Epilogue I
Brynleigh & Trystan
That August
Trystan
“Hey, Bryn, did we get more barbecue sauce?” I ask, bent over, looking in the fridge.
I thought I had enough for these kabobs that I need to get prepped for the cookout this afternoon.
I reach to rub my eye and just in time remember the peppers and onions I just cut up and stop.
Whew, buddy, that was close. “Bryn?” I ask one more time, a little louder.
“Yeah, um, down in the corner pantry cabinet should be some.”
Her quiet tone catches my attention, and I look up. She’s leaning against the countertop, chewing on her nail.
“What’s up, Pretty Girl? You sound stressed.”
“Um…follow me. I need you.”
Those words instantly turn me on.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answer in my sexiest tone, and she turns back with a smirk but squashes my sexy.
“Not why I need you. Save it for later.” She laughs. My puppy eyes must’ve shown it all as I follow her up the stairs to our master suite.
“It’s just a cookout. You don’t have to put on anything special, hun.”
“It’s not clothes either.”
She walks into the bathroom, and I freeze when I see a stick laying upside down on the counter.
“I peed on it.”
I huff out a nervous laugh.
“Okay, I see this. Give my brain a second to catch up.”
She chuckles back just as nervously as her fingers fidget with the hem of her shirt.
“Have you looked at it yet?” My eyes slide over to hers but gravitate back to the capped stick. Our dream. I didn’t even know she bought it.
“I’m too nervous.”
“Is this just a ‘let’s see if this month we got lucky’ kind of test or a ‘I think I could be pregnant, so I got a test’ kind of test?
“Option two.”
My breath hammers out of my lungs. Holy fuck. She didn’t say anything.
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Mine were already going crazy.”
Suddenly light-headed, I slide down the bathroom wall so that I’m sitting. My brain is pinging in a billion different directions.
“Brynleigh, baby, start at the beginning.”
“I was walking yesterday on the beach near the nice lighthouse, looking for a new shell to add, and I smelled perfume that wasn’t mine.”
“Okay, um, that’s not computing.”
“There was another lady about ten to fifteen feet away, but I was upwind, so I shouldn’t have been able to smell her out in the open like that.”
“How do you know it was her?”
“I piddled around the spot and waited for her to pass. The scent only got stronger as she got closer. I just thought it was odd. Then, later, I had a random nosebleed. I rarely ever get those. It’s been years. And I don’t know, I just kind of feel off. Different.”
“Hmmm. Could your sinuses just be on the fritz with the dryness? Are you coming down with something? It’s not unheard of.”
“I’m also a bit late.”
“Oh…” My pulse picks up again. I’m scared to get too excited. What would the likelihood be? We’ve already had several negatives. I don’t want her to see disappointment in any way, shape, or form if there aren’t two pink lines. I reach out and grab her hand.
“I’m nervous,” I whisper, looking up at the ceiling before glancing her way. She’s biting her nail again.
“Me too.”
“Do you have a good feeling?”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
We both lean our heads back against the wall and laugh before I let out an anxious groan. I reach forward and grab the stick, then grab her hand, like I should’ve gotten to do years ago. I set it in between us, turning to face her crisscross applesauce, as Holly calls it, and she mirrors me.
“Who knew a stick could freak out the adults?”
“I love your sense of humor in tense moments, Bryn.”
“Had to try something.”
“Flip it.”
“No, you flip it. I’m scared.”
I take a deep breath and reach forward, and Brynleigh grabs my wrist.
“Wait– what if I’m not?”
“Then we try again. It’s okay.”
“What if I can’t get pregnant again?”
Her eyes fill with trepidation, so I lift her palm and kiss it, pressing it over her snakebite tattoo on my heart.
“You and me, always. No matter what. We can face anything.”
“But you want babies.”
“Then we’ll adopt, surrogacy, whatever you want. I’ll find a way to make you feel whole.”
“I love you,” she whispers, and my heart cracks for her. For me. For us. We want this so damn badly.
“I love you more.”
“Okay, flip it, I can’t look first.” She slams her eyes shut just as I start to turn it.
I take another deep breath, bracing to be strong for us both, and lose it.
“One or two lines, Trys?”
I reach out and pull her into my lap, crushing my lips against hers fiercely. She pulls back a little, catching my cheeks in her hands and wiping away a tear.
“I’m sorry, Trystan. We’ll try again,” her chin wobbles, “I’ll–”
“Two…” I silence her words with my answer, sucking in her gasp as I deliver another reverent kiss.
“What?”
I pull the test between us to show her the proof, the tangible evidence that pieces of us are growing a tiny human within her. A tiny heart full of her and me growing within her. Tears streak down our faces, and we’re both a shaking mess with this new reality.
“I’m going to be a dad?”
She nods as her eyes drink in my joy with the same thirst my soul has for hers.
“You’re going to be the best mom.”
She lets out a happy sob as I grab her face and press my forehead to hers, sharing breath, sharing our souls. Just the three of us in this quiet space. Three…