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Chapter 8 - Epilogue

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Settting: Six years later

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Upstairs, the few friends and family that would be gathering to help them share this day had started to arrive. Grace had finally been able to urge Joan's mom out of the room and off to find Kevin who was escorting her to her seat. Will Giradi paced upstairs awaiting what most fathers consider a most difficult task, but he was confident that the outcome would be good. Luke was off somewhere with the task of intercepting Grace before she could get back to where Joan was. It didn't need to be a lengthy diversion, but it did need to be a diversion all the same. Luke was sure he'd have no trouble holding Grace's attention for a moment or two.

Joan sat alone, looking down at her hands, presently unadorned with jewelry. That last fact was about to change, permanently, but she was sure that it was going to be the best change that had come to pass in her life so far. As she sat there in quiet reflection, she failed to notice the young man who had walked up to peer into the open door. He stood there in quiet observation of Joan and knew, without a doubt, that what was to occur over the next few minutes had always been meant to be.

"Jane."

Joan looked up from her reflections to see Adam standing in the doorway dressed formally but smiling none the less. She stood and turned toward him holding out her hand which he stepped forward and grasp in his own.

"Adam. You're not supposed to be here."

"I know, but I needed to talk to you for just a minute. I really didn't come here to sneek a peek at your outfit or to steal a kiss. Though I'll admit, the first is only as beautiful as the woman wearing it and the second doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

"Adam!"

"No seriously Jane, I needed to say something to you that couldn't wait until later. Can we sit for just a moment?"

Together they turned and still hand in hand, each took a seat across from one another.

"What's so important Adam that you had to see me now?"

"Jane, do you remember back six years ago to that day we spent at the zoo?"

"Yeah, I remember. When I think of it I always recall the lions...the tigers... the bears," she said with a little giggle.

"I remember those too, but more so, I remember the promise that I made to you that evening when we were back at your house eating pizza. Do you remember what I promised you that day?"

"Sure Adam, I remember your promise. You told me that day that when you were ready to explain why you have nearly always called me Jane that I would be the first one you would tell."

"That was it, and Jane, I'm ready to explain."

"Adam, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, just listen. Jane from nearly the first time we met, you and I have had a connection. At the time I couldn't believe that someone so in tune with me could have come into my life just by chance. I knew that you showing up in Arcadia and becoming my friend was a gift, one that I couldn't deny had had to have come through divine intervention. Jane, do you know what the name 'Jane' means?"

"No, Adam, I don't."

"It means, 'God's gracious gift'. That's always been how I've thought as you, as a gift from God to me."

"Oh Adam, thank you. I've always felt too that God had a hand in bringing us together as well, even if there at first it seemed He was pushing us apart more than he was pushing us together."

"Are you ready to do this Jane?"

"Yes I am Adam. I love you and I'm sure beyond a doubt that you love me too"

"Unchallenged."

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In a small candlelit chapel in Arcadia, about twenty people gathered to celebrate a special event in the lives of Joan Giradi and Adam Rove.

Grace Polk stood at Joan's side, wearing a dress no less, but also a smile as she understood the happiness her best friend was experiencing at this moment. Grace glanced across the aisle where Luke stood beside Adam, and then down to the diamond she now wore on her left hand. In just a few months, she and Joan and Adam and Luke would be switching places and doing this all over again. Luke caught Grace's glance and smiled in reply, understanding completely what she was thinking.

As the rest of the Giradi family, Carl Rove, and a few other friends gained through college and career, looked on, Adam and Jane exchanged the vows that would bind them together as man and wife for the rest of their lives. As Adam and Joan exchanged rings as a part of the ceremony, no one but them understood how special the simple silver bands were to each of them.

With all the attention in the room focused on the altar, no one seemed to notice the young man in the rear of the church dressed in a brown corduroy coat. As the priest reached a particular the point in the ceremony saying, "...What God has brought together....let no man put asunder..." the young man smiled, then turned, exiting the church.

~The End~

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