Disclaimer: The Millennium trilogy does not belong to me.

Chapter 31

She was happy or at least she wasn't unhappy. Lisbeth Salander had three children whom she loved and a man whom she also loved. Aaron was already seven and was a bright boy. The twins were four and true to Mikael's assertion resembled their mother almost uncannily.

Lisbeth saw the love Mikael had for their children, he loved Aaron and showed him everyday. Aaron saw him as his hero and protector, but it was really the girls who worshipped him. Eileen and Lily seemed to be Mikael's favorites, parents shouldn't have favorites but Lisbeth sensed that Mikael Blomkvist had preference over Eileen and Lily. It wasn't overt but Lisbeth was aware that her partner worried more and treated the girls more delicately. Sometimes she would catch him looking at the sleeping girls with awe in his eyes.

Lisbeth remembered asking Annika about this and she remembered her saying, "Mikael worships them, it is normal they are his girls. He didn't have that with Nilla."

Every now and then the girl with the dragon tattoo sadly looked at her daughters playing with their daddy. He would lift them up and kiss them, play with them when Aaron refused to play guest at play pretend tea parties. She imagined her and Camilla in another universe playing with a man like their daughters played with their father. Lisbeth never put a face to that man; in her mind it wasn't Zalachenko nor her Kalle but a faceless man.

Lisbeth would smile and this sense of happiness and peacefulness invaded her every time she saw her Mikael comfort their children, when Aaron had chicken pox Mikael was the one to bathe him and put lotion on the little boy. He sang to him and rocked him to sleep. When Eileen and Lily got hurt playing it was Mikael kissing them and hugging them.

Lisbeth was happy, for once she could confidently say she was happy. She did not wake up in the middle of the night thinking she was going to lose her Kalle or the children overnight. Her anxieties over losing them lessened, she knew they could get hurt but that was just a possibility, one of many outcomes. Lisbeth was more relaxed, her fears were there, her insecurities over raising children and living with Mikael were present but every day Kalle and her children showed her that her fight to overcome the fears and insecurities were worth it.

Mikael Blomkvist was happy; he had his Sally with him and three beautiful children. Nilla was a smart girl and was studying to be a psychologist, Lisbeth scoffed at her when she told her. Annika and Enrico were well; his friendship with Erika was strong. They reached a point in which she wasn't hurt anymore, she loved his children and played the auntie part. Lisbeth was still didn't fully like Erika but she tolerated her for his sake.

He planned to spend the rest of his life with his Sally; there were no assassins out to get them. No one had tried to kill him or his family; Millennium was expanding to Europe. He wouldn't say his life was perfect; by no means, he fought with Lisbeth every once in a while, but that was normal and somewhat expected. His children could be a handful, especially Aaron who was growing to be more like Lisbeth in terms of holding grudges and seeking revenge. But it was alright, the old "consequence analysis" worked perfectly well when dealing with Aaron

Mikael was very excited to tell Lisbeth that they were going on vacation for three months. He managed to convince Erika to give him paid vacations.

"Sally, I'm home" Mikael could hear his daughters running to him.

"Daaaady" they both yelled to the top of their voices. Lisbeth was nowhere in sight.

"Where is mommy?" Mikael asked the twins

"She is making us sandwiches." Eileen sing sang.

Mikael went to their kitchen, "hey love, how was your day?"

Lisbeth scowled but gave him a kiss, "Annika called, she picked up Aaron and is bringing him later."

"About that, we might have to pull Aaron out of that summer camp." Mikael smirked, and waited for her questioning.

"Why? Annika said it was one of the best programs for children. I checked the organization and they were clean." Lisbeth was about to continue her argument when Mikael said, "We are going to Hawaii."

Lisbeth half smiled, "I thought you were joking when you said you wanted to travel this year."

"Well, I wasn't. We have to pack up; we leave the day after tomorrow. We are also visiting the States and the Caribbean, Sally love; we have two months to spare."

Lisbeth laughed when Mikael grabbed Lily and then Eileen and tickled them.

Surprisingly the flights to Hawaii went better than expected, Aaron behaved and the twins were not as cranky as usual. The family arrived to a hotel in Honolulu and proceeded to enjoy their family vacation.

Three days into the vacation Aaron came up to his parents and said, "mom, where were you yesterday afternoon?"

"Why?" Lisbeth asked.

"I saw you by the pool at three o'clock in the afternoon but that couldn't be possible because you were supposed to be with Lee and Lils."

Lisbeth immediately thought of Camilla but Mikael said, "Not possible, he told me this yesterday and I checked the pool, not one indication of her presence."

Salander still felt uneasy, she hacked into the hotel's security tapes the next morning and sure enough there she was, Camilla Salander checked in the day before they arrived at the hotel. Lisbeth went down to the pool where Mikael and the children were. Mikael was teaching Lee and Lils how to swim while Aaron was trying to climb up Mikael's torso.

"He seems like a good dad" a woman approached her table, it was Camilla, she looked just like Lisbeth remembered.

"He is." Lisbeth refused to start a conversation with her sister.

"He sure seems to love those little girls, so unlike our father. They look very much like us"

"They do."

"Are you happy Lisbeth?" Camilla asked; she was dying to know. Camilla wanted to know if that was a possibility, maybe one day she could be happy too.

"I am." Lisbeth said sincerely and for the first time in many years she was able to look at Camilla directly in the eye. That was the last time the sister looked at each other in the flesh.

Camilla simply said, "good for you, " and left.

That night she told everything to Mikael who hugged her and asked her, "how you feel?"

Lisbeth said, "I am fine, I thought seeing her would be bad, that it would anger me but contrary to my assumptions, seeing her brought nothing. No flashbacks or regrets just indifference. She is alive and seems well enough."

"Did you guys talk about the past or something?"

"No, she asked me if I was happy. I answered."

Mikael kissed her, "I am" his Sally said, he laughed and showed her with his kisses and caresses that he was also happy.

The End

I want to thank all of you who have read the story, especially those who were kind enough to leave a review and take an interest to the story. As always please read and review