Hello, my lovely readers! I'm not too sure what happened last week but the didn't inform any of you about the usual new chapter I've posted last Sunday. Therefore, if you haven't read it yet, please do so before you read this one! This new chapter is the last one of this story. I can't quite believe it! This story helped me learn how to be a better writer and editor of my own work and so I think I enjoyed writing this story the most of all my other ones. Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you'll enjoy this final chapter :) - Bathsheba Blythe

Chapter XLVI

Hester played with Poppy and her dollhouse, which also once upon a time belonged to Hester herself, with Rilla hovering around the kitchen, softly humming "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", awaiting the return of her sons and their loves from the cinema. Hester didn't come with them because she knew she would feel like a fifth wheel and it was the last thing she'd ever want to feel, ever.

She was, therefore, waiting for Lily to arrive. They decided to go together to the shore for a walk and in the meantime, Hester played with Poppy who was very much absorbed in the world of her princesses. Hester was smiling down at her baby sister and envied her oblivious darling soul, so carefree and without any hint of worry or fear in her life, well, probably only apart from fearing her princess being taken away by a big wolf. How good would it feel to be only two years old again!

Hester sighed and with a still gentle smile on her pale face, she looked out of the window. Suddenly, her hazel eyes widened in surprise and joy as she jumped from her seat, causing Poppy to look at her angrily for destroying the peaceful mood of her 'castle'. "Mum! Mum! Phillip came back!" Hester managed to shout merrily in the direction of the kitchen as she flew out of the house like a fierce dove through the sky.

It was Phillip indeed walking down the lane, still wearing the uniform of the American army. In his hand, he held a suitcase and on his face, he wore a sentimental smile. As soon as his eyes witnessed the madly running black-haired woman, he dropped his suitcase, cheered loudly and caught her swiftly in his arms, twirling her as the two of them were laughing breathlessly. "For goodness' sakes, why didn't you tell me you were coming to the Island sooner than you told me, Phillip?!" Hester said to him with a wide smile and flushed cheeks as he put her back on the ground.

Phillip still looked the same, yet he looked more like a man now with muscular arms and a sharp chin and twinkling with ambition eyes. If his eyes could speak, they would scream with happiness, Hester thought, and then they'd be mirroring Hester's own. "I told you on purpose I'd be going to New York first because I wanted to give you a surprise, silly." he replied and kissed her forehead tenderly.

Hester's eyes were filled with tears as she put her hands on his tall and broad shoulders "I can't believe I can see you, and speak to you and everything…" she said in disbelief breathing his essence in.

In that moment, Hester thought that they could have been happy together if only her heart would allow 'them' to happen. Her mind crossed an apartment in New York, Phillip working as a lawyer, her playing her instruments and composing on the side whilst kissing three children, all with Phillip's eyes… But somehow this image didn't bring as much joy to her, it was only a further exclamation of her heart telling her that they were never meant to be together, which suddenly filled her entire being with sorrow and pain. Phillip saw it all too and he felt just like Hester, years spent at the front and time allowing him to think everything ten times too many made him realise this unfortunate turn of events as well. However, he made peace with it a while ago, when Hester wrote to him of her engagement to Marshall, and now he was only more concerned about Hester's wellbeing with the knowledge of Marshall Douglas' name on her wedding invitation with a question mark at the end of it.

He put her into an embrace, no words needed, and she put her arms around his neck, letting her tears to run down her cheeks. She could literally breathe him in, and feel how he was breathing without any problems at all, he was here, he was safe, another man she loved came back and that was almost enough. "I wish I could love you in this way, dearest Phillip." she whispered suddenly.

Phillip sighed softly but smiled into her ear "It was never meant to be." he whispered back "It's better this way, Hester, believe me. Please, don't lose hope, not yet, darling." he said almost desperately at the end.

Hester pulled away and she kissed his lips briefly with a smile on her face before looking into his eyes "I haven't." she breathed out and he could feel that she truly hasn't yet.

"Phillip! Phillip! Oh, my Lord, it is you!"

