I couldn’t help but laugh. “Ian, what are you going to do if she hates them?”
He looked up at me with a confused look on his face. “Well, out of both girls, one of them has to like them. How great is it going to be to share blueberry muffins with my daughters? I can see it now, Rory, all four of us sitting at the table, you eating your chocolate chip muffin and me and the girls eating blueberry muffins and them telling me how wonderful they are.”
“Really, Ian? Is that what you’re envisioning with your daughters? A breakfast of blueberry muffins?” Adalynn said as she strolled in and kissed us all on the cheeks.
“Are you always just going to pop in like this in the mornings?” Ian asked.
“Of course I am. In fact, I’ll probably be here more because I need my daily dose of my goddaughters.” She smiled as she took Ashley from him.
“Great.” Ian sighed.
“What are you plans for today?” Adalynn asked.
“Ian and I are going to take the girls to visit Stephen’s grave,” I said.
“That’s a wonderful idea, and it’s such a beautiful day out. Well, I’m off. I just wanted to say hi to my girls and you, of course, Ian.” She winked.
“Thanks, Adalynn, it means a lot to me,” he replied.
“I know it does, sweetie.” She smiled as she kissed us goodbye.
“She’s crazy,” Ian said.
“You’re both crazy and you both love each other.” I smiled. “Let’s go get the diaper bags packed so we can get to the cemetery,” I said as I walked upstairs.
****
Ian took the double stroller from the trunk and set it up. We put Ashley and Ariel in and pushed them to Stephen’s grave. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sun was shining brightly and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Ian and I took the girls from the stroller and sat down on the grass.
“Thank you for coming with us, Ian.”
“Aw, sweetheart, you’re welcome. I plan on bringing the three of you here every Thursday. I miss him just as much as you do, and I know he would’ve been so happy for us.”
“Yeah. He loved kids,” I said as I looked down.
Ian put his arm around me. “I know it’s still hard, sweetheart, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you through it, even if it takes the rest of our lives.”
“Life goes on, Ian. Things change and people come and go; it’s inevitable and it’s the cycle of life. I’m okay. I know Stephen is in a better place. Even though Ashley and Ariel never got the chance to meet him, I’ll tell them all about their uncle and how wonderful he was. Minus the little stabbing incident.” I smiled.
“Yeah, let’s not bring that up. But, that’s how we met. What are we going to tell them when they ask us?”
I laid my head on his shoulder. “We’ll figure that out when the time comes.”
We stood the girls up on Stephen’s grave and pointed to his headstone. We introduced them, and I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelmingly wonderful feeling. I couldn’t describe it, but it felt like Stephen was there with us. We both stood up and, as I turned, I saw Stephen and my mother standing next to a tree that was across the way. They looked at me and smiled, nodding their heads as they turned around and walked away, fading into the distance. I smiled as I kissed my girls and Ian. I finally felt at peace, and my life was fully complete. I had married the man of my dreams and gave birth to two beautiful little angels. I knew my mom and Stephen would always be with us. I was truly blessed, and I thanked God every day for this beautiful and wonderful life.
Epilogue
“Daddy, Daddy, look at what we found!” Ashley exclaimed.
I walked over to them as they stood near the shoreline and held out their hands, showing me an oyster.
“What is it, Daddy?” Ariel asked.
I knelt down in front of them. “It’s an oyster,” I said as I examined it. “Let’s open it.”
I gasped as I split the oyster in half and, sitting in the middle, was a white pearl. “Look, girls, a pearl.”
Their eyes widened as the corners of their mouths curved up. “It’s so pretty! I can’t wait to tell Mommy what we found!” Ariel said excitedly.
“I have an idea. Let’s keep this our little secret. Mommy’s birthday is next week. I’ll take both of you to the jewelers and we can have this pearl made into a beautiful necklace for her. Just from the both of you.” I smiled.
I held the pearl tightly in my hand as I stared at my two little girls who were now seven years old. It was hard to believe that they were growing up so fast. It seemed like only yesterday that they were born and I was holding them in my arms. As I was reflecting on the past, I heard Rory yell to the girls.
“Ariel, Ashley, it’s time for your piano lessons. Please come inside.”
I turned around and smiled at her as she smiled back and blew me a kiss. Our life was perfect. We barely argued and, when we did, we had the best makeup sex. Sometimes, I argued with her just because. I loved her and my girls more than anything in the world. As I followed Ashley and Ariel to the house, I pulled my ringing phone from my pocket and saw that it was Adalynn calling.
“Hi, Adalynn. I hope you have good news for me.”
“Hello, darling, and I have great news. Prim has reached the top spot over in Europe as best international magazine. Our stocks have doubled already. We did it, Ian!”
“Excellent news! I knew we would. Why don’t you and Daniel come over tonight for dinner and we’ll celebrate.”
“Will do. Tell Rory I said hi.”
Not only was Braxton Development doing extremely well, Prim was too. I always knew that Adalynn had a fierce business side, and I’d had no doubt that she’d take the magazine to the top. I followed the girls inside and they went right to the piano. I walked over to Rory and kissed her softly.
“Adalynn and Daniel are coming over for dinner tonight to celebrate Prim’s top spot in Europe."
“That’s wonderful news, my love. Congratulations!” She smiled as she kissed me.
“Where’s Leon? I thought it was time for the girl’s piano lessons.”
“He just went to go get the sheet music out of his car. He’ll be right back.”
I placed my hands on her h*ps and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Good, because I’m going to take you upstairs and f**k you up against the wall.” I smiled.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” She winked at me.