Epilogue The Spare
One Year Later... ish.
G rumbling, I park my car behind Eris’ Tremor and wonder why the hell he needed to kick me out of the house just to invite his brothers over. Their trucks are taking up most of our driveway, but as I get out to go inside, I see Evan and Enzo running out.
“Oh shit, she’s home,” Evan says. “Have fun in there, girl. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
I don’t have time to ask what he means before Enzo adds, “I hope you’re still on birth control,” and tosses me a wink.
They both climb into their trucks and speed off with me just standing there looking as confused as I feel, so it’s with a little hesitation that I finally make my way in the house.
“Eris?” I call. “What—”
He rushes out of our spare bedroom and leans against the door frame trying to look casual. He doesn’t, everything about him screams anxiety, but I’d be blind if I didn’t notice something different in his eyes. He’s nervous, but also really fucking excited. “Hi. How was the pedicure?”
“My wonky baby toe thanks you,” I laugh. “But why go through all of that just to hang out with your brothers? You know they’re welcome here anytime, they both have keys for fuck’s sake.”
My words somehow make him smile. “I needed help with some heavy lifting and things I’d never subject my pillow princess to. Come here. Give me a kiss.”
I swear I just heard a faint meow behind him, but when I try to look around him, he pulls my attention back and kisses me like he hasn’t seen me in months. “Eris,” I gasp when he finally lets me go. “What’s going on?”
“Remember that room we talked about?” Before I can rake through my thoughts and remember exactly what we said, Eris moves aside and reveals what he means.
We had already painted the walls in our spare room a deep green, but Ralph is now sitting down in the far corner. I didn’t even notice he was missing from the grass thanks to his brothers’ trucks annoying me, but aside from him, everything else is new. Black plush lounge chairs with huge Halloween blankets draped over them, bookshelves covered with mini graveyards, skeletons, witches, ghosts, and gore. Fake spider webs are draped throughout the shelves, there’s a TV mounted on the wall with the Halloween section on Netflix pulled up, and they even took the time to place flameless LED candles all around the room . It’s everything I could have ever dreamed of, all the way down to the bowls of caramel popcorn and Reese’s pumpkins.
“Now it’ll be Halloween all year.”
I turn to look at him just as he picks up a small black kitten from one of the recliners, and when it meows once again, I realize all of this is real.
And he did it all for me.
My chest tightens as I reach out for the cat. “You found one? How? Where? What’s her name? ”
Handing her over, Eris kisses the top of her head and then mine, holding me as I hold our newest family member. “Look at her tag.”
He moves away so I can get to it, and when I see the words “Marry Me” across the purple pumpkin tag, I nearly drop her.
When I look back up, Eris is down on one knee looking so adorably nervous I feel my eyes water. He holds out a small box, opening it with shaking fingers to reveal a ring almost identical to the one I was secretly Googling behind his back. My gaze is locked on the beautiful black diamond that looks woven between the silver band, and when I manage to peel my eyes away to take in Eris’ face, I can’t help but kneel with him.
“I knew I wanted to marry you the day we stepped foot into that lame Haunted House. I didn’t understand it then, but I knew I couldn’t let you slip through my fingers. I forced my company on you so you couldn’t even consider looking elsewhere, and before I knew it, I couldn’t imagine living even a day without you next to me. I love you more than anything else in this world, and I can’t wait any longer. Please...” He presses his forehead to mine and releases a breath. “Marry me, Rowyn?”
The kitten squirms out of my hands and takes off when I let out a tear-filled, happy laugh, and I can’t even answer him until I kiss the life out of him. “Yes, of course I will. I can’t believe you made me wait a fucking year for this.”
He falls back, pulling me with him so I’m laying on top of him and staring down at his beautiful smile. “I just want to enjoy every step of life with you, Burrito. Does it help if I say I bought this ring seven months ago? It was fucking brutal waiting, but I told myself I wouldn’t do it until I gave you the room I promised. I’ve been gathering each decoration at my brothers’ for months, and that crow in the corner is custom made. The branch he’s standing on says Rowyn’s Wax. Did you see your new last name above the door?”
Glancing up, I see a sign made out of bones that look realistic spelling out Shaw. I can’t deny that I’ve said my future name to myself a million times over the last year, but seeing it up there in my house, my room, with a brand new ring on my finger and a kitten running around? It feels different. It feels real. It feels permanent .
And I fucking love it.
“Eris, you’re incredible. It was worth the wait, but we’re not putting off this wedding. I’m an impatient bitch.”
“Fuck it, let’s go elope, but I’m calling you my fiancé until the moment you say I do. Halloween wedding? Instead of driving off into the sunset I’ll chase you through another cemetery in a wedding dress — fuck, now I’m hard.”
I have to force myself to calm down. As excited as I am, I know how important it is to him to enjoy every step of the ride, and he’s been so good to me. The least I could do is be a teensy bit patient. “Yes to all of that, except... let’s wait until next Halloween. You get a year of me as your fiancé and I get a year to find the perfect dress for you to rip off of me in a graveyard.”
I can see how happy my words make him, but there’s something else in his eyes as he touches my face. “You’re sure? I’ll give you whatever the hell you want, woman.”
“You’ve proven that over and over again in the last year. For once, let me do something for you. Let’s do this right. We’ll plan a big wedding and get your brothers involved, it’ll be great.” I kiss him slowly, surely. Making sure he understands how serious I am. “I’d wait ten years if I knew one day we’d get there. A few months won’t hurt me.”
“Fuck, I love you.” He rolls me over onto my back so he’s on top. “Like, a lot. It’s obsession and possession and addiction in the best of ways, and I never want it to change. Have my baby.”
Have his fucking what?
Balking, I shove him playfully. “Eris Shaw, now it’s your turn to be patient. We’re young. Let me have a couple of years of just being your wife before you turn me into a mother. Let me be selfish with you for a while.”
Chuckling, Eris shuffles around so we’re cuddling right there on the floor of our new room, and I swear I can smell my famous apple pumpkin candle burning somewhere. “Okay, I got carried away for a second. You’re right, I definitely want to be selfish with you.”
Suddenly, our little black kitten moseys on over and curls up next to my head, and I get another glimpse of her Marry Me pumpkin tag. “Her name is Pumpkin. Mary is a dumb name for a cat. ”
“Mary is absolutely a dumb name for a cat,” he agrees with a laugh. “Hey, Pumpkin.” Eris kisses her head again. “Yeah, that’s definitely her name. I think she likes it in here.”
I know I do, but it has less to do with the amazing decorations and everything to do with the company. I’ve made a lot of questionable decisions in my life, but Eris Shaw wasn’t one of them. He’s the best thing I ever did, and even if I lived a thousand lifetimes, I don’t think I’d ever find a better partner.
I’ll love him until we’re buried in the same graveyards we run through, and maybe even after that, too.
Yeah. Definitely after that, too.