Our own new world is limitless and new.
I look behind me, at the gray stone hall I’ve come to love. The first time I saw it, it looked like a ghost castle in twilight. I thought then that it was a place to hide.
Instead, it was the place I came alive. The place where my body and soul blazed into fire. Where Edward and I each sought sanctuary when we were hurt, and Penryth Hall healed us.
It was the place our family began.
“I love you, Diana,” Edward whispers now behind me. I lean back against his chest, against his legs that are wrapped around mine, as one of his large hands rests protectively over the swell of my belly. Yes, I’m pregnant again. A boy this time.
Life is more complicated than the movies, that’s for sure. But it’s also better than I ever dared dream. Real life, the one I’m living right now, is better than any fantasy. Smashed thumbs and all.
I’ve finally found the place I belong.
Mrs. Warreldy-Gribbley never wrote a “how-to” manual about how to fall in love, or raise a child, or discover what you really want in life. Because there are no guide books for that, really. There are no surefire, guaranteed instructions. Each one of us can only wake up each morning and make the best choices we can, hundreds of choices each day, big ones and little ones we don’t even think about.
Sometimes bad things happen. But sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we’re brave. And sometimes, when we least expect it, we’re loved more than we deserve.
It turned out I didn’t need to be a movie star. I didn’t need to be famous or rich. I just needed to be loved, and to be brave enough to love back with all my heart.
People can change, Howard told me once. Sometimes for better than you can imagine.
He was right. Real life can be better than any dream. And it’s happening, right now, all around us.