Epilogue
Sebastian
One Year Later....
Playing games was never fun for me.
Until I started playing truth or dare with Scout. Now we play all sorts of games together. It might seem silly to someone else, but we start our day and end it the same way. We play truth or dare, seeing who wants to share an important truth—who loves the other more is a frequent topic—or dare each other to do something new in the bedroom.
Now we play scrabble on the weekends, cards each Thursday night with some guys from the landing and their ladies, and once a month we go to bingo night at the Driftwood Peak Parlor. Any time spent with Scout is a damn good time, but this is more than playing silly games.
It is how we bond with each other. How we share stories or secrets. How we tease each other until we’re tearing clothes off and taking risks to please each other. That time we got caught in the bathroom at The Rusty Nail will never be forgotten by us or her boss, Tre.
We’ve come a long way from playing truth or dare to get to know each other. Another thing that has grown is my understanding of her diabetes and how to help manage it. It has not always been easy, and I’ve made some mistakes while learning about it, but we got to a good place with her letting me help her. It was hard for her to let someone else look after her, but she indulges me a lot better these days.
“ You two seem to be pros at this ,” Journi, a nurse at the new clinic in town said on one of our first visits there.
“W ell, I am trying to become an expert about it ,” I shot back. “C an’t let my entire world down ,” I had gotten some brownie points with my girl and the new nurse for that one.
Journi became a fixture in our lives not just because she was Scout’s nurse. They grew very close after bonding over the loss of their mother’s. Everyone in town loves my girl. All the guys’ ladies have become her best friends, and any newcomer, like Journi, she welcomes into the group with open arms.
Our group has grown, and I have learned to let all of them in. Sometimes I still get a little growly, a little grumpy, because I love having my girl to myself at the cabin, no one there to steal her attention. Because she has encouraged me to let people in, I have found good friendships with Jonas especially. Besides hanging out with our new, wider circle of friends, he and I go on a fishing trip once a month, just to hang out, have a few beers, and talk about life and how damn lucky we are.
Our games have become a way for all of us to bond. We have game nights with Jonas and Journi, with Mack and Mollie, hell even my sister Georgia comes up for game night. Sometimes the whole crew from both landings comes up to play games, drink, laugh, and have a good time. These games of ours have created a bond not just between Scout and I, but between our ever-widening group of friends.
Tonight, we’re playing Clue as the fire warms the cold cabin, the snow falling in thick flakes outside. Turns out we both love the winter. Last winter was our first together here in the cabin. We had a good time keeping one another warm, with or without the fire going.
“It is your turn, sugar,” Scout smirks, eyes dropping to her clue list after she moves her piece to the conservatory.
Nodding, I pretend to focus on my own sheet. I stopped caring about this game about twenty minutes ago. Not that I do not love playing games with my girl. While she took a break to grab some snacks, I pulled the answer cards out of the tiny manilla envelope, replacing them with my own cards. Taking out the ring in my pocket, I swap out her playing piece with the diamond ring I bought two months ago.
Swallowing my fear, my doubts that she might turn me down, I roll the dice, moving my piece to the library. I pretend to check my notes again before I let out a shaking breath, telling her I want to make an accusation to end the game. Scout narrows a look at me, cocking her head.
“We’ve played two rounds, Sebastian. How the hell do you think you know who did it, where, and with what?”
“Guess I am feeling lucky tonight. Here it goes...Ms. Scarlett, in the library, with the rope.”
None of that can be correct, since I have all those cards, but none of that matters. All that matters is her checking the case file to see the new cards I just slipped in. My heart is thundering in my chest as she grins at me and bounces a shoulder, reaching for the little manila folder to check.
“We shall see,” she waves the little folder at me playfully.
Grinning at her, I pretend the rest of my life is not in the confidential stamped folder. Asking while playing one of our games made the most sense to me. We wound up here because she challenged me to a game of truth or dare. A silly game that would have been stupid of me to refuse.
