Epilogue

Lucas

I watched Iris as she moved around the house getting ready for the service. I was still very independent at 86, but she was always such a good daughter. She looked so much like her mother did at her age that sometimes it took my breath away.

"Dad, where are mom's pearl earrings?" she asked, smoothing out her black dress. It reminded me of the time Bailey and I had been in the snow. She'd brushed it from her dark coat just like Iris was doing. I felt my lips curl into a smile. There were so many memories to be thankful for.

"In the safe in my bedroom, love." I pointed my shaky hand in the direction of the hallway.

My granddaughter Athena emerged from the spare bedroom, "Amanda! Come here and let me put your shoes on," she called to my youngest great-granddaughter. The sound of bubbly laughter drifting down the hallway made my heart swell. I'd been blessed with so many wonderful things in my life, but most of all I was given a family that grew from love.

"Uncle Louis!" the little voice shouted as she jumped onto my grandson's lap. He tickled her and the soft frilly fabric of her dress danced around her tiny legs. It reminded me of the blue satin dress Bailey had worn to our son's wedding. We'd danced to every song that night.

"I've got you," he teased as he lifted her into the air. He was wearing the same uniform I'd had on all those years ago when I'd met his grandmother. It was pressed and sharp, just like every Marine was taught to wear it.

I was almost overcome with emotion as I glanced around the room full of our children, their children and of course the latest generation. All of this had been born out of the love two teens found in a small airport in the middle of nowhere.

I straightened my tie and turned down my hearing aid as the laughter in the room grew as each child came to Amanda's aid. I chuckled a little as I watched them playing, carefree and full of life. Bailey would have loved this day.

"Dad, what's this?" Iris asked as she moved towards my chair, holding an old envelope in one hand and fixing her earing with her other. "I found it at the bottom of the safe under a bunch of paperwork." Her glasses slipped just then and I was taken back to a time when I'd fallen for her mother.

"It's something your mother was never to open," I said with a wink. She held it in her hands carefully as if it suddenly held so much more value than just on old envelope. We were laying the love of my life to rest in just a few hours. She had waited for me many, many, years ago and now I was going to wait for her until she came to get me. The thing I was most proud of in my life was that she'd never had to read the Dear Bailey letter inside that dreaded envelope.

"This is it?" she asked.

"What is it?" Amanda jumped down and danced around Iris' feet trying to get a closer look. I saw Iris' eyes fill with tears.

"Something very special," she answered, holding the envelope to her heart.

"Papa, what is it?" Amanda turned to me.

"Come here, love. Let me tell you a story." I patted the arm of the chair and she climbed up, kissing my cheek before she settled. "She stepped off of a crowded plane in a sea of tired travelers, and right into my heart."

The End

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