Epilogue
EVE
I smile at the note on the fridge.
It’s become enough of a habit in our house that we don’t have to leave little reminders for each other anymore.
But Ryder never misses.
We have a number of special days in our house, some of them marked by midnights, some of them marked by other times that are just as special.
5:17 on the day we got married, our first kiss as husband and wife.
8:42 in the morning, when Benji was born.
And 2:07 in the afternoon, when Olivia Nora was born, exactly two years ago.
Her little toddler legs kick against me as I carry her out to the garden.
We created a little entertaining area off the side of our house in the exact area where Ryder and I realized we’d be spending the rest of our lives together here.
As I struggle to carry the squirming birthday girl outside to where our friends and family wait, I can’t help the surreal feeling that hits me every once in a while when I look out over what we created.
The sunflower fields that are booming with an early autumn crowd, handled with grace by Abby, who’s taken over as general manager and moved into my old bungalow.
Ryder helped me come up with an agreement that gives her some ownership of the farm, so that she feels like she’s working toward something rather than just working, and I don’t feel guilty about letting her share some of my burden.
And just down the hill from our house, separated by a copse of trees but connected by a walking trail that’s now open to the public, is the development Ryder built.
A small village of bungalows that might as well blend into the landscape.
The walls that face the sunflower farm are painted with Izzy’s sunflowers, a reflection of the farm beneath them.
And while they were being constructed, Ryder had the brilliant idea to bring our favorite restoration expert Luke back out to take a crack at the footbridge that once connected our land.
I joked that it was because he was sick of me pushing him into the stream, and he only rolled his eyes and shook the water from his boot as we walked down to the farm.
Luke spent a good few days figuring out the best way to reconstruct the bridge, and now it beautifully connects all of our land together—and we’ve kept it well-maintained enough that Nora and Vic can easily traverse the land. They visit regularly on their long walks.
And just as I think of them, I see them, sitting on the bench outside the garden and chatting easily with Ryder. Nora holds her hand over her eyes to block the sun as Ryder adjusts the oversized umbrella to cover her. Vic holds her hand, waving at us with the other when he sees Liv.
And considering she wants nothing to do with being held, I plop her on the ground and let her run into the mass of people who are all here to celebrate her.
Gam grabs hold of her almost instantly, pulling her into her lap for a quick squeeze and a kiss from Vic before letting her run crazy around the patio again.
At the wrought iron table underneath the pergola, Benji plays checkers with Izzy, who seems to be losing by a landslide.
She waves at me—noticeably with her left hand, as she’s been doing since she found the love of her life and got married—and while she’s distracted, Benji takes the opportunity to jump over two of her pieces.
He and Ryder started playing checkers when he was probably two years old, and Benji quickly turned into a menace. Ryder planned to transition him to chess when the obsession with checkers died out, but we’re starting to wonder if that will ever happen.
I keep one eye on each kid as I sink down into the seat next to Ryder, who promptly throws an arm around me and tugs me close for a kiss.
“I see you got my note,” he says, his voice low in my ear.
“Oh yeah. My presence here definitely has nothing to do with the fact that we invited a ton of people over to celebrate our child. It was the note that did it. Fourteen hours of labor this day two years ago definitely didn’t do it either.
That’s so easy to forget. Surprised it even pops into my head every once in a while. ”
He rolls his eyes, grabbing my hand and pressing a kiss to the back. “I see Spicy Sunflower is joining us today.”
And just then, Olivia misses the edge of the patio and goes down hard in the grass, her wails ringing out around us.
“And Screaming Sunflower,” Ryder mutters, already on the move to get her up.
He lifts her easily, twisting her around in his arms and checking for any blood. When he sees she’s fine, he blows a quick raspberry into her stomach—a surefire way to get her giggling.
When the birthday girl is all smiles again, Gam reaches for her. “Give me my great-grandbaby!” she says, reaching out for her as Ryder passes her by. She holds her on her lap for a few seconds, playing with her and encouraging a few more giggles before setting her free again.
And Ryder takes his seat next to me as Olivia is off like a rocket yet again, this time to tug on her brother’s leg.
He takes a brief break from his game to give her a hug and a pat on the head, and after a few moments, tells her very seriously that he’ll need to return to his game now because he doesn’t want to be rude and draw out Izzy’s loss.
I hide my face in Ryder’s arm to keep my laughter at bay as Izzy hangs her head in defeat. “That’s very kind of you, Benji, to at least give me a quick death.”
Ryder shakes his head, leaning back and throwing an arm along the back of my seat. “That kid is going to be something.”
I nod. “I don’t know what. But something, definitely.”
The day passes in a blur of friends and family. Food and snacks and drinks. Games and activities for the kids that stop by. Hugs and kisses and laughter.
Everything I ever could have hoped for.
After the last attendees shuffle off toward their cars, long after the kids are sound asleep, Ryder and I retire to the family room overlooking the sunflower fields and collapse into the couch. There’s plenty to clean up, and too many thank yous to even think about tonight.
But we take a moment to sit and stare at everything we have. Everything we created—baby monitors included—and relax into each other, that same breath releasing from my chest as the very first night he told me he loved me.
“I take it back,” he says, his voice quiet in the sleeping house. “I think this one is my favorite.”
I snort, snuggling in close because we’ve had this conversation before and I know just where it’s going. That this is one of those moments he tells me he loves me again without ever having to say the words. “You say that every other week.”
He shrugs. “I don’t care,” he says, leaving a kiss on my head and holding me tight. “This is my favorite midnight.”
“It’s not midnight,” I say, turning my face up toward him so I can leave a kiss on his jaw in that place that always gives him the warm fuzzies.
He lets out a long sigh, his cheek resting on the top of my head. “You know my favorite midnight is whenever I’m with you.”
Thank you so much for reading Midnight Sunflowers—I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!