Epilogue
TWO YEARS LATER: BLAKE
I opened my eyes as I usually did, a few minutes shy of six a.m. The first thing I did was stretch out my foot, to bump up on Claire’s foot as she slept beside me. Most mornings, she slept through that, but this morning, she woke. She smiled and stretched and rose up on one elbow, and the second she did, a door slammed down the hall. Footsteps came pounding, slapping on wood, then our door flew open and Oli charged in.
“Dad! Dad, wake up! It’s morning already, and I can’t find my shoes!”
“Whoa, hey, hey buddy.” I groaned and sat up. “You don’t need your shoes yet. You’ve still got hours.”
Oli jumped on the bed. “But school starts at eight! And Mike’s dad’ll be here by seven thirty. And it’s six already, so that’s, uh… that’s…” He counted on his fingers. “Less than two hours.”
“Your shoes are downstairs,” said Claire, rubbing her eyes. “I took them to polish them, so it’s okay. You’re fine.”
Oli tugged on my arm. “Come on, Dad. Get up!”
I threw off the covers. “Okay, I’m up. You pumped for school?”
Oli bounced on the balls of his feet. “Adam says we get cubbies to keep all our stuff. Not lockers, though. Only the big kids get lockers.”
“Cubbies are better, if you ask me,” said Claire. “Nothing worse than a lock when you’re too tired to focus, and you’re spinning that little dial, and you’re one number off…” She covered a yawn. “Could you grab his breakfast while I deal with this?”
It took me a moment to twig to what “this” was: Oli had dressed himself for his first day of school. He’d done a fine job, in the sense his clothes were on straight. His buttons and zippers were all done up right. But he’d picked out a bright orange dinosaur shirt, with a yellow vest over it, then bright blue pants. His socks were the ones he’d won a while back, at the ring toss at the county fair. They had little bells on them that chimed when he walked.
“I’ll make pancakes,” I said. “Blueberry, if you’re good.” I hoped that’d be enough incentive he’d get changed in peace, and I guessed it was, because I didn’t hear any yelling. Twenty minutes later, he came shuffling downstairs, long-faced in gray slacks and a button-down shirt. I saw Claire had let him keep his fun socks.
“You look amazing,” I said.
Oli stuck out his lower lip. “I look boring.”
“You look like a big kid, all ready for school.”
Claire grabbed a plate for him, and a couple of pancakes. She plunked them down in front of him. “Syrup or jam?”
“Syrup on one, then jam on the other.”
Claire poured his syrup, then spooned out his jam. She poured him some orange juice and frowned at his plate.
“Careful with those blueberries, with your nice new shirt.”
I mouthed a quick “sorry,” but Claire just smiled. She mussed up Oli’s hair, then smoothed it back into place. She was as excited as he was for his first day of school, but I could see from her fidgeting, she was nervous as well. And if I was honest, so was I. In about forty minutes, we’d hand over our baby, and he’d be in the school’s care for seven whole hours. A lot could happen in one hour, let alone seven. Oli could scrape his knees. Learn bad words. Lose his new pencil case. Flush his belt down the toilet. No teacher could watch every kid every damn minute.
“Hey, Oli?”
He looked up.
“What do you do if you ever get lost?”
Oli rolled his eyes at me, yeah, okay, Dad , but he chewed and swallowed and set down his fork. “I find an adult,” he said. “Tell them our number.”
Claire bit her lip. “And what’s our address?”
Oli sighed, but he rattled off our new address — just two doors down, as it happened, from our old one. We’d moved twice since I transferred back to the States, first to Claire’s parents’ guesthouse, then a place of our own. Claire’s neighbors had moved out and we’d moved in, and I’d put up a swing set in the backyard. It would be weird to look out there later this morning and not see Oli playing on the swings, or perched on the slide reading a book.
Claire came up behind me and leaned on my back. “I never believed Mom when she said they grow up too fast. I couldn’t wait , in his colic phase, for him to grow past that. But how is he five? Going to school?”
“We could have more,” I said. “Start the clock back again.”
Claire smacked my arm, but her smile was back. She watched Oli eating, neat as could be, leaning over his plate to catch any drips. “One more, maybe. In a couple of years. And if you think you’re exempt from those three a.m. feedings?—”
“I don’t think that.”
“We’ll make a schedule,” said Claire. “Stagger our shifts.”
I turned to her, surprised. “You’ve thought about this.”
“Maybe a little. You know, in case.”
I glanced at Oli. “I have, as well. I missed out on so much with him, and I’d love to?—”
“Dad?” Oli set down his fork, finished with breakfast. “Can I take a book to school? In case I get bored?”
“I’ve already packed you one. But I doubt you’ll get bored.” Claire went and sat with him and pulled him into a hug. “Mike’ll be there, and so will Adam. You can play at recess, and eat together at lunch. And you’re going to meet new friends, so you won’t be bored.”
Oli turned to hug her back and dragged his sleeve in his plate. I hurried him upstairs to grab a new shirt while Claire checked his bag again to make sure he was set. By the time we were through, Mike’s dad was honking. Claire hurried outside, Oli in tow.
“Do we have time for a photo before they head off?”
