Epilogue

 

Six months later...

 

THE MERGER WAS a done deal and Andre had more time to focus on what mattered to him the most. He moved back to Miami with Ava and Andrew – even bought Ava’s mother, Maria, a nice condo there so she could remain close to her only grandchild. She appreciated his gesture.

Andre also made sure Ava kept her doctor appointments. They were able to discuss several alternatives to having a heart transplant with several, top performing doctors – including increasing her medicine and heart valve replacement procedures.

For now, increasing her medicine was the best option. She had moments where she felt weak, but other than that, no immediate health scares. Since she was doing so well, the doctors put off any surgeries for now.

Andre took care of her like he said he would. He even hired a personal chef to prepare her meals, made sure she stayed somewhat active by taking afternoon walks with her and ensured she was talking her medication.

 

 

Today, the family was in Nassau, Bahamas. Andre and Ava returned to the spot where they initially met to get remarried. They wanted a real marriage, one where they could celebrate with their loved ones and take pictures.

Andre stood at the wedding gazebo altar with his family and friends sitting in the audience – his parents, Ava’s mother with Drew, Ava’s friend Clara with her husband Wesley, Todd and Sasha, Scott, Benjamin and a few others.

When Ava came walking down the aisle, wearing a flower pattern laced dress, the small crowd gasped. She was stunning, her makeup done to perfection, her hair in soft curls, being tossed by the breeze. Andre’s bride...

Dinner and dancing followed the ceremony. Andre and Ava slow danced to a couple of songs and when the D.J. played some tasteful hip hop music, it attracted a larger crowd of other vacationers.

Taking a break, Andre left the women on the dance floor and joined the men at the bar.

“Congratulations, bro,” Todd said. “I wish nothing but love and happiness for you, man.”

“Thanks, Todd. I’m glad you and Sasha were able to make it.”

“Oh, no doubt...I missed the first wedding...certainly wasn’t going to miss the second.”

Andre grinned.

Todd glanced over at the women on the floor, dancing and carrying on. “Ava looks stunning.”

“Thanks. She’s come a long way, man.” Andre tossed back the rest of his champagne, eyeing his woman.

“I must say, I think she’s perfect for you.”

A smile decorated Andre’s face. “Yeah. I knew she was the one. It was love at first sight. Now you see why it was so hard for me to get over her.”

“Yeah. I see,” Todd agreed. “Ah man, let me go get Sasha. She’s one sip away from falling over.”

Andre laughed, and while Todd hurried to the floor to grab Sasha, Andre kept his eyes on Ava. She was happy and dancing, twirling in her gown the same way she was twirling on the beach when he’d first laid eyes on her.

“I’m happy for you, son,” his father said, throwing an arm around him while simultaneously taking him out of his trance.

“Thanks pops.”

“Do you realize that Ava’s the only woman you introduced to your Mom and I?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“That’s how I know she’s truly the one for you, and I’ma tell you...I wasn’t the least bit surprised when you called off the wedding to Michelle. In my mind, I knew something wasn’t adding up with that situation, especially when you didn’t even bring her around to meet us.”

“Yeah. Michelle wasn’t right for me. She was all wrong, but now I have my queen,” he said, staring at Ava like he could have her for dessert instead of the thousand-dollar wedding cake that they’d yet to slice. “As a matter of fact, excuse me.” He crossed the floor to her.

Ava looked up, saw him approaching with open arms and smiled, while nuzzling into him.

Andre folded his arms around her. “I love you, Mrs. Rockwell.”

“I love you, Mr. Rockwell.”

While he held her in his arms, he saw his mother dancing with Drew and he smiled. It was heartwarming to have the people he loved all here together in paradise.

“I have a surprise for you,” he whispered in Ava’s ear while they swayed to the music.

“What’s that?”

“Come with me.” He led her away from the party. After a small walk, he said, “Do you remember this place?”

Ava smiled. “Yes. How can I forget? You had a villa here when we met.”

“And guess what?”

She smiled more, squeezing his hand. “What?”

“I reserved the exact same villa for the next two weeks...just me and you.”

Ava screeched with excitement, gave him a tight hug then asked, “Wait...what about Drew?”

“Andrew will be just fine, dear. He has our parents. I just want this for us. We need this time alone. And what better place to spend our honeymoon than the place we met and fell in love...the place where Andrew was conceived.”

“Oh, Andre, you’re so thoughtful.” Ava squeezed him as hard as she could.

He would have her all to himself for two weeks and would show her just how much he loved her. He was still concerned about her health, but life can only be lived one day at a time, and while he knew loving her would present an interesting challenge, more so than a woman who didn’t have her health issues, he also knew that walking away from her was not an option under any circumstances.

 

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