Epilogue
“Oh, my gosh,” Massima gushed, clasping her hands to her chest as she practically jumped into Piper’s path. “Are you ready?”
Piper let out a nervous laugh. “Yes. And also no.”
She glanced around Bellham’s Café taking stock of the decorations, where everyone was, if there were enough string lights… just every tiny detail. This had to be perfect.
Ford paused beside the two of them and held up an armful of placards. “You want these lining the path to the counter, right?”
Piper bit her lip, hesitating. She’d been planning this thing for so long now, but what if it was too much? What if it wasn’t enough? Was it even possible to give August everything she deserved? Piper didn’t think so, but she’d spent every day of the last year trying her best to give August the world. Today was no different on that front, but today was also bigger stakes, a bigger event, something they’d remember for the rest of their lives.
“Yes,” Hermes said, stepping up to direct Ford. “Piper’s having a momentary breakdown over the idea of your sister turning her down, even though that’s literally never going to happen. So, why don’t you and I take control over arranging these?”
Piper sent him a grateful, terrified look.
She didn’t really think August would turn her down—she wouldn’t be proposing if she thought it was even remotely possible, and they’d spoken at length about their life plans and desire to get married, and, and, and… she was still terrified that she was doing it wrong or that August might say no. Because, it turned out, actually proposing was a little bit terrifying and a lot exciting.
She wanted to marry August so badly. She wanted to spend her life with August, and she knew August felt the same way, but there was something about putting yourself out there that was always a little nerve-wracking, even when it was with exactly the right person. Not to mention the fact that she’d decided to do it in front of her parents and all of their friends.
Initially, she’d thought she’d do it just the two of them, but, then, she’d come to understand how much it mattered to have their friends there, how much August needed to see that their friends and Piper’s parents loved and supported both of them in the big moments and the small ones. August had come a long way over the last year, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still haunted by the weird dynamic her own biological family had. So, Piper had decided to do this together, to have their loved ones witness the proposal, to have August surrounded by her loud, loving, chaotic chosen family as Piper asked her that most important question.
“We’re here!” her parents yelled, bursting through the front door of Bellham’s Café.
“Hi,” Piper breathed, grinning at the fact that they were both dressed to the nines.
Her mom had gone for a black, floor-length gown with purple flowers all over it. Her dad, however, had gone for a suit that was clearly patterned, but, up close, revealed itself to be covered in butterflies.
“This place is adorable,” April said, pulling Piper into a tight hug. “I can’t believe we’re finally visiting the place where you and August first met! How magical.”
Piper nodded, glancing over to the counter. She and August had been frequent patrons over the last year, and, when she’d been thinking about where to propose, she couldn’t think of a better spot. Luckily, the owners were more than interested when she reached out and asked if they’d be willing to close early one night to allow her to take over the place and propose.
“Do you like my suit?” her dad asked, gesturing to himself as he stuck a leg out to model it better.
Piper grinned. “It’s beautiful.”
“And symbolic,” he said, winking. “Over the past year, August has been like a beautiful butterfly emerging from her chrysalis.”
“Oh.” Piper smiled softly at her dad, a lump in her throat. “That’s really beautiful, Dad. Thank you.”
He grinned widely and pulled her into a hug.
It meant the world to her how much her parents had taken to August and how they parented her. Piper hadn’t seen August’s parents since that Saturday morning when they’d burst into her apartment and demanded Ford’s new address but it had stuck with her.
The day her parents met August, they’d asked about her job, but they’d asked questions about what she does, whether she likes it, if she has a good work-life balance. When August’s parents had asked about her job, they’d only cared if she was getting another promotion. Piper’s parents saw August, they loved her as a whole person, and August had told her more than once what that meant to her. Piper had seen it helping to transform August over the last year, but to have her parents see it too, that was really special.
“Ah, how are our boys?” April said, spotting Hermes and Ford still setting up the placards.
They both turned to fuss over ‘their boys’, and Piper turned on the spot, taking the moment in. Not one part of her had expected to fall in love with the woman she’d end up marrying when she’d walked in a year ago, looking for a woman with brown hair, but here they were.
Her phone rang. August. Even with the nerves, the sight of her face lighting up the screen, knowing she was on the other end of the line, was so soothing and exciting all at the same time, even after almost a year of dating.
“It’s August,” she called, alerting everyone to keep the noise down.
Měilíng let out an involuntary, excited squeal before clamping a hand over her mouth and laughing into her partner Noah’s shoulder.
Piper held back a laugh as she answered the call.
“Hello, gorgeous,” August said, sounding carefree.
