Epilogue
Serena
The Inthavong-Collins household is a circus sight with Christmas cheer, every corner adorned with twinkling lights and colorful ornaments. I’m knee-deep in icing and sprinkles, trying to build gingerbread houses with Tyler at the dining table. I’m pretty sure there’s a peppermint in my bra and I could practically cry tears of green frosting. Our fingers are smeared with frosting as we vow to win in a creative showdown against his dad and Harper. I told myself I wouldn’t go all out but now I’m in this shit to win it.
“The roof is falling, babe.” Tyler points out, separating the Christmas themed gummies into reds and greens like I’ve told him to do.
Good boyfriends listen and don’t question the art of gingerbread houses.
“It’s not falling, it’s art,” I say, the tip of my tongue poking out as I focus on gluing the roofs together .
“I wouldn’t say art , and it looks like the big bad wolf blew it down.” He jokes, tucking my hair behind my ears as I concentrate on icing the roof back together.
I take that back, he’s distracting me while I’m trying to win the gingerbread competition.
I slap his hand away from my face, “Babe, stop distracting me.” I hand him a bag of white glittery sprinkles. “Can you just add sprinkles to the roof?”
Tyler starts ripping the bag open, “Why do we need these again? We already spent time using a spatula for the snow falling effect.”
I shoot him the most authoritative glare, “To make it look pretty.”
Tyler’s dad, Mr. Westman, chuckles next to us as he helps Harper carefully place M sometimes life just gets the best of us. But that’s life. It always throws obstacles at us, yet we always choose to fight them together.
With a gentle smile, I meet his gaze, “Just like it did for us.”
Tyler
As the evening winds down, her family goes out to see the Christmas lights, while we stay to watch the twins. My dad assures us he’ll be fine with the three kids inside, so Serena and I steal a moment on the porch swing, our conversation drifting towards the future.
“I’m so excited to visit Laos after graduation.”
We have a bucket list of things we want to do in the next couple of years, mapping out adventures and aspirations that connect with our paths. Serena’s set on exploring her home roots, whereas I want to go out of the country and experience life with her. I don’t care where we go, I just know I want her by my side. We could go to Chili’s and I would be happy with that.
“It’s really nice that Ralph offered to pay for our flights,” I mention, drawing Serena closer to me. Over the years, I learned that she’s big on cuddling.
“Yeah, he’s a great stepfather.”
She reaches to give me a kiss on the cheek, but I’m quicker, and steal a peck from her, making her chuckle.
“Oh,” she gasps, looking at the sky. “Look at that sunset!” she celebrates as she takes her phone out and snaps a picture of it. “Wanna watch a movie later when the girls are sleeping?”
I nod, “So you’re inviting me to the famous movie night?”
Serena playfully slaps my shoulder, making my chest vibrate with laughter at her abuse. “Hey, I invited you after we started dating.”
“But when we were friends you never invited me,” I tease.
“What if you were a serial killer in disguise?” she quips, a hint of mock suspicion in her tone.
My laughter echoes through the quiet night air. “In disguise? Babe, my outfits are literally athleisure clothes. That would not be the best disguise. ”
Serena smirks, nudging me gently. “You could fool anyone with that killer smile of yours.”
As the conversation tapers off into comfortable silence, I feel a wave of contentment wash over me, a sense of belonging that only she brings.
“The girls are out!” my dad yells from the door.
“Thanks!” we chorus.
“I’ll be heading home, see you, Ty! A pleasure seeing you, Serena!” he says as he waves and Harper appears in the background, pulling him inside from his hand.
“You, too!” Serena waves back. “So, movie night?”
I nod with a smile, embracing the familiarity of our cherished ritual that started when we officially started dating. “Yeah, should I get the popcorn ready, sunshine?”
“Extra butter.” Serena nods, her eyes twinkling. “I will still never understand why you keep calling me that when you could just go for babe, or literally anything else.”
I hold out my hand for Serena to grab and pull her up on her feet. “I’ll never get tired of calling you sunshine, because that’s what you are to me, my sunshine in December. ”