Rosebriar

Epilogue: 10 Years' Time

Derick

An endless grin stretched across my aging face as I watched my children play. Had I know that this euphoric feeling existed; I wouldn’t have fought my father in the beginning. He had gifted me with a spectacular wife which gave me the greatest gift of all.

Emma was carrying a fifth child while the other four scurried around her growing stomach. If you would have asked me when I first met Emma if she could make me feel this way, I would’ve simply laughed in your face and denied her ability to make me feel anything but hate and despair.

Now, however, I wasn’t quite so angry nor was I unhappy. I was happily in love with my wife after ten short years of marriage and four healthy heirs to the throne. I remember holding our first child just after Emma had given birth in our home. Never had I loved anyone the way I loved our child.

I was reluctant to ask her to create yet another child with me, and so one became two and two became three. Soon enough she announced her pregnancy of our fifth child. I laughed internally, my mother would be happy to know we had no intentions of stopping any time soon.

We would look like my mother and father soon, toting around twelve children and whatnot. Mabel, our youngest, clung to me with her toothless grin on display. “I told you that you’d be a phenomenal father, now didn’t I?” Emma’s loving voice broke my thoughts.

She looked as if she didn’t age at all after all these years, and she was the age I was when we were wed. Time hadn’t been so kind to my bruiting appearance. Occasional gray hairs were peeking through my typically dark hair. Emma still had her flowing chocolate hair that didn’t have a single gray streak to be found.

I handed the small child to Emma, my body began to ache. After all these years, I still hadn’t been able to recover from the wound given by the femme fatale that once plagued my kingdom. As for Darren, we had arranged for him to be escorted to a farm on the outskirts of town to ensure my children’s safety. That is, until I planned for him to wed our newest maid Jocelyn. Fortunately, we haven’t had any problems from him.

All my other brothers had been married off to various countries which increased our number of allies. It seemed as if things had finally come together.

You see, the quality of your life shouldn’t be based on the here and now. But instead, base it on the entire picture that surrounds the brief moment of here and now. Do not be afraid, it is okay to not be okay and that is something I’ve learned since meeting Emma.

You cannot spend every waking moment beating yourself up over the inevitable. You have to break down and let things hurt, let yourself be weak. As a king, I thought I had to always be strong… But as a man, I’ve learned that not everything is okay.

I’ve shown my true colors as a leader by sharing my hardships with my kingdom and being friendly and personal with my citizens. Thus, I’m nothing like my father; not with my kingdom, nor with my children.

I’d spent the first twenty-six years of my life wondering if I was ever enough and now I’ve spent ten years knowing that I am much more than enough. I learned that I must first be content with myself before I could be content with someone else.

Marriage isn’t easy by any means, let alone a royal marriage. Emma and I have had our fights; I spent many nights out in the orchard wondering if I had made the right choice. Still, every morning I wake up knowing that I am beside the love of my life, the mother of my children, and my best friend.

Sure, I thought the same thing about Braylene, but it took real love to make me realize that I had nothing but lustful desires for that crude woman. I tried with every ounce of my being to not love Emma, but when I finally gave in… I learned what true love is.

Once again, base the quality of life on the big picture. Here and now, it slowly fades to being memories of the past. Life will improve immensely when you learn to let go.