Between Love And Hate

Epilogue

Janelle

I'd seen Raven in suits and tuxedos, a lot of times before, but for each of those times, my heart would swell so much, I always thought it would burst. Raven was mine, all mine and the thought alone gave me so much joy.

"You ready, babe?" Raven asked as she wore her graduation robe.

"I am. You?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I'm done. Do I look presentable enough?"

"Yeah, you do. You always do." I said as we walked out.

Four years had gone by and I was glad I made the right choice by following my heart. Somehow I thought it went too fast, but that made it even better.

As we walked out hand in hand to the car, I fingered the small box I'd snuck into my graduation robe. I sighed quietly.

The drive was short. Raven parked the car and we got out. We still had enough time to get to the registrar's office to get our name cards. We bumped into Kattie there.

She had this annoying mischievous grin on her face and I knew why. She was the only one who knew about the box in my pocket.

I could see Raven roll her eyes next to me. Well, I couldn't blame her. Kattie was a pain in the butt. A big one.

As we got in order to march into the theater, Kattie poked me.

"So? What's the plan? When are you going to, you know, ask her?"

"You're quite nosey, Kattie. I want to facepalm and ask myself why I told you anything in the first place." I said. I tried to be quiet enough so Raven wouldn't hear us.

"Well, I'm the only other person close to Raven. So, it was a great idea on your part to let me know." Kattie replied.

"Oh well. My bad luck then." I could hear Kattie's light chuckle as we marched in.

-

Raven engulfed me in a big hug as she lifted me off the ground. The whole theater was filled with loud shouts of joy. We were done. I wouldn't say school was all fun, but being with Raven made it feel like fun. Even though on most days, she was making a mess of the kitchen, trying to get a recipe right or she was ruining a new canvas because she really wasn't getting the painting right.

She dropped me and pulled me into a kiss. One I was more than happy to return.

Raven's big family came to us first, then my parents. I recieved so many hugs, I couldn't tell who was hugging. Bri and Paris were all over us. They were older now. And Raven kept talking about how they were not the kids we left back home.

We left the commencement theater. Raven's family was hosting an after party for us.

The place belonged to Raven's uncle, Erwin. It was one of his private gardens. I loved the place. 

They had it decorated. The colorful flowers, the chairs, tables. It was all beautiful.

"You like it?" Raven asked.

"Yeah. I love it. It's nice." I replied.

"Hey, Jae?"

"Yes, Rae?"

"Can we get a cat or a dog or just maybe, a pet now?"

"Definitely."

"Okay, so does that mean, if we ever get married, we can have kids?"

Marriage, she was bringing up marriage. I shivered at the thought as I stared at her blue eyes.

She was still taller. She let her hair grow longer. It was still jet black and curly. Her eyes still had that warmth it always had when she stared at me. All that love, adoration and respect, I could see all of that in her eyes.

She was smiling now. I realized we were standing in the middle of the garden and the chairs and tables had been arranged in a circular manner so there was space left in the middle. And everyone had gathered around us, even Bri and Paris.

"Jae, babies. Do you want babies? But you know, like with me?" She asked, holding both my hands in hers.

"Now that I think of it, yeah. I want babies, but if they have your eyes and you hair." I said.

Raven chuckled. "You'd get tired of combing and brushing though."

"I don't mind that. I don't mind at all." I said.

Raven went down on one knee. A wide grin on her face as she pulled out a blue box from her suit jacket.

Shit. She'd been planning this all along and I couldn't tell. My mouth hung open.

"Jae, babe. We've come a long way. You're my past, my present and now, I'm asking you to be a part of my future. Will you marry me, Janelle?"

I was out of breathe. My eyes watered as tears of joy ran out. I got down on one knee too and smiled at her. I pulled out my own small box. I undid the ribbon on it and held it out to her.

"Rae, I was going to ask you the same thing," I managed to say, "I'm willing to be a part of your world, a part of your future, if you'll be a part of mine."

Raven was crying too as she pulled out the ring from the small cushion it sat on, to place it on my finger. I did the same with my ring.

Raven pulled me into a kiss and then the biggest hug we ever had. It felt like it was just the two of us there at the garden and not the whole family.

-

Kattie stared at the ring on my finger.

"I helped her pick it. I wanted it to match with yours." She said. "And, the last time she traveled back home, she got the ceiling of her room painted. It was you all along, she was waiting for you, so she could make a painting of you on her ceiling. You're one lucky girl."

I blushed crazy. Raven had kept the ceiling bare for long. I thought she had forgotten about it, but she didn't. It reminded me of the ceiling in our room here in Paris. It had a painting of us, in it we were holding hands.

"Thank you, for everything Kattie. You're a pain in the butt, but I won't trade you for anything."

Kattie chuckled and pulled me into a hug.

"Just make sure you kick her ass if she gets too much, okay?" She whispered. I nodded in reply as I laughed out loud.

Raven found me minutes later. "Hey you. You think we should ditch them now?"

I blushed, "yeah. I think we should."

She grabbed my hand, stared at the ring on my finger for a second. With a grin plastered on both our faces, we ditched the after party. With Raven, it was always better.

And she was always meant to be a part of my future. Just as she was a part of my past and my present.

With her, it will be forever.

Fin.