What Is Love - Barlow/Williams

Part 43: An Epilogue - This Is Love

This is it! The absolute end.

The last chapter saw Robbie finally see sense and accompany Gary to New York, and finally they were back together again. The End.

Except, I couldn't just leave it there without glimpsing into the future, so this epilogue (which was the first chapter I wrote!) is set a year or so after then. Not that the timing is that relevant, but after 22-ish months (I think) of writing this monster of a drama-drenched tale, the important thing is this story is finally completed, and I hope you'll agree, has found it's natural end.

I hope you enjoy this last part to the story, and thank you so much for taking the time to read it.

(See the end of the chapter for A/N.)  xx

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Marjorie Barlow held up the photo of two smiling smartly dressed men under a flowery gazebo. Bringing the photo closer to her aging eyes, she carefully perused the photo of the two familiar gentlemen; dressed in fine suits with small white flowers sticking out of their suit lapels, and holding hands. Two glistening metal bands rested on those hands, and reflected the warm golden glow of sunshine. Tinged with a dash of bright orange, the vibrant glow in the photo indicated it was taken shortly before sunset, under an orangery-pink sky. The two main subjects of the photo, two grooms - were slightly squinting in the bright light, but their grins were bright and wide. They were incredibly happy, and Marjorie couldn't help but lovingly smile right back at the two men in the photo.

"This is a nice one", she declared, aloud, "you're not blinking in this one Gary, I can see your eyes".

A man came up behind where she was sat at the table, and crouched over her shoulder to see the photo, before tutting rather loudly, "Mum, I told you I'd print you a photobook, you don't need to get any more printed", Gary tiredly told his mum as he saw a large pack of photos newly printed beside her. Marjorie however, simply returned the tutting, and batted away her son's disapproval, "AND I told you, I wanted some for my OWN photo albums I keep, and have kept for the last 40 odd years, Gary!" and with that rebuke she deftly retrieved a photo album from on her lap, that had been obscured under the table. "Besides, I don't want to trouble you – you've only been back from your honeymoon a short while, you don't need to be troubling about me!" Marjorie strongly insisted, and went to stick the photo in question, on a new page in the photo album.

"Mum – you are never any trouble!" Gary affectionately implored, as he knelt to leave a little kiss on the older woman's head. It was then he looked passed her, to the photo album laid in front of her, and watched as she secured within it's pages, a photo from their wedding in Hawaii. He then looked to the opposite page and saw a newspaper cutting his mum has previously stuck in. The newspaper cutting was from five months ago, and showed Robbie on one knee in front of a huge crowd on stage; the headline read: "Could it be Marriage? – Robbie proposes to life partner Gary Barlow during Take That gig".

However, suddenly looking up at the tabloid's name, Gary immediately frowned.

"Oh mum, I can definitely get you a better photo of Robbie's proposal than on that scrap of a newspaper!" Gary remarked as he wrinkled his nose up in disgust at the page taken from The Daily Mail, of all papers.

"Don't worry Babe – I'm already on it!" Robbie called over from the small sofa in Marjorie's humble lounge.

"What you talking about?" Gary asked, rather puzzled as he left his mum at the table in the conservatory and ventured over to where his husband was relaxing on the sofa, looking very casual in just grey joggers and a T-shirt.