Disclaimer: I own nothing except a 1986 Honda Prelude and one very loud cat named Pepper.

A/N: Wow. The reviews I've had are enough to blow my head way out of proportion. Thanks to all my reviewers. If I get enough reviews on this last chapter, I'll go ahead and write the sequel. A special thanks to ruby gillis. I read a 'Story Girl' fanfic by her the other day and was incredibly impressed. Then she turns around and gives me a very flattering review. I am very grateful to her, especially for the last remark she made about L. M. Montgomery. That being said, let's wrap this up.

Teaser: Just wanted to put one in. In this last chapter, all loose ends will be tied together. What will Pat's surprise gift from Long Alec and Sid be? Was the white garment Judy was sewing on an omen? Which kitten will be chosen to go to Vancouver? And were there any surprise guests at the wedding? Hmmm. I wonder.

Pat's eyes swept the room as she sat next to Hilary, dining on delectable, time-honored recipes. Besides Rae, she quickly surmised that there were a few other unexpected guests, but all welcome. Goodness, was that Donald Holmes? A wave of guilt swept over Pat as she remembered their beautiful summer and that awful evening when she had broken his heart. But, when his eyes met hers, he smiled a very friendly, sincere smile. She returned it, seeing the young lady who clung adoringly to his arm. Her conscience didn't bother her too much after that.

And there was Dorothy. Dear, sweet Dorothy. Of course, David wasn't there. Pat hadn't expected him to be. But he had sent a beautifully written letter of congratulations upon hearing of Pat and Hilary's engagement that had choked Pat up a bit when she read it. And he had also sent an exquisite crystal vase that Pat was already planning on displaying prominently in her new home.

The thought of her new home made Pat cut her eyes back to Hilary. He was laughing at something Joe had just said. Hilary had such a nice laugh. It always comforted Pat to hear it. But then, Hilary had been a comfort to her from the moment they first met. She had been lost and, despite her brave attempts, couldn't stop the fear that was beginning to well up in her. He had led her home and, although he had not been much older than her, she had felt very safe walking down that dark road with him. It was a feeling that she always had around him. She loved that feeling.

Pat touched Hilary on the arm lightly. He turned around and smiled at her.

"I think it's time for us to talk with our guests, Hilary," Pat suggested. Hilary nodded in agreement and rose from his seat. He pulled out Pat's chair and, taking her hand, walked towards the nearest group. Joe and Sid fell into conversation with one another.

"Look at that," said Joe. "Not even married an hour and she's already got him jumping through hoops."

Sid grinned.

"Pat has that effect on men, Joe. Not even you are an exception. But I think we've been kind of shortchanged, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, here we sit, two overprotective brothers with no one to protect. The least one of our sisters could've done would be to marry a cad. Then we could've had something to occupy our time. But no. Winnie started the whole thing by marrying Frank, an honest, decent man. Then the other two, being younger, had to follow her example. Rae married Brook who, in my opinion and despite the fact that he whisked her off to a foreign country, was an improvement on Frank. And now, Pat has gone off and married Hilary Gordon, who has always worshiped the ground she walked on. Mark my words, Joe. Where Pat is concerned, there will never be a day, probably not an hour, when her husband doesn't tell her how much he loves her. She will be very happy. And we will have nothing to do."

"You're going to miss her, aren't you Sid?"

Sid shifted in his seat uncomfortably. The last couple of days had been very emotional for him and, not being a man given to emotional moods, he didn't care for it too much. But he couldn't lie to his brother.

"Pat is the best friend I've ever had, Joe. I guess I don't mind saying that. Yes, I'll miss her."

"Have you and Dad got the present ready?" Joe inquired.

"Yes. We'll present it to them in a few minutes. I can't wait to see the look on Pat's face."

"Neither can I," agreed Joe. He picked up his glass of currant wine (Anne reference alert! () and held it up in the air. Sid followed suit.

"Here's to being shortchanged. Having nothing to do has never been so wonderful," Joe said.

"Amen to that," Sid agreed.

MEANWHILE

Pat moved about the room in a kind of radiant glow. Everyone said she looked beautiful and everyone offered congratulations and wanted to kiss the bride. But there was a bit of an awkward moment when Pat literally bumped into Donald Holmes.

"Hello, Pat," he said. Pat blushed furiously as her conscience began to prick her again.

"You look beautiful. You don't mind if I kiss the bride, do you, Gordon?"

Hilary looked concerned, but couldn't refuse without making a scene. He nodded. Donald leaned over and kissed Pat on the cheek. Hilary stared as Donald lingered longer than necessary. Pat was startled when she realized Donald was whispering something in her ear.

