The Cinderella Bride (NaNoWriMo14)

Epilogue

EPILOGUE


Please read the author's note at the end as it's important.

Sean died a year later. He fought very hard and lost his battle with cancer. No amount of preparation could have eased the ache everyone felt by his loss. Though it was hard, Diana and Carter got through it and strangely the entire event following Sean’s final breath reminded me of how I lost my father.

It was no easy task but I kept my head held high and that’s exactly what Carter and Diana did as well. Two years have passed since then, the wound that was inflicted upon Sean’s death has somewhat healed but every year, I follow Carter and Diana visit his grave on the anniversary of his death.

“Aunt Ava! Could you read this to me?” A little body approaches me with a book in his hands.

“What book is that?” I ask as I lift him to my lap.

“Jack and the beanstalk.” He replies.

“Where’s your mother?”

He pouts, “Mommy is too busy with Aunt Diana.”

I ruffle his hair, “Where’s your dad then?”

As if on command, Caleb enters the living room and finds his son on my lap, “There you are, Alex. What are you doing on Aunt Ava’s lap?”

He waves the book, “I want Aunt Ava to read this to me.”

“Why didn’t you ask Mommy or I to do it, I’m sure Aunt Ava is busy.”

I smile, “No worries, I wasn’t really.” Caleb takes a seat next to me on the couch, “Erika seems to be handling this whole kids thing well, I suppose.” I say out-loud.

Caleb reaches out and lays Alex on his lap, “As well as she can.”

I chuckle at the image of Caleb’s wife, “And she’s pregnant with baby number two?”

He nods and leans into my ear and whispers something, so Alex can’t hear him, “Yes, note to self, shower sex does not prevent pregnancies.”

I look at him disgusted, “Ew. No. Caleb too much info. No.” I shudder at the image he just put in my head.

He chuckles, “Just kidding.”

A few months after he moved back to England, Caleb met Erika, she used to be an intern at his law firm. Something sparked between them and here they are, three years later, married with baby number two on it’s way.

“Hey, there sis.” Jennifer says coming into the living room. I smile and stand up hugging her. “Ooo! Somebody missed their baby sister!” She says chuckling.

Shortly after our wedding, Jennifer discovered her passion for photography. She’s working with as a fashion photographer now which is good since she loves both fashion and photography and I’m pretty happy with how her life turned out, at least she isn’t staying with my mom at home doing nothing.

“Well yeah, how did the shoot go?” I ask.

She shrugs, “It was okay, I guess. The model was so demanding, I would have shoved my foot up her-”

“Jennifer!” Caleb shouts, covering Alex’s ears. “Language.” He says.

Jennifer rolls her eyes, “Oh, grow up. He’ll know all these words eventually.”

“Alex, go see what mommy’s doing.” He tells Alex and lowers Alex to the ground. Alex does as his father tells him and runs off. “I’d prefer later than now. He’s still a kid, I doubt he would need to know what ass means.”

In an attempt to change the subject, I say, “Mom’s in the back with Diana and Erika, why don’t you go help her.”

She crosses her arms, “God. No. I’m never going to cook with Erika again. I hate getting bossed around. She nearly strangled me when I over-seasoned the turkey last thanksgiving.”

Caleb and I laugh at the image. Caleb wipes a fake tear, “That’s Erika alright.”

“She’s too demanding.” Jennifer mutters.

Caleb shakes his head, “Not really. She’s different, yes but I like her like that. She’s very assertive and I like that most about her.” He says more to himself than to Jennifer and I.

“Dinner’s done.” Carter says popping his head in the living room.

I raise my eyebrow, “I thought you were putting Clarice to bed.” I say.

“I was about to before Alex came barging in and tempted Clarice to go play in the playroom, so I let her go off with him.”

Clarice is Anita’s child. Since Anita gave birth to her, Carter and I have been treating her as one of our own despite the fact we didn’t have kids yet.

I walk past Carter, “Since dinner’s ready, I guess I should go help the rest of the ladies set the tables.” I stop halfway and turn to Caleb, “Make sure Alex is already down by then, he won’t listen if Carter tells him to come down.”

Caleb chuckles, “Will do captain!”

I then help Erika set the table with the Christmas dinner she had helped Diana and my mother prepare, “You look exhausted.” I state.

She lays the forks and spoons beside each plate, “Comes with being pregnant, I suppose.” She says, smiling.

“Is Alex excited to have a sibling? Do you know the sex yet?” I ask.

She nods and turns to me, “A girl and yes, he says that he can’t wait for a baby sister.”

The front door creaks open, “Excuse me.” I say to Erika and run off to the front door.

The image that greets me is Diana hugging a guy. “Carlisle, Vous êtes venu!” She exclaims happily, her long brown hair swaying with her head.

“Carlisle? This is him?” I say walking towards Diana’s fiance, “Hello there, glad you could make it.”

He smiles and looks lovingly at Diana which makes me grin, “She would have killed me if I didn’t.”

Diana shrugs, “I thought it was time he met my family and isn’t Christmas the best time to do that? Besides, I met all his family and I’m pretty sure everyone hates me.”

“Ma chérie, nobody hates you.”

“Tell that to your mother, she glared daggers at me when I accidentally broke her favorite vase.”

Carlisle shrugs, “She’ll get over it, don’t worry.”

“Dinners ready, so come when you are.” I say walking away from the couple who seem to be very absorbed in conversation with each other.

After a full half hour of trying to lure Alex and Clarice out of the playroom with candy and trying to salvage what’s left of the over-cooked chicken. Everybody’s already sitting at the dinner table.

Before I let anyone eat, I stand up, “I have an announcement to make.” I say.

“You’re telling them now?” Carter asks. I nod and his hand searches for mine under the table, when he finds it, he squeezes it reassuringly, “Good luck.”

I smile and take a deep breath but Jennifer’s voice interrupts me, “Get on with it already, I’m starving!”

I roll my eyes, “I am.” I pause trying to search for a way to say what I need to, “I’m pregnant.”

Silence. After a minute or two of full silence, Caleb stands up, “It’s about time!” He averts his gaze to Carter, “Congratulations, Carter.” Caleb turns to me, “Ava.”

Everyone then proceeds to stand up and start congratulating Carter and I. I smile when I think of everyone seated at this table.

So many things can change in a year and even more in three but I am grateful for everything that has entered my life in the past four years. I’m grateful for being able to meet Carter and though as silly as it seems know, I’m glad I made that deal with him. I’m glad I was given the chance to love him and given the chance to be loved by him and now I’m glad to be carrying our child.

And from now till forever, I know that what we have will last till our very deaths.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So, who's sad to say goodbye to Carter and Ava? I am, a little. Did you guys think the ending was appropriate? Did you like it?

Vote+Comment if you liked it.

Also, I've realized how weak I made Ava and I'll be revising this book later on in November or so, so yeah. I'll change some parts and add some parts but CAN YOU GUYS BELIEVE IT? I FINISHED A WHOLE 50K NOVEL IN ONE MONTH. LESS THAN THAT ACTUALLY. I HAVE 55K WORDS FOR THE CINDERELLA BRIDE AND IM PRETTY PROUD OF MY ACCOMPLISHMENT AND OMG THE LOWEST THIS BOOK HAS EVER GOTTEN IS #106 ON CHICKLIT. WOOOOO

So yeah, I'm not sure if I forgot anything but yeah, I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I did writing it :)