Fifteen minutes after AJ and Shane had departed, Rhiannon sat in a chair at the kitchen table with the glass of wine Howie had brought her. She sat quietly, watching him as he cooked dinner, a soft smile on her face. The roses he'd brought her were carefully arranged in a vase in the middle of the table.
Howie looked up from the chicken he was browning in a pan and caught her eye. A smile crept across his face and slowly, a pleasant warmth spread through his body. He'd never been this happy before. He had everything he could possibly want in his life, now that he had his son and most of all, now that he had Rhiannon's love.
Half an hour later they sat cuddled on the couch, the remains of dinner left forgotten on the table. Howie was nervously going over in his head what he wanted to say. Rhiannon, her head resting on his chest, felt the tension in his body and frowned. She lifted her head and looked at him. There were little frown lines on his forehead and his eyes were staring blankly at the wall.
"Howard?" Rhiannon said softly.
Howie blinked and shook his head as if to wake himself up and looked down at her. "Mmhmm?"
"Are you okay? You totally spaced."
"I'm fine, baby. I was just thinking." Howie smiled, then gently shifted Rhiannon so he could stand. He paced nervously for a minute while Rhiannon watched curiously, sensing something was up.
Finally he stopped and slid his hand into his pocket, feeling the soft velvet of the ring box. He pulled it from his pocket and knelt down in front of the couch where Rhiannon sat.
"Rhi, I know I've already asked you this question, but I want to do this right." Howie took a deep breath, and opened the ring box to reveal the ring he'd bought that morning. The fading light from the sunset gleamed on the polished white gold band and glittered in the perfect, round diamond. "Rhiannon Morgan, will you marry me?"
Rhiannon's eyes moved from Howie's eyes to the ring and back to Howie. She swallowed hard, trying to fight back the happy tears long enough to answer him. "Yes." The tears spilled over as he pulled the ring from the box and gently slid it onto her finger.
Rhiannon wrapped her arms around him and kissed him with pure abandon. For the first time in years she was truly and completely happy and she wasn't going to miss a thing.
*Six Months Later*
Howie fidgeted nervously as he stood at the altar next to his brother, waiting impatiently for Rhiannon to appear. Off to one side, the other four Boys stood as groomsmen.
The past six months had been difficult. Rhiannon's physical wounds had healed long ago, but the psychological scars remained, though they were slowly fading. Nightmares still woke her some nights, but they were becoming less frequent.
As Howie stood there, quietly going over all that had happened in the last months, the music changed to Pachelbell's Canon in D. Howie looked over at his brother and his friends. All gave him reassuring smiles and he turned back to watch the door, anxiously waiting for a glimpse of Rhiannon. First down the aisle were his own nieces, Chelsea, Danielle and Elizabeth, and AJ's fiancée, Sarah. Then came his sister, Pollyanna, as Rhiannon's maid of honour.
Finally Rhiannon appeared in the doorway, ethereal in kilometres of snow-white chiffon, as Howie's own father escorted her down the aisle. Rhiannon looked up and met Howie's eyes. The sight of the unrestrained love and happiness in his eyes brought tears to her own. He'd been her strength the last few months; through David's death and the nightmares, he'd been there through it all, never wavering. Finally she reached the altar and Howie's strong, gentle hands clasped hers.
Before either realized it, they were sliding matching white gold bands onto each other's fingers. Then their lips were pressing together softly, sweetly, while AJ, Nick and Brian whooped and Kevin and John rolled their eyes.
"May I present, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Dorough." The minister smiled, as the guests applauded enthusiastically.
