Epilogue
Sloane
Twenty-Six Years Later
"Are you sure I look okay?"
I blinked rapidly, willing away the tears that clouded my vision as I stared at my best friend's beautiful daughter, "You look amazing, Samara." I cleared my throat and looked away, dabbing a tissue under my eye.
"Sloane! Stop! You promised," Sami whines, blinking as her eyes fill with tears. "If you cry, I cry." She sniffled, snagging the tissue out of Cami's outstretched hand and patting the inner corners of her eyes.
Today was an emotional day for everyone.
It was hard to believe that it had been twenty-five years since Samara was born; she looked remarkably like Cami had at that age. So elegant and timeless.
And here she was standing before me, a beautiful bride, wearing the same satin dress Cami wore when she married Dom thirty years ago.
Everything had come full circle.
I waved my hand at Sami, "Okay, okay. I'm fine, sorry. I'm fine!" The three of us shared a laugh, all three on the brink of completely losing it. "I'm gonna go check on the guys, okay?"
"Oh! Give this to Everett for me?" Sami walked over and handed me a folded piece of paper she retrieved from her bodice. "Please?"
I smiled softly, my nose burning as I held back more tears. "Of course."
"Get out before I lose all of my mascara!" she laughed, Cami shooing me and my overemotional ass out of the bridal suite.
I held the train of my rose gold gown, walking quickly from her room and down the hall, knocking lightly before pushing the door open. "Everyone decent?"
"Oh, Pip! Come look!"
I smiled and shook my head. Rhys had certainly kept his promise. There hadn’t been a day since we tied the knot that he hadn't called me Pip. Here we both were, pushing fifty-five, and he was still calling me by my childhood nickname.
Everyone was used to it at this point; Samara even called me Pip until she learned how to say my name.
I pushed through the door, swallowing back the lump of emotion that grew in my throat.
My boys.
Rhys was straightening Everett’s tie with a proud grin on his face. Dom was helping our youngest son, Remi, tie his tie, while his son, Kingston, chatted on the phone by the bay window.
They were all so grown-up and handsome.
Everett looked so much like Rhys and yet so much like me at the same time, while Remi and our daughter definitely took after me. Delilah’s basically my twin.
"How's the groom?" I whispered, clearing my throat to try and mask the emotion clogging it.
He grinned, looking over at me. "I'm so good, Ma. God– I just– I'm so excited to marry her."
Rhys clapped his hand on Everett’s shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son," his voice wavered with emotion.
Everett grinned in return. “Thanks, Dad."
My little boy. So grown up and marrying the love of his life. It was funny how things worked out. Lisa and my mom were inseparable, which eventually led Rhys and me to fall in love.
Cami and I were joined at the hip, and now we were getting ready to watch my son and her daughter tie the knot.
Full. Circle.
"Here.” I cleared my throat again and walked over to where my son and husband stood, passing the note to Everett. "Sami wanted you to have this."
He took the note, twisting his lips to hide his grin.
"Why don't we give you the room?" I offer, jerking my chin towards the door and gesturing for everyone to head out.
Everett leaned down, kissing my cheek. "Thank you, Ma. For everything."
I hummed in response, knowing that if I spoke, I would combust into a mess of tears, which made him laugh.
Everett placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, his eyes shimmering with amusement. "Can't talk?"
I shook my head, Rhys laughing and wrapping his arm around my waist to pull me away.
"Holler if you need us," Dom calls out, all of us shuffling from the room quickly to give him some alone time before we head to the altar.
I patted my eyes with the crumpled tissue in my hand as we walked out of the room. "Anyone seen Deli?"
"Bathroom, last I talked to her. That was..." Remi pulls out his phone to check the time, "Twenty minutes ago, though. So I don't know."
She was acting really weird today. I’d been trying to get her alone to ask her about it, but today's events were making it hard to focus on anyone besides Samara and Everett.
I turned to head toward the bathroom in the lobby of the hotel, then whipped around on my heels and pointed my index finger at my son when I registered the smell wafting off of him. "Remington. Lay off the whiskey. You're only twenty."
He grinned sheepishly, Dom and Rhys both flushing.
Obviously, they weren’t putting a stop to it.
I rolled my eyes and headed back to the lobby, calling out, "Give your keys to your father" over my shoulder.
There were only thirty or so minutes until it was time to walk down the aisle. If I was going to talk to Deli, now was the time.
Pushing open the bathroom door, I sighed when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone puking in one of the stalls. "Del? You okay?"
"Mom?" she groaned. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just– I don't know, stage fright or something," she rambled off quickly.
