ONE LAST WISH

by Reynolds, Aurora Rose

  That he knows my heart has always been his.

  Ours is the kind of love that has been spoken about and searched for throughout time, a love so sought after that it’s been written into the stars.

  Epilogue

  _______________

  Bre

  Six months later

  “ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?”

  At my dad’s question, I look up at his handsome face and smile. “Yes.”

  “Then let’s go, gorgeous.” He tucks my hand into the crook of his arm and I pull in a breath.

  I watch the double doors open in front of me, and then I smile at Ly when she grins at me over her shoulder. She looks adorable in her baby blue princess dress, with a rope of flowers around her head and ribbons running down through her hair.

  “Is it time, Mama?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “Finally.” She giggles, walking out the doors and tossing out flower petals as she goes.

  I pull my eyes from my baby and they land on Denver at the end of the aisle. He looks handsome in his suit, his hands casually at his sides and his expression soft on our girl as she heads his way. I fight the urge to cry as Lyra makes it to him calling him daddy and he picks her up, giving her a kiss. “Dad, can someone be too happy?”

  At my question, my dad stops us abruptly, turning me so we are facing each other.

  “You deserve this.” He rests his hand against my cheek, and I hear people start to whisper in the crowd. “You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “You’re going to be happy for the rest of your life. I know in my gut that Denver will see to that. He will work himself to the bone to give my baby everything she deserves, and in return, I know you’re going to give that all back to him tenfold.”

  “You’re going to make me cry.” I feel my bottom lip wobble, but instead of crying, I gasp in surprise when I’m suddenly not on my feet but up in the air, and Denver is walking down the aisle, holding me against his chest. “What are you doing?” I breathe, catching a few surprised looks from the people lined up in the pews.

  “We’re getting married,” he states, setting me on my feet in front of him, and I blink.

  “I was having a moment with my dad,” I tell him—something I’m sure he saw for himself.

  He captures my face between his hands then leans in so he’s all I can see. “You can have your moment after you say ‘I do’ to me.”

  I’m not surprised by his declaration or even his caveman move. He’s been pushing for this moment since the night I shared that Ly wanted to call him Dad. Our relationship has been moving at light speed for months. First, it was him moving in, and then it was him putting a ring on my finger. Then after that, it was mostly him, not me, planning our wedding with our moms who were both scarily happy that Denver and I were going to say “I do.”

  “I love you,” I murmur, seeing the look of determination in his gaze. “I always have and I always wil—” My words are cut off when his mouth crashes down on mine, and he kisses me so hard and so deep I forget where we are and what we are supposed to be doing.

  “Um.” A throat clears. “You two might wanna wait until the pastor says you can kiss the bride,” Lincoln cuts into the moment, and I smile against Denver’s mouth then giggle when he growls into mine, holding me closer against his large strong frame.

  “You ready?” he asks, not taking his eyes off mine, and I wrap my arms around his shoulders.

  “I’ve been ready,” I answer, and I am, because I know my dad’s right. Denver will spend his life working at making me happy, something he does just by existing. And I will do everything to give him the same.

  _______________

  Two years after that

  “You’re going to spoiling him,” I tell Denver, walking into the nursery, where I catch him picking up our sleeping two-month-old son, Leo. I didn’t choose his name; Denver did. He said he wanted our kids and us to be connected through the stars. I loved that he wanted that, so I didn’t fight him on naming our son.

  “He’s already spoiled.” He holds him against his chest, kissing the top of his dark head.

  He’s not wrong. Between his big sister, his dad, my parents, his aunts, his uncles, and me, the kid has never been put down for more than a few minutes.

  “Are you happy?” I ask, wrapping my arms around the back of Denver’s waist while placing my face close to Leo’s to study him like I’ve done a million times. He looks like his dad, almost exactly, right down to his beautiful eyes.

  “Baby, you know I’m happy.” He kisses my forehead then encircles me with his arm, now holding our slowly waking son. He leads us to the kitchen then lets me go so he can greet Ly with a kiss to her forehead. I take a moment to study my family then pull myself together so I don’t cry. I have it all. I have everything I could have ever wished for. I’m living a dream, and I’m so grateful for every moment.

  _______________

  Twelve years later

  “Mom, Dad, Scott’s here. We’re going to head out!” Ly shouts through the house, and Denver’s eyes meet mine and darken. Pissed. Great, he’s pissed. Then again, since around the time Ly started taking an interest in boys, he’s been pissed a lot.

  “Honey, come say goodbye properly!” I shout back, and Denver’s jaw clenches while his fingers that are wrapped around my hip dig in.

  “I’m sorry.” Ly rushes into the living room, where Denver and I are sprawled out on the couch, me mostly on top of him, watching a movie. “We have to go. Dinner is going to start soon, and we can’t be late.” She rushes over, kissing Denver’s cheek then mine. Dinner, dinner with Gabe’s parents who took their time coming around but eventually realized that they didn’t want to miss out on their granddaughter’s life. Unlike my own mother who I haven’t spoken to since the night I told her to get out of my house, they have been a steady fixture in Ly’s life since she was around six years old. I’m happy they are involved. Happy that Ly has grown up with so much love around her. The best is Ly has had a chance to know the people who raised her father and gotten a chance to know him through them.

  “Scott’s not gonna come in and say hello?” Denver asks, pulling me from my thoughts, and I look at Ly as she rolls her eyes in my direction.

  “Dad, you know he’s not going to come in to say hello. The last time you saw him, you told him to stay out of your house and to never show his face again.”

  “I caught you two making out.”

