Epilogue
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I sat down on a bench before laughing at the rare sight of Atem playing with a child. Today, we were given the task of babysitting Kiya, who was five now. Apparently, Aunty Maya had promised her to take her to the park, but she caught a cold and Uncle Ethan was extremely busy with work.
Thus, Atem, Neferkitti and I came to the rescue.
And that was no hair off our back since Atem loved Kiya.
Despite the fact that I had known him for so long, including the four years of him being gone, I never imagined how good he would be with kids. Though I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised, he practically raised his own little brother, after all.
The thought of this made me put my hand over my relatively flat belly, happy to know that if I were to have a child, he'd be an excellent father.
The sky was beginning to turn red and orange as the sun started to set, and since I had the fitness level of an old grandma, a couple hours in I was exhausted, which was why I took refuge at the bench. Neferkitti, joined me to keep me company. Atem however, well, he could keep going all night if he wanted to.
"I'm going to catch you!" Kiya shouted with a grin on her face as she ran after Atem.
Atem wasn't running fast, so Kiya grabbed a hold of his shirt with ease. He pulled away and gave her an exaggerated glare while he did the superhero stance. "You are no match for me, child," he said, making me snort. "You mustn't forget that I was the Pharaoh of Egypt. I've led thousands of soldiers into war and defeated–"
Kiya pounced on him, giggling uncontrollably. She loved it when he started his 'don't mess with me' rant.
I laughed out loud as Atem purposefully collapsed onto the sand covered ground of the park, letting Kiya climb on top of him and throw her hands up into the air. "Victory!"
Atem put an arm over his face. "I cannot believe it," he sighed. "You have defeated me again."
Neferkitti jumped off the bench from beside me, rushing over to them and pouncing on Atem too while Kiya gave Atem a kiss on his cheek. "I'll give you one more chance!" She said, holding her finger up. Once the game was over, she always gave him another chance, and every time they played together he would always break it and be the bad guy who needed to be defeated.
Atem chuckled.
I watched as Atem got up while lifting the only two girls in this world that he would ever be so silly with in his arms. Neferkitti and Kiya. I was very jealous of those two.
"I appreciate your kindness," Atem said to Kiya. "But for now I think it's time to go home."
Kiya protested a little but since she always listened to Atem, she gave up pretty quickly. When Atem reached me, Neferkitti jumped into my arms and I stood up. "Ready?"
Both Atem and Kiya nodded and with that, we all walked home together. After dropping Kiya off, Neferkitti walked elegantly in front of us, not needing a leash or anything of the sort. She was definitely worthy of being a Queen. That would never change.
It's been two years since Atem's come back home and strangely enough, not much has changed. He had the same personality, as always, which was great in my opinion. I guess in a sense it helped to make me think he never really left.
One thing that did change was that my entire family was rather accepting of him. Even my father. My father had a strange appreciation for Atem and though they barely ever talked, I could simply tell by the look on my father's face that he tolerated him. And toleration was a thousand times better than nothing when it came to my dad.
It took a while for Ro and Alec and Blake to grow comfortable with him again since they never ended up getting their memories back. But they did soon enough and eventually, their relationship was great again. Blake even began taking Atem to the gym again, which was awesome.
And of course, there was Grandma Seetha. Grandma Seetha grew to love Atem almost instantly. It kind of felt like she actually remembered him and I thought that maybe it was because she was older and wiser.
Overall, the last two years were wonderful. We still fought all the time, but we made up very quickly. We would read together when we got the chance. And we would do what we could to make up for the time we lost. Strangely enough, despite all the imperfections in our relationship... I felt like everything was absolutely perfect.
So I walked by his side, holding his hand tightly with a smile on my face. Walks like this were nice, where we just silently enjoyed each other's presence. Right now was even more awesome since it was quiet and the sky was beautiful and the weather was perfect.
"We should hurry up and have a child," Atem suddenly said.
With the peaceful, silent walk disturbed, I looked at him in shock.
Well wasn't that sudden?
"You're old enough now, aren't you?" He asked. "In your time, at least. In Egypt, twenty-six would be middle aged. You're an old lady."
