‘Ten, nine…’

‘Are you nervous?’ Freya asked, leaning into Rome. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm round her shoulders, kissing her forehead.

‘No, I know this is our best work yet. It’s been months of hard work but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved.’

‘Two, one...’ the mayor of Hope Island shouted, the crowd joining him with the countdown. He pulled the red curtain off the school mural and, as it fell to the floor and the glass glinted and sparkled in the sunlight, the crowd gasped and then cheered and clapped.

She smiled at all the children on the mural, playing in the playground and on the beach, she loved the dolphins jumping out of the waves and was most proud of how the sea had turned out, with its fused glass and metallic ribbons of gold weaved through it. That had been her idea and her part of the project and it couldn’t have turned out better. It really was beautiful. But the thing that made her smile the most was some of the people standing on the edges of the mural. Rome had the idea that they should put their loved ones into the mural to show how important they were to them and to the island. Bella, Isaac, Eden, Dougie, Finn and Lucy had all been immortalised on the mural. And although most people on the island would only see them as figures, non-descript people, Freya and Rome knew who they were. Freya grinned at the figure of Rome that she had put into the mural with his arm around the figure of her that he had put in. She was a part of this island now and it meant the world to her to see that symbolised in the mural too.

The school was opening for the new academic year the next day, it had been hard work getting the mural finished in time, working almost every day over the summer holidays and they had only just finished two days before, but Freya was so pleased with how it had turned out.

People came up to them and congratulated them and then started to drift off towards the barbeque that was being held to help celebrate the unveiling of the new school wing and the glass mural.

‘I didn’t mean about this,’ Freya said, once most of the people had moved into the school grounds for the celebrations.

‘Oh,’ Rome grinned. ‘Not one bit. You?’

‘No, not at all.’

They started to slowly walk down the beach away from the school. A few other stragglers were heading down the beach ahead of them.

‘You look so beautiful today, have I told you that?’ Rome said.

Freya looked down at the creamy strapless beach dress that sparkled with blue sequins, offset with a satin blue belt. She loved seeing Rome’s look of delight when she came downstairs in it before they came out.

‘Yes you have, and you’re looking pretty bloody hot yourself, Rome Lancaster.’ He was wearing a suit jacket over a pale blue shirt that was open at the collar. He looked so happy and relaxed.

‘And have I told you how much I love you?’

She smiled. ‘You tell me ten times a day.’

That was probably an understatement. Since the first time he had uttered those wonderful words, it was like a dam had burst and he couldn’t stop saying it. He didn’t care about saying it in public either, he was quite happy to shout his love to anyone and everyone who would listen. It was so genuine though, she knew that he meant it.

‘Does your Book of Love tell you to say it so often?’

‘I gave that book to the charity shop, I don’t need a book to know how I feel for you. There are no words sufficient to describe my feelings for you. And you seem to love me regardless of what I do or say. There are no rules any more.’

‘I do love you, very much.’

He bent his head and kissed her, smiling against her lips.

She looked ahead to the small round marquee that was billowing in the sea breeze. Out in the sea, she could see the dolphins frolicking in the waves. It was a perfect, sunny, September day.

‘I can’t believe tomorrow we fly out to Africa for our safari. I’m so excited. That’s my last dream coming true.’

He’d made every one of her dreams come true for her. Rome had insisted on going ahead with the sale of the flat, despite that she had moved in with him, pretty much straightaway. He’d told her it was her dream and he wasn’t going to go back on that.

‘Not all your dreams have come true. I believe you wanted four children by the time you’re thirty. We might have our work cut out having four in the next year, but we can give it a go. We’ll have lots of time on our safari for baby-making.’

She stopped him and looped her arms round his neck. He wrapped his arms round her back and held her close against him. He leaned his forehead against hers and moved his hands to caress her stomach.

‘I can’t wait to see you carrying my baby,’ he said, softly, his thumbs dancing across her belly.

Pretty much as soon as he’d slid the engagement ring on her finger, he’d started talking about trying for a baby and at first she’d thought he was doing that for her, trying to make all her dreams come true, but when he’d started reading books about babies and being a dad and getting really excited about the prospect, she knew he wanted this as much as she did.

‘You won’t have too long to wait,’ she whispered.

He frowned slightly, his smile falling off his face. He looked down at her stomach and then back up at her. ‘You’re pregnant?’

‘We’re pregnant,’ Freya giggled. ‘Just a few weeks so it’s still really early, but yes, you’re going to be a dad.’

She watched the huge smile spread across his face and then he kissed her hard.

‘We’re having a baby?’ Rome said, pulling back slightly.

She laughed and nodded and he kissed her again, his hands on her belly the whole time.

He pulled back again and he was still grinning.

‘But we can still practise for the next one while we’re on safari,’ Freya said and he laughed.

He gestured to the marquee at the end of the beach and Bella and Eden waiting outside in their long blue dresses.

‘We better get on with this then, I don’t want anyone saying we had a baby outside of wedlock.’

Freya laughed. ‘Yes, because all the islanders honestly believe we’ve been sleeping in separate bedrooms up until now.’

‘That’s true. Still I better make an honest woman out of you.’

He took her hand and led her up to the marquee. She greeted Eden and Bella and with her hand still in Rome’s they ducked inside. Fairy lights lit up the inside, interweaved with flowers and gold chairs filled with their friends and family were arranged in a circle around the edge of the marquee. Dougie was waiting in the middle with the registrar and Rome led her over to them, Bella and Eden bringing up the rear.

As the guests’ chatter died down and soft music started playing, Rome bent his head and kissed her on the cheek.

‘I love you both,’ Rome whispered.

‘We love you too,’ Freya said, unable to stop the smile from spreading on her face.

He smiled and they turned to face the registrar.

The registrar smiled at them.

‘Friends and family, welcome and thank you all for being here on this important day. We are gathered together to celebrate the very special love between Rome and Freya by joining them in marriage…’

Freya looked up at Rome and smiled, knowing all her dreams had come true.

* * *