7 years later

hannah's pov

"hey hey hey," i scolded the small child that was whining at my feet, "i don't think the birthday girl is supposed to whine on her big day."

the little girl just pouted and crossed her arms as she stood there. i just smiled and rolled my eyes wishing that she hadn't inherited her dad's stubbornness. i squatted in front of the little blonde and grabbed both of her hands. 

"ms ellie," i began, using the nickname i always called her, "will you pretty please go play with daddy until your aunt ki and uncle pope get here."

"but i want to play with si-si," ellie pouted.

"sienna will be here soon i promise," i assured her. "don't you want to play with daddy?"

"no," the girl stated, shaking her head side to side.

i suddenly heard a scoff behind me and i stood up to turn around and see where the noise was coming from. i smiled at the man who stood in the doorway, his arms hung on the top edge. he returned my smile before looking down to ellie.

"only two, and you're already too old to play with your dad," jj said as he walked over, "what am i going to do with you els?"

the little girl grinned up at her dad before turning quick on her heal and attempting to run away. jj however, caught her by the waist and lifted her up in the air and over his shoulder. the blonde child squirmed in his arms as she giggled and screamed.

"if your not gonna play with me i suppose i should just go drop you into the bay," jj said as he brought the girl down to rest on his hip.

"jj," i scolded.

"kidding kidding," he put his free arm up in the air to surrender himself. "couldn't do that to the birthday girl now could i?" i watched him look back down at the girl when suddenly the doorbell rang.

"ki! pope!" i squealed as i opened the door, rushing them into an embrace.

"and hi there sienna," i cooed as i smiled at the girl in kiara's arms.

"hi," the little girl said before wiggling out of her mom's arms and escaping her hold. she ran over to where jj had placed ellie down on the floor. the two girls crashed into each other's arms, giggling and squealing.

jj walked over to us and he swung an arm around popes neck, grabbing him in a choke hold and tussling his hair.

"stop it stop it," pope said while trying to swat away jj's hand.

"i've missed you two," the blonde said.

"we were literally here last week," ki rolled her eyes.

"well what took you so long to come back?" jj remarked, earning a shove in the shoulder from me.

"it's the two love birds in haiti that you should be scolding for that," pope muttered.

"speak of the devil..." jj trailed up and i insanely looked over kiara's shoulder and out the door to the the young couple getting out of a car.

"girls," i called, "let's go, aunt sarah and uncle jb are here."

both of the toddler's came tumbling after the adults as we filed out of the house and charged towards the two people now standing in the driveway.

we quickly gathered into a group hug, taking in the happiness of all finally being together again.

"we weren't expecting you guys for another hour!"

"flight got in early," sarah explained, smiling at the group.

"been gone too long you asshole," jj snarled as he grabbed john b's shoulder.

"jj!"
"language!"
"the children!" the three of us girls all scolded jj with overlapping words.

"sorry," he mumbled before coming to stand by my side and sliding an arm around my waist. i looked up at him, smiling, before turning my attention back to the group who had already begun chatting.

"everyone ready to head inside?" i asked, "food should be ready."

they all eagerly nodded there heads following jj and i inside.

"happy birthday ms ellie," sarah and kiara both cooed behind me as they each grabbed one of my daughter's hands and swung her off the ground.

we all piled inside, kiara and sarah helping me get out the food from the kitchen, as the boys strapped the toddler's into their booster seats.

"i'm so lucky to have you all here to celebrate," i sighed, smiling at the guests all seated at the table.

"we wouldn't miss it for the world," john b replied.

"nah let's not make this emotional," jj quickly interjected, "we're here to celebrate!" everyone began to laugh at the table as we all held our glasses up.

oh how lucky i was to have been the new girl all those summer ago.

-

(third person pov)

hannah moved in with her aunt nadine after she made the decision to stay in the outer banks. in this time, she took a gap year and started to apply to colleges in north carolina.

jj worked with heyward, pope's dad, throughout that whole year; as well as, he began his own business of teaching surfing lessons to kid's who were less fortunate in the cut. hannah got a job at a boutique that aunt nadine frequently visited.

hannah attended elizabeth city state university the following fall after she had permantley moved.

with the money they saved during the year, the couple was able to buy an apartment near the campus while hannah attended school.

she received her associates degree when she was 21 and at her graduation celebration jj proposed, after being together for nearly four years. they got married fairly quickly after that and began to plan their future together.

hannah opened up her own boutique in the outer banks and jj took over the business for heyward, who truly was like a father to him. he kept up with organizations of his own that gave kids in need on the cut, a chance to learn to surf, skateboard, and play sports together.

after finding out hannah was pregnant, the pair bought a house on the cut with the money jj inherited from the gold. however her pregnancy, sprung up a lot of self-doubt in jj as he feared he would not be a good father like his dad was.

but soon enough the two had a daughter, ellie kate maybank, and jj couldn't have been a better dad to her.

the couple was frequently visited by kiara and pope who confessed that they were seeing each other, after hiding a relationship the entire summer that hannah had first come to the outer banks. kiara attended east carolina university and pope went to virgina tech where they both earned their bachelors degree before just recently getting married.

the two had a daughter of their own, sienna, who was 9 months younger than ellie.

the two couples got together often; finding a babysitter to watch both of their children together was easy enough and it gave them time to relax and relive memories they had as a group when they were just teens.

with this, came many memories of john b and sarah, who still visited but lived so far away that it was hard for them to come often.

the couple got married first, out of all three pairings, and basically had known what they wanted to do with their future since that summer when hannah moved.

because of their experiences with hannah's dad, and the immense help they gained from him, they knew they wanted to open a non-profit organization to help foster kid's in countries that were less fortunate.

the two lived in the chateau for two years once they had arrived back to the outer banks. they worked out the logistics of their project and used the gold money to start up the program.

with tear-filled goodbyes, the group watched john b and sarah leave for haiti, where they were currently living and doing amazing things. however they planned to visit many countries during their life time, helping as many children as they could.

hannah was continuously amazed at where her impulse decision had gotten her. she could not have been more proud of her friends, and could not be more happy to have married the love of her life, and having the most perfect daughter with him.

it was everything she could have wished for but nothing she could have ever imagined when she was once only just the new girl.

-

authors note:

wow wow wow! i cannot believe that this is truly over. it is so bittersweet to have finished my first book on wattpad because the support has just been incredible from you all, something i could never have dreamed of, and i honestly don't want it to end.

writing this has taught me so much and i am so so excited to continue writing for you all, so expect a new book sometime in the future!

once again, thank you all for coming on this journey with me! much love❤️❤️