Epilogue
The last year had been a roller coaster of emotions.
Most of it was happy, but when I thought about how well my life had been, it made me miss my dad.
I hated that he couldn’t be here to see how happy I had been.
The biggest news I wanted to share with him was the fact that Coye and I were expecting our first baby.
We found out it was a boy, and we planned on giving him my father’s name as his middle name, but we hadn’t decided on a first name.
It was the year anniversary of my father’s death, and my mom planned a balloon release.
She met someone and had been happy with him.
Even though she and my father wasn’t together at the time of his death, they had such a great relationship, and her new friend understood her wanting to do the release.
As long as my mom was happy, I was as well.
My brother and his wife had been doing well. Sometimes the kids came over to our house so they could have alone time; plus, they just loved their uncle Coye. He turned the basement into a play area for them with all types of arcade games, and a big projector where they liked to watch movies.
Sometimes, Coye and I would go down there and watch all my favorite movies.
He always made sure our house was stocked with graham crackers and grapes.
I hadn’t been going to the shop as much, and I was okay with that.
Whenever I got the urge to bake cookies, I went right into the kitchen to do it.
There had been plenty of mornings Coye woke up to the smell of cookies.
His staff loved him because I sent cookies to work multiple times a week.
Some days, I didn’t know what to do with myself now that I hadn’t been working.
Most of the time, I lounged around the house and continued my Spanish lessons.
I took walks around the neighborhood because I wanted to stay active.
At the beginning of my pregnancy, I had morning sickness, but by the third month, it subsided.
Now, all I wanted was grapes and popcorn.
Coye made me drink a fruit protein every morning, and one with vegetables in the afternoon.
I had to admit that I had been feeling so much better since I started drinking them consistently.
I wasn’t sure what he did, but I didn’t crave sugar as much as I used to.
When I found out I was pregnant, I had the doctor check me for cancer, especially in my liver, and I was good. It was something I wanted to keep up with because I wanted to catch anything before it was too late.
“Are you ready for this?” Coye asked as we arrived at the park.
I rubbed my hand over my stomach when my baby kicked.
“Yeah. I don’t feel as down as I thought I would.”
“That’s good. We don’t want to stress little man out.” Coye rubbed my stomach the same way I’d just done.
“This is true.”
Coye shut the car off and got out. I undid my seat belt and opened my door. I let him help me out of the car, though, because it got harder the bigger I got. Plus, he would fuss at me if I didn’t let him help me. Coye never hesitated to wait on me, and I loved that for me.
We held hands as we walked over to where my family stood. My friends and Coye’s mom were there as well.
“It’s cold out here, so we don’t have to be long,” my mom said as she hugged Coye and me.
We took a few minutes to greet everyone, and my mom gave us all a balloon that her friend held for us.
Everyone took turns saying what was on their heart about my dad. When it was my turn, Coye grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I leaned into him for strength.
“Daddy, I love and miss you so much. I’m happy, though. Very happy, and I’ll be having a boy soon. I hope he has some of your traits. I’ll see you again one day.” I let go of the string and let the balloon float to the sky. I wiped my tears and hugged Coye before hugging my friends.
“You are glowing, momma,” Sophie said.
“I know.” I placed my hand over my stomach. I found myself doing that a lot because I couldn’t believe I was pregnant.
“I love it,” Lily said as she rubbed my stomach.
I didn’t let random people touch my stomach, but they were my sisters, so I didn’t have a problem with that. Only my family was allowed to touch me. I didn’t want anyone’s negative energy to transfer to my baby.
Coye clearing his throat stopped our conversation. “Can I have everyone’s attention? This won’t take long because I know you all are cold.”
“Hell yeah!” My brother shouted, rubbing his hands together, causing the rest of us to laugh.
“I got you, bro.” Coye stepped away from his mom and came toward me. Suddenly, everyone took their phones out.
“River.” He grabbed my hand. “A year ago, I had a conversation with your dad, and I asked him if I could be the one by your side to love and protect you. He agreed and made me promise to never hurt you, and I told him that was the last thing he had to worry about. You were supposed to be forbidden fruit, but there was no way I could stay away from you, friendship be damned.” He glanced at my brother and laughed.
“But on some real, you are the reflections of my desires, and I want to know.” He paused and got down on his knee.
“I wanted to know if you would marry me. I don’t want our son to come into this world without you having my last name.
I want to treat you like the queen you are for the rest of our lives. ”
My tears dropped as he opened the box.
I nodded. “Yes, yes, I’ll marry.”
Coye took the ring from the box and slipped it onto my finger. Everyone clapped as they continued recording.
Coye stood and wrapped me in his arms, kissing my lips. We got lost in the kiss for a minute until the baby kicked again.
“Little man is real active today,” Coye said when he broke the kiss.
“He must have known how much I needed his presence today. And yours.” I gave Coye a quick peck.
A minute later, everyone came over and congratulated us.
“I’m glad you didn’t let me scare you off, because I never saw her this happy,” Jordan said to Coye.
“Either way, you are going to be my brother.” They embraced each other, then my brother pulled me into his arms. “I’m proud of you, Sis, and I know Pops is too. ” He kissed my cheek, then released me.
We stayed out there a little longer, talking until we all got too cold.
The day started sad, but it turned out happy. I had a baby on the way with the man of my dreams, and to know I had my father’s blessing was the icing on the cake.
Grief could hit at any time, but I knew I would survive it with my baby boy and Coye by my side.
The End