Epilogue 1
Darren
Two months since I told Macie we were getting married one day, and I've spent every single one of them planning exactly how I want to ask her properly.
My plan isn’t complicated. I thought about doing something big, renting out a venue or flying her somewhere fancy, but none of that feels like us.
What feels like us is right here, standing on the back porch where we danced in the rain, string lights strung up along the roofline the same as always, storm clouds nowhere in sight tonight, just clear sky and a warm breeze rolling in off the trees.
"You're being weird," Macie says, eyeing me from across the kitchen while I fumble putting dinner plates away, distracted enough that I nearly drop one for the second time tonight.
"I'm not being weird."
"You've reorganized the same cabinet three times in the last hour." She crosses her arms, that knowing look on her face that tells me she's already suspicious, though she's got no idea exactly what's coming. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing. Just tired." I close the cabinet, forcing myself to stop fidgeting. "Mom's got Nicole overnight, right?"
"Yeah, she picked her up right after dinner. Said something about wanting extra grandma time before Nic starts preschool next month." Macie leans against the counter, watching me with that same suspicion still lingering. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm great." I cross the kitchen, pulling her into me, kissing her slow enough that some of the tension in my chest actually eases some. "C'mon, let's go sit outside. It's a nice night."
"Since when do you turn down the couch and TV for the porch?" She laughs, though she follows me anyway, grabbing her wine glass off the counter on the way.
"Since I felt like being outside tonight." I take her free hand, leading her through the back door, and the second we step out, the string lights catch her eye, glowing warm against the dark yard.
"Did you do something with the lights? They seem brighter tonight.
" She glances up, and I follow her gaze, taking in the same lights I've had strung along this porch for years, nothing different about them tonight except maybe how much brighter they feel with everything I'm about to do underneath them.
"Nah, same lights, although everything feels a little brighter tonight.
" I guide her toward the porch railing, out toward the edge where the grass stretches down toward the water, the exact spot where she danced in the rain that first night I told her I didn't want her to leave. "Just wanted you out here with me."
"Okay." She sets her wine glass down on the railing, looking at me a little curiously, though there's no suspicion left now, just warmth, just her looking at me the way she's looked at me every day for months, like I'm something worth looking at that closely.
My heart's pounding hard enough I can feel it in my throat, and I reach into my pocket, fingers closing around the small box I've had hidden away for the last two weeks, waiting for the right moment.
"Macie." I take both her hands in mine, and she must catch something in my voice, because her whole expression shifts, breath catching audibly.
"Darren." Her voice comes out barely above a whisper.
"You remember the night we danced right out there in the rain?
" I nod toward the grass, watching her eyes track the same direction, memory clearly flooding back.
"I told you I didn't want you to leave once things with Gerald were finally settled.
Told you I liked having you in my house, liked what we were building even though we'd barely known each other more than a few weeks at that point. "
"I remember." Her eyes are already glassy, and I haven't even gotten down on one knee yet.
"I meant every word of that, and everything's only gotten more certain since.
Watching you with Nicole, watching the two of you build something real together, watching you take care of her the way a mother would.
" My own voice cracks a little, thinking back on that night, on how close we came to losing something before we'd even really started building it.
"You showed me what it actually looks like to have somebody choose you every single day, not because they have to, but because they want to. "
"Darren, what are you—"
"Let me finish, Mace." I press a kiss to her knuckles, steadying myself before I drop down onto one knee right there on the porch, and I hear her gasp above me, hand flying to her mouth.
"Oh my God."
"I've known for a long time now that you're it for me.
Not just a good thing that happened during a scary situation, not just someone who was there when I needed help, but the actual love of my life, the person I want raising Nicole alongside me, the person I want building every single ordinary day with for the rest of however long I've got.
" I flip the box open, the ring catching the string lights above us, and her whole face crumples, tears spilling over immediately. "Macie, will you marry me?"
"Yes." She doesn't even hesitate, dropping down to her knees right there in front of me, throwing her arms around my neck before I've even gotten the ring out of the box properly. "Yes, of course, yes."
I laugh, relief and joy crashing through me all at once, and I manage to slide the ring onto her finger while she's still got her arms wrapped tight around my neck, both of us kneeling on the porch floor like a couple of fools, laughing and crying at the same time.
"Let me see it." She pulls back finally, holding her hand up to catch the light, and the ring looks even better on her than it did sitting in that box for two weeks, simple but elegant, exactly the kind of thing I pictured on her hand the entire time I was picking it out.
"You like it?"
"I love it." She kisses me hard, hands framing my face, and I pull her closer, both of us still kneeling there on the porch, neither one of us in a hurry to get up. "I love you. So much, Darren."
"I love you too." I press my forehead against hers, everything finally settling into place after months of building toward exactly this moment. "You've made me happier than I ever thought I had a right to be, Mace. You and Nicole both."
"We're gonna be a real family now." Her voice comes out thick, wonder threading through every word. "An actual, official family."
"We already were." I brush her hair back from her face, thumb catching the tears still slipping down her cheeks. "This just makes it official on paper. Doesn't change what we already built."
"No, but it feels like something bigger, doesn't it?
Standing here, ring on my finger, everything ahead of us.
" She glances back out toward the grass where we danced that night, then back at me, smile breaking wide across her face.
"Should we call your mom, tell her the news, or should we let Nicole find out in the morning? "
"Let's keep it just ours tonight." I stand, pulling her up with me, both of us finally leaving the porch floor behind. "Tell everyone tomorrow. Tonight I just want it to be you and me."
"I like that." She wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head against my chest, and we stand there together at the porch railing, looking out over the same stretch of grass where everything between us really started to take root. "Can we dance? No music again, obviously."
"We don't need it." I pull her closer, swaying slow with her right there under the string lights, no rain tonight, just clear sky and warm air and the quiet certainty that everything ahead of us is exactly what it's supposed to be.
"I can't believe we're actually engaged." She laughs against my chest, still a little disbelieving even with the ring sitting as proof on her finger.
"Believe it, future Mrs. Kepler." I press a kiss to the top of her head, holding her tighter against me. "This is just the beginning, Mace. Whatever's coming next, we're building it together."
"Together," she echoes, tipping her face up for one more kiss, and I give it to her slow, and full of passion, exactly the way I plan on kissing her for the rest of our lives.