"Well in that case, you're an old man."
"Exactly. I'd like to have a child before I die, thank you." He said it in a matter-of-fact tone, which made me laugh. "I'm serious, May."
I let out a breath, looking straight ahead.
"Don't you want children?" His voice was suddenly gentle, making my heart skip a beat.
"Well yeah," I said. "But I'd prefer we get married first."
"We are married," he mumbled to himself in annoyance.
"We have to get married here."
"Fine," he said. "What does that entail? A grand banquet with hundreds of guests and a white dress?"
I chuckled. "Yeah, but first you have to propose. You have to get down on one knee with a diamond ring and ask me to marry you."
He looked at me in disbelief. "That sounds ridiculous."
"That's how you propose here!" I argued.
"Why do I need to get on a knee and ask you with an expensive ring?" He asked. "That sounds more like trying to bribe you into marrying me."
I hesitated. For the first time in my life, I thought about that and realized how right he was. It did seem like that, didn't it?
And of course, it was completely like Atem to take age old traditions and throw them out the window like it was trash.
"Why can't I just ask you to marry me? Why is that not acceptable?"
I rolled my eyes and stopped walking, turning to face him. "Fine, ask me to marry you... But you have to ask me the same way you did in Egypt."
I saw a hint of red forming on his cheeks. "That was years ago," he argued. "How am I supposed to remember what I said?"
"Well, remember," I responded, stubbornly. "I'm not going to marry you unless you ask me properly."
He tried to keep a straight face but gave up almost immediately. After taking a couple breaths and kicking his enormous ego to the curb for only a short while, he sighed. "I love you," he said, cheeks reddening even more. "I gave up everything to come here and be with you because of that. I was locked up in a tomb all alone for thousands of years with the hope that maybe one day I could be with you again. I may miss my previous life here and there but I do not regret my choice even one bit. I'd rather be here as a measly peasant rather than in Egypt as an all-powerful king if it meant being with you. So will you not, at the very least, do me the honor of being my wife... in this world too?"
Honor, huh? I smiled, my heart racing in joy. "Now there's my surprisingly poetic 'Tem," I grinned, holding both his hands in mine.
He rolled his eyes. "Will you or will you not?"
"Well, I have good news and bad news–"
He looked annoyed. "This is a yes or no question, May."
"Which do you want to hear first?"
After a moment of hesitation, he let out an annoyed huff. "The bad news."
"The bad news is that though I will do you the honor of being your wife, we're going to be hell-a swamped for the next week or so while we rush to plan this wedding. We have to get married as soon as possible."
One of his eyebrows arched. "Then what's the good news?"
I smiled before stepping forward and kissing his lips. When I pulled away, I wrapped my arms around his neck and watched his expression for a moment before I spoke. "I might already be pregnant."
His eyes widened and his lips began to smile. "Really?" It came out as a shocked whisper.
I nodded. "I wasn't going to tell you until I was certain," I said, arms still around his shoulders. "But I missed my period last month and this month–"
He kissed my lips and when I felt his excitement, my heart began to flutter. When he pulled away, he hugged me so tightly that I couldn't breath. "You should have told me right away," he said. "Whether you were sure or not."
I let out a chuckle and hugged him back, allowing myself to be suffocated. When he finally released me, I grabbed a hold of his hand and we started to walk again. "We have to get married quick," I said. "I don't want my family to realize I've been having premarital sex."
It seemed like he didn't hear that. "Her name shall be Neferankh."
That surprised me. "Her?"
"I think she will be a girl," he said. "No, I am certain."
"You can't be sure of that, Atem," but then almost immediately after I said it I decided to take it back in my head. After all the magic and spiritual power and nonsense that I've dealt with in my life since I met him, maybe he could just know. "What does Neferankh even mean?" That would be kind of an odd name in our society.
"Beautiful life," Atem said with a smile. "Neferankh."
I thought about that and then began to nod. I liked it. I liked that name a lot.
