Epilogue - The Roses are in Bloom on Pony's Hill
Just as Terry had said, several weeks went by after his last letter. Candy was not worried at all. Everything went on with its daily routine at Pony's Home, and spring was in full bloom. As she did every afternoon, one day in late April, Candy went to Pony's Hill to meditate. She stretched out underneath Father Tree and looked up into the cerulean sky. She thought of Anthony's eyes which were the same color; she thought of Stear who would certainly fly again up there soon. She thought of Albert, in his strength, wisdom and brotherly love; in Archie, Annie, Patty and Tom, who were preparing a party for her 18th birthday. She thought of the blessings of that her two mothers, Miss Pony and Sister Lane, were; always constant. Finally she thought of the sapphire gaze that was Terry's, a gaze that could evoke so many feelings from her, a gaze that peered into the deepest reaches of her self, a magical gaze that captivated her the first time that his eyes had met hers.
"Oh, Terry…" she sighed, wistfully.
"Well, well, well…there is nothing lovelier than to see a beautiful girl, lying on the grass, sighing for you…" he said.
Candy, surprised, got up from her supine position and turned to the voice, thinking she was imagining things.
"What is the matter; why are you looking at me that way? Are you going to admit your love to me, My Lady?" he asked, playfully, holding back his great desire to embrace her. He wanted to enjoy the small interval he was making.
"Oh! Terry!" she exclaimed, getting up at once and running towards him.
Terry smiled and placed on the grass a basket he was carrying. He received her in his arms and spun her around, both of them gay and happy. They then held each other closely and warmly for a while. Terry noticed that Candy had changed a bit since he saw her last. She still looked younger than 18, but at the same time looked more womanly. Her beauty had blossomed more during that time, which he found more enthralling.
Candy also noticed a slight change in Terry. He clearly was a man now, more serene and mature. Then again, he still had the habit of teasing her with names…
"Terrence Grandchester, you are always trying to provoke me…but...why…"
"Why didn't I call you Miss Freckles? Do you want me to call you that way?" he asked, mirthfully. "I recall when I was convalescing that you told me that you would allow me to bestow you a new nickname…don't you remember? And you are My Lady now, My Lady of my heart." he said, looking down at her in his arms.
Candy blushed a bit. True, she was annoyed with any of the nicknames Terry had given her, but with the passage of time she had started to find them charming and actually missed hearing them. "Very well then, I will be your ONLY Lady!"
They let go from the embrace and held hands, looking at each other for a while, smiling. They had not seen each other for almost a year and they felt they had to make up for lost time. She suddenly saw the basket and said, "What's this?"
"I once promised you to take you on a picnic, as well as to visit Pony's Hill with you…well then, I've come to keep those promises, as well as the greatest promise I've made to you…" he said, pulling both of her hands closer to him. Candy shuddered a bit, feeling how she was being swept away in the wonderful flow of emotions. "Candice, I want us to spend the rest of our lives together, loving each other, facing life together, enjoying the family we will have together, supporting each other and encouraging each other. I have loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you and this love has only deepened with with time, by the many miles and by the many trials we've had to endure. I promise to love you the rest of my days and forever." He kissed her hands.
"And I…I promise to love you always, Terrence…I love you…" she answered.
The couple couldn't hold back their feelings any longer and their lips met, fusing in a total and deep kiss that was repeated over and over and over again.
It was a beautiful day at the end of May, and it could not compare to the radiant smile that the bride wore. Her ankle length, fine Irish linen dress was of clean lines and simple, with no train. She wore court shoes of the same material. The dress was short sleeved with a square collar. The silhouette was fine and it sheathed the bride's womanly shapes cleverly, just hinting at the lovely femininity she possessed. The only jewelry she wore, other than her Art Deco Sapphire and Diamond engagement ring that she had received on her birthday, was an Italian cameo that had belonged to Rosemary Andley Brown, Anthony's mother. This was mounted on a fine ribbon in the same pattern as the Andley tartan. The bride's hair was done in Gibson style, which favored her hair type very well. She did not wear a veil; in its place she wore a headband which was starting to become very popular. The headband was hand beaded with small seed pearls. Her bridal bouquet was solely made up of Sweet Candy, which delicately perfumed the air with its unique fragrance. The bride's elegance was only overshadowed by her innate and brilliant beauty; there was little doubt that she was going to be one of those women who grew lovelier as they aged and managed to defy the passing of years, in the same way her mother in law, Eleanor Baker, did.
She was not being escorted on her way up to the Hill, where the ceremony was going to take place. Albert had been the first choice, as he was her most faithful friend, tutor and adopter; but she preferred that he help Archie and Stear with the bagpipes. She recalled how the brothers had once said that two sets of pipes were too lonely a sound. Then it was proposed that perhaps her 'mothers' Miss Pony and Sister Lane would do the honors, but she did not want to deny them the privilege of seeing her approach the ceremony. Tom and Jimmy had volunteered; but in the end, the bride had decided that after all, she had had to fight for everything of consequence in her life alone. True, she had done it with the love and support of all of them, but in the end it came down to her own self, and she herself would give her own self to the man with whom she was going to form a family and a home with
She heard the bagpipes and the song they had chosen for that moment, "Highland Cathedral". With a decided step, serene yet full of emotion, the bride walked towards the place underneath Father Tree where she would take her vows.
Everyone was congregated there; the wedding was small but intimate: the children of the home, Tom, Patty and her Grandmother Martha, Annie, Eleanor Baker, George Johnson, Mary Jane, Mr. Cartwright and Jimmy, Great Aunt Elroy, Dr. Martin, Miss Pony and Sister Lane. There, awaiting her arrival was Father Leary who ministered at Pony's Home; to Father Leary's left were Archie, Stear and Albert, all dressed in kilts with the Andley Clan Tartan. To Father Leary's right, also in a kilt with the Andley Clan Tartan was the groom. Since he was going to be the latest addition to the family, he now had the right to use it. His hair was worn in a smart ponytail and he could barely contain the wave of emotions that went through him when he saw her. From the minute she appeared within his eyesight, he could not take his sight off his beloved. The sun was behind her, giving her a peculiar yet ethereal aura….she was a vision from above. For a brief moment she was immortal, divinely ephemeral, and all there present looked on admiringly; for a second, they thought they were in Heaven itself. The groom in every way was worthy of his bride, looking very manly, handsome and giving off his own charismatic aura and light.
They vowed before those present, before God and before themselves to love, respect and support each other, in happiness and adversity, in sickness as in health, and to share their trough and souls forever.
Father Leary pronounced them husband and wife and the first kiss quickly followed, deeply sweet but pure…soon it would be time for them to privately show each other the profoundness of their love and passion. The bride started to shed tears of joy and her husband gently brushed them away with his handkerchief, deeply moved by her sentiment.
She heard Albert's voice say to her, "Little one, you are much lovelier when you laugh than when you cry." Surprised, she turned around, but Stear and Archie had started to play the recessional, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". Albert just winked at her with a smile and a special gleam in his eye and joined his nephews. He gave a complicit nod to Eleanor Baker, who had captured his heart and who corresponded him in full.
"Shall we go, My Lady?" Terry asked, mesmerized by his wife.
Candy nodded happily and taking Terry's arm and locking it with hers, they both started to walk in step towards their new life.
Sometimes in life, one has to reach rock bottom before you can rise up again…
