Epilogue
NORA
Two Years Later
Charlotte’s unicorn backpack looked comically big on her shoulders as we walked up to the front doors of her new elementary school.
It was her first day of kindergarten, and even though we’d been preparing for this day for a long time, the nerves were definitely setting in.
“Okay,” Theo said, crouching so he was eye-level with her. “What’s our plan if you feel nervous?”
Charlotte blinked up at him, a serious expression on her face. “I tell my teacher.”
“That’s right.” He brushed a dark ringlet away from her cheek. “And what if you miss us?”
She looked at me, then at him. “I be brave.”
My throat tightened a little, because of course she would say that. Like bravery was something you could just decide to be.
Theo’s gaze flicked up to mine for half a second, like he was feeling it, too. Then he smiled at Charlotte and kissed her forehead.
“And what if another kid tries to take your crayons?” he asked, voice turning solemn.
Charlotte gasped. “No.”
I snorted, and Theo’s mouth tipped up. Yeah… sharing was sometimes still hard for our little girl.
But then, her eyes narrowed slightly, like she was considering something. And after seeming to have a slight change of heart, she lifted a finger and said, “Unless they forgot theirs.”
Theo’s brows rose. “Oh?”
“And,” she went on, “if they are nice.”
This girl really was the best.
“That’s very fair.” Theo let out a quiet laugh and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “If they’re nice, you can share. If they’re not…”
Charlotte didn’t hesitate. “No sharing.”
Which, yeah, I couldn’t really disagree with that.
“You have a good day today.” I knelt down, smoothing my hand over the brown curls that she’d asked me to put a big bow in. “We’ll pick you up after school, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, giving me a big hug. “I’ll see you after school, Mom.”
And even though she’d been calling me Mom since Theo and I got married a year ago, hearing it never got old—I just felt so lucky to call this sweet little girl mine.
When we walked into her classroom, the room was already buzzing with kids and parents and teachers with bright lanyards and patient smiles. After putting her backpack on its hook, Charlotte gave Theo and me each one more hug.
And then after a couple of quick photos, she found her spot on the rug and got ready to learn.
Just like that.
Theo’s arm went around my waist as we walked through the door that went outside.
“Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to cry…” I said, even though my voice came out a little wobbly. “But these dang pregnancy hormones are really getting to my eyes today.”
Theo rubbed my back and chuckled. “If only I could claim the same thing,” he said, looking down at me all teary-eyed himself. “Our little girl is growing up.”
“She really is.”
We stood there for one more beat, staring back at the door like we were waiting for her to come sprinting back out.
But she didn’t.
Because she was brave.
I pulled out my phone as we walked down the sidewalk. “I’m gonna send a few photos from this morning to the grandparents before I forget.”
“Good call.” Theo smiled. “I’m sure Grandma Vanderbilt has probably been staring at her phone all morning waiting.”
He probably wasn’t far off, since Alisha’s mom had already FaceTimed us before school to wish everyone good luck.
I opened my camera roll and found my favorite shot of Charlotte, standing in front of the school with her oversized backpack.
Then I tapped into the group thread I had with Theo and the Vanderbilts.
And just the sight of it made my chest soften.
Because the first time I’d ever talked to them… I’d been terrified.
Terrified of what they might think of me. Of what Mrs. Vanderbilt might do when she found out that Theo and I were getting serious. That I wasn’t just helping out with Charlotte anymore. That I was becoming part of the life their daughter had once shared with him.
And it had taken some time for them to trust me—time for all of us to figure out what it looked like for me to step into Theo and Charlotte’s world without anyone feeling like I was trying to erase what came before me.
Over the past two years, we’d come so far.
Far enough that when Theo and I told them about the baby, they asked if we’d be okay with them being honorary grandparents to our little one, too.
And as someone who’d grown up with such a small circle of people to call family, their desire to be part of Charlotte’s future sibling’s life had touched me more than I could ever say.
Because the more people there were to love my children, the better.
I hit send.
Me: First day of kindergarten We survived drop-off!
The reply came almost instantly, like she really had been waiting by the phone.
Candice: What a darling photo. I hope she has the best first day. Thanks for sharing that with us!
I smiled and typed back:
Me: Of course. We’ll have her call to tell you all about her day when she gets home.
I slipped my phone into my pocket and looked up at Theo, who seemed just as happy as I felt in that moment.
“Well, now that that's done…” Theo kissed my temple. “Are you ready to go see how our little one is growing?”
Because yep, we had our ultrasound in fifteen minutes.
Today was the day we’d find out if the little human who’d been growing inside me these past four months was a boy or a girl.
When we made it to the hospital, and Theo opened the car door for me, I tried to step out gracefully.
But after guzzling a ton of water an hour ago, simply gliding out of a vehicle without feeling like I was going to pee my pants was impossible.
“You need to pee?” Theo’s brows raised when I winced, pressing a hand to my lower stomach.
“So freakin’ bad,” I whispered.
He huffed a quiet laugh, reaching for my hand. “I told you that you didn’t need to force down those last few ounces.”
“But the paper said thirty-two,” I whined. “I was just following the rules.”
Theo squeezed my fingers, eyes amused. “Well, hopefully we’ll get in there quick and they’ll let you pee after getting the first few images.”
“If I pee my pants in the hospital parking lot, I’m blaming you.”
I mean… him and his secret seducing skills were what got me pregnant in the first place.
Not to mention the fact that if I hadn’t already seen how cute his babies could be… I might’ve pretended to have a little more self-control.
