The baby in my belly does a somersault, and I laugh as I step out onto the water, my feet never sinking to the sand. Instead, I walk over the waves as Marshall links his arm to mine.
“Gentlemen,” he calls out to Logan and Gage. “I’m afraid your presence is required.”
A laugh of delight evicts from me.
“It’s happening,” I whisper to myself.
Logan and Gage stride this way, looking every bit the handsome men they’ve grown to be. The kings of our people, the kings of my heart. Together, we make our way to my mother, where she and the three with her stand in all of their celestial brilliance. My father steps out from their shadow, and by his side is my sweet daughter, Sage, looking every bit as feisty as she can be.
My mother nods as she points upwards, and the lake water rises to form a staircase that leads to that throne room in the sky.
Marshall, Logan, Gage, and I don’t hesitate. We walk up those watery steps until we hit a platform made from a single sheet of sapphire.
The Son, our Savior, stands and appears before us, his clothes white as lightning, his eyes filled with the epitome of love. He holds three crowns, golden and splendid.
He hands them to Marshall who places one on each of us.
“Well done, my good and faithful servants.” The Son cradles my face in His hands, and every good and calming sensation ever known pulses through me as He heals my every disease and forgives my every sin. “Take your rightful place as the leader of your people, as their precious queen. It is on this day, Celestra is given official victory over Countenance, and over the Barricade as well.”
Logan, Gage, and I fall to our knees and we cryholy, holy holybefore leaving our crowns at the feet of Jesus.
Then as quickly as it happened, the three of us are back on the lake. Music strums through the air as a heavenly choir—more like a heavenly band—starts up with gorgeous music that rivals anything we’ve experienced on Earth.
Candace rises into the sky about six feet until all eyes are looking her way.
“I do believe I interrupted a wedding feast,” she trills as if it were the happiest day in existence, or at least one of them. “Carry on!” She lifts her hand, and that three-tiered cake of Mia’s appears. And soon, my sisters, Mia, and Melissa bounce their way over to it and by their sides are Rev and Gabe.
I glance around at all of the familiar faces that are suddenly caught up in the revelry until I see her.
“Laken,” I shout, and both she and Wes step out onto the water as they speed our way. “Mother?” I look back into her glowing blue eyes as she touches down next to me. “I don’t need to tell you what happens next, do I?”
She laughs once again, and I don’t think I can ever get enough of the magic she exudes when doing so.
Her expression sobers. “Wes and Laken. I present to you the honorable Cooper Flanders.”
In a flash, Cooper blinks to life before us, fully formed, solid and every bit his glorious former self.
Laken and Wes dive over him, and it’s tears of joy just as vicious as those of sorrow they shed just over a month ago.
Mom comes up from behind, wiping tears from her face while witnessing the scene. We’ve all felt Laken’s grief so deeply.
“Mom, please gather Laken and Wesley’s children,” I ask her. “I think they should see Cooper, too.”
She nods as she looks past me. “Thank you, Candace. And thank you for everything you’ve done for my daughters.” She sniffs before she takes off, and my mouth falls open because her words both warmed and floored me.
Candace gives a playful scoff. “Did that woman just claim you as her own?” She wraps an arm around my shoulders. “But then, we’ve known that all along, haven’t we?” Her eyes narrow over my own. “Come now. I believe you want to have a word with me.”
I nod. “I have a few words I’d like to share with Demetri, too.”
She leads the way as Marshall, Logan, Gage, and I follow her out past the revelry on the shoreline, past the Falls with their roaring cheers, and into the Elysian Field with its sparkling green lawns. I can feel life pulsing through me like a charge of adrenaline, the living water from the Holy Spirit coursing through my veins.
“Show yourself,” Marshall shouts to the woods in the distance and out of the shadows comes a man in a dark suit, dark hair, smiling eyes that openly laugh at you—Demetri.
“Let me have at him.” Gage shifts by my side, and Logan pulls him back.
“Let’s give Skyla the limelight for a while,” Logan growls at Demetri as he closes in on us. “Then we’ll take him, together.”
Gage holds out his fist and Logan bumps it with his.
