EPILOGUE
“I feel completely ridiculous!” Heath looked down at his elaborate Prince Charming costume and heaved a ragged sigh. “How in the world did I agree to this? Who bamboozled me into wearing this thing?”
Parker, Jason and Caleb couldn’t manage to keep straight faces as they looked at him. They were grinning and chortling with laughter. They weren’t even trying to spare his feelings.
Heath held up his hands. “That’s it. I can’t do this. I want Bella to marry me, not split a rib laughing at me.”
“You look wonderful, Heath,” Addie said, glaring at his brothers. “Tell him, Shayla.”
Shayla looked him up and down with approving eyes. “You look so handsome. Trust me. Shayla is going to swoon.”
“She’s seven months pregnant. I really don’t want her to swoon,” Heath said, looking down doubtfully at his outfit.
“I don’t mean literally,” Shayla said. “But she’s going to be in sheer heaven.”
“Either that or she’s going to run in the opposite direction,” Micah said, causing his brothers to erupt in another round of laughter.
Shayla jabbed Micah hard in the side.
Micah yelped. He frowned at Shayla. “If you jab me one more time in my ribs I’m going to go old-school on you like when we were kids.”
“Well, leave him alone then,” Shayla said in a raised voice. She swung her gaze around to include all of her brothers. “You boys are incorrigible. He needs support, not ridicule.”
“She’s right,” Addie said, chiming in to support her sister-in-law. “This is going to be one of the most important days of Heath’s life. Are you going to reduce it to a joke?”
Heath could tell by the looks on his brothers’ faces that they had been shamed by Addie and Shayla. He folded his arms across his chest and rocked back on his feet. It was a rare occasion when he had the opportunity to see his brothers looking so mollified. He wasn’t going to let the moment pass him by.
“You really should be ashamed of yourselves,” he said, smirking at them.
“Bella is going to be here any minute,” Addie said. “We need to get this together.”
“Okay. What do you need us to do? We’re Donahue’s. We’re all in this together,” Jason said.
“Donahue strong!” Parker said with a grin.
Suddenly, Heath felt a burst of confidence. What he was worried about? He and Bella were in love. They always had been. And despite their ups and downs, they were back on track. They were having a child together. And both of them in their heart of hearts wanted to raise their baby together as a family. He was just taking it a few steps forward and hoping to seal the deal with a ring and a ceremony.
Till death do us part. He could honestly say he wanted to stick by Bella’s side till he drew his last breath. She was it. The one. His forever and a day. Now, all he had to do was tell Bella what he wanted for them and pray she felt the same way.
Lord, please grant me favor. I’ll never forsake her or our child.
He shook his head. Dressing up in this ridiculous Prince Charming costume served as proof of his abiding love for Bella. Although the costume was a bit of showmanship, it wasn’t truly about that. It was about knowing deep in your soul that you couldn’t walk through life without the other person. It was about knowing that they were your true North. Heath knew without a shadow of a doubt that Bella was his forever. His one and only. He couldn’t even imagine being with another.
“She’s coming!” Shayla called out, interrupting his thoughts about the woman he adored. “We need to scoot upstairs. Is everything set up?”
“We’ll have the music streaming as soon as she comes in the house,” Micah said.
“The sparkling cider and flutes are on the dining room table,” Caleb said. “There are chocolates too and strawberries.”
Addie clasped her hands in front of her. “The white rose petals look lovely,” she gushed, looking down at the petals scattered along the hardwood floor, making a path. “It’s a wonderful touch.”
“Well done,” Shayla said, leaning in and kissing Micah on the cheek. “I’m proud of you.”
“Aww. You do love me,” Micah said. “I knew it!”
“Sometimes,” Shayla said in a teasing tone. “When you’re not driving me crazy.”
Caleb grabbed Addie’s hand. “We need to head upstairs. I just peeked out the window and she’s getting out of her car.”
A flurry of movement ensued with Addie, Caleb, Shayla, Micah, Parker, Caleb and Jason scrambling upstairs. Caleb turned around and asked in a loud whisper, “Do you have the ring?”
