29. Epilogue – Catherine/Noah
I t had been a few months since Christmas dinner at the Mary’s home. I was currently at my parents’ house, finishing up a course online. These days, I was teaching creative writing online and offering tutoring to the students who believed they needed it. It was bringing in plenty of money. In fact, it was giving me far more financial freedom than my job in California ever had – partially because I lived in an area with a lower cost of living and partially because I didn’t have many bills to cover right now.
However, that didn’t stop me from absolutely feeling like the luckiest person in the world. Noah had proposed to me on New Years Eve, and we were currently planning our wedding. Since we already knew we clicked, it was all about how the relationship went. We’d agreed to have a longer engagement period, but I wasn’t sure how that would go.
All that said, I was just glad my office hours were over. That was when I did all my tutoring, and I’d had my fill of working with people who lived around the country. The time differences were difficult to work with, especially when most students only gave me the times they could meet in their time zones. I appreciated that everyone had a life to live, but some additional courtesy would be nice.
I shook my head, willing it empty. Now that my office hours were over for the day, it was time to get to some of the chores I had been putting off. Noah and I were going to have a date night at his parents’ home – we planned to watch a movie. His parents were in France right now, enjoying a vacation and planning to bring back some fun souvenirs for everyone. It had been their dream to go to Paris, to see the sights, and now Noah had texts coming in every day about what they were doing. It was wonderful to see them so excited.
As I walked downstairs, I heard my mother buzzing around the kitchen. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I could smell that she had made something sweet. It smelled like cake but could easily have been cupcakes or cake pops. I walked into the kitchen without much thought, only to see she had made a couple dozen cupcakes.
“What are you making these cupcakes for, Mom?”
“I made them for Noah to take them on the trip tomorrow,” Mom said. “He’s going into Brighton for a game and wanted some snacks before the game. Even if he decides to do it after the game, these are so light and fluffy.”
“And packed with sugar. I think these would be the before-game snack,” I agreed.
“Well, whatever he decides to do, I’ve texted him that they’re ready. He asked for them,” Mom revealed.
That was new. Noah usually got fruit snacks, granola bars, or something similar. And the mothers of the children on the high school teams were in charge of snacks for their individual kids. Each of them usually had a small lunch box with their snacks to be eaten as they pleased before the end of the night, so long as they were ready for anything.
“Speaking of Noah, when are you going to have your date? And where?” Mom asked. “I know it’s not any of my business, but you have that look about you that you always get when you’re looking forward to something. And recently, it’s been dates with Noah and your alteration appointments for the wedding dress.”
A blush rose on my cheeks. She was right. I cleared my throat, trying to stall for time.
“Oh, we’re just going to watch a movie at Noah’s house,” I said. “Probably around dinner time. He’s not sure when he’ll be off work, though, so he’ll keep me in the loop for when to come over.” I shrugged. “He’s not usually so unsure of when he comes home, but tonight, with the preparations for the game and all of that, I suppose he just wants to be there to reassure all the players at their practice.”
“That’s sweet of him to do,” Mom said. “He’s a good man, Catherine. I’m happy to see that you two are happy and together again.”
With that, I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Instead of curling up with a book, I decided to turn on the television and do a little channel surfing. My phone was in my hand so I could leave when Noah texted that he was ready. But honestly, unless I was in the bathroom upstairs, I’d probably hear his truck pulling into the driveway next door.
I settled on a show that I had been getting into recently. The episode was about to start, and honestly, I had a feeling that Noah wouldn’t be home in the next hour – which was how long these episodes ran with commercials. My phone vibrated as I snuggled into the couch with a soft blanket that Mom must have been using earlier.
Should be home in an hour and a half if all goes according to plan. I’ll text you when I get there.
Noah’s text put a smile on my face. He may not have known exactly when he was going to be home, but he was doing his best to make sure that we would be able to have our date night.
***
I was leaving in an hour, but Catherine didn’t need to know that. It took me about five minutes from the local community sports center to get home, driving. But I had other places I needed to stop before I went home to have my date with Catherine.
