Epilogue
Gwen sat cross-legged on the sofa, both hands covering her eyes and a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“No peeking,” Keefe said from somewhere to her left, a thread of laughter woven through his voice.
“I’m not peeking.” She could hear him moving about the room, clearly trying to time this surprise just right.
“Okay, you can open your eyes…” Keefe said, waiting for just the right moment—when she looked her absolute cutest. “Now!”
Gwen dropped her hands and looked around. Nothing seemed different at first. Then?—
She heard it. A tiny, high-pitched sound.
Her eyes darted down—and her entire face lit up.
“A kitten! You got me a kitten! Come here, sweet little baby, come to mammy!”
The little bundle of fur currently dangling from Gwen’s pant leg by its tiny claws had completely stolen her focus. She nearly forgot Keefe was even in the room—which didn’t bother him a bit. The joy on her face was more than worth it.
Her expression made his chest feel too full for words. He would have bought a hundred kittens if it made her look at him like that every day.
“What’s your name, little one, huh?” she cooed, reaching down to gently scoop the fuzzball into her hands.
“Bessy,” Keefe answered for the fuzzy black-and-white face.
Gwen looked up, “No.”
“Oh, come on.”
“You cannot name our cat after your stove!” she said, laughing.
Keefe snickered. “Why not?”
Little Bessy, as Keefe would continue to call her no matter what Gwen decided, climbed up Gwen’s shoulder and into her hair like she’d found a new nest. Gwen winced and laughed, delicately detangling kitten claws from her curls.
It was as good a moment as any. Maybe the best.
“Um, Keefe...” Gwen hesitated, her voice suddenly softer, almost reverent. She looked up at him with something tender and brave in her eyes. “I kind of have a gift for you too.”
“Don’t tell me you got us a kitten too.” He grinned. Honestly, knowing her, he wouldn’t have been surprised.
“No, this is a gift for the both of us. Not a kitten but... it will be a baby.” She looked at him, her eyes glistening with tears barely held back.
She said it like a secret she’d been guarding with all her heart, and the moment the words landed, Keefe’s entire world shifted.
He sat up straight. “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded, tears glimmering in her eyes.
He sprang off the sofa, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re going to have a baby!” He grabbed the kitten just in time, gently setting her aside before diving in to kiss Gwen, who was already crying and laughing all at once.
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” she asked.
He took her face gently in his hands, thumbs brushing away the tears, staring into her eyes with a love so deep it stole her breath. “Cinniúint,” he whispered.
Her smile, in answer, was nothing short of radiant. “You’re damn right it’s fate.”
The engagement ring on her finger caught the light as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Keefe hadn’t even waited a week to propose.
One quiet morning, while she stood in the kitchen wearing his T-shirt and sipping her coffee, he’d dropped to one knee like it was the most natural thing in the world.
No speech. No plan. Just a man who loved her so completely, he couldn’t imagine wasting another day.
He hadn’t cared about perfect timing—he just knew.
She’d said yes without hesitation.
“What’s her name?” he asked, breathless with joy.
“Whose name? The baby? What makes you think it’s a girl?”
“Maybe it’s both. Oh, Jesus.” Now that was a scary thought. If karma really did come around with kids, he was so screwed.
Gwen laughed . “I hope it is.”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“Ah, that will be the family,” Keefe said, pressing his forehead to hers. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to scoop her into his arms and show her just how much he loved her.
But no. The family was here.
“Do we tell them the good news or the bad news first?” he asked.
“Hmm... ‘Hey, guess what? We’re having a baby!’ or ‘Hey, guess what? I have a brother who may or may not be out for blood.’”
They stayed like that, foreheads pressed together, breathing each other in. It was going to be okay.
Keefe exhaled slowly, one hand sliding down her arm, fingers lacing with hers.
“You ready?” he asked.
Gwen gave a shaky laugh. “Not even a little bit.”
He squeezed her hand.
Another ring of the doorbell echoed through the house, this time with a little more impatience. Someone out there—likely Sophie—was not in the mood to wait.
Gwen looked down at her belly, still flat but suddenly, impossibly precious. Then back up at him. “We can do this, right?”
“We’re already doing it.” Like everything with them, it had all come at once—in a hurricane. And neither of them would have it any other way.
He tugged her gently to her feet, then brushed a kiss across her temple.
Now, they just needed to answer the door.