I would like to let you know that Southern Belle is a finalist in the Watty Awards Humor: On the Rise. I would appreciate it if you voted for me :* (well, if you like the book or if you aren't planning on voting for someone else in my category haha).

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It was good to be back.

My blue orbs roamed the room, taking in my surroundings. I was currently standing in the kitchen of my parent’s house, and even though I hadn’t been there in a long time, I felt like I was transported back into my child and teenage years as I looked around.

On the upper-left cabinet in the kitchen, a door was missing because when I was eight, Mel and I had threw a bowling ball at it (for no apparent reason), and the wood cracked in half. I was grounded for two weeks as punishment.

The wooden island still stood strong in the middle of the entire room. When I was eighteen, that was where I placed my Stanford acceptance letter and refused to open it for three hours after it had arrived. A sheepish smile appeared on my face as I thought about how childish that was.

For the longest time, I continued to stand in the kitchen, just trying to remember the memories. When I was eighteen, the only thing I had ever wanted was to get out of this place. Now, at twenty-six, I wished for the exact opposite.

I wanted to stay as long as I could.

As I paced the perimeter of the room, my feet, wobbling in the four-inch heels, felt like they were walking on fire. Wincing in pain, I gingerly bent down and slipped one heel off of my feet at a time. As soon as they came off, a huge sigh escaped my lips. Because of my job, I had to wear heels every single day, but on the farm, wearing heels wasn’t too practical.

“Belle, you made it!” A voice, weak but full of energy at the same time, ripped me away from my trance. I grinned widely at the speaker, my heart twitching as she neared me.

My arms, now extended like airplane wings, were waiting to embrace my mother. Slowly but surely, she limped over to me, and I rolled my eyes; patience was never my thing.

“Yeah, I did. My plane arrived an hour ago, but I didn’t want to disturb anyone. I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier—my book tour is taking so much of my time that I barely can breathe,” I joked, wrapping my arms around my frail mother. As my head rested on her shoulder, my ears could pick up how frantic her lungs were working.

“At least,” she coughed into her left hand, “you came darlin’. Now, is that boy of yours coming, too?” Her left eye closed, and a half-smile slithered up the ends of her mouth. Although mother had aged—her hair, now somewhat grey, had thinned out, her skin had a couple of more imperfections, and her body weight seemed to just melt of her—her personality had never changed.

My eyes rolled playfully. “I don’t know; he’s pretty busy.”

Running a hand through her loose waves, she shook her head as her lips tilted downwards slightly. “Okay,” she exclaimed, “at least your siblings are coming. Evalyn would be extremely disappointed if everyone doesn’t show up.”

That was information I hadn’t received. My younger siblings, Tom and Alice, both were attending their first year of college now per my example. Although they were happy to attend NYU, they always were chatting to Mom about how much they missed life at home.

 Unfortunately, for Mel, her marriage lasted only about a year longer after she had taken Chase back. She had caught Chase with another woman, and finally, my advice had gotten through her thick skull, and she dumped him for good. They were still on rocky terms currently, but they had agreed to be civil for the sake of the children.

A year or two after her divorce was finalized, she began taking classes at a community college, and eventually, she earned her nursing degree. While working at the nearby hospital, she met her current husband, an anesthesiologist, and they married a few months ago.

Sadly, communication between all of us was extremely difficult because of our hectic schedules, but we all knew that each one of us was only a phone call away.

“That’s great,” I replied, quickly pecking my mother on her right cheek. A red outline of my lips was tattooed onto her face.

“I know.” Her bottom lip jutted outwards, and her nostrils flared. It meant a lot to her to have all her children under one roof again since I knew it was quite lonely for her now that Dad was working all the time, and Grandpa couldn’t keep her company since he had died three years ago from lung cancer.

Even on his death bed, Gramps had sworn that I was genetically a boy. As sad as it was to say, a pang appeared in my chest when thoughts of his funny remarks would enter into my head.

“Well,” she mumbled as she patted me on the back, “I should go help out. You go get yourself settled in, and I’ll work on the party decorations in the barn.”

My head moved in agreement. As her legs wobbled towards the door, her torso turned slightly, so she could send me one last grin. Our relationship had grown over the past years, and it felt nice to know that we were both in good places in our lives.

Now, my mother was one of my favorite people in the entire world. It felt so weird to think that I used to hate being around her.

Once I heard the slam of the front door, I pulled one of the bar stools from the counter and sat down. When Mom’s arms were tight around my waist, I saw her stealthily place an envelope onto the counter. The envelope was a bright yellow, and on the front, my name was written in white, sparkly ink.

Oh, I have been expecting you, letter.

As the letter was torn from the folder, I grinned slightly as my assumptions were confirmed. My blond friend, one of the most important people in my life, had sent this to me.

Ash.

If I had received this two years ago, tears would have probably been cascading down the sides of my face.  Now that the future seemed so bright, this invitation didn’t cause any hard feelings to resurface.

This invitation to his wedding.

Ash and I, as soon as I had graduated college, decided to see what our relationship would grow into. We dated for about two years, and everyone had told me that the chapel was the next stop on my path of life. However, as time went on, the kisses turned into fights, and the smiles transformed into tears. We barely had time to see each other, and we realized that fate had decided that we were best off being friends, rather than a couple.

At first, I was heartbroken because Ash had been the one to break it off—it was me who had scheduled multiple appointments with relationship counselors. For months after the breakup, my daily routine consisted of eating breakfast, crying, sleeping, and working. But then, he came, and the light at the end of the tunnel reappeared.

