A Hop of Hope: Epilogue

Epilogue

10 years later

She sits at the table surrounded by all the people who love her, yet she has a sad look on her face because the one person she wants to be here, isn’t.

“She’ll be here, honey, don’t worry,” I say, trying to ease her nerves.

I look at her from the doorway of the kitchen, studying the way one blonde lock of hair falls in her eyes and the corners of her mouth turn up into a smile despite how blue she feels. Her big chocolate colored eyes are red rimmed with tears, but she’s still so pretty. God, she looks so much like her mother. She’s going to be such a beautiful woman one day.

I turn and go back into the kitchen to get the ice cream and paper plates. I really hate that she isn’t here, she was supposed to be home already, but she’s still out there somewhere in this storm. I glance out the window at the heaps of drifted snow and my throat goes dry as I think of all the things that could’ve happened to her.

I don’t know what to do with myself. I wring my hands and watch through the window, hoping to see any sign of her car as it crawls over the icy driveway. Suddenly, the door opens and Molly bursts in with a puff of powdery snow.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, Andrew. The weather is terrible out there.” She takes off her jacket then rushes over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “But I did get the cake.”

She places five little candles into the frosting and lights them one by one. I go ahead of her into the dining room where everyone is waiting for us.

“Hannah, honey, look who’s here.” I kneel down next to my small blonde haired daughter and point toward the open doorway. She turns just in time to see Molly setting the cake down in front of her. “Mommy!”

Molly opens her arms for a hug and Hannah throws her arms around her and holds on tight. “Hey baby, Happy Birthday.”

Molly stands back up and I wrap my arm around her waist as our family and friends sing happy birthday to our little girl. Hannah blows out her candles and closes her eyes tight as she makes her special birthday wish that only comes once a year. She turns to talk with her friends, leaving us to dish up the plates. Molly grabs the cake again and I follow her into the kitchen. As she starts taking the half burnt candles out of the frosting, I turn her around and press her against the counter, kissing her hard on the lips. I lean my forehead against hers and feel her arms wrap around my neck. “I was so scared.”

She pulls me closer to her and whispers in my ear, “I know, baby, I know. I wasn’t caught in the storm though, I’m here.” She puts her hands on the sides of my face and kisses me again before pushing me back so she can start cutting the cake. We set all the plates up with cake and ice cream, then I turn to my beautiful wife and hold out two plates to her.

“Do you want to serve?”