Epilogue
Alexander
Life is a series of choices.
They lead us to our tomorrows.
I made what I thought was a foolish choice to spend a night with a woman I met in a bar.
That choice led me to a lingerie store and the woman of my dreams.
I’m staring at her now as she walks toward me with her mother by her side.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than my Olivia in her wedding dress.
It’s simple, yet elegant, just as the love of my life is.
It fits her like a glove, even with the extra small bump in her middle.
No one knows yet that we’re going to have a child in the winter. A child we planned for and hoped for. We wanted to save that news for our reception when everyone, but Olivia, Alvin and Skylar, has a glass of champagne in their hands.
“Hi,” she whispers as she nears me.
“Hi,” I mouth back before turning to her mother.
I kiss her on the cheek because she raised the woman who changed my life. “Thank you for everything.”
She smiles the same soft smile as her daughter before she moves to sit next to her sister in the front row.
We didn’t opt for a church or a ballroom.
We are marrying in our theatre, on the stage where so many of our dreams have come true.
Jack is standing next to me. Kate is beside Olivia.
Alvin chose the flowers and the seat next to Trey Hale.
It’s a celebration of our lives.
We turn to the justice of the peace, Chris Morgenson, my former music teacher and current business mentor.
“You’ve come a long way, Alex,” he says to a round of laughter.
I nod. “I’ve come to where I belong.”
Olivia sighs. “Where we belong.”
“Shall we get started?” Chris opens the book in front of him.
The ceremony will be simple and straightforward. We’ll exchange vows, I’ll slip a simple platinum band on Olivia’s hand next to my mother’s engagement ring and she’ll slide the platinum band we bought together onto my finger.
“Are you ready?” I whisper to her through the veil she’s wearing.
“I’ve been ready since the day we met,” she says quietly.
“Let’s make this official,” I say to Chris. “I can’t wait to be this woman’s husband.”
Olivia
Life is all about choices.
When Alexander walked into the Liore boutique on Fifth Avenue that day, I chose to help him.
I didn’t have to, but a part of me knew that it would change my life.
It took me on a path here, to the stage of our theatre and the dance floor that Alexander’s students have created for us.
It’s nothing more than a circle of flowers with the two of us in the middle.
The music playing is a recording of a piece by the junior symphony that my husband has been assembling.
It’s off-key, hurried at times, but it couldn’t be more perfect for our first dance as husband and wife.
As a family.
Our daughter will arrive in the winter.
Alexander doesn’t know it’s a girl yet. I told him we’d wait to open the gender reveal email from the doctor until tomorrow, but patience and curiosity don’t mix well in my world.
I hope she’ll have my husband’s eyes, and his kindness.
I want her to possess his strength and courage.
I hope she inherits my compassion and openness.
“You’re daydreaming about something.” Alexander presses his lips to mine. “Tell me what it is.”
“All of our tomorrows, “ I answer simply.
It’s the truth.
I know that life will change when our little girl arrives.
We’ll be settled into the two-bedroom apartment we bought a few months ago.
I’ll be working less. Alexander will be spending much of his time here, and I’ll bundle our daughter up and bring her here so she can listen to her father play and teach.
“You love me more than anything,” he says with conviction.
“I do,” I say the words for the second time today.
He spins me around gently. I hear my mom hoot in the distance.
“You checked the email, didn’t you?” He narrows his eyes. “We’re having a daughter. I know it’s a girl.”
I stop to look up and into the face of the only man I’ve ever loved. “It’s a girl.”
Tears well in the corners of his brilliant blue eyes. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this life.”
I kiss his chin, drawing his face down to mine. “It’s only going to get better from here.”
He holds me close, so close that I can feel his heart beating against mine. “I know that it will because each day until my last, I’ll wake up next to you, Olivia.”