All That I Really Wanted (English Version)

Epilogo: Finally Home

"Life is all about timing...the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable becomes available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It's all about timing." - Stacey Charter

Hope paced in front of the door, giving it sparing looks as she went by. It was the same thing she had been doing for the past five minutes and if she hadn't been so distracted, she would have realized that someone would notice her doing it.

"You know, you can go in there," said an unfamiliar voice with a hint of laughter.

Her head snapped up to see a woman in uniform and a sympathetic but amused expression on her face. She tried to smile weakly at her, but it quickly escaped her lips as she continued down the hall. Hope knew she must look absolutely terrified because, for once in her life, she was completely unable to hide how she felt. She had dreamed of this moment over and over again, and she feared that now that she was here it would end like all her other dreams, she would wake up without them.

She looked down and caught the silver glint of her wedding ring, the smile coming naturally now. She had married Josie Saltzman. Some days she was still shocked to see the ring on her hand, unable to really believe that the brunette had married her. In the four years since she had put it on her finger, she had only removed it when she shifted on her wolf and even then, she wore it on a chain around her neck.

Josie had told her that she understood if she didn't want to wear one, because it would be less annoying if she had to shift on her wolf suddenly, and that she knew she loved her and only her. But she couldn't take it off. To the tribrid, that ring was a symbol of the promises they had made to each other at their wedding, promises she could remember as clearly as if they had been said yesterday.

"Hope and Josie have written their own vows, which they will now say to each other," declared her Uncle Kol with a smile to the congregation. She turned to the tribrid, nodding. "Hope"

Hope turned to her best man and took the ring from MG. The brunette gave her a firm nod of encouragement, a small smile playing on her lips. Hope returned the gesture and turned to her bride. Her bride. She stopped for a moment and stared at her. She was breathtaking. The simple off-the-shoulder white dress she wore only emphasized her beauty and the second she'd seen her walk down the aisle to her, it had taken everything she had to don't shift on her wolf because the excitement. The tribrid took a deep breath, reaching for her hands. She looked into her eyes and said the vows that she had been practicing for the past two weeks.

"Josie, in a life that has been filled with the unexpected, you were the one surprise that I was completely unprepared for"

Josie laughed and Hope smiled at her, forgetting that there was anyone else there as she got lost in those loving brown eyes.

Her smile softened as she shook her head in amazement.

"You came into my life like a storm, stripping away all my defences and exposing truths that I wasn't sure I could handle. But you made me see that I could and believed you, because being close to you has always made me stronger. I don't know anyone who loves as fiercely and freely as you. You give so much of yourself to those you love and don't even realize how much it means to them to have your support. Especially me, because you're everything to me. You're my best friend, my partner, my epic love and today, you become my wife" She raised her hand and kissed it. "Thank you, Josie, for being my salvation, because I don't know what my life would have been without you. And so, I promise to always be there when you need me, to never leave you behind, to protect you, to love you, to be your wife, always and forever."