Epilogue

Shadee sighed, looking in the mirror, observing the creased face of a still beautiful old woman staring back at her. Time… such an unusual entity, that flies by without really giving a meaning to all things it changes. It seemed to the elderly lady that just yesterday had that fateful episode happened, the episode in which she had welcomed Sebastien back into her life, where he had finally come to remain for good.



Smiling reminiscently, she turned her back to the mirror and walked towards the small bookcase, retrieving a thick family album covered in a thin coating of dust. Yes, time did fly by and the collection of photographs gathered in the album was proof of that fact. She flicked open the first page and smiled still wider at the sight of her wedding photographs. It was incredible that she had ever looked so young, that her skin had ever been so smooth…yet there she was: at the age of 24, beaming widely at the camera and letting herself be kissed on the cheek by her husband.



Shadee turned another few pages, all covered in memories of her wonderful wedding, before reaching the photographs of another big moment in her life: the birth of her first child, a beautiful baby boy named Lucas.









She caressed his picture lovingly with a thin, slightly trembling finger, watching him grow up with every page she turned: Lucas in his parents’ arms, at only 3 months; Lucas being fed with a bottle by Sebastien at 7 months, Lucas making his first shaking steps towards his mother’s outstretched arms at the age of 11 months; Lucas playing with a toy giraffe at 1 year and a half… all the little joys of seeing your baby during his progress through life. Lucas’ photos stopped for a few pages at his sixth birthday to be mixed with those of the newest family member: Danielle, Shadee and Sebastien’s second and last child.






Both kids had grown up beautifully and none of the many photos crammed in the photo album could do justice to the fine adults they had developed into: Lucas, 45, with his own horde of no less than five children and two grandchildren, and Danielle, 39, still not married, but enjoying every minute of life.



The other dear member of Shadee’s family, her “uncle” Caleb ( now at the venerable age of 61) had also found a soulmate, in the person of his old friend Fiona, that had moved away from town when he was quite young.



They had been reunited in one of the summer camps Caleb used to attend and they decided not to let each other slip away ever again. They had since formed an inseparable couple and got married, having a family of their own with three children and twice as many grandchildren. Both Shadee and Sebastien could not have been happier for them.



As a mother, grandmother and recently, a great-grandmother Shadee could honestly say she felt fulfilled. Even with all the ups and downs she had been through, her life could have easily been described as wonderful.

There was no moment that she wouldn’t thank the Heavens for having helped her find the wonderful man that was her husband. Sebastien had proved to be the best choice she had ever made: ever since the faithful day he had come back, he had been the perfect model of a husband and father.

The red beams of sun streaming through the window grew deeper and darker as night swiftly crept in. With another sigh, Shadee clapped the photo album shut, a small cloud of dust swirling in the air before her.



Yes…she was fulfilled, yet tired…so, so tired!



Moving carefully and trying not to make a sound, she approached the bed where Sebastien was already asleep. Shadee smiled: she was still deeply in love with him, as though time had flown by. Again trying not to disturb him, she crawled into bed and nestled close to him, smiling affectionately at the pleasant warmth.



Not long afterwards, the rhythmical breathing of the two intertwined beings became shallow and slow. Like a flutter of wings, they both breathed one last time, then stopped, still in each other’s arms.