42. Epilogue
Epilogue
Liam
T hree Months Later
Walking into my parents’ house for Sunday dinner holding Hannah’s hand feels like I’m living someone else’s life. Everyone is sitting in the living room talking when we arrive, which couldn’t have been a better setup. I pull Hannah behind me, her small hand clasped firmly in mine, as we step into the room, and silence falls upon us.
“Liam?” my mom asks, hesitantly questioning, eyes darting to our joined hands.
“So, we’ve got a little announcement to make,” I say, my mom slapping a hand over her mouth as she gasps. Hope fills her eyes, and I know that she has wanted this for Hannah and me for so long. It’s going to kill me when she finds out the truth.
“Hannah and I have been keeping a secret, and we don’t want to hide it anymore.”
I lift up our hands, turning Hannah’s to show off the thin, ornate, gold wedding band that adorns her left-hand ring finger.
“We got married!”
“Holy shit!”
“What the fuck?”
“What?”
“Oh my god!”
“Wait, are you serious?”
Everyone has something to say, and I watch as Hannah’s eyes get big. I move my hand around her little waist, pulling her flush against me. My thumb rubs aimlessly over the bare skin there and I don’t miss the way goosebumps scatter across her body or the way she shivers in my arms. I lean in to whisper in her ear.
“Smile, wife. We need to sell it, remember?”