Epilogue
SEVEN MONTHS LATER: OLIVER
G rill smoke curls into the summer sky as I flip another burger, my eyes catching Nora’s from across our new backyard. She’s laughing at something her dad just said, her head thrown back in that carefree way that tightens my chest with a weird cocktail of love and longing.
“Need a hand with those, champ?” her father calls out, his grin genuine beneath his salt-and-pepper mustache.
“Thanks, but I’ve got it under control.” I wave the spatula like a flag of culinary expertise.
Honestly, my burgers are more luck than skill, but today, they’re turning out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.
Nora wanders over, slipping an arm around my waist as she peers at the sizzling patties. “They look perfect.”
“Everything is perfect,” I murmur, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, catching a whiff of her strawberry-scented shampoo — another small detail that’s come to mean home.
As we break apart, I catch her parents exchanging a knowing smile, and something warm settles in my chest. They’ve been nothing but supportive since we told them about the pregnancy, embracing me into their family as if I was always meant to be there.
My parents, too, are also excited about the baby. Especially my dad, cancer-free for a few months now. He feels like a grandkid is his second chance at life, the possibility to “really live it up,” as he puts it.
“Oliver, you’ve outdone yourself with this place.” Nora’s mom gestures towards the house with a wine glass in hand. “It’s wonderful to see you both so settled.”
“Thanks.” I shrug. “But Nora is the one who picked it out.”
The sun dips lower, casting amber light across the lawn, igniting sparks in Nora’s hair and turning her skin golden. This moment, these people, they’re my anchor, reminding me what really matters. The work, the deals, the endless meetings — they’re just background noise compared to this symphony of domestic bliss.
“Hey, don’t hog him,” Nora teases her parents, tugging me by the hand towards the makeshift dance floor we’ve set up near the oak tree.
Music drifts through the evening air, a soft melody that wraps around us as I pull her close. Our feet move in sync over the grass, slow and unhurried. It’s like the world shrinks until it’s just us, here, now, swaying in the quiet comfort of our shared silence.
“Happy?” I whisper into her ear.
“Very,” she breathes out, her voice a thread weaving through my heart, stitching together every fragmented piece of my once solitary existence.
I spin her under the twilight canopy, our joy mingling with the fading day. Her parents laugh over a joke, and fireflies light up the yard.
On and on the evening stretches, somehow lasting forever and yet gone in a perfect moment. I watch Nora’s parents drive off, their car’s taillights flickering like distant fireflies before disappearing altogether. Nora and I stand side by side, hand in hand, in the quiet aftermath of our first big cookout.
“Seems like a success, doesn’t it?” Nora’s voice is soft with contentment, her eyes reflecting the twinkle of the backyard fairy lights we’ve strung up in the trees.
“Absolute perfection,” I agree, squeezing her hand.
The truth is, I’m stoked about more than just the successful social event. There’s an extra pulse of excitement thrumming through me — a plan I’ve been carefully crafting for weeks now.
“Hey, come here.” I lead her to the spot under the oak tree where we danced earlier, my heart kicking against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. “I want this feeling to last forever, you know?”
She smiles that radiant, heart-stopping smile that seems to reach right inside me and flip on every switch.
“Me too.”
I take a deep breath and let go of her hand, only to drop down to one knee. Her gasp is a sweet melody to my ears. From my pocket, I produce the tiny box I’ve been carrying around all day, flipping it open to reveal the ring inside — simple yet elegant, just like her.
“Nora, will you marry me?”
For a moment, Nora’s speechless, and I can almost hear the rapid beat of her heart matching mine. Then, her hands cover her mouth as she whispers, “Yes, Oliver, yes!”
The relief, joy, and love that flood through me are so powerful I feel faint. I rise, slipping the ring onto her finger, and her arms wrap around my neck as I lift her into a spinning hug, both of us laughing like kids who’ve found the key to the candy store.
Then, without warning, her body stiffens in my arms. “Oliver…”
“What’s wrong?” My voice is edged with sudden concern as I set her down gently.
“Uhm, my water just broke.” She looks up at me, wide-eyed and surprisingly calm, given the situation.
“Are you sure?” Stupid question, but my brain needs confirmation, even when reality is already soaking into the hem of her sundress.
“Pretty sure, yeah.” Her brow furrows in concentration. “Oh… wow…”
“What? What is it?” I reach out but don’t touch her, unsure of what to do.
“I think…” She breathes out slowly and intently. “Yeah, that had to have been a contraction. And…”
She closes her eyes. “Here’s another one.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, trying to keep the edge of panic out of my voice. “This is happening fast. We’ve got to stay calm.”
“Right.” She chuckles, though I hear the nervousness there. “You always say you’re good under pressure. Time to prove it.”
“Challenge accepted.” I scoop her into my arms — not the way I planned to carry her across any threshold, but right now, there’s no room for anything but action. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“Wait!” She clutches at my shirt. “The bag, it’s by the door.”
“Got it,” I assure her, half-walking, half-running towards our new home.
This is not at all what I envisioned when I pictured proposing to the woman I love, but then again, life with Nora has always been an exhilarating ride.
“Oliver, we’re going to have a baby.” Her voice is a mix of awe and fear.
“Yeah,” I say, my own emotions a swirling vortex. “We are. And hey, isn’t this the perfect end to the perfect day?”
