Sun-Kissed Secret Baby by Leigh Jenkins

Epilogue

Batali Beach was gorgeous this time of year. By November, the rainy season was trickling to a close, and it was beginning to look as if the storms and hurricanes were ready to pack it in for the year. However, after almost six months of pouring rain, the vegetation was lush, and the miscellany of flowers and plants that lined the beach were in a riot. They almost made the huge clay pots full of cut ginger lilies and bird of paradise blooms, and the swaying baskets full of purple and white orchids, seem redundant.

Sam stood at the edge of the wooden platform in his tuxedo, looking out at the rows of guests seated at their tables. Nervously, he twisted the wedding ring that had sat on his finger for little more than hour. He wasn’t a man who often wore jewelry, but there it was, that fat band of gold, and there it would stay.

At the head table, he could see his wife—wife! Did he ever think he’d use that word?—chatting with his new in-laws. Her father was saying something and she was laughing, and even from here he could see how much she glowed.

It wasn’t just the months of sunshine, the mornings when she’d taken up jogging on the beach, or the fact that she had given into Charlie’s badgering and allowed him to teach her to swim. Allie’s glow came from within: one of fulfilment, optimism, and joy, and it meant everything in the world to Sam to know that he had played a part in putting it there, just as she had done for him.

To be young and in love and to be ready and willing to grow your family, to watch them prosper and shine… that was probably the greatest blessing a man could imagine. There was only one thing missing—one person, actually—that would have made this afternoon perfect.

“Thinking of Stanley?” Charlie arrived soundlessly at his side, wearing a tuxedo that matched his exactly, except for the difference in the color of their cummerbunds, pocket squares, and ties. Sam glanced at him, completely unsurprised. Charlie knew him so well that sometimes it was as if the thoughts of one echoed in the mind of the other. Sam nodded slowly.

Charlie went on. “It’s gonna be a kick-ass party tonight. He’d have been right there, knocking back a shot of rum and waiting for the DJ to get his groove on.” Then he grinned at Sam and added, “But rest assured, my friend; he knows you’re happy. He knows you’ve found what you’ve been looking for.”

“I know.”

The sun was beginning to dip, and already attendants were passing along the edges of the seating area and the wooden dance floor, lighting flaming torches soaked in coconut oil and citronella, which would both enhance the electric lights strung from tent to tent, and help keep the mosquitoes at bay.

The formal part of the afternoon was over: he and the love of his life were now man and wife. Speeches had been made, and to Sam’s mild surprise Charlie Brown had behaved himself as master of ceremonies and kept the dirty jokes to a minimum.

Sam had been too nervous to eat much, but the other guests had enjoyed a menu of Allie’s design. The wedding party was filled with friends and people who loved them, including Sadie and Lauren, whom Sam had had flown in for the occasion.

In the true style of a Caribbean wedding, crowds of villagers were beginning to line the area, eager to celebrate the fact that one of their own had gotten hitched. Uninvited, they’d respectfully kept their distance during the ceremony, but now it was party time. Sam made sure there was plenty for them to drink and nibble on; they were his people, after all. His father’s people.

There was just one more thing to do before the dancing truly began. Sam twisted his body to look behind him, towards a small tent at the side, where Daria was getting ready. Charlie turned, too. “There she is!” Charlie said enthusiastically.

She came running up to him, having changed out of her chief bridesmaid’s dress and into something sparkly, worthy of an onstage performer. “Dad?!” she asked with a trace of anxiety, glancing at her mother, who was still deep in conversation. “Do you think she suspects?”

He ruffled her thick hair, which was poofy and flying loose just as she liked it. “Nah. This is going to shock her pants off.”

Daria scoffed. “She’s not wearing pants, but…,” she gave a devious grin, “she’s gonna be surprised!”

Sam shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it at Charlie, loosened his tie and offered his daughter his arm. “Let’s do this.”

As they stepped onto the stage, the soft background music died. With confidence, Daria walked up to the chrome-plated steel pan standing in the middle of the dance floor and picked up the sticks. Sam had been afraid she’d be nervous, this being her first time performing in public, but she was a born performer. She met his questioning gaze with a confident grin.

For months, the two of them had been practicing in secret, collaborating on an original soca composition specifically for this day. Specifically for Allie.

Now, Allie had stopped talking, and was staring at them, perplexed.

Sam looked out into the audience, which was small compared to the stadiums he had once filled, but everyone here was important to him, and that made all the difference. In two months, plans he had set in motion for another major concert would culminate in a performance before tens of thousands as he returned to soca, but tonight, well, all these people were enough.

Daria spoke. “Mom, Dad and I wanted to do something for you, for your special day. For our special day. We were a family before, I know that, but after today, it feels like nothing will ever get in our way. It’s just going to be you and me and Dad and the sea and the sky and the music… and that’s close enough to perfect for me. Me and Dad? We love you.”

Dipping her head, she picked up her sticks and began playing, tapping out the sweet sound of the pan.

And Sam opened his heart and began to sing.

END