Epilogue
"And the kids found it," he asked.
"Kaitlyn found it," I said, "but they all read it."
"All four of them," he asked.
"Well, the girls did," I said, "your son, from what the girls tell me, read the first few lines and the last few lines."
"Bypassed everything in between," he said with a laugh.
"To sappy for him I think," I said.
"Hannah said that the first words out of Landon's mouth were "oh geez,"" I said, "he reminds of your father some times."
"What else did he say," my husband asked.
"Are you sure Mom didn't write this and Dad just signed his name on it," I said, "I'm not sure that Hannah completely understands what it means though."
"I'm amazed that she read it at all," he said.
"Niles, you know she has to be a part of anything her big sisters do," I said.
"If I tell you something about that letter," he asked timidly, "do you promise you won't get mad?"
"As long as you're not going to tell me that there's another Daphne on this planet that you're in love with," I said.
"Of course not," he said, "it's just that, well honey, I never thought you would see that letter."
"I know, you told me that once before," I asked.
"I never told you how you must of gotten it though." He said.
"Okay," I said.
"I wrote it more for myself," he said, "I knew that you were out of my reach and I thought that if I wrote the letter, it might give me some sort of closure. I knew that no matter where life would take me, my feelings for you would never change and I had kept those feelings inside me for so long. I just needed to let them all out. I heard that song and every word reminded me of the love I have for you. So I wrote the letter. On paper I wasn't the coward we all knew me to be. But I had no idea that it would find it's way to you. I carried it with me for quite some time. The only thing I can think of is that it somehow managed to finds its way into a pile of unsent mail on my desk. It had your name on it so I'm assuming Mrs. Woodson assumed that it needed to be addressed and mailed."
"Well I got it and here we are," I said kissing him.
"Yes we are," he responded, "I love you."
"I love you too," I said as we sank back into the pillows.
We still make out like a couple of randy teenagers. Our daughters, the romance novel queens, think it's adorable. Our son on the other hand, if he happens to walk in on us kissing, he walks right back out of the room almost as quickly as he entered.
"Can I ask you something," my husband said when we finally came up for air.
"Sure," I said pulling him to where he was lightly lying on top of me.
"If that letter never existed, would you have still.," he said trailing a bit.
"I'll tell you something about that letter," I said brushing his hair from his forehead. The years have aged my husband well. He's as handsome as he was all of those years ago when we first shook hands.
"That letter just confirmed everything I already knew. I was in love with you way before the letter arrived in the mail. I also knew that at some point whether it be before I married that man or after, it was going to end. It was over before it really ever started. I spent so much of my time with him thinking of you. There is no on this magnificent planet that could even begin to fill your place in my heart.
I thought about all of the things we shared together and all of the things I wanted to share with you. More and more I realized that there were things about myself that I could never tell him. Then I realized they were the same things I had already told you. I told you without even realizing I had done so. That's how much I needed you in my life. I needed you to tell my secrets to."
"So I'm like your diary of sorts," he said.
"That's one way of putting it. You're actually better than a diary," I said, "Niles, whether or not I had received that letter, I was in love with you. I knew I would find my way to you, I was sure of that. Waiting so long to do something about it, well that was my fault. I got scared that maybe you didn't want me anymore."
"Darling, that could never.," he said.
"I know that. I knew that but that didn't stop me from being scared," I said, "loving someone so much, at first it is a bit scary. And the situation we were in scared me to death. Your letter, your words made everything okay," I said. "With or without it, you are the man that I love. You're the man that I'm lost without."
"I'm certainly glad to hear that," he said, "I'm sure our kids would be too."
"There's so much of you in them. Some things are just so visible. Others are little subtle things that make me smile when I notice them. It makes the time while you're at work a little more bearable when I can see you in our children. There's always part of you around, even if the entirety isn't."
"I feel the same way. Some times I'll just sit and watch Kaitlyn piddle and it sends me back several years to the time when I would just sit back and watch you do the same. You didn't realize it, she doesn't realize it. You two have a lot in common."
"Landon is a wizard in the kitchen. Just like you are and I'm quite certain Miss Hannah has medical school in her future. Your son is quite clumsy and burned his finger the other day, she wasted no time in treating it."
"Yes well, she has one up on me then," he said, "blood doesn't make her faint."
"Yes she does," I said. I began to think about our oldest at this point in time. She's the perfect combination of the two of us.
