Epilogue
Aaron
There’s something about this party that’s a bit reminiscent of the wedding that kicked off this whole domino chain. Paige and I planned a backyard party for Noah and his friends—mainly our friends.
Every time I see her across the lawn, I want to rush to her side and hide beneath the cake table with her again. Last time we did that, we were strangers. But we are much more now.
I could steal as many kisses as I want, run my hand up her thigh, and I know I won’t get more than a playful swat here in public. And something much, much better in private later.
“Help me get these chairs out of the garage,” Zachary yells to me from the garage. It’s just enough to break me out of my reverie about how good I have it right now.
“How does it feel to be hosting a kid’s party?” he asks when we’re alone in the garage, trying to carry as many chairs as we can back to the yard.
“Surreal. Maybe it’s different for women? They actually gave birth to the kids, and we just raise them,” I muse.
“Yeah, it’s like women come out of the womb knowing how to make cupcakes and play pin the tail on the donkey.” Zachary rolls his eyes. “Speaking of which, Paige didn’t make the cupcakes, right?”
“I made the cupcakes,” I promise. “She offered her support after the task was over.”
“I really didn’t need to hear that,” Zachary says, hustling to put some distance between us.
“She washed the dishes. Get your head out of the gutter.”
He gives me a knowing look, one that says he knows exactly what we did once the kitchen was clean. And he isn’t wrong. Paige and I spend almost every day together. I sleep here most nights because it is easier for Noah, even though he has a room at my place.
The yard is filling up quickly with everyone I know and love from Crown Hill. The firefighters were the first to show up, eager to help with setup and hit the open bar. They’re good people, and I’m glad that Levi encouraged me to let my guard down around them.
Paige’s family is here: Levi, her mom, and Mr. Oakley, who might as well be family. He is sitting in the middle of the fray with his puppy on a leash beside him. Paige somehow managed to convince the old man he needed a companion when she wasn’t around.
She had already adopted one of the rescued puppies, claiming it was for Noah. The other, she managed to foist on poor, unsuspecting Mr. Oakley. Despite the way she twisted his arm, he does seem to love the puppy. He seems happier and more active these days with him.
“What are you thinking?” Paige asks, coming up behind me and casually looping her arm through mine.
“I was just thinking about how incredibly lucky we are.”
My eyes mist at the truth in those words. I wasn’t planning on saying them aloud, but it is true. I have everything I need.
“We’re still waiting for a few people before we cut the cake,” Paige says, looking at her watch. “They should be here soon. We’re just a little early—firefighters and their punctuality.”
Her small laugh is interrupted by a much louder laugh coming through the side gate. It takes me a minute to piece it all together: Paige has invited my family to Noah’s party.
My heart swells as my worlds come together.
“Son!” My dad is the first one in the yard, running over to wrap me in one of his famous hugs. “I’m so proud of you. This family. This party. This is what we always wanted for you.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I tell him, my voice thick with emotion.
His greeting is followed by a similar one from my mom and my two brothers. My little sister reaches out and takes Noah from Paige’s mom, as if he belongs with her. My sister, an auntie.
Everything about this makes me want to explode.
“Time for cake!” Paige announces. She has been waiting for the whole gang to get here, but Noah is growing antsy. “Everyone put on a party hat for the big moment!”
Everyone reaches for the small cardboard party hats at the place settings. I even grab a blue one with elastic that barely stretches under my chin. I’m worried I’ll pop it and cause Noah to cry, so I resolve not to open my mouth too wide.
Paige’s mom comes out of the house bearing the cake, and the singing commences.
Noah sits in the chair of honor, clapping his hands and cooing with glee at the cake in front of him. We sing the song quickly, and Paige encourages him to blow out the two lit candles on his cake. He tries, only to blow spit bubbles on the fondant.
“Let’s help him out,” Paige tells me. “On three. One. Two. Three.”
We lean in over Noah’s shoulders and blow out the tiny candles. The smoke that curls up from the cake amazes Noah, but not as much as the first colorful cupcake that lands on his plate.
He dives into the blue frosting with gusto, covering his fists and face with the sugar. We all laugh, Paige and I thinking about the bath we will have to give him later. It’s worth it to make a memory like this one, a new photo to add to the scrapbook.
Summer and Zachary eat their cupcakes delicately, no doubt thinking about their own similar experiences with Ella.
Noah finishes his cupcake. Paige wipes off his hands and lifts him out of the chair so he can run with his cousins and friends. She takes this opportunity to sidle up to me. I lean down to kiss the top of her head, but she tilts it back.
My lips land right on hers. It reminds me of the fake kiss I gave her at Zachary and Summer’s wedding not so long ago. Only this time, I don’t have to hide anything about it. Paige belongs to me, and every single person in this backyard knows it.
I lean down and part my lips to welcome her in. She surprises me by pulling me in closer, her fingers tangled in the back of my hair. We kiss until the only air around us is the air we have to share.
A catcall from some of the guys at the station jolts us back to the present.
Paige pulls back, a bit embarrassed at the loss of self-control in such a public place. Today is supposed to be about Noah, but he’s having a good time with the other kids, regardless of what Paige and I do.
I pull her into my side as she tries to squirm away. “Tell me the truth. Are you happy?”
She looks up at me with wide eyes, surprised by the question. “I thought the answer would have been obvious. I’m happier than I ever thought possible.”
She pulls away from me a little to straighten a bouquet of flowers on the table. I told her those flowers were a waste of money on a kid’s birthday party, but she didn’t listen. She was right, though; they really make the place look classier.
Her voice is so small when she speaks that I don’t think I hear her properly. “I think I might have casually fallen in love with you.”
Then she freezes, waiting for me to respond.
At first, I say nothing because I don’t want to ruin such a perfect moment. But my heart leaps in my chest, and I have to say something.
“Kind of you to notice.” I shrug, as if I get this kind of news every day. “I casually wanted to worship the ground you walk on the moment I saw you stuck on that bed.”
Paige swats at me with a laugh, her skin pink with the memory. But she leans in and kisses me anyway, a tender kiss that holds memories of everything we’ve been through. The unlikely story that brought us together. The threads that continue to bind us.
And I know that no matter how much I could have tried to anticipate this, Paige would have always surprised me.
“Maybe tonight we can reenact an old favorite story?” she murmurs as quietly as she can.
Except we’re in a small yard full of nosy friends and family. Summer and Zachary laugh, already knowing how we met but not quite anticipating that we are into that. Paige’s mother turns tomato red. Clearly, she isn’t ready to hear more.
Levi, sensing a good joke on the horizon, asks whether we would be the traditional three-act Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Personally, I think the second act is the best one. You could skip the rest if you’re short on time.”
“Nice try, Levi,” I laugh and clap him on the shoulder before I head to the drinks cart. “But we’re definitely not short on anything.”
He nearly spits out the tonic water in his cup, thinking about his sister that way. Maybe that’s why he follows me to the cart for some liquor this time around. One drink won’t kill him during a celebration.
The bartender fills our glasses—mine with Jack and Coke, his a dry martini—and we head back to the party.
“Looks like you have found a place in Crown Hill, after all,” Levi says, turning to face me in a quiet corner. “I hope you’ll be around for a long time.”
“I’ll be around as long as she is.”
Paige stands across the yard, looking stunning in a sundress that she would have thought was two inches too short a few weeks ago. She is finally starting to acknowledge that she has needs as an adult, outside of her son. And right now, she needs me.
I excuse myself from Levi and make my way to her. I pull her into me, she looks up, and I kiss her. Breathless. Countless.
This is a life I could get used to.
The End?