Epilogue
"Magnolia Grace Hale!"
The little girl squealed in delight and immediately ran faster.
"Get back here!"
Her laughter echoed across the property as she darted around a stack of lumber, tiny blonde curls bouncing wildly behind her.
Aria smiled despite herself, because she wasn't scared. Not even a little. After all, her father was chasing her. Which meant there was exactly a zero percent chance she intended to get caught.
"Magnolia!"
"NOOOO!"
The dramatic scream carried all the way to where Aria stood inside the unfinished living room of their new house.
A laugh escaped her.
Five years old, and already every bit as dramatic as her father.
The house around her smelled like fresh lumber and sawdust. Workers moved throughout the property, tools humming in the distance as Parker's construction crew continued bringing Chase's latest dream to life.
A bigger house. A louder house. A house filled with children.
At least according to Chase. The man had spent years making up for lost time. She walked toward the oversized window and smiled as she watched Magnolia disappear around another stack of materials.
A second later Chase appeared. Fast, determined, and clearly cheating.
The little girl shrieked when he scooped her up around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder.
"Daddy cheated!"
Chase looked immediately offended. "I absolutely did not."
"You picked me up!"
"That's called winning."
"It's cheating!"
"It's strategy."
Magnolia gasped. The betrayal in that tiny face nearly sent Aria into hysterics.
Five years.
Five beautiful years. It had taken nearly two of them for Chase to completely heal.
Two years for all the memories to come back. Two years for the nightmares to finally loosen their grip. Two years of therapy. Two years of rebuilding pieces of himself that had been shattered by loss, captivity, and guilt.
But he had done it. Not alone. Never alone.
She had been there. Parker had been there. Naomi. Hayes.
The entire family they had built around themselves, and somewhere around year one and a half, they had discovered Magnolia was on the way.
That little girl had changed everything, the moment Chase found out he was going to be a father, something inside him settled.
Like all the pieces finally clicked into place. Now the little girl owned him completely.
Everyone knew it.
Especially Magnolia.
The front door opened and Chase carried their daughter inside. She was giggling so hard she could barely breathe.
"Daddy cheated," she informed Aria immediately.
"Again?" Aria asked.
"Momma make him stop." the little girl in Chase's arms cried out.
"What do you want me to do about it baby girl, we all know he does it everytime."
Chase rolled his eyes. "I am surrounded by traitors."
Magnolia pointed dramatically. "You cheated so no trai... trai... tators."
Aria laughed as Chase finally set her down. The little girl immediately took off again. This time toward the kitchen area. Probably looking for snacks.
Chase watched her go before turning toward Aria. The smile on his face softened. Even after five years it still did something ridiculous to her heart.
Some things never changed.
His eyes narrowed slightly. "What was that?"
Aria blinked. "What?"
"That look on your face when you got here." he smiled, walking over to her to kiss her forehead.
"What look is that Mr. Hale?" Aria leaned into his kiss then watched as he walked over to look at the open blueprints nearby.
"The one where you're smiling at me with those damn gooey eyes." A pause. "It's dangerous look on you sweetheart."
Her laugh escaped before she could stop it. "There is no dangerous look."
"There absolutely is."
He crossed the room toward her. Slowly. Purposefully.
The same way he always did. The same way that still made her stomach flutter after all these years.
His hands settled on her hips. "What'd you do?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Liar."
She smiled wider, immediately making him more suspicious.
Outside, Magnolia appeared in the yard again carrying what looked suspiciously like a construction helmet twice the size of her head.
Neither of them noticed. Their attention locked on each other.
Chase studied her face for a moment. Then froze as his eyes dropped, directly to the small white stick still clutched loosely in her hand.
The smile disappeared as his brain visibly stopped working.
Slowly. Very slowly. His eyes lifted back to hers.
Then back to the test.
Then back to her.
"Oh." The word came out barely above a whisper.
Aria's smile softened. "Oh?"
His mouth opened then closed before it opened again.
"Oh." This one sounded even more shocked.
And suddenly Aria remembered what he looked like five years ago when she'd handed him the first positive test.
Completely overwhelmed, completely terrified, but oh so completely happy.
