Epilogue
EPILOGUE
SIX WEEKS LATER
“I ’m going to kill you.” My eyes were on fire as I watched Rex flap his hands like an idiot and scream for help.
He stopped what he was doing, stared into my eyes, then yelled “help” again. Who did he think he was yelling to? It was ridiculous.
“You’re unbelievable.” I left him to run around the suite like a chicken coming home to roost and grabbed my bag from the closet at the front of the room. It was time. My water had broken—thankfully in the kitchen—and my contractions, while sporadic, were increasing in frequency. “Are you ready?”
He looked at me as if I’d grown a second head. “You’re about to push a human being out of your vagina.” He said it as if it should be news to me.
“Maybe you should stay here,” I suggested. “I’ll call you when she’s here and you can come to the hospital then.” I was already running calculations in my head. “I can call a cab.”
That was enough to snap him out of his panicked state. “I’m not missing the birth of Rexanne.” His gaze was accusatory. “What is the matter with you?”
Yeah, Rexanne was still a thing. He refused to let it go. He was going to be disappointed when I made him sign the birth certificate and the name Rexanne wasn’t on the top line. Lately he’d been pushing for the name Lorelai a little bit. I was starting to wonder if Lorelai—or Rory for short—was always his intention.
That would make him diabolical. I didn’t like the name Lorelai either. He wasn’t getting his way on this one.
I rested my hand on my stomach, grimaced when a contraction forced me to lean against the wall, then briefly closed my eyes. “In or out,” I barked as the pain subsided. “Are you going with me to meet your daughter, or are you going to keep running around screaming for boiled water?”
His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “I was not screaming for boiled water.”
“You were screaming for help.”
“Yes, well … I momentarily lost my head.” He straightened. “I’m back to being in control.” He put on a big show as he eased toward me. “Are you ready to welcome our daughter, milady?”
I didn’t want to laugh—it would only encourage him—but I couldn’t help myself. My love for him had only grown in the final weeks of my pregnancy. He knew when to be strong because I was feeling weak. He knew when to be smart because I was having a brain fart. And, most importantly, he knew when to step back and let me take control.
He was everything I’d ever wanted in a partner. He was still an idiot sometimes, though. Thankfully, it was in the best possible way.
I slid my hand into his. “I’m ready.”
“Okay.” His earlier traces of panic had disappeared. He took my bag from me but stopped by the door. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
I watched, brow furrowed, as he raced down the doorway to our bedroom. Technically, he still had his suite down the hall—we needed the space for storage until we decided what we were going to do about a house—but he spent every night in my suite with me. He’d even talked me into the ghost Elvis mobile in the nursery and a godawful velvet Elvis for the wall. At the time, he’d reminded me that we were mixing two lives. That meant we had to be in this together. I fought with him for two weeks, and then in a moment of weakness, gave in. I didn’t regret it, although when I was feeling petulant I lied and said I did.
When he came back, he didn’t look any different than when he’d left.
“What were you doing?” I demanded.
“I just had to grab something.” He looked distracted as he glanced around. “That should be everything.”
“What did you have to grab?”
This time when he looked at me there was nothing but love reflected back. “My courage. I’m about to be a father, Ruby.”
He seemed so happy, part of me didn’t want to burst his bubble. The other part was annoyed. “Yes, and one of us has to do all the work for that to happen. Shouldn’t I be the one who is terrified?”
“Are you?”
We’d talked about this moment endlessly for the past few weeks. Yes, there was some amount of fear. There was more excitement, though. “Let’s just do it, huh? I’m ready.”
“We’re ready,” he corrected before leaning down to give me a soft kiss. “We’ve got this.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not about to squeeze your big-headed baby out of your vagina.”
“Good point.”
I WAS HOPING I WOULD BE ONE OF THOSE crazy ladies who was only in hard labor for an hour before magically getting her baby. Twenty-four hours later, I was close, but I still didn’t have my kid.
“I hate you.” I was a sweaty mess as I gripped my own thighs and prepared to push again. Everything hurt. It felt as if something was trying to rip its way out of me. In a way, that’s exactly what was happening. I tried not to think on it too hard, especially since Rex had expressed his belief that in the most recent ultrasound our daughter looked like the face-hugger from Alien .
That was not an image I needed in my head.
“Okay, Ruby.” Miles was all smiles as he sat between my legs. He’d been smiling since the moment he walked through the room. “Are you ready for your baby?”
“I’ve been ready for more than a day,” I growled. “Get this thing out of me.”
“It’s time.” He gave me a reassuring look before glancing up at Rex. “Are you ready to be a father?”
