The summer light spilled through the Hampson estate gardens, soft and golden. Children's laughter carried on the breeze Jessy chasing his cousins with a toy airplane, Sophia toddling after him with her chubby hands reaching, and Arabella sitting proudly with her graduation sash, her violet eyes gleaming as cameras clicked.
Bella stood a little apart, her hand tucked in Chris's, watching it all. Her heart was so full it ached.
Five years ago, she had been broken. Hunted, slandered, torn from her children, her identity shredded by the Fredericks' schemes. But today... she was whole.
Chris pressed a kiss to her temple, his deep voice breaking through her thoughts. "What's going on in that head of yours?"
Bella smiled faintly, resting her head against his shoulder. "Just thinking... how far we've come."
His arm tightened around her waist. "We made it."
The last three years had been different. Softer.
Chris had been there for everything Bella once thought she would never experience every dizzy spell, every craving, every tender ache of pregnancy. He was there through the sickness, through the swollen feet, through nights he massaged her back while she cried and laughed at once.
When her bump grew, he had insisted on maternity photos Bella glowing in soft gowns, Chris kneeling to kiss her belly while Arabella and Jessy wrapped their arms around her.
When their daughter was born, Chris had held Bella's hand the entire time, whispering encouragement until her screams turned into tears of joy. When he placed their baby girl into her arms, Bella had sobbed her first time holding a child straight from her womb, conscious, alive, present.
They named her Sophia.
Now two years old, Sophia was a mirror of Bella same hair, same eyes, same smile, same mischievous spark but with Chris's bold little attitude.
Arabella, 10 years old and turning 11 soon, was stepping into a new chapter of her life. Her graduation from primary school marked the end of one season, the start of another. She was headed to Year 7, the first year of high school, carrying her mother's beauty and her father's steel.
Jessy, nearly five, had inherited Chris's energy. He darted across the garden barefoot, yelling, "Mummy, catch me!" before collapsing into giggles when Bella scooped him up.
Later, as the sun dipped lower, Bella and Chris sat on the porch swing with Sophia curled between them. Arabella and Jessy played tag on the lawn.
Chris looked at Bella, really looked, the way he had twelve years ago at that gala when he fell in love at first sight. "Do you realize," he murmured, "it's been twelve years since that night?"
Bella smiled, her eyes soft. "And six years since I crashed into your car."
He chuckled, pulling her closer. "Best accident of my life."
Her laughter melted into quiet reflection. "Sometimes I still think about it. The storms we survived. The nights I thought I'd never see tomorrow. But then I look at them..." she nodded toward Arabella, Jessy, and Sophia..."and I realize it was all leading here."
Chris's gaze softened, his voice low and steady. "You were always it for me, Bella. My first love. My only love."
She leaned up and kissed him, slow and deep, her hand sliding into his. Around them, life carried on children playing, family talking, the future unwritten but theirs.
And for the first time in forever, Bella knew they were exactly where they belonged.
No more fear. No more shadows.
Just love.
Always.
Before the evening ended, the photographer called them together. Arabella stood tall in her sash, Jessy grinned with his as always with his teeth, Sophia sat laughing on Bella's hip. Chris slipped his arms around Bella from behind, kissing her cheek as the shutter clicked.
Bella whispered, tears pricking her eyes, "This is everything I ever prayed for."
And the camera caught it not just a picture, but the ending of a storm and the beginning of forever.