  “He was kissing me goodnight, and it’s not like we were on the couch half naked. We weren’t even in the house! We were standing on the front porch.”

  “He had his hands on you,” Denver continues, and I fight back a smile.

  “He did not!” Ly squawks, her cheeks turning red.

  He totally did have his hands on her. He was grabbing her bottom. I saw it myself. But they were not making out; at least, not when I saw them. Not to say she hadn’t made out with him before. Scott and Ly have been together for the last four years. They’ve been together since her freshman year. The funny thing is, Scott reminds me a lot of husband. Neither of them are afraid to go after what they want, and both of them are hardworking and have good heads on their shoulders. I think all the likeness is exactly why Denver isn’t very fond of Scott.

  “Honey, have fun and make sure you knock on our door when you get home,” I say, ending this now before it’s too late.

  “I will. Love you, Mom. And Dad, even though you’re crazy, I love you too.” She gives us a smile before disappearing out the door.

  “I hate that kid,” Denver mutters, and I laugh, dropping my face to his chest. “It’s not funny.”

  “You hate him because he’s just like you,” I state, and he growls, rolling me until I’m under him and his heavy weight is pressing me back into the couch.

  “Shut up,” he orders before his mouth covers mine kissing me hard.

  “God, gross. Can you two act like normal paren
ts and flipping hate each other or something?” Leo asks, coming into the living room, and I look over Denver’s shoulder at our son—our very handsome son—who is only twelve but already a heartbreaker.

  “You don’t like it, you’ve got a room you can hang in,” Denver says what he’s been saying for years, and I start to laugh again, seeing a smile curl the edge of his gorgeous mouth. God, he’s still hot to this day. He’s still the hottest guy I have ever seen, and he’s mine. All mine.

  “Whatever,” Leo mutters before disappearing, and I tuck my face into my husband’s chest and laugh hard when he starts to chuckle. When our laughter ends and his eyes meet mine I know he was right years ago. Who knows if we would have ended up taking each other for granted if he asked me out like he planned on doing at that party when we were both just kids. Who knows what would have happened between us if things didn’t work out like they did. Having him and everything that we have shared over the years I cherish every second, appreciate everything he’s given me and never take a moment with him for granted. Things worked out exactly like they were meant to and for that I’m forever grateful.

  _______________

  Denver

  Years and years later

  Standing out on the back deck, a beer in my hand, my eyes pointed up at the night sky, I hear the door slide open and I meet my wife’s gaze. Still beautiful, even after all these years. I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than her.

  “Honey, are you going to come in? The kids and grandbabies are going to be leaving soon.”

  “Be there in just a minute.”

  Her head tips to the side. “Are you okay?”

  I search her eyes. I’m not okay. I haven’t been just okay in a long fucking time, because since the moment she became mine, I’ve been living a dream. “I’m good, baby. Just need a minute,” I say as she comes to me, resting her hands on my stomach, studying me.

  “You sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m sure.” I wrap one hand around her hip and dip my face toward her for a kiss. She doesn’t make me wait she leans up on her toes, touching her mouth to mine.

  “Okay, come in soon,” she orders before letting me go and walking away.

  I watch her until she disappears back inside, closing the door behind herself. Once I’m alone again, I tip my head back up to the cloudless dark sky and wait for it to happen. Just like every year on this day, I close my eyes after I see brightness streak across the dark, only instead of making a wish, I give a silent thank you because for me all my wishes have already come true.

  The End

  Goodbye, Cordova. I’ll miss you, but who knows? Maybe I’ll be back again one day.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First I have to give thanks to God, because without him none of this would be possible.

  Second I want to thank my husband. I love you now and always—thank you for believing in me even when I don’t always believe in myself. To my beautiful son, you bringing such joy into my life, and I’m so honored to be your mom.

  Thank you Selma and Sejla for demanding that I write this story, and for offering your unwavering encouragement, and friendship along the way. I love you girls.

  To every blog and reader, thank you for taking the time to read and share my books. There would never be enough ink in the world to acknowledge you all, but I will forever be grateful to each and every one of you.

  I started this writing journey after I fell in love with reading, like thousands of authors before me. I wanted to give people a place to escape where the stories were funny, sweet, and hot and left you feeling good. I have loved sharing my stories with you all, loved that I have helped people escape the real world, even for a moment.

  I started writing for me and will continue writing for you. XOXO Aurora

  OTHER BOOKS BY AURORA ROSE REYNOLDS

  The Until Series

  Until November

  Until Trevor

  Until Lilly

  Until Nico

  Second Chance Holiday

  Underground Kings Series

  Assumption

  Obligation

  Distraction

  Until Her Series

  Until July

  Until June

  Until Ashlyn

  Until Harmony

  Until Him Series

  Until Jax

  Until Sage

  Until Cobi (Coming soon)

  Shooting Stars Series

  Fighting to Breathe

  Wide-Open Spaces

  One Last Wish

  Fluke my life series

  Running into love

  Stumbling into love

  Tossed into love

  Drawn Into Love(Coming soon)

  Standalones

  Falling Fast

  Alpha Law CA ROSE

  Justified LiabilityFinders Keepers

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Aurora Rose Reynolds is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose wildly popular series include Until, Until Him, Until Her, and Underground Kings.

  Her writing career started in an attempt to get the outrageously alpha men who resided in her head to leave her alone and has blossomed into an opportunity to share her stories with readers all over the world.

  For more information on Reynolds’s latest books or to connect with her, contact her on

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  To order signed books and find out the latest news, visit her at

  Website