Epilogue
Caleb
“Look!” Sam said, pointing to the baseball field in front of us. “Joseph grew.” It was a sweltering Saturday in August, the sun casting golden rays across the slightly burnt-out grass just as it should on a hot summer evening, the bleachers around us were filled with the sounds of happy parents and grandparents and kids. The Little League team on the field was dressed in blue and bright, clean white that was undoubtedly going to be grass stained and dusty really soon. Joseph stood behind the fence laughing and clowning around with his teammates, his skinny legs in white pants with blue-and-white baseball socks. Notably not limping.
Just like me. I’d gotten my cast off. Finally.
“An inch since winter,” his mom Terry called up from the bleacher below us.
Joseph looked up, grinning and waving at us, giving giant thumbs up. We did the same right back.
“He’s so excited to have his doctors here today,” his mom said. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for inviting us,” I said. “We wouldn’t miss it.”
Next to me on the bleachers, Samantha squeezed my hand. She wore white shorts and sunglasses, her hair high up in a ball cap with her ponytail sticking out the back. I touched her lightly on her leg, still in awe that she was mine. “Hey,” I said, unable to stop smiling.
“Hey back,” she said with a giant smile.
That made my heart expand to bursting—it felt like that a lot lately—making me utter a silent prayer of thanks. I shook my head in disbelief. Was she really mine?
“You okay? Anything wrong?” she asked. She knew I’d been excitedly anticipating this day. Now that it was here, I was a little anxious.
“I just want Joseph to smack it out of the ballpark.” I made a big arc with my hand.
She shook her head, but she was still smiling. “Would you settle for a little less?”
“No.” That made her laugh.
“Remind me not to sign our kids up for Little League. You might be one of those super aggressive parents.” She looked me over, noting my tapping foot, my inability to sit still. “He’s going to be fine,” she said. “You know that, right?”
She looked so beautiful I wanted to kiss her right then and there. In fact, I did, good and quick. In my mind, I was half-tugging her down to the bleachers, kissing her everywhere.
I whispered something in her ear that made her blush.
“Why are you grinning like that?” she asked.
“It’s so easy to get you flustered.”
“It’s so easy to get you flustered,” she said right back.
True. “Honey, you can get me flustered any time you want.” Nothing to argue about there. She was one hundred percent right. “I’m glad we’re here for this together.”
She squeezed my hand. “Me too.”
“I’m a little nervous,” I confessed. “Hope he does well.” My gaze drifted to the bottom row of bleachers. “Well, I’ll be,” I said, sort of speechless. “Look who’s here.” I nodded my head to where Lilly sat, dressed all in white with big designer sunglasses propped up on her head.
“Why on earth is Lilly at a Little League game in suburban Milwaukee?” Sam asked.
Just then, she looked up and waved. So did the guy next to her.
“No,” Sam said, her mouth dropping open. “She’s dating Tyler ?”
I shrugged. Guess she’d learned zero. But you know what? Lilly wasn’t our concern anymore. I only wished her well.
“Glad Ani’s not here,” Sam added.
Ani was doing okay. Working a lot of extra shifts lately to keep busy, but we made her get out and try to have some fun. She was tough, and I knew she’d be okay.
I waved back. So did Sam.
“You’re pretty amazing,” I said.
“Why’s that?”
I looked into her warm brown eyes. “You don’t hold grudges.”
“What for?” she said. “I got you. The rest doesn’t matter.”
She was right about that—that we had each other. I snuck a kiss and squeezed her hand, and was going in for another kiss when someone said, “Which one’s your little patient?”
Wynn grinned and waved, taking the seat beside Sam, who gave her a big squeeze.
“Hey, Docs,” Miles said, sitting in front of Wynn, hauling a canvas bag on his shoulder that he set down on the bleachers beside him.
“Hey, Miles,” Sam and I both said in unison.
“I was hoping you’d bring Dora,” Wynn said. “Who’s dog sitting?”
“Mrs. Von Gulag,” I said. Turned out she couldn’t resist our dog. Who knew she was a dog lover? Even though she’d raised our rent too, according to her dog clause, which she’d promptly made up on the spot. So a win-win for her. At least until we found a less restrictive place, which hopefully would be soon.
“What’s in the beach bag?” I asked.
“Wynn’s sun block.” Miles beamed at Wynn. “Want some?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so protective.”
“I just like taking care of you.” He beamed up at her. I knew that look.
She pushed his shoulder, and he fake-doubled over. Wynn laughed and gave him a look. The same one that he’d just given her.
“Can I borrow some?” Sam asked. “My nose is burning.” She reached over and took the tube from Miles. She just so happened to have her hand on Wynn’s arm. Not so accidentally, I’d bet.
I lifted a brow. “I thought you stopped doing that,” I said in a low voice.