Beautiful life, huh? What a perfect name for the future daughter of the once cruel and misguided Pharaoh Akhenatem. And in a sense, maybe it was also a perfect name for the daughter of a previously rather simple girl who once never knew what love and life really even meant.
That would be the perfect name.
Neferkitti, who had walked quite the distance ahead of us, stopped to turn around and look. I saw her meow before she continued on her merry way. I wondered then if she realized that she was going to have a human sister soon, but knowing her magical self, she probably knew well before I even did. Maybe that's why she's been keeping me company more than usual these days.
"You are carrying the Princess of Egypt," Atem said before he let out a sad sigh.
I chuckled before putting an arm around his waist and pulling myself close to him as we walked. "You only wish," I kinda did too, the thought was a nice one.
When I felt his lips kiss my temple, I looked at him with a grin. At that moment, all I felt was bliss and happiness and unbelievably satisfaction with the way that everything was turning out.
I often felt sorry for him for having to leave it all behind for me. He was right when he said that he left a life of riches and luxury just so he could be with me. Here, he was simply a translator for the Department of Egyptology at Oakville University. It was a good job, but nothing compared to the life of a Pharaoh.
No more glorious warmth of the Egyptian desert. No more sights of the beautiful River Nile. No more waking up to the sounds of people bustling around in the market not too far away from the palace. And no more falling asleep the absolute silence.
No more talking to the Royal Court who loved and protected him and was the family that could replace the one that was murdered by his evil stepmother. No more spending time with a loving, loyal, wonderful little brother who looked up to him. No more kisses from his adoring mother who did so much for him.
He didn't just leave behind his Royal Life... He left behind his actual life too.
One time as we spoke, I started to cry. I cried for him when I realized how much he had given up for me. He responded by hugging me and telling me to never cry about that ever again. He said that it was his choice. He chose to leave it all behind.
He told me that his family and the people he loved would never actually be gone. They were here watching over him... Just as Aunty Maya had stuck around and watched over me in that other life.
As for his royalty and his glory... He said none of that mattered.
But, despite that... at least, in my eyes Atem was still a magnificent, strong, noble and kind Pharaoh.
I really wished though that everyone could know that about him. I wish everyone could know that he wasn't a Pharaoh with a sad, lonely ending. I wish everyone could know that he not only changed history but he also changed my life. He was a hero... my hero. He made me one of the happiest girls in the world and for that, he will always be my King.
And now, to make it all even better, he was going to be a father too. He was going to be the father of my future baby girl that he would help me raise into a woman who will be as wonderful as a beautiful Egyptian princess.
"Hey," I called as I looked up at him.
He looked down at me with only love and kindness in his eyes, looking nothing like the eyes I saw when I first met him years ago.
"You know, you'll always be a Pharaoh in my eyes," I said, honestly. "The greatest Pharaoh that ever existed."
The smile he gave me was calm and relaxed and satisfied. I could tell that my words not only pleased him, but it seemed like he wanted nothing more than that. "That is good enough for me, my beautiful queen."
- The End -
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And there we have it folks! The end of Beauty and the Pharaoh!! Thanks so much for sticking through the story till the very end! It means THE WORLD to me!!!!
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MOVING FORWARD:
So I know this is the last chapter of this book, but I am planning on uploading more chapters to continue on with their stories. I wouldn't say that it's going to be the sequel or anything like that... but it's definitely going to continue on with their future and it's more so just for fun!
My estimate is that there will be able four or five chapters added to this story over the span of the next couple months, so keep checking in =D! The first continued addition will be NEXT FRIDAY! =D Hope you're excited!
As for the CONTEST: I will have an update for that by MONDAY JUNE 13th, 2016! So those of you who sent in your pictures, you'll have more info soon! =D
LASTLY
THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading this story! It was so much fun to write and it made me so happy that so many of you actually enjoyed it!! Please stay tuned to find out when I'll have to hard copy ready for anyone who would like to have a copy of this story in their own personal libraries <3
LOVE,
LUCKYCHARMS!!!!! <3 <3 <3
Don't forget to check back next Friday to see the first update on their FUTURE LIVES!!! ;D
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