Epilogue
CAROLINE
Five years later
My wrist cries out. The pain shoots up my arm as if I had stuck a finger to a power outlet. I hiss and put the pen down, shaking off my hand. I wish I was born ambidextrous. That would have helped so much.
I tell myself I’m nearing the end. Yeah, after two hours of signing books, I must be almost at the end. But then, I look at the pile of books to my left, the ones still left to sign, and my jaw drops. They’re still as tall as the desk, organized in two piles. And they’re not even big books.
My hand is going to fall off.
A chuckle makes me stop and turn around. Ike approaches from behind my chair, pressing his huge hands to my shoulders. He massages the knots on them, making me groan.
“Too long to go yet, love?”
I nod. “I’m starting to think this will take the rest of my life.”
He laughs. “I hope not.” He works the kinks out of my shoulders for another minute, my body growing relaxed and warm. “I ordered Thai.”
“Good.” I groan in gratitude. Today is one of those days I’m too tired to cook. My toes have turned into sausages with the pregnancy, and I just want to finish up with signing the books and put my feet up.
“We should get a stamp.”
“No.” I straighten my spine, slipping away from his maddening touch.
“No stamps.” We’ve been through this. Ike gets worried I’ll hurt my wrist after signing too many books, and he thinks I should get a personalized stamp that mimics my signature.
But that’s cheating, isn’t it? “Besides, it’s a small price to pay.
These people actually like my work, baby. They enjoy reading my stuff.”
“Of course they do,” Ike says, kneeling in front of me, hands pausing on my knees.
“They do because you’re so good at it. Because you capture problems everyone can relate to, and your art is beautiful.
They enjoy reading it because they like the way you think, and they like you.
” He squeezes my knees in his hands. “And I’m sure they would understand if you started using a stamp.
They’d rather you kept drawing, I bet, and if you hurt your wrist, you won’t be able to. ”
I press my lips together, looking away from my husband.
Honestly, signing books is something I’ll never give up on.
I enjoy writing their names, making it personal, and thanking each of them for their support.
Without Ike’s financial and emotional support, I wouldn’t have started.
Without my reader’s help, I wouldn’t have continued.
They’re the ones who pushed me on by writing reviews, sharing my stories with their friends, and liking my posts on social media.
They never made me feel like I was speaking into the void.
Ike squeezes my knees, then reaches into his back pocket. “Let me guess. You won’t stop signing them.” I smile at him because he just knows me too well. Ike smiles back. “Alright. Then take this.”
He offers me a pill container. Pain pills. I take it and check the insides, but the pills are white and like every other pill out there. “Are these the ones the doctor approved?” I ask.
“Of course.” His hands stroke up my legs to curl around my swollen stomach.
“I would never hurt my baby.” And he leans forward and kisses me.
The baby inside moves, making me jerk in surprise.
Ike gasps too, pressing his palm to my belly, following the motions.
I lean back to let him feel our child moving.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” I ask him, because wow, I still can’t believe I’m developing a new human being inside me. Like, half my genes, half Ike’s, a completely new personality. A person.
He looks up at me, and his eyes glint. “Amazing is the fact this wonderful, intelligent, beautiful woman loves me.”
I grin at him, scooting closer to the edge of the chair to hug him. “That part was pretty easy, to be honest.”
His arms fold around me, and I feel small and protected. Special. Ike kisses my lips, soft kisses that make me hum with delight. “And I’ll make sure you’ll never, ever want anything else.”
I smile, but because that’s a given. Of course I’ll never want anything else. What more could I ever want? I make a living out of my art, and I’m married to the most amazing man in the world, and he loves me back. We’re about to have our first child, and everything is perfect.
With him, I won’t ever need anything. Need nothing but his love.
THE END OF BOOK 3