Bonus Epilogue
Jackson
Sunday night when Kaci goes to pick up Bella from her dad, I make my own pickup at Jackie’s house to grab Rigsby.
It’s been a while since we’ve hung out together.
Jackie and Tom have settled into a routine with their little family.
Baby Royan is no longer a baby, as he’s already one and an early walker.
He’s a lot of fun to be around, if you can keep up with him, but I’m looking forward to spending some time with just Rigsby. It’s more than just some funcle time.
Tonight, I have a mission.
Not just any mission.
It’s all hands on deck and that includes Frankfurter.
When Rigsby walks out to my car, he proudly steers Frankfurter in a harness and leash.
That harness was a nonnegotiable from Jackie when she allowed Rigsby to keep him.
It wasn’t too hard to break the news to Jackie.
She didn’t even seem that surprised. I suspect she knew all along but went along with it to see how far Rigsby would go.
After all, the ferret lived in his room while he was in school all day.
It’s absurd to think she never looked in the back of his closet.
She did comment that she had found it interesting that over the summer Rigsby had taken a sudden interest in always putting away his clean laundry.
She also laughed when she recalled how she noticed a musty odor in his room, but she blamed it on the fact she'd cut down on housekeeping from being sick and pregnant. Boy, was she wrong.
Rigsby scoops up Frankfurter, he opens the door and drops the ferret in first before he plops down and shuts his door. “What’s the big secret?” he blurts out, his eyes finding mine in the rearview mirror.
Shifting the car into reverse, I back out slowly. I actually can’t wait to tell him. I can’t wait to tell anyone. I’ve been holding this in all day, but of course I’m going to tease him a little. “Well, I can only tell you if you promise to keep it a secret.”
“Yeah, of course.” He leans as far forward as his seatbelt will let him.
I shift the car into drive. “First, sit back in your seat.” I pause, watching in the review mirror to make sure he scoots back. “Now, I need to know that Frankfurter can keep a secret or—”
“He can,” he cuts me off. “He lived in my closet for months. He’s cool. I promise.”
I take an extra long time and rub the scruff on my chin, pretending to mull it over. “Okay.” I drop my voice almost to a whisper to make the news even more exciting. “If you promise, I’ll tell you.”
“I promise!”
“Well, you know Kaci and I have been together for a year, right?” I pause to run my tongue along my bottom lip as everything about what I’m about to explain makes me unnerved in all the best ways.
Like, I can’t sleep at night.
I just lie awake, thinking about how I’m the luckiest man in the world.
All my dreams are about to come true. Even though I’m not sleeping, I’m not at all exhausted.
If anything, I’ve never felt more at peace with any decision I’ve ever made.
“I’m going to ask Kaci to marry me tonight, but I need you and Bella to help.
Oh, and Frankfurter,” I tack on as that little ferret actually has the most pertinent role in all of this.
Rigsby’s jaw dramatically flops open, and no words come out.
I get it. At his age, he thinks girls should have cooties.
Marriage isn’t exciting for him, but I couldn’t do this without him or Bella.
They are the reason Kaci and I even got together.
In a way, they were our little matchmakers.
“So, what do you say?” I ask, one eye on the road and the other on him in the rearview mirror. “Will you help me out?”
His eyes narrow, locking his gaze on mine. “Do I get root beer and wings?”
A chuckle bleeps out of my chest as he’s getting to be a good negotiator. “Of course,” I say, a mischievous smile blooming on my lips. “Food first and then I’ll explain everything to you…”
Back at Kaci’s apartment, Bella drags me into her room, “to show me something Little B did,” which is our code to get away from Kaci.
Kaci just laughs and excuses herself to the bathroom.
We have only a few seconds to get organized.
I quickly tie my surprise on a string, attach it to the Frankfurter’s waist and then hand Frankfurter to Bella with a wink.
“Alright, Bella,” I say as she takes him into her arms and cradles him like a baby.
Even though Frankfurter is Rigsby’s pet, he often accompanies us on our visits to Kaci’s house, and we’ve all come to love him and his entertaining antics.
This proposal idea was actually all Bella’s.
I had asked her earlier this week what she thought about me marrying her mom.
She got teary eyed and was excited, but she had one request. She wanted to help with the asking part.
I thought that was fun. I was thinking about dinner and a quiet proposal at home since Kaci is such a homebody.
Bella came up with this idea, and I liked it so much better.
It’s a little bit crazy.