Biting my lip, I continued to read the invitation, which began with:

            Please join us on May 25 to celebrate the marriage of Ash Thomson and Elise Monroe.

There was a lot more written, but frankly, reading wasn’t something I enjoyed, so my hand shoved the letter back into the ornate envelope. As I did that, a small laugh left my mouth as I thought of their marriage.

Who would’ve thought that they, out of all people, would be perfect for each other? It all began when Elise and Nick had visited once for Christmas Eve. She and Ash just gazed at each other like they were the only two in the world, and even after she left our house, she still kept in contact with him.

Ash accepted Elise for who she was, and that was all she wanted. She didn’t care that he hadn’t furthered his education in college; she hadn’t minded that he was only a mechanic. He had a huge heart, and to her, that was his most attractive feature.

And I was glad for them.

Even though they were engaged, Elise and I weren’t friends really—we rarely talked and only saw each other for the holidays. However, we supported each other as best as we could, and she knew that I held a special place in my heart for her.

A small knock on the door jolted me out of my chair and out of my daydreaming, and instantly, my back collided with the ground, creating a large crash. A husky laugh boomed throughout the kitchen, and my hand smacked against my forehead in pure embarrassment. I was twenty-six, and yet, I still had my teenage klutziness.

Figures.

“Do you always greet me with a fall?” Nick bellowed, his hand clutching his waist as the laughter rumbled out of him. He was wearing a blue Ralph Lauren polo with jeans and white loafers. His brown hair, slicked back with gel, made him look a little older than he actually was.

“Funny. Do you want to help me up? Or are your arm muscles too weak?”

Shooting me a glare, he strode over and interlocked our hands. With a rapid tug, I was on my feet, and we were grinning at each other like idiots.

My Nick.

The connection between us was undeniable.

After college, Nick and I weren’t as close as we were before, but we still hung out occasionally. While I was dating Ash, he chose to waste his time with Missy Bufont. Once my relationship ended, Nick was there to pick up the pieces. Every time I was with him, I had to admit, things were so much easier. More importantly, he made me happy.

And the rest was history after that point.

“You came,” I breathed out, placing my frail hand to my pounding heart. I didn’t know whether to contribute the frantic pace of it to the fact that I fell moments earlier or to the fact that Nick was barely an inch away from me.

“And I bring great news. Your book is on the top of New York Times Best Sellers for the third week in a row.” His eyes twinkling, he leaned over and kissed me once on the cheek and once more on my left hand, right above the glistening diamond.

While Nick travelled for his business (he took over his family company), I had created a publishing company and even published my first book, The Guide to Getting through Life as a Women. In the novel, I had talked about the problems girls faced in the world and about the importance of education. Not only did the book provide income for my family, but it provided me with a sense of pride, and it provided females with the message that they didn’t need a guy to be successful.

They would only need confidence in themselves and their brains.

“I’m proud of you, Mrs. Monroe. By the way, you look absolutely stunning as usual.” His voice, strong and husky, sent chills up and down my back. A faint blush crept up my face as I peered down at what I was wearing.

My hair was thrown up into a ponytail, and as usual, there was no makeup on my face except for lipstick. Today, I chose to wear a sundress—it had a bright blue bodice that ended just below my chest, and the cream skirt jutted out of the top in silky waves. With every step I took, it swished against my thighs; I happened to like that. I also appreciated how the skirt of the dress hid my definite but small bump, which was slightly protruding from my hips.

“When can we tell everyone the news?” My husband asked, his bottom lip pouting. He looked like a puppy dog.

“Not today but soon. We have to keep the attention on Evalyn’s baby. It’s his first birthday after all, and we’re here to celebrate that.” My hand found its way back into Nick’s.

Nick rolled his eyes before gently pulling me in the direction of the door. As we neared the opening, he halted, his eyebrows furrowing. I looked back at him, my head cocked to the side. What was wrong with him?

“I almost forgot this,” he said as he revealed a tiny bellflower petal in the palm of his hand. He gave me one last peck before placing it into the front of my hair. “No matter what, you’ll always be my Southern Belle.”

I smiled back and forced our lips together one last time before we ran out into the meadow and the shining sunset.

It felt amazing to love someone that much.

**

I just wanted to thank all of you for reading my work, commenting, and giving me all your support. I honestly couldn’t have done this without you guys, and I’m glad that you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

I can’t stress how appreciative I am of you guys. I’m legit crying right now.

It’s a sad but joyful time right now. It’s sad because I just finished a year of my life, but on the other hand, I just completed my first book! :D And I’m proud of that.

It’s going to be hard to let these characters go. :*(

On the topic of book, I cannot stress the importance of education. Education can get you anywhere, and I think that our generation needs to find the love of learning once again. So, go pick up a book and read!

Anyhoo, *wipes away tears*, I hope that you like the ending, and there might be a special chapter from this book coming your way in the near future! (hopefully). *With regard to this special chapter, it will be fan-voted! You get decide what the chapter is about. Do you want to know what Nick was thinking at the night of the ball? Or what happened to Ash during his accident? Mel's reconciliation with Chase? Belle's graduation? Or the birth of Nick and Belle's child? Leave a comment below, and I'll tally it up!

I have a new book coming out, so stay tuned for that!

**Update 11/10/12: My new book is out! It's called Baggage, and you can find it on my profile or by clicking the external link on the side**

Vote for me for the Watty's! We reached #2 Humor yesterday! PLEASE VOTE.

Love you, wattpaders<3.

Sincerely,

Springgirl101