Heath patted his pants pocket. “It’s right here, bro. Thanks for asking.”
Caleb gave him a thumbs up and darted upstairs with the others.
Heath took a deep, steadying breath and walked toward the front door. He pulled it open just as Bella hit his front porch. Her eyes widened when she saw him. He took a moment to drink in the sight of her. She was wearing a long-sleeved blue dress that almost matched the color of her eyes. She had black flats on that resembled ballerina slippers. Lately she’d been complaining about her feet being swollen and none of her shoes fitting well. It was nice to see she’d found something comfortable to wear.
“Heath! What’s going on? Why are you dressed like that?” she asked. She cocked her head to the side. “I hear music. Where is it coming from?”
He waved her inside his house. “Why don’t you come inside and find out?”
Bella shook her head and made a face. “Is this some sort of prank?” she asked, slowly walking into the house.
He walked back inside the house behind her. He heard Bella let out a gasp as she spotted the floral petals. “This is gorgeous. W-what’s it for? I-I don’t understand.”
Suddenly, the sound of “Someday my prince will come” from Cinderella filled the room. Bella’s jaw dropped. She shook her head.
“You’re Prince Charming. That’s why you’re dressed like that,” Bella said in a breathy voice.
Heath reached for Bella’s hand and he dropped down to one knee. “I hope this makes it more clear to you, Bella.” The shock etched on Bella’s face almost made him laugh out loud. If he hadn’t been so nervous, he might have chuckled. As it was, he felt little beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. He hoped Bella couldn’t see how rattled he felt.
“We’ve been through a lot. I’ve never stopped loving you for even an instant. God willing, I want us to spend every day of our lives together, from this moment forward. I want you to be my wife, Bella. My other half. I want to lie beside you every night and wake up to your beautiful face each and every morning. I want to make a home with you and show our children that there’s nothing stronger than the love we feel for one another.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a sparkling ring. With trembling fingers, he held it up to her.
“Bella Vicente, will you marry me? I know I’ve put you through the ringer, but I hope in recent days and weeks I’ve made up for it a little bit. I hope you know how I feel about you. I’d walk through fire for you. All I want is to make a life with you and our child. Say yes, Bella. Please say yes.”
Bella was crying so hard, Heath could barely hear her answer to his heartfelt question. She began to hiccup. “I-I’m sorry to be such a sobbing mess, but I’m just so happy I can barely stand it.”
He wiped his hand across his brow. “Phew. For a second I wasn’t sure why you were crying.”
“Oh Heath, I get it. You’re dressed up like Prince Charming because I always said I wanted to be Cinderella. And the music—”
She began to cry again. “You’ve done all of this for me.”
“Bella, don’t cry. You haven’t given me an answer yet to my question. Will you?”
“Of course I will,” she yelled, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. She sniffled a few times then held out her ring finger. “Put that shiny rock on my finger.”
Heath burst out laughing and slid the emerald cut diamond on Bella’s ring finger. “It fits your finger perfectly,” he said, admiring the way his ring looked on his fiancée.
Bella couldn’t take her eyes off the ring. “Oh Heath, it’s stunning.” She swung her gaze up. “You didn’t have to dress up like Prince Charming, Heath, although it really made it all the more special. I would have said yes if you were wearing a potato sack.”
Heath chuckled. “Now you tell me. My brothers got a kick out of seeing me dressed up like a fairytale Prince. I’m not sure they’ll ever let me live it down.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned up for a kiss. For a moment as their lips met they celebrated coming full circle with their love story. They had come through the fire and were on their way to a beautiful life together as husband and wife. They each knew with a deep certainty that adversity wouldn’t throw them off course.
After the kiss ended, Bella said, “It doesn’t matter what they think. My fiancé is the most romantic man on the planet. Bar none.” She swept her palm across his cheek and gazed lovingly into his eyes.
“Fiancé. That sure sounds wonderful. My fiancée.” He shook his head. He’d come so far in the last six months. He still had to continue to do the hard work on himself, but he was going to work really hard to become whole again. With Bella by his side and a newborn in their lives, Heath knew he could face all of his issues. He had the world in the palm of his hand and he wasn’t going to take it for granted for a single second.
