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 hips and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Good, because I’m going to take you upstairs and fuck you up against the wall.” I smiled.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” She winked at me.
Leon walked back in the house, said hello, and sat down at the piano in between the girls. Rory looked at me and casually walked upstairs.
“Enjoy your lessons, girls,” I said before I followed Rory up the stairs.
****
It was hard to believe that my father had been deceased for about five years. He passed away just before Ashley and Ariel’s second birthday. Those little girls brought him great joy and I believe that was why he hung on as long as he did, considering the chemo didn’t help him much. I had a hard time when he died and Rory helped me through it. I fully understood what she went through and what she felt when Stephen passed away. I arranged it so that Richard’s grave was next to Stephen’s so that when we visited, we could visit both at the same time. The girls enjoyed visiting every week because they liked to put the flowers down on each grave.
Rory and her father bonded over the past several years and he ended up marrying Rosie. It was a small, simple Vegas wedding held in a little white chapel. I, too, had become close with my mother. She and Richard had spent quite a bit of time together during his illness. There’s always forgiveness somewhere inside us, even if things that are done are unforgivable.
Rory and I had forgiven Andrew for his past mistakes. He’d been in therapy for about five years and then ended up marrying a girl named Olivia. She was good for Andrew because she was a strong woman who didn’t put up with any bullshit. She kept Andrew on a tight leash and that was exactly where he needed to be. We never fully recovered our friendship, but we would occasionally meet up for dinner f
or a couple of hours and then I wouldn’t see him again for months.
Mandy and Andre got married, and she and her daughter ended up moving to Paris. Rory was ecstatic because now it gave us an excuse to go to Paris more often. The two of them had a baby boy of their own. We visited them two to three times a year and we would Skype with them about once a month. Ashley and Ariel loved Paris and were so excited to go every time.
Rory was sitting up in bed reading a book when I climbed in and wrapped my arms around her. I began kissing her neck as she smiled and wrapped her legs around me. Suddenly, we heard the pitter patter of little feet heading towards our room. Rory and I quickly sat up and looked at each other and laughed. The girls always had perfect timing.
“Mommy, Daddy!” they yelled as the door flew open.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as they both climbed into bed with us.
“We’re scared,” Ashley pouted.
“Yeah, we’re scared,” Ariel said.
“What scared you?” Rory asked.
“Umm…” Ashley said.
“Umm…” Ariel copied.
“Just stuff. We want to sleep with you.”
I looked at Rory and she looked at me. We both laughed because we knew they just wanted to be with us. They weren’t scared. This was something they did about once a month.
“All right, get under the covers.” I smiled as I tickled them both.
I leaned over and gave Rory a kiss, Ashley a kiss, and then finally, Ariel.
“Good night, my queen and princesses.”
“Good night, my king,” Rory said.
“Good night, my wonderful daddy and mommy.” Both girls giggled.
I lay there, in my king-sized bed with the love of my life and my daughters. I smiled because this was exactly where I wanted to be. I turned to face Rory at the same time she turned and faced me. We both extended our hands to each other over the girls and interlaced our fingers.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you more,” she whispered.
The End
I hope you enjoyed reading the conclusion of Ian & Rory’s story.
Make sure to check out my other romance novels:
The Forever Trilogy:
(Forever Black, Forever You, Forever Us)
Being Julia
Collin (Releasing 8/12/14)
Remembering You
Reclaiming Us (Not yet released)
Love In Between
The Upside of Love (Releasing Fall 2014)
Playlist
Human – Christina Perri
Best Day Of My Life – American Authors
All of Me – John Legend
Talk Dirty (Feat. 2 Chainz) – Jason Derulo
I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
On Top Of The World – Imagine Dragons
Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler
Into Your Arms – The Maine
I’ll Follow You – Shinedown
You Run Away – Barenaked Ladies
I Miss You – Blink 182
About The Author
Sandi Lynn is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who spends all of her days writing. She published her first novel, Forever Black, in February 2013 and to date has seven books. Her addictions are shopping, romance novels, coffee, chocolate, margaritas, and giving readers an escape to another world.
Please come connect with her at:
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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6089757.Sandi_Lynn
Sandi Lynn, When I Lie With You
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