40. Epilogue
Elsie
September 28 — 3 Days Old
G iving birth is by far the worst pain I’ve ever experienced.
I thought periods were terrible, but nothing compares to what I went through in order to have my daughter.
Yes, daughter.
Marshall was, annoyingly, correct about us having a girl.
Bridgit Gabriela Law born on September 25 at 10:47 a.m., weighing in at seven pounds and nine ounces and measuring 19 inches tall.
She looked like a raisin, but I’ve never felt such an overwhelming and immediate love for someone like I did when I first held her.
Marshall was by my side the entire time, and much to my annoyance, and he was as positive as my pregnancy test the whole time .
By the end of the whole ordeal, I just wanted to sleep, but there was so much business during the four days I spent in the hospital.
According to the nurses, Bridgit passed her car seat test with flying colors, and they finally approved us for release.
Which is why I’m now sitting outside the main entrance of the hospital in a wheelchair, Bridgit in her car seat next to me and a nurse at my back, waiting for Marshall to bring his truck around to drive us home.
Only, the vehicle that pulls up before me is not Marshall’s truck, though it’s definitely Marshall driving.
Instead, I’m looking at a dark blue BMW SUV.
Marshall gets out of the driver’s seat and comes around to face me with a smile on his face.
“What the hell, Marshall?” I ask, startling the nurse who’s standing behind me.
“Do you not like it?” He says with a frown before picking up our daughter’s carrier while the nurse helps me get up from the wheelchair and walk over to the car’s open back door.
Marshall rounds the car and opens up the back seat door to click the car seat in place while the nurse kindly helps me into the car.
When he finishes securing our daughter and slides into the driver’s seat, I immediately start asking questions and demanding answers.
“When did you get a new car? What happened to your truck?”
“Yesterday.” He says with a shrug, pushing the button to start the car. “The truck wasn’t safe enough. So, I got a new car. Mamá is taking the truck out to the ranch house so they can use it out there. It will be more useful to her than it will be for me now.”
“Fine,” I grumble, my eyes already wanting to fall closed from exhaustion.
Slowly, he pulls the car out of from beneath the carport awning and begins our drive home.
I’m genuinely too tired to argue with him, so I lean back in my seat, glancing over my shoulder every couple of seconds to check on Bridgit.
The car ride is quiet, and I’m grateful for the silence. My eyes drift closed for a few minutes, and when I open them again, I don’t recognize our surroundings.
“Marshall? Where are we going? This isn’t the way home.” I say.
“We are going home.” He says, his smirk smug enough for me to want to smack it off of him.
On any other day, I would fight him, but right now, I’m just too tired.
Finally, our surroundings begin to seem familiar, and I realize where we are headed.
“Marshall. We can’t go to the new house. There’s nothing there.” I protest.
He glances over his shoulder at me, and panic seizes my chest.
“Eyes on the road.” I snap.
“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckles. “Just trust me, Elsie.”
When we pull up to the house and park in the driveway, I finally spot Marshall’s truck, or instead his old truck, in front of the house.
“Marshall, is your mother here?” I ask.
He puts the car in park and turns around in his seat.
“And if she is?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.
“I... I...”
I’m at a loss for words, for once.
“Come on.” He says, unbuckling his seatbelt and hopping out of the car.
Before I can get myself unbuckled, Marshall is already unclipping the carrier from its base and taking our daughter into the house.
“A little help?” I holler after him, but instead of Marshall turning back to help me out of the car, suddenly, his mamá is before me, helping me out and lending me her support.
“Oh, mi hija! I’m so glad you’re here.” She says with such genuine delight in her voice that it brings a smile to my face. “I hope you love what we did with the place.”
“Did?” I mutter softly.
As we walk through the front door of the old ranch-style home, I see what she means, though.
At some point in the past week and a half, since Marshall and I got the keys, someone had come into our new home and completely decorated and furnished the entire house.
As I wander further into the house, I take in everything around me and notice how even all of my books and other personal possessions have been thoughtfully displayed throughout the home.
“Did you do this?” I manage to get out.
When I turn to look at Marshall’s mother, she has a beaming smile on her face.
“Marshall’s sisters and a bunch of your friends have been coming over to help unpack and decorate for the past few days.” She says, still smiling. “Do you like it?”
Tears well in my eyes, and my vision goes blurry as I look around.
“It’s wonderful,” I say through watery tears. “Thank you. ”
“Of course.” She says, giving me a squeeze on my shoulder. “It was all his idea.”
