Blame it on our Fates

e p i l o g u e

e p i l o g u e

e i g h t   y e a r s   l a t e r

Cadence Brown didn't like what she saw when she looked in the mirror. Of course, she loved the radiant glow that came along with her package. But the package itself made her look huge. As she continued staring at her seven-months-along bump, she felt a fresh ripple of tears glass her eyes. She thought she looked absolutely hideous, and a little part of her mind chimed in at that moment, making her crave cheese toasties. The thought of food had her sobbing. She couldn't not address the elephant in the room any longer, she was the elephant in the room.

The gorgeous baby blue dress didn't help her case, and she hastily wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. A soft knock echoed through the room. Nolan Moore poked his head in. "Hun, you ready? The guys are here." But then, his eyes flashed to his wife looking at him with seething anger, her nose all red, looking like she just had the cry of her life. He entered the room and closed the door behind him and cautiously approached her. "Babe?"

Cadence didn't reply and instead grabbed the object nearest to her, her phone and threw it at her husband, who ducked just in time. "You—you jerk!" Nolan retreated a little and Cadence followed his footfalls. "This is all your fault. Why did you have to look at me like that?"

Nolan was confused, but still very careful. "Like what, baby?"

"That night. When we decided to—to do the nasty. Why did you look at me that way? Now, look at me, I'm the size of Russia. Nothing looks good on me, not even the bridesmaids dress looks good on me."

Nolan smiled. His wife still couldn't say the word sex, despite having done it many a times. He slowly brought his hand to hers, and when he didn't feel any immediate rejection, he pulled her closer, still mindful of the bump. "Brown." She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. "Babe, you look good in literally everything. Even right now, you are the most gorgeous woman in this room," He saw Cadence open her mouth to protest and continued, "I know, I know you're the only woman in this room. But by this room, I meant every room. Do you know how hard it is for me to not stare at you 24/7 and just smile all the time? Because that's what I want to do. I want to look at you and proudly announce to the world that this stunning woman in my arms is my wife. I have this whole lovesick look every time I look at you. Honestly, I don't even have to look at you to get lovesick, just the thought is enough. So, do you really want to be late to your own brother's wedding because for a moment you thought you aren't pretty enough?"

Cadence shook her head, resting against his shoulder. He smiled a little and leaning in, pecked her forehead. She, finally having stopped crying, shot him a sad smile. "Can you make me some cheese toasties while I get ready?" Nolan grinned. "Of course, Breckin said something about being hungry as well."

Just before closing the door, he popped his head back in and said, "Babe, you have a little bat in the cave there." Cadence gasped in horror before running to the large sized mirror and fixing it.

   With her husband's encouraging words still ringing in her mind, her reflection suddenly looked way better than before. Her face had this radiant glow that she failed to notice before, and she realised Nolan was right. She didn't look hideous at all, in fact, she looked quite beautiful.

When she was finally done adding a little blush and some mascara, she exited her bedroom and gingerly, with her left hand resting on her bump, walked to the family room where their friends were waiting.

The family room was a fairly large room, with a minimalistic look and state of the art interior. A large television faced the two sofa sets, and a small crystal chandelier was sprung from the ceiling. Every piece of furniture was squeaky clean seeing how they moved in here only last year.