Thank you all one final time for all your reviews and support! I would love this story to go on and on, but with school... I can't :( But I will try to continue my other story, My Girl. Thanks again and enjoy this short Epilogue! Once again- Song: Love Never Dies from the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Epilogue
Love never dies once it is in you. Life may be fleeting. Love lives on.
Two years later found Charles and Elsie happily living in a good sized, three bedroom house. Charles was promoted at work and was now making more than enough to support them. While he was at work, Elsie kept house, did the wash and the grocery shopping. She enjoyed cooking new meals for him. She always had dinner and a kiss waiting for him when he got home.
Charles's boys shared one of the three bedrooms when they visited every other weekend. The boys found that they looked forward to these visits more and more as time went on.
That third bedroom was about to come in handy. Elsie waddled around the house behind her 7 month pregnant stomach. She set the table for two in their lovely yellow kitchen and lit the candles in the middle. The light from the candles bounced off the two gold bands circling her fourth finger, the bands with neither a beginning nor an ending. She selected a bottle of red wine that paired with her meal. She set it beside Charles's plate so he could open it when he came in.
She heard the front door open. "Els, I'm home!"
She turned the burners down and waddled over to the door. "Good evening, darling." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "How was your day?" She helped him take off his coat.
"Well," he thought." It started with you and it will end with you, so it must be a very good day." He pulled her into his chest, as much as he could for the next few months, and pressed his lips against hers.
When the kiss ended she pulled back."Well that was nice, darling?"
"Isn't it always?" He rubbed his hands over her protruding stomach. "How are you feeling?"
"Your son or daughter have been taking it easy on their mum. They've had a restful day." Her hand joined his.
"I'm glad to hear it. Else I would have to have a serious talk with them." He gave her a loving grin. "What is that I smell for dinner?"
"Steak. I marinated it with a new sauce. Smells wonderful though doesn't it!" She moved to walk back into the kitchen, but was pulled back into his arms. He planted light kisses down her neck and shoulder. "I see you're the one who's proving to be high maintenance today."
He smiled at his ever amusing wife. "How sharp you are. I do require your attention for a short while, but only to give you this."
He pulled a large jewelry box from behind his back and reached around her so she saw it.
"Darling!" She turned in his arms and opened the box.
She found a small silver necklace with three hanging beads, one a shell, one a fish, and one a diamond.
He rested his hand on hers. "Each bead has a special memory for us. The shell, from when we first met at the shore. The fish, like our old Claude in Acapulco. And the diamond…"
"Our wedding," she finished for him. She fingered the delicate necklace gently, letting each precious memory live again inside her mind.
"Yes, my darling. The diamond is for our wedding and the rest of our lives together."
Elsie was speechless and moved her lips to his chin, his cheek, and then his lips in quick succession. "Charles, I don't know what to say. It's absolutely beautiful and I will treasure it always."
She turned her back to him so he could fasten it around her neck. She felt the weight dangle and saw how perfectly it laid on her.
"I don't think I'll ever take it off." She turned towards him again.
He held her beneath his chin and rocked back and forth. His hands traveled to her now wide sides and he began to chuckle.
Elsie pulled back. "And what are you on about?"
"I was thinking about our child, what else?"
Elsie grinned when she saw his enlivened expression. "My whole life I have dreamed of having a wee lad or lass to dote on and love." She paused to pat his chest and gaze into his eyes. "But I think I am most excited to introduce him or her to their Papa."
He had to give her a long kiss after that confession. They were content to hold each other for a long moment.
"Care to guess what I am most excited for, sweetheart?"
She didn't care to guess so he gave his answer.
Softly and with conviction, he began. "I cannot wait for the day I get to hold a manifestation of our love in my arms."
She cried so many times since they found out she was expecting, but she never shed as many silent tears as she did after his words.
"Our child is proof of my undying love for you, my darling. And a means in which my love for you will live on."
Life may be fleeting. Love lives on.