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***

"This has been one hell of a week." He blew out watching the condensation form in the air. His thoughts drifted between Ethan G., Zara's mother, and now this, in a blur. But despite everything that went wrong, everything turned out all right. Aria was well and happy. Zara was free from her mother, the root of her pain. And above all, Zara was free to love him.

He looked up and saw a ray of sunlight piercing through the dense snow clouds. It reminded him that no matter how fierce the storm, the sun always shined above the clouds. He and Zara had finally made it above the clouds. Roman stopped and wrapped his scarf tighter around his face and laughed at the fact that adversity did not defeat them. The fog in his mind lifted. He picked up his pace until it ramped into a sprint. "Let me get home to my lovely wife."

***

And she was waiting for him too. Showered and in nothing but her diamonds and rubies. The smell of bronze toenail paint hung in the balsam candle infused air. Drake had called her and told her that Roman didn't look well and asked him to stop at the park. She figured he'd need a nice distraction when he arrived.

After being apart for almost a week she was sure that he'd welcome the invitation. With the week that they'd had, she didn't want to know what happened between him and Ella. They had a lifetime to deal with that. Obviously, it was major or it wouldn't have taken so long to deal with. At this moment, all Zara wanted was him – every piece of him. She wanted to get lost in their love and forget every damn thing else.

So she sat on their bed reading a book, looking like the beautiful-thick, women in Baroque paintings. Hair down, breasts overflowing, and chunky legs crossed. The jewels sparkled under the candles lit in the room. The front door opened, then shut – she smiled.

Roman laughed before he reached the bedroom door, following the scent of toenail polish and candles. He stood at the door with his arms folded across his chest, cracking up. She's so beautiful. "I would have painted them."

"You can do my fingernails."

"I will do them - after."

Roman stripped at the door, headed for the shower, and returned before she could get to the end of the chapter that she was reading. He pounced on the bed, tumbling a mountain of pillows onto the floor. Except for one. Zara laughed and slid next to him. He pulled her closer, grabbing the pillow. He stuffed it under her rear, placing her core at a perfect tilt for maximized pleasure.

"What's the pillow for?"

Roman grinned. "You'll thank me in the morning."

***

Christmas Morning

Roman and Zara woke up to the heavenly smell of smoked bacon, and some loud person named Ava beating on a pot. She banged like she'd lost her mind. "It's Glory's first Christmas - everybody up! Everybody up and out front!"

"Told you we should have left them in Georgia so that we could get some sleep," teased Roman. He rolled over and looked at the clock it was only 7:00. Roman groaned. He peeled Zara off of him. "You know she's not going to stop hitting that thing until we are front and center."

Zara moaned, slipped out of the bed, went in the bathroom and freshened up, followed by Roman. They grabbed some comfortable clothes, dressed, and then headed out of the bedroom. Trevor dragged down the hall, dressed and stretching. After a big yawn, he said, "If you hit that thing one more time I'll..."

"You'll what?" Ava said, setting the pot down. She tipped up and kissed him. "Ta-Dah!" she said pointing to the baby blanket on the floor. Glory Rose wore a Mrs. Santa suit, with gifts piled high around her. She giggled and kicked on the blanket. Zara and Ava bought every gift under the sun for Glory. This drew a huge laugh from them all.

Ava spun around in a happy circle. "Let's eat first, and then get to ripping paper. This is the best Christmas ever!!!"

The End

Epilog

18 Months Later

"How do you feel about this being your last mission," Roman said, as he and Trevor swam out to the reef.

"Now, I know why Ava didn't tell me when she had Glory. Once I saw Jace born, I knew that I had to come home. So I'll be working with paramedics for a while. I plan to set up a practice later, once the kids get a little older."

The best friends were enjoying a relaxing day on the exquisite Railay Beach in Thailand. It's one of the most beautiful white-sand beaches in the world. Cerulean blue skies and clear turquoise waters stretched for miles. Surrounded by nature's mountainous wonders.

This was the last place of Trevor's medical missionary assignments. Ava, Zara, Roman, and the kids had flown down over two weeks ago to help Trevor get packed up for his move back to the states. It had been quite a daunting task with a new baby, and a young child in the mix, plus Glory. Jace was eight months old, and an active little boy. He sat on Ava's lap, while Glory played peek -a -boo with him. The baby laughed a good long while, making Glory play with him more.

That morning the guys had caught fish and cleaned them. They took the fish over to the ladies and went back out to the surf for a swim. Zara started a fire over and open pit and grilled the fish while Ava made a salad from ingredients that she brought in a cooler. She was close enough to watch the kids. A smile lit her face seeing them have fun.

"So what did the doctor say?"

"Nothing has changed for better or for worse."

Ava diced cucumber and tomato over the bed of lettuce. She didn't want to bring the subject up on such a nice day, but this was the first time she'd had Zara alone. This was not something that she wanted to bring up in front of Roman. Matter of fact she would not have mentioned it at all had she not been in the room when Dr. Meadows called. "How are you feeling about things?"

She was stunned when Zara smiled. They'd had the same conversation several times in the last year and a half and it always ended with Zara feeling a little low.

"I'm feeling great, Ava. I really am. After Dr. Meadows called the other day I hoped as always for better news. When I didn't get it I went and prayed. I asked God to help me to accept that I may never have a child. Then I thanked him with all my heart for what he did give me." She took the last piece of fish off the grill and put it on a plate. Then she walked over to Ava and sat across from her. "Something changed that day. Because I'd never asked God to help me accept it. All these months I had prayed that it would happen. But when I accepted it, I had such a peace."

"That's wonderful, Zara. I'm so glad."

"We're not giving up, but it's taken all the pressure off. Besides it's kind of nice never having to take birth control."

Ava laughed, stretching over squeezed Zara's hand. "You're right, you do have something to very thankful for and you're doing quite well."

An hour later Roman and Trevor walked across a long stretch of the beach to where the ladies had set up lunch. Roman's heart exploded with joy as he approached Zara and saw his daughter. The little girl ran up to him and clung to his leg. Roman leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. She adjusted well to the adoption.

Roman and Zara had Aria's name legally revised. They added a third name. She was born Aria Nicole Summers. Now her name was Aria Adira Nicole Gray. Zara picked the name because it meant strong and powerful in Hebrew. She was determined that the child would never suffer what she went through. Zara taught her that every time that someone called her Adira it meant that she was strong and powerful.

"Hi, pretty girl."

There was so much of Calista in the child. But it wasn't always visible. It would just sparkle out at you. It would be in the way her eyes twinkled, or a tilt of her head or a mannerism that they'd come to love. Their home was so complete with her being there.

"Hi, daddy."

He then walked over and kissed Zara. "Hi sexy," he said, admiring her royal gold and blue bathing suit. She smiled up at him and pulled him down for a kiss.

To My Beloved Readers:

Thank you for hanging in there with me for this story.  If you read both versions of Treasure while I had both posted then double thank you to you!!!