Epilogue
Forever Starts Now
Two Years Later
“How are you really ?” Scarlet gives me a pointed look over the rim of her second glass of chardonnay.
She waited this long to ask me because she knows me well enough to know that wine is my truth serum.
The honesty that would come flowing out of me after the second pour isn’t exactly a secret.
We’re seated in plush chairs on the back patio of my house, gazing out at the horizon.
“I’m conflicted,” I admit, setting my own glass of wine aside. “On the one hand, we have a good thing going here. And part of me is afraid to change that. The kids are happy. We have friends, a home we love. A great pediatrician.”
She nods, shifting her two-year-old son Cullen where he rests on her lap. “A good pediatrician is hard to find.”
“And on the other hand, I feel guilty for even thinking like that. If we’re needed back in Africa, we should go.”
She inhales slowly, weighing my words. “You’ve always been the type to run off to try and save the world, without giving your own life a second thought. But it’s not just you anymore.”
She’s right. My gaze cuts over to where Hart and Will are playing with the kids.
Our two-year-old daughter, Faith, adopted from Uganda, clings to her daddy’s shoulder like a little koala bear, and our fifteen-month-old son, Teddy—Theodore Fitzgerald—is plastered to one of his legs.
I love seeing them like this—climbing all over him like he’s their personal jungle gym—and a smile lifts my mouth.
I turned forty this year, and arriving at the school car line with a twenty-eight-year-old husband has been quite the talk of the preschool. We turned more than a few heads.
“My looks are going, you know,” I warned Hart later.
“Good thing I didn’t marry you for your looks.”
“Hey!” I swatted his chest.
He chuckled. “That may have come out wrong. What I meant was I married you for your heart, and as far as I can tell, it’s only gotten more beautiful.”
I feel the same way. It was beautiful watching him become a father, seeing the sweet way he was with our babies, their bond—it was indescribable.
In many ways, he was better suited for it than me.
I was not a morning person— at all —but he rose to the occasion, managing the sleepless nights and early mornings with ease.
He had endless energy. Maybe it was his youth.
Or maybe it was something else. Either way, I’m a very lucky lady.
“What about hiring an operation leader instead, someone to oversee the project?” Scarlet suggests.
I nod. “It’s what Hart wants to do too. We probably will.”
We split our time between New York, California, and a ranch we purchased in Montana.
I haven’t been to Nairobi in almost a year, and I’m itching to go back.
But between a very capable headmaster and Joslyn, the school and all our students are flourishing.
So much so that we are set to open a new wing—an early-childhood addition that I am very excited about—for girls ages three to five.
It will give them the head start they need before beginning primary school.
The only question remaining is whether or not I would personally manage the expansion. It’s been a hard transition, being a working mom. Although I feel like I have the best of both worlds, striking a balance can be a challenge. Especially when I want to be in two places at once.
Faith lets out a happy peal of laughter and comes running over, then crawls into my lap, breathless and happy. “Daddy silly!” she says, pointing at Hart.
I laugh and press a kiss to her braided hair while he and I exchange a look that I feel all the way to my toes.
I didn’t imagine this life. Even in my best dreams, I couldn’t have conjured that this life would exist for me.
A gated neighborhood with a six-bedroom home, an expanse of grassy yard, a private lake, where we watch sunsets from the dock.
An adoring husband, two beautiful children. So much love, my chest aches.
When Faith nestles her head into my chest, I stroke her hair again. We missed naptime today with all the excitement of having friends over. “Are you sleepy, sweet girl?” I murmur.
Cullen pulls out his pacifier and offers it to her. She promptly shoves it in her mouth. A surprised laugh leaps from my lips.
Scarlet shakes her head with a chuckle.
“You guys are still coming with us to Napa next month, right?”
She nods. “Of course.”
We remodeled the estate to be more kid friendly, placing cribs, toys, and play sets in a few of the bedrooms. A swing set in the backyard.
We vacationed there with Scarlet and Will and the kids once before and all had a blast. It was a very different Napa experience, given that it was a family-friendly one, but when the grown-ups wanted to venture out, Hart arranged a limo and private tastings at a couple of the best wineries, along with a team of qualified nannies to look after the kids.
When I look up, I see Hart and Teddy on the putting green. Teddy is holding his miniature pitching wedge, following his daddy around like a little mini me. It’s adorable. They have the same hair, the same mouth, the same enviable eyelashes. I reach for my phone and snap a photo of them.
The first time I held baby Faith in my arms, Hart asked me, What do you do when all your dreams come true?
With emotion in my voice and my eyes on his, I whispered, You cherish every moment and look forward to the next adventure.
Then that’s exactly what we’ll do, he promised.