Chapter 34 - Epilogue

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***** Epilogue *****

After getting married, Berkley and Dean both went to work for their Dads' fishing boat company and eventually, so did Berkley's brother Keagan and his wife Hallie. It became a family business and over the years, it turned into a huge thriving company that supplied fishing boats and fish products to most of the east coast.

Berkley and Dean bought a big house in Boston right on the beach, close to their families. It had its own boat dock, so they had easy access to take their sailboats out on the ocean whenever they wanted.

They ended up having four children, three little boys and a little girl. All four of them looked just like Dean; gorgeous with dark hair, dark blue eyes, and smooth, clear skin that tanned easily in the summer. Berkley wasn't even upset that their kids didn't look like her, because seeing those little miniature versions of Dean made her heart melt and she fell in love with him even more.

And seeing what a good Dad he was made him even more attractive. Even though she hadn't seen Dean around kids very much growing up, she had always known he was going to be a good Dad one day because he had always been so good at taking care of her.

He played sports with their kids, taught them how to fish, helped them with their homework and read them stories at bedtime. He also taught them to love sailing as much as her and Dean had growing up, and she taught them to have a healthy fear and respect for the ocean, something she wished she would've had sooner.

Their sons looked and acted a lot like Dean had at their age. They were confident, athletic, independent, curious, smart and didn't seem to be afraid of anything. They were also caring and very protective of their little sister, always watching out for her, just like Keagan and Dean had been with Berkley growing up.

Berkley had fully expected their daughter Wyatt to be a tomboy, since she had three older brothers that she looked up to, but she actually ended up being the exact opposite. She loved anything that had to do with pink, glitter and princesses and her favorite books were Fancy Nancy.

When she got older, she wanted to do ballet and cheer and was obsessed with fashion. Berkley couldn't help but smile when she thought about how much her Mom would've loved that. She was probably watching down, having a good laugh about Berkley having a daughter like that.

After graduating from Boston University, Ember had decided she didn't want to move back home to Georgia and decided instead to buy a house in Boston. She ended up becoming a real estate agent and she ate lunch with Berkley a couple times a week and sometimes dragged her out of the house on the weekends for a girl's night out.

She never did settle down and get married or have kids. She got engaged a couple times, but in the end, she decided she enjoyed the single life too much. Berkley and Dean's kids called her Aunt Ember and she made her their Godmother since she loved them as if they were her own. Plus, she was the reason why they existed in the first place, since she was the catalyst for her and Dean finally getting together.

She always wondered what would have happened with her and Dean if Ember hadn't intervened. Would they have married other people and never realized their feelings for each other? She was really glad she'd never have to find out.

After breaking off one of her engagements, while she was still single, Ember decided to get revenge on Zander and Berkley fully supported that. Ember was exactly Zander's type; tall, beautiful and in great shape, and when she came onto him, he jumped at the chance. After they went out a few times, she strung him along, making him think she was really falling in love. She would seduce him, get him turned on, and then come up with an excuse to leave, leaving him frustrated and unsatisfied.

She had a lot of fun toying with him and stringing him along. She didn't feel bad because he deserved it. He had fun showing her off to all of his Coast Guard friends, and bragging about how hot she was to anyone that would listen. He even lied and told his friends that they had slept together, just like he had done with Berkley. That made her angry, so Ember spread a rumor among his Coast Guard friends that he had a micropenis and suffered from erectile dysfunction.

When he found out, he told everyone it wasn't true and that they hadn't even slept together, but nobody believed him. After that, the guys would put up a pinky and laugh at him as he walked by. That made him stop bragging to the guys about the women he slept with and he started keeping to himself.

Zander never did marry or have any children. He always liked to joke around that he was married to his work, and he was pretty damn good at it. He ended up becoming the highest decorated member of the Eastern Coast Guard for how many lives he saved.

He continued to hit on and sleep with any of the young, beautiful women he rescued that were into him, but he stopped bragging about it to the guys in his Coast Guard unit afterwards. He also stopped lying and leading them on just to sleep with them. Apparently he had learned his lesson.

Berkley and Dean had thought about confronting him for lying about sleeping with Berkley just to keep them apart, but in the end, they decided to just let it go and move on with their life. Berkley did run into him now and then around town, and she would always give a polite wave, but then keep on walking. She appreciated the fact that he saved her life, but that didn't mean he deserved to be a part of it.

She was thankful that she had run into him again that day in the diner because it had helped her come to terms with what happened to her Mom, but she was finally ready to move on. To help Berkley and the rest of her family have closure, her psychologist suggested they hold a memorial service for her Mom. Her Mom's closest friends and family took a boat out to the exact coordinates where their ship had sank and they each told their favorite memory of her before throwing a white lily into the ocean.

It was really hard saying goodbye and letting go of the hope she had held on to that her Mom might have survived somehow, but after the service was over, she did feel slightly better. Having that closure made it feel like a weight was lifted off of her heart and mind and she was eventually able to stop having night terrors altogether.

Her psychiatrist, Dr. Price, also suggested that she join a grief and loss support group. That ended up being a really good thing for her. Hearing the horrible things others had gone through made her feel less alone. She also shared with them what had happened to her and how she was able to pick up the pieces and keep going, and many people in the group felt inspired by her strength. She found that helping other people work through their trauma somehow helped her deal with her own.

She never healed completely from what happened or forgot about it. It was something she knew she would always carry with her, but it no longer consumed her thoughts day and night. Now she only thought about it every once in a while, when something sparked a memory of her Mom. That day on the boat no longer gave her night terrors and panic attacks. She was able to move on and have a happy life with Dean and their kids, and that's exactly what she did.

Her and Dean made it an annual tradition to return to the beach house over Labor Day Weekend, just the two of them, so they could re-enact their weekend in the Hamptons when they slept together for the first time. Eventually they made enough money that Dean was able to buy the beach house from his Aunt and surprise Berkley with it for their 10th wedding anniversary. That ended up being where their family spent their summers and it became their kids' favorite place in the world, just like it had been for them growing up.

In the end her and Dean had a strong, solid marriage and they kept to their promise to always stay best friends no matter what happened. Even after so many years passed he still gave her butterflies in her stomach every time they kissed and they constantly said how much they loved each other. They also never lost that fire and no matter how busy they both got they still found time to make love almost every day, sometimes more than once. Like he said, he never could get enough of her.

***** THE END *****

Thank you so much for following Berkley and Dean on this journey and I truly hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment down below and let me know what you thought of it and please remember to vote! Thank you!


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