Epilogue
EPILOGUE
W hen Aiden burst through the hospital doors, the waiting room looked much the same, with only June’s dad as an addition.
“He’s here,” Aiden announced, just like George had, three years before. “Kellogg Aiden Lawrence, ten pounds five ounces.”
“Ten pounds,” his mother breathed.
“Knew it,” Denver said, and high fived his father. Denver had been a twelve pound baby, and he’d spent the pregnancy warning June her baby would be huge, like him. Judging by the size of June’s baby bump, they all thought he might be right.
In the interim since Beth’s second baby was born, she’d had a third. Jenna started dating someone, an accountant from the firm where she worked. He was balding, three inches shorter than her, and had a voice that never modulated out of a monotone, but she adored him, and the feeling was mutual. Better still, he had a tempering effect on her. Between him and Denver, Jenna had been subdued the entirety of June’s labor.
Denver openly cried now, swiping his massive paws on his wet cheeks. His dad did the same, sniffling loudly. Aiden had come to love them dearly, even if they’d had to do a bit of wrangling to set boundaries, in the beginning. They’d settled on Saturday nights as the official Kellogg family day. Either June cooked or Aiden grilled and the two men came over. To their credit, they rarely intruded or showed up outside of that day, but that day was sacred. Aiden and June tried never to plan things that might interfere, and if it was something that involved his family, Denver and his dad were always invited. It turned out that their carefree and gentle nature was a welcome balm into Aiden’s uptight, but no less loving, brood. And his goodhearted mom took a lot of pity on them, all on their own and bereft with the loss of their June. Denver wasn’t dating anyone, but it didn’t stop his mother or sisters from trying to set him up. He’s so sweet, they all said. One of these girls has to be the one, at some point.
Aiden stayed out of it. As much as he loved his burly brother-in-law, he had no desire to ever immerse himself in his dating life. Besides, his new nephew was about to be a big, wonderful distraction. Denver adored kids, and the feeling was mutual. Beth’s kids had already claimed him as an honorary uncle, and he ate it up. If possible, he had almost been more excited than Aiden over June’s impending delivery, had already had a fleet of custom onesies, baby hats, and t-shirts with the emblem of Kellogg Builders on it. “Good advertising,” he lied. Really, it was because, like his father, he was overtly generous and a giver of gifts. He couldn’t help himself.
June had finished making their house the perfect cozy oasis, and then turned her attention to the yard. She got her father and brother to build her a deck, pergola, and gazebo last year, inviting Aiden along to “learn.” He did learn, he learned that he was not at all suited for construction, especially after he smashed his thumb with a hammer and got a lecture from his wife about protecting his “doctor hands.”
As for June, she never had another accident after that day she was almost flattened by Denver’s truck. (They never told him about the close call. He was much too sensitive to take it and might never have recovered.) In retrospect Aiden realized June had been unconsciously begging for his acceptance, not his handy fix-it skills. After being in a horribly abusive relationship with a man who magnified all her flaws, real or perceived, she needed to know, down to her core, that Aiden accepted everything about her, even something dangerous or scary that could get him killed. Crazy as it now sounded, he had accepted that about her. He had been willing to die, if it meant he proved to June that he loved her unconditionally. Though, now that the danger had passed, he was very glad it hadn’t come to that. Especially now that he was a father.
After delivering his news to the family, he returned to June, his heart feeling like it beat fully again, now that they were together. It was always thus, with June. He was never truly alive or whole, unless they were together, two missing pieces reunited. If the welcoming smile on her face was any indication, she felt the same.
“Aiden,” she beamed. “They’re about to bring him in. How is the family?”
Aiden chuckled. “Better than the woman who just pushed a ten pound baby out of her body.”
“It was nothing,” she said weakly, a clear lie because she winced every time she shifted.
“Good, let’s do it again right away,” he said.
“Do you have a spare scalpel on you? I need to stab something,” she said.
“So violent, Mrs. Lawrence,” he said, easing closer to kiss her gently.
She latched onto his shirt, holding him in place so she could pause the kiss. “We did it,” she murmured against his lips.
“Pretty sure you did it, Junie,” he whispered, feeling teary all over again. He’d cried, and he hadn’t cared, hadn’t been bothered at all by the fact that he knew every doctor and nurse in the room with them at the time. There was nothing that could take away the bliss of this moment, of his life, really. He had his perfect June, and now they had a perfect son, and nothing could ever be bad again, he was certain.