Her bare feet gripped the cold, slate floor. The wind kicked up and whipped her long skirt around her legs as she looked out over the coastal path, towards Reunion Point. It was a place she liked to visit from time to time, taking comfort from the thud of her heart inside her ribcage as she stared out over the untamed, ever-moving sea and behind her, nothing but the slow roll of green fields. She liked to be still there and close her eyes, letting her fingers comb the salty air of this place where her heritage lurked beneath her feet and her own story had taken two twists. A proposal and a goodbye, both of which had shaped her in ways she could never have foreseen.

It might have been six years since she had been abandoned in the vestry, but still the thought of that day could, on occasion, make her wince, causing the breath to stop in her throat and forcing her to swallow the sickening embarrassment that was like a toxic sediment lining her throat and sitting in her gut. And being there on the cliff edge sometimes stirred it up and swirled it in her blood like a fresh disease. And it was for this precise reason that she went there. It was good to remember. It helped her appreciate all she now had and how far she had come. And here she was, back in Port Charles for good. Home. And a happily married woman.

The Reverend Pimm had agreed to their rather unusual demands and had married them in secret – no guests, no flowers, no music, no frock and no disaster. Just a solemn exchange of vows with hands grasped, eyes locked and a shoeless walk on the beach to follow.

Three days it had taken, three days, before Heather noticed the shiny gold band on her daughter’s finger.

‘What in Judas’s name?’ She had grabbed Merrin’s hand and studied the little gold circle.

‘Is this what I think it is?’ she had asked with her hand at her throat.

‘Oh yes, did we not say?’ She beamed. ‘We got married. I am now officially Mrs Alex Morgan!’

‘Oh, Merry! Oh, my Lord!’ Her mum had held her in the longest, warmest hug and they had both cried. She was in no doubt that her mum, like herself, wondered what Ben would have made of the news. Merrin guessed he’d have been happy and would most likely have cracked open a bottle of Bella’s dad’s blackberry wine.