But it feels like a full circle moment to me. “So you know what to do. Let Frankfurter out of the bedroom after a couple of minutes. We all pretend to try to catch him, but only let your mom grab him.” I cut a glance to Rigsby before I say, “Got it?”
“Got it,” they say in unison, both of them pitching back giggles.
Across the hall, the bathroom door opens, and I toss a finger to my lips to silence any talk of our plan before I step out of the room.
I align my steps with Kaci’s. “Did you want to watch a movie or something?” I casually ask, doing my best to sound bored.
“It seems like the kids are playing well for now. I know Rigsby’s not going to be ready to go any time soon. ”
Her gaze wafts to the bedroom door and back to me. “I don’t know if I have the attention span to get into a movie right now. Maybe we can just watch some reruns or something that I don’t have to pay attention to.”
“Sure.” I nod, and we walk to the couch, taking our usual spots.
She flicks on the TV and places her legs on top of mine as we snuggle into our favorite TV watching position.
She flicks through a few of our favorite channels.
Nothing catches either of our eyes, and she continues clicking through channels.
“Boy,” she says after a couple of minutes.
“I didn’t think it would be this hard. Nothing is on. ”
“Nope,” I agree. “Lately, if it’s not hockey or hockey adjacent, I just don’t care to watch it either.”
“What about the History Channel?” As soon as she switches the channel, the bedroom door flies open, putting my plan into motion.
My heart slams into my chest.
Everything is so real.
I want it to be real.
I’ve never wanted anything more, but I wasn’t prepared for the flood of emotions that would come with knowing my entire world is about to change.
Rigsby screams first, “Frankfurter come back!”
Bella flies out of the room, dragging her feet. “Frankfurter!”
Kaci’s gaze whips behind her as the ferret flies by the couch and ducks under the coffee table, not stopping until he leaps on the table, then to the top of the fridge. “Is he scared?” Kaci swivels on the couch, her feet drop to the floor, and she stands.
Everything is going according to plan. She’s already headed to the ferret.
“I don’t know what happened,” Bella goes on like we had rehearsed. “He has some sort of sore on his belly. I tried to look at it, and he acted like he was hurt and ran away.”
“He’s hurt?” Kaci frowns as she advances toward the fridge.
“I didn’t notice anything earlier, but we better check him out.” I stand, pretending to also be concerned but I hang back, allowing her time to grab him.
Both kids run to the fridge, dancing on the tips of their toes as Kaci swipes him from the top. It’s actually surprising he doesn’t resist more because he usually makes a game out of being caught, but he loves Kaci.
“What in the world?” Kaci’s words drift out, confusion laces in her tone. “Bella, did you tie something around him?”
“No.” Bella’s reply is fast and truthful since it was me who had tied the little ribbon around his belly.
“He has a string wrapped around him.” Kaci narrates, her finger tracing the red yarn. “He must have gotten wrapped up in something. No wonder he’s upset…” Her voice trails off as her gaze freezes on the yarn, and she gasps.
“What is this?” she asks weakly. I step behind her and place my hand on her low back to steady her just in case.
“It’s an engagement ring!” Bella blurts out. That wasn’t rehearsed at all, but it’s cute, and I release a nervous laugh.
Kaci looks at me expectantly. “Is this for real?”
Kaci seems to be stuck in a state of shock as she is just holding the ferret out in front of her.
I take Frankfurter from her and pull the string to release the ring into my hand.
Then I pass the ferret back to Rigsby, and turn to Kaci, her eyes brimming with tears.
I didn’t expect to feel my heart in my throat like this.
Phew. I’ve thought about this moment so many times—each time I got emotional but that was nothing compared to this.
Taking a deep breath, I adjust the ring, pinching it between my thumb and forefinger. My knees actually weaken, so it’s a relief when I drop down on one and hold the ring out to her. With my free hand, I take Bella’s hand and pull her next to me.
I swallow, letting my gaze linger on the ring for a moment before I look up to her. All I can manage is a tear-filled rasp, “Kaci, I love you. I don’t want to imagine my life without you and Bella. What do you say, will you marry me?”
With tears in her eyes, she takes my hand, squeezing it, and whispers, “Yes.”
I don’t wait another second to take her into my arms, and we kiss each other as if we both understand what the other needs.
My heart overflows with all the love this woman gives me.
I know life isn’t perfect. If anything, life has been a little crazier since Bella and Kaci came into my life, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Thanks to Kaci and Bella, I’m the luckiest man in the world—even without a lucky glove.
Thank you for reading Come and Get Your Glove.