36. Epilogue Samantha
“And then he told the cameraman to let me hold the camera for the shoot,” Ruth gushes.
We're in the living room. It's been a month since she reunited with her mother. I still laugh at the memory of Stan coming back to the house, his face beet-red, telling me that he misunderstood Catherine and Ruth is in fact not moving back.
Now all three of us stay at his place. With Louis the rat.
Stan hates the rat because of the name, but as Louis is now the pet of the two women he loves most in the world, he has decided to let it live.
Filming for the movie is now in full swing, and Ruth has been helping on the set. She loves it so much.
“You make any mistakes?” I ask.
“Nope. Those trainings with Grandpa Ben helped,” she answers. “I can't want to show him and Mom what I filmed.”
Catherine has moved to Rose Haven, thanks to Stan. She's been dating a psychiatrist who helped with her treatment. Things seem to have been going well for her.
In fact, everything has been going well. I love my little life here. My parents down the street. My cousin and his family just next door .
Not to mention my hard-working boyfriend busting his ass making his first feature-length film. And my pseudo-daughter right here to keep me company.
Speaking of which, Ruth and Stan have grown even closer with their shared interest in film. I can see this girl becoming a good cinematographer versus a producer or scriptwriter like her father and grandfather.
She's already made a five-minute short film with her twin cousins and Alex.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Ruth says, sitting upright. “I took a video of Dad for the behind-the-scenes interview. He made a lot of bloopers.”
“Stan making a fool of himself? I have to see this.” Eagerly, I sit upright and watch her plug her camera—the gift from her grandfather—into the laptop.
She selects a file and plays it. Stan appears on the screen. Oh, but he looks hot.
The video starts, and he clears his throat. “Is this on?” he asks.
“That's what the red light means, Dad,” Ruth's snarky voice can be heard in the background.
“Oh, hush. I knew that.”
“You clearly don't,” Lucas retorts from the background, too.
“The hell are you doing here?” Stan frowns, staring at Lucas behind the camera.
“I brought lunch for my sweetheart. Oh, and some for Selena, too,” Lucas responds.
“Oh, you're so sweet.” Stan turns to the camera. “Cut that part out. I don't want to explain that bit to Sam.”
“I will,” Ruth says.
“You sneaky little girl,” I grin at her.
“Hmm? Oh, I actually cut out the part where they kissed,” she deadpans.
I blink twice, and she laughs. “I'm kidding.”
“I fell in love with her at first sight,” Stan says.
I whip my head back to the screen.
“Samantha Knight. Her name is even royal. Not as much as Holt, though.” He chuckles to himself. “Oh, her dad's going to kill me for that.”
I smile .
“She stole my heart fifteen years ago and refused to give it back. The selfish brat,” he says, rolling his eyes. “And now she moves into my house, takes up the rest of my soul, and makes me adopt her pet rat.”
“Louis,” Ruth points out.
“Louis,” he says with venom. “But I love her all the same. And not a day that goes by that I have nightmares where all this is a dream.”
My heart aches at how sweet he is. But this is supposed to be a movie interview. Did I miss something?
“Knowing her, as she's watching this, she’s realizing something's up,” he says, reading my mind. “This chick is brilliant and smart, I tell you. Stubborn. Disobedient. She hates me so much just because she can't stop loving me. I love her so much that I'm willing to destroy this world if she accidentally stubs her toe.”
“I'm her movie boy and jerkface manager,” he concludes. “As I move into the next phase of my life, there's something I need to do. Something I've always wanted to do.”
The video ends.
“That's it?” I ask Ruth. “Where's the rest of it?”
“I decided to tell you in person,” Stan's voice from behind me makes me jump.
I turn to find a ring box in front of me and Stan on one of his knees.
“Marry me,” he says. “Or else, I'll go on both knees and beg.”
I try not to happy-cry. “Why is everything always so different and weird with you?”
“Is that a yes?”
“It's a no.”
He gets on both knees and bows his head a little. “Please marry me, Samantha Knight. I promise to give you a daughter with a potty mouth, a warm house, a bigger cage for your rat, and this wedding ring.”
I didn't expect him to actually kneel. But at the same time, I knew he would.
It's Stan .
If I said I wanted the sky red, he'd build a red dome over Rose Haven. Anything I say and want goes. If anything, I should be the one begging him to marry me.
I turn to Ruth, and she's grinning even wider than I am. She knows my answer.
“I'll marry you, Stan,” I tell him. “Only because Louis needs a bigger cage. And I love your potty-mouth daughter.”
“Not because of my devilish charm?” He wiggles his brow at me.
“Not even one bit,” I answer, grinning like an idiot.
“Tell you what?” He's grinning, too. “I'll do this proposal again naked.”
“Yes, do it,” I say quickly.
“Not right here. Ew!” Ruth scrunches up her face. “Just take the ring, you weirdos.”
“You heard the lady,” Stan says.
“Fine.” I give him my finger as he puts the ring on my finger. It fits like a glove. “But you have to do the naked thing.”
“I'm staying over at Mom's,” Ruth announces, getting to her feet. We watch her storm off, but she stops at the door and turns back to face us. “Thanks for agreeing to be my stepmom, Sam.”
Then she leaves.
“You've made two of us very happy,” Stan says with a grin.
“Not nearly as happy as you two make me,” I reply, pulling him for a kiss. “Now, take your clothes off and propose again.”
The End