Tears immediately filled his eyes. "Sweetheart..." His voice cracked. "A baby!"
And just like that, Aria knew that some things never changed.
Not his love, not his heart, and definitely not the way this man looked at his family like they were the greatest gift God had ever given him.
Tears immediately filled his eyes.
A loud crash echoed from somewhere in the house, both their heads snapped toward the sound.
"What was that?" Chase asked.
Aria immediately pointed toward the kitchen. "Your daughter acting like her father... probably off terrorizing the construction crew."
"Fair."
Before either of them could investigate, the front door opened and Parker walked in. The giant man stepped inside carrying Magnolia beneath one arm like a football. The little girl was kicking and laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
"Daddy!" she yelled. "Help!"
Parker looked completely unimpressed. "No, your dad is not helping you this time munchkin."
"My daddy always helps me, he haves to!"
"Nope not this time."
Magnolia threw her head back dramatically. "Uncle Parker put me down!"
Aria laughed.
Chase pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why are you carrying my child like luggage?"
"Because she tried to tackle Finn after he tried to stop her from hammering that new wall downstairs."
Immediately Magnolia pointed across the room. "Him, yanked me up and took my hammer!"
Aria looked past Parker and smiled at Finnick Monroe.
Ten years old now and tall for his age with dark hair and those striking gray eyes he and his sister Grace shared.
He was only ten yet, somehow already carrying himself like a man, a man that was permanently exhausted by the Hale family's little darling.
The expression on his face looked suspiciously similar to Parker's. Which was probably Parker's fault. Finn stood near the doorway holding said hammer. Looking entirely unbothered by the chaos around him.
Magnolia, however, was very bothered, because Magnolia adored Finnick.
The little girl thought he hung the moon while Finnick mostly tolerated her.
"Hi, Aria." he waved at her as he lay down the offending hammer.
"Hey, sweetheart."
He smiled politely before glancing at Magnolia who was still trapped in Parker's grip.
His expression immediately became serious. "Put her down Parker, I have the hammer so it's fine now."
"I didn't do anything!" Magnolia shouted. "Put me down."
Finnick looked at Parker. Parker looked at Finnick. Both of them said at exactly the same time,
"She did do something." The room erupted into laughter. Parker finished, "She put a hole in the new drywall."
Magnolia gasped. "Not I did not!"
Finn smiled at that. A rare occurrence.
Parker finally set her down.
The little girl immediately sprinted across the room and attached herself to Finn's side.
The poor boy sighed like a man carrying the weight of the world.
"Hi Magnolia."
Her grin widened.
Aria exchanged a look with Chase, then another that had the both of them laughing.
Because it was obvious, oh so painfully obvious that Magnolia was going to spend years following that boy everywhere he went and Finnick was going probably going to spend those years pretending he hated it.
"Why are y'all laughing?" Parker asked.
Neither answerer because some things were better left unsaid.
Chase slipped an arm around Aria's waist again. His attention immediately returning to the test. His eyes softened then dropped to her stomach.
Then back to her. "Is it healthy?"
The question came quietly, the question of a man who remembered loss.
Who remembered fear. Who remembered what it felt like to pray for miracles.
Aria's heart squeezed as she reached for his hand.
"It's healthy."
The relief that crossed his face was immediate, then he looked back at her.
"Boy or girl?"
A smile spread across her face.
His eyes narrowed. "What?"
"It's a safe baby boy." She said as she hugged him. "We are having a boy."
Chase blinked once, then twice.
"A boy?"
Aria nodded. "A little boy."
The emotion hit him so hard Aria actually watched it happen.
The disbelief, the joy, and the gratitude, all of it crashing across his face at once.
"A boy," he whispered.
Like he couldn't quite believe it. Like saying it out loud might somehow make it real.
Aria nodded. "A little boy."
Chase laughed as he pulled her into his arms. Holding her so tightly she could feel his heart hammering against his chest.
"Thank you." The words were whispered into her hair.
She smiled against him. "You know I had absolutely nothin' to do with that, right?"
"I don't care."
That made her laugh. Across the room, Magnolia looked up.
