Epilogue #2
My mouth gapes and my eyes widen as she gazes back at me, blue eyes gleaming.
As if emerging from the woodwork, Soren slips to Rory’s side, wrapping an arm behind her back and resting against her hip.
I stand in shock as Rory’s hand slides over the roundness of her belly. “I wanted to tell you, but I thought it would be more fun this way.”
Tears well in my eyes as I look from Rory’s gleaming face to Soren’s proud expression as he gazes at my best friend.
The love he has for her is written all over his face and I can’t help but think how lucky this child is to have parents that not only love them but also hold great love for each other.
I’m finally able to suck in a breath through happy tears. I rush to my friend, holding her tightly. “Congratulations,” I whisper. “I’m so happy for you. So, so happy.”
She rubs my back. “Thank you. You’re not mad I didn’t tell you sooner?”
I pull back, holding her by the shoulders while I gaze into her eyes. “Mad? How could I ever be mad? My best friend is having a baby!”
Her mouth pulls into a wide grin. “Yeah. You know me. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” She rubs her stomach again. “Clara ensures the baby is growing just fine and is healthy.”
I look down at her growing belly. “How far along are you? Because that bump sure wasn’t there the last time I saw you.”
“About five months.” She beams, turning her head to look at Soren, watching her warmly. She returns her gaze to me. “Do you want to know the sex?”
My eyes widen. “What? You know already?”
Rory giggles. “Of course. I’m having a baby in a fae world. Maeve told me last week.”
I think about it for a moment. But we’ve had enough surprises to last a fae lifetime. “Yes, tell me.”
She smiles softly. “It’s a girl.”
Tears well in my eyes once again. “That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you. A baby girl,” I murmur to myself. “I’m going to be an auntie!” I turn my head to look up at Caelum as if just remembering he was there. He grins down at me and rubs his hand across the small of my back.
“Congratulations,” he says to Rory and Soren. “That’s quite the blessing.”
Rory looks at Soren. “We named her Harmony. We thought it just felt right.”
I can’t stop the tears. “It’s perfect, Rory. Just perfect.” We hug again.
So much has changed in such a short time.
And I can’t be prouder of how far Rory has come.
From a once guarded woman who carefully measured every aspect of her life and chose the most cautious path, to this fearless woman standing before me with a man who loves her with every ounce of his being. And now a mother.
I shake my head, trying to dry my eyes.
Rory smiles and grips my hand, tugging me through the house.
When we reach the dining room, my mouth drops open. Rory has transformed the space into a beautiful display of evergreen, holly, and white glowing orbs of light that flicker like falling snowflakes.
The long table is decorated with beautiful candelabras that drip like icicles. Everywhere there is fabric of gold and scarlet, white and green. And tucked into the corner near the fireplace is a pine tree adorned with seasonal flowers and more flickering orbs of light.
“Oh, Rory. It’s beautiful!”
Her face scrunches with uncertainty. “It’s not too much?”
I laugh. “You’re asking me? Nothing is ever too much.”
A short time later, we are all settled around the table, everyone together once again. Clara, Maeve, Thorn, Mei, and Olin emerge from the kitchen not long after Caelum and I arrive.
Mei traveled from Ni’haan a few days early to help Rory with preparations.
Mei loves hospitality, and she’s become a close friend of both me and Rory.
It still boggles my mind that it took falling into a fantasy realm to meet a distant blood relative.
Although we don’t share any ancestors that we know personally, I still feel a connection to her.
And I’ve enjoyed learning about what her life was like in Xi’an in China. She’s even teaching me Mandarin.
Olin places a plate of cookies on the table and I laugh as he’s dusted with powdered sugar, having helped Maeve bake the treats shaped into suns, moons, and stars.
I’ve seen a bright change in Maeve over the past year.
Clara explained how the girl’s visions affected her, making it difficult for Maeve to distinguish reality from her vision magic.
Clara’s been helpful in teaching Maeve how to calm her mind and ground herself.
The frequency in Maeve’s visions has lessened and Clara has helped her focus on what’s most important—the present and the people who love her.
To my surprise, Arc, Draven, and Isolde arrive after we do, and I learn they traveled to Hollowbrook after Caelum and I stopped in Eldersmoor. They met up with Vespera and Moira and flew to Riverholm together.
Draven and Isolde keep making eyes at each other, causing my cheeks to burn at their brazen attraction to each other. It takes some time for Arc to relax, but soon he is laughing around the table with the rest of us.
Vespera and Moira developed a romantic connection after Vespera returned to Hollowbrook, and their shimmering green skin and gossamer wings ripple beneath the light as they speak softly to each other all night.
A hush falls over the table as I look at the gleaming eyes of the people I know and love in this world.
I clear my throat, suddenly feeling nervous.
“I wish I could tell you that if I had known that when I planned a camping trip with my best friend to get over a stupid boy that we’d find ourselves worlds away in a place that seemed hell bent to kill us, that I’d never have left the house.
But I can’t. I can’t because it brought us here to you all. ”
I look down at Caelum, smiling at my side before turning back to the group. “I’ve always lived my life going wherever the wind takes me. And I’m grateful that it brought me here. To love and know you all.” Tears well in my eyes as I lift my glass.
“Cheers to our past, present, and future, and embracing that where we’ve come from, will always guide us to where we’re going.”
The group echoes my sentiment before I place the glass to my lips, the sparkling liquid bubbling down my throat.
In that moment, I’m confident that the people around this table will be with me no matter what the future brings. The people I love. The people who will stand with me in this lifetime. And I couldn’t ask for anything more.