Epilogue 1. Annabelle
Staring out across the wide ocean, the warm sun now setting over the horizon, the cool breeze washing over my skin, I watch as Dean tries to catch Eli and Cecilia’s twin girls along with Lyla, all three of them running circles around him.
Sophia and Elena have grown so much and it’s been a joy to see them transform into their own little characters but I can’t stop the sharp pain in my chest when I think of having my own children.
It hasn’t happened for us yet and some days I’m okay with that, because I have everything I could ever want and need right here, but some days, like today, when I see Dean with the girls, it cuts a little deep sometimes because I know he’d make an incredible father one day.
I just have to hold onto that little bit of hope that it might happen for us, and if it doesn’t. Then that’s okay too.
The sand shifts at the side of me as Cecilia and Eli’s sister, who also happens to be called Sophia, take a seat.
I heard about Sophia’s story, how Ricky had planned to bring her to the prison but Dean and Eli intercepted the boat, saving not only Sophia, but other girls and women too.
She went missing when Eli was just a young boy, but looking at them both now, it’s like a day never passed.
Eli never lets her out of his sight and Sophia goes out of her way to irritate him on a daily basis. It’s a joy to watch I must say.
Cecilia hands me a bottle of beer from the cooler and I graciously take it, popping the cap off the lid and bringing it to my lips, letting the amber liquid slide down my throat.
After a healthy drink, I prop the bottle up in the sand and place my arms over my knees again, gazing out into the sunset.
“Those two are more like boys than men.” Cecilia laughs at Dean and Eli who are sprinting across the beach, the twin girls in tow, laughing loudly and I smile at the sound.
“You got that right.” Sophia throws out after taking a drink of her beer. “Eli will more than likely scold me for having this one drink.” She rolls her eyes and laughs, causing myself and Cecilia to join in with her.
The three of us clink our glasses together. “Cheers to us for surviving.” Cecilia says and I nod my head, unable to gather the right words, but words aren’t really needed right now. Just this company is enough.
Placing my beer back down, I watch as Dean runs his hand through his wet hair, sweeping it off his face as he strides up the beach in just a pair of black shorts that sit perfectly on his hips. His golden skin glistens in the setting sun, highlighting every perfect inch of him.
“You’re dribbling Ana.” Sophia teases and on instinct I wipe the back of my hand across my chin to find it dry.
I shove her shoulder with mine, teasing her for catching me in the act of drooling over the man I love, but there’s no way I couldn’t.
Everything about him oozes sex and power as he comes closer to us with Eli, the girls and Lyla catching up behind him.
My gaze never leaves his, even when he leans down to plant a kiss on my forehead, I stare up at him.
“You alright mama?” He asks, placing his fingers under my chin, gently running his thumb across my bottom lip. I nod and give him a true smile, one that doesn’t feel forced or fake. It feels true and right. Everything about this time right now just feels right.
Dean steps to the side to grab a beer from the cooler when the twins bombard us, jumping all over me and Sophia.
“Let’s play mermaids!” Elena says with so much joy, there’s no way I can tell her no when she’s looking up at me with puppy dog eyes.
“Alright, mermaids it is!” Standing up from the sand, I brush it off my shorts then turn to face Dean to see if he wants to come with us.
Instead I’m met with him on one knee, his skin still speckled in ocean water, his hair loosely swept back off his face and a velvet green ring box in his hand, open to reveal a beautiful emerald diamond ring that seems to glow in the sunlight.
My eyes find everyone else, noticing they aren’t as shocked as I am, instead their smiles are wide and bright, anticipating my answer.
“Annabelle..” Dean starts and I snap my gaze back to him, tears already welling in my eyes.
“I know our relationship has been chaotic and crazy from the start, but I knew at that moment when you found yourself at my garage, that you were the one for me, and I truly believe that we both had to go through the things we went through to find each other, that we had to walk through hell to find our other halves, and you’re it for me mama.
There will never be anyone else, not in this life or the next. ”
“Everything that I am is yours, and I’m asking you now, to do me the honour of not only becoming my best friend, but my wife. To let me love you until the last breath leaves our lungs, to protect and cherish you, forever and always. So, will you marry me and make me yours?”
My heart batters around in my chest like a caged bird that’s ready to break free and I can’t stop the tears that now stream down my face at Dean’s proposal. I don’t even have to think about my answer, I’ve already known it for a long time.
“Yes, yes, yes!” I chant and immediately Dean rises to his full height and sweeps me off my feet, lifting me into his arms, my thighs wrapped around his middle. He smashes his mouth to mine and I return the kiss tenfold, pouring every ounce of love I have into him.
Cheers and claps erupt around me as our small little unit congratulates us. Dean lowers me to my feet in the sand and gently slides the ring onto my finger, it fits perfectly, like it was always meant to be there.
“It’s beautiful.” I say, turning my hand to admire it in the low sun. “Thank you, so much.” Dean pulls me into his side and kisses my temple. “You don’t ever need to thank me for something that I want to do, and this is everything that I wanna do, pretty girl. To keep you forever.”
His words warm my soul, and I take one look up at the orange sky to make sure that Emily is watching, then I join the group in celebrating us, and for the first time in a long time I don’t feel guilty for being happy.
I’ll always remember my time in captivity, how it shaped and molded me into something different, something stronger. That place, that person tried to break me but I kept going, even when I didn’t want to and I know that if I had fallen down and stayed there, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
So thank you Ricky, for showing me how relationships shouldn’t be so that I could find out how they should be.