Epilogue
One year later.
The bride wore a classic silk strapless gown with a folded bodice and sarong style skirt embellished with flowers.
A delicate pearl necklace graced her neck and went perfectly with her silver hair; styled in an intricate bun.
Her smile gave away her emotions; happiness she hadn’t experienced in decades.
Angela sat in the crowd, tears in her eyes, thinking how fantastic it was that at any age, one could find love. Dot had found love. And so had she. She held Michael’s hand, remembering her own wonderful wedding day, not long ago.
After the ceremony, as the wedding couple danced their first dance, Angela and Michael stood on the sidelines, holding hands.
“Isn’t this fantastic?” she asked.
“It is. I’m so glad she found someone,” he said. “And to think, if you hadn’t pushed her to go for Paul, we might not be here today.”
“And if she hadn’t been so pushy and meddled in our business, we might not be together either,” she added, smiling.
“Hey, hopefully she’ll mind her business a little more now that she’s a newlywed.”
“We can only hope,” Angela joked. “But really, this is a fairytale. Our life is a fairytale,” she told him.
“Complete with crazy mother-in-law.”
“Well, she certainly keeps it real,” Angela joked.
“She certainly does.”
As Michael and Angela made their way to the dance floor for the second dance,
Dot scurried off and came back holding a pink gift bag; Paul had put a spring in her step, that was for sure.
“Angela, I wanted you to have this.” She handed her the paper bag filled with pink tissue paper.
“Oh, what’s this for? It’s not my birthday,” Angela asked, surprised. She opened the gift to discover a beautiful crocheted baby blanket.
“I figured the biological clock is probably ticking, and I thought I’d have it ready,” she explained. “You know, it takes a long time for an old lady like me to make one of those.”
As she felt the softness of the blanket between her fingers, a lump grew in her throat.
“Thank you so much, Dot. It’s beautiful.”
Michael and Angela looked at each other and shared a smile; a soft smile not noticed by anyone. Little did Dot know; they would be making use of her beautiful blanket sometime very soon.
THE END