She answered with a shrug. I’d bet it was highly positive. It was hard to hate Miles. And he did tend to take care of Wynn, even if she didn’t need it. He was surprisingly mature for his age.
“What’d you get?” I whispered after a while.
“Mr. Right-for-Now. I mean, come on. They’re in college.”
I laughed. What did I know about young love? Anything could happen.
Turns out Wynn was taking care of herself too. She’d passed summer semester calculus. And quit the perfume job. She was all signed up for organic chemistry in the fall. And the MCAT, too, next spring. Guess another Bashar sister was going to join the medical profession.
“Here goes,” Joseph’s dad, Henry, said, and we all turned with anticipation to the field.
Sam grabbed my hand. I could tell she was holding her breath. She glanced at me and smiled. “No limp so far,” she said. “Good job there, Doc.”
I nodded. “We’ll see how he runs.” That was the true test.
Strike one. Then strike two. I found myself leaning forward, gripping the bleacher hard, wanting to mentally help him strike the ball. Suddenly he smacked it good and hard, sending it skittering out into left field, past the first and third basemen, leaving the outfielders to scramble.
I rose to a stand—we all did—Sam, Wynn, Miles, Joseph’s parents—and I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Run, Joe, run!”
We all screamed. And cheered. And kept cheering because Joseph kept running. With perfect strides indistinguishable from any of the other boys.
That to me was a success right there.
But the kid overachieved—he ran through all the bases and even dove into home base, rifling up the dust.
The crowd went wild. His mom shed tears. So did I. Sam hugged me into oblivion.
“He did it,” she said, beaming.
“He sure did.” I was so proud.
“You did it too. Your surgery gave him a normal life.”
I shrugged, but I was overwhelmed. Medicine really could work miracles. And when it did, there was no better feeling. “It was just a bunch of power tools.”
“Look, Dr. Caleb,” Joseph yelled from the field, now dusty and out of breath. “I got a home run! I got a home run!”
“You sure did, buddy,” I yelled right back.
As I headed out with Sam after the game, I said, “Maybe I’ll coach Little League one day. In Oak Bluff. What do you think?”
“I like that idea,” she said. “I like it a lot.”
I hadn’t asked her to marry me yet. But we both had one foot in Oak Bluff, with the potential for both feet someday. We were both working one day a week out there—Fridays—Sam in the new surgery center run by Children’s, and me with Dr. Blumenthal’s group. For now, that was a good plan. And we often stayed over on Friday nights with my folks, so win-win.
“Maybe we can take the truck out later and watch the sunset. What do you think?”
She squinted at me as the late-afternoon sun got in our eyes. “Is that a pickup line?”
“I’ve got a better one too.” I held her hand as we walked.
“What is it?”
“That home run was amazing. But I hit a home run too. By finding you.”
We stopped on the field. She looked at me, her pretty brown eyes full of light and love. “Aw. You are such a romantic. I love your pickup lines. But I love one thing more.”
“What’s that?”
“You.”
She kissed me as the sun was setting past the backstop on this fine summer evening. Maybe tonight we’d hang out and watch the stars. Or scour the internet for new apartments. Or just hang out and read or watch TV. The possibilities were endless, because our future together was just beginning.
* * *
Samantha
Four months later
“Wanna dance?” Caleb smiled at me as he tossed his napkin onto the elegant white-tablecloth-covered table.
“Of course.” It was New Year’s Eve—our last one in Milwaukee. This spring, I was going to start working full time in Oak Bluff, after having gotten Wynn’s blessing, of course. After all, she loved it there too—Beth and Steven had essentially adopted both of us.
Besides, Caleb and I were going to start house hunting soon, and I was already planning on finding one with a cute bedroom just for Wynn. Just so that she knew beyond a doubt—and I felt certain that she did—that she would always be welcome, no matter where she was or how old or in what stage of life.
Caleb led me onto the dance floor, which was crowded with couples of all ages dressed up in their New Year’s Eve finery.
As we danced a couples’ dance, he checked his watch, seeming a little nervous. It was sweet to bring me here, to this fancy place that cost a fortune, so that he could redeem himself at midnight, he’d said. I would’ve been happy with a pizza and a movie, but he’d insisted. I knew he wanted to make certain that we didn’t miss that midnight kiss.
I think it was on his bucket list for us to have a fun New Year’s Eve.
He’d been anxious all through dinner, repeatedly checking his watch, tapping his fingers on the table, tugging on his tie. Granted, he didn’t often wear a tie, so putting one on was a big deal.
It had crossed my mind that he might have something bigger in mind than a kiss at midnight, but that started making me really nervous, and I didn’t want to lose the enjoyment of this moment. So I tried not to think of it, even as my heart started a heavy, rapid thud in my chest.
Then “It Had to Be You” started playing. The Harry Connick Jr. version, just like in When Harry Met Sally .
