Epilogue Yvonne
One year later…
“I’m sad you girls didn’t make the playoffs this year, but the silver lining is having more time for wedding planning.”
“You’ve always been a glass half full person, huh Mom?” Toni teased.
I looked up from where I was tying ribbons at the end of the pews in the church where we were getting married later today.
“I appreciated the extra time,” I called to Marta.
Toni rolled her eyes and mouthed, “Suck up!”
I’d gotten really close to Toni’s mother over the last year.
Marta had taken it upon herself to not only bring me into the family, but also to help me get acclimated to my new home.
She dragged me along with her to farmer’s markets and museums and foreign films – all things that Toni and Lars hated – and I’d loved every minute of it.
She kept joking that she was glad to finally have a daughter to hang out with.
I got along great with the rest of Toni’s family too.
It was a strange feeling being around people who loved and accepted you exactly how you were.
To not worry that if someone had a drink or had a bad day there was going to be drama.
I’d gotten addicted to the energetic chaos that was the Lindstrom clan.
When I left home after college I’d purposely lived a solitary life, thinking that’s what I liked best, but the truth was, I loved living with Toni. We had our disagreements and annoyances like any couple, but we were surprisingly compatible. I’d even made some friends here.
Getting a trade to Seattle had turned out to be pretty easy, and I’d gelled with Toni’s team immediately. Even though we missed the playoffs, we had a good team, and we’d come back even stronger next year, I was sure of it.
When we weren’t on the road we hung around Toni’s house, decorating, watching hockey, and having fun together. Plus sex, lots of sex. Even after a year together, we couldn’t get enough.
“You’re not going to change your mind about getting married, are you?” Toni came up and bumped her hip against mine. “Because all these deposits are non-refundable.”
“We’ve been living together for a year now, I’m pretty sure if I was going to change my mind I would have done it by now.”
I paused. “Wait, are you nervous?”
It wasn’t like her to be nervous. Toni was the most confident and easy tempered person I knew – off the ice at least. On the ice she was a beast, and it was nice to be on the same side now, even if she still occasionally got put in the penalty box for fighting.
“Maybe a little nervous.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the vestibule.
“We are going to have a perfect wedding,” I said firmly. “We’re going to have the perfect reception. And after we’d danced our asses off with your family, we’re going to have some fabulous married sex.”
Toni laughed. “You can’t talk about sex in a church.”
“I don’t know about these things, I was raised Russian.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah okay, you use that excuse way too much.”
I felt a pang of sadness that I didn’t have a good enough relationship with my parents to invite them to the wedding, but I knew it was for the best. I’d emailed my mother to tell her the news of my engagement, and I hadn’t even gotten a response.
She probably was afraid my father would find out she was talking to me.
I felt at peace with it though. Toni’s family was my family now, and that was more than I’d ever hoped for.
I stepped closer, pulling her into my arms. “I love you Toni, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life.”
“I love you too, with all my heart.”
We shared a sweet kiss that lasted until we heard someone clearing their throat. It was Lars.
“I’m supposed to get you girls home so you can get ready for the ceremony,” he said. “Marta’s orders.”
Toni was getting ready at her parents’ house with her father and brother while I was getting ready at our condo with Marta. I definitely got the better end of that deal.
I leaned in to give her another quick kiss. “See you soon, wife-to-be.”