Both Phillip and Hester turned around and Lily's figure started springing towards them, her face glowing with a paralysing joy, her past self suddenly coming back to her surface. She jumped on Phillip, kissing his cheeks, forehead and a nose, making him and Hester laugh so much she almost lost her breath. "Lily!" he exclaimed joyfully as he put her down and looked deeply into her eyes as she glanced back into his, her arms still around his neck.

Hester's eyes widened again as something in her mind clicked. She never had a talent of a matchmaker like her grandmother Anne did but there was no doubt that Phillip and Lily just clicked. Hester wasn't sure if it was the sun that shone at the two of them so brightly that made her see it or was it that she always knew it at heart? She couldn't decide but she didn't need further questioning. Hester smiled at the two of them as they talked, Lily's cheeks flushing with crimson like they haven't in… years, whilst Phillip's eyes were taking in her every freckle and ginger strand of her hair.

"Only time will show." Hester whispered to herself, her smile the proof of the enchanting atmosphere enveloping the day she thought would be like every other day.

"Today is one of these days when everything falls into place, don't you all think?" Gil asked people belonging in his heart who were sitting around him.

The sun was out in all its glory whilst the summer breeze blew ever so softly onto the faces of the Ford siblings, Daria and Vance; all sitting on the verandah of the House of Dreams with Poppy playing with her dollhouse on the ground with Hester and Vance. Daria was sitting on Gil's lap, her arms around his neck and their eyes never really letting one another's to look at anything else but each other. Selwyn sat on a chair right behind Vance who once in a while would turn to gaze up into his eyes with a smile as if to reassure herself of the love they both shared. Hester would look at each of them and her own smile appeared upon her pale face yet also a heartache which she felt on that day almost unbearably.

Phillip was already gone to New York as his parents anticipated his prompt return. Both Hester and Lily were reluctant to let him go so quickly, only a week after his arrival, yet they couldn't help it and they did let him go. Somehow, the departure of Phillip filled Hester with a different kind of joy and hope for she knew that now after this whole week spent together, Lily had never been so close to him as she was now and this too could bloom into something more, Hester's matchmaking brain was telling her so. And with all the romances, love or maybe-one-day romances occurring all around her, Hester couldn't quite hide her internal pain for very much longer and everyone could see that but no one could do a single thing about it, Hester couldn't herself. So she simply let the time pass as her mind was as full of Marshall as it had never been before.

"Most definitely." Daria agreed merrily, her cheeks flushed as she kissed her husband on the cheek "Yet, I feel as if something is coming today. I don't know what though…" she frowned a little and Gilly returned the kiss swiftly.

"Ha!" Selwyn smiled as he looked behind his shoulder "You couldn't be more right, Daria. There's someone coming up the lane." he squinted his eyes to see the figure approaching on the horizon as everyone followed his gaze "Who is this stranger?" he asked and Vance put her hand a bit nervously on his knee as he squeezed her hand in the reassurance of his presence.

Hester stood up, feeling her mind detaching from her body. She didn't even think of standing up before she actually did. She looked closely at the figure, a few moments later her vision cleared and she felt supernatural, for she could see the person coming up the lane as if he was a few inches away from her. Her eyes widened as her heart stopped beating and her eyes filled with a thick wall of tears. "It's him." she breathed out and everyone looked at her with worry. Hester gasped as if she struggled to breathe. "Marshall!" she screamed out, so loud she startled everyone around her.

Hester, without looking at anyone's reaction to her unusual self, stepped down on the lane swiftly, her mind as clear and bright as the day around her. "By God, she's right!" Gilly clasped his hands as his own eyes filled with tears.

"Marshall!" Hester, unable to move, screamed with joy again and a figure of a man in uniform froze in place at once. He then dropped the bags he carried and started to run in her direction just as she did. "Marshall! Marshall!" her face was lit with happiness she never knew before.

"Hester! My darling!" he caught her in his arms and started kissing every inch of her face as she was trying to kiss his hands. Both of them trembled as if from one another's touch, so familiar yet so strange at the same time "I'm so sorry, my honey-kid, I'm sorry for causing you so much worry." he whispered into her ear, with Hester feeling her shoulder stained with his own tears.

