EPILOGUE

ARIA

"The prince thought he had everything he'd ever wanted. He had money, a great job, friends… everything he thought he'd need to be happy. Then he met the most beautiful princess he'd ever seen," Ezra whispered softly, combing his hand through the hair of the little girl who lay half asleep across his chest. "He knew right then that he had to get to know her, so he set out to do just that."

"What'd he do then, Daddy?" the little girl asked tiredly.

Aria stood, hidden at the door jamb watching her husband and daughter as he attempted to get her to sleep. He'd always been better at it than her, so much so that Aria was a tad jealous at times. She mirrored the soft smile that Ezra wore as she watched the two most important people in her life bond over a simple bedtime story, one she knew quite well.

"Ah, see the prince didn't know how to approach the princess because she was so beautiful. The princess, though, she made it easy. She ran into him," Ezra chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to the little girl's head. "He had no choice after meeting her to make sure she was his."

A few moments of complete silence forced Ezra to look down at his little girl, wondering why she had gone so quiet. He couldn't stop the large smile that overtook his face when he saw that she was fully passed out, quietly sucking on her thumb as toddlers had a tendency to do. Aria watched as he gently moved her off of him and under the covers before making his way out of the room and softly closing the door behind him. Ezra caught sight of her waiting for him in the hallway and instantly pulled her into a tight embrace, pressing a kiss to her head as well.

"Were you spying on us again?" He chuckled onto the top of her head.

Aria nodded and pulled back to look up at him. "I couldn't help it. I'm trying to find out what your secret is. She never goes down that easy with me."

"Ah that, Sweetheart, is a secret I'll never share," Ezra replied. He smiled down at her before leaning down and pressing a tender kiss to her mouth. "Let's go down stairs and relax for a bit."

Aria nodded and allowed him to lead her down the stairs into the living room where they had already started a softly crackling fire. Sitting down exhaustedly on the couch, she watched Ezra cross the room and pull a tumbler of scotch from their alcohol cabinet. He poured them each a drink and pressed play on the radio before walking back over and sitting down beside her, handing her the drink and wrapping his free arm around her shoulders.

"I've never been happier than the day I met you," Ezra whispered, staring into the fire in front of them. "And of course when we had our little girl."

Aria smiled softly in response, hugging herself tighter to his side. "I can't believe it's been seven years now that we've been together, with five years of marriage and a three year old. It seems like just yesterday that I was running into you for the first time outside of that coffee shop."

"That was the best cup of coffee I never got to drink," Ezra laughed quietly. "I can't believe that I had to ask you to marry me five times before you said yes."

Aria let out a soft laugh of her own, leaning up to press a short kiss to his cheek. "You never get anything worth having for free. You've got to work hard for it."

"I'd have waited my whole life for you," Ezra replied with a smile. "You're worth everything to me."

The soft melody of an older Frank Sinatra came over the radio and Ezra instantly pushed his glass onto the coffee table in front of them. Standing, he extended a hand towards his wife and smiled gently down at her.

"Come dance with me," he asked.

Aria shook her head with a small laugh. "Oh no, you know my dancing skills are non-existent."

"And you, Darling, know that I don't care," Ezra replied with a smirk. He pulled her up into his arms, placing her own drink next to his before twirling her around in a small circle. Pulling her back sharply against him, they stood swaying gently to the music that played from just over the fireplace.

"Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm and your cheeks so soft. There is nothing for me but to love you," Ezra sang into her ear. "And the way you look tonight."

Aria's heart seemed to stutter uncontrollably as she listened to her husband sing softly into her ear and twirl her around their living room. Even after all this time, he had the same effect on her as he had on the first day they'd met. She hoped that never went away.

She laid her head against his shoulder and felt him hug her tighter to him. Ezra clasped her right hand in his own between them and ran his other hand softly up and down her back as he continued to hum the melody of the song into her hair. Aria lived for simple moments like this. She loved the easiness with which the tranquility and peacefulness came between them. She never felt more loved than she did with him.

Lifting her head from his shoulder, she stared up into his eyes for a moment, bringing up her hand to gently run it over the light stubble that had formed on his cheek over the course of the day. Lifting slightly onto her toes, she placed a light kiss to his mouth, lingering for a few seconds before pulling back to take in the soft smile that had formed on his face.

"What was that for?"

Aria mirrored his smile, running her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. "I'm not allowed to just kiss my husband? Do I need a reason?"

"No," he replied. He leaned down to give her a chaste kiss. "You never need a reason."

They continued to dance to the music flowing from the radio for a while, never changing the soft sway they'd started with, regardless of tempo or the style of music playing overhead. The fire started to dwindle to nothing, so much so that Ezra reluctantly pulled back to gather another log to rekindle the flames. Aria watched as he added the wood, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves that had suddenly jumped into overdrive. When Ezra turned back around, he looked at her questioningly upon seeing her anxiously wiping her palms against the fabric of her pants.

"Are you alright?" he asked, coming to pull her in for another slow dance.

Aria nodded, laying her head against his shoulder as they danced. "I'm just tired I guess. Our baby really wore me out today while you were at work."

"She did, did she?" Ezra chuckled. He placed a soft kiss to her temple before continuing. "I was wondering why she fell asleep so fast."

Aria smiled against his shoulder. "Yes, she had quite the day at daycare, as well, from what they told me when I picked her up. Speaking of which, I need you to change out the car seat in the Escalade. Wren said one of the buckles as reached its end. He offered to do it-"

"I'll take care of it," Ezra cut in. He pulled away to look down at her, moving a piece of her hair behind one ear. "You know I love to take care of my girls."

"I know you do," Aria replied with a small smile. "By the way, you need to clear your schedule for next Thursday. I've made an appointment with Dr Richardson."

"Your OB-GYN? Why do I need to attend?" Ezra asked confused.

Aria smiled nervously up at him, pulling them to a stop. "There's someone I want you to meet."

She waited for a few seconds, watching as clarity suddenly dawned on her husband and a large smile overcame his face. He crushed her to him, burying his face into the hair at her neck.

"Are you saying…"

Aria nodded into the crook of his neck. "I'm about a month along. I took a test a couple days ago just to be sure."

"We're pregnant," Ezra whispered. She could hear the absolute joy that laced his voice as he struggled to contain his emotions. When she had gotten pregnant with their first, he hadn't been so contained. She remembered the tears that streamed down his face as she had told him the news. He'd even gone out the very next day to buy a crib, stroller, diapers… anything and everything from the baby department at their local Wal-Mart.

"I love you," he croaked, pulling back to frame her face in both of his hands. "I don't know what I'd have done if I'd never met you. God, Aria, I-… I just love you so damned much."

Crushing his lips to hers, Aria felt as if time stopped during that moment. Ezra was everything for her, she loved how he completed everything about her and complimented everything she was and was not. What they had was something she'd only read about as a little girl in fairy tales. Now that she had that kind of love, though, she realized that what they shared was so much stronger, so much more intense than anything that could ever be written about in a book. She knew she'd completely changed Ezra's way of life but he had dramatically impacted hers as well. She couldn't imagine being anywhere other than where she was right now. She finally felt complete.

I really hope this story lived up to everything you all were hoping for. I'm personally really happy with how it turned out and I'm glad so many of you stuck it out to the end. Thank you all for reading and reviewing so often, your reviews really kept me writing and I can't thank each of you enough. I hope you all will follow along with future stories I post as well. Again, thank you for reading, love you guys!