Epilogue

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  Two figures sat reclined under the painted orange sky. A sunset too picturesque that even the most skilled of painters couldn't capture its abstract beauty. Pinks and violets running in streaks, swirling into oranges and golden beams in the West. The world alight with the honey coloured kiss of the Californian sun. The house was silent and peaceful as warm breezes flushed through its empty halls and thick walls. Over time it had gained more decorative features, more records in the shelves now almost overflowing, more instruments in the trophied home studio, more memorabilia of the years that had passed.

  It could have been two, three, four maybe even five. There had been times where voices were raised and times where voices had been soft and seductive, full of love and passion and sheer gratitude; the latter being the more common. Roses still sat in a vase on the dining table.

  The embrace was warm around her shoulders as he held her close. There was no one else in the world but them.

  His lips, soft against her cheek as he cradled her to him. His hand on hers, running his thumb over the stone on her finger. The gesture made a smile creep onto her lips, he'd often do that, she guessed it was him reminding himself.

  "How's she doing?" he spoke quietly as not to disturb the heavenliness of their surroundings.

  Rosanna giggled and shook her head, "she's fine," she said and brushed Alex's hand off her stomach. "She's also eating for one," she stressed.

  "Still think the first one was right," Alex shrugged and kissed her cheek again. His fingers danced over her torso once more, tracing little love hearts through her shirt.

  "Fuck off," Rosanna laughed and sat upright. "One step at a time, you," she smiled and poked his belly. "Haven't even completed part one yet."

  She now had two released albums and her counterpart had now seven with his band. The fast life took them by storm but even that couldn't tear them apart once again. Now as life began to slow down momentarily, they were able to finally focus on themselves and building what they had, settling down after years. Ever since he got her back, Alex had been putting his all into Rosanna, more so than the first time round. He fulfilled her life to the fullest. Making sure she never had so much as a second thought about whether or not she wanted to spend her life with him.

  The creases by the corners of his eyes had slightly deepened and up close, Rosanna could see the faint lines running along his forehead. Yet even then, he was still the little boy she met in Sheffield who read the dictionary before bed. He still had that light, that smile, that electricity that drew her to him in the first place. He still made her laugh and made her feel like she was eighteen again, no matter how many years had passed.

"Even if you're right what makes you so sure?" Rosanna asked, running her fingers through his hair.

"What? That she's a she?" Alex asked. Rosanna nodded. "Got a feeling," Alex smiled and pulled her closer to him.

"You've always got a 'feeling'," Rosanna scoffed and rolled her eyes. Alex smiled and caught her cheek in the palm of his hand.

"I'll sing to her too," he said quietly. Rosanna's heart swelled.

"Yeah maybe in a couple more years time when she actually exists," Rosanna said. Alex rolled his eyes and smiled up at her.

"Always going to be my Little Miss Argumentative," he hummed and brought his lips to hers.

  Rosanna chuckled and brushed her nose against the tip of his. "When it comes...in a long time from now, make sure you tell it about the stars, okay?"

  "Her," Alex corrected.

  "Whatever," Rosanna smiled, rolling her eyes, "make sure you do. All the talk about how they hide away and how they gleam when they come out."

  "What about the moon?"

  "Fuck the moon you've got a whole album dedicated to that rock," Rosanna said comically. "But promise me you're gonna tell 'her' all these fantastic stories that whirl up in your mind."

  "Of course I will darling," Alex smiled and kissed her once more.

And when the time eventually came, he did. He told her stories and he sang to her. The both of them. Love songs to one and lullaby's to the other. Sometimes lying together as the evening purples settled in. Alex and his beautiful voice bouncing off the walls until she would fall asleep. And then he would face the love of his life and make her laugh by singing her a song too. One song would always come back, out of all the others; and what that was was secret to only the two of them. Sometimes when the tone was right, she would weep to the sound of his voice, needing him to hold her to make her stop. Seeing the life they'd made right before her always choked her up.

  "I love you so much Alex," she would tell him, sinking deep into his embrace as he held her safe from the world. Even after years of hearing it, he still got that same rush every time. Every single time, it felt like the first time she told him.

  Sometimes he would find himself standing outside with a trusty smoke in hand, eyes up at the night sky. He didn't know for sure what was out there but he found himself thanking whatever it was that gave him this life. This life where everything fell together for him in perfect pieces. Where he was able to live comfortably having doing what he loved. Where he got this third chance with the woman who changed his life and would continue to do so. Who showed him love for what it was and should be. Who even if she had nothing gave him everything, who made every day a reminder that he had it all.

  And sometimes she would come out to meet him under the moonlight. Sometimes with the girl in her arms, sometimes alone. And she would wrap her arms around him and hold him close. His heartbeat pulsing quietly against her ear as she called his chest home. The slow thump being the beat to which her life moved.

His hand would find her cheek and tilt her face up to his, her features illuminated by the cool light reflecting off the moons surface. She looked exactly the same. Still that girl he fell in love with and never thought he'd ever get a chance with. Now no one else but his. To think it was all leading to here.

"She's asleep," Rosanna said to him, breathing in his scent of cigarettes, aftershave and the small sip of whisky lingering from his lips.

"Guess that means you're mine for the rest of the night?" Alex smiled, his lips grazing hers ever so slightly.

Rosanna giggled and placed her hand on the back of his neck, "I'm yours forever you idiot." So under the moon and stars that no longer found places to hide in the sticky sky of black treacle, their lips met for a millionth time. Maybe in years to come they'd expand their little family but for now, Alex had everything he could have asked for.

  And she was perfect.

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