Rush and Restraint

Epilogue

Noelle turned her head and laid it on my shoulder, gazing up at her uncle with serious eyes. "But I want Daddy."

Stellan just helplessly cast his eyes up to the sky as I chuckled and beamed down on my daughter, Noelle Adrianne Yates. She had my dark hair and symmetrical face but she had Vivienne's deep, silvery gray eyes and full pouty mouth with the soft indentation on the center of her bottom lip. God help me but she was going to be every bit as beautiful as her mother—and definitely just as troublesome. Even at five, she knew exactly how special she was and the power she had over everyone. Whether it would be a cheeky smile, a batting of her long lashes or a sweet kiss she'd plant on someone's cheek—she knew how to work her charm.

"Mommy's here. Look," I said to my little girl as I turned her around just as Vivienne stepped out from the halo of the bright, late afternoon sun that flooded the doorway and the aisle of the small, old chapel.

My heart clenched at the glorious sight of her.

The rich copper shade of her long, heavy locks floating casually down her shoulders and arms brightened her ivory skin, the flush of her cheeks matching the rosiness of her smiling mouth. Her dress was a vintage lace piece with tapered sleeves and a slender skirt that skimmed gracefully around her as she walked down the aisle on Jack's arm. She wore no veil—just her mother's old pearl brooch tucked into the sweep of hair just above her ear.

"Mommy looks like an angel," Noelle mumbled in a small, awed voice, resonating the thought of every single person gathered in the chapel with us today.

"She does, sweetheart," I said, my voice catching. "She's my angel."

Vivienne would forever be a beauty to anyone with eyes, her elegance timeless and almost otherworldly, one wouldn't disagree with the possibility of her having descended from the heavens.

But Vivienne was as human as one could get.

She felt deeply, feared the unknown, made mistakes and rose from the ashes burning brighter than ever.

She lived with compassion and a resilience that to this day, I still wished I never forced her to learn the way she did.

There were times when I felt like I didn't deserve her.

When all you'd done was hurt someone, it was easy to wonder if you were capable of the opposite at all.

But isn't that how we're all saved? With the love of someone who deserves far more but is content with what little we can offer?

It would take time but someday, I'd be the man she deserves.

Noelle wiggled to get back down on her feet and even as I carefully let her down, my eyes never left my wife. She only broke away from my gaze when our daughter ran up to her to take her other hand even while it was holding a small cluster of wild flowers.

"Happy anniversary, Mrs. Yates," I told her after Jack and Noelle finally delivered her to me by the altar. I took her hand and brought it to my lips, pressing a kiss on the back of it.

She smiled at me and for a moment it reminded me of the girl Vivienne had been when she followed me up the hill the day my I buried my family. Her eyes were sparkling so brightly one could almost forget she'd ever known pain.

But she had and mostly because of me.

I would never forget but I wouldn't let it stop me from making sure that from this day forward, she would known never know that kind of pain again.

It all comes down to choice. You can be the man who breaks her heart. Or you can be the man who makes her happy.

My choice was to be the man that made Vivienne happy, and happy for the right reasons. Reasons that didn't revolve around money or status but rather on who I was as a man, husband and father.

"Happy anniversary, Mr. Yates," she told me back, her hand squeezing mine. "It might not seem like a lucky number to some but I'm glad we made it here."

The last five years had been somewhat of a whirlwind for our family.

Suddenly, everyone close to us knew and frankly, that was all we cared about. We made no big public announcements. Vivienne continued to be professionally known by her maiden name since it was part of her brand but with everything else, she used her married name that eventually people picked up on it. We gave no interviews—just smiles and shrugs and casual confirmation to those who didn't shy away from asking outright.

The renovation of my old family home finished just in time for Noelle's birth and suddenly, the once-empty halls and rooms echoed with something fresh and happy. We split our time between there and the chateau where Noelle would bring flowers to Theodore's grave.

Vivienne said she didn't require the grand wedding she'd missed due to our hasty Vegas nuptials but when our anniversary started to roll around, I convinced her to pack up our family and friends and quietly renew our vows here in the old chapel of the chateau. This old, grand place somewhat symbolized our marriage—steeped in history and strengthened by it, wrought with memories both dark and wonderful, and built to last through several more lifetimes.

We repeated our vows to each other, ten years from when we first said them, and meant them more than ever.

I never knew I needed saving,

Until I was safe in your arms.

***

Thank you again for joining me in this love story.

See you in the next one!

♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: My Love by Jess Glynne (acoustic version) ♪♪♪

There's nothing more that I would have that I could need

Cause having this means that I've got it all

When I was taking turns and you were wrong for me

You chose to understand and let it go

And ohhh

You've turned this black heart made it into gold

So I wanna let you know that

My love and my touch, up above is made with the warmth of my,

My love and my touch, up above is made with the warmth of my love

Looovve

Control is such an open-ended word for me

Something that I used to think I owned

I'm standing here with none, I'm feeling so complete

You helped me understand to let it go

And ohhh

You've turned this black heart made it into gold

So I wanna let you know that

My love and my touch, up above is made with the warmth of my,

My love and my touch, up above is made with the warmth of my

My love and my touch, up above is made with the warmth of my,

My love and my touch, up above is made with the warmth of my love