The worst was over. And he’d learned that without Bella in his life, true happiness could never be achieved.
“I’ve wanted to marry you for the longest time. It was written on my heart way back when we were teenagers.” Heath let out a chuckle. “Teenage boys aren’t supposed to think of things like that, but I did, although I never told a single soul. My brothers would have laughed me out of the house.”
“That’s really sweet. I feel like I’ve been in love with you forever. I’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time, never imagining it would be as wonderful as this moment. You made it really beautiful for me, Heath. It’s a moment I’ll tell our children about one day.”
“Our children.” He reached out and placed his hands on Bella’s beautifully rounded stomach. “We are truly blessed. And those blessings will trickle down to our children.”
All of a sudden the sound of crashing footsteps rang out in the stillness of the room. Heath had almost forgotten his family was upstairs. Bella jumped in surprise. She pressed her hand to her throat and let out an involuntary sound.
“Oh, that scared me,” she said, eyes wide. “It sounded like a herd of elephants.”
“Sorry about that. I honestly forgot they were here. They helped me with the execution of all this,” he said, pointing toward the dining room where the table had been elegantly set.
“It’s beautiful,” Bella gushed, moving towards the entryway and reaching out for a piece of chocolate. She closed her eyes as the chocolate disappeared inside her mouth. “Mmm. It’s delicious.”
“We waited upstairs for as long as possible,” Jason said as he entered the room, a sheepish expression etched on his face. “We were going a little stir crazy up there.”
“We wanted to join in on the celebration,” Shayla said, reaching out and pulling Bella into a hug. Heath grinned as he watched the two embrace. It was obvious all of Shayla’s reservations about Bella had evaporated.
“Congratulations!” Addie yelled, throwing confetti in the air.
Heath coughed as some confetti landed in his mouth.
“Oops,” Addie said in a soft voice. “I’m so sorry, Heath. I got a bit carried away.”
“My wife is nothing if not exuberant,” Caleb said, placing a kiss on Addie’s temple.
“No worries, Addie,” Heath said, grinning at his sister-in-law. I know you’ve been rooting for us.”
“I have,” Addie said, reaching out and squeezing his hand. “God answered all of our prayers.”
Parker began pouring sparkling cider into glasses and handing them out to everyone, starting with Heath and Bella. When everyone had a glass in their hands, Parker hit a spoon against his glass and said, “I’d like to make a toast to Heath and Bella.” Once he had the attention of everyone in the room, he continued. “The two of you serve as inspiration for us all. You fought for your love. Your love has withstood the hard things that life throws our way. You’ve weathered separation, disappointments, losing loved ones, military service. In the end it’s made you stronger.”
“Thanks, Parker,” Heath said, beaming as he looked down at Bella. He had his arm encircled around her waist, and if truth be told, he never wanted to let go of her.
“Let’s head to the Silver Spoon and tell Mom and Dad. They’ve been praying for us this whole time,” Heath said. “Even with their own troubles they’ve been rooting for our happy ending.”
Bella nodded. “I think we need to continue to pray for them, Heath. They really do belong together.”
Heath grinned at her. “I like the way you think. I agree with you, but we can’t push them back together. They have to realize that life is better when they’re together.”
“Is that what you realized about us?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her lips.
“I love you, Heath Donahue.” She raised her hand and brushed her fingers across his lips.
He stared down into her sky blue eyes, marveling at everything he saw reflected in her orbs. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love you, Bella Vincente. And I hope you don’t object, but I really want to marry you as soon as possible.” He reached out and pressed his palm against her perfectly rounded belly. “And it’s for a million reasons other than this little cherub.”
“Why would I mind? I’ve wanted to be your wife for a very long time. I don’t care about the bells and whistles. Let’s make this happen.”
“We’re going to be a family, Bella. That means the world to me.”
“Oh, Heath. Tell me you love me again. It will never get old hearing you say it.”
“I love you to the moon and back, my sweet Bella. And I always will,” Heath said, placing a triumphant kiss on her lips that signified everything the future held in store for them. Happiness. Joy. And a lifetime of love.
THE END