The rest of the group picked up their sleeping kids off the sofa and floor in the living room and toted them out to their cars as well. Maggie and Sully hugged friends’ necks and kissed babies' cheeks until the last people closed their car doors and drove down the drive.
With full bellies and hearts, Maggie and Sully put their already sleeping kids to bed, then walked hand in hand down to the dock. They sat down on the sun bed that Sully had made for them, and Maggie nestled in between his legs, as Sully wrapped his arms around her.
"Do you ever think about your past?" she asked.
"Sometimes."
"Do you ever wish you could change it?" she asked, more softly this time. He knew what she was getting at. His mother's death. His sister's attack. The choices he'd made leading up to those events. Her own mistakes with Anthony.
They'd both made terrible decisions that had cost them so much pain before they'd met each other, and even shortly after.
Sully thought for a minute—about his life, his struggles, his biological father, his deceased mother. Sure, if he could change things and guarantee that everything would turn out the same for him, he'd change them. But that wasn't possible.
"I wouldn't change it. Even the bad stuff. I couldn't, because then we wouldn't be where we are today. And I love where we are today," Sully said, squeezing her just a little more tightly.
"Sometimes I think about what my life might have been like had I not met Anthony. If I'd been stronger and not been lured into his trap. What would my life be like if I'd gone to Georgia Southern on that scholarship and lived the life of a normal college student?" She sighed. "But then I wouldn't have Brady. And I wouldn't have you. This life we've made together is everything I could ever want."
"Our mistakes brought us together. They made us who we are. They gave us Brady. They gave us our family and friends. Our path, even the bad stuff, turned out for good. And I'd go through it all over again as long as it led me straight to you."
Maggie sighed and snuggled in closer.
"Perfect answer," she said.
Sully breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo, the smell of her lotion he loved so much. He took in the beautiful night, the stars that shone brightly above the lake house, and the trees that swayed in the whistling wind. The night held magic in the air as Sully held the woman he loved in his arms.
Perfect indeed.
THE END
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 124
