Epilogue

Ursin Miller

Six months after my accident, we caught the cowards who attempted to murder me. They were the last members of Gomez Montelongo's cartel. They said it was an order from the man himself. Straight from prison.

I'd been the target before, as I've put away lots of criminals, but they were nearly successful. I stepped away to take an extended leave. It was Anya's request. And to be honest, I wasn't sure if I would go back to being DA. It wasn't my passion anymore.

She was. Anya. As was the baby growing inside her.

"I wish I could have a margarita." Anya stared on at my large cocktail as we each lounged on a chaise on the private black sand beach of Punalu'u in Hawaii County. It was my motherland. I wanted Anya to see my Hawaiian roots.

"You'll have one once you pop out our kid." I still couldn't believe I said the words. I was going to be a father. Never did I think that would be a reality.

"Yeah." She stared on into the aqua-blue water of my ancestors. Sighing, she slid on her sunglasses once again. "I wish I knew where Mom was. I wish I knew why she went away."

Anya's mother had disappeared. We'd driven out to her cabin to find it empty. Not a trace of her. I suspected I knew why she left, but I would never say it to Anya.

"You know what you can do?" I sat up and set my feet on the dark, hot sand.

"What?" She took her sunglasses off again and faced me.

I touched her arm, pulling her until she was sitting on my lap, her head resting in the crook of my neck. "Don't repeat the mistakes our parents made."

"Never," she said, her voice choked with tears. "I will never leave our family. Only death could separate us."

"Only death," I affirmed and held her as tight as I could.

Our family cycles were broken now. The slate was clean to be happy, really happy. And it felt better than I ever could have imagined.

The End