{"id":6628,"date":"2012-04-04T15:54:10","date_gmt":"2012-04-04T19:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6628"},"modified":"2026-07-22T09:13:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:13:21","slug":"forever-the-love-of-my-life-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6628","title":{"rendered":"Forever #3 – The Love of My Life (by Rider)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0<\/span>Joe and Alice think about their relationship on the eve of their wedding.<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K+ (990 words)<\/span><\/p>\n

Forever Series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forever
\n<\/a>I would do Anything for Love
\n<\/a>The Love of my Life<\/a><\/p>\n

The Love of My Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joseph Cartwright sat awake in bed at nearly 3 o\u2019clock in the morning.\u00a0<\/strong> No matter what he tried; sleep was impossible! The 28 year-old finally decided to go downstairs and try to find something to eat. As he got out of bed; he couldn\u2019t help but feel nervous. Rightly so; he was going to be married in 8 more hours. These were the last few hours that the youngest Cartwright would be a\u00a0bachelor. He walked down the stairs and into the living room as quietly as he could. Finally; he made it into the kitchen. To his surprise; after he looked around; he didn\u2019t feel hungry anymore.\u00a0 He walked into the living room and decided to sit down and read a book. As he skimmed through the shelf; he found a book that Adam used to read to him when he was little and couldn\u2019t sleep. It was called \u201cLife as a\u00a0Medieval\u00a0Knight.\u201d \u00a0He sat down; but instead of reading the book; his mind began to wander. His thoughts trailed off to his Father; who was asleep upstairs. Then he thought of his brothers. Adam, now living in Boston, and Hoss, who had died nearly a year ago, then his thoughts centered on his fianc\u00e9e, Alice Harper.\u00a0 All he could think of was how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. He was so grateful that she was about to enter his life.\u00a0 He wondered how he would feel when the wedding ceremony would\u00a0commence. Would he be excited or nervous? How would he feel when he brought her to their new home? Did he even truly love her?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo! No, Joe! Don\u2019t think like that! Of course you love her! Yes; you\u2019ve asked other women to marry you before; but this is different. Alice is different. You love her; you know you do! You\u2019re willing to spend the rest of your life with her! Don\u2019t think like that; you\u2019ll be happy with her!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Then he began to wonder if Alice truly loved him. Did she really, genuinely fall in love with him; or did she want to marry him because he was a Cartwright? He scolded himself again for thinking such thoughts about his beloved Alice.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop thinking that way, Joe! She loved you; of course she does! No women has ever treated you like she has; not in your life!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, he decided to go upstairs to try to get some more sleep.<\/p>\n

XXXXXX<\/p>\n

As Joe tried to fall back asleep on the Ponderosa; Alice Harper paced around her bedroom; unable to sleep herself. \u00a0She began to think of Joe, creating the same thoughts he had.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes he really love me? Does he truly want me for a wife?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She began to cry at the thought. \u00a0The further she thought; the harder she cried. Soon she began to cry so hard; that she could hardly stop. Then, she thought of when she met Joe; how handsome and strong he looked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Alice, you\u2019re being silly! Just look at yourself; crying like a little schoolgirl. Joe loves you & he\u2019ll make you happy, you know he will! You love him too, you\u2019ll make him happy too!! It\u2019s just wedding day jitters.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

XXXXXX<\/p>\n

One hour. Just one short hour until Joe Cartwright & Alice Harper would be married. He was shaking like a leaf.\u00a0 Joe stood in front of his mirror; desperately trying to tie his tie. He stopped looking at himself with a frustrated face. Jamie then came in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey Joe! Wow, you sure look handsome!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks. Hey, can you help me with this tie? I\u2019m all thumbs today!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure!\u201d<\/p>\n

XXXXX<\/p>\n

Joseph stood at the altar with his father. Then, the organ began to play. He turned to see his beautiful bride.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh!\u201d he thought.<\/em><\/p>\n

He never felt such love before. Alice had earned the\u00a0culmination\u00a0of his love; and now she was to be his wife.\u00a0 After they had said their vows and kissed each other; Joe had taken her to their house. The one he built for them.\u00a0 As he walked into the house, carrying her, he couldn\u2019t help but smile when he saw the look on her face. It was a look of love and gratitude, with surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou like it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Joe! Oh Joe, I love it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell good; it\u2019s all for you anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I love you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you!\u201d<\/p>\n

They kissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I almost forgot!\u201d Joe said.<\/p>\n

He bent over and picked up a box, giving it to Alice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled happily. As she opened the box her eyes shone with shock. Inside it was a sapphire pendant.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Joe!!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my mother\u2019s. I want you to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Joe, it\u2019s beautiful!! Thank you!\u201d<\/p>\n

She kissed him!<\/p>\n

\u201cI have something for you too!!\u201d<\/p>\n

She went outside and pulled a package out of her bags. \u00a0She handed it to Joe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, aren\u2019t you going to open it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe opened it and pulled out a handsomely made dress jacket.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlice. Alice, did you\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou made this! For me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm-hmmm,\u201d she nodded. \u201cLook at the pocket.<\/p>\n

Joe looked at the pocket; on which hung a tassel. A\u00a0tassel\u00a0which held the initials \u201cJ\u201d and \u201cA\u201d plated in gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, put it on! I want to make sure it fits!\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe excitedly put on his new jacket.<\/p>\n

The two smiled at each other and kissed again. As Joe looked into his wife\u2019s eyes; he knew that this was the happiest day of his entire life!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

*THE END*<\/strong><\/p>\n

This story is based on the Bonanza episode:\u00a0 Forever<\/p>\n

Director:\u00a0 Michael Landon
\nWriters:\u00a0 Michael Landon, David Dortort (created by)<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0Joe and Alice think about their relationship on the eve of their wedding.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K+ (990 words)<\/p>\n

Forever Series, links to all the stories within the series included.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[23,1007,8,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-joe-cartwright","category-short-stories","category-whi","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1007-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-27-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/coming-soon-4.jpg?fit=320%2C240&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}