Epilogue
Epilogue
Jae
W e stayed the night at the clinic, taking tips from other omegas there on how to get Leo to latch properly. Despite our exhaustion, Curtis was the one to hold Leo and settle him when I needed to close my eyes for an hour or so. He argued that I’d just given birth, so it was the least he could do. The man was my hero. He’d been with me for everything, being attentive and gentle as always. If I hadn’t fallen in love with him before, I would have fallen hard then. During my most vulnerable time, I felt safe and cherished by the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
Just going home was a production. Leo needed to be fed first, then his diaper changed. Of course, he spit up on his outfit, meaning he needed a different one. Then there were the hundreds of pictures we had to take for our family and friends. Even the people Curtis worked with wanted to see the newest member of the crew.
By the time we got into the house, the last thing I wanted to do was deal with people. Luckily, my parents were there to corral everyone into an orderly line for baby cuddles. My dad and Curtis ensured I was sitting down with my feet up, Percy in my lap, and a soothing cup of tea in hand while my mom made something delicious in the kitchen. Lara and Jennie had done our laundry while Ricky had vacuumed. They even had Milo doing chores! There was a little playpen for Grace set up so she could watch everyone.
Our nephew was the first to hold Leo before his grandpa, Ricky, got a turn. The older man’s eyes filled with tears.
“I wish your mama was here to see him.”
“She’s been with us since before he was born. You know she wouldn’t miss out on seeing him.” Curtis looked tired. My man needed a nap.
“Mom?” I whispered, gaining her attention. “Could you get Curtis to have a nap?”
“Of course. You should both be resting right now.”
“He’s barely slept, looking after me and Leo instead of sleeping.”
“He’ll run himself into the ground.”
Leo became fussy, so Curtis scooped him out of his father’s arms and cradled him close to his chest, rocking slightly. He was a natural with our baby.
Mom went to him. They spoke in low voices, but enough of my mom’s words carried for me to hear.
“You are doing a remarkable job caring for my son and grandson, but you need rest.”
I didn’t need to hear Curtis’ words to know he was protesting.
“What would your mother be telling you right now?” Mom guilt. My mom was wicked. I couldn’t help letting out a tiny scoff. Everyone else was too absorbed in their tasks or talking about the baby to intrude on the moment between Curtis and my mom.
This time Curtis’ protest was weak. He knew he needed to relax, or he’d get sick.
“Now, both of you are going to have some sleep. We’ll watch Leo for an hour. Just a short nap. You must learn to sleep when they are sleeping. We will help with the house.”
Curtis relented. “Alright. Just an hour. Jae will probably have to feed him soon.” He gave a tender glance to the baby against his wide chest.
“Good. One hour.” Mom paused. “Curtis?” His eyes met hers. “I was prepared to like you for Jae’s sake. Now, seeing you with my grandchild like that, I’m ready to love you for you. I would be proud to call you my son one day soon.”
“Can I count that as your blessing to ask Jae to marry him?”
He looked over at me, smiling when he saw I was watching. The love in his eyes was almost overwhelming.
“It is a request that you do it as soon as possible. Now give me that sweet baby!”
Curtis gently passed Leo over to my mom, her expression softening beyond anything I’d seen from her in my life. I saw the moment she made room in her heart, not only for Leo, but for Curtis. She patted his arm, then went to join my dad on the couch.
A nap did us both a world of good. I slept curled up in Curtis’ arms, content with my life and secure in my future.
Some of our family stayed for dinner, though Lara, Jennie, Milo and Grace all left after the adults got their baby cuddles in. Our parents were such a great help rather than getting under foot. Most looked reluctant to leave.
The house was so quiet when they returned to their homes. Curtis was burping Leo after I’d fed him again.
I was tired, sore all over, yet I’d never been happier. I had the love of a good man, a sweet baby, and a loving family.
Taking a seat next to Curtis, I laid my head on his shoulder.
“Should we try to put him down to sleep?”
“Yeah, we could all do with a few more hours.” Curtis kissed the top of my head and then Leo’s little nose. “I still can’t believe he’s here. I love you both so much.”
“Love you, too.”
“I might be slightly delirious with tiredness, but I swear to you, I’m going to marry you soon. Make you happy until the end of our days.”
“Is that a proposal?”
“Yeah, it is.” He turned, meeting my eyes. “Jae, will you marry me? Be by my side for the rest of our lives?”
“I’d love nothing more.”
Curtis
It took us ten months to get married. We wanted Leo to be weaned before we left him for a few days to take a mini-moon.
The wedding was tasteful, yet simple, held in a local hotel and attended by most of our family and our friends. Brady was Jae’s best man. Lara was my best woman. Milo led his sister down the aisle, helping her spread rose petals.
We each walked down the aisle after the best people went down together. Jae was with both his parents, me with my dad.
Out of the perfect day, the only downside was some sadness that Jae’s grandparents refused to come to the wedding. Unlike with his sister, they still talked to him. His graphic novel was doing well enough they had that to boast about. They could overlook my ethnicity to fuss over Leo, helped by the fact our son was so very like Jae. Still, they couldn’t bring themselves to come to the wedding.
They paid for our trip, though. I had a brief discussion with his grandmother on the phone and figured it would only be a matter of time before they were convincing us to visit them in Korea. They were old, stuck in their ways, not hateful. I truly felt like they regretted their actions when Iseul married her husband.
Jae breaking from familial expectations brought him and his sister closer. Not to be left out, the eldest, Jun, made more of an effort with his siblings. Both were there with their spouses and kids to see me and Jae get married.
“You better get going. You need to check in for your flight,” Haneul warned. Minjun was holding his grandson, completely unaware we were still there. Jae was hesitating over leaving our son.
“Are you sure?—“
“Jae,” his dad chided, showing he had known we were lingering. “We can manage. We have Ricky coming over for dinner. Lara is on speed dial if anything happens.” He spoke faster to prevent Jae from interrupting. “Which it won’t. You forget we had three children. Leo is such an angel, aren’t you?” He grinned at our baby. “We’re going to have the best time, and you are going to relax for a change.”
“Come on,” I said, taking my husband’s hand. “Give him one last kiss and we’d better go. We don’t want to miss our flight.”
His grandparents had paid for first class flights to an exclusive wellness resort. The fancy spa was going to pamper us for three days. With Leo’s first year almost behind us, we needed it.
I loved being a parent, and now, a husband. Wouldn’t change it for the world, but the first few months were exhausting. There were times I fell asleep sitting in the shower after work. Jae struggled with the guilt of working and raising our child. We’d gotten through it stronger.
We kissed Leo once more and got into the car. I’d just pulled away when I got a message.
“Check that for me, would you?”
Jae unlocked the device. “It’s an email from Mate Match.”
“What does it say?” I glanced over at him to see his jaw hanging open. “What’s wrong?”
“Uh, nothing bad. They want permission to add us to the testimonials for successful matches. They’d love to display one of our wedding photos on their website.” He thought for a moment. “What do you think? Do you want to? I feel like we should. We wouldn’t be together if it wasn’t for the app.”
“I’m on board. Mate Match gave me the life I’d only dreamed of before.”
I picked up his hand and kissed it. If I wasn’t driving, I would have kissed the mark on his scent gland. We’d done the marking in private after our wedding. Jae was everything to me. My husband and my mate. The mark just proved it to everyone.
“A loving husband I adore and a cute baby. Mate Match really delivered that happily ever after.”