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Epilogue
Victoria
The crowd had grown inside the auditorium in the last few minutes, and I ran my hands down my dress to try and calm myself down and to take the sweat that had accumulated off my palms. A quick scan showed my mother and Arturo sitting in the front row and a huge bouquet of flowers in my mother’s lap.
It still shocked me that she was there, but it shouldn’t have. She had turned over a new leaf since the morning in Zach’s house, and in the year since that day, she has been my biggest supporter except for Zach. She and Arturo were going strong and seemed very happy with each other. He had convinced my mother the best thing they could ever do was never get married, and she had happily agreed. Dating and being committed to each other in that way seemed to be the magic combination my mother needed to make a relationship last. That or she had finally found the right man to be with.
I knew I had with Zach as the last year had been nothing short of the best of my life. I had moved into his place soon after I got tenure. He had been surprised that I wanted to, but I explained that while I loved my house, home was wherever he was. He had been kind enough to suggest we move into it together, but I knew he liked and needed to be close to his clients, and the house looked better on camera than mine did.
We talked about renting the house out or even selling it, but we decided to keep it. I used it after work sometimes if I needed to get away from the camera crews, and we use it as a little getaway for ourselves when we need to forget our troubles for a little while. Hardly anyone knew the place existed, and we were perfectly happy with that. I liked that there was a bit of Zach and me that no one else knew about, and Zach felt the same way.
My eyes roamed over the crowd, and I got a little nervous when I didn’t see Zach anywhere. I saw the camera crew that was going to film my speech, but I would have thought he would have been there by now.
I sensed Zach coming up behind me a split second before he ran his hands along my hips and around my front.
“How’s the teacher of the year doing?” he asked into my ear and then kissed my neck.
“Better now that you’re here,” I said.
“Where else was I going to be but standing next to you?”
“Out with the camera crew, talking to them, and singing my praises.”
“I already did that. I wanted to be with you here, not out there.”
“Thank you. I didn’t realize how nervous I was until I was standing back here, alone. How did you know I needed you here?”
“Because I know you better than you know yourself. You’re my wife; you’re going to be the mother of my children.” Zach ran his hand lovingly over my growing belly. “I know what you need, what you want, and I will always give it to you.”
“Really?” I turned around to look at him as I slid my arms around his waist. “Anything?”
“Yes. Anything.”
“Then kiss me in a way that tells me you love me, that you’re proud of me, and that you will be mine forever.”
“That I can definitely do.”
As Zach’s mouth moved over mine, he did all that and more. I had never felt more loved, cherished, respected, and honored as I did when I was with Zach. There was no other man in the world for me, and I felt so lucky to have him in my life. As he kissed me and held me close, I knew he felt the same way. Our life was just beginning, but I knew it was going to be a wonderful one.
THE END
