Alright, we have reached the end...I am so sad! I don't know what I'll do without this story to post and all you lovely reviewers! I can't tell you how much you all mean to me...so let's get on with the last chapter and then I'll do a whole load of shout outs! Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Aly blew out the candles on the cake. She looked across the white iced pastry to the four-year-old girl and two-year-old boy sitting at the table. Taylor leaned over them with a camera. Aly laughed as he shot a picture of her with the cake that claimed she was twenty-seven. Linda walked around the table, setting plates in front of Taylor. He quickly cut the cake and gave a piece to everyone. Aly smiled at her little brother and then at her Dad. This was how her birthday was supposed to be.
Aly had received the best birthday present that morning and couldn't wait to tell Taylor. He looked across the table and smiled at her. That smile could make her feel better at the worst times. Aly couldn't deny that they hadn't had some bad times over the past ten years. However, after being married to him for five years, she knew that she had made the right choice. She could never love anyone the way she loved him.
"Mama?" her daughter asked. Aly smiled to Jennifer, her oldest child. After a long discussion when Aly found out she was pregnant for the first time, Aly and Taylor had decided that they shouldn't name their children the same names that Aly had seen for them. The future had changed from when Aly was there before.
"Yes, baby?" The little girl wrapped her small arms around Aly's legs.
"Happy Birphday." Aly smiled and lifted her daughter into her arms. Joseph, her son, pouted and waddled over to her. Aly smiled as she held the kids in her arms. Maybe she didn't have Kathy, Derek and Lily, but she had wonderful kids.
Taylor wrapped his arms around Aly. She smiled softly and reached for the photo album.
"Do you want to look with me?" she asked softly.
"Anything for the birthday girl," he said as equally soft. It still amazed Aly that she was so much in love with him. After being with him for ten years, she loved him more than ever. Aly opened the book and looked down at the pages. She saw her fifteenth birthday, the day she received this photo album. Taylor laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Remember, you spilled soda all over your shirt that day. You almost started to cry until I started to laugh and then you joined in." They laughed softly.
"I'd forgotten that." Aly smiled and flipped the pages. There was their junior prom and Taylor was with some girl. Aly couldn't remember her name. However, Aly couldn't remember her date's name either. Aly turned the page and remembered their first day of college. They had attended the same college because neither wanted to be far from the other. Aly smiled as she gazed at the dorm room she had lived in for two years. In their third year of college, they had moved into an apartment together. Taylor had never fought with his roommate. Aly turned to him.
"Remember the little yellow curtains I put up in the kitchen?" she looked at the picture of their apartment.
"The ones I set on fire?" he asked. Aly chuckled.
"You know, they were really an atrocious color for that room." Aly kissed his forehead.
"I told you, but you wouldn't listen. You were so mad when I burned them."
"You did it on purpose!" Aly accused.
"Yep, I took them off and threw them on the stove. I couldn't stand those things, Aly."
"Pyromaniac," she muttered under her breath. Taylor started to tickle her suddenly. The photo album slipped to the ground.
Taylor tickled her relentlessly. Aly laughed until she couldn't breath. He pulled her to him and kissed her softly. Aly felt her heart happily beating with his. When he released her, she reached for the album and lifted it back onto the bed. There was the picture of Taylor at the first day of his job. He had decided in college that he didn't want to be an architect. Instead he went into law. He was now a prestigious lawyer. Aly was so proud of him. Aly's job as a librarian at the city library was one of her passions. She loved to read and was the happiest person in the world when she was hired. The library even allowed her to bring the children to work with her. They stayed in the small daycare there and she could see them whenever she wanted. Which reminded her...Aly turned and faced Taylor.
"I have a present for you," she said softly. Taylor raised his eyebrows.
"It's your birthday, not mine!" She smiled slowly.
"Taylor, I'm pregnant." She watched surprise and then happiness come across his face.
"When did you find out?"
"The doctor called me this morning." Aly smiled as he gently pulled her to him and kissed her fully.
"Really? We're having another?" he whispered. Aly nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and placed a hand on her stomach. "What'll we name her?"
"Who say's it will be a girl?"
"You said we had two daughters." He stared into her eyes. Aly's smile had not left her face.
"But this is a different future. What if it is a boy? You never know." She stroked his head softly. Taylor captured her hand and pressed a kiss to it.
"I love you, and if it is a boy then it is."
"I thought the name Owen would be nice for a boy and Gwendolyn for a girl." Aly ran a hand through his hair. He smiled.
"Those are wonderful names." He kissed her and then grabbed the album before it slipped to the ground again.