Rex nodded. “Yeah. It’s time for Rexanne to meet the world.”
I growled my distaste for the name at the same time a contraction ripped through me. The next fifteen minutes were a blur. I hated everybody in the room—especially Rex because he’d gotten me into this situation—and I just wanted to go to sleep.
When the baby finally came in a messy final push, I fell back on the bed. I could hear the baby screaming and knew she was okay, so I allowed my eyes to close. By the time I’d opened them again, Rex had cut the cord—something he declared absolutely disgusting—and the baby had been cleaned up a bit and was being handed to me.
She was big—almost ten pounds—but still tiny. The look she gave me suggested she wasn’t all that thrilled with the past twenty-four hours either. Her expression was all me. She had a full head of dark hair, which came from both Rex and me, but she had her father’s strong chin and big eyes.
“Look at that.” Rex sounded winded. “I’ve never been so tired in my whole life.”
I shot him a dirty look. “Really?” I readjusted the baby and stared into her eyes as she made disgruntled noises. “She’s kind of cute, huh?”
He laughed. “I think she’s beautiful, although she’s a little red.”
“The birth was a trauma for her too,” Miles noted. His smile remained. “Do you guys have a name yet? I know Rexanne isn’t her real name.”
“Lorelai,” Rex said automatically. “We’re going to call her Rory.”
I cast him a dubious look, suspicion cutting through the haze of exhaustion. “I didn’t agree to that.”
He made a face. “You said we would compromise.”
“And we’re going to compromise.” I managed a smug smile, but it took effort. I was starting to think my mother’s idea for a night nurse—just for the first two weeks—wasn’t the worst idea in the world. I was seriously drained. “I was thinking we could call her Chloe.”
“I already told you Chloe is too French.” Now Rex was the annoyed one.
“I like it.” I wasn’t backing down. Not for anything. “Chloe Elizabeth Rexanne Stone Carter.”
Rex’s mouth fell open. “You’re giving her five names?”
I shrugged. “Do you have a problem with that? You got Rexanne. That should make you happy.”
“But…” He trailed off and I waited.
When the silence had stretched for several seconds, I managed a smug smirk. “You got your way. What’s wrong?”
“I’m thinking,” he muttered. “I always had a crush on Lorelai from Gilmore Girls . That was the name I really wanted.”
I’d already figured that out myself. Well, not the Gilmore Girls part. I knew that Lorelai was the name he was really bucking for. “I don’t like that name. I think you should be happy with the name I picked.”
“But…” Rex looked at Miles for backup. All he found was amused awareness staring back. “Fine,” he said finally. He reached into his pocket and came back with a jewelry box that I wasn’t expecting. “I’m still getting my way too, though.”
“What’s that?” I asked, confused. “Is that a push present?” I’d told him that was unnecessary but apparently he hadn’t listened.
“No, your push present is with Zach. He remembered the exact bear you wanted as a teenager. I managed to get it. He’s bringing it as a surprise.”
“The exact Charlie Bear?” I was floored. “How did you get it?”
“I’m a man of many talents.” He opened the jewelry box and showed me a large, three-carat diamond ring. It was a cushion cut and was almost blinding in the light. “This is my gift to myself.”
My mouth was dry, and I gripped the disgruntled baby tighter. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s me asking you marry me, then yes. I had a big speech planned. It would’ve made us both cry. I’m going to save the speech for our first date after … well, after this.” He brushed his hand over Chloe’s head, still marveling.
“I need you to marry me, Ruby,” he said in a raspy voice. “I want an official family.”
“I thought you said that you were going to ask my mother’s permission.” I wasn’t ready for this. Was I? There were too many emotions flying around the room to make a decision about something so permanent.
“I asked her the day I went with her to deal with Chet Haskins. She’s excited for us. She can’t wait to plan the wedding.”
“But…”
“Don’t.” He shook his head somberly. “Don’t tell me it’s too soon. Don’t tell me we’re not ready. Don’t tell me you want me to think. I’ve done nothing but think about this. It’s what I want more than anything … and this time I’m going to get my way.”
He waved the ring in front of my face. “Ruby Stone, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
A strange lump formed in my throat and for the first time in—well, forever—I had zero doubts about what I wanted. It didn’t matter if we weren’t ready. We would figure it out together, like we did everything else.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’ll marry you.”
“Yeah?” He grinned. “Awesome. Can we name the baby Lorelai?”
“No. You got Rexanne. I’m not bending.”
“Fine.” Rex leaned in and gave me a soft kiss. Then he did the same with our daughter. “It’s going to be a good life, Ruby.”
I managed a nod as tears spilled over my cheeks. “No, it’s going to be the best life.”