Epilogue

June 28, 2005

It had been 6 months since John and Evangeline had gotten back together. They were almost inseparable. They didn’t live together, but they saw each other every day if it was possible. They definitely talked every day. Michael and Eve McBain were just amazed at how happy John was. They took every opportunity to thank Evangeline for bringing John back from the emotionless box that he had put himself in. Evangeline’s Mom had gotten to know John and she’d come to love him like one of her family. Even though she still had her guard up where it came to men, John had restored her faith a little. She couldn’t deny that John truly made her daughter happy.

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After all the dust had settled from the Tico Santi situation, Evangeline had given Bo Buchanan the information her private investigator had gathered on Ace Buchanan. Bo had broken the news to Kelly and Kevin and now there was a custody suit over the baby between JR and Babe Chandler. The bad news was that Kelly and Kevin took the news pretty hard. The good news was that Bianca Montgomery got her baby back.

Kevin’s stint as Lieutenant Governor was going smoothly. Without Tico Santi trying to tell him what to do, he could do his job properly. It turns out that the state of Pennsylvania had voted in the correct guy. Because Evangeline’s cell phone was destroyed when it went over the edge of her office building with Tico Santi, Kevin was never connected with the information that Evangeline had received.

Antonio Vega resumed the care of his daughter Jamie and acquired his job back at the Llanview Police Department. He and Carlotta were family again. He thanked her for raising him away from all the Santi violence. Even though he had made a lot of mistakes, he couldn’t forgive Jessica’s dalliance with Tico Santi and they called it quits. He and Sonia had become closer and Sonia had switched government agencies, with a recommendation from John, and now worked for the FBI, stationed out of Philadelphia.

Paul Kramer was arrested for the stealing of the Chandler baby. As part of a plea bargain, he confessed to the Love Center sabotage. He said he set up John’s cousin Shannon to get back at John because of the way John had talked Natalie into leaving him. RJ was never connected to the crimes.

The Buchanan sisters, Natalie and Jessica, still felt like they could comment on everyone’s personal life in town. Jessica was now a reporter for The Sun and was always in John’s face when the opportunity presented itself. Natalie continued to work as a bartender at Rodi’s.

Michael completed his residency at Llanview Hospital and was now on staff there. Marcie’s book was a huge big seller and she’d started another book based on the bones they had dug up at the Love Center.

Jordan and Cynthia were an exclusive item now.

John and Evangeline had attended the high school graduation of Tamika, Theresa, Aisha and Lien. All four girls had graduated with honors and each received some sort of scholarship in the field they wanted to pursue.

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Evangeline was pulling into the drive way of Mary Barnes’s house as directed by John. She had no idea why he wanted her to meet him there. As she approached the front door, she saw a note posted. It said, "Come in and lock the door behind you. Follow the candles downstairs."

As Evangeline entered the house and started down the stairs, she yelled out, "John? Are you down here?"

John replied, "Yes. Just keep following the candles."

When Evangeline reached the bottom of the stairs, she spotted John standing by a blanket on the floor with a bottle of wine and two glasses. There were also a vase of flowers. "Hey Diva E," John said as he came up and gave her a quick kiss.

"Hey McB," Evangeline replied. She was a little confused. She asked, "This is great, but why did you want me to meet you here?"

"Do you know what today is?" John asked.

"It’s Tuesday," Evangeline replied.

"No Evangeline, think," John said. "What is today?"

Evangeline thought about it and then she said, "It’s June 28th."

"That’s right," John said. "Do you know what’s important about June 28th?"

It hit her like a ton of bricks. As she looked around the basement and remembered everything that had happened between them there, she started to smile.

John said, "By that beautiful smile of yours, I can see that you figured it out. It’s the first anniversary of the first time we were together. I like to think of it as the first anniversary of our being a couple, even though we fought it."

Evangeline blushed as she said, "John, I can’t believe that you remembered. That was a great day. Wasn’t it?" Evangeline walked over to the sink and kinda stared at it. The memories of what had happened here that fateful day just washed over her. When she turned back around, John was holding a small box in his hand.

John said, "Evangeline Williamson. I love you so much. You’ve given me back a life that I never thought I’d have again. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Oh John," Evangeline exclaimed. "I love you very much too. You showed me that my life could be so much more than my job. I can’t imagine being without you ever. Yes, I’ll marry you."

"Yeah," John said with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh yeah," Evangeline replied with her own huge smile.

John took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. It was the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen. The band was made of silver and gold strands entwined together. There was a perfect diamond mounted on top. Evangeline said, "John, it’s so pretty. The two strands represent us, don’t they?"

"Absolutely," John replied.

They kissed and then they sat down on the blanket to have a glass of wine. Evangeline kept looking from her ring to John. She said, "I didn’t ever think I could feel this happy. Thank You for loving me."

"No," John replied. "Thank You."

Evangeline looked around the basement and said, "How did you get Mary Barnes’s parents to let you back into their house after what happened here the first time?" She chuckled to herself.

"Well," John replied slyly. "I actually bought it for us."

Evangeline’s eyes were as big as saucers as she said, "What did you say?"

"I said I bought it for us," John repeated. "If you don’t like it though, we can just sell it."

"No, no, no," Evangeline said. "It’s perfect. What better place to live our life together than the place it all started."

"Those were my thoughts exactly," John said. "You know, it freaks me out some time how in sync we are, but I like it."

"Me too," Evangeline said.

Evangeline and John kissed some more and then John said, "So I was thinking. I know you’ll want to decorate, but I think the basement should be our bedroom." He laughed before he could get the whole sentence out.

Evangeline laughed and said, "We’ll see. We’ll have to discuss that idea some more."

Evangeline looked around the basement in deep thought and John touched her cheek and said, "What is it?"

Evangeline said, "I was just thinking how I use to ask myself all the time, when did this happen. Now, I’m just grateful that it did."

The End