Epilogue
Dominic
One Year Later
The apartment is transformed.
Candles everywhere. Flowers on every surface. The dining table set for two, with actual plates instead of the paper ones Sophie insists are “easier to clean.”
I’ve been planning this for weeks. Ever since she mentioned, off-hand, that she’d always wanted a romantic dinner at home but Caleb never bothered.
Well, Caleb was an idiot. And I’m not Caleb.
“What is all this?”
Sophie’s standing in the doorway, eyes wide, still wearing her coat from dropping Anna off at Alexa and Max’s.
Yes, Alexa and Max. Apparently, mortal enemies becoming best friends is a thing now.
And given Alexa’s trauma from the kidnapping, Max volunteered to keep her company during their babysitting nights.
I suspect something else is going on there, but that’s not my business.
“This,” I say, crossing to her, “is your surprise.”
“You didn’t have to-”
“I wanted to.” I take her coat, hang it up, lead her to the table. “Sit. I’ll get the wine.”
“Dominic, what’s going on?”
“Can’t a man cook dinner for his fiancée?”
“You don’t cook.”
“I ordered dinner for my fiancée.”
“There it is.”
She’s laughing as I pour the wine, and the sound fills me up. It’s been a year since we met, eight months since we got engaged, and I still can’t believe she’s mine.
That she chose me.
That we built this together.
Dinner is excellent - I may not cook, but I know the best restaurants in the city - and the conversation flows easily.
We talk about Anna’s latest words (she’s up to ten now, including “Dom” which Sophie insists doesn’t count as a full name), about the new pottery studio Sophie’s been setting up, about the upcoming wedding.
Then, when the plates are cleared and the wine is nearly gone, I take her hand.
“I have something to ask you,” I say.
“If it’s about moving the wedding up again, my mother will actually kill you.”
“It’s not about that.” I take a breath. “Sophie. This past year has been the best of my life. You and Anna - you’re everything I didn’t know I was missing. Everything I didn’t know I needed.”
“Dominic…”
“I know I already proposed.” I reach into my pocket. “But I wanted to do it again. Properly. Without hospital beds or near-death experiences.”
I drop to one knee.
Sophie’s eyes go wide. “What are you doing?”
“Sophie Brennan.” I open the box - a new ring this time, an emerald band made to sit beside the diamond I gave her, cut to match her eyes. “Will you marry me?”
“You already asked me this.”
“And I’m asking again.” I look up at her, letting her see everything in my eyes. “I’m going to keep asking. Every year, every month, every day if I have to. Until you understand that I choose you. That I’ll always choose you.”
She’s crying. I’m possibly crying too. Neither of us cares.
“Yes,” she says. “Yes, you ridiculous man. A thousand times yes.”
I slide the ring onto her finger - it fits perfectly, just like I knew it would - and pull her into my arms.
“I love you,” I say into her hair.
“I love you too.” She pulls back, cups my face in her hands. “Now take me to bed.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
We barely make it to the bedroom.
***
Later, wrapped in tangled sheets and each other, I trace lazy patterns on her bare shoulder.
“So,” I say. “Any regrets?”
“About what?”
“Any of it. The chaos. The drama. The brother from hell.”
Sophie laughs softly. “No regrets. Not a single one.”
“Even the part where I lied to you?”
“Even that.” She shifts, props herself up on one elbow to look at me. “You told the truth when it mattered. You fought for me when I needed you. That’s all I ever wanted.”
“I’ll always fight for you.”
“I know.” She kisses me, soft and sweet. “That’s why I love you.”
I pull her closer, and she comes willingly, fitting against me like she was made to be there.
“Dominic?”
“Mm?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For everything.” She rests her head on my chest. “For the crib. For Anna. For giving me a family when I thought I’d never have one.”
“You gave me a family too,” I remind her. “You and Anna. You’re everything, Sophie.”
We lie there in comfortable silence, and I let myself feel it. The peace. The completeness. The bone-deep certainty that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I spent fifteen years running from my past. Building walls. Convincing myself that I was better off alone.
Sophie tore all those walls down.
And what she built in their place - this life, this love, this family - is more than I ever dreamed possible.
“Hey, Dominic?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy anniversary.”
I smile. “Happy anniversary, Sophie.”
She falls asleep in my arms, and I watch her breathe, counting the rhythm like a prayer.
One year down.
Forever to go.
THE END