“Let’s dance,” he said, his voice full of anticipation.
“It’s nearly midnight,” I noted. When we were finally on the dance floor, I said, “I think Harry and Sally danced to this song.”
“They didn’t dance. They fought to this song. And then the countdown was over, so they missed the midnight kiss too.”
“Well, we’re definitely not going to.” I smiled, half because I couldn’t have been happier and half because I wanted to reassure him of that. I decided that even if he was planning to ask me The Question, he probably wouldn’t do it during the dance at midnight.
Would he?
For a little while, we danced cheek to cheek. My heart was overwhelmed with joy. I didn’t care about fancy dinners, and I had no stress about missing a midnight kiss. After all, I could have kisses from him whenever I wanted them. I had Caleb. And he was all I wanted.
He pulled back a little to look at me. He looked so broad-shouldered, so intensely handsome, that I would’ve gladly skipped midnight and gone home with him right then. “Do you remember that once you asked me how a person knows someone’s the right person?”
Uh oh. “I think at the time I was asking how you knew Lilly was the One.”
Things were starting to add up in my mind. The fancy evening out, his insistence that we dance right then and there, and now this sketchy attempt at reminding me of relationships. Something big felt about to happen.
As I pressed my cheek against his, he said, “Okay, forget the Lilly part, but I remember how I answered. I said that your true love is someone who gets you. Who has your back no matter what. Who you miss when you’re not with them, because you find yourself wanting to tell them all the little things that happen throughout your day. Who’s kind and smart and fun.”
It had taken zero time for tears to gather. When I drew back, I found that Caleb was looking directly into my eyes. His expression was hopeful. Expectant. And full of love. “That about says it all,” I said, my voice cracking.
“Not all,” he said.
The music stopped. “Ten, nine,” began a loud chanting chorus around us.
“That’s you, Samantha. You’re the One.”
My vision blurred as the tears leaked down my cheeks. The noise around us muted, and suddenly Caleb was slipping out of my hands.
“Six, five…”
He dropped to one knee, right there on the crowded dance floor with everyone counting down all around us. “I’ll have your back in life no matter what. Every day, I want to tell you all the things that amuse me, or worry me, or interest me. I want you to be the last person I talk to every night. Forever. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Easiest answer evah .
“Happy New Year!” crescendoed loudly all around us. The band began playing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Someone handed us something. Glasses of champagne. The someone turned out to be Caleb’s dad. He gave us a little wave. I looked around to find everyone surrounding us—Beth, Mia and Brax, Ani, Gabe and Jason, and Wynn and Miles.
I locked gazes with Mia—a grateful gaze meaning thank you —after all, she was the one who’d run and told Beth everything that awful night when Ani was so upset. Everyone needs a friend like that, who is a sister in every way except for the shared genes.
I clinked glasses with Caleb and went to take a sip.
“Wait,” he said, his expression a little panicked.
“What is it?”
“Better look down first.”
At the bottom of the flute there was an object. Shiny and twinkling. Some kind of giant honker of a ring that I couldn’t even see very well because of the bubbles, but I knew it was gorgeous.
“Oh my gosh.”
The rest was a blur. Our families cheered and clapped. We kissed until I was weak-kneed and dizzy and felt as if I was made of champagne bubbles as all the noise and cheering continued happily all around us.
Wynn came up behind me and roped an arm around me and Caleb. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. “Wynn,” I said in a warning voice.
“You people are smokin’, you know that?” She took her hands off of us and shook them out, as if her hands were hot to the touch.
“I thought we agreed not to do that anymore.” I still had PTSD from doing it with Lilly, so it was fine with me that Wynn take over the matchmaking. But once in a while, I confess, I did sneak in a quick one, just in emergency cases where I just had to know.
I mean, Oma would have wanted me too, right? When it was absolutely necessary. Or thereabouts.
“I can’t help it,” Wynn said. “I can feel the energy. Congrats, new brother.” She kissed Caleb on the cheek. “Oma would love Caleb,” she whispered to me, and then planted a kiss on my cheek too. “Love you.”
“Love you too. So much.” My heart was full. Somehow a person who didn’t believe in love had gotten myself a family and a much better relationship with my sister and someone to love. Oh, and not to mention an adorable little dog.
Our family and friends left us to dance one alone. Caleb kissed me, then put his cheek once again next to mine. I felt his warmth, his big arms surrounding me. “I still believe that unicorns poop rainbows.”
I pulled back fast. “What?”
“Magic. I believe that love is magic. Maybe we create it between us, but it’s definitely there. I think you and Wynn pick up on that energy.”
“You’re a hopeless romantic.”
“Probably always will be.”
“That’s okay. As long as you keep loving me.” And then I kissed him again, longer and less PG since our whole family wasn’t watching this time. To ring in the new year and our new life.