Piper sighed, relaxing into August’s happiness. “Hello, beautiful.”
“I just got your message—you want to eat out?”
She hummed. “Yeah, I’m really feeling Bellham’s. What do you think?”
August laughed softly. “I think you’re ridiculously romantic.”
“I know,” Piper said, drawing out the word. “And I know we said we were having a cozy night in tonight and going there on the weekend to celebrate, but it’s today, and I want to be there with you.”
“Sounds perfect. Want me to pick you up on the way?”
“Nah, that’s okay, I’m already pretty close.”
“Oh, you were already on your way there, huh?”
“Maybe.”
August laughed again. “I love you, you hopeless little romantic.”
“I love you too,” Piper said, feeling the words in every part of her body.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Massima practically swoon at her words, gripping Shea’s arm for dear life.
“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” August said. “And I can’t wait to see you.”
“You too.” Piper looked around. Fifteen minutes. That was enough time.
August wrapped the call up and, after checking three times that the line had disconnected, Piper announced her ETA to the room.
There was a rush of activity, a flurry of voices and decorations, and, with seven minutes remaining, the place was ready.
Shea cleared her throat behind Piper’s back when Piper was staring at the placards with teary eyes—an exhibition of her year with August. Important dates, adventures, quiet, sweet Saturday mornings, late, busy Friday nights… All of the minutes that made up a life together laid out in the place they first met, forming a path from the door to the counter, where Piper would be waiting for her on a carpet of rose petals.
“I think it’s time for these,” Shea said, and even she was unable to hide her giant grin at the romance of the moment.
Piper looked from Shea’s face to the tan coat and red beret she was holding out. She nodded, pulling the coat on.
“She’s going to say yes,” Shea assured her.
“Hell yeah, she is,” Ford yelled from over by the tables.
Shea laughed. “She’s just as obsessed with you as you are with her, and you’re about to get everything you’ve ever wanted.”
Tears sprung up in Piper’s eyes. She’d usually come up with a witty retort for Shea but, today, she found she didn’t have one. All she had was more love for August than she’d ever known it was possible to feel for someone.
She pulled the beret on, looking over Shea’s black lace blazer that looked like an intricate, risqué tattoo on her skin. It fit a little too well to have been something she bought randomly, just for this occasion. Piper wasn’t going to ask questions right now. Later, maybe. But, also, maybe that was just Shea.
She got into position, leaning on the counter with her phone out, and waited for August, just as she had been, without realizing it, one year ago.
She spotted August walking towards the door with enough time to send her a quick text: Tan coat. Red beret. Completely in love with you
August looked overwhelmed as she stepped through the door, phone in hand, already knowing something was different. She laughed, tearing up as she took in the decorations, and her eyes lingered on the boards that led her to Piper.
After each one, her gaze bounced to Piper and she took a step closer, clearly torn between wanting to take in every detail and simply running at Piper to sweep her up into a kiss.
Piper tried not to adjust her stance too much as she waited. She didn’t want to crush the petals before she’d even managed to propose. Now that August was here, though, she was feeling a lot less nervous. This made sense. Everything about the two of them did. They’d had their first conversation here and, from those very first words, it all just fit. Now, there was nothing in the world that made more sense than the fact that she was about to propose to August Carmichael.
“Happy anniversary,” August whispered, her voice teary when she finally made it to Piper.
“Happy anniversary,” Piper replied, looking up at her adoringly. She had never seen anything as beautiful as August and that was never going to change.
August laughed, gesturing to their friends and family. “I can’t believe you did all of this.”
Piper bit her bottom lip, taking August’s face in her hands. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, August.”
Tears broke free of August’s eyes, running down her face, and even that was impossibly beautiful.
“You know I feel the same way about you, too, don’t you?” she asked, her voice husky with emotion.
Piper nodded. She did know that. She knew it down to her bones and it made her feel like the luckiest person in the universe. She took a breath, moving to hold August’s hands. “August, one year ago, I stood here and sent a message to someone I was supposed to be meeting. It turned out I was sending that message to the wrong person entirely, but, somehow, the universe figured that out and intervened. I don’t know how it happened and, honestly, I have no interest in questioning it, because that day, I met you and you are everything I’ve ever been looking for. You are my best friend, the love of my life, and the only one I want by my side for whatever comes next.”
She kissed August’s hands and reached into her pocket to pull out a ring box—red, just like her beret.
August gasped as if she hadn’t been completely sure what was happening until that very moment. “Piper…” she breathed.
