30. Epilogue - Landon
30
EPILOGUE - LANDON
“ I t’s my waters.” Heather grabs onto my hands so tightly that I feel them about to explode. “They’ve broken.”
I can’t breathe, I’m in such shock. Those words have tilted and twisted everything around in so many ways. I’ve been expecting this moment, waiting for it for what feels like forever, but now that it’s here, I’m stunned to the core. Everything is a blur. I barely know what’s going on. Thank God I have so many strong guys with me to take control of the situation when it feels like the world is spinning underneath me. I don’t know what I would do without them. I thought that we would be okay today. We were convinced that our wedding day would be fine, untouched by the babies because they aren’t quite due yet…
But it seems that everyone who warned us that it would be too close were right. Our babies are on the way.
“You got this.” Much to my surprise, it’s Officer Buchan who offers me the most support. “I believe in you. In both of you.”
I carry those words with me as Max piles us into the car and starts driving. I’ll take them in my heart to help me. I know I might not be the one who is about to have my body go through hell, but I need that support so I can care for my wife… or the woman who was about to become my wife, anyway. Now, I guess we’ll have to think about all of that again at some point…
“You’re going to do amazingly,” I whisper to Heather as the car speeds along. “I’m here for you. We all are.”
“My wedding dress,” she howls. “It’s going to be ruined. Oh, my goodness, I’m giving birth in my wedding dress.”
It’s something we will laugh about at some point, I’m sure of it, but this isn’t the moment. Right now, it’s my job to continually remind her that nothing matters but her and the babies. Nothing is more important than getting through the next few hours. I don’t know if I’m getting through to her. I think the pain has Heather right now, but I’ll keep trying my best.
“You’re going to do this, Heather Buchan. You are going to make the best babies ever and then go on to be the most incredible mother too.” Uh-oh, I didn’t mean to get all choked up and emotional but I am. “I love you… I love you so much.”
She says nothing back but leans on me, just like I’ve always wanted her to. Finally, I’m the man she can always trust.
Somehow, thanks to everyone else, we make it to the hospital in time and she’s in the safe hands of medical professionals as things really start to happen. This might not exactly be the wedding day that we had planned, but it’s going to be crazy memorable, regardless. Our babies are coming into the world and everything is going to change. I can’t wait.
“A boy and a girl.” Heather and I never found out the genders of our babies to make it a surprise. I predicted two girls. She guessed boys. We were both right and wrong in equal measure. “Isn’t this amazing? Wow. What names shall we choose?”
Names are something else we never quite agreed on, but that was because we didn’t know who we were having. Now, looking at our children, I can see that no names we chose beforehand would have worked, anyway. We need to see them first.
“I was thinking of Veronica for our baby girl,” Heather tells me with a tearful smile. “After my mother. What do you think? Since I’ve always struggled to find any kind of connection with her, I thought that this could be a good step.”
Instantly, I lean down and kiss her on the head. “I love that idea. And the name Veronica is a beautiful one.”
“I’ll have to check with my father first because I don’t want to destroy him all over again… Can you call him?”
“Actually.” I chuckle. “He’s in the waiting room. Everyone from the wedding is. They all wanted to be here for you. We might not have had a big wedding, but we’ve pretty much taken over the hospital. It’s crazy. Should I get him?”
“Is Derek here?” There’s a playful twinkle in her eye. “Because we could still get married today if you want to. It would just be here in this room rather than at our beautiful ceremony. But I’m okay with that, if you are. Why not make this day everything?”
I’m stunned, but in a really good way. “Oh, my God, I would love that. Should I go and get everyone now?”
“Not quite yet.” She rests her hand on mine. “Our baby boy needs a name too. Do you have any ideas? Since I’m naming our girl after my mother, Bill could be a nice name for our boy… if you want to call him that, of course?”
“What about William?” Sort of a memoriam to my father, but also something new. It’s also a name that I’ve loved over time but haven’t brought up until now because I wasn’t sure it was right. But now I’m convinced otherwise. “William Max.”
I might as well honor the other man who has been a big influence in my life, the man I might have turned my back on for love but who has supported me all the time, anyway. I want him to always be a part of my life in this amazing way. Thankfully, Heather nods encouragingly and agrees with me. Her smile is absolutely gorgeous and makes me so happy. No wonder we found our way back to one another. She’s perfect for me, The One. I always knew it, and now I’m going to use this hospital room to make her my wife in the most delightfully unconventional way ever. Because why not?
It’s magical too. Maybe not in the same way that our wedding would have been at the ceremony we had all set up for us, but how many people can say that their newborn twins were at the ceremony? Yes, okay, maybe they cry and fuss a lot of the way through it, but no one cares. Everyone is in love with our quirky little wedding even if they are all crushed into a room with us. Luckily, the wedding reception has already been booked so everyone has a party to go to. They can celebrate us even if we can’t be there. That’s okay because Heather and I want some time alone with our children, anyway. The wedding has been awesome, and I’m so grateful that we’ve had everyone surrounding us, but now I just want to be with her. My wife. My wife .
“Well, wifey,” I say with a little laugh as she holds onto William and I hold Veronica in my arms. Thankfully, Officer Buchan loves the idea of having his wife live on through the name of his granddaughter. Heather has been given the chance to have everything that she wants. I’m so happy for her. “How does it feel to be married to me after all this time?”
“Oh, it feels incredible,” she gushes. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to be your wife, and now I am. The mother of your children, too. I mean, life is about to get a whole lot crazier from here, isn’t it? Married life will be wild for us.”
“If we’ve proven anything to ourselves, it’s that we can handle anything. Don’t you think?” We both make matching terrified expressions. It’s hilarious at the moment, but I’m sure it won’t always be that way. “Yeah, I don’t know how it’s going to be, but we have each other to lean on. We always have and we always will. We’ll be fine, me and you.”
My goodness, now isn’t that the truth? We’ve survived death, kidnapping, criminal activity, family fall-outs, moving, being dragged away from one another… the sort of things that most people don’t have to explore in their whole lives. And here we are, standing taller than ever. Raising twins can’t be harder than all of that, can it? Surely…
Uh-oh, we might really be in a lot of trouble here, but with Heather on my side, I’m truly confident that we can handle everything. I balance Veronica in one hand and reach out to hold my new bride’s hand, and as we connect, I feel a surge of happiness. We really are living in the future that we always dreamed of now, even if it took a messy, twisting, winding journey to get here. This is the happy ever after that we’ve always been searching for, and it’s here. Now, it’s up to us to make the best of it.
“Oh, and there’s one thing I want to show you,” I tell her with a playful wink as I lift up my trouser leg to show her the ink there. “I got my tattoo… only it’s H.R . because now you’re my wife. What do you think about that?”
She bursts into tears, into happy tears, though, and she grins at me. “I love you, L.R., and I look forward to the rest of our lives together.”