"Relax, Pat, and enjoy your wedding day. Quit worrying so much about that night. Yes, it was dreadful, but I don't blame you so you shouldn't blame yourself. I'm happy for you, Pat."

Donald pulled back, revealing to Hilary the fact that Pat was smiling and had tears brimming in her eyes. She hugged Donald impulsively and then took Hilary's hand in hers.

"Thank you, Donald. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

Donald nodded and extended a hand towards Hilary, who took it with a bit of hesitation.

"Congratulations, Gordon. You've got the best woman on the island. Well, second best," he added, smiling at his wife nearby. Hilary smiled then and, after thanking Donald, led Pat to a table in the corner of the room. No people mingled there and Pat looked at her husband questioningly.

"What was all that about?" he asked her. She smiled at him.

"Oh, Hilary, I'm sorry. Donald was just telling me to quit blaming myself for the disastrous end of our relationship. He could tell I still felt badly about it and wanted me to stop feeling that way over something that was over long ago. He was right and, after talking to him, I feel much better."

Hilary opened his mouth to say something, but it never got said. For, just at that moment, a familiar voice came from behind Pat.

"There's the girl of the hour!"

Pat turned, her eyes dancing with joy. She immediately embraced the owner of the voice, much to his surprise. When she released him, he fiddled with his tie, trying to find something to say. But all he could say was the one thing Pat had expected.

"Well, I'll be blowed."

Pat laughed.

"Tillytuck, I'm so glad you came. When we didn't hear from you, I thought you had moved away. It's so good to see you again."

Tillytuck regained his composure and began to lecture Pat.

"Yes and it's good to see you've finally come to your senses and married that boy. If Judy were still alive she'd be right here, crowing over me in triumph. I'm happy for you, Pat, and that's the truth."

He turned his attention to Hilary, who became a bit worried at the expression in Tillytuck's eyes.

"You better take care of this girl. Or Long Alec Gardiner won't be the only one you'll have to deal with."

"Yes, sir," said Hilary, putting his arm around Pat's waist and trying to remain serious. He had the incredible urge to laugh at the thought that he wouldn't take care of Pat. Any further threats from Tillytuck were cut short when Little Mary came with the message that Pat and Hilary were wanted back at their table for a special announcement. They went, hesitatingly, for neither of them knew what this was about. When they reached their table, Long Alec stood and brought the bustling room down to silence. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Thank all of you for coming today," he began. "I have a surprise for our newly married couple. A surprise I hope they will enjoy very much. My wife, myself, our son, Sid, and his wife, May, have all agreed on the perfect wedding gift for Pat and Hilary."

He motioned for the couple to come closer to him as Sid handed him a rolled up piece of paper that was tied with a red ribbon. Long Alec placed the paper in Pat's hands and she looked at him questioningly.

"I present you with the deed to the property once known as Silver Bush. No one has loved it more than you have. Sid and I have already made plans to build a vacation home for you there. The farmland will remain in Sid's care, but the house site, the graveyard, the orchard, and a few other places I know are dear to you now belong to you. Legally. Silver Bush has always been in your heart, Pat. Now, I place it in your hands."

Pat was in shock. She couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Silver Bush? Hers? Hilary looked at Sid.

"But where will you live?" he asked. Sid didn't answer. But May did.

"Our house will be on the old Adams place, Hilary."

She seemed quite resigned to it, almost happy. Again Pat was shocked. But nothing could've prepared her for what happened next. May got up and took both Pat's hands in hers. She spoke in low tones so that only those at the table could hear her.

"Pat, not long after your engagement, Sid had a talk with me. I was furious with him at first for the things he said, but, watching you and Hilary, I've come to see that quite a bit of it was true. I've been a beast our entire lives. Maybe I'll never be particularly nice person. But making you suffer, and I do know you've suffered, for the past four years was unforgivable. This is my way of apologizing. You love Silver Bush far more than anyone ever could. It's only right that you should own it."

Pat finally found words, but they came out in a whisper.

"Thank you."

May sat back down and the room applauded Long Alec for his wedding gift. After that, the afternoon began to wind down. Guests trickled away one by one. Pat walked around, still accepting congratulations, but she was in a daze. She went and changed into the dark red traveling suit while Hilary began to load the car down with luggage. They were planning to stay in a little cottage on the beach that Hilary had rented, then sail for Europe in two days. Pat had been a little nervous about the 'honeymoon' subject, but now she couldn't even think about it. Her mind could not accept the fact that Silver Bush now belonged to her. When she got back downstairs, the only guests left were the ones who were staying at the Bay Shore farm and the folks from Swallowfield. Rae stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding a small grey ball of fur in her arms.

