Epilogue.
18 months later.
Samara caressed the small swell of her new baby beneath the satin of her fitted, white wedding dress. When she’d planned her ceremony and picked out her slim line gown, she hadn’t thought she’d be pregnant for the second time.
“Are you ready, my girl?” her father asked, stepping up next to her and holding out his arm. His face beamed with pride and her heart swelled with the knowledge that her beloved parents adored Julian.
“Yes. Most definitely.”
She took her father’s arm in the lobby of the hotel she’d help rise from the ashes.
The marble floor shone and there was a general happy buzz all around her from the many staff and all the people currently visiting the old dame of a hotel.
Her father marched forward and they began to walk outside, the automatic doors opening smoothly making her smile. Such a small thing, but it really did make such a difference.
The bright sunshine shone on their faces, the once dreaded humidity wrapping around her and making her grin. They walked across the main road and as she approached the large group of people gathered for them, she slipped out of her shoes as she stepped onto the sand, her wedding party set up before her.
A hundred people stood on the golden dune, staring at her and as she looked back, her heart began to gallop in her chest. She’d waited for this moment for so long, and it was finally here.
Separating the wedding guests was a long red carpet, leading up to the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
“Last time to turn back, my girl,” her dad whispered at her as she took a deep breath, her heart continuing to flip flop in her chest.
She whispered back at him, “Hurry up, Dad, or he might change his mind!”
Her dad chuckled in good humor, because they both knew that wasn’t happening any time soon, and together they began the slow walk down the aisle.
Soft music played as her bare feet touched the carpet and she stared at the place her husband should be. He stepped out of the crowd and suddenly, there he was. Julian. Holding their son in his arms, their proud little ring bearer.
Julian had been a better partner and father than she’d ever imagined. He had turned around everything in their lives. And now, after waiting longer than they’d both wanted to, they would be husband and wife.
Her dad stopped, lifted up her veil, his eyes suspiciously shiny as he kissed her cheek and handed her over to Julian.
She turned to look at the man in the expensive suit. A man who’d taken her breath away the moment she saw him, and hadn’t stopped doing so ever since.
“You look so beautiful,” he said, smiling at her in that way where she could see the love that shone from his eyes. Yet there was a kink to his mouth that made her think that he was imagining taking this dress off her later.
They turned toward the ocean, the celebrant standing beneath a canopy.
“Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today…”
The celebrant’s word faded into the back ground as Thomas, her son, walked around to her side, clinging to her left hand as Julian held on to her right. Her family.
She had everything she’d ever wanted and it had all begun here. Her miracle in Hawaii.
THE END.
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