Being a horrible liar was also one of the traits my daughter had picked up from me. It paid off when she was a child and a rebellious teenager, but now it just made me worry. Her voice was off and slightly panicky.
I walked over, rapping my knuckles against the stall door. "You sure?"
Delilah sighed as she shuffled around inside the stall, the lock unlatching before she pushed the door open slightly. "I'm okay. I– I need a few minutes."
"Oh, Honey," I pulled the door open, stepping into the stall and unraveling some tissue paper to clean the mascara running down her cheeks. I crouched down to her level and dabbed at her eyes. "What's going on?"
I had my suspicions this morning, but I didn’t want to push until she was ready.
She swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears. I watched as her mouth opened and closed a few times, the words never making it past her lips.
I smiled sweetly, cupping her cheek in my hand as I wiped some more tears. "How far along?"
Her face twisted up as she burst into tears, sobbing into her hands.
My sweet Delilah. I wasn’t sure how I felt about having my suspicions confirmed, but I did know one thing. Whatever she decided to do, I would be right by her side the entire time.
"How did you know?" she asked after a minute or two of breaking down in my arms.
I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. "I just know these things. I know my kids." I kissed her temple. "Do you know how far along?"
She sniffed, wiping her nose with a piece of tissue paper. "Ten weeks. The morning sickness started last week."
I couldn’t help but smile because that was exactly how it was for me when I was pregnant with her. "Del, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to... But... Is– Is Levi the father?"
Rhys was currently the head coach for the Boston Bandits, which was great! He loved it; it made him happy. It worked out that Deli wanted to go into Sports Marketing because Rhys was able to get her an internship with the Bandits Association, and everything was going well.
Well, everyone but Rhys seemed to think so.
Del started spending a lot of time at the field, and that led to her spending a lot of time with the shortstop, Levi Patterson.
They started dating sometime last year, and everyone was thrilled—everyone except for Rhys.
But Levi was a good guy, and he treated my daughter like the queen that she was. I was happy she found someone to take care of her, just as Rhys took care of me.
"Yeah, Mom. He's really excited." She sniffed again, smiling softly.
"And you?" I asked softly, squeezing her shoulders.
"I'm so excited. I know I'm young, and I know we're not married and haven't been together for very long, but I'm in love with him, Mom.
He's to me what dad is to you, and I've never felt like this about anyone.
He's already putting a college fund together for the baby, and he's clearing out a room for the nursery.
" She paused, looking up at me. "He asked me to move in with him. "
"Delilah James. One: You know for a fact that your father and I were together for like three months when we decided to get married.
Two: We had Everett before we were married.
And three: if you're happy, I'm happy." I smiled, allowing a few tears to fall down my cheeks.
"You're twenty-two and living on your own.
I'm not here to judge you or berate you for anything you do, honey.
I'm here to love and support you through it. Okay?"
She burst into tears, hugging my waist from where she sat on the bathroom floor beside me, crying into my shoulder. "Thank you," she wailed.
The two of us sat in silence for a moment, my hand rubbing her arm softly. "You gonna tell your dad?"
Deli laughed, wiping her eyes again, "Jesus. You know, Sami told me I could tell him and Dom today so they couldn't get mad."
She told Sami already. That made me smile.
I chuckled lightly, shaking my head. "That might not be a bad idea."
"I think he'll be happy for me."
"Of course, he will be, Del. He might wanna strangle Levi for a little bit, but what dad wouldn’t? Grandpa wanted to wring your dad’s neck when I told him I was pregnant with Ev."
The two of us laughed for a second before I took a deep breath. "Okay, maid of honor. We gotta get moving. And you need to fix that." I laughed again, gesturing to her face and the ruined makeup. "Sami loves you, but I don't think she wanted a raccoon standing next to her on her big day."
Delilah rolled her eyes, slapping my shoulder gently before standing and reaching down to help me up. "Thanks, Ma. For everything."
God, these damn kids were on a mission to ruin me today.
Once Delilah was back in the bridal suite, fixing her makeup, I found Rhys, who was giving Everett a pep talk.
He hugged our son, clapping him on the back a couple of times before walking over to me.
"Hey, Pip." He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, slinging an arm around my shoulder.
"Hey, baby."
My heart was filled with so much love and happiness, Everett and Samara getting married, and Delilah and Levi expecting.
Everything was changing so much, and I couldn’t wait.
Rhys kissed the top of my head again, sighing deeply. "It's all come full circle."
I smiled softly, shaking my head as Remi took a not-so-subtle swig out of Dom's flask, choking and saying loudly, "Is that… Everclear?! Who puts Everclear in a flask?!"
"We really have," I laughed.
The End.