***
Epilogue
“Dad!” Bee screeched as he threw her in the air. “Come on, we have to head down!”
Bianca grabbed Drake’s calloused, big hand and pulled him hard, practically tripping over herself in excitement.
Drake grabbed her and held her as he walked, the smile on his face getting bigger by the moment as he approached the beach. “Let’s go find your mom.”
He finally saw her, in the distance. He wondered if seeing her would ever stop making him feel this way. She wore a simple white sundress, her hair wild and curly in the sea breeze. “Brooks,” he smiled, winking at her and giving her a thumbs up and looking her up and down.
“Not so bad yourself, Walker,” she took his free hand as he stood next to her.
Bertrand cleared his throat. “If we’re quite ready to get the ceremony going…”
Drake grinned, “Sure, brother-in-law and officiant,” Maxwell whooped loudly in the background.
He held his daughter in one arm, and Riley’s hand with the other, as Bertrand began reciting the traditional Cordonian ceremony. It was the only traditional thing about his wedding to Riley. With her in a sundress, he was wearing a white button up shirt and dress pants rolled up to his knees. But looking around at his friends, including Liam, his best man, and Sylvia, his old AA sponsor – he couldn’t help feeling like untraditional was perfect.
His attention turned to his two girls, Bee and Riley. He looked at his soon-to-be wife’s eyes, blue like the crystal waters of the Cordonian sea. Calming him when he needed them to, and raging over him when they loved, they laughed, or they quarreled, taking him to depths and places he didn’t know he could reach.
And his daughters eyes. A bright brown, like the smell of earth after the rain, grounding him in moments of weakness and reminding him to appreciate the little things.
And that little, stubborn fleck of green. Green like the growing leaves, poking through the snow the same way her eyes melted the remaining ice in his heart.
As he kissed Riley to the cheers of his friends and family, he felt pretty good about not being the last Walker after all.
***
Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment if you liked 😊 much appreciated.
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