Epilogue
Seven months later
“D addy! Nommy! I’m here!”
Aiva stepped out of the kitchen, where she was unpacking a box of dishes, and found Yasmine and Mia standing in the foyer. She’d been unpacking boxes all afternoon and lost track of time if Yasmine was already home from school.
“It looks so different with all the furniture,” Yasmine stated, walking into the living room.
When Knox had asked her to move in with him all those months ago, Aiva wanted them to start fresh in a place that was both of theirs. She didn’t want either of them moving into the other’s space and still feeling like a visitor. They’d gone house hunting and finally found one that Aiva and Yasmine both fell in love with. Both had kept their respective places as rentals instead of selling them.
This was the first time Yasmine had seen it furnished. She’d stayed with Mia for the past few days while they moved everything. None of them thought it would be a good idea for her to be present while they did, since they were doing so in the middle of the week. They didn’t want to disrupt her schedule when she needed to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for school each morning.
“I see you went with earth tones in the living room,” Mia stated. “It’s nice. Better than that black leather set Knox wanted to go with.”
Aiva laughed because she agreed it wasn’t the right set for the living room, but they’d still gotten it for the basement. Since Knox’s condo would be a short-term rental, they’d left most of the furniture there, taking only his personal things and sentimental pieces. Of which there weren’t a lot. They’d asked Yasmine if she wanted to move her bedroom furniture, but she’d asked if she could pick out a new one.
Aiva brought the bedroom furniture from her house to fill two of the four guest bedrooms, allowed her sisters to take some items, and donated the rest. They furnished the remainder of the house from scratch. It had only taken a day for them to move their belongings and another two to get everything that was delivered put together and where they wanted it to go.
Knox thought it would be easier for them to hire someone to do it, but Aiva helpfully pointed out that he had three friends and she had a starting line of siblings that could assist them. All of which did help except for the younger four since they had school.
“Nommy, can I see my room?”
It hadn’t taken long for Nomo to morph into Nommy. A month, maybe two tops, and Aiva could be honest and say she’d shed a tear when it had because it was so casual. As if the child hadn’t even thought about it as she’d asked Aiva to pass her some syrup one morning at breakfast.
“Sure, sweetie.”
She and Mia followed Yasmine up the stairs and to the room she’d chosen when they’d toured the house a couple of months ago. The little girl squealed excitedly when she pushed the door open, hugging Aiva tightly before skipping around the room and taking everything in.
She’d told them exactly how she wanted her room decorated and picked out everything herself. All Aiva had done was arrange the furniture in a way that made the most sense.
“It’s perfect,” Yasmine said, going to the bookshelves in a little nook. There was one on both sides of an overstuffed children’s recliner. She had enough books to fill one shelf, but they’d split them between the two so one wouldn’t be empty. “I can sleep here tonight, right?”
Aiva nodded. “Your dad needs to change the showerhead in your bathroom later, but everything is all set.”
“Where is Knox?” Mia asked.
“He’s in the basement. He was setting things up when I left him a couple of hours ago. Wolfe and Coen were here earlier, helping him assemble and arrange some of the game tables, so he’s been down there almost all day. I should probably check on him. Oh, and they’ll come by this weekend to pick up the piano.”
“Sunday, right?” Mia asked, and Aiva nodded. She’d held off on selling the house until she found something else she wanted, and hadn’t yet.
Yasmine stayed in her room while she and Mia went to the basement. Knox was behind the bar when they got down there, putting away the liquor bottles.
“Bartender, a whiskey neat, and make it snappy,” Mia ordered, sitting on a stool.
“One, I don’t pay you to try to boss me around, and two, you don’t like whiskey.”
“You don’t pay me at all, and even if you did, I’d still try to boss you around for free,” Mia replied.
“Key word, try,” Knox countered.
Aiva shook her head at their bantering. Slowly, but surely, their relationships had changed. She and Mia occasionally had lunch together, and the three co-parented efficiently. Though she tried to leave any big decisions regarding Yasmine to the two of them.
“Oh,” Aiva started, going around the bar to help Knox. “How was your date last weekend?”
“Better than last month’s by leaps and bounds,” Mia responded.
“Which means it still could have been bad since that one was planned in the pits of hell,” Knox replied, taking two of the bottles Aiva handed him.
“No, it wasn’t bad. I’m not sure if the chemistry is there, but we’re going to some interpretive dance thing Friday night, and I’ll see how it feels then.”
“Maybe it’ll surprise you,” Aiva offered.
“If it doesn’t then I’ll be here first thing Saturday morning so you two can help me wallow in my sorrow,” Mia joked.
“You need to get some friends,” Knox responded, stacking some empty boxes.
“Hey, it was your girlfriend who told me if the friends I had enjoyed seeing me feel bad, I needed new ones. I took her advice on it.”
Knox turned his attention to Aiva and gripped her chin, leaning down. “So, it’s your fault she hangs around so much.” He gave her a soft kiss.
“Eh, maybe a little.”
To say Mia hung around a lot would be unfair because she didn’t. They saw her when she picked up and dropped off Yasmine every other weekend and maybe twice a week when she didn’t have her. Two of those times were at a bi-weekly dinner that Aiva suggested several months back. However, she knew it was likely more than Knox originally thought he would see her voluntarily.
“Alright, I’m going to go. I expect an invitation when you have your housewarming.”