Watching her dump the three little cards in her hand, I hold my breath. As her bright blue eyes scan the cards, all the air is sucked out of the room. Her gaze drops to the board, back to the cards, to the board, then they find mine. I slide off the chair to kneel in front of her because I damn sure want to do this right for her.
“Well, it’s all in the cards, honey. Let me say it out loud so you know I mean it,” I take a deep breath, taking her left hand. “Marry me, Scout. Be my wife. Give me forever. I want to play board games and video games and any other life games you want to play with me. I love you a so much, you’ve brought such a light, such a breath of fresh air to my life. I am not sure I deserve you, but I want very much to keep you. Marry me.”
Scout stares down at me, making my heart stop. Then she laughs and slides off her chair, settling herself on my lap. I laugh too, unsure about her nervous giggles. Whatever it is, lord, I love that sound. I love her laughs, the way she snores softly when we’re snuggled in bed, that sarcastic tsk, she gives me whenever I try to cheat at a game. All of her sounds, all of her smiles, all of her light and joy, I love it all and want it all forever.
“Yes. Yes, I will be your wife. I want to play truth or dare, or parchesi, or connect four with you for the rest of my life. I love you. Yes, I want to be your wife, Sebastian. Yes!”
Laughing in relief, in joy, I gather her closer, slamming my mouth to hers in a hard, deep kiss. Standing with her still clinging to me, I head up the stairs to our bedroom, turning back long enough to grab her ring off the Clue board, leaving the game behind us.
Upstairs, I set her in bed, kneeling again so I can slide the ring on her finger. It fits perfectly, shimmering in the darkness. Maybe it is not a huge rock, but it’s perfect for her, a pretty little round diamond in a gold band. I cannot wait to slide another band on her finger the day we give our vows and promise each other forever.
“We might need a new game, baby,” she hums as she wiggles her fingers, admiring the pretty ring with a beaming smile.
“I will play any game with you, honey,” I answer as I pull at her sweats, thankful we’re home on a lazy Sunday, spending every single moment we can together. Just as I pull at her bottoms, she stops me. I frown at her, impatient to get her beneath me so I can bury myself inside her. Nothing better than sealing a proposal by immediately trying to get her pregnant. I chuckle at my train of thought, because of course I want babies with her. Puppies or kittens, babies or goats, I don’t care.
“Truth or dare?” She teases, cradling my face in her tiny hands, combing her fingers fondly through my beard.
“Truth. Tonight, I want all the truth,” I shoot back, smiling big.
“We need a new game. You killed it at truth or dare, at Clue, and at a little game we’ll call...knocking up your new fiancé. I’m pregnant. I was going to tell you some clever way tonight, that’s why I wanted a board game night. You beat me to it. You’re ready to be a husband...so do you think you’re ready to be a daddy too?”
Staring up at her, I let the painful twist in my chest, the pile of worries I carried for so long fade away. I let it all go. Because there is nothing to fear, nothing to doubt, nothing to hold back anymore. This is the life I want with this woman, and I cannot wait to start it.
I would never have dared to think I would get this dream life, up on my mountain, felling logs, coming home to a beautiful bold woman who challenges me to more than truth or dare. A woman who challenges me to grow, to learn, to let the world in and embrace it for all it can be.
“Hell yes, I am ready to be a daddy. I want dozens of kids with you. If you will let me keep you pregnant. We’re going to have a baby!”
“In about five months, we’re going to be a family.”
Smiling huge, I lay her back on the bed, climbing in beside her. Smoothing my hand over her soft belly, I watch my entire world smile back at me, her bright eyes shimmering with love. My chest expands with the love I have for her, the love already growing for our child.
“A family. We’re a family,” I whisper, thinking about all the years I have been alone, all that time I would not let someone in. Because I took a chance, because I dared to say yes to a silly game one night in a bar.
Scout daring me to take a chance on her led us here, where the truth is, we’ve found a beautiful life together.