Eikko and Me- A Selection Story

Epilogue

~3 Years Later~

It has been a crazy few years. Kerttu has been getting so big! It feels like I just gave birth to her yesterday! Silvia has been teaching her, and she is super smart. She already knows the alphabet and numbers up to twenty! Kerttu is bilingual, and she can speak both English and Finnish. She is always running around the palace in poofy pink princess dresses. It super cute except when I am the one chasing her. It is not fun to run in heels! Kerttu can be very stubborn. I think she gets it from my mom. She has that fiery personality in her.

Today is a special day for Kerttu. My beautiful princess is turning three years old. She is having a surprise birthday party in the gardens. The gardens are her favorite place in the palace. I sometimes find her outside with Mom and Dad. I know they love the gardens as well. I am heading downstairs to make sure everything is set up. Kerttu is taking a nap, and Eikko is setting everything up. Henri made the cake and it is strawberry flavored. My whole family seems to love strawberries. The party theme is strawberries, which I think is adorable. It is Kerttu's favorite snack. It was also her first word. I thought it would be a harder word to learn because of its many syllables, but not to Kerttu.

When I get down to the gardens, I see it is all set up. One of the things I love about Kertuu is her carefree energy. I had an idea of something that she would love, and that was the only thing missing. Her birthday present.

I walk up to Eikko, and grab is hand. He jumps, not noticing me, and then laughs. I laugh as well. He wraps his arm around my back as we look around the party space. I notice Mom and Dad are sitting on their favorite bench. I don't know why it is that bench in particular, but it means something to them. It is so special that Dad had it engraved with their names. I leaned up, so my mouth was by Eikko's ear.

"Do you want to come and help me get Kerttu's present ready?" He looked down at me and nodded. He grabbed my hand, and we went to get our princess's gift ready for her big day.

~ Time Skip~

Kerttu just got up, and Eikko and I got her dressed in a new dress. It is a light pink dress with white polka dots on it. She has adorable little white sandals and pigtails with ribbons in her hair. She looks adorable. Her party is going to be broadcasted for the whole world to see. As soon as she is ready, we start to head downstairs. There are two little white balloons by the doorway to the garden. I pick Kerttu up and balance her on my hip. She is starting to get too heavy to hold. My other hand is holding Eikko's hand. I look at him, and he winks at me. Kerttu gasps as she sees her family and friends there.

I look at my little three year old. She tells me that she wants to be put down, so I do that, and she runs around to say hello to everybody. Eikko and I look at each other and just laugh at her little antics. She is growing up so much. I look around the space, and so many memories come flooding back to me.

I always thought I did not want to have a selection an have a happily ever after, but I don't. I have my amazing husband and daughter here today, along with all of my family and friends. But I know that this is not the end to my happily ever after. After all, it is not happily ever after.

It is so much more than that.

A/N

I did it. I finished my first ever book. Wow. I have so many people to thank right now. I want to start by thanking all of my family and friends for supporting me. I also want to thank all of YOU! My readers are the people that make me want to continue and improve. Thank you so much for all of your incredible support. I am dedicating this part to one of my biggest supporters on this app, and my new close friend, @cuwakw8658 Thank you so much for supporting me. I love you all more than you know! Thank you for everything!

-Kenzie