“I made a wish,” River said simply.
“What—” J.J. tried again, her voice a thin, sorrowful thing. “What was your wish?”
“I asked the dragon to turn you into a real person so you could marry my daddy and be my mommy. That way we can live happily ever after.”
J.J. closed her eyes. “You gave Dolly to the dragon.”
“That’s okay. I’d rather have you.”
Those sweetly guileless words proved J.J.’s undoing. Covering her face with her hands, she wept. She scarcely noticed Raven enfolding her in his arms. All she knew was that when her tears were spent, a warrior waited to welcome her. She could see his battles were finished and he’d found his way home. Far from being a dark, void place, it was full of sunshine and color and soul-healing warmth.
“What about Maise?” she asked hesitantly. “And the fantasies?”
A hint of a shadow swept across his face. “I’m coming to terms with it.”
“When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here for you.”
His arms tightened in a silent gesture of gratitude. “And I know you’ll understand.”
J.J. glanced back toward Mathias’s desk and drew a shaken breath. “You were willing to sacrifice your painting.”
“We didn’t need the painting. We have a fairy of our very own.”
“And River was willing to give up Dolly.”
“Somehow I doubt it’ll be for long.”
“She doesn’t know that.”
“No.” He looked at his daughter with a father’s pride. “But she knew what was important and what wasn’t. Better than I did.”
“And now?”
“And now you complete the circle, fairy lady. You take what was incomplete and you complete it. Because without you, we’re not whole.”
“Do you mind?” River interrupted in a worried voice. “Are you mad at me?”
This time J.J. did bend, lifting her daughter into a tight embrace. “Am I mad about what?”
“About not being a fairy anymore.”
JJ. grinned. “Don’t you worry, sweetie. There will always be a little bit of a fairy inside me.”
Raven wrapped his arms around them both. “One who rides naked on butterflies?”
JJ. looked at him uncertainly. “Do you mind?”
“Not if there’s room on that butterfly for all three of us.”
A slow smile crept across her mouth. “You too, Raven?”
“Yeah, me.” His eyes burned as black as pitch, but somehow the darkness had fled. “I love you, fairy lady. ’You are my life and my light, my heart and my soul.’ Will you marry me? Will you become River’s mother... for real this time?”
“‘To marry you and bear your children. To watch our children grow. And then to watch our children’s children... and our children’s, children’s children,’” she whispered unevenly. “I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do. Yes, Mr. Sierra. I’ll marry you.”
“WISH ACCOMPLISHED,” announced Gem. “PREMISE CONFIRMED. BIRTHDAY WISHES ALWAYS COME TRUE. END PROGRAM.”
EPILOGUE
For a timeless moment, Justice couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Her most prized possession? She’d given Nemesis everything she had—what more was left? And then she understood, knew what final token she must offer.
She stood before the powerful dragon, love giving her the strength to make this one last sacrifice, allowing her to face death if it gave her the chance to win what she wanted most. “I give you my wings!” she shouted. “For they are my most prized possession.”
A great roar burst from Nemesis. “So be it! I accept and grant your wish. You are no longer of Fairy. You are mortal and free to marry your prince.”
For that was her wish, the prize she’d sought when she’d begun The Great Dragon Hunt. Justice wanted to be human and live out her days with Prince Raven. To marry him and bear his children. To watch their children grow. And then to watch their children’s children...and their children’s, children’s children.
The prince took her hand in his, finding peace at last. For he, too, had won. He’d lost his hate and replaced it with a love that would last through all of eternity.
It was time to go. It was time to live happily ever after.
The End, The Great Dragon Hunt
by Jack Rabbitt
“IT’S time!” River announced, dancing with excitement. “Come on, Mommy. Come on, Daddy. It’s time to cut the cake.”
J.J. glanced at her husband of just a few hours. He looked absolutely stunning in his formal tux. She smiled, tears of happiness welling into her eyes. He noticed and reached for her. His hands slipped beneath her lace veil and he gently cupped her face, his thumbs caressing the tears from her cheeks. Where once shadows had filled his dark gaze, now only contentment remained. There were no more secrets, no lingering doubts.
“Happy, Mrs. Jill Justine Sierra?” he asked.
A slow smile drifted across her mouth, a mouth he bent to take in a deep, passionate kiss. “Ecstatic,” she whispered. “But if you ever call me that again, you’ll be incredibly sorry.”
“The cake,” River reminded, tugging at the sweeping train of J.J.’s satin gown. “You can do all that mushy stuff anytime.”
“Anytime, huh?” Raven bent and picked her up. “What’s wrong with now?”
“Just not now,” she amended, flashing a grin identical to Raven’s. “It’s time to cut the cake.”
“I see we’re not going to get any peace until we do,” her father grumbled, giving in.
The three of them crossed to the table that held the multilayered creation. Soft pink rosebuds covered the creamy confection and, clearly unable to resist, River reached out and dipped her finger into the icing.
“Oh, no,” she said with a giggle. “Look what bad Miss Finger did.”
Raven caught her finger between his teeth and J.J. chuckled. “Uh-oh. Looks like bad Mr. Teeth just put naughty Miss Finger in jail.”
“Okay, Daddy. You can let go now. I’ll be good. I promise.”
Obediently he released her. “What about Mr. Thumb and all the other Miss Fingers?” he asked suspiciously.
River slanted him a sly look. “They like icing a lot. And they’re pretty sneaky. They might have to go to jail, too.”
“We can’t have that,” J.J. said, picking up a silver cake knife. “I guess we’d better hurry and cut the cake.”
“Wait!” River cried: “We need to make a wish first.”
Raven groaned. “This isn’t a birthday cake, pumpkin. There aren’t even any candles.”
“But can’t we wish, anyway? Just in case.”
He released his breath in an indulgent sigh. “Go ahead. Make your wish.”
“I wish...” River looked from one to the other and grinned wickedly. “I wish I could have a troll.”
“A troll?” Raven and J.J. exchanged bewildered glances. Then understanding dawned and they began to laugh.
J.J. shook her head. “I don’t know, sweetie. We’ll have to see about that. We weren’t planning on adding any trolls to the family just yet.”
“That’s not what Gem said,” River informed them.
Raven groaned. “I knew I should have taken another ax to that computer.”
But he wouldn’t and they all knew it.
Later that night, as River lay in bed cuddling Dolly—a wedding gift from the dragon—Gem calculated the probability of her wish coming true. And as it turned out, there was a ninety-eight percent chance that one small troll would make an appearance within the next year.
Because everyone knows...
Wedding cake wishes always come true.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-6310-9
THE MIRACLE WIFE
First North American Publication 1998.
Copyright © 1998 by Day Totton Smith.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic mechanical or other means
, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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