“You can blame me all you want,” he said, guiding me toward the entrance. “Just don’t pee on my shoes.”
I glared at him.
He just grinned back.
Theo handled the kiosk check-in, tapping through the screens like a pro.
“Just sit,” he said softly, nodding to the chairs.
But instead of dropping into the seat like I usually did, I carefully lowered myself because yeah, any extra jostling was going to make me burst.
Theo sat beside me a moment later, his knee touching mine, his hand warm on my thigh.
And even though I knew he’d done this before with another woman, it still amazed me how special he’d made every milestone with me feel. Like I hadn’t stepped into a life that already existed. Like I hadn’t walked in late and been handed someone else’s place.
In the beginning, there were times when the doubts tried to creep in. Little whisperings that told me I was second best.
The consolation prize.
That if Alisha were still here, Theo would’ve never even looked twice at me.
But in the two years we’d been together, Theo had never once made me feel like a backup plan.
He never compared me to Alisha. Never said she did this or we did that, like I was supposed to measure myself against a ghost. He just made room for me to have my own place.
Making me feel like our love story was its own kind of miracle.
Which, as someone who’d grown up in the shadow of her famous brother and had never been the “best” on my gymnastics team, it was something I’d needed more than I could have known.
To feel certain Theo loved me with his whole heart.
To have him look me in the eyes and tell me that while he never would’ve chosen to lose Alisha so young…
it was still a gift to get to fall in love twice.
And if anything, I was the one benefiting from marrying a man with experience. Because instead of everything being brand new and terrifying, Theo was steady. Prepared. The calm in the storm.
He knew what questions to ask, what appointments mattered, what symptoms to take seriously, and how to make me feel like I wasn’t failing just because my body was struggling.
And during the months of hyperemesis that nearly took me out, he’d been my rock.
He’d recognized what it was before I did. Gotten me meds. Saltines. Ginger candy. Cold washcloths at two in the morning. He’d held my hair back and rubbed my back and still kissed my forehead like I wasn’t a disaster.
I had never felt so cared for in my entire life.
I was also deeply grateful I finished my master’s degree before the nausea took over my world, because if I had to write a single paper while dry-heaving into a trash can, I would’ve simply given up and moved into the bathtub permanently.
“You still feeling okay?” Theo leaned closer. “Is your bladder gonna survive?”
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m just really excited.”
“I’m excited, too.” His thumb brushed over my knee. “We’re going to find out who they are today.”
My chest fluttered. “I know.”
The door to the imaging waiting room opened, and a woman in maroon scrubs stepped out.
“Nora Archibald?”
Theo and I looked at each other. From the look in his eyes, I could tell he was feeling everything I was.
Excitement.
Nerves.
Hope.
Theo stood first and held out his hand. “Ready to find out what we’re having?”
I took his hand and rose carefully. “I can’t wait.”
Later that night, after we celebrated Charlotte crushing her first day of kindergarten over dinner and dessert of her choice, we went into the living room for the little gender reveal that we had planned.
Just the three of us.
No balloons. No confetti cannons. No audience.
Just us.
Charlotte sat crisscross on the couch, her curls still a little wild from the wind outside.
“Okay,” Theo said, setting a gift bag on Charlotte’s lap. “Inside this bag are baby clothes.”
Charlotte’s eyes went huge.
“If the baby is a boy,” I added, “the clothes will be blue.”
“And if the baby is a girl,” Theo said, “they’ll be pink.”
Charlotte gasped like we’d just told her the baby was going to be a dragon.
As I held up my phone to record her reaction, Theo stepped behind me, arms wrapped around my rounded belly, his chin resting near my shoulder.
“Ready?” he asked.
Charlotte nodded hard.
“Okay,” Theo said. “You can open it up now.”
Charlotte squealed as she ripped the tissue paper out at record speed.
Then she froze, staring into the bag like it might bite her.
“It’s a…” she whispered. “It’s a…”
She reached in and pulled out a tiny blue onesie and matching little shorts, holding them up like a prize.
“Boy!” she shouted.
Theo let out a laugh that sounded like pure happiness, and my own chest went tight in the best way. Because there it was.
Real. Blue. Happening.
And for a second, Charlotte just stared at the outfit in awe, like it had finally clicked that this baby wasn’t just a word we’d been saying. It was a real human. A future. A little brother.
Theo crouched down in front of her, grinning. “What do you think, bug?”
“It’s okay.” Charlotte swallowed and nodded fast. “It’s okay it’s a boy.”
Theo’s gaze flicked up to mine for half a second, and I knew he heard it, too. The tiny edge of disappointment she was trying to be brave about.
Because she’d been talking for months about having a sister.
A sister she wanted to name Juicy.
Which… yeah. Thank goodness five-year-olds didn’t get naming rights.
I kept the phone up, recording, but my heart went soft.
Charlotte stared at the blue outfit again, like she was negotiating with the universe.
Then she perked up. “Can we name him Stinky Pete?”
Theo’s laugh burst out first, loud and helpless.
I covered my mouth, but it didn’t help. I was already laughing, too, tears gathering in my eyes from the combination of hormones and how ridiculous she was.
“You really think your brother should be named Stinky Pete?” Theo put a hand over his heart.
“Yes.” Charlotte nodded seriously. “That’s his name. My favorite name.”
Theo looked at me, eyes crinkled, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing.
Absolutely not.
But also, this kid was going to keep us entertained for the rest of our lives.
I leaned closer to Charlotte and brushed a kiss into her hair. “We’ll consider it.”