Epilogue

It was ten years later. Cora had grown up to be a beautiful, kind, smart little girl. She had wavy blonde hair, my smile and complexion, and Jack's eyes and art talent. We always talked about how she got the best parts of both of us.

Jack and I didn't have any more children. We both loved Cora so much and were so wrapped up in our lives, we just never decided to have another baby. And I was okay with that, especially given the traumatic nature of my pregnancy with Cora.

Throughout Cora's childhood, we traveled the world. Each break she had from school, we would visit another place. I was determined to give Cora everything I always wanted in my childhood. And to be completely honest, I envied the fact that she got the opportunities that she did, such as traveling, attending a school where she was taught things that were worthwhile, and growing up in a world where women had the same opportunities as men.

Cora asked all the time how Jack and I met. We decided we couldn't tell her when she was little about the time traveling in case she let it slip. Instead, we always told her that on her tenth birthday, we would tell her how we met. And today was her tenth birthday.

I woke up to find Jack's arms wrapped around me. I yawned and rolled over, and he was asleep. He slowly started to wake up a little later. He smiled and gave me a loving kiss. "Good morning."

"Good morning," I whispered back. Jack wrapped his arms tightly around me, and I rested my head against his chest. "Our baby is ten years old."

"When did that happen?" Jack asked. "I swear, she's still that newborn who grabs everything within reach and throws it on the floor."

I laughed and closed my eyes. "It's going too fast. It all needs to slow down."

"Yeah, I know," Jack whispered, rubbing my arm.

"You know she's going to ask today," I looked at him.

"Yeah, I know."

We got up for the day. Jack had made coffee and was working in the living room. I had made a special breakfast for Cora, with waffles (her favorite food), fruit salad, and I even bought whipped cream, something that was so unhealthy, but I would buy it for Cora's birthday.

I peeked my head into Cora's room to see if she was awake. She rubbed her eyes and looked at me. "Mommy?"

I smiled and walked into her room and over to her bed. She scooted over, and I lay next to her. "Happy birthday, beautiful." I kissed her beautiful blonde hair.

Cora moved closer to me and leaned against me. I wrapped my arms around her. "What are we doing today?"

"Anything you want," I smiled. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to know how you and Daddy met," Cora looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

I laughed. "A little later, okay?"

Jack peeked his head into the room. He smiled when he saw us, and he crashed on the foot of Cora's bed. He kissed her cheek. "Happy birthday, Cora girl."

"Hi, Daddy," Cora smiled.

"We have breakfast ready outside, if you want to eat," I said.

"Okay," Cora jumped over my legs, making me yelp in pain. "What's for breakfast?"

We walked outside to the dining room. "Waffles, your favorite."

"And you got whipped cream!" Cora exclaimed, hugging both me and Jack. "Thank you!"

"Of course, sweet girl," I kissed her cheek.

We ate breakfast, and when we were finished, Jack and I gave Cora her birthday gift.

"What is it?" Cora asked. She took the little present and shook it.

"Oh, don't shake it sweetheart," I said with a chuckle. "Open it."

Cora smiled and unwrapped the wrapping paper. It was a long velvet box. "It's a box," Cora looked up at us.

"Nice observation," Jack joked. "Just open it."

Cora opened the box. Inside was the Heart of the Ocean. "It's beautiful," she said. "But it must have been really expensive!"

"Well, we didn't buy it," I explained. "This necklace was mine. And Daddy and I agreed that you would get it one day."

"See, we promised you that today we would tell you how we met," said Jack. "And this necklace is a big part of that."

"You're also sort of named after the necklace," I smiled.

Cora looked at Jack and me like we were crazy. "You named me, your daughter, after a piece of jewelry?"

I laughed. "This necklace sort of represents the way we fell in love. This necklace is called the Heart of the Ocean. Coraline means 'heart' in old English, and Maya means 'ocean' in Hebrew. So your name is sort of like 'Heart of the Ocean'."