"She is," he said knowing exactly what I was thinking, "right down to the allergies and the romance novels."
"Reading is good for them," I said defending those stupid novels. They're not the best things for the girls to read, but I'd rather them read those books, than not read at all, "Even if it's not the classics. It gives them open minds and sadly, it makes it easier to talk about certain things with them."
"You know, if it weren't for your insistence on keeping those silly novels," he said, "our letter might have been lost forever."
"That's true," I said, "But I'll love you forever so even if it had been lost, we would still be here now."
"I guess I should have paid more attention to your visions back then," he said.
"Yes you should have," I said kissing him.
"Especially now that most of them have come true," he said.
"Most of them? What do you mean most of them," I said.
"We don't have any grandchildren yet," he said.
"I certainly hope not, my babies are too young to have babies," I said. "But you're right, that's the only one that hasn't come true. I can't wait to watch you chase them on the beach. I mean I can and I will."
"Thank god for that," he said. He's quite protective of the girls. If he had his way, they would live under our roof forever.
"You know what Dr. Crane," I said, "I think we've done enough talking for one night. I think we've got a huge tub filled with bubbles calling our names."
"You really are psychic," he said kissing my nose, "I was just thinking the same thing."
"You know, if we stop thinking," I said throwing the blankets off of us, "the sooner we'll actually get to that bath."
"How right you are Mrs. Crane," he said swooping me up in his arms.
As we're making our way toward our bathroom, the faint sound of the piano begins to fill our room. Stopping in our tracks, we instantly recognized the music as our song.
Niles set me down and took my hand. Together we walk down the stairs to the great room where our piano is located.
"Shhh," my husband said to me as we approached the room.
We know who's playing the piano. Only two of the kids can play, and Hannah is just beginning to learn.
Poking our heads around the corner, we find Avery sitting on the piano bench. Only a candle is lighting her view of the sheet music.
"That's our baby," my husband whispered to me.
"I know," I said. I never imagined that our daughter would one day be playing our song.
"I just wanted to hear it," she said quietly.
Avery is a lot like me in that she believes in love and she's a lot like her father in the fact that when she meets the right person, she won't be able to think about another. She's the little girl in my vision. She is the symbol of our union. She is us. And now, I think she believes.
"I just wanted to hear it."
"And the kids found it," he asked.
"Kaitlyn found it," I said, "but they all read it."
"All four of them," he asked.
"Well, the girls did," I said, "your son, from what the girls tell me, read the first few lines and the last few lines."
"Bypassed everything in between," he said with a laugh.
"To sappy for him I think," I said.
"Hannah said that the first words out of Landon's mouth were "oh geez,"" I said, "he reminds of your father some times."
"What else did he say," my husband asked.
"Are you sure Mom didn't write this and Dad just signed his name on it," I said, "I'm not sure that Hannah completely understands what it means though."
"I'm amazed that she read it at all," he said.
"Niles, you know she has to be a part of anything her big sisters do," I said.
"If I tell you something about that letter," he asked timidly, "do you promise you won't get mad?"
"As long as you're not going to tell me that there's another Daphne on this planet that you're in love with," I said.
"Of course not," he said, "it's just that, well honey, I never thought you would see that letter."
"I know, you told me that once before," I asked.
"I never told you how you must of gotten it though." He said.
"Okay," I said.
"I wrote it more for myself," he said, "I knew that you were out of my reach and I thought that if I wrote the letter, it might give me some sort of closure. I knew that no matter where life would take me, my feelings for you would never change and I had kept those feelings inside me for so long. I just needed to let them all out. I heard that song and every word reminded me of the love I have for you. So I wrote the letter. On paper I wasn't the coward we all knew me to be. But I had no idea that it would find it's way to you. I carried it with me for quite some time. The only thing I can think of is that it somehow managed to finds its way into a pile of unsent mail on my desk. It had your name on it so I'm assuming Mrs. Woodson assumed that it needed to be addressed and mailed."
"Well I got it and here we are," I said kissing him.
"Yes we are," he responded, "I love you."
"I love you too," I said as we sank back into the pillows.
We still make out like a couple of randy teenagers. Our daughters, the romance novel queens, think it's adorable. Our son on the other hand, if he happens to walk in on us kissing, he walks right back out of the room almost as quickly as he entered.
"Can I ask you something," my husband said when we finally came up for air.
"Sure," I said pulling him to where he was lightly lying on top of me.
"If that letter never existed, would you have still.," he said trailing a bit.
