Grace was perfect to them. They had their own family and their own lives now and were proud of the lives they'd made with each other. They loved each other more than anything else (alright, apart from Grace) and they weren't afraid to deny it.
I don't know if you wanted an epilogue, because none of you seem to comment on much, but here is one anyway to finish the whole story off. I know it's rushed and all that, but it's just a way to end the story. Also, I'm thinking of completely stopping That Was Then, This Is Now because I'm not enjoying it and I'm not sure anybody else is, so I might just take the whole thing down if I don't get anybody telling me not to. I hope you enjoyed this story, by the way.