Mike’s dad leaned out and peered up the street. “The traffic’s not half as bad as I was expecting. We’re going to be early, so go ahead.”
Claire snapped a few shots of Oli with his school bag, then I snapped a few with them both together. Then Mike and his dad got out and we got a group shot, all of us yelling cheese as the timer went off.
“Guess it’s time,” said Claire, and bent to kiss Oli. He squirmed away.
“Mom!”
“Sorry, hon.” She caught him anyway and pressed a kiss to his head. “Have a great day, okay? And be good for your teacher.”
We stood hand-in-hand at our pretty white gate and watched Mike’s dad’s car disappear down the street. We watched the kids out of sight, then Claire wiped her eyes.
“What do we even do with ourselves? We took the day off for this, but what do we do? ” She laughed, thin and shaky, and I pulled her close.
“Well, if you’re up for it, I had an idea.”
“Sit by the phone all day biting our nails?”
I laughed. “Well, we could, or we could ride our new bikes.”
Claire’s brows knit with puzzlement, then her eyes went wide. “You actually did it? You went and got bikes?”
“Sure did.” I winked. “I thought we’d pack us a picnic and ride to the pond — and, before you ask, I walked down last week. My phone worked the whole way, all through the woods. So if you want to sit by yours biting your nails, you can still do that while we ride our bikes.”
Claire peered down the empty street, where Oli had gone. “He didn’t seem scared at all.”
“Because he knows he’s loved.” I leaned down and kissed her, a comforting peck. “He knows we’ll be waiting when he gets home, and if he needs us, we’re a phone call away.”
“It’s been so long since we took a day for ourselves.” Claire smiled, and her eyes were bright. “You know what? Let’s do it. Let’s have a date.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding for what felt like all morning. I’d been planning today since we took Oli school shopping. I’d spotted the bikes and thought, if not now, when? I could wait for the perfect time — when Claire passed her boards. When my fellowship ended, and I knew what came next. Right now, it was looking like a teaching position, still with the Army, here in the States. But after Claire’s boards, she’d be busier than ever. I’d be adjusting to a new, hectic schedule, my surgical lineup, plus teaching hours. Today was the day, and the perfect day for it, the sun shining bright, not a cloud in the sky.
“I’ll just call Mom,” said Claire. “Let her know Oli’s off.”
“And sunscreen,” I said, and kissed her again. “Don’t forget sunscreen. It’s going to be hot.”
I packed up our lunch, and soon we were off. We rode slow and easy through the shady green woods, over the bridge by the stream near the farm. I rode behind Claire so I’d see if she wobbled, or if it looked like she needed a break. But she rode on with her hair streaming out, her perfect white sneakers pumping the pedals. Sometimes, I thought I caught a snatch of a song, Claire singing her happiness into the breeze.
We rode through the morning and finished up at the pond, and we both took our shoes off at the end of the dock. We dangled our feet in the summer-warm water, and Claire laughed when a minnow swam up for a nibble.
“I’m glad we did this,” she said. “We should go out more often.”
“We’ll have time now.” I shifted so our knees bumped. “Not for a cruise, maybe, but that’s for old folks. We can start having date nights. Maybe a weekend. Maybe a honeymoon, if…”
Claire stiffened. “What?”
I wanted to kick myself. I’d jumped the gun. I’d planned it all out, how this would unfold, our bike ride, then lunch, then a fancy dessert. And then, I would pull out the little blue box, and I’d pop it open, and Claire would say yes.
She flicked me. “Ex- cuse me. A honeymoon? Did I miss your proposal?”
I groaned. “No, hold on. Wait right there.”
“What?”
I hauled myself up and jogged back to our bikes, leaving wet footprints all down the dock.
“Blake? Are you serious? What are you doing?”
I dug through our lunch stuff and pulled out the box, and tramped back down the pier.
“Wait, no, hold on!”
I plopped to one knee. “Nope, you know what? This is happening right now. It’s not how I planned it, but neither was Oli. Neither was how we met, or how you asked me out, or that first Thanksgiving, or us meeting in the park. But it’s all led us here, and Claire, I’m so happy. I’ve never been happier in my whole life. I come home every night, and I can’t believe I’m so lucky, to come home to Oli. To come home to you. To come home to your mom and dad painting our kitchen.”
Claire laughed at that. I popped the box open.
“You know I’m all in. I’m yours all the way. And I want to stand up in front of our family and friends and let the whole world know I love you so much. I love you so much, Claire. Will you marry me?”
Claire’s lovely eyes glistened. She blinked back tears. “You even have to ask? Of course I will. Yes. Now, get that ring on me before a fish jumps and grabs it.” She held out her hand and I slid the ring on her.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said.
“How corny would I be if I said ‘not as gorgeous as you?’”
Claire rolled her eyes, but she took both my hands. She pulled me up off my knees and kissed me long and deep, and when she pulled back, she was fairly glowing.
“I can’t wait to be married to you.”
I couldn’t wait either, for all of it: our wedding, our honeymoon, and our next baby. Our whole lives together, the good and the bad. Whatever our next chapter held, we’d write it together. We were strong. We were family. I’d never wanted more than that.
The End