Epilogue - Damien
It broke my heart how grown up Mariah looked in her cap and gown.
Year six was a big change for my girl, her first full year at Hartwood Bay Public School and her first year sharing her dad with someone else.
When the repairs to the unit above Steele Cut were finished, Zoe was already sleeping in my bed with me each night.
Zoe held my hand as we sat in the school hall, awaiting the graduation ceremony.
She was chatting away with Sara who had received a job offer from her old employer for a position on a higher grade, giving Libby the opportunity to move back to Canberra and closer to Mariah.
I caught Libby’s eye and we shared a smile.
She was happy that I’d found my someone like she had and we were both relieved that our other halves got along together.
My parents sat on the other side of me, Mum holding baby Alyssa for Noah and Bella who were seated on the end with the empty pram.
Deep inside me, I knew that my niece had ignited a desire in my mum's heart for more grandchildren, and although I would love to have more kids, Zoe and I were leaving it up to fate.
It had worked when she needed to leave Melbourne and it worked when she thought she were only weeks away from being unemployed.
When Paige came back to work at the salon, she did so part time, leaving an opening for Zoe to remain on the books. As Bella’s pregnancy progressed, she found being on her feet harder, so she stepped off tools and let Zoe take over her clients, spending more time on the business side of the salon.
Zoe’s quiet strength never seemed to amaze me.
Was she a ball-buster like Bella? Nope but the strength it took for her to break away from her toxic environment in Melbourne was impressive.
She was resilient and I’d spent the best part of a year leaving her in no doubt that she was deserving of all the love I had to give.
Mariah’s principal came onto the stage and gave a moving speech about growth and accomplishments.
He said that not all achievements come from one big thing, that more often than not, they’re built on learning from little actions and that he had watched the graduating class do just that.
Sitting in the audience, I thought back on my own life.
I had let myself learn, I released my fears and embraced a possibility and it landed me in my happy place.
When Mariah’s name was announced, our row cheered loudest, she had her uncle, aunt, grandparents, mums and the one person that I was hoping to make her step-mum one day soon.
Mariah grinned wide and proud as she stood next to a friend on the stage, Zoe squeezed my hand and the heart that I once felt like was stone had completely dissolved.
My life was full and I’d found that one person who looked at me like I hung the stars.
I was the luckiest man in the world, because to me, Zoe was the person who had created the whole universe.