Epilogue
One year later
Olive headed down the third aisle of the thrift shop, which looked to be the 1960s collection. Noah was right behind her, Katie and Joe ahead of them both, walking backward, grinning.
“I’m scared,”
Noah whispered in her ear.
Olive laughed. “Big, bad federal agent is scared of Goodwill?”
“No, I love Goodwill. I’m scared of my evil sister—”
“Stop!”
yelled Katie.
Olive stopped short so fast that Noah nearly ran her over.
“You know the rules of the night,”
Joe said, nearly chortling with glee. “You each have to pick something right in front of you from your side of the aisle to wear for the rest of the night, no matter where we end up.”
Easy for him to say. On his turn, he’d ended up with a suit straight out of The Godfather. Katie had gotten a slinky gold-fringed cocktail dress that she couldn’t stop twirling in, and the two of them looked amazing.
With a sigh, Olive started to turn to her side of the aisle, inadvertently knocking her purse off her shoulder to the floor, where the contents spilled out.
Including a rolled-up piece of tissue paper with a blue-and-pink ribbon tied in a bow around it. Heart pounding, she dropped to her knees and scooped it up as fast as she could, kicking herself for the ribbon, which might’ve been too obvious.
But her three dates all looked perplexed.
Noah crouched in front of her. “What’s that?”
Her heart leaped anew and words failed her. So she handed the paper over and he very carefully unrolled it.
“It’s from your medical group, the results of a blood test.”
He looked into her eyes. “Yours.”
“Yes. I—”
“What’s the matter?”
“Well . . .”
She managed a shaky smile. “Okay, this is silly. I didn’t realize it would be so hard to say out loud. I mean, we’ve talked about it, but neither of us were in a hurry, and—”
Katie’s mouth fell open. “Ohmigod! Yes!”
Ignoring his sister, Noah scanned the report, swallowed hard, and looked at Olive. “You’re . . .”
“Yes.”
Taking one of his big, warm hands in hers, she set it low on her belly. “Yes. I’m . . .”
“Pregnant!”
Katie said loud enough for everyone in the store to turn and stare at them. “Sorry!”
She waved them off. “Nothing to see here!”
Noah gave a single head shake, eyes still on Olive as he said, “You’re . . . ?”
She grinned. “Do you think either of us will ever be able to say it?”
With a grin, he surged to his feet, pulled her to hers, and twirled her around in the narrow aisle, all in one smooth motion. Then he gently set her on her feet and put his forehead to hers. “We’re going to be good at this.”
She smiled. “Yes, I think we are.”
“I can’t wait to see you get all chubby,”
Katie said. “Oh! And your boobs will get bigger! That was fun. But don’t think your big, cute news is getting you out of date night.”
She gestured to the clothing on either side of them. “On with it, guys.”
“Not until I get a hug,”
Olive said.
“Okay, but just one,”
Katie said. “And you’re not getting another until you push a baby out of your meow.”
She pulled Olive in, patted her on the back twice, and then pulled back quickly. “There.”
“My meow?”
Olive asked, brows up.
“You’re stalling.”
Katie pointed to them both. “Grab your outfits.”
Noah pulled a Top Gun flight suit—complete with a fake mustache—off the rack. “Hey, this isn’t so bad.”
Olive stared at what was right in front of her. “You’ve got to be kidding me,”
she griped, pulling out a legit pumpkin costume, which consisted of a leotard, tights, and a massive pumpkin to go over all of it, every inch a very bright orange.
Katie clapped her hands in delight. “The good news is that you can wear it for Halloween this year. And trust me, by then, you’ll need the pumpkin part for your huge belly.”
Olive nearly swallowed her tongue. It was real. She was going to have a baby.
Noah’s arm snaked around her waist from behind. “Breathe,”
he said softly, chuckling when she gasped in some air.
“How are you not panicking?”
she demanded.
“No need.”
He swung her around to face him and pulled her in for a big bear hug. “We’ve got this, Oli.”
She fisted her hand in his shirt and stared up into his smiling eyes. “You sure?”
“Very. But I also have a surprise, one that I was saving for just the right moment.”
And he pulled a little velvet box from a pocket.
“And this is the right moment?”
Katie asked. “In the Goodwill store?”
“Ignore her,”
Noah said, laughing when Olive gave him gimme hands for the box, finally taking it for herself, gasping at the beautiful diamond ring nestled inside.
“Yes!”
she cried.
“Wait, he didn’t ask you yet,”
Katie complained. “I wanted to see him grovel and beg you to marry him.”
“Joe?”
Noah said without taking his eyes off Olive.
“Got it.”
And Joe very gently wrapped an arm around Katie’s neck and covered her mouth with his hand.
“I love you,”
Noah said to Olive. “I have since you showed up when we were fourteen years old. I’m going to love you and this baby—”
“Or babies”
came Katie’s voice, muffled from Joe’s hand.
“For the rest of my days,”
Noah said to Olive.
She gave him a watery smile. “I love you too. And my knees are knocking.”
“You should sit down.”
She laughed. “I think I’ve got plenty of time for that in the coming months.”
Noah grinned. “Are you saying our child is going to be a handful?”
“Oh, for sure,”
Katie muttered around Joe’s hand.
“How long have you known?”
Noah asked Olive.
“About a half an hour.”
And she hadn’t known how she felt about it until she’d seen his reaction. “At my next appointment, we can hear the heartbeat.”
“Or two,”
Katie said, still muzzled, not that it was stopping her. “What? Twins happen.”
“Maybe I should sit down,”
Noah said.
And in the end, they both sat down, right there in the aisle, Noah first, Olive in his lap in his arms . . . right where she intended to be, forever.