Epilogue
Walker
Six Months Later
Iused to think that happiness lie inside of one’s own accomplishments. Each time I checked one off of my list, I waited for something inside of me to change.
Maybe now I’ll feel something… anything.
But to no avail, a darkness continued to live inside of me. Now, as I stand at the counter and wait for my second cup of coffee, I realize happiness is a string of moments in your life.
Like now, as I look over at Jessie sitting next to Eli’s highchair making funny faces at her. Eli smiles brightly like Jessie hung the moon, her four teeth showing just how big she is getting. Eli grabs another piece of her pancake from her tray and shovels it into her mouth.
“Do you like my pancakes?” Jessie asks in a goofy voice. “You’re lucky I still got up early to make those for you after all the crying last night.”
Eli chuckles like she knows exactly what she did to us last night, which just makes Jessie smile and tickle her under her chin.
I know now that this is what it means to be happy. To feel the love surrounding you in such a small, mundane moment, and yet knowing it’s one you’ll never forget.
These passed six months have had it’s challenges. I didn’t want to rush Jessie into anything. I was there to support her in whatever she needed. Through her many nights of tears and anger. Then to the conversations with her parents that followed. Many conversations.
There’s still a deep wound there, one that I’m not sure will ever truly heal. But she knows they love her, even if they have made mistakes along the way.
Losing that unconditional trust in her dad was hard.
She asked me one night what I thought about the fact that he still wants her to call him dad.
I told her she needs to do what she is comfortable with, but that I can tell how much he loves her.
I can see that he looks at her like his own just as much as he does her brother.
It’s all still a work in progress, but everyone is taking steps to heal.
Her parents are going to therapy together.
Her mother has even reached out and apologized for all her years of putting herself first. It’s odd how sometimes what you think will destroy you actually opens doors you thought were locked forever.
As for us. It happened naturally. Nights spent hanging out together. Laughing. Talking. Hanging out with Eli. A stolen kiss in the kitchen one night when she got up for a glass of water.
It progressed from there. Sex in the shower one night after Eli went to bed. Sex on the couch. In the kitchen. On the table. The floor.
Tons and tons of sex. And it’s not just me initiating it. Jessie has quite the appetite when it comes to me, and I’m loving every second of it.
What started as comfort, a way to remind her she wasn’t alone when her world tilted off its axis, gradually turned into more.
Every kiss, every night tangled up together, was her grounding.
I could feel it—the way her breathing steadied under my hands, the way she held on like I was the only solid thing left.
And God, I loved her. I’d known that long before she could even imagine. But love means patience. So I didn’t push. I let her come to me.
At her pace. On her terms.
Slowly, the lines blurred. She stayed over more nights than she didn’t. Her laughter filled the rooms before the sun did. Her shoes lined up next to mine at the door.
One night, she climbed into bed wearing my shirt—hair damp, face soft—and looked at me like she was finally seeing a future instead of a disaster waiting to happen. She finally believed me when I told her she was my everything.
“Walker?” she whispered.
“Yeah, baby?”
Her voice shook, but her eyes remained on mine. “I want this. You. Us. Not just the nights. All of it.”
I swear my heart almost broke from relief. I asked her to move in with me… and the rest is history.
I have the ring. I’ve had it for months. I’m just waiting for the right time. How do I give the perfect woman the perfect proposal? Nothing feels good enough.
I grab my fresh cup and walk back to the table. I bend down and find Jessie’s lips, pressing mine to them. She pulls back and smiles softly at me.
“How are you feeling this morning birthday boy?” she asks.
I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m perfect.”
It’s the truth. What can be better than spending my birthday with my two favorite people?
Her eyebrows turn up. “Really? Even with all the screaming and crying last night?”
That pulls a laugh from me. “Nothing can bother me when I have all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Dido, babe.” She looks over at a smiling Eli. “I’m just glad she doesn’t seem to be in pain right now. Teething sucks.”
“Tell me about it,” I reply as I walk around the table to take a seat. “Colton said her low grade fever is normal for teething. Hopefully the medicine is helping with some of the pain.”
“How annoyed do you think Colton is with our constant questions at ridiculous hours of the night?”
