Izan and Mist

Epilogue (Izan): The Same Miracle

Years later...

I watched my two girls, Ciela and Estrella, running after their Uncle Light, screaming happily as he ran away with their ball. My whole family was here, mingling with Mist's family and the other commune residents. Birthdays were always a big deal for both families, and we'd celebrated many over the last ten years. Today we were celebrating my wife's birthday and I couldn't wait to get my birthday girl alone for a naked celebration. She liked those and I lived to serve.

Not too long after the showdown with Yvette, I bought a diamond ring for Mist and proposed to her one night as we were sitting on the cottage's front steps, the full moon high in the sky. Mist had told me a long time ago that she wanted a private proposal, a surprise thrown into the middle of a normal conversation.

So, on this night when she came outside and sat beside me on the steps, she asked me, in Spanish, what I was thinking about. She opened the proverbial door, and I walked through it. I answered her, in Spanish, that I'd been thinking about her, about how much I loved her, about how happy she made me, about how much I'd like to spend the rest of my life with her. Even in the soft light of the moon, her smile was blinding. Pulling the ring from my pocket, I pushed her long curls behind her shoulder and asked her if she'd marry me.

"Your proposal sounds beautiful in Spanish, Izan. I hope me saying yes sounds just as pretty."

"I don't care what language you answer me in as long as the answer's yes," I told her, then slipped the ring on her finger. "But I have to say, your yes is the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life."

Especially since the likelihood of my ever hearing that word from her had been almost nonexistent at one point in our relationship. It was something I'd never take for granted, and this was easily the most important yes I'd ever been given in my life.

Mist was possibly the only woman I knew who wouldn't look at her ring right away; instead, she lifted her face to mine and kissed me, and I pulled her onto my lap and kissed my girl right back, knowing I had everything I ever wanted held in my arms.

Eventually, she did look at her ring and declared it perfect. It was just a one-carat diamond set high on a simple white gold band, but Mist wasn't a woman who wanted big and flashy.

"Do you want to go tell your parents?" I asked her, and she shook her head, smiling at me.

"Tomorrow," she said. "Tonight, let's just hold this close between us. Only we know at this point, so it's our special secret and I want to celebrate it, just the two of us."

Pushing herself off of my lap, she pulled her flowy dress off over her head and stood in front of me completely naked, clothed only in the moonlight.

"Did you know that accepting a marriage proposal during a full moon is considered by many to be the most perfect time to get engaged? There's balance in a full moon. Energy. Harmony. Connection," she told me, waving her hand at the moon. "And passion."

Backing away from me, my earthy girl spun around, arms held up to the moon, laughing.

I stood up and stalked toward her, tearing off my shirt, then kicking off my shoes and jeans until we both were wearing only the soft night air. The first few times Mist had wanted to make love outdoors, she'd had to assure me that we wouldn't be bothered.

"And if anyone did come around, they'd leave quietly once they got even a glimpse of what was going on. What could be more natural and beautiful than two people loving each other outside, surrounded by nature?"

I couldn't argue with that even if I'd wanted to. So tonight, I took my girl to the ground and pushed inside of her when she whispered in my ear, "Don't make me wait, Izan. I want my fiancé inside me right this second."

So I pushed into her, our eyes locked, silently making promises that we'd make out loud in front of witnesses just two months later. I made love to my future wife slowly, savoring the feel of her, the very perfection of the moment, each stroke an I love you, each touch a promise to always handle each other with care. 

We were married on the commune. One of their most lucrative businesses was as a location for wedding receptions. They'd set aside two acres on the west side of their property where they'd built a large, covered pole barn near a small, manmade lake. They'd landscaped the area beautifully, with a variety of flowering perennials and bushes to ensure something was always in bloom for almost all of the months of the year. The pole barn was decorated inside with several huge, sparkly chandeliers and thousands of twinkling lights. There were a number of perfect picture spots on those two acres that were every photographer's dream, and the quaintness made it a popular wedding venue. My family's restaurant had closed for the day of our wedding and we'd provided all of the food for the reception.

For a wedding gift, Mist's parents had given us an acre of land that we would eventually build a three-bedroom home on. 

My family became close with Mist's since we spent every holiday together, and I think that Mist's parents helped heal the bitter void left by the loss of Yvette's family. Ignacio paid back the restaurant the ten thousand Yvette had stolen from the restaurant, and she and her parents had moved out of town after Ignacio and his wife sold their share of the restaurant to my parents. One of my brothers was put in charge of ordering the alcohol for the restaurant and Pilar was put in a position that didn't require any ordering or inventorying responsibilities.

"Do they blame me?" Mist asked me once about my parents losing their oldest friends.

I drew her to me. "Not in the slightest. They're putting the blame right where it belongs -- on Yvette and her parents."

"But I feel like it all happened because of me," she said softly.

"Oh, hell no, Mist. It all happened because Yvette was a jealous, greedy bitch. To try to get my parents to back down, Ignacio told my parents the whole sad story," and here I rolled my eyes, "about their daughter being so upset that she'd lost my attention that she started stealing as a way to get me to spend time with her. This was after she figured out that you weren't going anywhere and I was serious about you, so it was yet another attempt to take my spare time away from you. Yvette was going to offer to work closely with me, tracking down the discrepancies, but as time went on, Yvette realized that she had a pretty sweet sideline going on and got bolder, at which point it became apparent that some shady shit was going on." 

"Yeah, that's a completely normal response to your supposed best friend dating someone," Mist commented.

"No shit, but she's far away and will never bother us again unless she wants to face charges and possible jail time for her felony," I said. 

That was pretty much the last time we spoke of or thought about Yvette. We moved our focus from the past to the present and concentrated on each other and our careers. Eventually, I became the head mechanic at Sullivan Motors, and Mist continued her work as a watercolor artist. She specialized in painting watercolor versions of photographs people sent to her -- pets, babies, families, houses, cars -- and her work was becoming widely known. That allowed Mist to stay at home with our girls once they were born a few years after we were married. We also helped out on the commune, and our girls were surrounded by an extended family who gave them a diverse education that went way beyond what they learned in school. It was a full, busy life and I'd never known such happiness and contentment. Occasionally, I thought about how I almost didn't have this -- but then one of the girls would giggle or Mist would smile at me, and I'd be back in the present with my family.

Every month, when the moon was full, Mist and I would sit on the steps of our home and watch the night sky. Sometimes we'd talk, sometimes we'd just hold hands, but we always used those nights to reaffirm our love for one another.

We said it in English. We said it in Spanish. But no matter the language, I love you translated to the same miracle that always filled our hearts.