Meant to Be

Epilogue

Epilogue

She woke cold, lying on a bed of soil and grass. She slowly raised her head, and she was sure she was dreaming as she saw the full moon rising before her. It was a sight she hadn’t seen in months, and she was close to tears as she watched it slowly rise higher in the sky.

It was dark as night, but the field she lay in was lit up by the moonlight, and she slowly sat up. A light breeze blew through her hair and she bit her lip at how homely the sensation felt. She had not been exposed to the elements for months, and even a little thing such as the wind had an impact on her. She swiveled her head around, and noticed the man on the grass beside her.

She raced to him and shook him lightly. “Hey! Get up!” She pleaded, and then there was loud barking nearby.

She sat up straighter as a—

“A werewolf pack came and saved her and her friend!” Contagious laughter erupted around the room, which had been wrought with suspense earlier. “And then—“

“Tara!” A child, only seven years of age, scolded the interrupter. “Stop it! I wanna hear the story!” She complained.

The four year old who had interrupted bowed her head in shame. “Sorry…” She mumbled.

The man on the couch, who had been telling the story, smiled good-naturedly at the children who sat in front of him in their usual spots on the floor, where they always sat for storytime. He smiled at the two girls who had spoken, and then smiled at the third girl, who was a friend of the eldest girl in the trio.

The story continued.

As soon as the pack that found them realized who they were, they took them to their pack house. Next, they—

“Called us then we went and picked them up and—”

“Tara!” The eldest child and her best friend glared at the youngest girl.

“You just ruined the whole ending!” The eldest girl whined.

“I did not, Emma!” Tara, the youngest girl, denied guiltily.

“Did too!” Emma retorted.

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Girls! Girls!” The man on the couch got up and pried the bickering girls apart. “Don’t fight when we have a guest over.”

I had been leaning against the door to the kitchen, watching the group with a smile. However, as much as I didn’t want to, I intervened. “Don’t fight at all!” I countered, “Not even when Clarity is gone.” I smiled at Clarity, who was Emma’s best friend. I gave the other girls a hard look, “Apologize to Clarity right now.”

They did, and I almost jumped when arms wrapped around my waist. Lips brushed my ear and I suppressed a shiver as I was enveloped by the scent of the forest. “Hey, beautiful.” He whispered in my ear, and I smiled. Then his lips moved down to my neck, and I couldn’t withhold my shiver as he kissed my collar bone.

Then I remembered where we were and my eyes widened. I noticed all three little girls, two seven year olds and a four year old, were staring. Emma and Tara screwed their faces up in disgust, “Ew! Mommy and Daddy are making out!”

I raised my eyebrows. “What makes you think that?” I had a really bad feeling when they jumped to explain.

“Well, Uncle Cole said—”

“Don’t listen to what Uncle Cole says.” Nate cut them off sternly. Then he turned to me and quietly whispered, “Guess we need to have another talk with him, huh?”

I giggled and little Emma rolled her eyes. And I thought kids didn’t pick up that habit until they were teens. “Anyway!” She said louder than needed, “You never tell us how she got to the field in the first place, Daddy! Why do you always leave that part out?”

“That’s because we don’t know.” I answered for him. “One minute the girl was on her death bed and the next she woke up in a field in North Dakota....”

“Liar!” Emma narrowed her eyes, and I briefly was at a loss for words. “It was the portal!” She said earnestly, so earnestly my eyes widened. “Big Emma took the guy and girl to the portal while they were unconscious!”

“And how do you know that?”

“I saw it!” She pressed, “I had a really weird dream last night, Mommy, and I saw this lady carrying you and Mr. Caleb and then throwing you through a portal!”

I blinked, “And what did this lady look like?”

“Dyed blonde hair, narrow face, teenager.” She used words I was surprised she knew at her age. But, then again, she was the smartest in her class. “She looked so pretty!” She sighed dreamily, “I wanna look like her when I grow up!”

As my daughter droned on about her dreams of looking beautiful, my entire brain had shut down. My blood ran cold, and I tensed up in Nate’s arms. No… No way…. I shook my head.

I smiled at the three girls, but it was strained. “Your Mom and Dad should be coming any second now, Clarity.” Then, at that exact moment, her Mom and Dad entered.

“Hey little sis!” Nate let go of me and hugged Christina, who looked more vibrant than a spring flower.

“Caleb!” I smiled at him, and he smiled right back. We made no move towards each other though… we were only close by a shared experience of pain and suffering.

Christina broke away from Nate and came up to hug me tightly. She put her lips up to my ear and whispered, “Did you tell them the news yet?”

“No.” I whispered back. “Did you tell Caleb your news yet?”

“No.” She smiled, and then she looked to Clarity and spoke normally now. “Come on, Honey, let’s go home.” She took a hold of Clarity’s hand and Caleb and her left with their beautiful daughter. It was heartwarming to see them have their happily ever after, and even more to see I had found mine.

Nate hugged me again, and he kept his hands over my seemingly flat stomach. I had a feeling he knew my secret as he lightly stroked my stomach, and I wondered if he could hear the second heartbeat coming from within me. That thought made me smile, and as Emma and Tara came up and hugged each of my legs, I almost started to cry.

This was my happily ever after.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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The end! All right, I know it was an abrupt ending--I made it that way after all--and I apologize. I'm busy, and I'm taking a break from Wattpad for a few months. I feel bad, but I know it has to be done. There won't be a sequel for this, so sorry :/  And sorry for my abrupt goodbye, but whatcha gonna do, ya know?

Have a beautiful and gorgeous life! I'll miss you guys! <3