"Boy what?"
Chase immediately turned. His grin somehow wider than she'd ever seen it.
"Your going to get a baby brother."
The little girl gasped, actually gasped. Then launched herself across the room.
"DADDY!"
Chase barely had time to brace before she collided with him.
"What are we gonna name him?" she demanded.
Aria smiled as Chase looked over at her and somehow she knew.
The second their eyes met he knew too. "Beau."
The room went quiet and Magnolia tilted her head. "Beau?"
"Yes baby girl, Beau like your mama's great grandpa."
The little girl thought about it for exactly three seconds, then nodded once.
"I like Beau."
"Good," Parker muttered. "Because nobody asked."
Magnolia stuck her tongue out at him and Parker looked appropriately offended.
Finnick sighed, the long suffering sigh of a boy who had spent entirely too much time around this family before he walked over and picked up Magnolia where she stood glaring at Parker.
"Calm down Grace, Parker didn't mean to be mean again." Magnolia smiled up at Fin then she hugged him tight.
Aria laughed because Fin was the only one who could calm her daughter down when Parker riled her up these days, he was also the only one who called her Grace.
Suddenly everyone was talking at once.
Magnolia was already making plans for her next tea party and telling Finnick what to wear.
Finnick was pretending not to listen.
Parker was threatening to move to another state and Chase was smiling so hard his face probably hurt and for a moment Aria simply stood there.
Watching. Listening. Memorizing.
Five years ago she thought her life was over.
Five years ago she stood beside a grave that didn't contain the man she loved and tried to figure out how to survive. Five years ago she cried herself to sleep praying for one more day with Chase. Just one more conversation. One more chance.
Now? Now her daughter was laughing. Her husband was smiling. Her son was growing safely beneath her heart. The future stretched endlessly before them.
Full of possibilities. Full of love. Full of life.
Outside, the lake shimmered beneath the afternoon sun.
The same lake that had witnessed heartbreak. The same lake that had witnessed miracles. The same lake where a broken man had finally found his way home.
Chase looked over at her then with smiling eyes as their family playfully fussed around them.
Aria walked over to him and folded into his embrace, his warmth seeping into her as his strong arms locked around her.
Home. That was the only word she could think of.
It wasn't a place, it wasn't the house they were building, it wasn't the lake, it wasn't Tennessee.
It was him. It had always been him.
Resting her cheek against his chest, she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and realized something.
God had answered every single prayer she had ever whispered into the darkness.
She had Chase back and she had her ever growing family.
She had a daughter who laughed like sunshine and a little boy growing safely beneath her heart.
She had a life filled with love, peace, purpose, and joy.
Years ago she had lain in bed weeping until she could barely breathe, begging God to bring Chase back to her.
Begging for one more chance, just one more day. One more moment.
She had promised she would be His good and faithful servant if only He would grant her that one miracle.
At the time she thought the miracle had been Chase coming home.
Standing there now, wrapped in her husband's arms as their daughter laughed and Parker argued with Magnolia over something ridiculous while Finnick quietly rolled his eyes, Aria realized she had been wrong.
The miracle wasn't just that Chase came home, the full miracle was everything that came after.
The healing. The forgiveness. The family. The ordinary days she once thought she would never get to have.
The mornings drinking coffee together. The late night laughter. The arguments over whose turn it was to do the dishes. The tiny hand that slipped into hers every morning.
The baby boy she already loved more than words could explain.
Those were the miracles.
Those beautiful, ordinary moments that people so often took for granted.
Aria tilted her head back and looked up at Chase.
His eyes met hers instantly like they always did.
The smile that spread across his face was the same smile she had fallen in love with all those years ago.
The same smile she thought she had lost forever.
"I love you," he said softly.
The words were simple but they never failed to make her heart skip.
Aria smiled. "I love you too."
His forehead rested against hers and around them life continued.
Magnolia was laughing.
Parker was complaining.
Finnick was pretending he wasn't part of the conversation.
The sun was shining.
The lake was sparkling.
And Chase was holding her exactly where she belonged.
For years she had prayed for a miracle.
Now she realized she was a living one.
Thank you God!