Hester pulled away, her heart beating so fast she thought it could be easily visible through her dress. She put her hands on his cheeks, wiped away his tears, touched the scar on his neck and kissed it softly as he stood in front of her, looking at her lovingly. "You're here." she whispered out from joy, holding onto the collar of his jacket for fear he could disappear within seconds. "My God, what has happened to you? Does anyone know that you're in Canada? Why haven't you written that you were coming home?!" she said so quickly Marshall couldn't help smiling wider at her.

"I was found. God knows how but when I woke up in a hospital in France, I could not for the life of me remember a thing. I had amnesia, the doctor said. I didn't even know what my name is and how old I am." he replied calmly yet emotions still lingered inside of his throat as he held on tight to Hester's waist "That was back in April. I was completely fine, apart from this damned amnesia, and they decided to send me home, wherever that was, in June. They knew I belonged to the Canadian army because funnily enough, the only thing I knew for certain was that I was from Canada. So someone arranged for me a passage to Canada, Montreal first and on my way there, on the ship, I accidentally bumped my head on the doorframe and all of my memories came back, well, apart from what actually happened to me when I was reported missing in action. So after arriving in Montreal, I made my way here in a matter of days. I sent you all a telegram, didn't it come?" he asked nervously after almost losing his voice for telling the story so fast.

Hester kissed his lips tenderly before answering "No, nothing came." she said but then smiled to shush him "It's fine, Marshall. No one is or will be mad at you for this. You're not to blame, dearest." her eyes filled with tears as Marshall kissed her passionately, without even thinking. Hester felt as if she died and was now being reincarnated into her old, good self she never felt she missed as much as she did. Marshall was the missing part of her own self and it still seemed almost ridiculous to her that he was standing right in front of her, his hands on her crimson cheeks and his lips on her own mouth. She was complete and she never wanted this moment to end.

"My beautiful soon-to-be-wife." he whispered to her as she almost jumped from a sudden thrill of excitement and uncontrollable happiness overcoming her as if in waves.

"Yes, very soon." she whispered back as she kissed his nose gently.

"I vow to you now, that I will work so hard for you that at the end of the day I will only have enough energy left to kiss your small, darling hands." he whispered, their foreheads touching gently and their eyes closed.

Hester chuckled softly "We will both work hard. Together, always." she whispered back as they looked into each other's eyes then, lovingly and surely.

"Always." he repeated and then took his sweetheart's hand in his, starting to walk slowly with her by his side in the direction of the House of Dreams, his best friend and his little sister waiting for him, still on the verandah.

"It's all just a beginning." Hester whispered dreamily as she closed her eyes and leant her head against the side of Marshall's chest.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head, thinking that he was the happiest and luckiest man in the world. "A new beginning for us all. It's as exciting as it is fresh."

"And remember, it's with no mistakes in it... yet." Hester replied, a smile on her face widening slightly as she looked up into Marshall's emerald eyes and she knew just as much as she could feel that for as long as he was by her side, the world was nothing but something very possible and... and... wonderful, yes, and filled with some wonderful dreams waiting to be written into their lives. Hester didn't mind if those dreams would exactly happen as she'd wish, she only knew that now, the world was standing in front of them both with its outstretched hands and new possibilities on its horizon.

To Be Continued

Hello, again! I wanted to thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this and any of my other stories. I feel very grateful indeed.

I am currently in the process of writing my new story which will be about Una Meredith after the war. I was always thinking of writing a story about life at Redmond College (Alinyaalethia's incredible story called "Pieces of Lives" definitely pushed me into trying to plan out what I'd like to tell through this kind of a story of my own) and I finally came up with an idea which I really like. So yes, the next story I'll write will be about Una and her life at Redmond College after the war. I am planning to post its first chapter some time in later June so if you're interested in reading it, stay tuned! I do think that I will return to Hester one day though, so that's why the end of this chapter isn't really "The End" yet ;) Thank you all again! I will see you soon. - Bathsheba Blythe