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"Let's put our son to bed and then we should retire, too, I think."
Quinn looked down at the emerald sparkling on the third finger of her left hand. Married for six years and still as wildly in love as the day they first met. She looked up at him with everything she was feeling reflected in her smile. He pressed his lips to hers then they walked up the hill to their little piece of heaven and the nearly completed castle that sat majestically in the distance.
Epilogue
Her feet ached but it had been such a wonderful evening. Ten years, ten wonderful years, they had been married and she was still as wildly in love with him as she had been that day she stepped into the Brazen Head Pub.
Nick handed her something earlier in the evening, called it the Scarcliff treasure, and asked that she wait until she returned home to open it. Since Gabriel was looking in on the children, Quinn took the package from her purse and carefully removed the silver paper it was wrapped in.
Inside were three items. Two small miniatures, one she knew to be Archer and the other which looked remarkably like her. The other item was an emerald ring that was nestled in the satin, and though it was magnificent, it wasn't just its beauty that drew her. She recognized the ring, knew that somehow it had at one time been hers.
She heard him before she saw him and when he appeared in the doorway her heart flipped over in her chest. He leaned up against the door jamb as a grin tugged at his mouth. He was dressed all in black and his spiky black hair was messy, as if he had pulled a hand through it a time or two.
"Thad and Nickie are teething. I don't think we're going to be getting very much sleep tonight."
Quinn watched him as he started toward her with that easy stride of his. He was working his tie off and had unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt before he reached her. He was about to pull her up and into his arms but when he saw the emerald a strange look passed over his face. He knelt down next to her as he reached for the ring and removed it from the box.
"Where did you get that?"
"Nick gave it to me."
His eyes, the color of the emerald, looked up into hers. "Why do I know this ring?"
Quinn's hand brushed softly down his face. "I think because once upon a time you gave it to me."
His voice was almost reverent when he said, "I think you're right."
He reached for the one miniature as she took the other. "This looks exactly like you," he whispered before turning it around to see the inscription on the back just as Quinn turned over the one she held.
Always and Forever, Archer Gabriel
Always and Forever, Morgan Quinn
He turned his eyes to hers and she saw everything she was feeling looking back at her. When he spoke, his voice was just barely over a whisper.
"I suppose it isn't just a lovely fairy tale after all." He reached up and touched her hair. "Destined souls."
"Fated souls," she agreed.
He lifted her right hand and slid the ring onto her finger then he framed her face with his hands. He lowered his head and just before his lips touched hers, he whispered, "Mine, always and forever."
