Chapter Nine

They had settled into life at the coffee shop, and John was thoroughly enjoying it. He liked his co-workers, and he really enjoyed making the pastries each morning and interacting with customers too. Anna was at home today resting and organizing the clothes in the baby's nursery. Her maternity leave had started the week prior, and so she hadn't seen much of the shop. Tonight, she would likely see it for the last time until after the baby was born. She and John would be performing some of their latest original songs. They couldn't wait to get a reaction on some of their new stuff and connect with the audience through their music.

As John was ringing up his customer, he heard the man next in line wrapping up his phone conversation, "Yeah babe, I'm getting your usual. Love you. See you soon." He hung up and took his place in front of the register.

John smiled and greeted him, "Hello, what can I get for you today?"

"A latte with oat milk, to-go please. That's for my wife," he explained, somewhat dorkily.

"And for you?"

"Just a coffee with cream please."

"Alright," John said as he rang the man up, "Say, if you and your wife are looking for something to do tonight, you should come here. We're having an open mic, and then my wife and I perform our set afterwards."

"I think she'd like that," the man smiled as he handed his credit card to John, "What kind of music do you perform?"

"Mellow rock, mostly. Songs about love and life."

"Originals or covers?"

"Some of both," John answered, "though our lineup for tonight is all originals. Our baby is due soon, so this is our last performance for a while."

"Well, I wish you luck."

"Thanks, I hope to see you there."

As John made the man's drinks, he couldn't help but smile. He was full of a nervous excitement about the performance, but now he knew there would be at least one friendly face in the audience.

The band was set up, and they were ready to play their last set for a while. They had recruited one of the locals from the band they heard at the restaurant on their wedding day to play drums for them from time to time, and John had them covered on keys and guitar. Anna made herself comfortable on a stool on stage. John had made sure it was cushioned and something she would be comfortable sitting on for the duration of their set at 38 weeks pregnant. She loved him for his thoughtfulness in these kinds of small gestures, including the water bottle he left on the music stand in front of her. She took a sip and then began to introduce them to the small audience in the coffeehouse.

"Hey everybody, I'm Anna and that's my husband John, and we are Magnolia Breeze. We also have some help on the drums tonight from a local artist, Dan Henderson." The crowd clapped and cheered, and Anna smiled at their enthusiasm. "We're going to perform a short line up of songs we wrote, and we hope you enjoy."

The crowd clapped once more as John positioned his hands above the keys. Soon enough, his fingers were moving, playing the opening notes to "Some Kind of Wonderful" before Anna began to sing. As John harmonized with her, a hush fell over the audience, and the feeling of love passed between John and Anna. They had always connected through their music, but something was different today. Their connection felt extra present. It was like they felt their love more keenly as they sang about it. And it was magical.

They finished their first song and mouthed "I love you" to each other before continuing on with the rest of their set. All the songs went well, Anna and John clearly putting their all into the performance and the audience loving it. As they finished the final song they had planned on their set list, "Love Will Keep Us Together," John prepared to thank the audience for coming and wrap everything up. Before he could get a word out, however, Anna spoke.

"Normally, that would be where the night ends," she said, "But since today is going to be our last performance for a little while, I thought it should end with a little bit of a hurrah. I wanted to surprise my husband, so I asked Dan to help me with one last song. It's not an original, but I think you'll find it's a song with a meaning about love much like the love we sang about before."

John was taken aback at his wife's words. He couldn't believe she had done all this to surprise him. He wanted to say something, to thank her in some way, but he found he couldn't move from his seat as he watched Dan grab a violin and begin to play.

Anna closed her eyes and began to sing, feeling the music wash over her as it poured straight from her soul. At last. My love has come along. My lonely days are over. And life is like a song.

As she continued on in the song, she looked at her husband. His eyes were welling up with tears of pride as he felt every word she was singing. It was like her soul was speaking right to his.

When she got to the bridge, she sang of their life together, the dream they were sharing. All the parts of it that had come true already and all the parts yet to come. I found a dream that I could speak to. A dream that I can call my own. As John watched her sing about her love for him, the life they'd built, and the dreams they'd fulfilled, he couldn't help but smile, especially when he noticed where Anna's free hand was placed: right over their baby. The baby that was their future. Of all their hopes and dreams, being parents together was their biggest dream, and it was happening.

She looked over at him, and their eyes met, sparkling with love for one another in the form of small tears. John's smile made Anna smile and then smirk for a brief moment when she realized what the last verse was about and began to sing. You smiled, you smiled. Oh, and then the spell was cast. And here we are in Heaven. For you are mine at last.

She couldn't help but think just how true that had been. John had smiled at her while he was singing in the pub in Ireland, and that was one of several reasons she had felt such a connection to him that night and from then on. She loved him and connected with him on a level she could not possibly express with words. With music, she could come closer. Still, it was an intangible feeling hard to describe. Nevertheless, her soul felt it. And expressed it. And connected to John's soul through it. She never thought she'd know what having a soulmate felt like, but with John, she most certainly did.

And it felt like home. She always felt at home with John. Her John. The man who would love her to the ends of the Earth. The man who she would raise a family with. The man who she would grow old with. And the man who would always look at her with the most special smile. And there was nothing more heavenly than that.

A/N: This is the last official chapter of the story. I hope you liked that and are looking forward to the epilogue which will put a button on things pretty well I think.