Delicious Rose

Epilogue

Rose

With every year that passed, our marriage grew stronger. Luca stayed true to his word, he showed me every single day how much he loved me, he cherished me, adored me. Not even a month after our wedding day I fell pregnant with a baby boy, we named him Oscar. He was the splitting image of Luca, his eyes just as bright. Not even two years later he became the older brother to our little girl, Isla.

My life became everything I had ever dreamed of, maybe even too good to be true. I never doubted my love for the man, he never broke my heart again. The years went by fast, too fast. My girls always stayed my girls, Chloe married Chris, Darcy married Lee a couple of months after my wedding. We raised our children together, all around the same age, they became friends, we were all one big family.

I wondered from time to time what everyone else had done in life, where was Lauren? What happened after Theo broke her heart. Chloe's husband Chris told me that Jacob was happily married with three kids. Everything fell into place for me, after all the shit I went through growing up I was finally happy. Wayne never contacted me when he came out of prison, I was at peace.

It was scary though, as the years went on, we grew older and our children were falling in love and having their own children. I wanted time to stand still, I didn't want this life to end. I knew it was impossible, we had to grow up.

My mother was gone, she died at the age of eighty-eight and that was horrible, heartbreaking. That was unfortunately how life worked. She watched my children grow and even attended their weddings. I never forgot about my dad, what would've happened if he never passed. Would he have died of old age? Would he have approved of Luca? I believe he would have.

My Luca aged beautifully, as his hair changed to grey, soon after mine began to as well. I wished and wished that it wasn't happening, but I watched everyone I grew up with age, skin wrinkling and body's changing. My brother the same as us, grew old with Rachel still by his side.

I felt my body become weaker with every day that passed, my days became numbered. All of our days, that's when my world stopped. My brother passed, he had a heart attack aged only eighty-two. I felt lost, I felt scared. It was happening, it was that time in my life when everyone you love, who supported you as a young girl began to leave. I never showed the fear I felt though, I spent as much time with my family as possible. I watched my grandchildren grow and turn into lovely young adults.

My marriage still full of love, admiration and support. With every hospital appointment and pain, we experienced. That was until Luca collapsed one day, he was rushed to hospital. His heart was weak, his life was slipping between my fingers. I still remember his birthday, lying on the hospital bed, his skin pale and thin, his tattoos blurred with age. He looked as handsome as he did the day I met him. He cried, so hard. The hardest I had ever seen him cry, after fifty-five years of marriage he cried the most in that hospital room.

"I don't want to leave you all alone." His voice thick, his lip quivering in fear. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Don't think like that, I have Oscar and Isla and the grandkids to look after me. I won't ever be alone." I sit down in the armchair next to the bed, never taking my hand away from his. His eyes now closed but his lip still shaking. Tears streaming down his face.

"I still remember the first time I saw you Rose, like it was yesterday." He whimpers, I raise my head slightly, a smile tugging on my now thin lips.

"Tell me about it." I give him the go ahead, I want to hear it. I need to hear it, even though he has told me many times over the years. I need to hear it one last time.

"When I first saw you, I had never seen someone so beautiful, so bloody beautiful. I tried not to get attached to you, but you were like an angel, an angel with a heart so precious and I loved you for it, I've always loved you for it." He turns his head, his hand pinching each one of my fingers before tracing over my tattooed wrist. The ink blurry but the quote fresh in our minds.