Epilogue
One Year Later
SADIE
“There’s one more present under the tree!” Nash stands, shaking a box in the air.
“Oh, where did that come from?” My mom feigns surprise, but she’s not fooling anyone. Whatever that present is, she definitely knows about it.
Nash makes a show out of reading the tag. “It looks like it’s for Sadie.” He turns to me, his entire face lit up with an excited smile.
“Who’s it from?”
“A secret admirer,” he whispers in my ear, kissing my lobe before pulling back.
I take his present, noticing how my family watches in anticipation. The Christmas tree wrapping paper doesn’t stand a chance. I tear through it in one sweep, slowly open the box, and peek inside.
It’s a square book with a picture of us on the front—a picture I don’t recognize from the lost years. Carved into the cover is The Story of Us.
I shoot my gaze to Nash. “What’s this?”
“Open it.”
My smile grows as I flip the book open. There’s a picture of the note Nash wrote Tate at the Cubs game and then written words to the side. My eyes scan, reading the paragraph.
The first thing I noticed about you was your smile and how your brown eyes lit up with happiness. Even from four rows back, I knew you were the one. I leaned over and told Reggie, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’ He laughed and said that, first, I’d have to get rid of your boyfriend sitting next to you. The boyfriend seemed like a formidable opponent, but I didn’t care. I was hooked, drunk on your smile and how the sun kissed your freckles. For seven innings, I watched you and waited. I hoped you’d get up from your seat, and when you did, I was ready.
I was so nervous to talk to you I thought I might throw up. I followed you to the concessions line and told myself to just go for it. I think I went for it a little too much, because my hello made you jump.
Then you came with your first witty comeback—something about how me watching you all game was stalkerish, and I knew I’d never be okay again without you in my life .
I glance up with tears in my eyes and a smile.
“It’s every memory of us you lost from those three years.”
“You wrote them down?”
He shrugs as if it’s not a big deal, as if it’s not the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.
I throw my arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
“I think she likes it,” he says into my hair, hugging me back.
“Nash spent an entire year on that book,” my dad adds.
“Nothing could be more perfect.” I release him, gingerly touching the pages of the book. “But I may be able to one-up your present.”
A furrow forms between his brows. “What do you mean?”
I walk to the fireplace and retrieve a small, long present. “This is for you.” I smile at my family. “For everyone, really.”
Nash pulls at the gold wrapping paper, tossing it aside as he lifts the box open. Inside is a positive pregnancy test.
His head whips up to me, and my favorite smile he’s ever given me splashes across his face. “Are you serious?”
I nod with misty eyes.
“What is it?” my mom asks.
“I’m going to be a dad.” Emotion rounds out his words as he holds the pregnancy test up.
The room explodes with excitement, but I’m only focused on the absolute look of happiness in Nash’s eyes.
He takes me in his arms. “We’re having a baby!”
“We’re having a baby.”
Our road to happily ever after came with a lot of twists and turns and bumps in the road that felt more like mountains. But we made it through.
We survived an internship.
A kind of boyfriend turned fiancé.
One elopement.
A successful business.
Three years of marital bliss.
A tragic skiing accident.
Amnesia.
Divorce.
A year of loneliness.
Finding each other again in Switzerland.
A giant second wedding.
Another successful business.
Building a house on Skaneateles Lake.
And now a baby.
It’s the happy ending we always hoped for.
Now, we just have forever to look forward to.
The End
Thank you for reading!