"Daddy, what's wrong?" Jessie asked as she and Libby skipped down the stairs into the living room to find their father sitting staring at a picture that he held in his hands.

"Nothing sweeite."

"That's a fib and you told us never to fib. You miss Rory, huh Daddy?" Libby said, walking over and climbing into his lap.

"Yea, Libbs, I miss her a lot."

"So do we," Jessie piped up.

"Yea, we liked her a lot. She was really fun and nice."

"All right, let's stop this mopping! Why don't we go to the park and play to get our minds off our problems?" Tristan said, feeling guilty that his melancholy had affected his daughters.

"Ok," the girls chimed half-heartedly before going to get their shoes on.

God, I can't believe I miss her so much. She'll probably forget all about us. I need her and so do my girls, but I can't force her to love me again. Why did I ever meet Summer? I would give anything to just see Rory right now

Tristan sat watching his daughters play in the early evening sunlight by the lake in the Hartford City Park. They seemed care free and happy. Every day he silently thanked God for blessing him with his two little angels. In the sunset, the light glanced off their golden curls, really making them look like angels until you looked into their impish blue eyes.

"There's something magical about blonde hair in the sunset, don't you think?" a familiar, melodic voice asked from behind him. Tristan whipped his head around and his heart metaphorically skipped a beat.

"Rory?" he breathed incredulously as he stood up and walked the short distance to stand in front of her.

"I promised you I would think about living happily ever after and I have."

"And?"

"And I want happily ever after. I want to write here in Hartford and I want to wake up every morning to see your face. I want to spend the day writing and taking care of Libby and Jessie. I want to sit with you outside at night and talk about everything and nothing. I want to know what it feels like to be loved every day, not just by my parents and siblings, but by the man that I love and the children that we create. I want to grow old with you. I want my world to begin and end with YOU, Tristan DuGrey. I love you more that air," she said looking him straight in the eyes. After a minute, he reached out and cradled her face with his hand. Slowly, he leaned in and kissed the breath out of her.

"And I love you, Rory Hayden. My world already begins and ends with YOU. Will you do me the honor of being not only my soul mate, but my wife and the mother of my daughters and any future DuGreys that should come along?" he asked, getting down on one knee in front of her. By the time he finished, quiet, happy tears were streaming down her face.

"Of course I'll marry you, you dope!" she said. Grinning from ear to ear, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver ring. In the center was a heart shaped pink diamond. Gently, he took her left hand and slipped it on her ring finger. Just as he brought her hand up to his the symbol of the promise they had just made to each other, Libby and Jessie spotted Rory. With in seconds, Rory had a girl in each arm, hugging them fiercely.

"We missed you," Jessie said bluntly.

"Well I missed you too. That's why I just promised your daddy I'd never leave again."

"Rory and I are getting married," Tristan informed his daughters.

"Does that mean we finally get a mommy?" Libby asked hopefully.

"Yes you do. And I get 2 beautiful daughters and an amazing husband."

Just them, the sun slipped over the horizon, leaving the new family in the reverance of the twilight.