I woke up the next morning and found Kara in bed next to me. She greeted me with a smile and a kiss. I could definitely get used to this every morning! We got up and raced each other to the bathroom. I admit I did let her win. She rewarded me with another kiss, so I think it was worth it. After we got our business taken care of, we headed downstairs to start breakfast. Mom and Lyndsey slept in a little while longer and came down just as the coffee was brewing. I took orders for omelets and prepared the ingredients. We sat down to eat and discussed the Ice Cream Social and what we needed to bring. Kara's mother Lorenna needed us to come earlier to help set up tables and get the tubs of ice cream and toppings set out. We finished getting dressed and headed on over to the gathering place at the park out on Beach Road. It was the perfect setting for a get together. It was set on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic. Kara explained that Clan ceremonies had taken place on the spot for the last 350 years. I felt like I was blessed to have rediscovered what my ancestors had so long forgotten. I just knew that this gathering was going to be about a lot more than just ice cream.

We got to the park thirty minutes before everyone else was due to arrive. Lorenna and Melissa greeted us like we were family. It was nice to have the extended sisterhood. I met so many wonderful people and they welcomed me with open arms. Lorenna and Melissa told me that I was now their daughter and my mother and sister were a part of their family now as well. Kara and I gave them both hugs and then we began setting up the tables. Thirty minutes later, I felt a tremendous tingling throughout my body as more and more of the clan started arriving. There was POWER here and a lot of it! Kara told me that it was dialed down to a quarter of the strength it normally is at night. All I could think was WOW! If there was this intense tingle going now, it must feel like a powerful electrical storm at night. I think I counted two hundred eighty women and young girls there in one place and none of us felt like strangers. Somehow, I was able to remember everyone else's name and who they were directly related to. Kara explained that each person had a magical I.D that was known only to those with powers. The biggest surprise I think I got while standing there was realizing that Lyndsey's best friend Alyssa McGhee was now her beloved. I was also stunned to find my English teacher, Ms. O'Shannon was also a member of one of the clans. My mother was even conversing with people just like she had known them forever. I guess she has in this reality.

After the ice cream was consumed and the aftermath cleared away, Kara stepped up onto a wooden podium and took my hand in her's. Two silver rings appeared from somewhere and Kara took a knee in front of me. She asked me for my hand in marriage using the Gaelic language. I understood every word and responded with a resounding "YES" in the same tongue and then asked her the same thing The rings were placed on our fingers and we kissed. After our engagement, music and celebration filled the air and we danced for hours under the light of a full moon. The power got amped up and I noticed that there were brilliant colors shooting across the night sky as if a thousand rainbows were on display at once. Lorenna stepped up to the podium and announced that our binding ceremony would take place at the first New Moon next month on the sacred grounds in Ireland. According to Clan custom, Kara and I could stay together until the night before the wedding and we had to arrive at our wedding site from opposite directions, Each of us would wear a white robe with our Clan crest emblazoned across the front. When we lay eyes on each other, we take off our robes and meet in the center of the Circle of Stones and our bond will be sealed with a kiss. Our rings will each bear the names of our soulmate and our necklaces will change to the symbol for fidelity and love. Our souls would be joined for all eternity. Both of us were moved to tears as we listened to the details of our impending wedding. I looked at Kara and I was filled with a love for her that reached to the very depth of my being. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and when I looked into her's, I could even see our future children and I could see a future full of happiness like we have never known. Kara whispered "I love you" and my heart just melted right there.

Our wedding took place on a bluff overlooking the ocean. It was attended by five hundred friends and family from both sides of the pond. If I thought the power on display at our engagement was impressive, I was absolutely awestruck during our wedding. After the ceremony, as the brightly colored sparks shot across the sky, the dolphins and whales were leaping high up over the water and dancing by the light of the moon. There was such joy in the hearts of everyone who witnessed it. My beautiful wife just looked at me with those gorgeous eyes and wonderful smile and I felt like I was the luckiest woman in the world. Mom and Lyndsey had tears in their eyes as they stood there watching us. Lyndsey was due to go through the same ceremony with Alyssa in another month's time, so we were all staying here in Ireland to learn more and perfect our powers. Kara and I found out that if we stayed here to train for six months our powers would be more intense because we were standing where it all began many centuries before. I also found out more about the ancestors and the history of my Clan's beginnings. I consider myself so blessed and so honored to carry it forward. Kara is talking about a family so I guess we will flip a coin about who will get pregnant first. That should be a real eye opening experience! I can't wait!

Epilogue

Kara and I have now been married for five years and it feels like we are still on our Honeymoon. We have each taken a turn at pregnancy and now have two little angels named Shanna and Rhionnan. Kara gave birth to Shanna and I gave birth to Rhionnan two years later. I can honestly say that being a mother is absolutely one of the most rewarding things I have ever experienced. We have already had a preview of the power our two girls have. We came into the nursery one night to tuck the girls in and noticed two teddy bears dancing through the air and two little voices giggling and cooing. Kara and I both believe they will be even more powerful than we are.

Lyndsey and Alyssa have blessed us with two nieces named Grace and Samantha as well. We love spoiling them as much as our own and Lyndsey and Alyssa do the same with ours. Mom is in seventh heaven about being Grandma. Lorenna and Melissa are the same way and our kids definitely get spoiled a lot. We all protest, but they claim Grandma's prerogative, so we just can't win! Sometimes Kara and I will sit out on the front porch in our rocking chairs and think about how we got here to this moment. I look over at her and smile at the memories and the life we have made together and I feel so blessed as I think back to that Summer I found her!