Forever Yours

Epilogue

A year after that, I got pregnant. Rianne was finally born, on June 22, of this year, 2014. She was only six pounds, with soft, wispy, golden hair and blue eyes, identical to her father's. Of course, I'd fallen in love with her immediately but I think everyone was surprised, myself included, at the level in which Ryan adored her. She was very rarely anywhere but his arms and had already developed the tendency to cry like her heart was being broken every time he put her down. I shook my head - we'd have to work on that one.

"Did I ever tell you what the name Rianne means?" I asked Cara, swilling the wine in my glass. She shook her head.

"I thought you guys named her that because it's similar to Ryan?"

"Well, that was just a perk... her name actually means God is gracious. Fitting, don't you think?"

She nodded. "Definitely."

In the backyard, the approach of my parents had scattered the bikini girls surrounding Ryan. We watched as Ryan passed Rianne to my mother, whose expression was still as proud and happy as the day she was born. Behind her, Lauren and Diane were laughing together over Lauren's three year old Freddie, who had stripped off his bathing suit trunks and was standing there, stark as the day he was born, covered in mud and dirt. Lacey, eleven now, was swimming in the pool with Timmy and Samantha... My parents' summer pool party had been a success and a happy smile spread over my face at the sight of my family and friends, enjoying themselves in the hot, Californian sun. Cara grabbed my arm.

"What are we doing up here anyway?"

"I don't know; let's get out of here."

We giggled, snagging our wineglasses, and tripped down the stairs, arm in arm. Once outside, Cara went to join her friends and I discarded my glass on a table and slipped up behind my husband, sliding my arms around his waist.

"Hey you," I said, standing on my tip-toes to kiss the back of his neck. He turned in my arms, giving me that special smile of his that was reserved for my eyes only.

"Hey beautiful... I was wondering where you went," he said, leaning down to kiss me.

"Cara and I were doing some sisterly-bonding...drinking wine, talking about hot you are, that sort of thing."

His eyebrows lifted with amusement. "What a coincidence. Rianne and I were bonding over discussing the beauty that is her mother... no wine though. I figure we should wait until she can crawl before we start knocking back the shots."

"Funny," I smiled, placing my cheek on his chest, relishing his warmth. "Where is our little girl anyway?"

"Your mom... well, my mom now," he gestured with his chin towards the other side of the pool, where Diane was cradling her granddaughter tightly in her arms. My mother was peering over her shoulder, making gooey eyes at their grandbaby. Dad was on her other side, laughing at whatever expression Rianne was currently wearing.

"She's only three weeks old and she's already got all three of her grandparents wrapped around her tiny pinky," I shook my head and then poked him in the shoulder. "You too, mister. You're going to spoil her rotten."

"She's just a Daddy's girl," he smiled and I laughed.

"Remember you said that when she's a three year old terror."

He chuckled, hugging me closer. "She won't be. I know it."

"Uh huh."

"I love you," he murmured.

I smiled. No matter how many times he said it, no matter how long we'd been together, I still felt that thrill run the length of me. Because I knew it was true. "Me more."

For the second time in only a short while, I found myself going back, remembering everything that had happened since that day, so long ago, when I'd laid eyes on him for the first time. It had been love at first sight, hadn't it? The mistakes we'd made, the break-up, the separation that followed... it was all a distant dream that had faded to a small, dwindling thread in the picture of our past. It didn't matter anymore. We were together... and we had Rianne. Life couldn't be more perfect.

"Remember that first time we met?" I asked and I felt him nod against my hair.

"How could I forget?"

"Who would have known... everything that's happened since..."

He shook his head silently. His arms were tight around me; his heartbeat thrumming steadily in my ear.

"Maureen..." I pulled back to meet his eyes. He lifted his hand and ran his fingertips down the side of my face. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

A content smile spread over my face. Me too, I thought, kissing him. Me too.

The End