Epilogue
LIZZIE
Ten and a half months later…
The best twenty dollars I’d ever spent was the packing tape dispenser I bought on a whim when I went to pick up a bunch of Sharpies from the local office supply store. As I taped up the final box in my kitchen with one satisfying swipe across the top of it, I straightened up and let out a happy huff. Zach used his trusty Sharpie to write the word KITCHEN on top of the box, then capped the marker and grinned at me.
“Last one,” he said.
“Last one,” I confirmed.
The stomp of heavy footsteps made us both turn toward the hallway, where Sean appeared in a tan Carhartt jacket, black beanie, and faded jeans. He arched his brows. “Ready?”
“Ready!” Zach said.
“Let’s head on over with the first load, then,” Sean said, ruffling my son’s hair.
Zach took off at a dead sprint as Sean and I watched him go. Then Sean closed the distance between us and slid his hands over my hips.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Nervous. Excited.”
“Sad to be leaving this place?”
I glanced around the room at the old, orange-tinged cabinets and off-white tiles, at the stone hearth and old carpet. “A little,” I admitted, “but mostly it feels good.”
As his arms went around me, Sean bent down to press a kiss to my forehead. “I love you, Lizzie.”
He hadn’t stopped telling me exactly that in the past ten-plus months, and every time, my chest buzzed with happiness. “I love you too,” I replied as I tilted my face up to accept his kiss.
“Gross!” Zach called out from the mouth of the hallway, now dressed in his jacket and shoes. “Mom, ew!”
I pulled away from Sean and stuck my tongue out at my son, who stuck his tongue out right back. Then the three of us cackled, and Sean threaded his fingers through mine to tug me toward the front door.
He’d already loaded a few boxes into the bed of his truck, and the plan was for me to join Hazel, Mikey, and my mother at our new home to clean and unpack while Sean and my brothers did the bulk of the moving. I closed the door behind me and walked to the truck, then turned and took another glance at the house where I’d lived for the better part of two decades.
Sean’s arm went around my shoulders, and I leaned my head against his chest.
“Isaac and I bought this house together not long after we got married,” I told him. “It’s the only home the kids have ever known.”
“Full of memories,” Sean replied.
I nodded, then looked into his blue-green eyes and smiled tentatively. “But it’s too small to fit all of us.”
The soft, relieved sigh that left his lips told me that I’d just said exactly what he needed to hear. That I was ready to move on and excited to take this next step together. I got up on my tiptoes and pressed another kiss to his lips, then pulled away, took one more long look at my house, and then got in the passenger seat of the truck.
We were halfway to the new place when Zach asked, “Mom, can me and Mikey share a room?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “I thought you’d already picked out your rooms.”
“We want to get bunk beds in one room and then use the other one for computers and robots.”
“I see,” I said, glancing at Sean.
Sean had a half-smile on his lips when he met my gaze. “Sounds pretty cool to me.”
“It’s going to be awesome ,” Zach said. “So, can we, Mom?”
“I don’t see why not,” I said, glancing into the back seat of the cab where Zach flashed me a euphoric smile. Grinning back at him, I settled into my seat and watched the houses go by. We were moving to a neighborhood a little farther from the town center in exchange for more space. It was about the same distance to school, though a bit farther from my work and a few minutes’ extra drive to my parents’ and brothers’ places.
But in the past year, I’d only been called for emergency babysitting one single time—and it had been a true emergency, when Levi had fallen ill, Aaron had been away for work, and my parents were unavailable. I’d been happy to step in and watch Jacob while Emily took Levi to the hospital. And I’d gotten a sincere thank you afterward, which had meant more than I could put into words.
We still had lots of family events for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and random summer barbecues, and I’d had to set a few boundaries in terms of what I was bringing and how many times I was hosting. There’d been some grumbling, but Sean had backed me up every time and I’d been able to actually spend time with my family and friends instead of being relegated to kitchen duty for hours on end.
Laurel and I had grown closer, which turned out to be a breath of fresh air in my life. We had girls’ nights about once a month, and she dragged me out shopping to replace all the clothing I’d gotten rid of in my haste to remake myself into a new woman. She introduced me to Audrey, who helped me design an amazing closet system that I hadn’t been able to afford after my excessive shopping spree with Laurel, even with the friends-and-family discount Audrey offered—but I’d saved up a special pot of money to get the closet of my dreams in my new home.
