EPILOGUE #3
“She’s been through so much shit. I’m thankful that she can be here with us tonight.” Vince reiterates. “And Alex, I’m glad that you are able to be here with us.”
“Thank you,” Alex says with a dip of his chin.
“My turn!” Amelia begins. “Of course, I am thankful to have a job that I love and to be in good health, but what I’m most thankful for is to be celebrating with Celine, Alex, and Esther tonight.”
So much for not wanting to cry tonight.
Tears well in my eyes as Esther begins to speak.
“I’m thankful to have met Celine, even if it was in the convent. Before you showed up, I was numb and going through the motions. You being there gave me my spark back. I’m also thankful to be alive and to have met all of you. Friends that feel like the family I’ve always wanted.”
I grab her hand beneath the table and give it a tight squeeze to let her know that I will always be there for her. That the people around this table will always be there whenever she needs.
“I’m thankful for my son,” Lillian speaks up.
“I’m thankful that he found his way through both of the darkest times in his life and was able to find the light.
Alex, your father would be so proud of how far you’ve come and the man you have become.
” Her eyes slide to mine, and a tear rolls down her face.
“Despite the circumstances and what you two have been through, I am grateful that you found each other. I couldn’t ask for a better person to love my son. ”
Alex rubs his hand over my thigh in comfort, leaving it there as I wipe away a tear and decide to go next.
“I’m thankful for Amelia and Vince. You two have been my rocks throughout every hardship, and without you, I don’t know how I would have made it through life.
Blood sucks, friends rule, and true family is forever.
” Vince gives me a knowing look, and I glance over to Amelia, who has a wide grin spread across her face now that she knows the completion of the quote I made up in the hospital.
Looking to my left, to the woman who helped the experience of being in that convent feel somewhat normal.
“Esther, I’m thankful to have met you because if you weren’t in the convent, I probably would have gone insane dealing with Joanna and Bekah…
may they rest in peace. And I am so grateful for the crazy plan you came up with to survive because the pain I felt watching you…
” I pause, inhaling a deep breath, “I’m just happy you are sitting next to me tonight. ”
She gives me a sad smile, and then I look to Alex.
The love of my life.
“Most of all, I am thankful for you. Being sent to that church was a nightmare, but you turned it into a dream. One that I wanted to keep slipping into. Until that dream turned into a literal nightmare.” I take a deep breath, letting the silent tears fall.
“I’m thankful that we both made it out of there alive. ”
He smiles, his eyes shining with admiration, and he glances across the table.
“I’m thankful for my mom, who has always been so strong despite the events that life has thrown at her.
For putting up with my shit when I was at my lowest and never abandoning me.
I’m grateful to Allen for coming into her life and showing her that it is okay to find someone who makes her happy.
You’ve shown her that it is okay to love again.
I’m grateful to have you all in my life.
” He glances around the table, looking at every single person sitting there who now has tears in their eyes.
“A life I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for you, Celine.
” He rolls his lips together, trying to control his emotions before meeting my gaze.
“You saved my life. Literally. Without you, I may not be sitting at this table today surrounded by the people who mean the most to us. Without you, I wouldn’t know what true love felt like.
You helped me every step of my recovery, even when it got tough and I wanted to give up, you helped push me through it all. I owe you everything.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Alex.” I say, my chest tightening at the pure emotion in his eyes.
“I stayed by your side through everything because I love you, and that is what you do when you love someone. Even when times get tough, you stick by their side, and I’ll stick by yours through the toughest of the tough and the darkest of the dark. ”
“Promise?” He asks quietly enough for only me to hear.
“I promise,” I reassure him.
Everyone begins quietly talking around us, giving Alex and me this time alone.
And as we stare into each other’s eyes, I see everything we endured in the past months.
All of the doubt and worry. All of the violence and death.
It’s evident in both of our gazes, but it isn’t as prominent as it used to be.
Although it’s still there, the hope for our future shines bright, almost putting out the fire of our past.
And over time, that flame will become a small flicker of old memories as we begin to create new ones.
Together.