Chapter 21: Epilogue

"Nate! Can you get the candles please?" Ri yelled from the backyard, and I sighed, searching the drawers for them.

"Got 'em!" I yelled back, jogging out to the backyard patio with candle number two and my beer.

"Here you go, sweetie." I smiled, handing them to her. She took them, smiling, and turned, placing them in Tiara’s cake. I smiled, turning to the clutching fist that held my shirt. I looked down at my two-year-old daughter and smiled.

"Happy birthday, baby cakes," I told her, kissing her cheek gently. Who knew how many times I had told her that today?

Arianna declared the cake ready, and the crowd began to sing for my little girl. As they all sang, I held my wife, my hands resting on her growing stomach.

Life had turned out pretty good. After our little incident in London, Arianna and I returned home and went off to college together. Just before we graduated from college, I proposed to her.

Just a few short months after graduation, she got pregnant, and when she was seven months along, we got married. Our first baby was a spoiled little girl, Tiara, who everyone loved to bits. We lived happily from then on in our big beach house together until just a few months ago when Arianna declared she was pregnant again, just two months before Tiara’s second birthday.

Everyone else was going strong too. Stacy and Kyle ended up moving in together, and they were expecting their first in three months. They were planning on getting married. Tracy and Derek broke up, although they still live together.

Arianna thought they had a deal of just sex. I thought it was just a stupid game they play with each other and they should just hurry up and be a couple already. It would be much easier for everyone else.

I was pretty sure that from now on, my life was just going to get better and better. With my second child on the way, I couldn’t be happier. Hopefully the baby was a boy to even our little family out.

I patched things up with my mum too. When I returned to the country, she begged me to forgive her, and it took her a few years to finally stop saying sorry for not being there. She was now a huge part of my life. She visited three times a month and always offered to take care of Tiara when we needed.

In fact, she had planned this whole party for her and refused to let Arianna lift a finger. I smiled. At least she was making a big effort to be a part of my life, and for that, I owed her a lot. I smiled, looking around at my family and friends.

Finally there was peace and quiet among us all, and that stupid bet I made…was nothing more than just that, a stupid bet.

*The End*