Extended Epilogue

AUDREY

SEVERAL YEARS LATER…

A bouquet of pink roses sat on my dressing table, a note attached to the top.

Rosie . My heart fluttered. Picking up the note, I slid the card out of the envelope, tracing my fingers over Parker’s careful penmanship.

Come out to the stage, baby. I have a surprise for you. There’s a dress and shoes waiting for you in the closet. Put it on and come find me. I’ll be waiting. -P

I rested my hand over my heart. What was he up to? The man never failed to find ways to surprise me. In the little ways—bringing me flowers home, surprising me with my favorite food—and the big. Like this. I loved him so much. A smile curled over my face.

When I opened the door, I found a beautiful pink dress, covered in pink flowers and sparkly material, that reminded me of the one I’d worn in the school musical all those years ago. A note, this one in my twin sister’s handwriting, was attached to the hanger.

Ro,

When you first told me about you and Parker, I knew you’d met your one. The man you were going to have your happily ever after with. You deserve this so much, Audrey. I love you, and I’m so happy to be your twin sister. When Parker reached out to me and asked me to make this dress for you, there was no way I could say no. Because I’d do anything for you.

I don’t have to say I hope you love it because I already know you will. Because I know you as well as I know myself.

Thank you for doing life with me. I’m so grateful every day that you’re my sister and that we’re here together.

Ella

PS: Don’t forget the shoes.

I looked down at the bottom of the closet, finding a pair of sparkly gold heels. They reminded me of Ella’s favorite silver pair, and I couldn’t help my squeal. This morning, Ella and I had gone to the spa, where we’d been pampered all day, had our nails done, and then she’d taken me to get my hair and makeup done. Suddenly, I had a feeling I knew what all of this was about.

My stomach was full of butterflies in the best way, and I got changed in a hurry, thankful for the zipper so I could get the dress on myself before buckling the straps of the gold heels.

It was perfect. Combined with the makeup and hair, I looked like some sort of woodland princess. Maybe that was the idea. But it was so me , and I felt so loved by the two most important people in my life. Of course, my boyfriend would get my sister in on this.

When I stepped out onto the stage, I expected to find Parker waiting for me, but it was empty. I frowned, looking around. This place had become my home over the last year, even though I still had my sights set on a bigger stage—one with my name on the marquee.

A few of the set pieces had been pulled down, but the only thing in the middle of the stage was a piece of paper on the floor.

I bent down to pick it up, looking over the words.

Once Upon A Fake Date

By Parker Maxwell

[AUDREY stands alone on stage while PARKER enters from stage left.]

What was he up to?

As if on queue, there he was.

Dressed in a suit with that damn light pink tie that I knew for a fact he only wore to match me. He had other ones—maroon, red, dark gray, but whenever we were going somewhere together, he insisted we match. He was so handsome. My Parker. The man of my dreams. I’d loved him before I even knew what love was, and now, here we were. Living in New York City together. I was working as an actress in off-broadway performances while he’d landed a great job as an architect at a prestigious firm in the city. He got to design some amazing high-rise buildings, and I knew his favorite part was showing them to me in all stages of the build, especially when they were done.

“Hey, Dream Boy,” I whispered, still holding the script in my hand. “What’s going on?”

He grinned. “Follow the script, and you’ll see.”

I cleared my throat, turning the page and starting to read from the top.

PARKER: There she is. The girl of my dreams.

There was no paper in my boyfriend’s hands. Clearly, he didn’t need one as he repeated the words from the page.

“There she is.” His eyes lit up, the gold inside practically sparkling with mirth. “The girl of my dreams.”

“Have we met before?” I read off the paper.

“Maybe we have,” Parker responded, holding out a hand for me.

I slid my hand into his, ignoring the weight of the moment. The words were reminiscent of us. Things we’d shared with each other before. There was meaning all around us. In every single thing he ever did.

“There’s something familiar about you.”

He hummed, guiding his hand over my head and giving me a small twirl. “You’ve known me all your life, Rosie Girl.”

I smiled. “So I have.”

It was cheesy—but in the best way—a way that felt so true to who we were.

“They say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true.”

I didn’t say anything. I just nodded.

“Well, all my life, I dreamed about you.”

My eyes filled with tears as I read the next line.

[PARKER gets down on one knee.]

“Parker…” I whispered, looking down at him, the script now completely forgotten. I didn’t need to be told what to say. Not when he was down on one knee in front of me, about to say words I could have only dreamed about.

“Audrey Rose Ashford,” he started, squeezing my hand, still clasped in his. “There hasn’t been one single moment of my life that I didn’t love you. These last few years with you have been the best of my entire life. You fill my life with so much sunshine. With all of your sparkles and your pink, and I wouldn’t ask for it any other way. There’s no one else I would get on stage and sing with. No one else I would make a total fool out of myself and write a script for, either. When I say I would literally slay a dragon for you, I think you know I mean it.” He winked. “Once upon a time, I asked you to be my girlfriend.”

“ Fake girlfriend,” I clarified, trying to blink away the wetness in my eyes even as I made the joke.

He snorted. “It worked, didn’t it?” Shaking his head, he pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Now, I’m asking you to be my wife.”

All the oxygen had escaped my lungs. I definitely wasn’t breathing. Not as Parker pulled a little pink box out of his suit jacket, popping it open to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. Nope. Definitely not breathing.

Parker gave me his signature grin, looking up at me with love shining in his eyes. “Will you marry me, Rosie Girl? Will you make me the luckiest man alive and live happily ever after with me?”

“ Yes ,” I nodded, tears falling rapidly. “Yes, yes, yes!”

He scooped me up in his arms, twirling me around before setting me on my tiptoes and kissing me passionately. His lips coaxed mine apart, and everything in the world faded away. It was just him and I—this man that I loved so much. The man who would be my husband.