“Perfectly unpredictable,” she says with a shaky laugh.
“Exactly how I like it.” I kiss her forehead as I burst through the front door, ready for whatever comes next.
My tires screech as I swerve into the emergency drop-off lane at the hospital, hazard lights blinking in a frantic rhythm. I jump out and rush to Nora’s side. She grips my hand, her knuckles white, but it’s me who feels unsteady, like I’m the one whose world is changing with every tick of the clock.
“Come on, love,” I murmur, sliding an arm under her shoulders. Her breath hitches, another contraction seizing hold.
“Oliver,” she gasps. “I’m scared.”
“Hey, I’ve got you,” I say, though the tremor in my voice betrays my own fear. “We’re a team, remember?”
She nods, biting her lip, and we move together towards the sliding doors. Inside, the sterile smell of antiseptic hits me, the sharp tang grounding me back to reality; our baby is coming.
“Help!” I call out more loudly than I intend.
A nurse approaches, her eyes scanning Nora, who groans deep and low.
“Looks like you’re just in time, hon,” she says, her voice a practiced calm that I cling to like a lifeline. “Judging by the noises you’re making.”
Nora gets wheeled away, leaving me to park the car and then pace the hallway like it’s a tightrope. They’ve taken our overnight bag, but my hands still feel empty. I should be in there, holding her hand, telling her she can do this. That we can do this.
“Mr. Wolfe?” I turn to see a different nurse, her eyes kind behind her glasses. “You can come in now.”
The room is a flurry of activity, machines beeping and nurses moving with quiet efficiency. Nora lies there, her brow glistening with perspiration, her grip iron-clad as it finds mine.
“Okay, Nora.” The doctor, a no-nonsense woman, smiles. “When you feel the next contraction, I want you to push.”
“Push?” Nora repeats, her voice laced with disbelief and pain.
“Like you’re pushing for a dream, babe,” I encourage, brushing damp hair from her forehead.
“Like pushing through a tough case in court,” she corrects with a strained smile.
“Exactly.” I grin, my heart swelling with pride.
“Here it comes!” she announces, and then she’s bearing down, face etched with determination and strength.
“Good, Nora, keep going!” the doctor says.
“Come on, Nora, you’re amazing,” I echo, my voice rough with emotion.
“Almost there,” someone says, and suddenly the room is filled with a new sound — a sharp, insistent cry.
“Is that…?” I start, my question trailing off as they place the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen onto Nora’s chest.
“Meet your daughter,” the doctor announces, and both of us are crying now — tears of joy, relief, wonder.
“Hello, Beth,” Nora whispers, and the tiny bundle squirms, already responding to her mother’s voice.
“Beth,” I repeat. The name feels like a promise on my lips.
My fingers touch her soft cap of dark hair, and I’m awed by the fierce love that courses through me. This little life, part Nora, part me.
“Hello, Beth,” I whisper, my voice barely audible over the beat of my racing heart. “Welcome to the world.”
Everything is a blur as Nora and Beth are checked out and cleared. The nurses show Nora how to breastfeed and get them settled in a new room. The whole time I’m in awe, amazed at what just happened.
Sitting next to Nora’s bed, I cradle Beth in my arms, her tiny fingers curled around one of mine. She’s so delicate, so perfect, that I’m afraid to breathe too hard as if the gust from my lungs could whisk her away.
“Oliver,” Nora says softly, her voice still holding traces of exhaustion but filled with a wonder that mirrors my own. “She’s perfect.”
“She is,” I agree, and then something shifts inside me, a seismic change as monumental as the tectonic plates shifting beneath the earth.
It’s a pledge forming, an oath rising from the deepest part of my being. I look up from Beth’s angelic face into Nora’s eyes, sparkling with unshed tears and love so profound it blankets the room like a tangible force.
“Nora.” My voice trembles not from uncertainty but from the weight of what I’m about to promise. “I vow to you, in this moment with our daughter in my arms, that I will love you both until the end of my days. You’ve turned my life into a home, a dream into reality.”
Nora reaches out, her hand finding mine, our fingers intertwining like the roots of an ancient tree. “And I promise you, Oliver, to love you, to support you, and to build a life with you that’s filled with as much joy as I feel right now.”
Her gaze flits down to Beth and then back to me. “Together, we’ll teach her to chase her dreams, just like we did.”
“Even if she wants to be a real estate mogul like her old man?” I tease gently, the corners of my mouth lifting despite the gravity of our declarations.
“Especially then.” Her laughter mingles with the soft coos of our daughter. “But let’s hope she has her mother’s negotiation skills.”
“Deal.” I lean forward, pressing a kiss to Nora’s forehead, then to the top of Beth’s head, which smells like new life, hope, and that sweet, indescribable scent of baby. “We’re a team now, the three of us.”
As I hold them both, the love in my chest blooms and grows, fierce and protective and all-encompassing. My career, my aspirations — they all pale in comparison to the family we’ve created. This is my legacy, far greater than any skyscraper I could erect or deal I could close.
“Welcome to the world, Beth,” I whisper once more, the name feeling even more precious now. “Your mom and I — we’re going to give you everything. Love, laughter, and a lifetime of memories.”
“Promise?” Nora asks, her voice laced with sleepiness and contentment.
“Promise,” I confirm, sealing it with another kiss. “Forever and always.”
The End