"I'll tell you something about that letter," I said brushing his hair from his forehead. The years have aged my husband well. He's as handsome as he was all of those years ago when we first shook hands.
"That letter just confirmed everything I already knew. I was in love with you way before the letter arrived in the mail. I also knew that at some point whether it be before I married that man or after, it was going to end. It was over before it really ever started. I spent so much of my time with him thinking of you. There is no on this magnificent planet that could even begin to fill your place in my heart.
I thought about all of the things we shared together and all of the things I wanted to share with you. More and more I realized that there were things about myself that I could never tell him. Then I realized they were the same things I had already told you. I told you without even realizing I had done so. That's how much I needed you in my life. I needed you to tell my secrets to."
"So I'm like your diary of sorts," he said.
"That's one way of putting it. You're actually better than a diary," I said, "Niles, whether or not I had received that letter, I was in love with you. I knew I would find my way to you, I was sure of that. Waiting so long to do something about it, well that was my fault. I got scared that maybe you didn't want me anymore."
"Darling, that could never.," he said.
"I know that. I knew that but that didn't stop me from being scared," I said, "loving someone so much, at first it is a bit scary. And the situation we were in scared me to death. Your letter, your words made everything okay," I said. "With or without it, you are the man that I love. You're the man that I'm lost without."
"I'm certainly glad to hear that," he said, "I'm sure our kids would be too."
"There's so much of you in them. Some things are just so visible. Others are little subtle things that make me smile when I notice them. It makes the time while you're at work a little more bearable when I can see you in our children. There's always part of you around, even if the entirety isn't."
"I feel the same way. Some times I'll just sit and watch Kaitlyn piddle and it sends me back several years to the time when I would just sit back and watch you do the same. You didn't realize it, she doesn't realize it. You two have a lot in common."
"Landon is a wizard in the kitchen. Just like you are and I'm quite certain Miss Hannah has medical school in her future. Your son is quite clumsy and burned his finger the other day, she wasted no time in treating it."
"Yes well, she has one up on me then," he said, "blood doesn't make her faint."
"Yes she does," I said. I began to think about our oldest at this point in time. She's the perfect combination of the two of us.
"She is," he said knowing exactly what I was thinking, "right down to the allergies and the romance novels."
"Reading is good for them," I said defending those stupid novels. They're not the best things for the girls to read, but I'd rather them read those books, than not read at all, "Even if it's not the classics. It gives them open minds and sadly, it makes it easier to talk about certain things with them."
"You know, if it weren't for your insistence on keeping those silly novels," he said, "our letter might have been lost forever."
"That's true," I said, "But I'll love you forever so even if it had been lost, we would still be here now."
"I guess I should have paid more attention to your visions back then," he said.
"Yes you should have," I said kissing him.
"Especially now that most of them have come true," he said.
"Most of them? What do you mean most of them," I said.
"We don't have any grandchildren yet," he said.
"I certainly hope not, my babies are too young to have babies," I said. "But you're right, that's the only one that hasn't come true. I can't wait to watch you chase them on the beach. I mean I can and I will."
"Thank god for that," he said. He's quite protective of the girls. If he had his way, they would live under our roof forever.
"You know what Dr. Crane," I said, "I think we've done enough talking for one night. I think we've got a huge tub filled with bubbles calling our names."
"You really are psychic," he said kissing my nose, "I was just thinking the same thing."
"You know, if we stop thinking," I said throwing the blankets off of us, "the sooner we'll actually get to that bath."
"How right you are Mrs. Crane," he said swooping me up in his arms.
As we're making our way toward our bathroom, the faint sound of the piano begins to fill our room. Stopping in our tracks, we instantly recognized the music as our song.
Niles set me down and took my hand. Together we walk down the stairs to the great room where our piano is located.
"Shhh," my husband said to me as we approached the room.
We know who's playing the piano. Only two of the kids can play, and Hannah is just beginning to learn.
Poking our heads around the corner, we find Avery sitting on the piano bench. Only a candle is lighting her view of the sheet music.
"That's our baby," my husband whispered to me.
"I know," I said. I never imagined that our daughter would one day be playing our song.
"I just wanted to hear it," she said quietly.
Avery is a lot like me in that she believes in love and she's a lot like her father in the fact that when she meets the right person, she won't be able to think about another. She's the little girl in my vision. She is the symbol of our union. She is us. And now, I think she believes.
"I just wanted to hear it."