Another Chance Book I of III

Book III-Chapter 75, A Test of Resilience Part 1

Countdown to Filming

Bella's POV

Bella ran a bath and used some of Prince's lavender bath oil and bath beads. She sat on the edge of the tub enjoying the aroma as the hot water gushed into the tub causing it to foam. While she did, Prince who had gotten into a robe was sitting on one of the overstuffed chairs at the foot of their bed thinking about the weeks ahead. While he did not know for certain, he believed that Bella was thinking about that too as she had been relatively silent since they had come into their room. Bella turned off the water and returned to the bedroom to undress and get her robe. She put her dirty clothes into the hamper in their closet and slipping on her robe returned to the bedroom. "Mama, you have been very quiet. Whatcha thinking about"? Bella walked over to him and kissed him on the top of his head. "I was just thinking about the schedule that you shared with us. It is going to be brutal. 11 hour days of filming and then two more hours of musical rehearsals 3 days a week is crazy". Prince pulled her onto his lap and kissing her gently on her lips said, "I know Mama...but it has a beginning and an end. 10 weeks and we are done and then we can plan our wedding and the tour". She quickly thought that through. They had 6 months to plan their away wedding. Prince had already worked out that he would not work from May through the month of July once the film was in the can. But then they would start touring again which was guaranteed to push the numbers on both the film and the Album. He had shared with Bella the error he felt he made with the tour in his last incarnation for the film Purple Rain. He had only done 75 of the 100 shows that had been planned. He had felt like he was going crazy because he was doing the same things over and over every night. But he had moved into recording another album and then released it canceling the last of the tour. That move had slowed down the sales of the album considerably. He could do the shows if he built-in breaks to keep him sane. They could record during the breaks and have an album to release at the end of the tour and limit promotion to Cloud Stream both visual and audio-only for three months or so after if the Cloud Stream Blitz was planned well. With the amount of exposure they had just done, Album #2 should sell very well. He would run this idea by Andy and David he told Bella. Bella nodded her head yes and said..."come on Baby, let's take a bath". Prince noted her quiet tone and smiled and followed her into the bathroom. He took off his robe and climbed into the tub first and then Bella got in. She sighed deeply as the hot water began to comfort her muscles helping them to relax. She had not realized how tense she had been although she knew it was understandable with all that had happened in the last two days. She had pinned up her hair and now rested her head against Prince's chest. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, but then Prince said, "Bella, what's wrong Mama"? Bella sighed again and said "Nothing I guess...I don't really know baby. It just seems like things are moving so fast all of the time. We are always so busy with very little breathing room in between one project and the next. I guess I just want to be able to slow down and just be us when we want to at times". Prince rubbed her arms up and down gently. So are you finally wishing you had fallen in love with a doctor, lawyer, or Indian Chief instead of a performer", he asked? While he had asked the question in a joking manner, he was really feeling that anxiety in the pit of his belly that arose from his fear of losing his Bella. He had come a long way...but he wondered if that fear would ever truly be defeated. Bella turned around in the tub so that she was facing him. "Prince, while I may sometimes wish we could do nothing for several months except enjoy each other, I will never ever regret falling in love with you". You have always been and remain my reason for being. I love you more than all of the distance between here and heaven...what I feel cannot be measured as it is too vast in size and scope". She leaned forward and kissed his incredibly soft, warm lips. "Prince I would be totally lost without you and your presence as my leader and guide in this life. You are the only thing that really matters to me underneath the sun". (1) Her eyes were now filled with tears. "I am so sorry for how I am acting. I...". "Bella, no. Don't apologize because you have nothing to be sorry for. You are entitled to your feelings and they matter to me deeply. A lot has been thrown a lot at you in the last year or so. Intense study to graduate early, to begin with, so that you could remain with me and then performing with the band, touring not once but twice, the book and its promotion, helping with the screenplay, our engagement and now we are beginning to make a movie while we still have a wedding to plan and another tour to prepare for, this time worldwide. It is a lot for me Bella, much less for a 19-year-old girl who only wants to love this man she is pledged to marry. It may not help Mama, but I want you to know, I could not have done this...any of this and be in this good of condition mentally, emotionally, or even physically without you. I know because I did a lousy job of pacing myself and caring for myself the last time around and died all too early because of it. I never knew happiness before you Bella and I promise, I will work hard and be focused so that we can have the luxury of dropping off the grid whenever we want to in the years to come...us and our babies. I promise that I will work to give you that gift if you will just...", Bella put her fingers to his lips as his eyes were now filled with tears too. "Prince, she whispered, I will live and die by your side. I will always be with you until God takes one of us home and even then my heart will be where ever you are until we join eternally. I know you will get us to the point of being able to have greater control over our lives. I just get a little weird now and then. But please baby, do not confuse that with my having lost faith in you or my love for you having changed. It has not and it never will. I trust you just like I trust God because in you I see the hand of God at work every day". He couldn't help it...tears were running down his face. He silently thanked God for the love of this beautiful, strong, resilient woman. Bella picked up a washcloth off of one of the towel racks on the wall and wetting it wiped his face. She said nothing else, she did not need to. She simply bathed her man and with every stroke of the washcloth and its lavender suds, his confidence in himself and in their union grew. How is it that he could be so amazed at the partnership they had every day? He didn't know...it would seem it would have sunk in by now, nor did he care. He was just grateful that it was real! He stood up and washed his private parts while Bella gently bathed his legs. He then did the same ritual of bathing her. When they had thoroughly rinsed off. He climbed out of the tub and quickly dried himself. He then helped her out of the tub and dried off her gorgeous, feminine body with a plush gray towel and then moisturized her and she did the same for him. Pulling on their robes they returned to the bedroom. " I am going to make us some tea," Prince said as he pulled on a pair of purple silk boxers. "Thank you, baby," she said.