She Loved Him and He Died

12. Golden and Green

Time moves quickly, doesn't it?

The time you spend with loved ones ends up feeling like nothing by the end of the day. Feels like you blinked it all away.

That's how it feels with my golden haired girl. One moment we are walking around Central London hand in hand, sharing ice cream, my hand on her baby bump, her lips on mine and the next moment it's 3 am and I'm sitting in bed with swollen eyes having nothing but a desire so great to just get a bit more time with the only person that matters to me. I'll caress her soft cheeks with my shaking hands and whisper promises of forever to her. "I'll be waiting for you at the pearly gates," I tell her each night, hoping she understands. "Will you remember me?" I then ask, knowing she is asleep and in able to answer.

I continue to ask anyways, just asking aloud makes me feel better. She really is a angel, even beyond pregnant, she helps me up when I fall down from my weak legs and reassure me that I am not a burden.

Now instead of me rubbing her back when she pukes from pregnancy, she rubs mine as I puke from sickness.
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"Hero!" I hear Jo yell from the other room.

"Yeah?" I respond back, trying not to throw up.

Instead of hearing her respond, I instead hear labored breathing and steps that sound like a waddle. A minute later she appears in the door frame of our bedroom where I am currently laying in bed. "It's time to go to see it we got a little girl or boy in here." She points to here very large stomach. With only being four months along, she is clearly double the size that a four month pregnant woman usually is.

"Alright," I croak. She waddles over to the corner of the bedroom where my walker stands and rolls it over next to me. I sit up with a grunt and take a deep breath, I feel my heartbeat pumping hard from the activity that shouldn't take anything out of me at all, then throw my legs over the side. "Give me a moment, love." I request, trying to catch my breath.

"Take your time," she kisses my forehead and caresses my hair.

Breathing deeply I say, "thank you."

"Of course," I look up to see her smiling brightly at me. It's a genuine smile, not one of pity and definitely not a fake one. "I'm so excited to see who are baby is," she squeals. "For a boy I'm thinking maybe Brooks? And for a girl Emma?" She looks at me hopefully.

"Those are wonderful names," I grin at her.

Twenty minutes later, we are finally on our way to see the ultrasound.
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Hero's friend, Shane, stands next to Josephine behind the flowing white sheet outside as she paces nervously. What is about to happen makes Josephine feel sick to her stomach, is she doing something wrong? Will she hurt Hero? What if he is disgusted by her?

"Josephine, you'll be fine-"

She cuts him off, "do I look odd in this dress? It looks weird on my bump doesn't it?" She mutters as she looks down at the loose white dress draped over her large bump. "Maybe I should go change," Josephine continues to ramble to herself while the priest taps Shane on the shoulder.

He turns to face him, "the groom would like to speak to you quickly." Shane nods and follows him down the aisle to the groom who sits at the end in a mat black wheelchair. Over the last six months Hero has lost all ability to walk on his own.

"What's going on back there?" Hero frantically asks, nervous as hell.

"Well your dear bride, is questioning the way her dress looks on her and if she should go change. She is bout as nervous as you, maybe more."

"Tell her that I said she'll look gorgeous in anything she walks down here in, we all know that dress won't last long on her anyways." He mutters the last portion to himself, smirking at the thought of ripping it off of her tonight.

"We both know she won't believe that, she's a cranky pregnant woman with twins for crying out loud." Shane says to his laughing friend as he walks away. He really enjoys the sight of his friend being so carefree.

"Jo, it's time," Shane tells her once he reaches her behind the sheet that hides her from Hero. The setting is late October, it's a bit chilly but not too chilly. The orange, yellow and red surround them, as they are in a gorgeous forest in the Pacific Northwest. A thin white sheet hangs between two trees and hides Josephine from the grooms prying eyes. Jo smiles and nods. No one is here but Hero, Josephine, Shane, Shane's wife and kids and the priest marrying them together. They like it that way, it makes the moment more special to them.

She links her arm into Shane's as music starts to play, specifically 'Little Deschutes' by Laura Veirs.(song above)

The wind grows as her golden hair blows behind her, she is dressed in a simple white off the shoulders dress with cute sleeves (don't feel like describing it, imagine above lol). It smells of fresh rain and the air nips at the bride and groom in a lovely way.

Once Josephine catches sight of Hero, she gasps loudly. There he sits in a perfectly tailored all black suit that deliciously clings to every part of him, it accentuates his biceps and almost makes Jo drool.

Their eyes connect and it's pure bliss from there. The whole world disappears and it's just them. Hero and Josephine. Nothing but love is felt.

Hero himself is stunned by the way his bride looks, pure, innocent and absolutely beautiful. He starts to cry from the overwhelming feeling of love that he has for her, Josephine giggles at the sight then tears of her own start to leak from her eyes. The leaves on the forest floor start to float in the wind making a mystical feeling appear.

Once they reach him, Shane takes Jos hand and softly places it into Hero's awaiting one. He then let's go when Shane places a walker in front him, then goes behind him to put his arms under Hero's armpits. With all of his strength he stands up straight, taking Hero with him. Hero leans his hands on the Walker while Shane also helps support his weight.

Hero was very adamant on being able to stand for his wedding, he didn't want the weight of his condition to be felt during this glorious ceremony. Jo gasps and smiles at seeing him at his full height. It's been a few months since seeing him this way.

The ceremony progresses beautifully.

"Now, I'm sure you both have some vows prepared?" The priest asks. They both nod with Jo volunteering to go first.

"Dear Hero, my Hero. You came to me in a time of darkness and repetitiveness. The same, boring, thing each and every day. You came to me with a idea out of this world," she chuckles with tears pooling in her eyes, "but without that crazy idea, I would have never been as happy as I am now. You have showed me love, passion, adventure and every other cheesy word I can think of. Even with the thing that weighs on us, I am so incredibly grateful to have you and call you my husband. Nothing makes sense in this world without you and it never will. You'll forever be mine as I am yours and I will never forget you." Sobs spill from both companions mouths at her words.

She heard him, every night he whispered in her ear, she heard him.

"Wow, uh I don't know how I'll top that," they chuckle at his words. "Well, Jo. I'll just get straight to the point. I love you more than I have ever loved anything, you are the only reason I continue to breathe and you make this horrible world seem like paradise. You ease the pain inside of me, the universe has cursed me, but in this moment I know that I'm okay with that, as long as we can be cursed together. I will spend every last day I have loving you with all of my heart. Jo, I love you today and when today turns to tomorrow and tomorrow to dust."

Shane nods at the priest knowing that they have said all that they wanted, "I now pronounce you-" he is cut off by Hero launching his mouth onto Jo's, sealing their love before he could even finish his sentence.

Cheers are heard from their small crowd as Shane pats Hero on the back while still holding him up with his other arm.

"I'll love you forever, Hero," Jo whispers after their kiss and caresses the side of his head.