31. Roses Of Tomorrow (2/2)

"i will always make sure of that." rosemary said in a decided yet warm voice and then hurrumphed "julia, did you buy a wedding dress yet?" she asked her excitedly.

"yes, juliet, did you?" rose joined in.

julia chuckled "no, and i'm not going to buy a wedding dress." she said, making everyone except faith, lily and cee, look at her questioningly.

"what do you mean?" rose asked her in surprise "how can you not have a wedding dress?"

"i mean that i will wear my mother's wedding dress." julia said and smiled at faith who smiled back at her daughter with pride in her eyes.

"oh, that's such a beautiful idea." rosemary said cheerfully "and what about your veil?" she asked again.

"i will wear grandmother anne's veil." julia replied with twinkling eyes "i always loved it's design so much. and besides, i promised her some time ago, that i will wear it on my wedding day."

"when did you promise that?" walt asked her.

"well, some…" she giggled "-sixteen years ago." and her family sitting around the table laughed joyfully.

"and what about you, rose and john?" merry asked them suddenly "what are your plans after the summer?"

"i am going to take after my uncle's job as a history professor in montreal." john said proudly, looking at his wife with smiling eyes.

"oh rose, you will be so far away from me!" julia said with a sigh of sadness in her voice.

"certainly not as far away as for the past five years!" she replied and the laughter spread over the table again.

"cee, darling," grandfather said to his granddaughter who was stitting by his side "-the latest painting you gave me, made a real impression on mary vance today when i showed it to her. it's a difficult thing to do, to impress mary vance and so you should really be proud of yourself." he said and put his wrinkled hand on her small shoulder, making everyone else to chuckle a little.

cee, being still quite shy and timid, smiled lightly at her grandfather and her cheeks turned

ight pink "thank you, grandfather." she replied softly and the two kindred spirits smiled to each other. and so they all chatted and joked for the next few hours, not noticing how fast was the time flowing. after the dinner, john took his wife (or rather she took him) and little jackie upstairs to their room, jake went fishing with gilly, and jem took his family back to their house on the hill.

"merry, do you really love luna?" julia aksed her

other while they walked all together back home.

"of course i do, jules." merry said and smiled "she is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me." he put his arm around julia's shoulder "and i always loved her but, believe it or not, i was too shy to tell her."

"meredith blythe, too shy?" julia asked him in surprise and everyone who listened to them laughed "i thought that luna was shy."

"she is," merry said "-but in a different way." he smiled dreamily and julia grinned at him too.

"julia, do you think that you will be able to visit us one day, in kingsport?" walt asked his sister, squeezing her hand.

"of course i will, although i don't know when it's going to happen but, of course, dear walter." she replied and squeezed his hand back.

"i can't believe that you are going to leave us, my darling girl." faith said to her daughter with a half-smile on her face.

julia kissed her mother's cheek gently "mother-dear, you know that white sands is just two hours away from glen," she said to her "-besides, you are all always welcome to visit us in our new home." she said, thrilled to bones by saying "our new home".

"well, now i know that my wife won't stay at home from this day on!" jem chuckled and faith poked him knowingly in the arm.

and so the blythe family continued on walking together, enjoying their company and talking over everything they weren't able to talk over for the past six years. julia thought that they didn't change at all, even though walt was already a father, her parents bacame grandparents, and merry and julia herself were getting married in a very short time. "and this only proves me that some things can never change." julia thought to herself.

two days later, blythe 'phoned up the house on the hill and said, in the most exciting tone, that he found the field full of roses which he and julia once discovered so many years ago but could never find it again. julia ran, or maybe even flew, immediately to the house of dreams and together, hand-in-hand with blythe they entered the forest, both being positively thrilled about seeing the mysterious, magical field once again.

"now, close your eyes." blythe whispered suddenly.

julia looked at him in a funny way "are you sure?" she asked.

"of course i'm sure. no peeking, please." he said and julia chuckled when she closed her eyes and let blythe lead her for the next five minutes. all of a sudden, julia could smell the roses' beautiful scent which she always loved the most in the whole world of flowers, and the butterflies in her stomach started giving her the feeling of excitement even greater than just a few minutes earlier. it was as if she was entering another world, a world like no any other.

"welcome to our new kingdom." blythe whispered to her ear and stopped her from moving. julia opened her eyes slowly and was

eathless and speechless the minute she saw that she was in the very centre of the circle made out of roses. the sunset was creeping behind the horizon and the orange light was leaving mysterious dancing shadows between the trees which were left on the roses. julia thought that it looked exactly as one could imagine a red-sea would look like.

blythe watched julia's face as she started walking around, gently touching each of the roses' leaves with greatest grace and he could almost swear that she was dancing, although it was clear that she walked. he caught his

eath when she finally turned around to face him. she looked just as if he imagined a queen of dryads would look like, especially with her smile which could shine out the sun hiding under the horizon just behind her back. a new poem started to appear in his mind, making him to smile wonderingly at julia who looked at him with shining eyes.

"blythe, i don't think i have ever seen something as beautiful as this." she whispered and made her way towards him, putting her arms around his neck, as if he was her king and she his queen.

he smiled at her tenderly "me neither." he whispered back "what should we call it then?" he asked, taking her hands in his.

julia humphed while thinking "let's call it our... secret way to the light." she whispered, smiling at blythe lovingly.

"and we musn't tell anyone about this place." he whispered back, his tone serious.

"agreed." she whispered back and they both laughed together. their laughter echoed throught the forest like an enchanted song

inging life and romance into it's stillness, and both julia and blythe knew that this song would remain there, between the secret way to the light, forever.