Epilogue - Four Months Later
AJ
“Hey, AJ, what are you up to?” Katie stepped through the door of Sam’s office where I was working on my laptop.
“Just catching up on some work while I’m waiting for Sam.”
Katie flashed me a genuine smile. “Things have been going good between you two, eh?”
My cheeks warmed. They really had. There had been a few stumbling blocks when I set up my business, but I was getting enough work to keep me busy. I had put aside a good nest egg from my years at my old job, so I had some wiggle room until things took off.
I had time now. It was so freeing. Calling my parents was a priority, not an afterthought. I spent time going for walks in nature or wandering through bookstores for design inspiration. I had even bought a few old cookbooks from a thrift store so I had more things to show Emma in the kitchen.
I was proud of myself for what I had accomplished, but the best change of all was my relationship with Sam.
We really hadn’t known each other that well when I had shown up at the shop and talked to Katie just before Christmas.
Katie had done what Katie always did. She had gotten excited and encouraged me to surprise Sam on Christmas rather than just text him an apology like I had planned.
I was usually a more practical person than that, but Katie’s golden retriever level of enthusiasm had rubbed off on me, and the next thing I knew, I was elbow deep in cookie dough with my heart pounding.
I had rarely left Sam’s side since then, to the point that the small cactus in my condo’s kitchen had died of thirst. The bad weather that always comes around in the winter gave me an excuse to stay with Sam, and we took full advantage.
Once Katie, Jack, and the kids had left on Boxing Day, Sam and I had shut our phones off and gone to bed.
We spent the next few days eating leftover turkey, talking, laughing, and having really good sex, unhindered by subzero temperatures, gear shifters, or horns.
With finally having closure on my old job, Sam and I fell into a comfortable new routine over the following months. The brats’ regularly spent two nights a week with us. I had even managed to get Oliver away from his video games long enough to read him bedtime stories.
So things were definitely going well. Well enough that we were planning to meet with a realtor next week to put my condo up for sale. Goodbye, Kamloops.
“Everything is awesome,” I told Katie. “I was getting a bit motion sick working in the tow truck at first, but that seems to have passed, so we get to spend a ton of time together.”
“Motion sick, huh?” Katie raised an eyebrow and gave my stomach an exaggerated stare.
I rolled my eyes. Why could a woman never just be nauseated without it meaning something more? “Yes, just motion sick.” Something pricked at the back of my brain. “Although—”
“What?” Katie squirmed in her seat.
“I’ve just been so busy lately.” I squinted in concentration. When was my last period?
“Are you late?” Katie’s big blue eyes were shining.
“I’m always irregular.” I tapped my fingers on the desk.
“When was your last period, AJ?”
“And spotting rather than a full period is totally normal, right?” I asked.
“When?” she persisted.
I pulled up my phone calendar with shaking fingers and scrolled back a month, then another, then another. “Oh, shit.” Blood drained from my face. My heart clenched. “The last time I got it was two weeks before I met Sam.”
Katie’s eyes widened. “Did you guys sleep together the first day you met?”
I bit my lip.
“AJ!” Katie collapsed into a fit of giggles. “Where?”
“In the truck.” I covered my face with my hands.
“Not a lot of room in the truck. How did you manage that?”
“We were very… determined. What does that matter?”
Katie shrugged. “I’m just nosey. You should take a test, though.” She stood to leave just as Sam was walking through the door. “Oh hey, big daddy. How are the roads out there?”
He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Uh fine, I guess. Just rainy.”
“Rainy, huh? Make sure you wear your raincoat then. Better safe than sorry. Of course, I don’t need to tell you that. You’re Safety Sam. You always keep yourself protected.”
My nostrils flared.
Sam was only half listening, sorting through a stack of mail on the desk. “For sure, kid. Stay safe out there.”
Katie nodded. “Maybe I’ll grab a snack before I go. Anyone else hungry? I could heat something up. Maybe put a bun in the oven?”
If looks could kill, Katie would be in flames right now. “We’re fine, thank you,” I ground out.
“Guess I’ll get back on the road then.” She gestured toward the door. She made a motion like she was rubbing a big belly behind Sam’s back before she scooted out the door.
I took a deep breath and tried to put on a neutral face.
Sam bent down to kiss me but stopped to survey my face. “Something wrong?”
I shook my head and kissed him. “No. Everything’s fine, but we need to make a stop on the way home.”
* * *
Sam
You’re going to be a dad. No six words had ever changed my life this much since a beautiful woman said, “I need to get to Vancouver” all those months ago.
AJ fidgeted on the couch next to me. “I know you said that you never thought you would actually have kids, and this is a lot to take in and everything but—”
“What about Axel?” I said.
She blinked. “What about an axel?”
“No, if it is a boy. What about the name Axel, or maybe Diesel? Something super tough, you know?” I relaxed against the back of the couch and turned to look at her.
The corner of her mouth ticked up, and her eyes warmed. “You want to talk about baby names?”
“Well, yeah, names are important. You go by your initials, and I had the nickname spam until I was eighteen.”
She laughed and cuddled under my arm. “Axel is quite a statement name. What if we went with something a little more toned down. How about Elliot?”
I made a face. “Elliot would get beat up.”
She swatted my chest. I still loved her violent side. “Elliot would not get beat up. Elliot is tough.”
“Yeah, tough to beat in a spelling bee.”
She tossed her head back and laughed, and the sound warmed my chest.
I smiled and pulled her closer.
“Okay, let’s talk girl names. I like Jessica.” She turned her head to see my expression.
I kissed her nose. “I knew a girl in high school named Jessica, and she was not exactly the type of girl I want my daughter to turn out to be. I like Rose.”
AJ rolled her eyes. “Rose is in a nursing home, not my uterus, Sam.”
“So, what then? Diesel for a girl or a boy? It is a fun nod to how they were conceived.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. That was still one of the best nights of my life and I thought of it often.
“They do not need to know about how they were conceived! It’s bad enough that Katie knows.”
I frowned. “Wait a second. Why does Katie know?”
AJ shrugged. “Girl talk.”
“Damn it, I knew girl talk was trouble.”
The mood had lightened, and AJ’s anxiety seemed to have lifted, which was exactly what I had wanted. It took two to create that baby, and I didn’t like that AJ felt like the whole situation was on her to figure out. Besides, I was happy. I had no idea how much I wanted this until now.
AJ’s face fell, and she pushed herself up to sitting. “Look, Sam, in five months, Diesel or Axel or Rose or Jessica or Elliot—”
“Not Elliot.”
“Or Elliot, will make an appearance, and everything will change. Are you okay with that?”
I looked into the swimming hazel eyes of the woman I loved and reached out to rest both hands on her stomach. “I can’t wait to be a dad. I never thought I would get the chance, but I guess I was just waiting for you.”
A tear rolled down her cheek and I caught it with my thumb.
“I know it is going to be challenging, exhausting, stressful, overwhelming, and expensive. I also know it is going to be beautiful, exciting, joyful, and so rewarding.”
She settled back against my chest again.
“Katie can take over some of the day-to-day work at the shop so I can spend more time at home once the baby comes.”
“That sounds perfect.” Her voice sounded dreamy.
“Our whole relationship has been a whirlwind; it only makes sense that this is how we would become parents.”
She pushed up and gave me a long, lingering kiss. “I love you, Sam.”
“I love you too, AJ, and I can’t wait for our next adventure.”