“I should have known I would fall in love with you,” Jane whispered to Owen as they lay side by side on a rug on the grass, looking up at the stars so high above them in the night sky. He had been telling her their names and stealing kisses whenever she leaned over him to see what he was pointing at.

“Why do you think that,” he said, softly, staring down at her after he had pulled her closer to him.

“You were the only one who knew about the wish I made when I was a little girl. Do you remember it?” she asked eagerly. “When I wished for my own Prince Charming, after I had been reading that old book of fairy stories. I also know now that true love can never be denied.”

Owen pulled Jane into his arms then, and his lips lingered on hers. His kisses made her wonder how she could have believed that she would be able to live without him, Owen Price, the man she adored, and knew was destined to be the love of her life.

Taking his hand inside her own a little later, she said breathlessly, “I have some news, Owen.”  She hesitating a little before she continued.  “Now that the time is here, I am almost afraid to say it.”

“What is it?” he said with concern, looking at her more closely, and fearing the worst.  She might be taken from him again, but by illness this time. He couldn’t bear the loss if that happened. “You can tell me anything, Jane,” he replied quickly. “I will never leave you, whatever it might be.”

“I am having a child,” Jane blurted the words out before starting to laugh when she saw the look of disbelief on Owen’s face turn to wonder, then delight. His heart leaped with joy to realise he would no longer only be a husband, but a father too! 

At first, he didn’t know how to deal with the emotions that raced through him, and it was a little while before he managed to respond to Jane’s news. “Then I shall have two of you, to love,” he paused, to kiss her again. “Thank you, Jane, from the bottom of my heart! I am the happiest man alive,” Owen Price said, pressing his wife tightly to him, unable to contain his excitement. 

The shock and elation caused by Jane’s announcement was slowly tempered by a slight worry about how well he would rise to this new responsibility. It didn’t matter in the least to him whether the child was a son or daughter. There was Jane’s well-being to consider too, especially during her confinement. He must make sure that she had everything she needed and it was within his power to provide. Unable to sit still any longer, he stood up, lifting her too and twirling her carefully around in his arms beneath the stars.

“Owen, put me down. You must!” Jane said, laughing. He obeyed, and she pulled him onto the rug to sit beside her, their faces glowing with happiness. 

“I have been thinking about everything that happened,” he said eventually. “It seems to me that true love comes to us as it will despite all of our efforts and contrivances. I am inclined now to believe that destiny does play a part in it. We were truly fortunate when Cupid found us and didn’t give up! We have the sort of love I used to think only the poets knew about, and I dreamed of. We do have our very own fairy-tale, Jane. I am looking forward to the rest of our lives,” Owen said, kissing her gently. “Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s go inside.”