"Oh," Cora looked at me with a huge, beautiful smile. "That's not so bad I guess."

We did all of Cora's favorite activities for the rest of the day: I took her shopping, she had a few friends over for a small party (she didn't want a birthday party this year, only a few friends), and we watched her favorite movie.

We were about to have a family dinner for Cora's birthday. Nina and Michael arrived first. They were still exactly the same loving parents to Jack, and to myself as well, but they were also wonderful grandparents to Cora. They loved her so much… almost as much as Jack and I did.

Gabby arrived next. She had met a nice man a few years ago, and they had just gotten married. Gabby and I were still incredibly close. We were each other's closest confidantes. She was also an amazing aunt to Cora. She would always take care of her when Jack and I couldn't, she would take her shopping and to get her nails done, and more fun activities. Cora loved spending time with her Aunt Gabby.

The final two to show up were Helga and Fabrizio. They had overcome all of the drama with Titanic, and were still together. They were married now, and they had a five year old son, Henry. Helga and Fabrizio were also Cora's godparents, and they loved her too.

Considering how few of us there were, we were really a tight knit family. I grew up with tons of cousins and relatives that I could never remember. I learned from Jack's family that the number of the people you have in your life doesn't matter. Rather, it's about the people themselves. And I was proud to say that Cora had a village.

Everyone was chatting at the dining room table while Jack and I were lighting the candles on Cora's cake. We dimmed the lights as we started to sing. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cora, happy birthday to you."

I carefully placed the cake in front of her. "Make a wish," I whispered. Cora closed her eyes and made a wish, then blew out the candles.

We finished watching the movie, and Cora got in bed. She had just gotten out of the shower, so her hair was still wet, and she was wearing cupcake pajamas. She was so beautiful, I knew that beauty wasn't as important as many other qualities, but just looking at her took my breath away. I still loved her as much as I did the first day I held her.

I looked up from my cup of tea and smiled. "Ready for bed?"

"Yes." Cora climbed into bed. I was laying with her, and Jack was laying across the foot of the bed. Jack and I still put her to bed together every single night. "So are you going to tell me how you met?"

"Well, kind of," I said. I took out a small notebook and handed it to her.

"What is this?" Cora asked. She looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes.

"It's the diary from the year I met Daddy, up until when you were born," I explained. "Some of it I wrote, some of it Daddy wrote." I stroked her blonde curls and smiled at Jack. "That way, you can sort of go through it with me… with us. I thought we'd read a little bit with you every night."

Cora smiled. "Thank you." She hugged Jack and me tightly. "I love you guys."

"We love you too, Cora girl," Jack hugged her.

We talked the three of us for a few more minutes. Since I didn't really keep a diary of Titanic, Jack and I explained that too her. We talked about Cal, mostly as an example of what to avoid when she starts dating, how Jack and I met, and how we repeatedly saved each other.

"So, after Titanic is when you started the diary?" Cora asked.

I nodded. "Exactly."

Cora leaned against me. I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "So, can we start?"

"Sure," I smiled.

Jack, Cora, and I were sitting close together on her bed. We were so close, the three of us. And I hoped we always would be. They were my whole life. I would never need anything, as long as they were with me.

I opened the diary to the first page and started to read. "I was beyond lost. In the last twenty four hours, I had fallen madly in love with Jack, and he had slipped through my fingers. I longed desperately for him, imagining him sitting next to me, holding my hand, kissing me. But it would never happen again.

"So there I sat. I sat on the deck of Carpathia, looking down at the sparkling ocean. Every second, I was getting further and further from Jack. And then I thought about him again, and a little montage of him played in my head. His smile, his eyes, his hair, the way he brushed his hair out of his face when he was concentrating…"

The End

A/N: Thank you so much for reading the story! I had no idea I would take it here, and I had no idea it would be somewhat popular. But thank you so much to everyone who left reviews, favorited, voted on the poll, everything! You're all awesome! And keep reading!