Their attention was drawn to the photos again. There was their wedding. Aly remembered that day with such happiness. She had nearly burst with pride when she saw Taylor at the end of the aisle. He had smiled softly to her as she walked on Terry's arm. Aly had never again asked her father's name. As far as she was concerned she was Terry's daughter in body and soul. He had raised her and she was a better person for his influence. Aly saw the pictures of her friends all dressed up for the wedding and smiled. They had a good life.
"Remember that dance, the first dance I had with you?" Taylor asked. Aly nodded. Taylor turned her head to face him. "I was so happy, Aly, so happy. I never knew that I could love a woman so much, as much as I loved you then. And it's only grown more and more as the years go on. I never thought I would be so lucky. And you, you were so beautiful. In that white dress with your hair all pretty. You looked like a dream without the sleep. It took my breath away." He kissed her nose softly.
"I could never have been so lucky," Aly replied. Her lips found his and she kissed him zealously.
"Aly, I love you with all my heart. I don't know how you ever crept into my soul, but I don't want you to leave. You fill me in places I never knew were empty. I love you with more love than I ever knew I possessed. You make me the man I am today, someone with such love and so much happiness. I love you, and I want to love you forever." Taylor recited his wedding vows and Aly felt happy tears come to her eyes.
"Taylor, I could never have found anyone as kind and loving as you. I love you so much. My heart is yours forever. When you came into my life I was only a small child, I never knew who you could be to me. Now that I look back, you were the one friend in my life that I could always count on. I never knew that you had such love inside you. I love you so much and I am happy to stand up next to you as Alyssa Bass, your wife until the end of the world and beyond." Aly smiled as tears gushed out of her eyes. Taylor tightened his hold around her waist and drew her flush against him.
"I love you, Aly."
"I love you too, until death and beyond."
Aly didn't know how she had become so lucky. Taylor was all that she ever wanted and more. As she remembered the day they were married and the day her kids were born, she knew that she had made the right choice. She would give her life for him and his love. And that is what she had almost done. Aly knew that she would do it again if she ever had to, because she loved him more than life itself.
THE END...it's done...omg...sadness...
Okay, I'm over that now. I just wanted to tell all of you that I really appreciate your reviews! And I have some questions for you guys...please answer me, I want to edit this and maybe someday publish it!
Really, you all have been so encouraging! With each little review, I hope you know that I felt like people actually liked to read my stuff, which was the best gift any of you could have given me.
Zutara Lives On: Thank you for all the support that you have given me! I really appreciate it! Every girl should have one! I have one...that's who it's based on. I hope you read my next story, I started to write one but I'm not sure how long it'll last...thank you so much!
Angeleyez61888: Thank you so much! I liked the last chapter the best I think!
Sivchik: Sorry, this is the end. I wanted to make it long enough for her to discover something about herself, mainly that she was still in that in-between place. Oh, the movies were fun! I saw Reign Over me and Meet the Robinsons, both great movies! Thank you again!
Wesley: Oh, come on! You know I'm corny! I had to write a lovey dovey ending! And it does change their future, I'd always planned on that, as much as I didn't want to let the original three kids go...Thank you so much for all your support!
Angel992210: Everyone deserves a " Taylor" type person. Someone who will trust them and believe them even when they sound outrageous! Such a love ending...sigh...I love love...thanks for the reviews!
Miss Cherie: Did you think she wouldn't go home? I never even considered that a possibility! I didn't want her stuck there any more than any of you guys did! Thank you so much!
Opal Rose: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it so much! Sorry that it had to end...
ind-fam: You were right. It can't be her future because she was supposed to change it! Thank you so much for the review! I really appreciate it!
Sam: I love happy endings! I only wrote two tragedy type stories. They didn't make me super happy, only mediocre. I like happy things, but I think you can tell that! Thanks for all the support!
Da Mihi Basilia Mille: Thank you for all the support you've given me all through this story, I really appreciate Thanks, I like the story too. Okay, so what do you mean it's too simple? What can I do to make it less simple? Do I need to make it less simple? Or is it alright that way? Lol, I hated the court cases too, they were long and tedious, but it was a main part of the story so I had to spell it out in detail. Thanks for all the help!
Equestrian Luv: Hey! Thank you for reading through this story and reviewing it! I really am very thankful to you!
Wicca Girl: Welcome, too bad you found me at the end, but there will be more stories! There will! How can I begin to thank you for reading all of the things you have read? I really am quite flattered that you like them! And feel free to tell me if you don't also! Thank you so much!
QUESTIONS:
Who was your favorite character and why? Did the succession of events add up and create enough tension and mystery? What was your favorite part? Why? Anything that I should change? Anything about my writing itself? (please don't ask me to change my form. Someone asked me to write with less dialogue and I can't do that. I use dialongue to tell the story)THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND READ!
I'LL BE POSTING ANOTHER STORY
IT'S CALLED "PROMISE"
PLEASE TRY READING IT!
THANK YOU AGAIN!