I take a sip of the coffee and lean back in my chair. “He doesn’t mind. I promise. Most of the time he’s awake and on shift at the hospital anyways.”
She drums her fingers on the table and looks off into the distance. I know that look.
“What’s on your mind?” I lean in and tap my finger down on the table eyeing her own restless fingers.
She looks down at her hand and flattens it. “Do you think Colton has been acting weird lately?”
Her words catch me off guard. “What makes you say that?”
It’s not that I disagree, I’m just surprised. I shouldn’t be. Jessie is a very observant and caring person.
“It’s just little things. I’ll catch him staring off into space or clenching his fists when he checks his phone like something made him angry. He doesn’t talk or smile as much.”
“I have noticed. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Her forehead creases. “Welll, have you asked him?”
“Why would I do that? I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.”
She rolls her eyes—something that hasn’t stopped since we’ve started dating.
I kind of love that I still annoy her sometimes.
It’s fun to watch her attitude come out.
She likes to test me, see how far she can push it before I snap.
I always take it out on her in the bedroom—the one place she allows me to dominate.
“Because he’s your friend and you care about him. It’s not always easy telling someone you need help. Maybe he’s waiting for someone to take interest. To show they care enough to ask.”
Huh, I never thought about it like that. I’ve never wanted to intrude if someone wasn’t ready to tell me something. But we can be our own worst enemy at times and hold in our suffering. I did it for a decade until life forced me to confront what I was running away from.
Now, I’m living a life better than I could have even dreamed.
“Alright. Maybe I’ll ask him next time I see him.”
She smiles and nods her head like she’s satisfied with my response.
Jessie
He has no idea what’s in store for him. I’ll never forget when we were sitting at the restaurant telling each other something no one else knew about the other and he told me he forgot his own birthday three years in a row.
My heart broke for him. Everybody deserves to be celebrated on their birthday.
So, today is going to be filled with surprises. Starting right now since I just got Eli down for her nap. I close the door to her bedroom and tiptoe away just to make sure I don’t make any sudden noises that wake her.
I find my man standing in front of the sink washing dishes. His hair is still messy from bed. Chest bare and grey sweatpants hanging low on his waist. He knows how to make the most mundane tasks look like a photoshoot for sexiest man of the year.
I sneak up behind him, wrap my arms through his, and glide my hands along his chest. I drag my lips along his spine. His back stiffens and his head peeks over his shoulder.
He moans. “What’s going on here?”
“Shut off the sink and turn around,” I whisper in my most seductive voice.
Without any questions asked, he obeys. His hands reach for my cheeks but I back away while I shake my head. He squints with confusion at the rejection.
Then I fall to my knees in front of him as I bite my bottom lip in an effort to hide my smirk. “If you kiss me, I’ll get distracted,” I tell him.
His throat bobs as he swallows. “Distracted from what?”
I reach for the waistband of his sweatpants and pull them down until his already hardened cock pops out. “From giving you a little birthday surprise.”
He raises his eyebrows. Before he can respond I wrap my fingers around the base of his cock and lick the tip. He loves when I tease him in the beginning. I swirl my tongue around a couple of times making sure I give him a show.
His face looks almost pained like watching is just as torturous as it is satisfying. I wrap my lips around his tip and suck on it like it’s a sucker, just focusing on his head while moving my hand up and down his shaft.
“Fuck, baby,” he growls, his hands turning white as they clutch the counter. “This is the best damn birthday surprise I’ve ever gotten.”
I smile and move his dick a little higher so I can drag my tongue from his balls all the way up to the top. “Just wait until tonight.”
“What’s tonight?” he asks on a sharp exhale.
“Tonight you get to sink your cock into my ass like you’ve always wanted,” I reply then take his dick as far as it can go until I gag.
“Holy shiiiiit,” he exclaims as his head falls back in ecstasy. “I fucking love my birthday.”
Pride fills my chest. This is exactly what I want. For him to feel special. I’m not even close to being done with the surprises, but I’m glad he is already feeling loved today.
I focus on the current task at hand. Bobbing my head up and down, gagging each time I take him deep. My hand continues to stoke the part of his cock that I can’t fit into my mouth. I can feel his dick twitch which tells me he is about to come.