The crowd stretches for what seems like miles. There are thousands and thousands of fans, screaming their support, waving signs, wearing homemade T-shirts and glowing LED headbands.

They aren’t just any glowing headbands, though. My heart squeezes as I realize it. They spell out RACHEL.

“Rachel, we love you! We missed you so much!” a fan shouts above the sounds of cheering and stamping feet and clapping hands. I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude that tears fill my eyes. In that moment, my heart is so full, it overflows.

I think back to that day, years ago, back when I was first starting out, when a fan told me that I changed her life and made me cry. I guess some things never change.

And maybe, maybe, some things can be forever.

My fans still make me cry and they’re still the best.

They’ve changed my life.

I blink back my tears and step up to the mic, giving them the smile I know they love. A smile from deep inside my heart. A smile that’s real.

EPILOGUE

“Where do you think this would look good?”

Alex holds up a framed illustration of what looks like two fairies in crowns playing soccer and somehow breathing fire at the same time.

Um, nowhere? I want to answer, but hold my tongue.

“My cousins mailed it to me all the way from Seattle,” Alex says proudly. Ah, that makes more sense. “A Nora and Jeremy original. I bought the frame myself. I still need to authenticate the signatures, though,” he says, pointing to the scrawled names in the corner.

“Oh yes, art fraud is so rampant in elementary school these days,” I say with mock seriousness, and Alex grins. “Definitely belongs on the bookshelf,” I add. “Front and center.”

“Got it.”

It’s early spring and I’m helping Alex move into his new apartment in Seoul. After working remotely in our den for a while and realizing that it is possible for him to do his job from Korea, he decided to officially relocate. Lately, I’ve been busy helping him move and settling into a new routine of my own.