Emotional Connection

The Epilogue

Ashley- Rae knew statistically that if one's parents got divorced or had an abusive relationship, then the child would be more likely to end up in the same type of relationship or their relationship would not last. And after learning the truth about what had really happened between her parents, she thought perhaps that statistic had increased for her. But she didn't care. She was going to marry Charlie, and the two of them would beat the statistics together.

"Oh, my!" Molly exclaimed, fluffing out the tulle skirt on the dress. Ashley stood in front of the mirror that had been hung up for the specific day.

She was not very adept at fashion, especially when it came to things like... well, this, so Jace and James had been the ones to drag her to a bridal boutique and met Molly, Hermione, Ginny, and Fleur there. They had chosen multiple dresses for her to try and it seemed as though they would never find the one. When she had gone home that day, her aunt had met her with a big package.

'It was your mother's. She was always ahead of her time when it came to fashion.' Her aunt had told her. Although her feet were killing her from the constant walking around that day, she felt a small burst of energy when she'd heard about her mother. The crew and Ashley had all agreed that it was the perfect dress.

"It's very beautiful!" Fleur gushed. She had done Ashley's make up, insisting upon helping.

"I agree, you make a lovely bride," Ginny stated and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." Ashley politely replied, blushing under the foundation. She wasn't quite used to all the attention, even after all of the speeches as head of the hospital and essentially being the point of call for everything at the sanctuary now.

"I still can't believe you're getting married! After the whole time of you denying your love and those towel affairs of getting Charlie to man up, James and I thought we'd have to do the proposal for you two!" Jace teased, adjusting her veil as he spoke.

"Well, when you think you're going to die any minute, you tend to not have time to overthink and say 'no'. Besides, I expect many more of those towel acts. Especially when he forgets our anniversary." Ashley responded, lightly chuckling.

"Ah, you're right. Okay, kids and Mrs Weasley, let's get this ceremony going. Now you all know your places-"

"Yes!" The group of women interrupted.

"Jace, you've only gone over it a hundred times," Ginny exclaimed, "You're almost worse than my mum!"

"Well, excuse me for caring about my son's wedding!" Mrs Weasley waltzed out of the room before assuring Ashley she looked amazing and couldn't wait for her to join the family.

"Well, fine, if you're sure you all know what you're doing, get to it!" Jace recovered before walking over to Ashley who had begun to stare at the mirror, fidgeting her hands nervously, twisting the necklace Charlie had given her years ago. "You doing okay, Ash?"

"Hmm? Yeah, fine." She replied quickly in a slightly higher tone than before.

"Ash, it's normal to get the wedding jitters. Everyone gets cold feet. It's ok if you-"

"It's not me I'm worried about. I love Charlie, I know I do. He says he loves me and I believe him. But what if, what if he changes his mind?" She turned to him, a look of panic in her eyes that the makeup couldn't cover. "I mean you are right, we've only been dating a short time and we are young and-"

"Ok, I'm going to stop you right there. I know your parents... in a way, and their story was no fairytale. And the 'what if's, everyone says what if. Life is full of them. But it's you get to choose which 'what if' you want. What if Charlie changes his mind about loving you? Ok, I mean, you're right, he could. Ten years down the line he could despise you."