Another Chance Book I of III

Book III-Chapter 122, Newlywed...Year of Wonder

Bella's POV

Their honeymoon had started awesomely. They had spent their first week married, learning about what was pleasing to them in lovemaking, and had reveled in the learning experience. They were so excited that all constraints on them by the Vow that Bella and Prince had made were now removed. They could now explore each other fully, without guilt, shame, or consequences, and be in the full grace of heaven.

On the last full day that they would spend in Mexico, the 4 had gotten together with their parents and grandparents and with Carlos' sister, Maria Elena, and her fiance and pilot, Greg Landers, and of course their security team. Greg had popped the question the evening of the reception during a leisurely walk on the beach, although none knew it until they got together for the early supper on the following Friday. From the size of the diamond on her left hand, Greg Landers was seriously in love! They were a happy bunch that day. Happy for the 4 and happy for the newly engaged couple. Melvin and Helen were now moving into full wedding planning too, and so their joy also extended to them. Their nuptials would be small and intimate in California in November of this year. Father O'Rourke and Pastor Williams toasted each of the couples and wished them long and blessed lives. All but the 4 and their Security would leave in the next 2 hours, headed back to Chicago and Detroit. Helen would stay with Melvin through the weekend and fly back to California Sunday night on a commercial flight. Ross, Ray, Frank, and Larry would accompany the 4 to Japan, leaving Saturday night. Melvin would join them via a commercial flight arriving on Tuesday morning. Melvin and Helen would live in Chicago as Melvin did not want Helen to work traditionally after they married anyway. He wanted her to live her dream of being an artist and sculptress and would build her a studio in their home. She would go on to become quite well known for her work on sculpted images of famous performers. Her first huge monetary success would be a major undertaking of a Bronze sculpture of the 4 in performance. It would be commissioned by the city of Chicago and placed in the Concert Square Museum on Michigan Avenue. It would picture the 4 frozen in a moment in time, displaying their boundless energy and testifying to their joy of performing for the Creator and the world! They would attend the unveiling several years hence, and both Prince and Carlos, as men in their early 40s, would be moved to tears by the memories it evoked. As always, Bella and Elaine would be by their side to comfort them and share the moment! Their brood of children would be there too, and it would have a huge impact on them to see in that frozen moment what it was that had made their parents so famous and so beloved by the world! The sculpture was so realistic; at any moment, one expected to see the four showing off their dance moves! While their children had seen many of their live and digital performances, something about the larger-than-life-size sculpture really reverberated with them, and they were truly touched by it.

Their time in Japan would be something that Bella would never forget. She was enthralled with the beauty of the country and the gentle kindness of its people. Even in this century, the young people they encountered were polite and caring and wonderfully honest. One day while touring the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Bella had forgotten her little strap bag in one of the surrounding restaurants. The 4 had been chatting about their next stop, a spa in the area where they had an appointment. The 4 were sitting in the waiting area to be taken to their massage rooms when their server, a lovely young woman of 17, had entered the lobby and greeted Bella. She explained that she had found her bag hanging on the back of the chair she had been sitting in. She had heard them say that their next stop was the spa, so she had brought it to her. Bella offered her a reward that the young woman refused. Instead, she asked for all 4 of their autographs, to which they happily said yes. The young lady had attended their concert earlier in the year and shared that it was something she would never forget. Both Bella and Elaine hugged the girl, and she left to get back to her shift at the restaurant. Their autographs were tucked safely into her blouse pocket but at nightfall would be placed into a lovely crystal frame and placed on her dresser. It would always have a place in her home through marriage, children, grandchildren, and the great grands too. Each of those generations would hear the story about the day she met Prince and Bella and Elaine and Carlos and how a kind act had been rewarded with the framed signatures that became one of her most prized possessions. She would use it to teach her beloved little ones the importance and value of kindness. Each set of children always noticed how her eyes brightened, and her smile widened when she told the story. She would remember Prince and the World Changers most fondly all the days of her life.