Just then, Marshall comes back into the room with a very awake Bridgit in his arms.
“Did you wake her up?” I scold.
“No!” He retorts with a smirk. “She wanted to see the place, though.”
I narrow my gaze at him, but he keeps smiling his charming playboy smile.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” Mamá says, backing into the front entryway and grabbing her keys and purse before making her exit.
When Marshall and I are alone, well as alone as you can be with a newborn, I let myself relax fully. I hobble over to the couch, which must have been brought over from my apartment, and set myself down.
Marshall comes over and sits down next to me and settles our daughter in his arms so she can take in everything around us.
“You did all this?” I ask softly.
“Yeah.” He says with a shrug. “I wanted her first night out of the hospital to be at our home.”
“That’s so... sweet,” I mutter, my eyes welling with tears again.
I reach over and take Bridgit from Marshall’s arms, tucking her in close to my chest and breathing in her baby scent.
“It’s perfect,” I whisper.
“This is our first night of the rest of our lives.” He says dreamily, and I can’t help but chuckle at his dopey expression.
We sit in a comfortable silence for a while, Marshall’s arm draped around my shoulder and holding me and our daughter close while we lounge there .
“Elsie? If I ask you something..., will you promise not to kick me out this time?” He asks tentatively.
“Depends on what the question is,” I say with a small smile, nuzzling into his shoulder further.
“Will you marry me?”
My eyes pop open wide, and I lift myself upright, which is a struggle when your body aches and you have a baby in your arms.
“Marry you?” I repeat.
“Will you marry me?” He asks with so much earnestness in his voice.
I’m stunned silent for a moment, and I can see the panic beginning to form in his eyes while I try to gather my thoughts and calm my now racing heartbeat.
“Elsie.” He says, unwrapping himself from around me and lowering himself to one knee on the ground. “I know things have been a roller coaster between us. But this is it for me. You’re it.”
He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small box.
“I know you don’t always believe me when I say it, but I love you, and I plan on reminding you of that every day for the rest of our lives if you’ll let me.”
Opening the box, he reveals a gorgeous emerald-cut diamond ring.
“Marshall.” I breathe out, clutching Bridgit tighter to my chest but quickly loosening my grip when she begins to squirm.
“Marry me, Elsie.”
The only sound I can hear is blood rushing through my ears. Nothing else permeates the blur of thoughts and questions that run through my mind in that second.
When Marshall’s face starts to fall, I know I’ve fucked up.
“Yes!” I blurt out. “Yes. I’ll marry you. ”
Just as fast as it faded, Marshall’s smile is back, even brighter than before.
“Yes?” He asks, pulling out the ring from the box and reaching for my left hand, which is thankfully free.
“Yes.” I sigh as he places the ring on my finger.
It feels so right to have it resting on my hand, and I can’t help but marvel at how perfect the ring is.
More though, I look up and can’t help but marvel at how perfect Marshall is.
“I’m sorry if I made you panic.” I cringe. “I just...”
“I know.” He says with a shrug. “It’s part of your charm.”
“No, Marshall.” I sigh.
“Oh no. You’re not taking it back already?”
I chuckle. “No. No, this time, you’re stuck with me.”
“Forever?”
“Yeah, sure.” I smile.
“Elsie...” He warns.
“Yes. Fine. Forever.” I laugh.
He rises up on his knees and gives me a passionate kiss before Bridgit starts squirming again.
“How soon before she can walk down the aisle?” I ask, looking down at our baby girl.
“If I have my way, never.” His face goes serious.
I laugh fully. “I meant at our wedding, silly.”
“Oh.” His face relaxes. “Oh. Okay. Yeah. I think it’s like after nine months?”
“Damn...” I say with a smirk. “I’m not sure I can wait that long. I guess someone will just have to carry our flower girl down the aisle.”
The way Marshall’s face lights up makes my whole damn week .
“Really?” He asks earnestly.
“Really,” I say with a smile.
“Okay. Okay. Cool.” He says, pulling himself up. “I’ll text Mamá, and I’m sure between her and my sisters, we can get something thrown together soon.”
“How does March sound?”
“March?”
“Yeah. Why not? It seems like a good time to renew your lease.” I joke.
“Oh. She’s got jokes now.” He mumbles. “Fucking roommate rules.”
“Hey. Those rules got you laid.” I say with a wink. “A lot.”
“No. Those rules got me you.”