Epilogue

Rhodes

S ometime later

This was happiness.

The sun on my skin, the comfortable breeze rustling the leaves of the trees, our family and closest friends watching on as I waited for the most important moment of my life.

For twenty years, I thought this day would never come. I thought I’d lost the only woman who would ever own me, heart and soul. Then the door opened and my whole world came stepping through.

At the first sight of my bride, my lungs seized and my heart swelled so big it took up every inch of space in my chest.

Nothing about my Angel was conventional, so it made perfect sense that her wedding dress would fit her personality. The silky fabric flowed around her legs in the breeze, the color reminding me of the Caribbean waters... of those perfect eyes, and I knew this was the moment I would take with me when I finally left this earth. This one right here. Watching my woman and our kids walk down the aisle to me so I could make us a family once and for all.

Avett wore a suit, looking dapper and mature as ever as he linked his elbow with his mother’s, taking his job of walking her down the aisle very seriously.

Adeline and Ainsley wore miniature versions of their mom’s dress as they walked a few feet in front, Koda right between them, tossing flower petals on the ground between the two columns of chairs.

A nickering sound from the newly built barn a few yards away caught Ainsley’s attention, and she paused in her task to look in that direction. “Hi, Strawberry! Hi, Blaze! Hi, Fred!” she called out to the horses. Yes— horses . Blythe might have blown a gasket when I showed up with a trailer full of ginormous animals, but she eventually settled down. After all, she knew I was a sucker for those kids.

The crowd laughed at my baby girl’s antics, and she lapped it up, the little diva that she was. The girls reached me first, both of them latching on and hugging me with all their might.

I knelt down and wrapped them in my arms. “Love you both to the moon and back.”

They returned the sentiment before placing kisses on my cheeks and skipping off to join Nona, Trick, and Tristan in the first row.

Avett and Blythe stopped in front of me, and I could see the emotion he was trying to hold back. It broke free and he lunged, his hug as tight as his sisters’. “Thank you for makin’ us happy.”

Christ, this kid was killing me. “It was an honor. You guys have my heart, forever and always.”

He sniffled and nodded, turning to hug his mom before going to join his sisters.

“Angel,” I breathed as she stepped up beside me.

Her smile lit up my whole goddamn world.

“Well, baby, what do you say?” she asked, reaching down to take my hand in hers. “You ready to do forever with me?”

Oh yeah. This was happiness.

And this was what it meant to live your very best life.

The End.

Thank you so much of reading!

Keep going for a sneak peek of Nona and Trick’s book, The Best of Me