“We won’t send you one,” Knox responded.
“I’ll crash it,” Mia replied, going up the steps, and Aiva laughed.
“I’m glad you find it funny.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You know you’d rather banter like old friends with her than deal with the hostility from before,” she pointed out, wrapping her arms around his neck.
His response was to kiss her, and Aiva knew she was right. Even if she and Mia weren’t on better terms, she would feel they owed her in a way. If it hadn’t been for her, the two wouldn’t have met, and Aiva wouldn’t be with a man she loved so deeply. One she was getting to start a new chapter with. While she was not opposed to dating, she hadn’t actively been looking for it when he’d walked into her office. They’d been at the right place at the right time. Maybe they would have been drawn together, regardless. Who knew? All that mattered to Aiva was that she was happy and couldn’t wait to see what life with him would bring.
K nox sat across from Aiva on the same rooftop, in the same converted greenhouse he’d brought her to on their first date. This was where their relationship had officially begun, where something in him knew that he’d never let the woman before him go. It made sense that they were here. It felt like coming full circle.
They’d finished dinner and were having strawberry soufflé for dessert. The fragrance of the large bouquet of roses sitting next to them melded with the scent of strawberries as the wind blew softly.
Admittedly, Knox was doing more staring than he was eating, but he often found himself staring at his beautiful girlfriend. Her white, mid-thigh dress made her look like a goddess that walked among mortals for the evening, and this wasn’t the first time he’d thought so. He remembered the thought running through his mind the first time he’d brought her there.
“You’re staring,” she stated, those brown eyes coming to meet his.
“I am. It’s hard not to when you look so stunning.”
“Then you must stare often,” she teased.
“All the time.”
She gave him that beautiful smile before taking another bite of her soufflé. When they finished dessert, Knox sat back in his seat for a moment before standing and offering her his hand.
“Dance with me,” he requested.
He helped her up and pulled her against his chest as they stepped away from the table. They swayed, the sounds of the night acting as their music, much like it had the first time.
“Since Yas only has a couple of weeks of school left, what do you think about taking her to Disneyland Paris next month?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I’m sure she’d like that. Aiming for next month might be a little soon, but we can figure out a good date and take her.”
As they continued their slow sway, Knox decided on a change of plans, because he’d also taken her somewhere else on their first date. He held her close for a couple more minutes before giving her a soft kiss.
“Come on. There’s a stop I want to make on the way home.”
Knox was sure she probably knew where they were going when he headed in the opposite direction of their house. Forty minutes later, they pulled up to the wishing stream he’d brought her to on their first date. He hadn’t returned since then, feeling he had everything he could want. This was where he asked for a few things he wanted. Now, he was back to ask for something he needed.
He left the headlights on, grabbed two coins from the middle console, and exited the vehicle. With Aiva’s hand in his, he led them over to the bridge.
“It’s as pretty as it was the first time,” she remarked. There were more fireflies than there had been before. They looked to almost blanket the grass on either side of the stream.
“It’s been almost a year and a half since we’ve been here,” he stepped behind her.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.” She leaned back against him. “Time flies when you’re happy.”
He couldn’t agree with her more. It seemed like yesterday when he’d taken her out for the first time. He’d appreciated every day they spent together, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Knox handed her one of the coins, and as she stepped forward to make a wish, he removed the box from his pocket. He had it since the week after he asked her to move in with him but had been waiting for the perfect time. Knox had thought about asking her on her birthday in December but held off. She kissed the coin and tossed it into the stream as he sank to one knee.
“You want me to kiss yours again t—” she cut off as she turned to look at him, her hand going to her mouth.
“What I want is to call you my wife,” he stated. “I love you. I probably fell in love the moment I laid eyes on you. You are everything I could ever ask for and more. There will never be another woman who makes me feel the way you do, who cares for me the way you do. Who loves my daughter, our daughter, when you didn’t have to. You complete me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me, baby?”
“Yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Knox slipped the two-carat princess cut ring onto her finger. Aiva cupped his face, kissing him as he stood, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I love you,” she stated against his lips.
“I love you,” he responded.
“Are you going to make a wish?” she asked, stepping out of his hold.
“I don’t need to.”
“Do you want to know what I wished for the first time?”
“If you want to tell me.”
“To be as content as I was in that moment with you.”
Knox hummed because it was similar to what he’d wished for their first time here. He’d wanted to be as happy, as infatuated as he had been that entire night with her.
“And this time? What did you wish for?” He wasn’t sure she’d tell him since she hadn’t last time.
Aiva smiled at him, hand going to her stomach. “A boy. I don’t want you to always be outnumbered.”
He let her words sink in before he thought back to the wine she hadn’t touched at dinner, and his eyes dropped to her stomach. It also shed light on why she wanted to take that trip so soon.
“We’re having a baby,” he stated before taking her lips with his again. Knox didn’t think he could be any happier after she’d said yes yet she’d proved him wrong. He couldn’t wait to become one with her, and for their family to expand. It looked like he would have lost that bet from their second date had he made it.
Their love hadn’t been a whirlwind, as it might seem to those on the outside looking in. It was a spark that ignited an ember which caused a slow burn that blossomed for both of them. It was lasting, constantly stoked by them both and unable to be extinguished, and Knox knew it would be that way for the rest of their lives.