Piper smiled at her and dropped to one knee on the bed of red petals. “I know hard times will come, but so will good ones, and the good ones will be infinitely more plentiful with you in my life. And, if you say yes, I will do everything in my power to make your life everything you’ve ever dreamed of and more because you deserve to be adored , August, for every day of your life.”
“Why would I ever say no ?” August asked, her voice low and confused and amused.
Piper laughed and opened the box, not missing that August didn’t even look at the ring, her eyes locked on Piper’s. They’d look at it later, revel in it later, but, right now, it was just about the two of them. “Well, then… August Carmichael, will you marry me?”
August started laughing and crying, nodding wildly. “Of course! Of course I’ll marry you. Yes!”
She dropped to the floor with Piper, being just cautious enough not to send the ring flying as their lips found each other, arms wrapping tight around the one thing they both loved above all others.
The room erupted in cheers and Piper knew her mom would be taking a ridiculous amount of pictures. She couldn’t wait to see every single one of them.
She and August pulled apart and she moved to slip the ring on August’s finger—a perfect fit since they’d both had their fingers measured for exactly this eventuality.
August finally looked at it and her breath hitched. It was the exact one she’d pointed out to Piper six months ago. “It’s perfect.” She looked back up at Piper. “ You’re perfect.”
Piper laughed. “Hey, I think I’m the lucky one here.”
“Not at all.” She shook her head, getting up from the floor and helping Piper up. “I knew I should have swung by the apartment and picked up your ring on the way here.”
Piper paused on her way to press another kiss to August’s lips. “You already have it?”
“Of course I do. I’ve had it for the last five-and-a-half months. And you just beat me to the punch.”
“You were going to propose this weekend?” Piper laughed, already knowing the answer.
“I was indeed.” She wrapped her arms around Piper’s back and pulled her in close. “But I’m not sorry it went like this. And I’ll still propose. You deserve it.”
Piper kissed her eagerly. “I don’t know how I get to spend my life with you, but I’m not ever giving that up.”
Their loved ones descended on them, a whirlwind of hugs and kisses and congratulations and Piper knew she’d absolutely made the right decision by doing this with them present. It wasn’t for everyone but it was for them.
“Oh, I’m so happy for you! And so jealous,” Massima laughed. “It’s all romantic and lovely, and I can’t wait to find my person.”
Piper giggled, snuggling into August’s side. “You know, I had to go on a lot of rough dates to find the right one. I know you’ll get there soon.”
“Oh, tell me about it,” Noah said, laughing. “Měilíng got lucky the first time, but I’d been on some weird dates before we met. You get there in the end, though.”
August breathed a laugh as she was nuzzling the top of Piper’s head and, even through the beret, the warm sensation sent a shudder through Piper.
“Maybe you should do what these two did and find a friend you can message after a bad date. It seems to have helped,” Shea suggested.
Massima lit up. “I would love that, but I don’t know who I’d ask.”
Shea shrugged. “I’ll do it. It’s not like I don’t go on bad dates, too. Might be nice to have someone designated to complain to about them.”
“Are you serious?” Massima bounced up and down excitedly.
“Deadly. Let’s make one of their bad date deal things.”
“Oh, my god. I’m so excited.” She threw herself at Shea in a hug.
Piper narrowed her eyes, unable to keep the blissful smile off her face, as she moved to whisper in August’s ear. “Do you think we should remind them how that deal ended for us?”
“Not at all.” August laughed before something passed across her face and she glanced back at Shea and Massima. “Have they slept together?”
Piper frowned, keeping her voice down so the others wouldn’t hear. “Shea and Massima?”
“Mm, yes.”
“No?”
“Interesting.”
“August? What do you know that I don’t?”
She laughed. “The day Ford moved into Hermes’ place, Shea insinuated that she’d slept with either Massima or Hermes.”
Piper stared at her with wide eyes. “Hermes is gay…”
“I know.”
They both laughed and looked back at Massima and Shea, talking excitedly—well, Massima was. Shea was her usual, chill self.
Who knew what was going on there—or what might end up going on?
Hermes and Ford found them again, gathering them up in a group hug, both looking overjoyed, right as April shouted, “Family photo! Everyone squeeze in with the happy couple!”
“Already there,” Ford called back as Hermes laughed.
Piper shook her head, so blissfully happy she felt like she might explode, especially when August looked down at her, eyes full of so much love. She pulled Piper closer to her and moved to capture her lips in another lingering kiss.
Around them, Piper heard people cheering and shouting ‘cheese’ for the camera, and all she cared about was August, holding her, kissing her, and standing beside her in every picture for the rest of time. Her love, her wife, and absolutely the right date for her.