When we broke apart, Parker rested his forehead against mine, grinning. “What do you think? Audrey Rose Maxwell has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

It sounded better than nice. It sounded like all of my dreams had come true.

“I can’t wait to marry you,” I said against his chest, staring down to look at my new ring. The rose gold band looked like vines, with little diamonds embedded in the leaves, and a large princess-cut diamond sat in the center of the band, with a pink diamond set on each side. It was gorgeous, and I couldn’t look away. “I’ve wanted to marry you since I was twelve years old, Parker.”

He laughed. “I have you beat. I think I told my mom I was going to marry you when I was nine. Mom thought I was crazy, but look at us now. I was right.”

My fiancé kissed me again, softer this time.

“You did all of this for me?” I asked, looking around the stage.

Parker nodded, running his hands through his light brown strands of hair. “Yeah. I had some help, obviously.” He cleared his throat. “The script was all me.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, placing my hand over his heart. “I loved it.”

“Yeah?”

I hummed in response. “Though I think you need to dial it back a bit on those acting lessons, Dream Boy.” I winked at him. “Getting a little too sappy.”

He smirked. “I told you I’d give you your happily ever after, didn’t I? This is just me making good on that promise.”

I rested my head against his chest, soaking up all his love. He had promised me that, and I knew he meant it.

It was why I had given him my heart from the very beginning.

PARKER

The cotton-candy skies were brilliant, streaked with the golden glow of the setting sun. I was captivated, unable to look away, sipping at the beer in my hands and marveling at how far we’d come.

I’d promised her a happily ever after, but today truly felt like the start of that.

All our friends were here—gathered in the large tent, string lights woven above the dance floor where I could still hear everyone singing and laughing.

Out here, though, staring out across the grounds, all I felt was the calm peace of knowing I was exactly where I was supposed to be. That my life was perfect in every way imaginable.

“What are you doing over here?” Audrey asked, coming to stand at my side.

She wrapped her arm around my waist, and I couldn’t help but smile as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. I was staring off into the sunset, the river in the distance. We were at a castle upstate, which was everything I could have imagined it to be. It was spring—her favorite season—and flowers were in full bloom around us, painting the landscape a beautiful hue of vibrant colors.

Placing my hand on her hip, I tugged her in tighter next to my body. “Just appreciating the view.” But now, I wasn’t staring out at the gardens.

I was staring at Audrey.

The love of my life.

And, as of a few hours ago… My beautiful wife .

Her white lace dress showed just a hint of cleavage at the top, hugging the top half of her body before the fabric spilled down around her waist and hips. When I’d seen her walking down the aisle towards me, I’d lost my train of thought. Everything. She was my everything.

“This place is beautiful,” she finally agreed. “I’m glad we picked it.”

I looked down at the gold band on my finger, wiggling it. “I’m just glad I finally get to call you my wife.”

On her finger was the ring I’d proposed with last year, when I’d almost made a fool of myself begging the director of the Broadway show she was working on to let me propose there, setting up the whole scene and even roping her twin sister in to help.

“I love you,” she murmured, leaning her head against my chest.

Ella and Cam had gotten married last summer, and they were now expecting a baby boy. She was six months along, though she still insisted on wearing her favorite pair of heels to serve as Audrey’s matron of honor today.

We were some of the last of our friends to tie the knot, though it wasn’t for a lack of wanting. We’d both known since graduation that we’d end up here one day but had wanted to be secure in our jobs. After Audrey had landed her first leading role in a musical, I knew it was time.

And here we were. She was doing amazing things, and I was so proud of her.

“Love you too, my Rosie Girl,” I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Audrey’s cheeks were pink when she looked up at me. “Do you think we should head back up there?”

“Probably.” I gave her a little smile, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. She’d worn it down, all curled and pretty. “I’m sure they want us to cut the cake.”

“Oh, Ella definitely does.” She laughed, weaving her fingers through my hand as we started walking. “She’s been craving cake since this morning.”

I hoped that would be us soon. Though if she wanted to wait while she continued being an absolute star in her show, I didn’t mind that either. But I liked the idea of having a little girl who looked just like Audrey. Could already imagine taking her to Central Park Zoo, to the New York City Ballet, and carting her around on my shoulders wherever she wanted to go.

“What are you smiling about?” Audrey whispered. We’d almost gotten back to the tent.

“Our future,” I replied.

The way she looked at me made me feel like I had butterflies in my chest.

We cut the cake, everyone cheering as Audrey pressed a large forkful to my lips. No smashing it in each other’s faces here. The strawberry filling was sweet and perfect, and the cake was that perfect consistency—moist and light, perfectly melting in your mouth.

When it was my turn, I dug the fork into the cake, getting a small bite and bringing it up to Audrey’s lips. Her lips closed around it, sliding slowly off the utensil, her tongue darting out to lick the frosting off. But I used my free hand to wrap around her waist, tugging her in closer to me and kissing her deeply, tasting the cake and frosting from her mouth.

God, it was heavenly. The taste of her—of strawberries and champagne—flooded my tongue, and I was content to stay just like this.

“Get a room!” Samuel shouted. He and I were still close now, even after graduating, and I was grateful to have a friend like him.

“That’s the plan,” Audrey said, winking at me.

I could feel the warmth spread up my neck and over my ears, and I was sure the tops of my cheeks were pink.

She giggled. “Should we dance, husband?”

“I’d like nothing more, wife.”

And we danced, the sky a beautiful mix of pink and blue. A crown of gold eclipsed my bride’s head as I twirled her around the dance floor, the familiar steps from the musical in my mind.

The Happily Ever After waltz.

It was fitting because it was ours.

Our Happily Ever After was finally here, and it was beautiful.

The End.