The kids were still made of boundless energy, and I still found myself spinning a million plates while I managed work, school, relationships, chores, and all the other commitments that came with being a busy mom. The difference was, I wasn’t alone. Multiple times a week, I’d come home to dinner already prepped and cooking on the stove. We hadn’t officially moved in together yet, but Sean still picked up my slack and acted like an amazing role model to our kids. I couldn’t wait to spend every night with him.
Life was still made of chaos. There were ups and downs.
But I had balance . I spun plates from a stable base. And if I dropped one, there were a dozen people there to help me sweep up the shards so no one got hurt.
As we pulled up to our new home, I let out a deep, satisfied sigh. Then the front door flew open, and Hazel ran out.
“Mom!” she screamed before Sean had even cut the engine. She hopped from one foot to the other. “Mom!”
I unclipped my belt and opened the door. “What’s up?”
“Can I get bunk beds too? But I don’t want the bottom bed, just the top one. With a ladder. And can I paint my room purple?” She hopped her way over to me and gave me a face-splitting smile. “Please?”
I laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Of course.”
“Yes!” She fist pumped, then ran over to Zach to tell him the good news.
Over the hood of his truck, Sean gave me a wry grin. We all headed for the front door, kids in front, Sean at my side. I could hear Mikey’s voice inside and, oddly, what sounded like shushing. Sean motioned for me to head inside ahead of him, so I stepped across the threshold—and froze.
My parents and brothers were in the living room, along with Dorothy, Margaret, Laurel, and a few other friends and family. They stood under a banner that read, “CONGRATULATIONS,” and all shouted, “Surprise!”
“What’s going on?” I asked, stunned.
My mother had tears in her eyes as she clasped her hands at her breast. She nodded, then her gaze shifted behind me.
I turned to see Sean on bended knee, holding a black velvet box in his hand. His eyes were bright, bright turquoise and full of love.
“Lizzie,” he rasped, and tears flooded my eyes.
I wiped them away and took a step toward him. “What’s going on?”
“Lizzie,” he repeated, his own eyes wet with unshed tears. “You’re the love of my life. You’ve shown me what it means to be happy. You’ve made me feel whole. Please, I’m begging you, baby, please make me the luckiest man in the world and tell me you’ll be my wife.”
“Oh, Sean,” I said—and he flipped open the top of the box. A glittering diamond ring—solitaire, with a buttery gold band—twinkled back at me. I clasped my hands at my chest. “Sean—yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
His smile was unlike anything I’d seen before. So bright and happy, I could hardly believe that I’d put it on his face by agreeing to marry him. With trembling fingers, he took the ring out of its velvet slot and slid it onto my outstretched finger. It fit perfectly.
I stared at the thousand colors reflecting off the stone, then lifted my chin to meet Sean’s gaze as he got to his feet before me. Then his arms were around my waist, and he was kissing me right there in front of all our friends and family.
This time, it didn’t end up with a punching match. When I pulled away, my cheeks were wet with tears. I turned around in time to be swarmed by all the people I loved, laughing and crying as I accepted their congratulations.
I found Sean in the hubbub and nuzzled against his chest. I pointed to the wall in the living room. “The banner was a little presumptuous, don’t you think? What if I said no?”
His smile was soft and sure. “We’re made for each other, Lizzie. How could you say no?”
I couldn’t even pretend to disagree. When Hazel bounded over to us and asked to see the ring, my heart overflowed with happiness. She gave Sean a tight hug around the waist and asked, “When are you getting married? Can I be a flower girl?”
“Of course, honey,” I told her.
“I was thinking Christmas,” Sean replied, answering her first question.
Still leaning against his chest, I froze, then pulled away and gaped at him. “Christmas? This year? You want to get married in six weeks?”
“I want to get married in six minutes, Lizzie. Six weeks is my absolute maximum.”
“We can’t pull off a whole entire wedding in six weeks!”
“No?”
I bit my lip, then glanced down at Hazel. Zach and Mikey had crept closer, watching me with hesitant smiles on their faces. “What do you think?”
“I like Christmas,” Hazel declared.
“Me too,” Mikey agreed.
“Me three,” Zach said.
Sean tightened his hold on me. “Me four,” he told me quietly, and when I turned to look in his eyes, I knew it was the truth. And I could see his desire to rewrite all the bad memories that he’d associated with the holiday with new ones.
What better place to start than a wedding?
“I guess we’re getting married on Christmas Day, then,” I said, and then laughed when Sean dipped me and pressed another kiss to my lips as if he needed to seal my promise with his lips.
My year of new beginnings wasn’t quite over yet…and I couldn’t wait to see what would come next.
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