She was no longer my girlfriend but my fiancée. Every time I remembered that change, I was giddy with excitement. We were to be married in April next year, with a wedding cake from Sara. Catherine’s mother was already giggling to herself about the details she planned—she’d lost me somewhere around “four tiers of chocolate,” but Catherine followed along with perfect enthusiasm. And both of us were happy with taste-testing in the comfort of the St. James home.
I shook those thoughts away. I needed to focus on the young athletes right now.
They were practicing but mostly curious about how tomorrow would go. It would be one of the first major games of the year, and they wanted to know exactly how everything would work. The new kids on the team, anyway. Those who had been on the team for at least a year knew how it went, but this was the first time these two schools had been matched up so early in the season. Perhaps it was because it wasn’t fair to wait until the end of the season to see how they fared.
Regardless, once the practice had ended, Coach O’Keefe sent all the kids to me for a quick pep talk.
“All right,” I said as they all sat on the field around me. “Tomorrow is our first big game. Are you all excited?”
The kids cheered.
“That’s good to hear. Now, there is exactly one thing I want you all to remember, all right? That is no matter how hard you play, there will always be a day when something goes wrong. Just have fun and focus on playing the game as best as you can.” I smiled. “The skills are the most important thing to focus on. If you do that, the natural course of the game will come easier.”
I never focused on pushing the kids to win the game, but we’d see how that doctrine went tomorrow. Some were fiercely competitive, and I was drilling it into their heads that the only thing worse than a sore loser was a sore winner – and I didn’t want either of those kinds of kids on the team.
After the pep talk, snacks, and all the kids had been picked up, I drove to the grocery store. They had chocolate roses on sale, and I wanted to surprise Catherine with one tonight. She’d told me in high school that she didn’t like the smell of roses – just the look. And with the foil wrapped on the chocolate like a rosebud, I hoped that was still true.
With chocolate in hand, I went to pick up some pizza. She thought she was just coming over for a movie, but I wanted to surprise her with dinner, too. That was why it was imperative that I arrived before she started thinking about eating something for dinner.
With a large pepperoni pizza in hand – extra cheese and extra pepperoni – I returned to my truck and hurried home. Once I had it all inside, I texted Catherine to come over. The pizza was already making the place smell great and Wally would let me know when she arrived, as he always did.
It took only a few minutes after I texted Catherine for Wally to start barking and hurrying towards the door. I followed and opened the door.
“Oh, it smells delicious in here,” she said as she bent down to pet Wally. “What have you made today, Noah?”
“I didn’t make anything, but I did pick up some pizza. Oh, and this, for you,” I said as I handed her the chocolate rose.
She smiled at me, a blush rising on her cheeks. I had done my job in making her blush. After all, if I couldn’t surprise her for the better a few times a year, what good was I as a fiancé? Or a husband, eventually?
“That’s very sweet of you,” Catherine said as she walked toward the dining room.
She opened the chocolate rose, broke off a piece, and savored the taste. Then she offered me a piece, which I gladly took and popped into my mouth. It was an exceptional dark chocolate, so much so that I had the urge to kiss Catherine – which I did, slowly and gently. Is there a saying that chocolate is better served with love? If not, there should be.
We embraced but decided we wouldn’t see the movie if we didn’t turn it on. I served the pizza, and we started watching the movie – kind of a suspenseful romance. As I watched, the suspense of our romance lingered in my mind, a thrilling promise of wonderful moments and years ahead.
As we sat snuggled together on the couch and Wally comfy by the fireplace, I realized that this was how our life was meant to be, and we had finally found a way to make it happen. Next year, she would be my wife, and then we would have the rest of our lives to look forward to together. I couldn’t wait.
The movie ended with Catherine asleep on me. Instead of waking her up to take her home, I simply draped a blanket from the back of the couch across her and texted her mom that she had fallen asleep watching the movie and was probably staying the night. Sara just sent me back a smiley face. As I held Catherine to keep her from falling off the couch, I couldn’t help but think that this was how I wanted to spend the rest of my days: with her at my side.