"Pat, this is the kitten you're taking. I insist. I've spent ten wonderful minutes with her and she was meant to be yours."

Rae's tone was no-nonsense as she handed the kitten to Pat. It purred contentedly in its sleep. The movement did not disturb it. Pat smiled.

"She sleeps like you, Rae." Rae gave Pat a mock look of hurt.

"What will you name her?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll decide that when I get back. We can't take the poor thing all the way across the Atlantic with us. We'll get her on our way to Vancouver."

Rae seemed content with this answer. There was no time for arguments anyway. Hilary came in at that moment and announced that the car was all loaded up and ready to go. Tears stung Pat's eyes as she began to say her goodbyes. Everyone seemed to be of the opinion that a long goodbye would only make things harder. Pat managed to keep her tears back until she got to Mother and Father. At that point, they would not be denied. She hugged them fiercely.

"Thank you so much. For everything. You've been there for me my entire life and I couldn't ask for better parents."

"We love you, Pat, and we're so happy for you. We'll think of you every day and you will be missed, darling. You've become a lovely woman and we're proud of you."

The tears spilled over as Pat heard her mother's words. Long Alec didn't trust himself to speak. He simply gave her a hug and kiss and placed her hand in Hilary's. Hilary squeezed Pat's hand and she smiled at him. They made their way to the car as her family watched from the door way and the last sight Pat saw was Rae, in her light blue dress, waving at them from the road. Pat watched until she couldn't see her sister anymore and then turned around with a resigned sigh. Hilary took her hand and Pat, comforted by the gesture, relaxed. She was Hilary's wife now. What a wonderful feeling.

LATER: IN A COTTAGE ON THE BEACH

"Hilary, this really is a beautiful little place," said Pat. They had arrived an hour before at the tiny, homey cottage and, after unloading the things they would need for their brief stay, had settled down into the small 'living room'. Hilary sat on the sofa with Pat curled up beside him, her head resting on his chest. He was beginning to really like this marriage thing.

"It is lovely, isn't it?" he agreed. They sat in silence for a while until Pat finally stirred. Hilary groaned. She never could stay still for long.

"I'm thirsty. I think I'll get a drink of water. Do you want anything?" Pat asked as she headed for the little kitchen.

"Nothing to drink," came the mischievous reply. Pat blushed at the implications of his remark and chose to ignore it. She drank the water in the kitchen, rather quickly. She was becoming nervous again. On her way back into the living room, she spotted a small package on the floor and picked it up.

"Hilary, what's this?" she asked.

"What? Oh, that. Rae said she found it with our wedding presents. It was the only one that wasn't unwrapped and so she gave it to me. There wasn't time to open it right then, so I put it in the car. I guess I must have carried it in and dropped it."

"Who's it from?" inquired Pat, searching for a note or a tag on the delicate white paper.

"Don't know. It didn't have a tag on it when Rae gave it to me. Go ahead and open it."

Pat complied and turned pale when she saw the contents.

"What is it?" asked Hilary. Pat didn't speak. Instead, she held up what was most decidedly a baby's garment. But it was unlike any Hilary had ever seen. It was white satin, trimmed with what seemed to be a silvery lace. It was exquisitely made. Hilary gave a long, low whistle.

"Must be one of those christening gowns. Pat? Pat, what's wrong?"

Pat's mind was far away. She was back in the graveyard at Silver Bush, talking to Judy. Judy was sewing something out of white satin and silver lace. Oh, of course that wasn't it. Judy was dead. That night had all been in Pat's imagination. Yet, looking down at the gown in her hands, Pat was no longer convinced that it hadn't been real. Slowly, she began to smile and Hilary relaxed.

"Hilary, what am I going to do with this gown?" she asked innocently. Hilary lifted one eyebrow and smiled.

"I can help you out with that problem," he whispered as he drew nearer. Pat's heart began to beat wildly. Hilary leaned in and kissed her tenderly. Slowly, she felt herself melting. Everything else fell away as Hilary's kiss intensified, becoming more and more passionate. When he pulled away, she looked into his eyes and nearly cried at what she saw. Pure, unadulterated love. And it was for her.

"You know what?" she asked.

"What?"

"I think I'm beginning to really like this marriage thing."

Hilary laughed and swept Pat up in his arms. And the cottage heard the sound of low laughter as the lovers made their way into their room.

A/N: Okay, that's it. You'll get no details from me. Let me know if you want me to continue with this story arc. Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers. You guys are awesome!