Bella's POV

Quil has worked for me for a month now and he is amazing. Girls love him. Like from little girls to old women. And that includes Marley. He's also a super quick learner and can do anything I need him to from the front to baking most of the things we sell.

We just closed for the day and he comes running to me saying his car won't start, can I drive him home? Of course I drive him home and ask him if he needs me to pick him up tomorrow, he says no his mom will bring him.

The next day Phil comes to see me and offers to take Marley home for a while. Um yes please. It's slow so we're sitting and talking and watching her climb chairs when Quil comes in with his mom.

"Bella this is my mom, Joy. I wanted to introduce her since she's here anyways." Quil tells me.

I tell her hi and nice to meet her but she seems to be ignoring me and staring at Phil who is totally being entertained by Marley.

"Phil?" She asks him and he looks up and his eyes go all weird and then he smiles.

"Joy, oh wow. How have you been?"

Quil and I are just looking back and forth between them.

"Daddy?"

"I met her at the store when I came for Christmas that year." He explains.

"I ran into him with my cart." She adds.

"We had coffee; you said you would call after the holidays." She says quietly.

"And then he ran his car off the bridge and lost his memory. He finally got it back a couple of years ago." I tell her.

"I had lost your # by then." Phil jokes.

"Have coffee with me, and maybe I'll give it to you again." She tells him.

"Joy I would love to but I was going to take Marley, another day?" He asks him.

"Daddy no, you can take Marley another day." I tell him quickly.

"Or we could just have coffee here." She suggests.

So Quil makes them coffee and they sit there and talk for the next 4 hours until it's time to close up.

"Sorry kiddo, I'll pick her up tomorrow." Phil tells me as we all walk out together.

"Yeah sure that's fine. Um, I can take Quil home and you two can move this little reunion somewhere else." I offer and they both say OK.

"Wow, that's crazy." I tell Quil when we get in my car.

"Yeah, you know I think it's fate or something. I mean Seth sending me to you for an interview and you hiring me because Marley likes me and then my car breaking down and your dad visiting today of all days. I've never seen him visit before." He says.

"You knew I hired you because of Marley?" I ask him somewhat embarrassed.

"Yeah you asked me like 2 questions as the actual interview. Can you cashier? No. Can you start Monday? Yes. Great you're hired! But it's cool, I like her. And I like to see my mom as happy as she was this afternoon." He tells me.

For the next few months Phil and Joy spend as much time as they can together. One day Phil invites me and Sam and Marley over for dinner. When we get to Phil's and house Joy and Quil are there. We get in and Marley is being Marley and entertaining everyone. She bounces from person to person because this is a room of her full of her favorite people minus Seth who is having the time of his life at college but still comes home almost every weekend, to see he says us but means Marley. He calls her every night too.

We sit down to dinner and we're having a great time when Phil says he has something to announce.

"We're getting married!" He says happily looking at Joy who just oozes happiness as well.

"Daddy that's great!" I tell him hugging him. I really am so very happy for him. And maybe this seems just a tiny bit stupid but I'm glad it's her and now some dumb girl who would try to make him pick her over me.

"You're really OK with this kiddo?" Phil asks me and I tell him of course I am, why wouldn't I be?

"Well I just wasn't sure because of your mom and all how you would handle it." He explains.

"Daddy, mom died 5 years ago. You deserve to be happy. And I like Joy and Quil and I couldn't ask for better people to join our family. I love you. Congratulations. So when is this happening?"

"We're thinking in just a couple of months, just something small. I would really like for Marley to be the flower girl." Joy tells me.

Yes Marley will be the cutest flower girl ever. And this means Leah and Alex will have to come back! They keep in touch but they don't visit often. Leah is 4 months pregnant so hopefully they will come back.

We finish dinner and then Phil and Sam and Quil go off to look at Phil's new boat leaving me with Joy and Marley.

"Thank you for being so happy about this Bella. Phil loves you and I think if you didn't like me he would have never asked me to marry him. You're kind of everything to him." She tells me.

"I'm willing to share the role of everything with you. You're such a great person and Quil is awesome and I really am so excited about this. I know how lucky I am to have such an awesome stepdad who decided I was worth being his daughter not only after my mom died but after he completely forgot who I was too. That was a fight but it was worth it. And then he accepts Marley as if she was born to me. He is a great man." I tell her.

"Oh wow, I didn't even know he was your stepdad or that Marley wasn't your biological daughter. He adores both of you." She says.

"And now he adores you. You want cake? They could probably talk about that dumb boat all night." I ask her and she says sure.

5 years can change anything.